Dalyan – 4th November

On the morning of Monday 4th November, we realised we were out of eggs so I popped to Şok Supermarket and bought 15 for 72.50 lira (£1.63) and then went back home for pancakes for breakfast. I’d got some Yorkshire pudding mixture left over from yesterday so it was silly not to eat it up.
There was a bit of excitement for a Monday, and I had decided to take myself off on location. My boss and the sales manager at Resort Experts had been advocating it in the last discussions I had had with them, so I asked if a few people fancied meeting me there, my new office for the day. I had decided that I was going to join Captain Caveman, Ian, Janet and Patricia (from the walking crew) and get a lift to the nearest beach. Captain Caveman had been in touch with the İçmeler walking group and they were doing a walk over the hills close to Iztuzu beach so he, Ian and Patricia had decided to join. Janet and I had already said it was beyond our capabilities but we could use our time wisely while waiting for them, at the beach. I don’t often get to work from the beach and I thought it would be really lovely – a bit different to my usual Mondays. My parents were up for it and said they would get the bus down, a couple of friends said they would pop down too, perhaps for lunch at the cafe. After a hot beverage and saying bye to the walking lot, there was initially just Janet and I. We took some photos and chatted and then my parents arrived. Dad went straight in to the sea and was pleasantly surprised that the temperature was still swimmable and fine once you got in. My friends were next to arrive. After a lunch of a chicken sandwich for a bargain 150 lira (£3.37), and it was rather substantial, I decided it was time for a swim in the sea. Dad was right – it was lovely.
The time flew by and, before we knew it, my parents had to get the last bus back to Dalyan, my friends had to get back as the dogs weren’t being made too welcome on the beach and had to be left in the car (with a window open).
When Captain Caveman and his walking friends returned it was certainly cracking on, timewise. Ian & Janet gave Patricia, Captain Caveman and I a lift back to Dalyan and we all got dropped off near the Waterfall bar.

I had a soda water and Captain Caveman had an Efes while I fought with my wet swimmers in the loo. I didn’t have any wifi but I was due to pop over to Vanessa’s to say bye once I got home. As we were sat there, at the bar at Waterfall, Vanessa and Matt pulled up in a car and by chance we got to say bye. They had been to ours already and left us some goodies on the stairs. Even though they were planning on spending their last evening in Dalyan at home, they had been invited to a BBQ so were off there instead.
Captain Caveman was quite tired when he got in so he lolled on the sofa playing Bridge on his phone while I made a chicken and vegetable stir fry with steamed rice for dinner. We were still peckish a bit later so we had bread and olives and some Turkish Delight while watching something on Netflix. I’d loved ‘working’ from the beach today and I felt refreshed.

Dalyan – 28th October

On Monday 28th October I was up early and the sun was shining. While Captain Caveman went Dogging, I had work and errands to do. My first task was to go to the bank and make sure I had put in my 26,000 lira (or more) to keep up my residency requirements. I also needed to draw out some cash as it was time to pay for my Captainnet (internet) again, but still without my new residency card. My parents were off on the yellow boat again with other Dalyan Dwellers for the weekly Köyceğiz trip. They often go to Tuana, a bar/restaurant on the water front, for drinks and lunch. At Captainnet I usually deal with the lady who works there but this time there was a new man and he refused to let me extend the internet without a valid residency card, at first. I showed him my official piece of paper that said I had renewed and he made 2 phone calls. Today was Republic Day (Cumhuriyet Bayram) in Turkey, so I told him I would need to have the internet because of the special day – perhaps the Turks would not be able to acknowledge today without the internet so I hoped that would work. He took another 10 minutes of over-mauling my paper with his grubby hands and then agreed, saying I needed to come back as soon as I received the card. Of course, I agreed, paid him the 400 lira (£8.99) for the month, then went to Migros for some essentials – here’s what I bought, with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Green tea 23.00
Chickpeas 33.95
15 eggs 72.50
1.4kg sweet potatoes 94.91
Total spent 224.26 lira (£5.04)

Back home, I made banana, oat and egg pancake for breakfast but the banana was too unripe still and I could only eat half of it before the rest had to go in the bin.
At noon I had a meeting with my boss which went well and I was now part of the Resort Experts team.

When Captain Caveman got home from Dogging we had leek & potato soup for lunch followed by some peanuts in the afternoon. I had a couple of friends respond to my Resort Experts post to ask for quotes so I spent the afternoon on Crete, Portugal and the Canaries for 2025 holidays. Captain Caveman warmed up left over Chicken Provençal and made sweet potato and normal potato wedges in the air fryer to go with it, for dinner.
In the evening, we watched something on Youtube as we couldn’t get the Netflix to work on the TV and it was too late to get a code from the guy who is in charge of it. I can’t recall what we watched but I know that Captain Caveman was fast asleep and snoring well before the end.

