Pontecarlo to London – 16th January

Friday 16th January was a busy day as Captain Caveman and I started work early in our respective working from home offices. We had train tickets booked to London later so had planned for a 4pm finish. I had a video sent from Dagne in Majorca who had taken time to have a proper look at her new copy of The Handy Travel Planner and she loved it. I was pleased as she was the first non-UK person to get her hands on a copy. It was great feedback that the planner also worked in other countries and for foreigners who spoke English.

By 4pm Captain Caveman and I had logged off and were ready to leave Pontecarlo. For me, it would be the last time I’d be in this house as Captain Caveman was moving out in March. He’d decided to move to Sheffield and I was pleased he would be moving to somewhere he would probably be happier and have more of a social life.
The taxi came and we got to the train station to see a few trains were delayed. Ours came and it was full, with kids sitting in our seats. Captain Caveman turfed them out and we sat down, cracked open a train tin and started to relax. I went to the cafe carriage to get us more light refreshments (gin & tonic for him, wine for me), plus a snack and the journey seemed to go very quickly. The train journey price was £19.80 each from Ponte to London King’s Cross, then £4.20 each to Barnes which I thought was quite reasonable.

When we arrived in Barnes, at Captain Caveman’s parents’ home, it was gone 8.30pm. As we said our hellos I could smell a roast dinner cooking (nothing gets past me). Captain Caveman had failed to mention that his parents were doing a full on roast pork dinner for my last dinner in the UK – I almost cried. In the living room with a glass of wine, more excitement came as I opened a delayed Christmas gift from a friend – a thoughtful bottle of Argentinian Malbec and some caramel cheesecake macarons. We decided to have these with dinner and for afters we ate cheese and biscuits then the macarons. It was such a lovely last evening in the UK and I knew that this time I was going to miss it more than usual.

Gratitude List
1. Dagne’s video with The Handy Travel Planner
2. A belated Christmas gift
3. A lovely family meal in Barnes.

If being better prepared for your future holidays is something you would like to happen, you can get my planner here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0G7S5VX47/

Pontecarlo – 15th January

On Thursday 15th January both Captain Caveman and I worked from his home in Pontecarlo – he in his upstairs office and me in the living/dining room. There was much excitement as my colleague and friend in Majorca received The Handy Travel Planner – the first one to get to Spain and it had took 3 weeks! Dagne was so pleased and she sent me photos from Majorca and would send me a video tomorrow as she was on her way to work now.

I finished work at 12 to go meet Louisa, who had very kindly driven from Sheffield to come to meet me at The Carleton pub for lunch. As we’d picked a dog friendly pub, she had brought Bodhi too. We had a good catch up and decided to order some starters to share as our main meal so that we would have room for their fab jam roly poly and custard. I was glad I’d got to see Louisa and have cuddles with Bodhi, who was very well behaved in the pub, as I’d not had enough time to catch up with her when I was in Sheffield. It was also good to chat about potential holiday plans together for later this year. Louisa very kindly treated me to my lovely lunch for my birthday and unfortunately I had to get back to my desk.

After a few more hours on some admin and quotes, I finished for the day. As tonight was my last in Pontecarlo, Captain Caveman decided he wanted to take me out for a last birthday celebration and we could choose between Indian or Thai. We had a walk to the Grocer’s Arms pub. The music was great and they served proper beers and ciders at reasonable prices. The man serving was friendly and the punters all seemed interesting – a local walking group was in when we were there.

Next, we went to Mumbai of Pontefract where we ordered the shared starter with fish, samosa, pakora, chicken tikka and onion bhaji. We ordered the non-alcoholic wine which the waiter said was £4 for a bottle but was actually £4 a glass. It tasted better than I thought it would be and they didn’t sell alcohol in there. For main, Captain Caveman had a spicy dish and I had a chicken tikka (no sauce), we shared all the accompaniments and the food was ok. It was not the best Indian we had been to and just 5 minutes after finishing eating I was in the toilet with a really bad stomach! It cost just under £50 which Captain Caveman paid for and we were both a bit disappointed that I was ill. The reason we had chosen the Indian was I didn’t want to be unwell for the train down to London tomorrow, too – so maybe we should have gone for Thai.
We walked home, with me feeling rubbish and only just made it home to the bathroom. I had to go straight to bed to rest too.

Gratitude List
1. Seeing Louisa and Bodhi for birthday celebrations at lunch
2. A visit to the Grocer’s Arms
3. Spending the evening with Captain Caveman for more birthday celebrations.

