I was not feeling very well when I woke up on Sunday 23rd April with quite the hangover. As I cleaned my teeth, I forced myself not to be sick then went downstairs to make a cup of tea. I saw the paper coffee cup with red wine still in it, which went down the sink. My phone wasn’t in my bag but my purse was and I had managed to bring my rucksack home. I looked in the rucksack as I needed to find my phone and was worried I’d lost it or left it at Sofra bar. When I opened my rucksack, the phone was in there but the battery was dead, I also realised my trainers were still at Mark and Kate’s place. I should have stuck to the diet but I was conscious I’d not eaten since yesterday lunch time. I joined Mark for a breakfast/brunch at Wonky’s, Kate couldn’t be bothered to come so she stayed at home. Wonky’s had recently reopened and we had a nice chat with the lovely owners of the bar, Eleonor and Şahin. Mark and I decided to share the rather generously portioned full English breakfast between us, as I don’t eat eggs or tomatoes and he doesn’t like mushrooms. While I made every attempt to keep an orange juice and a tea down me, at almost midday, Mark ordered a beer! Wonky’s had made some improvements and it was looking slick; the floor had been replaced, the bar/kitchen area extended and a lick of paint on the furniture. It felt clean and welcoming despite my terrible headache, while Mark and the owners harped on about alcohol a bit too much for my liking, in my fragile state. The breakfast cost 220 lira (£9 approx) but we struggled to finish it between us. We split it thus; 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 toast, 2 potatoes, all the mushrooms and half the beans for me then 1 sausage, 1 bacon, 1 toast, 2 fried eggs, 3 potatoes, all the tomatoes and half the beans for Mark. For the record the waitress was more than happy to give us a spare plate to divvy it up on to, and the extra knife and fork – we didn’t take it in turns to eat from the same plate! It was lovely but it took me more than an hour to eat my half and I ended up giving Mark a bit of my left over sausage. I was about to get ready to pay and leave when Mark ordered another beer and set the pool table up. He was messaging the pool gang so he wanted to check out the table. I was so ill I thought I’d get 7 balled but it was a close finish in the end. Back home, I went back to bed for a bit and when I woke up, it was dark. I ate a jacket sweet potato for dinner but couldn’t manage all of it. I was feeling pretty sorry for myself and my diet was almost unsalvageable! I had 3 more days to go until Fat club and I was already on 196 syns after that night out and the very tasty breakfast!
I had wholemeal toast and Yorkshire tea for breakfast on Sunday 16th April and was getting excited for the afternoon’s plans. By 9.12am I had an apology text from Cath, it turned out she had gone home in someone else’s jacket, which I’d helped her in to, and left her’s in Sofra which explained the missing keys. Cath was very grateful that I had kept turning down her offer to buy everyone shots, though, in an effort to stop them blowing their whole budget on booze. Still, it had been a good night from my point of view and I was glad not to have ended up in a tangle myself. Drew had arrived at the airport at 2pm and Jamie went to collect him, excited for him being here for a few weeks. I met Jamie, Drew, Alicia, Nanny Kay and Ann at Lukka bar for Sunday lunch at 5pm and ordered a fresh orange juice. Drew, Alicia and I had chosen the beef, Nanny Kay ordered lamb, Jamie chicken and Ann had ordered a salad. The Lukka bar beef Sunday dinner was now 325 lira (£13.42) which is not cheap but it’s a lovely treat, comes with a pud and makes 2 meals for me, easily. The lamb and chicken options are cheaper and it’s not that often I have a Sunday dinner with a good excuse to see friends. I had brought my Tupperware as I knew I would only eat half and I was glad I had my gravy on the side as I prefer it thicker. The cauliflower cheese came without cheese so we let Katrina know we preferred it with the sauce. As always the impressive Yorkshire puddings stole the show and were massive. I really enjoyed my food, Nanny Kay said she preferred the lamb to the beef. The boys emptied their plates which was a tall order and they must’ve been very hungry. We had a bit of a break before the apple crumble with ice-cream and I even took most of my crumble home. Jamie and Drew wanted to go on for drinks at Sofra and I was hesitant after last night’s fiasco. Ann was also only going for 1 drink too so I agreed and was sensible. I stuck to my 1 drink of red wine, despite being boring for a change and went home for an early night before work tomorrow.
I didn’t have any breakfast on Sunday 9th April as I had a bit of a lay in. At 8.40am the weather forecast wasn’t looking too clever and it was Easter. I didn’t even eat any Easter Eggs and only had a sandwich for lunch. In the afternoon I heard from Cath and Keith and she had been to Sofra to pay their bill, a little embarrassed. Elite Maintenance had been round to our complex to clean the pool so progress was being made over the communal situation, but I hadn’t seen any lights on as yet. For dinner I had homemade curry which had chicken, cauliflower, aubergine, lentils and tomatoes in, then I had strawberries and quark for afters. I got a bit peckish in the evening as I looked at flights to Vietnam and ate a slice of turkey and a couple of toffees. I was already on 176 syns but it was better than I’d been doing for a while. I would be working for the next couple of days so I was hoping for a good result at Fat Club this week. Before I went to bed I had a rummage in the freezer and took out some mystery meat so that I could have the slow cooker on tomorrow.
