Dalyan – 12th & 13th January

It rained heavily all day on Sunday 12th January and I had trouble getting Lady C out for a walk. Once she was out though, she discovered she liked a bit of sploshing in puddles and I had to dry her off with a towel which the damp cats had been on. She was not impressed and demanded snacks! I had more juicy oranges and pink grapefruit for breakfast, vegetable soup for lunch and peanuts for snacks. I did a few enquiries for work but I had a feeling they were time wasters – it’s hard to tell. I defrosted a chicken casserole for dinner and had it with slow cooker cauliflower cheese as I had so much cauliflower. It was very tasty and I really enjoyed a wet wintery day indoors.

Gratitude List
1. Good homemade food
2. Being warm in the AC
3. Sploshing in puddles.

Monday 13th January was a busy working day and I was loving having the new Resort Experts quote tool. It was reducing the time I was spending producing quotes. I was up very early, it finally stopped raining and I managed to get Lady C out but she didn’t want to go far. She wouldn’t go in the direction of the bin, when I needed to put some rubbish in, so I hooked her on to the gate – she wasn’t impressed. We met up with a dog who had been abandoned, Chico, who started to join our walks. Luckily, a kind Turkish lady was feeding her and let her shelter on her balcony when it rained.

I was also playing catch up because of taking some time off at the weekend. Unfortunately, I got a message from The Aussies to say they were leaving at 7am tomorrow and wanted to meet up today to say bye but I just didn’t have time. I barely had chance to go to the corner shop to buy some provisions, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Fresh bread 10.00
1 Açma & 1 simit 70.00
1 tin of Heinz beans 57.50
Red cheese 133.00
Total spent 270.50 lira (£6.15)

I worked most of the day, had a couple of rain dodging short dog walks and ate the same as what I had yesterday for lunch and dinner – I do love a batch cook to free up time.

Gratitude List
1. Buying treats of baked beans and cheese!!!!
2. More genuine Resort Experts enquiries coming through
3. Time saving solutions.

Dalyan – 5th January

There was no official Sunday walk on Sunday 5th January, as Captain Caveman had now left Dalyan and there was no one else willing/available to take on the task of organising one this week. I’d decided I would not always be free as I worked some weekends and I also was a bit of a fair-weather girl who couldn’t read a map. The sun was out and so when I got up and had my cup of tea, I messaged Debbie and Janet to see if they were going on a walk. They said they were up for a short stroll and Debbie let Sezgin and Nur know too so we could meet at the tea gardens at 11am. It turned in to a bit of a Secret Squirrel Sunday walk, quite by chance. We all started off togged up in many layers, as it was a very cold morning despite the sun. We had lost one walker before leaving the Mosque Square and we watched some stand up paddle boarders on the river. One of them fell in, which must have been a bit refreshing for them. By 12.45pm I had taken so many layers off that my bag was full of clothes and I had very hot feet. I was wearing Captain Caveman’s wool socks with my wellies to make them comfier. We went to the tea gardens afterwards and had a hot beverage and a bit of a laugh.

After the walk, I went to the shops to stock up, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;

Bakery
1 fresh loaf 10.00
1 açma 15.00
Total spent 25.00 lira (57p)

Migros Supermarket
2 red onions 10.72
1 chocolate bar 14.40
Spring onions 34.94
1.2kg carrots 64.84
720g sweet potatoes 71.96
3 Quark 89.95
Spray olive oil 129.95
705g chicken breasts 105.72
912g chicken thighs 184.64
Total spent 707.15 lira (£16.07)

When I got home, Captain Caveman had been busy setting up a Facebook Group and had invited me to be the admin on it. I treated myself to the açma with kaymak and jam for my brunch and made a chicken casserole in the slow cooker for dinner. The weather forecast was looking bad again for next week so I got on with work and then started looking at my own holidays. I had a quick look at costs of package holidays to Marrakech in February and saw one at £229 per person from Gatwick, hand luggage only but staying at a nice place with a pool. Captain Caveman thought this was a bit pricey and I looked at flights which came up at a bargain £35 return from Gatwick. I would still have to add my flights from Turkey to the UK on top of that, though. I went to bed thinking of a weekend in Marrakech and knowing the sales course I was on tomorrow had come at a good time.