If you’d like to be better planned for any travelling you want to do, here’s the link to where you can buy my planner: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0G7S5VX47/

Sheffield to Pontecarlo – 14th January

After a lovely night’s sleep, with no snoring from Captain Caveman, I woke up quite early on Wednesday 14th January. Ordinarily, I would have done my measurements and got weighed, but I didn’t today. I didn’t have my tape measure with me, although I’m sure I could have borrowed one from Ma. I also knew the scales at my parents’ were different and I could wait. I was due back in Dalyan in 4 days time and needed to get back on the wagon then. It was a very busy morning at work, where I crammed in helping customers who were thinking of, or who were already booked for, Vietnam. I spent time on 3 key areas; money exchange (as the laws were being tightened), destination advice and the weather in different months per region. I also checked my analytics on my various pages as I was trying to get over 500 followers so that I can earn money from Facebook. So far, my Jo Lo – Resort Experts had over 17,000 views in the last 28 days but only 358 followers – it was a constant grind to get this figure up as once you’ve invited a Facebook friend, you can’t re invite them. I had gained 10 new followers in a month so, at this rate, it would take me until June 2027 to reach that target! I checked my Jo Lo – The Author and joloyolo.com pages too, but they had less followers. The frustrating thing was that I had 1,800 followers on my Facebook page so if I could get even half of them to follow me it would be ideal – I would continue to keep trying! If you’re not following, please do! https://www.facebook.com/share/1KS5eFfqPm/

At lunch time I managed to get some fresh air when I joined a friend on her dog walk. We walked around Mosborough and, although a little slippy on the farm tracks, the weather wasn’t too bad at all and it was good to catch up.
In the afternoon, my parents and I went up to my sister’s to say farewell and take her birthday card and presents. The whole family were there so we managed to get to say bye and Gayle gave me a lift to the station, which was good. I said bye to my parents not knowing when I’d see them again, which is always tough, but hopefully it would be in the next 3-4 months in Dalyan. I got the 4.40pm train from Sheffield to Pontecarlo via Wakefield.
We were meant to be going to Aldi to get more stuff for me to take back to Dalyan but we didn’t bother, as Captain Caveman was driving back from Scotland. Instead, I made it just in time for fish and chips from the amazing Carleton Fisheries where the staff are friendly and their fish & chips are just so good.
That evening we sat upstairs in Captain Caveman’s office/den where he now has a giant bean bag and a futon. It was chilly so we had to whack up the heating while we shared some Green and Black’s chocolate, a Christmas gift from Captain Caveman’s work.

Gratitude List
1. A dog walk with a friend
2. Getting to see my parents, Gayle, Neil, Morgan, April, Harley and Sumo (the dog) one last time.
3. Fish & Chips in Pontecarlo.

Photo credit – Carleton Fisheries photos used (as it was dark when I went).

Pontecarlo to Sheffield – 13th January

I was at Pontefract Tanshelf train station in the dark on the morning of Tuesday 13th January, waiting for my train back to Sheffield. A return ticket was £12.30 which I had to collect at the station using a code for the machine on the opposite platform. Captain Caveman was driving up to Scotland for work and an interview tomorrow. I’d decided to spend my birthday money and arranged to meet Vanessa for a spot of shopping in Marks & Sparks, before going back to my parents for the evening.
I met Vanessa at 9.30am and we went straight to the M&S cafe for Yorkshire tea and bacon rolls. Vanessa treated me for a late birthday gift, which was lovely and we caught up on everything. She’d arrived limping and in need of paracetamol as she had a broken toe. I was surprised she had still turned up as she was in pain despite it being strapped up. I bought a really nice jumper for £20, using some of my birthday money and I picked up part of a present for my sister. I had decided that we would buy her Hotel Chocolat products but, after a chat with the shop assistant who said they couldn’t guarantee any of the chocolate was safe for coeliacs, we left empty handed. Next, we walked down to Primark where I picked up 2 thermal tops for £11 (using my birthday money). We popped in to Superdrug and Holland & Barrett where I stocked up on 4 boxes of Gin Gins for a bargain £10.20.
We decided to have a quick look in the Korean shop and then we both needed the toilet so we nipped in to see what was on at the cinema and go there. I was tempted by the pick n mix stalk but resisted. Our next stop was to get tea and cake at Massarella cafe on the ground floor of Atkinson’s. It was full of pensioners and I could see why, their jam and cream scones were excellent and the pots of tea ideal for at least 2 cups each. Oddly, each item was priced £3.50 whether it be a pot of tea or a sweet treat. This gave Vanessa time to rest before catching her bus and I went back to M&S to pick up some bits for tonight’s dinner. I’d offered to cook but Mom had said we could have burgers and chips if I didn’t want to spend money unnecessarily. I did fancy something a bit healthier for dinner but the M&S food section had looked like it had been hit by a plague of locusts. There was not much left and what they did have didn’t appeal so I just bought some breaded mushrooms and onion rings to go with the burgers, plus some ibuprofen and a plastic bag, spending a total of £9.20. I managed to get the 3.30pm bus, costing £2.60 for the 20 minute journey to Mosborough.
When I got to my parents’ it was getting late but I managed to log on and deal with some emails before food. The dinner was a bit too much and Dad couldn’t eat his, I soldiered on and Mom did ok but we had to leave room for birthday cake. It did make me laugh that Dad, who was complaining he couldn’t eat a burger, managed more than one small piece of chocolate cake – but it was amazing. By 9.30pm crisps were out and the salt and vinegar ones from Aldi were so good! Tomorrow was weigh day and I knew I had put on lots of weight because all my clothes were tight, especially around the waist!

Gratitude List

Meeting up with Vanessa for more birthday celebrations
So much food
Birthday cake with my parents.