As Easter in Greece, where my boss lives, is a different date and Turkey don’t celebrate it, we were still working on Monday 10th April. Before I logged on I had 2 slices of wholemeal toast with Becel spread on and 20g of Comte cheese, some strawberries and a cup of Yorkshire tea. I popped the meat, which I hoped was beef, and lots of veg in to the slow cooker then got on with work. It was a cloudy, cold day and I hoped it would warm up a bit in the month I had left here. Captain Caveman had sent me a photo of Thao and her new baby who he had gone to visit in Dong Hoi and we’d got a loose plan that I would arrive on 14th May. Strangely, the first time I went to Vietnam to visit Captain Caveman, 11 years ago, it was the same date! The morning at work went quickly and I warmed up some Slimming World Minestrone soup and nan bread for lunch. I drank a lot of water and snacked on Turkey slices when I got peckish late afternoon. I finished work at 6pm, I added Oxo, red wine, fresh rosemary and Henderson’s relish to the slow cooker concoction and had it with potatoes for dinner. It was amazing and had made a few more portions. I was doing well on the diet until I accidentally ate some chocolate from an Easter Egg and then had 2 cream crackers with 30g of comte cheese. I’d had 28 syns today so I needed to be very careful tomorrow! It was my 4th day of zero alcohol this week but I didn’t have any exercise.
There was not much to write about on Tuesday 11th April as I was busy working all day. I cracked on as there was horrendous weather forecast and I was conscious that the power could go off at any time – I was lucky, it didn’t. I had another portion of beef stew with steamed rice ( I will eat rice with anything) and really enjoyed it. I finished work at 6pm and it was absolutely tipping down so there was no venturing outside today. Instead, I decided to use more of the beef stew to reinvent the Cornish pasty in a Slimming World fashion. I used a wholemeal wrap and filled half of it with the stew and added some sweetcorn. I brushed the edges with beaten egg, folded it over to cover the filling and stuck it down using the back of a fork. More egg was poured over, messily as I didnt have a brush, then popped in the over for 20 minutes. When it came out, it looked great but it was probably the best thing I had tasted in a while. It was so good that I made another one and had it with my homemade pickled red cabbage then showed it off in the Fat Club Messenger group. I had a phone call with my parents who were due to come to Dalyan in 3 weeks and I was so excited to be seeing them again.
I was up early on Sunday 2nd April because I had organised my first boat trip of the year. It was later than last year but this year didn’t seem to be as hot yet. Ivona, the Captain’s wife, was sick and couldn’t make it. The weather was dull and quite cold but we weren’t going to let that put us off. Captain İsmail had decided we would go to Little Dalyan, a sheltered spot behind Iztuzu beach, then the lake at Köyceğiz instead of the sea due to the threat of storms and choppy seas. The Princess of Ekincik boat was leaving from outside River Terrace at 10am, it was costing £30 each (drinks extra) but included food for the day. On board Princess of Ekincik with Captain Ismail and his team of 2 young Turkish lads, were Jamie, David, Christine, Nanny Kay, Viv, Paul, Anna, Amanda, Greg and me – 10 of us in total. There was only Anna who I didn’t know previously. Tea and coffee was served with fresh pastries and Ivona’s home-made cookies. We had to be quick with the cookies before Nanny Kay snaffled them as she’d had them before and was rather partial. I indulged and they have got to be the best cookies I’ve ever had. The pastries weren’t too shabby either and I had 1 each of the 3 flavours. My healthy eating was definitely on the back burner for today, although I had already decided that I would curb my wine intake in an effort to limit the damage. Our first stop of the day was at Little Dalyan so that those who wanted to, could go for a walk along the beach or even chance a swim in the sea. It was too cold and blustery for me to chance it and most were content to just be there and have a leisurely walk along the beach. Amanda and I collected shells, Jamie collected glass and it was all rather pleasant. I had a bit of a shocker as I found out that Captain Caveman had lead Anna to believe I was disabled. She seemed rather impressed that I could walk on a beach and asked if I was managing ok. When I asked more, it turned out that Captain Caveman had said I ‘didn’t’ walk because of the leg injury in April 2020, which she’d interpreted as ‘couldn’t’ walk!!
We were back on the boat just before noon and I decided to take one for the team with Jamie and sample the beverages. It was the first trip of the season so we needed to check the beer was cold and the wine was up to scratch – it was. Jamie had Drew on the phone and I tried to get a photo with him on the screen. The sun was out and it had turned out quite pleasant as Ismail was getting ready to prepare our BBQ lunch. The food was incredibly good and there was certainly plenty of it for us all to have a good plateful.
After lunch we sailed up the river to the mud baths where Greg was the only one brave enough to sport his swimmers and get in the dome. Every one of the guests was lovely and it was so nice to just have a laugh with old and new friends. The boat is one of my favourites and I find the owners really respectful and humble too, which is nice. On the way back a few of us had another drink and we had a bit of music for ambience while İsmail served up an array of afternoon treats. There was some delicious homemade cake from Ivona and lots of fresh fruit. I stuck to my 3 red wines and was pleased with that. We all said our goodbyes after a lovely day and I walked back with the Aussies, where they invited me in for a gin and bitter lemon. We’d all had a great day on a lovely boat trip and, as none of us are sun worshipping types, it didn’t matter that it had not really been the best weather. Amanda and Greg had decided to stay a bit longer in Dalyan and would be here until Wednesday. After that, they would head up the West coast towards Bursa, then İstanbul.
I arrived back in Dalyan on Sunday 19th March before midday, in need of a shower, sleep and food. While I’d been away I had booked a cleaner to give the place a spruce up, it’s not expensive and she does the 3 bathrooms far better than I can. When I checked the rooms it looked fresh again. Oddly, in the biggest bedroom, there was a pink/purple stain on the bed which wasn’t there before. When I went out to collect in the washing, I noticed that the door handle on the outside fly screen had a newly broken handle too. Everything else seemed to be in order though, which was lucky as Jamie and Drew were about to pop by, just to see how I was, on their way out. I’d luckily snaffled down some fried rice and a peach flavoured quark but then I got persuaded to join them at Sofra bar.