Gratitude List
1. The Secret Squirrel Sunday Walk
2. Bargain chicken from Migros
3. Captain Caveman including me in his projects and plans.

Photo credit – some photos by Debbie W

Dalyan – 29th December

Captain Caveman was really looking forward to the Sunday Walk on Sunday 29th December, and it would be his last one in Dalyan for some time. This also meant that he didn’t care if it was going to be raining or if he had to do it alone. I, on the other hand, had hoped to join but still had a bad back and was super tired so I decided the wet weather was going to put me off. I felt bad as I had said to people I was going to go, even if I had to do the adapted easier route. Captain Caveman left and I decided to clean the house and wash the sofa throws, as they still had dog hairs on from Norman and Edna’s visit. After that, I spent time in my new office, sipping sage tea and looking out at the clouds. Before midday I decided to venture out and go to the Kaunos tea garden to meet Captain Caveman and any fellow walkers. As I went to leave, the heavens opened and I had to retreat to get an umbrella. When I arrived, I met a couple of people who had also missed the walk as they mistakenly thought it had started at 10am and we had a cup of Turkish tea and ordered some lunch. I decided to have a spinach gözleme and it was really tasty. When Captain Caveman and his fellow walkers arrived they were wet and very cold looking – I was also surprised at how many people had turned up. Captain Caveman ordered a large tea and a mixed toastie and I think he was relieved that I had already had a Turkish pancake so that he didn’t have to share. I paid the bill at the tea gardens and said goodbye to the hardcore walkers. Here’s the prices in lira;

Kaunos Tea Garden
2 large Turkish teas 30.00
1 mixed toastie 100.00
1 spinach gözleme 150.00
Total spent 280.00 lira (£6.35)

Back at home, Captain Caveman had a hot shower and I had to get a spare quilt out for him to have on the sofa, as he was still shivering. It also meant that he was out of action to help with the rest of the cleaning – highly convenient when he had invited a couple of friends over to say farewell to tonight.
At 7pm our guests arrived; bringing chocolate cookies, wine, beer and nice wintery wine glasses. We did a little buffet with pastries (börek), veg, dips, crisps, nuts, olives, cheese and crackers which went down well but I got laughed at by the Turkish guests for not making my own Turkish pastries and dips. Captain Caveman was sad to be leaving, he had made some lovely friends from doing the Sunday Walks and Bridge club. It turned out to be a really nice evening, although we only just had enough chairs for everyone.

Photo Credit – Captain Caveman and some of the Sunday Walk group

Dalyan – 15th December

There was a bit of excitement in our day on the morning of Sunday 15th December when we decided we would take Norman and Edna on the Sunday Walk which Captain Caveman had organised. Norman had been so sprightly lately so we thought we would give it a try and if he got tired then I would go back with him, or even both, dogs. It was very cold at 7am when I woke up but it would be a whopping 9°C by 9am. I forgot to have breakfast but I had a couple of cups of tea. It had been a month since my parents had left and I hadn’t spoken to them on the phone yet. I missed them not being on the Sunday walk so that I could have an excuse to be the fat, slow one at the back. On the walk today was a nice small group and I enjoyed our very nice walk until we got to a muddy patch. I had my trainers on that are not suitable so I moaned that I would turn back around with Norman and go home. Norman joined in and decided he didn’t want to go through the big puddle either so Captain Caveman came back, carried Norman over and then offered to carry me over it. I went across and was fine after that, despite soaking socks and Norman pulling to try to get in to the front again. We even got another dog, Chezza, joining us who protected us from any of the street dogs. At the end of the walk we went to the Kaunos tea gardens for a beverage and the big dog, Chezza, got in the river while Norman and Edna had a drink of water from my bottle. We sat on the wall as dogs aren’t allowed at the tea gardens and we had 3 teas for 40 lira (less than a pound). Edna got cocky and decided to see Chezza off so he left and then we all walked back home.