Pontecarlo – 12th January

It was our first day back ‘in the office’ on Monday 12th January and I had lots to catch up on. Resort Experts had a new system being launched which would make our jobs easier and included automation and task, enquiry and holiday management. It looked very good and I was keen to have a go at using it.
Today was also the day I got to open my actual real copies of ‘The Handy Travel Planner’, both hardback and paperback. They looked and felt great, even if I do say so myself, and I was pleased with them. Now I just needed to sell them. My aim was to sell at least 1 per day, which doesn’t sound a lot but it was a target to start off. Ideally to be able to make a minimum wage type of income, I needed to sell in excessive of 10 per day – which I think is a bit of a stretch. What I should’ve done is ask people to buy a copy for themselves or someone else as a birthday gift to me – but I was too busy being hungover!

If you are reading this and haven’t bought a copy yet, I’d really appreciate it if you would – the paperback is just under £15 and the reviews and feedback so far have been extremely positive. Here’s the link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0G7S5VX47/
You can see it as buying me my belated birthday drink but with so many more benefits for you too. Thank you! 🤪
It’s also available in Europe, USA, Canada and Australia. If you’re in Turkey, it’s better to ask me to bring you a copy back from the UK next time I go.

Both Captain Caveman and I worked all day with barely a break, except for a quick sandwich at lunch. By 7pm we had gone for a rather chilly walk to Asda but got sidetracked and ended up in the Robin Hood pub because it was so cold out. I ordered a pint of tap water and a cherry beer, Captain Caveman had a toffee stout which nearly tipped me over the edge, after drinking stout on the birthday night out. We just had the one drink then went shopping, here’s what we bought with prices in pounds;

Asda Supermarket

1 bag for life 0.40*
6 packs of crisps 1.00*
Coriander 1 05*
Paprika 1.05*
2 Tomato Puree 1.36*
Spinach 1.60
2 Chinese sauces 1.66*
Lazy Ginger 2.00*
2 Moroccan Seasoning 2.20*
4 Slow Cooker sachets 2.50*
Curry Meal kit 3.00*
2 packs cheese slices 5.08
Options hot chocolate 5.64*
3 packs of Cheese 7.95*
Total spent £39.49

*were items for me to take back to Turkey.

During the shopping, I needed the loo and discovered that Asda didn’t have a toilet so I had to call back in to the pub, but didn’t get another drink. It was really cold so we hurried home to have a pasta bolognese, cooked by Captain Caveman. We opened the Christmas Belgian beer to drink in mugs and I only managed a little bit – it was very nice but the alcohol was not going down well with me.
It had been a decent day but we were still both tired after the wild weekend, with a very early start due tomorrow.

Gratitude List
1. The Handy Travel Planner – all my hard work had paid off
2. Getting caught up with work stuff
3. A lovely evening with Captain Caveman.

Sheffield to Pontecarlo – 11th January

It turns out it wasn’t the ‘snow’ that ruined my birthday on Sunday 11th January, it was me. My hangover was immense and I could barely function to open my birthday cards and presents. My present from Captain Caveman had been to pay for Marrakech as well as all the Christmas and birthday Shenanigans. My parents and sister gave me money which I was grateful for and promised I would buy something I needed with it. I also got a travel toiletry kit and a birthday cake from my sister and the family, which I didn’t realise how lovely it was until much later. On Facebook I had so many messages to say Happy Birthday and I couldn’t reply as my phone was playing up and my head was banging!
Captain Caveman took himself back to bed, he was also in a state. We were meant to be getting the train to Pontecarlo around 3pm so Ma cooked us a lovely Sunday dinner. We had forgotten that the eggs had been eaten at breakfast so we sent Captain Caveman out to get some. When he returned he looked broken and had bumped in to Neil who was walking the dog to the Angel at Spinkhill to get the car. He reported back that their household were mainly in a state too. Captain Caveman was so bad that he didn’t even eat half of is Sunday dinner – and he left the crackling! After dinner, Captain Caveman went back to bed again and I still felt rough and resigned myself to staying in Mosborough another night.
Captain Caveman decided we would leave Mosborough and we got the bus in to town, it was dark, cold and trying to snow. There were certainly no train tins on our journey back and we even got a taxi from Ponte station to Captain Caveman’s house where we got in and went straight to bed.

Gratitude List
1. Birthday cards, money and gifts
2. A pork Sunday dinner with Yorkshire puds
3. A very low key birthday!

Sheffield – 10th January

Ma cooked us a full English breakfast on the morning of Saturday 10th January and it was so good – I do miss a good sausage! It was pretty cold in Sheffield. The snow that had come down recently was just icy now and all the roads were fine in Mosborough. I caught up on some Resort Experts admin in the morning and saw a post from Claire Clarke, the business book publisher. She had posted on Facebook a photo of her with a pile of books which included mine – which was nice.
In the afternoon Captain Caveman and I decided to chance an icy walk to the Co-op for some essentials. Here’s what we bought, prices in pounds;

Co-op Supermarket
Garlic 0.80
Onions 1.10
Potatoes 1.35
Stilton 1.40
Peppers 1.95
Feta Cheese 2.45
1 bottle Pinto Grigio 5.80
1 bottle Rioja 7.75
Total spent £22.60

I got a dodgy stomach while we were in the shop, so I headed to the Alma pub for a loo stop and a pint of water, while Captain Caveman did the shopping. He then met up with me at the pub and we had a couple of pints. A friend came to join us and we had a really good catch up, drinking probably a little too much cider for me. This meant we were running a little late to get ready for tonight’s celebrations.