Jamie and Drew had been in Sofra bar over the weekend and had some red wine left to finish, hence why they were only going for the one. I’d not slept much in the last 48 hours but Jamie had missed me, so I decided to go. The night turned in to one of those nights, with a few random people, but it was so much fun! There was drinking, karaoke and dancing including props such as a white curly wig and a Fire sign. Needless to say there was more red wine had by the three of us and I’m sure some cheeky whiskeys for Drew and Şükrü! There was a couple of tourists out that night who certainly got more than they bargained for and we haven’t seen them since. It was very late when we left Sofra bar and we had all had such a good time with no dramas. I’d still only spent about the equivalent of a English tenner as I’m more of a lightweight these days.
Brilliant fun on the dancefloorMore dancing in Sofra
I was starting to really like feeling fresh on a weekend after not having boozy nights out. Saturday 11th March was one of those times, which was lucky as I was off for a bit of house and dog sitting for Jamie. He and Drew were off for a cheeky night away in Fethiye. I had a banana and a linden tea then popped over to Jamie’s with my overnight bag. Norman and Edna were of course pleased to see me but they were both still a bit snoozy. The weather wasn’t good and the dogs weren’t too bothered about going out in the rain. This was good news because we were waiting for a delivery to arrive any time from 10am. I had taken over some chicken, aubergine, cauliflower and lentil curry to have for lunch and I had a treat of some nan bread to go with it. It tasted really nice and was very healthy too. I took all the ingredients to make a chicken casserole, which I did ready for dinner, with jacket potatoes. I made enough to have some another day while I had the oven on. My dinner was nice, I resisted any wine but did have cheese on toast for a snack before bed. I still had 3 days left until Fat Club but had already consumed my weekly syn allowance – I hoped a bit of dog walking would help.
There was no chance of sleeping in on Sunday 12th March. Norman and Edna were awake at 7.20am and Norman was particularly wriggly. We went downstairs for pees and poos (the dogs, not me) then I made a cup of tea. It was raining out so I didn’t take it back to bed on account of the dogs now being a little damp. The weather forecast showed it was due to rain for the next 5 days. I had strawberries, banana, fat free yoghurt and honey for breakfast with a linden tea. Norman and Edna got lots of sofa cuddles while watching TV and I didn’t even get dressed until gone 11am. The dogs looked tired and were reluctant to go for their walkies because of the rain. When we did go walking we found ourselves caught in a heavy rain shower. Norman wasn’t too bothered by it but I could sense Edna was all ready to complain to Jamie about the state of her curly ears! I got towels and dried them both but Edna did look kind of bedraggled. I gave them a treat for being good in the rain and we watched a bit of TV. I’d just warmed up a jacket potato for my lunch when Jamie and Drew arrived back. They had really enjoyed their break away too and they filled me in on their evening shenanigans. I ate my lunch while Jamie told me they had found a lovely Gay Bar in Fethiye and when I asked where it was they told me it was the Deep Blue Bar! Well, this was our favourite haunt in Fethiye where the Deep Blue Leg-ends group was formed. I was looking forward to letting fellow members Steve, Michelle, Vanessa, Matt, Mark, Kate, Ma & Pa know about it now being a Gay Bar! I packed up all my stuff and went back home, the rain wasn’t too bad and I noticed there was going to be a new fish market in the square, opposite the shoe man. It was a bit chilly back at our apartment as I started making a vegan lasagne with the left over vegan bolognese – it’s surprising how far lentils go! I also put the leftover chicken casserole in the fridge and would have it another day. The lasagne looked shoddy but it tasted really good and was filling. I was really pleased to have had a super healthy weekend and today I’d only used 1 syn for honey. Before bed, I decided to do a quick recky of where I was with my March budget so far this month. I was feeling proud of myself for having a whole weekend where I had not spent any money whatsoever. In these 12 days I’d set myself a tough target but I was so chuffed to be 297.29 lira (£12.65) under budget. I just hoped I could maintain this level of frugality and still enjoy the challenge, as I had been doing. For doing so well, I decided I was going to allow myself to spend money on something I really wanted next week, a luxury! I was so wrapped up in my frugal and healthy goings on that I almost didn’t notice that my parents had not returned from their holiday, as they should have, today!
Captain Caveman was back in Son Doong on Sunday 5th March, it was 7 years today since I did the cave trip with him! Here in Dalyan, the weather was meant to be terrible today but it wasn’t actually raining (yet). I had my cup of Yorkshire tea and strawberries with Quark for breakfast. I was also planning ahead because I’d been invited for Sunday dinner with Jamie and Drew at their villa later. Thoughtfully, they had even checked if I still wanted to have roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding due to me ‘being good’ and I obviously said that I did. I was still on half as many syns than I used to be so I figured I’d chance it. I did say I wouldn’t be joining them in drinking wine though – that would test the willpower. For lunch I had the vegan spaghetti bolognese which I was really into now, but no parmesan as I was hoping for cauliflower and broccoli cheese at Jamie’s. Just as it was time to get ready to go out the torrential rain came, Jamie offered to come and get me in the car but I borrowed Captain Caveman’s waterproof rain jacket and walked over there. I had a couple of gin and sodas but resisted wine. Jamie had been busy decorating ‘my’ bedroom and so I went to have a look. If he’d asked me my opinion on the colours pink and grey, before he started, it wouldn’t have been my thing, but it did look very nice. The Sunday dinner was devine. The starter was a really healthy soup made from broccoli, cauliflower, potato, onion, garlic and was well seasoned. For main we had chicken, the skin removed and waiting for Norman and Edna to get their chops round. I had 3 roast potatoes, 1 Yorkshire pudding, a big spoonful of cauliflower and broccoli cheese and a good portion of carrots. I really enjoyed it and we had a good laugh. Drew got rather tipsy and ended up going out to the the corner shop for more wine in his slippers, in the rain! I came home at a reasonable hour and had an early night. I’d also managed to have a really lovely Sunday, only drinking 2 gin and soda waters.