Dalyan – 24th October

I had decided to join the Riverbums on Thursday 24th October, the organiser was away so they had left Captain Caveman in charge of proceedings. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and overnight oats for breakfast before walking with Captain Caveman to Kefal tea gardens to get the gear out of storage and ready to depart on the electric boat at 10am. Unfortunately, no boat appeared and one of the Turkish Bummers had to contact the organiser to find out where our boat and driver was. After a short delay, we were on our way in a normal boat, not the Riverbums one. We spent about 2.5 hours clearing up rubbish near the natural sulphur and rock pools over the other side of the river, in a field where sheep are and close to the mudbaths. I’d been there before with the Riverbums and it used to be a really bad area for lots of rubbish being thrown there. I was very pleasantly surprised that it was much cleaner. We did find a sheep who had put its head through a swing top bin and was wandering around wearing the lid like a necklace. Captain Caveman freed it of the bin lid and then the sheep wanted to say thank you. The boat captain gave them some reeds to eat as they were all quite peckish.
Back at the tea garden, we were already running over time so no one stopped for a beverage or snack and we all went home.

Captain Caveman and I had showers and soup for lunch with pasta in and some bread. In the local news there was an update that with immediate effect, renters in our area were able to apply for residency renewal for 2 years now and only had to show proof of 1.5 times the basic wage deposited in to their Turkish bank for 3 consecutive months. I was waiting for my new residency card which had expired on 19th October, so it was too late for me and I was stuck with just 6 months. Hopefully, if things didn’t change again before mid February, I would be able to apply for 2 years then, meaning I would be able to leave Turkey for more than 15 days by May, if I was approved.
In the afternoon, I got on with more training for Resort Experts and I was getting through the training quickly but now I had a 2 page To Do list. After working 2-6pm while Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone, I was quite tired, and got a bit peeved that he was not very responsive to putting his phone down or helping me. He was also incredibly sneezy again, which was probably made worse from the pollen when Riverbumming.
In just 2 months’ time, it would be our 13 year anniversary so I mentioned this to Captain Caveman and asked if he intended for us to make it that far. I was getting increasingly more annoyed that all he wanted to do was play Bridge. He had said he was making his own to do list of other things he needed to do but, aside from washing clothes and hanging them out, he was obsessed with little else but Bridge. Captain Caveman thought I was overreacting (I didn’t think so) and said of course we would make it to 13 years! In all honesty, if I had a teenage son who was constantly playing games on his phone and ipad, I would not have allowed it. However, it was Captain Caveman’s house and there was no amount of me moaning that would stop him spending as much time on Bridge as he liked! I’d also noticed that if Captain Caveman wasn’t playing Bridge he was totally fascinated in watching random reels on his phone. If I interrupted him he would scroll past ‘someone painting a hole’ or ‘plaiting dust’ but got a bit snarky that I had questioned him. He really hates me asking him any ‘irrelevant’ questions.
I made dinner of chickpea and spinach curry with steamed rice and we had a bottle of red wine between us.

Dalyan – 23rd October

On Wednesday 23rd October I made Pho Ga (Vietnamese chicken noodle soup) again, this time with not as much chilli for Captain Caveman. I did my measurements to find that on the home scales I had remained the same weight as last week, but I had lost 2cm from my waist and 4cm from my hips. Finally, I was now back so that all my measurements were under or at target. I was pleased with that, even though I still needed to lose 3.9kg (7.8lb).
Captain Caveman played Bridge on his phone for most of the day, stopping to make himself a sandwich. I went to Turkish class at 11.30am for just over an hour and then got back on with more work. I had completed 25% of the training videos so far and had lists of questions and stuff for my To Do list. I’d not had time for writing any more of my book as I was eager to get on with making Resort Experts work well for me.
I went to Fat Club at 3pm and was really pleased to have lost weight on Carol’s scales. I had lost 0.7kg (1.5lb) this week, but I still needed to lose another 4.65kg (10lb), according to her scales, to get to target. I was now back to having lost 1 stone and was determined to keep at it. I definitely felt loads better and healthier, my skin was also so much better and my eczema had never returned!
I came back home and was a bit peeved that Captain Caveman was not interested in looking up from his phone to ask how I had done. I decided to take some spare sun creams and mosquito spray over to my parents, as they had ran out but were still in Dalyan for another 3 weeks and 3 days. I asked if he wanted to come with me but he was too engrossed in Bridge and said to go without him. He was definitely at the stage now where he couldn’t wait for me to be busy or go out so that he could be playing Bridge. I was concerned about him, as once he gets obsessed with something, nothing else matters.
I was hoping we would be able to tell my parents my good news together, about having a new job. When I got to Ma & Pa’s I didn’t tell them about my new job but I did like their new sofa. I wasn’t in the best of moods and neither of them asked as they were updating me on their adventures with their Dalyan friends. They had been on lots of days and nights out and were really enjoying their holiday, which was great to hear. They were off on a trip to Fethiye and Caliş this week with the usual crowd, so were looking forward to the fish and chips that everyone goes for at Charcoal Palace.
I went back home, Captain Caveman was still playing Bridge (obviously) and I wasn’t in the mood. I told him that he could get his finger out and make dinner as I was attending my first Resort Experts team meeting tonight and would be too busy. I was determined to have him at least put his phone down and be upright for a change.
The first Resort Experts team meeting went well and everyone was friendly. I hadn’t mastered the art of blurring or changing my background on the video call, which gets recorded, so the messy kitchen was in full view!
Captain Caveman had made a pasta with chicken, sucuk, peppers, tomato and cheese and it was really nice. He also poured me a glass of red wine as he could tell I was stressed.