All 8 of us (Ma, Pa, Gayle, Neil, Morgan, April, Captain Caveman and me) were booked in for a joint birthday celebration at the Angel in Spinkhill. Because the weather was unpredictable, Neil drove in 2 trips and we would get taxis back. The place was very nice and had quite a cosy dining area, next to the bar – which was very handy. I overdosed on cheese for my meal choices; Captain Caveman and I shared baked camembert for starter, we both had the duck for main and we shared a cheese board for afters! The food was very good and I managed at least a couple of glasses of red wine too. My sister had the gluten free choices, as she’s coeliac, and it was excellent – all served on back plates so that they weren’t mixed up with the white plates, containing gluten. I was impressed with what I had and our share of the bill was paid by Captain Caveman with it being for my birthday. Our waitress happened to be the daughter of an old school friend of Gayle’s and a neighbour from when we lived in Frecheville – she was so like her mother and had a lot of patience with our group.

There was a bit of a rush to get the taxis back as the restaurant closed at 9.30pm but we took our wine with us and decided we would call for a last drink at the Craftworks in Mosborough. It was hilarious and the drinks were flowing – it was certainly not a good idea for me to drink a pint of stout as my final drink, or get a selfie with the barman who had lovely hair! It was great to spend time with the family and our combined birthday celebrations were a winner, without snow ruining it. Back at Ma & Pa’s we ended up drinking more wine! I had a feeling my actual birthday, tomorrow, was not going to be hangover free and we had to get the train back to Pontecarlo!!

Gratitude List
1. An English breakfast cooked by Mom
2. Cheeky afternoon drinks in the pub with a friend who needed a beer
3. A fantastic family meal to celebrate our birthdays in bad weather.

Pontefract, Hull & Manchester – 1st January

$Pontefract, Hull & Manchester – 1st January$

Captain Caveman and I were up and about early on Thursday 1st January, New Year’s Day, as we had somewhere to be. As Captain Caveman was in the shower I checked December’s income v expenditure and found, because Captain Caveman had been paying for everything since I arrived, I still had £41 left to carry forward in to 2026! Without him, that would have been depressing and I had questioned the rationale of still going on holiday but it was for my birthday and Captain Caveman needed a holiday. Because he’d been paid well for working over Christmas, Captain Caveman insisted ‘we’ could afford it. I needed to earn more money this year, though, as I didn’t like being poor or having to rely on Captain Caveman so much. I was so good at being frugal now that it concerned me when we did spend money. Yesterday marked 11 years since I’d left my well paid ‘proper’ job at Aviva and, although I didn’t miss it, I did miss getting paid a regular salary each month.
While we waited at Pontecarlo train station I started noting down 3 things to look forward to this year;
1. Marrakech with Captain Caveman
2. Selling (& publishing) more books
3. Trips to Madrid, Bulgaria & Brussels for festivals which we already had booked for July and September.

But first, we were off to Hull today as we had been invited to a free sporting event. I’m not a football fan but Captain Caveman is and he was chuffed to bits to be my plus one at the Hull v Stoke football match in the executive box at Hull. I was more looking forward to seeing Amanda from Anex Tour UK, our host, for a good catch up, a few drinks and an incredible 5 course meal!
We took the train via Leeds where it was so cold that I could hardly feel my legs. Captain Caveman had to get a coffee at McDonald’s, which I was surprised to see was heaving with customers. He also got us a ham and cheese sandwich for us to eat on the train.

We were carrying our bags (hand luggage only) as we were straight off to the airport later. The walk from Hull train station to the football ground was fairly long but flat and we arrived early, placing our luggage behind reception. We took the stairs up to the executive box where we were the first to arrive. Next to arrive was Paul, a travel agent from the local area, and his 2 guests. I liked Paul straight away and he had a good sense of humour – they usually do in Yorkshire. We were joined by a semi professional golfer and his partner who were actually here to support Stoke. I went to the loo having ordered a pint of tap water as I had a big thirst on, when I returned there was a large glass of red wine too and Captain Caveman had ordered a pint of Guinness. There was lots of pre match chat until Amanda and her guest arrived. I’d met Amanda on the Antalya fam trip so it was great to see her again, this time she wasn’t drinking as she had to drive and was technically working. The drinks flowed, the meal was delicious and then the football started. We had our own seated area outside but it was really cold. I was glad to get back in for halftime snacks and more drinks.

The second half went in to extra time, of 17 minutes, which may have been a record. I stayed inside in the warm and we nibbled on an amazing cheeseboard.
After much laughter, chatting and stuffing our faces, it was time to say farewell and leave. Captain Caveman and I had a train to catch to Manchester Airport. On the way, I was glad that despite the cold it didn’t rain. Unfortunately, I’d upset Captain Caveman who said I had talked too much and that he’d found me annoying at today’s event. That cheesed me off as I had thought the day had gone really well. We didn’t speak on the train – well, I’d already had my quota of chatting, so that Captain Caveman could enjoy the silence and play Bridge on his phone. I had a theory that Captain Caveman was suffering withdrawal symptoms from being apart from his phone and had decided to cause an argument so that he could get some peace and back to his Bridge.