Jamie picked me up at 11am on Sunday 26th February and we took Norman and Edna for a walk on Iztuzu beach. It was nice weather and we had a lovely walk and a chat while trying to find some sticks for Edna to fetch, they were a bit sparse today though. I left my phone in my bag in the car so I didn’t take any photos, instead I focused on the positive aspects of my Sunday; getting 90 minutes of good exercise at the beach, having day 4 of no alcohol and day 2 of no meat for this week. Back in town, I called at Migros to buy more pasta and Gluten Free wraps which came to a total of 50.40 lira (£2.14) then went home for brunch. I made a makeshift pizza with the rest of the fresh bread from yesterday, then had strawberries with quark and crushed ginger biscuit. I found more positivity in the Fat Club group chat where I borrowed a Slimming World Mac n Cheese recipe to cook for dinner. Carol suggested adding extra spring onions in, which I did, and it was very tasty. I sliced up some radishes and had a couple as a snack later on.
On Monday 27th February I decided to set up a new bank account, as the one I had in the UK had been left unused for over a year and had been taking a monthly fee out of £13 per month which I hadn’t realised. I decided to put in a complaint to the bank, surely they should only be charging the fee when I’m using the account! I had cornflakes for breakfast with strawberries and a cup of Yorkshire tea. I decided I would try out another slow cooker recipe today of fried rice and it would be my first time cooking it this way. My Decluttering Bootcamp had come in handy and my towels, utility and linen cupboards were looking smashing. For lunch I had the left over healthy Mac n Cheese, then some extra cheese and membrillo. Although it was my 5th day of no alcohol this week, I didn’t manage to do any exercise and the experimental slow cooker fried rice was not as good as doing it in a frying pan. Still, I’d made loads so I ate some and froze the rest.
I was up early on Tuesday 28th February and was aware that the internet was due to expire at any time today. I had the usual cup of tea and a bowl of cornflakes for breakfast but I had only just realised that cornflakes were not allowed as part of the Slimming World plan as a Healthy B option, and that I should have been using syns for these. If only I’d bought bran flakes or Special K instead, they would have been allowed. Now I had a massive bag of cornflakes and I wasn’t about to waste them. I took a walk to Captainnet and paid 400 lira (£16.92) for 2 months of internet. The lady in the shop said I could pay in advance to secure the rest of the year at the same price but I still wasn’t sure which months I wouldn’t be here for. Already, in Dalyan, there were more price increases and if I wanted to eat or drink out I was going to have to budget very wisely. A lot of venues would be reopening in March and April and were putting out their new price lists ready for the start of tourist season. For lunch I had a gluten free wrap pizza with green peppers, mushrooms, sweetcorn and cheddar cheese sprinkled on. I had strawberries and quark for afters and I was feeling optimistic for weigh day tomorrow at Fat Club. I had also managed 6 days this week without alcohol, 6 days of exercise and 2 days of no meat. In the afternoon I had another walk and called at the pharmacy to pick up 3 more months worth of contraceptive pills. It came to 470 lira (£19.88) but confused me because the total wasn’t even divisible by 3. I bought a small wholemeal sliced loaf at Bim supermarket (11.50 lira which is less than 50p) as it’s better for me, and I didn’t even look for any chocolate treats. On the way past the butcher’s I could not resist and bought a whole cooked chicken for 100 lira (£4.23). I bought fresh bread at 5 lira (21p) and called in to the corner shop for another filtered water which is 30 lira (£1.27) for 19 litres. You can drink the tap water safely here but I prefer to use the filtered water cooler because my stomach isn’t used to the high mineral content and I prefer to have less scum on top of my hot drinks. I had the most tastiest dinner of the freshly cooked chicken, red and green peppers, carrots, spring onion, radishes and bread with Becel spread on. At 8.30pm I had an overdue video call with Vanessa, she’d been having a busy week in England and we hadn’t even caught up on our Turkish homework. We had a good chat for a while with lots of news to tell each other about. When I came off the phone I realised I’d eaten a small jar of radishes, which I’d absentmindedly been shoving in my mouth.
Sunday 19th February was a lovely day all round. It was still dark when I set up my makeshift dining area, ready for my first Sunday dinner with 4 guests. Some had doubted I’d get everyone in, in our small apartment, but I’d squeezed in 7 for a curry night once, although that was a bit too much and we didn’t have enough spare chairs. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and some fruit to start my day off then took a trip to the shop. Here’s what I bought, some of which I needed for today, with the prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket
Fresh ginger 4.00 Fresh bread 5.00 Bottle of water 5.45 Becel spread 17.45 6 bottles of soda water 18.75 Flour 19.50 White beans 27.90 Fresh milk 28.90 Fabric softener 41.50 Falafel 49.90 3 tins of tomatoes 59.76 Toilet roll 68.90 Chicken breasts 78.45 500g Diced beef 82.00 Total spent 507.46 lira (£22.26)
I called at the corner shop to chase up what had happened to my water refill and they had forgotten again. They promised it would be there by noon and it was. Jamie was the first to arrive with his leek and potato soup and a bottle of water with cordial in. Next was Matt with his slippers and he grabbed the orange chair so he could pop them on. Mark and Kate arrived late and hungover after Sofra last night. Kate had brought orange juice and soda water as she wasn’t drinking alcohol today. She’d also brought a huge fruit salad for dessert. Luckily, I had got some cream and some ice-cream at the ready. Mark brought some cans of Efes and had them in a cooler but he too wasn’t feeling like drinking much. I had been looking forward to wine today and had opened a bottle of Tılsım, just for me by the looks of it! After a bit of a chat I warmed up Jamie’s soup in the Pampered Chef jug that he said was microwave friendly. Unfortunately it wasn’t and the handle melted so we had to resort to the good old fashioned pan method. In the to-do I forgot to get the butter out of the fridge but no one commented as we ate the soup and dry bread. Jamie’s soup was packed full of extra veggies and tasted really good. Our next course was more of a chicken casserole with carrots, onion, leeks and boiled potatoes. I served this with Yorkshire puddings and mini jacket potatoes so that it was more diet friendly than a usual roast dinner. Kate had brought some stuffing to accompany it and I’d made a chicken gravy from my own stock for those that wanted it. For afters we were ate the fruit salad with different combinations of toppings (crumbled ginger biscuits, ice-cream and cream). It was a lovely get together and Mark did quite a bit of the washing up and clearing/rinsing the plates as he likes a tidy ship. Once everyone had gone I finished the wine off and chilled out on the sofa for the rest of the day.