We had leek & potato soup for lunch with bread and then I ate a banana as a snack. I got on with work for a bit and Captain Caveman lay on the sofa with the dogs for the rest of the day. He said he didn’t feel well and he was incredibly snotty and sneezy. I made a chicken casserole for dinner with stuffing, Yorkshire puddings, carrots, onions, green beans, cabbage and roast potatoes. This did mean that I had gone quite a bit over the syns this week and was on 299 syns. I had a really nice surprise from my parents when they sent me some Christmas money, this made me a bit emotional and I promised to spend it on something nice, rather than something essential. At first I had thought I might use it to get my hair done because I had not had it done since June but I decided it wasn’t a priority and I could always wear a hat! I worked quite late as we had received a warning that there may be a planned power outage tomorrow so I wanted to be prepared.

Dalyan – 7th & 8th December

It wasn’t raining on Saturday 7th December but it had been forecast and was pretty cold and grey outside. The builders didn’t come and, apart from a walk with dogs, we didn’t do much – not even the market!
I had overnight oats for breakfast and the usual cup of tea. We had Captain Caveman’s vegetable soup for lunch with the vermicelli pieces in and that really is a game changer. It’s free on Slimming World and really fills you up for a bit longer without going mad on the carbs. We had banana bread after and we decided it might be a bit moist in the middle but I would use less egg in it next time.
I did a little bit of work, but mainly searching for holidays which I would like to go on myself and flights to Vietnam for next year.
Our dinner was the leftover chickpea and spinach curry with a bit of başlamak bread.

The Sunday Walk was postponed to Wednesday on Sunday 8th December due to the weather. It was wet and forecast to be rainy for the next 3 days. I’d been doing quite well sticking to the Slimming World plan this week but for breakfast I had banana bread with Nutella on it and it was so good. I worked as I was still trying hard to increase the amount of Facebook followers I had on my Jo Lo Resort Experts page. My favourite colleague already had over 1000 and I had just hit the 200 marker. I was pleased with this but needed more and, when I checked who was following me, I was surprised to see it was still mainly strangers rather than all the friends I had asked. Today I decided to focus on the best cities for Solo Travellers as a lot of my followers were people who travelled alone, for various reasons. I was also surprised to see that I had only been to 5 out of the 10 listed on a travel website and I wasn’t sure it was accurate. I mulled over which ones I would like to go to.
By midday I had decided to try working in the bedroom using a patio chair, as my back was really hurting. The rain came quite heavy as I toiled away at the laptop, hoping to attract lots of potential customers with my creative social media posts.
For lunch Captain Caveman made us chicken sandwiches and then we took the dogs out for a walk, in the rain! They were not too impressed when they got back and were made to dry off in their bed with the dog towels – another complaint added to their list!
While doing some social media posts in the afternoon, I noticed a free event with Charlie Day of Sales Made Easy. I follow her on Facebook as she is always flying business class and makes a lot of money with her new online sales business. She was hosting a 3 day online Sales Summit and I decided to sign up. I booked it in my diary to attend next week, starting from Tuesday. It had been a tough year work-wise and, with Captain Caveman still looking at his work options, I had decided that I didn’t want to be in this same position, this time next year.
While I worked more, Captain Caveman made pasta for dinner which was very tasty and I was now on 152 syns for the week, which was not as good as last week at this point and I needed to keep on track.