We checked in at The Tribe hotel where we would spend the night before our flight to Morocco tomorrow. Captain Caveman then spent the rest of the night playing Bridge. We didn’t go to the hotel bar, we didn’t speak and we didn’t watch TV. The Tribe hotel cost us £98 for the 2 of us, was super comfy and included breakfast.

Gratitude List
1. Making it through a tricky 2025 on a tight budget but having no debt
2. An amazing day out at Hull FC courtesy of Anex Tour UK
3. The Tribe hotel.

Photo Credit – some photos by Amanda at Anex

Sheffield to Pontefract – 30th & 31st December

$Sheffield to Pontefract – 30th & 31st December$

After a good night’s sleep, Captain Caveman and I got up early to start work on Tuesday 30th December. It was that weird week between Christmas and New Year where everyone else I interacted with seemed not to know what day it was. We had a new system with Resort Experts which meant we could see tasks, enquiries, bookings and payment due dates all in the same place. The aim was to enter all our existing clients in to ‘The Zone’ to test that it worked. It was meant to be my last day at tomorrow so I got cracking.
At lunch time Captain Caveman treated the 4 of us to fish and chips from Tony’s Chip Shop. It cost £45 for 4 fish, too many chips, 1 mushy peas and a bottle of chip shop vinegar but what a treat it was. I really enjoyed it and was keen to have it while I was back in Mosborough. I’d heard that people were struggling to eat out more in the UK due to the increased prices but, in the week I’d been in England, I hadn’t seen any evidence of that yet. Everywhere I went, places seemed very busy – even in Tony’s I was 10th in the queue with lots of people buying cod or haddock (on a Tuesday)!
Back at the laptop, I checked us in for our forthcoming holiday to Morocco on Friday, and downloaded the Atol certificate. As I sell Jet2 Holidays, I’d decided to take advantage of the discount which Resort Experts gives me. Captain Caveman had booked our first package holiday and I hoped he’d enjoy it.
That evening, Ma & Pa excelled themselves by throwing and impromptu early new year celebration for us 4, plus Gayle, Neil and Morgan (April was working). Dad was on drinks duty and Mom had done a massive buffet which went down very well – as did the drinks. We decided to play party games where we had to guess ‘Who am I?’ but the post-it notes kept peeling off. It was hilarious and Dad was not impressed with this game.

Gratitude List
1. The Zone – a new CRM system for Resort Experts
2. Fish & Chips
3. A family party with lots of laughter.

Wednesday 31st December, or New Year’s Eve, was a very quiet one for us. Mom made us a breakfast and both Captain Caveman and I worked in the morning. I was meant to be taking my measurements and getting weighed but I decided not to bother depressing myself. I could tell I had already put weight on this week. I’d not eaten and drunk this much for quite a while.
We would have stayed at my parents longer but we needed to get back to Captain Caveman’s and pack for our holiday, plus my parents were off out. My sister had got excited and arranged for the family to start the new year celebrations with a pub crawl from 11.45am. Captain Caveman was baffled as he thought he’d misheard and that they were being picked up at 11.45pm, in time to see in new year. Gayle had arranged for them to go to a new(ish) place in Mosborough called Grandpa Joe’s Potting Shed. Before we left, Mom made sure we’d eaten more – including a mince pie and a cup of tea before we headed off to Captain Caveman’s house in Pontefract, or Pontecarlo as I like to call it. We each left some clothes for when we got back from Morocco as we were coming back for some more celebrations.
In Pontecarlo we popped the central heating on and got the house warm then worked for the rest of the day. Captain Caveman heated up the pasta ready meal for dinner and we both struggled to stay awake until midnight. I think we both nodded off but then woke up at 11.55pm, watched some fireworks from out of the bedroom window before going to bed. We had exciting, and somewhat unusual, plans for tomorrow which I had arranged for the both of us.
2025 had been a very tough year financially for me and we had also spent too much time apart. Next year we had plans to improve things significantly; I was determined to have more income and more trips away with either Captain Caveman and/or friends. I don’t really make New Year’s Resolutions but I was determined to be successful. How about you? Did you make any plans for 2026?

Gratitude List
1. Spending time with my family and Captain Caveman
2. Being back in Pontecarlo
3. Planning for 2026 to be a better year.

Pontecarlo and London – 6th August

There were lots of shenanigans for Captain Caveman and I on Wednesday 6th August. It didn’t go unnoticed that it was weigh day, the last one I would be in the UK for, but we didn’t have any bathroom scales in Ponte. I did my measurements to find they weren’t too favourable but that was to be expected with the amount of treats and booze I’d consumed. I’d put 2cm on my bust, waist and hips! I had a chance to see the IKEA products in situ, around Captain Caveman’s house, which was nice and I even had a shower using a fresh new towel and standing on a lovely bath mat – it’s the little things, eh!?
Captain Caveman made us bacon sandwiches for breakfast as Fuck İn was closed for a holiday!! We both had work and meetings to do before we set off for a trip back to London.
Captain Caveman and I both had a full diary so there was no let up, Captain Caveman had work calls on his way south and I attended a Zoom meeting about my Travel Planner with Claire Clarke. I could hear Claire speaking but noone could hear me and I only realised afterwards that it was because my phone had Google maps on. My phone had assumed that I was driving (I wasn’t) so wouldn’t let me participate, I also was super travel sick by the time we arrived in Barnes at 2pm.
I was excited to find a test notebook had arrived from Amazon which I’d been trialling a glossy book cover on, in readiness for my new travel planner. After a bit more work and various calls, it was time for a trip in to the city of London to meet a friend.