I was back home in Dalyan before 11am on Sunday 12th February and I could not wait to get a shower and have a sleep! I’d had a short spell away from Dalyan and had been gone for 37 hours. After a cup of Yorkshire tea, I showered first then took out my leftover Sunday dinner (from Lukka bar last week) from the freezer. Next, I cooked and ate some mantı, a Turkish ravioli, as I was starving. Once in bed, I turned my phone on to Do not Disturb, I set my alarm for 7pm so that I could sleep for 7 hours then eat dinner and go back to bed. At 7pm I put my Sunday dinner in the oven and added some additional sucuk, Turkish salami, to the chopped sprouts to make them a bit tastier. I also made up some gravy from an Oxo cube to freshen up and keep the beef moist. It was an absolute delight, my evening was relaxed and I was back in bed by midnight.
It was very cold when I got up at 7.30am on Sunday 5th February. Norman and Edna were still snoozy and Little Ted had slept longer than yesterday. Teddy was a bit overexcited to see me and accidentally caught my lip with his mouth when he was trying to give me kisses. It hurt but it didn’t draw blood so I thought I’d be ok. While I had my cup of tea, all 3 dogs wanted cuddles and they had to share me, begrudgingly. Norman, Little Ted and I were all squeezed in to the arm chair where the dogs had a nice little nap. I didn’t have chance for any breakfast! Every time Norman snored, Little Ted raised his head in a disapproving manner which was funny.
I decided to try walking all 3 of the dogs together but when I went to get my shoes I’d made a massive error. I’d left them out and at some point, Teddy had chewed them. Luckily I had brought another pair of shoes with me as I had an important lunch date that I didn’t want to miss. The walk with 3 dogs was hilarious and I looked like I was going to get tangled up at one point. I’m sure I heard Edna say to Norman ‘Come back, Charlie’. Little Ted was just happy to be out with his new pals and wanted to jump up a lot. I got back, hoping for a shower but the water was off and I looked a state – I didn’t even have any wet wipes. I used the filter water to clean my teeth and wash my face but that would have to do. The rain was torrential just at the time that I needed to leave, and the water came back on as I was going.
Video of Teddy being a bit friendly with his toy
Lukka bar had reopened this weekend and was doing Sunday lunch today. I’d already asked some friends if they fancied it and I’d remembered that Vanessa’s son, Brad, loved a Sunday dinner as she had mentioned they often go out together for one in the UK. We had all pre ordered our meals and agreed to meet at 2pm at Lukka bar. The Beef Sunday dinner was 255 lira (£11.10), the chicken dinner is only 185 lira (£8.05). The portion size is massive so I took Tupperware for any leftovers (I hate wasting food and money). On arrival, Linda and I decided to splash out on a bottle of red wine between us, Nanny Kay was driving so had a soft drink. Brad arrived extremely apologetic having not been able to find where Vanessa had hidden the house keys, making him a tad late. He ordered a beer and I introduced him to Linda and Nanny Kay. Linda and I had lots of cat talk as she was looking after Kate’s 6 cats for the first time in ages and had taken over from Vinnie. When the food came it looked fantastic, there was no cheese sauce on the cauliflower, as advertised, and I had my gravy on the side so I could do damage limitations on my Slimming World diet. Nanny Kay was short on carrots and the Brussel sprouts could do with a few minutes more cooking as they were too hard, so I let the waiter know for future diners. The Yorkshire puddings are phenomenal and the biggest I’ve ever had, this is a good recommendation to a Turkish chef from a Yorkshire lass, who hasn’t been to England for 13 months. I thoroughly enjoyed the dinner and the company, we had a break before dessert where I filled my Tupperware with half of my dinner, plus the others’ spare sprouts and Nanny Kay’s left over Yorkshire pud. I had a smaller Tupperware which I intended the apple crumble to go in, however, when it came I couldn’t resist it. We’d all had a jolly good time but the rain was threatening again so we said our farewells. Nanny Kay drove home, Linda cycled to Mark and Kate’s and, as you may have guessed, Brad and I decided we could probably have another drink!
Brad kindly agreed to a dog walk, to walk off a bit of our Sunday dinner and get some exercise for his recovering knee. I had to call in to Captain Caveman’s apartment briefly on the way. As I pointed out to duck under the rose thorns, Brad snapped the stems with his bare hands and tucked them in to the plant – that was that problem solved! We went to Jamie’s and collected all 3 dogs who were obviously pleased to be getting out after being left for 3 hours, Little Ted in his crate. When I told them we would have a walk to the Waterfall, Edna was beside herself with excitement at the chance to see Skippy. Little Ted didn’t remember what Waterfall meant but was enthusiastic regardless. After a walk around the block and round by Poo corner we arrived at the Waterfall. All the dogs were made welcome and a fuss made of them but Skippy wasn’t there to see that I’d not shrunk Norman. Brad and I got chatting, the dogs were quite happy and we ended up having a couple more drinks in the Waterfall where it was toasty warm. We were reassuring ourselves that we were quite fortunate not to be on the all inclusive-big-bender weekend for Alp’s birthday. We knew that without our partners there we’d probably have had alcohol poisoning by now, as well as putting on loads of weight from the all you can eat food! We had a good laugh and when it got to the dog’s dinner time we decided to grab more drinks and go back to Jamie’s.