I had arranged for Captain Caveman and I to meet Clare after work on Bond Street. Clare had booked a table at a Malaysian restaurant called Med Salleh, which none of us had been to before. Amazingly, they had Saigon Red beer on the menu so Captain Caveman and I ordered one at £4.50 each. The food was amazing and I had a chicken, prawn & tofu noodle soup which was massive and good value at £16. The others also enjoyed their food and I would love to go there again.

The building itself was impressive and I had a good look round when I nipped to the toilet. After our meal, it was still early so we decided to have a couple of drinks in bars nearby, one of which was the Bayswater Arms. It was great to see Clare again and we even decided we could meet again tomorrow, after work, for a final farewell of this trip.

Gratitude List
1. Seeing the bath mat was worth the arguments in IKEA
2. An eventful journey to London
3. A fab evening with Captain Caveman and Clare in London.

Sheffield and Pontecarlo – 5th August

I worked and packed my things up in the morning of Tuesday 5th August. Mom came in to ask if I fancied a roast pork sandwich for lunch from the shop and I’d not had one this visit so, of course, I said yes. All 3 of us went for a walk as I wanted to get Captain Caveman a tin opener. He’d declined to buy the £1 one in IKEA which was probably rubbish so I got him one for a whopping £7 from the Co-op.
Ma left Pa with me while she went to the post office and cash machine but the sandwiches were ready before she returned. I had everything but dripping on, Dad had everything and Mom had her’s without apple sauce. I paid £14.60 for 3 sandwiches and a packet of pork scratchings which I didn’t think was bad and is cheaper than Beres. My sister, Gayle, popped round in the afternoon with Sumo, the dog, and we all said our goodbyes, hoping to see them in Turkey soon enough.
I got the 5.30pm bus in to town for £2.60 and then I got the 18.49 train from Sheffield to Wakefield Kirkgate. There, it was after 7pm and the waiting room closes so I was really cold in the wind as I had to wait 20 minutes for the train to Pontefract Tanshelf. I ate a packet of salt n vinegar discos while I waited and wondered why I’d not been eating more crisps this visit. I didn’t realise there were no toilet facilities at the station so I was pretty desperate for a pee when I got on the train. Luckily the train had toilets and it meant I arrived just after 8pm to be met by Captain Caveman, without jogging about for the loo.
He took my bag and we walked straight to the Robin Hood pub ready for the quiz. There were no seats inside and the huge beer garden was very smokey so we stood up next to the entrance. The quiz was a good one where we didn’t embarrass ourselves but we didn’t win. I had cherry beers and, at half time, they did sandwiches which were welcomed. I’m not usually a fan of a pub quiz, especially with genius Captain Caveman, but I did enjoy this one.
I was tired by the time we walked home so it was straight to bed without even checking where all the IKEA items were.

Gratitude List
1. Pork sandwiches with my parents
2. Being able to say bye to Gayle and Sumo
3. Pub quizzing in Pontecarlo with Captain Caveman.

Pontecarlo and Sheffield – 2nd August

Saturday 2nd August was a more stressful day, as we had to wait all day for the Virgin engineer to come. We had been using our phones on GiffGaff as hotspots which was fine in certain parts of the house but Captain Caveman had also bought EE as a hotspot which required me to keep logging in every hour. I was getting a bit tetchy about it and was also a bit aggrieved that there was only one towel in the house that we had to keep washing, drying and sharing. 15 years ago I’d have had a complete meltdown at that situation as I used to be that woman who used a massive bath towel for body plus a smaller towel for hair and a decent bath mat! Over the years of knowing Captain Caveman I’d grown accustomed to using just the one towel, and often a lot smaller in size when we lived in Asia. He was surprised that I had not brought my travel towel with me from Turkey but I had wrongly assumed there may have been adequate provision for towels. I was trying to convince Captain Caveman he needed more stuff, he was adamant that he had only rented until the end of the year so was reluctant to spend any money or time on getting things he could do without. Meanwhile, I was stressing over not having a bath mat and having to use a t-shirt to stand on so I didn’t slip on the tiled floor. I packed all my stuff up while Captain Caveman waited for the engineer, we were meant to be doing things in Sheffield but we got delayed.
Finally, the engineer arrived, agreed with Captain Caveman on the cause of the problem and proceeded to instal wires and fix it. He finished by 6pm and we were on the road, heading for Mosborough via a trip to IKEA.
At Ikea, we ate food first then I pretty much followed Captain Caveman around trying to keep up and suggest things he ‘needed’, then face an argument that he didn’t need things. The main thing we needed, in my opinion, was a bath mat, needless to say we did not agree on that item and we almost didn’t get one!
Here’s what we did buy with the prices in pounds;

IKEA
1 washing up brush 1.00
Oven glove 2.00
1 corkscrew 3.00
1 plate rack 3.00
1 draining board 3.00
1 bath mat 4.00
1 pair of scissors 5.00
1 bath towel 6.00
1 small frying pan 7.00
2 pillow cases 8.00
1 fitted bed sheet 9.00
2 roller cheese graters 10.00
2 pillows 12.00
1 double bedding set 20.00
3 pans 35.00
1 office chair 60.00
Total spent £203.00