I never thought to offer Brad the WiFi password at Jamie’s villa and we were just so busy chatting that we didn’t check our phones. After more red wine for me and beer for Brad I decided to do us a curry for dinner. I was a bit drunk and had to do the rice in a pan for the first time in years, the curry was a vegetarian Dahl type so I chucked in some leftover cooked chicken from Jamie’s fridge. It was pretty good and we ate it all, as if we’d not already had a big lunch! We didn’t realise the time until Vanessa messaged to check Brad was ok! As no one had heard from him, and he’d only gone out for Sunday lunch with the ‘oldies’ at 2pm, there were concerns from his girlfriend and parents. It was after midnight when Brad left and I told him to message me once he got home. I got in bed and fell asleep before seeing that message.
On Saturday 28th January the day had come for me to say bye to Charlie. After 60 days with him we’d become very close and I was going to be sad to hand him over to Gill. Gill had finally managed to get to Turkey after a very turbulent flight via Greece and was going to be in at 4pm for me to drop Charlie at her place. Captain Caveman had gone back in to Son Doong and was due back on Tuesday but he’d managed to see Charlie in a video call. We both loved Charlie and I knew I would miss him as much as Captain Caveman already did. I had extra snuggles with Charlie that morning, the weather was still awful but we did manage another jog round the block. This was my 4th consecutive day of actual jogging but today I made the mistake of forgetting to put my bra on. Unfortunately, the Turkish neighbour across from me saw me set off jogging and was spurring me on so I couldn’t turn back. I looked and felt like I was going to collapse when I got back and we’d only been to Poo Corner and around the block. I spent most of the day packing stuff and wondering how I’d managed to have so much stuff, there was even some clothes left of Captain Caveman’s and it was going to take me lots of trips – not ideal in the rain. Around lunchtime I got a message from Jamie to say he and Drew would come over at 4pm to help me move all my stuff by car and they were happy to come with me to drop Charlie off at Gill’s too. I was so grateful and accepted the kind offer straight away. I’d already packed everything in easy to carry batches thinking I’d be taking it over manually so now I got on with stripping the bedding and washing the sheets and towels. By 1pm the sun was back out and Charlie was sunbathing in a chair on the roof terrace for the last time. Although it was market day, I didn’t bother, due to the fact it would be more to carry between houses and I had enough to do with cleaning Helen and Abi’s place.
At 4pm prompt, Jamie and Drew arrived and we decided to take Charlie with us and drop him off before going to mine. Jamie and Drew did most of the lifting and were super helpful. When we got to Gill’s, Charlie was excited to see Missy, Gill’s dog, and was off running around the garden like a mad thing. There was no time for tears as I gave Gill some of Charlie’s things, explained I needed to pop back tomorrow to put the rest of the washing out at Helen and Abi’s, then I would drop her the keys and Charlie’s toys which were being washed. Charlie didn’t even come to say bye, he didn’t look at me and I felt like a mom dropping her kid off at school! We drove to mine and brought all of my stuff up in one go between the 3 of us. I was just mentioning we should go for a beverage but, as they had the car we said we’d do it another time. I popped to Captainnet, the internet provider, to get my internet renewed as that was due to expire tomorrow but they don’t open on Sundays. It was now 200 lira (£8.82) per month for the package I was on and had increased by 14% this year. I called in to Bim supermarket on the way home to check for Dairy Milk chocolate but there was still none. Back home, I took photos of the entrance to the apartments. The thorny rose bushes from B1 were now right across the path at head height and we had needed to duck under them. This was certainly a hazard in the dark and I don’t know why the people living in B4 had not cut or moved them, especially as they are bigger than me. I realised I’d not eaten much today and felt a bit peckish so I popped some chestnuts in the oven. I had a nice cup of Yorkshire tea while I waited for them to cook then took my cooked chestnuts in a bowl covered in foil over to Jamie’s. The dogs were on the sofa and were pleased to see me, as usual. Drew dropped me back home around 10.30pm, after a chilled evening with the pooches, and I made a pizza from a wrap and snaffled it down.
On the morning of Sunday 29th January I was up early, having been so used to getting up to let at least one dog out. It was a bit sad not having Charlie with me but I was happy he was living in a big house with a gorgeous garden and a playmate. I was also looking forward to not having to worry about looking after a dog and getting back to earning some cash and doing some more work, hopefully very soon. I went over to Helen and Abi’s to hang out the rest of the washing and collect Charlie’s stuff that I’d not yet brought to Gill’s house. After dropping bags back off at mine, I was in a rush to meet Nanny Kay who was picking me up outside Lukka bar at 1pm for a quick drive to Ortaca. Nanny Kay dropped me back in Dalyan, somewhere in Gülpınar but I didn’t recognise where I was in relation to my next appointment. So I ended up walking past my parents’ and back round to Vanessa’s. Her kettle was broken so we had no option but to have a wine and soda (or 2) and we prattled on while Matt was trying to fix a printer and Brad, their son, was resting up from a knee op and playing video games. To give Matt and Brad’s ears a rest, Vanessa came with me when I went to take Charlie’s stuff to Gill’s, calling at mine on the way to pick it up. Gill invited us in and we had a nice cup of tea while Charlie came for some fuss. He looked well and I could tell he seemed happy to be at Gill’s with Missy. I handed the keys over and asked if Gill would mind bringing in the bedding once it had dried. She was also going to go over there and turn off the electric and empty the fridge freezer as there was still a fair bit of food in there that I’d not managed to eat. The sun had been shining but, as Vanessa and I walked back in to town, planning on calling for a drink somewhere, it was getting quite chilly. Instead, we went to mine where we had half a bottle of white wine in the fridge and a soda water. It was gone 7pm when Vanessa left to go home but we’d had a good catch up. That evening I made another one of the pizzas on a wrap and had an early night. The smell of cat pee in the stair well was very strong so I was very glad of my reed diffuser gift from Ghislaine which was scented with Jasmine. It was nice to be back home, though.
Saturday 21st January was Tet Eve in Vietnam and Captain Caveman was enjoying some time off. I had extra Charlie cuddles until 10.30am and then decided I didn’t actually need anything from the market. I still had quite a bit left in the fridge so was going to leave it until next week. The weather was nice so we got a couple of walks in and I arranged to have a meal with Jamie and Katrina later at home. I didn’t even go to Rehab to see the pool group, Kate had gone to England for a week this afternoon so I thought a chilled out day would be good. Around 6.30pm I went over to Jamie’s to pick up the rest of my things and he showed me the new beds which had been delivered. ‘My room’ now had a lovely, comfy, anti static with washable topper, divan bed. I couldn’t wait to dog sit again to try out the new bed and I was booked in again in early February. At 7pm Jamie, Katrina and Joseph came upstairs and we were going to order food from China Town. I got handed a lovely gift from Jamie’s Mauritius holiday of a set of spices and a beer – a perfect gift for me! Jamie and I had brought a bottle each of Tılsım, he’d brought diet coke, and I’d got some Sprite. Unfortunately, because there was no TV in the living room, we decided to move to Katrina’s so that Joseph had something to watch. This helped because Katrina has bigger wine glasses and a dish washer so we took the drinks down and Katrina put the order through for delivery. Katrina has a puppy called Teddy, and he’s really cute. In the relocation I left my purse and phone upstairs so I didn’t take any photos and Jamie had to lend me the cash for my meal of sweet and sour chicken with fried rice. I shared the prawn crackers and had a few chips too and it was so good, but obviously not Slimming World friendly. I’d had a good evening but was glad to get to bed, even Charlie was still sofa snoozing when I got home.
While Vietnam was celebrating the first day of Tet on Sunday 22nd January, Jamie and I had planned to take the dogs to the beach. He picked me up at 11am from Charlie’s and we called downstairs to pick up Teddy, Katrina’s King Charles Cavelier puppy. We had a nice walk on the beach but not too far because Teddy’s little legs wouldn’t take him as far as we would normally go. It was his first time on the beach and he was so cute, the other dogs didn’t seem keen on him though. I didn’t get as many photos as I’d have liked due to having to keep an eye on the dogs a bit more with 4 of them. In the car on the way back, Norman and Edna in the back, Charlie, Teddy and I on the back seat and (obviously) Jamie driving, Charlie got car sick. Jamie had to stop the car because I was holding Teddy on my lap. As soon as Charlie got out, he was fine but then some street dogs tried to frighten Charlie and Jamie. All the time Teddy was like a little Scrappy Doo from Scooby Doo and wanted to get loose. Back home I had a quick lunch of hotdogs on fresh bread with ketchup because I fancied it. I had a homemade chicken and aubergine curry for dinner, with Kate’s lemon drizzle cake for afters. Fat Club next week was certainly going to be interesting as, not only was I having less exercise without the 2 additional dogs, I kept eating things that were probably not quite within the Slimming World plan. That evening Charlie was so sweet and wanted lots of cuddles, if I stopped stroking him he kept tapping my arm for more! It was going to be hard saying bye to him, once Helen and Abi were back.
On Monday 16th January Captain Caveman was due out of the cave and was taking himself off on a pre Tet holiday. Here in Dalyan, the weather was sunny and around 22°C but rain was due again tomorrow. I did quite a lot of editing in the morning after walking the dogs and then found Charlie had tried to go back to bed for a siesta. Kate and I had decided to make the most of the nice weather and had arranged to meet for lunch at 12.30pm at Egehan again. Gino at Egehan gave us a lovely warm welcome and he even gave Kate’s bike a thorough wash as it was very muddy. Kate had beer, I had a glass of red wine which was rather smooth and we both ordered pasta dishes this time. The food was lovely, as we sat in the suntrap outside by the pool. Kate had made a lemon drizzle cake for me for my birthday and she’d brought it along. We worked out how to cut it up in to pieces which would be around 10 syns each and I would pop some in the freezer too.
I seemed to be attracting abandoned dogs as, at Tez bar, one which looked a bit like a ginger Charlie came over. When the weather got cold, and Mark had come to join us, I popped back to Captain Caveman’s apartment to put most of my lemon drizzle cake in the freezer, put a coat on and grab a pair of leggings for Kate to borrow. I left just after 6pm so I could feed the dogs and walk them again. On my way back to Jamie’s I called in to Migros Supermarket where I bought filo pastry sheets, frozen sweetcorn and toilet rolls for a total of 136.60 lira (£6). For dinner I put a pie in the oven and started looking at flights to Vietnam. While the pooches all slept on the sofa I found Emirates to be the cheapest on the search I did. When my pie was ready Charlie showed that he desperately wanted some by sitting underneath the oven, then climbed on the sofa to try to get a piece. I didn’t give him any as I didn’t think it would be good for him and the other dogs would want some too if I did.