We attempted to get 2 folding chairs but they were out of stock and only had one available so I suggested we come back for them tomorrow. The assistant said he would have more out tomorrow but Captain Caveman wasn’t keen on that idea so he just bought the one chair. I left him to do the check out as I needed the loo and by the time I got back he was ready to leave. He was not in a good mood and neither was I, I think we were still bloody arguing about a £4 bath mat. The good thing is though we both had a new roller cheese grater which I had seen at his parents, they are a game changer – especially for parmesan straight out of the freezer!
It was late when we arrived at my parents, we’d brought them an adapter plug, some Pontecarlo midget gems with liquorice black ones in and a bottle of wine. My head was frazzled so I suggested we opened the wine then showed off my new cheese grater!
It was too late to go out so we had a couple of drinks with Ma & Pa and they laughed at us falling out in IKEA.

Gratitude List
1. Finally getting Virgin internet sorted at Captain Caveman’s home
2. A successful (as in we got necessary items) trip to IKEA
3. Finally arriving in Mosborough for drinks with my parents.

Pontecarlo – 1st August

My first job on Friday 1st August was to check how I did against my budget in July. I felt sure I had gone wildly over the £1,000 budget I’d set and I perhaps had if I included all the money Captain Caveman spent. I was lucky to have spent just £971 which included in Turkey and in the UK. I was still going to be in England for another 11 days, which wouldn’t be cheap and a holiday for Captain Caveman in Turkey was coming up at the end of August. I still left August’s budget at £1,000, optimistically.
While Captain Caveman made me tea, I made toast (on the grill, as there was no toaster). I checked July’s blog traffic to see a 13% increase in views on the previous month. The top 3 viewing countries were the UK, Turkey and Spain, followed by USA, Australia, France, Sweden and then Vietnam in 8th – back in the top 10!
We both worked hard all day but I decided I would try to finish at 4pm with it being the weekend. As luck would have it, I made a couple of last minute bookings, one for a friend and another for someone I didn’t know. It was cold out and looked like rain but at least we were warm inside. At lunch time we had salad and I messed about with my new case which was really easy to remove the detachable wheels of.
At 4pm there was an impromptu clearing up and reorganising of the bedroom wardrobe so that I could have space for my clothes. Captain Caveman found a load more crap that he didn’t want, including Christmas decorations, a tree and some dressing up clothes. There was a woman’s top with tags still on but a size 10 – I tried it on and it fitted so we washed and kept it. Captain Caveman also kept a couple of pairs of shoes and a polo top. He was getting excited as the bin man had been today which meant 2 of his bins were emptied and he could refill them. We had also hoped to see the Virgin internet man but he never came! We had thought we might go back to Sheffield after work but Virgin assured us that the man was definitely coming tomorrow before 6pm!

By 6.30pm Captain Caveman and I were off for a walk and to find a pub or 2 for a Friday beverage. I was a bit chilly in the summery clothes I had so I had to wear a fleece with shorts and sandals to try to keep warm. Captain Caveman had jeans, jumper and walking boots on so he was fine. We walked passed a diabetes clinic, the hospital, a quaker burial site and a big posh house before heading towards the church and castle. It was a good way to acknowledge Yorkshire day, sightseeing in Pontecarlo. Our first stop off was the Hope & Anchor pub which was very loud and busy. I tried the blood orange cider (it was too sweet for me) and we went outside to the beer garden. I was too cold so we had to come back indoors but Captain Caveman wasn’t too impressed with the acoustics. We decided to continue on a wander and head in to town, perhaps have a couple more drinks then go for a meal.

Captain Caveman and I were ‘out out’ in Pontecarlo. We wandered via Pontefract Castle, the Elizabeth Love Museum, Castle Chain House and plenty of old buildings. We decided to call for a drink in the Irish pub, Galway Girl, where there was live music. Captain Caveman had a Guinness and I had a medium sized glass of wine for around £12. The music was good, the pub was busy and we had a couple of rounds in there. Captain Caveman suggested we try the fine dining restaurant next door, called Erubi. I was conscious of money and said we should go somewhere cheaper, we both fancied trying the Indian restaurant along the street.

Tulsi doesn’t have an alcohol license so, while I waited for a table (it was busy), Captain Caveman popped to the off licence for beers. He bought Belgian Blue for him and a couple of cherry beers for me – perfect.
We shared onion bhajis, poppadoms, a pickle tray for starter, had 2 main dishes and shared rice and garlic naan bread. It wasn’t cheap at £44.80 without drinks but it was absolutely fantastic and we ate all of it. We didn’t manage all of the beers though so took them home. We finished our meal about 10.30pm and walked back ‘home’, it was really nice for Captain Caveman to be living so close to town.

Gratitude List
1. Getting organised at the house in Pontecarlo
2. Out out and live music in Pontecarlo
3. A tasty Indian meal with Captain Caveman.