I went back to bed with a cup of tea and 3 dogs on Tuesday 17th January. Norman and Charlie were getting friendlier and it was a good job, as rain looked imminent. Captain Caveman was on holiday in Hue for a few days but would be going to Hoi An soon to meet friends. I had pie for lunch but in the afternoon I couldn’t make it in time for Singing group as I had to walk the dogs and get to Tez for a birthday celebration. It was Jackie’s birthday and I’d mistakenly thought her birthday was tomorrow. I hurried to walk the dogs and call at the bank but got there for 4pm, just before it started to rain. Quite a few of us were at Tez bar, including Vanessa, Matt, Mark, Kate, Cath & Keith and a few of the other regular ‘Tez-pats’. We had to move inside when it started lashing it down so it was quite cosy, but Vanessa’s coat got soaked.
Jackie, Chris, Amanda, Jeff, Gay Gaz and I all went on to Kordon for a meal while the rest stayed in Tez and then went home. I had lentil soup to start which I really enjoyed and the Gorgonzola chicken for main. Jackie had recommended the dish, it was fantastic and enough to take half home. I had a glass of wine too and my bill came to 450 lira (£20) which was good value but more than I’d normally spend on a Tuesday evening dinner and drinks. We were still eating our meals when Cath joined us and had a bit of Chris’s mixed casserole. After a rather lovely birthday meal I said goodnight to the others and we left Cath with Gay Gaz heading to Jiks for shots, as I went back to Jamie’s to check on the 3 dogs.
Wednesday 18th January was rainy so, after letting the dogs out in to the garden, feeding them and making a cup of tea, we all went back to bed for an hour. I had just strawberries for breakfast and stayed in my PJs while the rain was so heavy. All 3 dogs were waiting for it to stop raining so that we could go for a nice walk and they looked a bit fed up. In the morning I finished all my editing for this particular stretch and I was looking forward to getting more done during Tet. I had more pie for lunch and there was no Fat Club due to the bad weather. I was keen to know my weight this week, though, so I got on Jamie’s scales. Obviously the scales are different to Carol’s at Fat Club but it showed 0.1kg less than last week. Pleased with this I walked the dogs then had some lemon drizzle cake for a snack. The dogs were getting along much better now and were definitely friends, which was nice. I did a Slimming World friendly pizza for dinner but then later had some cheese and membrillo. I watched some TV and it was nice to see Norman and Charlie had become closer now too.
Captain Caveman had gone in to the cave by the time I woke up on Friday 13th January at 8am. I walked and fed the dogs and then waited for Louisa to get up for breakfast. I was a bit woolly headed after last night’s birthday celebrations which I’d really enjoyed. When Louisa emerged, I had started to need to go back to bed and she didn’t fancy any breakfast. Her taxi with Fikri was coming at 12.30pm and she intended to have a KFC at the airport on her way home. We said our goodbyes and made some arrangements that we might be able to see each other again in April. I was hungover so I had an easy day at Jamie’s with the dogs and watched a bit of TV. Unfortunately, Louisa found that the KFC in Dalaman airport wasn’t open so she didn’t get any breakfast or lunch. She’d also left some pistachio chocolate and a packet of ketchup flavoured crisps at Jamie’s, which would have come in handy. I got a mystery meal out of the freezer for dinner which turned out to be a nice chicken and mushroom concoction and I ate it with steamed rice. I was in bed by 8pm, absolutely done in!
I’d been looking after Charlie for over 6 weeks now and he was running out of his biscuits. I messaged Helen on Saturday 14th January to check where I should get more from and how much they were. When I’d googled getting the same 15kg bag that was now almost empty it was over 600 lira (£26.62) which seemed expensive to me as it was more than I spend on my weekly shopping. Helen replied to say she usually got it from Muğla so I decided to see if I could just get a few kilos for the time being. Neither pet shop I checked had the ones Charlie currently had so I didn’t get anything as I needed to check with Helen first. I needed to get back to the laptop in the afternoon but I spent the rest of my lunch break stocking back up at the supermarket and the weekly market. There was a young girl in a toy car at the market, which looked like a good way to navigate the stalls. Here’s what I bought in the supermarkets and prices in lira:
Migros Supermarket 1 carrier bag 0.25 6 Eggs 22.45 Cheese balls 53.25 540g chicken breast 57.73 1kg chicken thighs 81.25 Total spent 214.93 lira (£9.53)
I forgot to write down exactly what I bought and spent in the market but I did get myself some chestnuts and a punnet of strawberries as a treat and I rarely spend over 150 lira (£6.58) there. When I got home I had a nice message from Vanessa asking when I’d be able to meet up as I’d not seen her since Tuesday and I said I’d try for tomorrow. I made chicken fried rice for dinner and had dog snuggles. All 3 dogs were asleep by 9pm but I stayed awake watching TV. At 11pm I remembered I had chestnuts and had some of those.
I had to do some editing again on Sunday 15th January so the dogs were quite happy to relax with each other after their morning walk. I’d been upstairs for a couple of minutes but when I came back Norman was checking my diary to see if he was featured in this blog that he’d heard mentioned. I found a pizza stone in the cupboard so I made diet pizza for lunch and had some strawberries to snack on. On our afternoon walk Milo, who was still camping out at Manuela apartments, joined us and then another stray dog came along. I had 5 dogs on the walk at one point and got myself a bit of a sweat and a thirst up. So much so that when Charlie, Norman and Edna decided they wanted to pop in to Waterfall to see Skippy, I didn’t object. I was thirsty so I had a beer but I really did need to get back on the diet again. Back at Jamie’s, I had chicken fried rice for dinner and then the cutest thing happened; Charlie and Edna were holding hands (touching paws) while they slept on the sofa.
joloyolo 