Pontecarlo – 31st July

Thursday 31st July was a busy day for both of us, work-wise. I tried my best to hit sales targets I had set for myself but had fallen a bit short. I had to keep reminding myself that it was a slow slog and it wasn’t going to make me rich over night, or even in the first couple of years. I was still very much enjoying being part of Resort Experts and felt I’d made the right decision by going back in to the travel industry. We both worked hard with a very quick break for lunch which was left over fajitas with added fresh tomatoes and mozzarella balls. We were both in the front bedroom using the camping table as a desk and 2 camping chairs – this wasn’t good for my back as I couldn’t really reach the table properly. I also had the empty box from my new suitcase delivery as a side table. When I got tired I lay on my front on the bed to type. The good news was that the internet was getting fixed tomorrow as Virgin had finally got the message and were sending an engineer out. We still didn’t have a mirror anywhere in the house so I searched for one in the stuff left by the previous owners. I found a small heavy one which wouldn’t even go in the bathroom. I stood it up in the corner of the bedroom until I found somewhere useful to put it.
By 6pm, Captain Caveman had decided to treat me to fish and chips from the nearest chippy. Carleton Fisheries only opens 4-7.30pm on the weekdays and just at lunch time on a Saturday – it got good reviews online. It was £8.70 for a portion of fish and chips which we got 2 of to take home. I had salt and vinegar on mine because I knew we didn’t have any condiments back at the house.
We sat in the camping chairs in the front room and really enjoyed them. I’d even go so far as to say they were as good as Tony’s in Mosborough. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a cup of tea afterwards as we didn’t have any tea bags or milk! Before bed I realised I’d forgotten to do my measurements yesterday or update my income and expenditure spreadsheet for the end of the month. I was getting a bit slack now that I was in the UK! August was looking to be a jam-packed month with the first 11 days of it being spent in England.

Gratitude List
1. Making do with the temporary office in Ponte
2. Leftovers for lunch
3. Amazing fish and chips for dinner.

Pontecarlo – 30th July

Captain Caveman had meetings from 9am on Wednesday 30th July and I had them from 10am. My Giffgaff phone was not responding well to being a hotspot for me to work from so I volunteered myself to do the breakfast sandwich run. Tuck In (great name for a sarnie shop) was just a few metres up the road and I ordered a bacon and tomato sandwich for Captain Caveman and a sausage sandwich for me. The 2 staff in there were really friendly and were asking if I was new round here. I explained I was visiting my other half who had just moved in and that we hadn’t yet had chance to stock up etc. The lady there recommended we use the Olio app to get free or cheap stuff, which was really nice of her. The sandwiches were lovely and it certainly wouldn’t be our last time there.
I took some photos of Captain Caveman’s new abode and then noticed I had a Resort Experts review from one of my close friends and now a customer. It was lovely and I was really pleased as, for some reason, it’s often more difficult to convince friends to support your business, while complete strangers are more likely to buy from you.
I attended my last Substack Zoom training with Ade at 10am and added to my to do list to look at setting up a profile, next month. Hopefully, this would bring more strangers in to my online world for both holidays and my book(s).
I made a shoping list for the house and then got on with more work until Captain Caveman’s lunch break. We drove to the supermarket and here’s what we bought with prices in pounds;

Tesco Supermarket
Fajita seasoning 0.85
8 Tortillas 0.99
150g Raspberries 1.70
500g peppers 1.79
4 toilet rolls 1.80
1 kitchen utensil 2.25
650g chicken breasts 5.10
4 way Extension cable 6.50
Plug adaptor 8.00
Total spent £28.98

I was looking forward to being able to use my new clubcard but I only had an email with the number on. A member of staff had to come over and key it in as I hadn’t downloaded the app which had a pretend card on it. I was hoping I’d get sent a physical card but, apparently, not any more. We did get 28 club card points, though, but not much use to me in Turkey.
For lunch Captain Caveman made himself something and I went to the shop for a sausage roll. It was a minimum spend of a fiver on a card so I treated myself to something I’d not seen before – a Ponte Pig. It’s like a gingerbread man but in the shape of a pig and was very nice. The shop staff were all friendly and I was really liking Pontefract, so much so that I’d started to affectionately refer to it as Pontecarlo.

At 1.30pm there was a delivery and I was so excited that it was for me! Captain Caveman had ordered me a new suitcase with detachable wheels, and small enough to fit under the seat on a plane! It was great and I could get more stuff than I thought I would in it!

To celebrate my new luggage we decided to have a walk through the area to a pub, The Carleton. It was one of those Greene King pubs and seemed to be very good with lots of different events on. A board advertised a monthly dog walk on the last Sunday of each month and lots of quizzes. We had a pint there which was less than £9 for 2 and then we walked back for Captain Caveman to cook us our first meal at home.

He’d already bought a big electric paella type pan so we had delicious chicken fajitas. He made his own tomato salsa and we were grateful for the 2 plates my Mom had given us. We drank white wine which I splashed out £9 on for a bottle, at the local shop. We didn’t have any wine glasses so we drank out of Mr & Mrs mugs, left by the previous tennants. The food was tasty and we had a great first full day in Pontecarlo – still no internet as Virgin are shit, but that’s too boring a story!

Gratitude List
1. Breakfast butties from Tuck In
2. A first try of a Ponte Pig
3. A lovely evening with Captain Caveman in Pontecarlo.

joloyolo

The ramblings and observations of a fortysomething lady of leisure

Tag: Pontefract