Dalyan – 1st December

Sunday 1st December was the day of the Çalış Winter Fayre which a few of the Dalyan Dwellers were going to. We didn’t fancy it as we were being frugal with the housekeeping and we didn’t want to leave Norman and Edna for too long home alone.
The electricity was off from 4am until 8am so Captain Caveman dealt with cups of tea and dogs, but we were lucky. Rhodes had suffered from terrible storms, floods and even landslides – posts on Facebook were asking for help and showed quite a lot of devastation, in particular where I had been on holiday with the girls in September.

I had cornflakes for breakfast and later some bread and butter which meant I had hit my syn allowance for this week already. It was quite chilly as Captain Caveman went off for his Sunday Walk without me. I didn’t fancy it and had work to do. I spent the day with the dogs, mostly indoors at Jamie’s as there were no builders in today and it was raining quite a bit. Captain Caveman returned from the walk only having had 2 of them do it today, he had gone via Fire Opal for a hot shower.

For lunch we had left over curry and rice and I did a bit of writing. I found a blanket to cover Captain Caveman and me, but Norman and Edna had other ideas. All 3 of them had sofa cuddles and I made lasagne with roast potatoes and cabbage for dinner. After what had been a trying month, I decided I needed to have a more grateful attitude as I was very lucky to be in the position I was, right now, even though it sometimes didn’t feel like it.

Photo credit – some from the Sunday Walkers/Captain Caveman

Dalyan – 24th November

While Captain Caveman had organised another Sunday Walk on Sunday 24th November, I decided to give it a miss. I had so many things on my to-do list that it was getting a bit out of hand. It was only 7°C when Captain Caveman brought me a cup of tea in bed at 7.45am and I didn’t see the sun rise over the mountains until 8.30am.

Captain Caveman was back for lunch and, of course, we had soup with some başlamak bread. I’d been busy cleaning, putting stuff away and making a chicken chasseur in the slow cooker to go with lots of vegetables for a fairly healthy Sunday dinner. The meal was very nice but Captain Caveman was a bit disappointed that I hadn’t had time to make any Yorkshire puddings. I was astounded to find out that Captain Caveman had lived in Yorkshire for years but had never made his own Yorkshire puddings and said he didn’t know how!!! I’d also been preparing social media posts for the coming week as I knew that I was taking tomorrow afternoon off for a bit of a treat and had promised to do Yorkshire puddings tomorrow. I was already on 194 syns so I would try to resist having them but I knew that would be tough.

Dalyan – 17th November

Captain Caveman had changed the walk on Sunday 17th November to an easy one as the one he had planned would have been slippery and wet after last night’s storm. He was up early and took the dogs out for their walk first and then brought me a cup of tea in bed. My weather app predicted more rain today but Captain Caveman has more weather apps that said it was going to be fine. Once I had fed the dogs and Captain Caveman had his breakfast and left for the walk, I put all the ingredients for a bolognese in the slow cooker. I also made myself a pho for breakfast and really enjoyed it before getting on with work, as well as doing some writing I needed to do. I added more items to the shopping list and, when Captain Caveman got back from his walk we had cheese sandwiches for lunch. The Sunday Walk had turned out to be a good one and they hadn’t had the rain predicted. I could’ve gone but I had the dogs to look after and it was too far for their little legs to manage.

I had a bit of a mission that I needed to carry out in the afternoon as I had agreed to update Matt, Vanessa’s husband’s, Play Station at their apartment. I decided it would be a good idea before I got on the phone with Matt to go round (I had a key) to their apartment and check I could switch on the electric and that the internet would work. Captain Caveman and I took a dog each and did a walk along the way, when we arrived at Vanessa and Matt’s I realised there are cats living there so Norman and Edna had to wait outside the gate with Captain Caveman. I got in the apartment and found the meter to switch on but while I was there I heard the neighbour, shouting me. I came downstairs and she said that her and Captain Caveman had heard me shouting – I had not uttered a word. I went back up and as I reached their apartment door, it was closed and the key was inside.
Oh shit, I was in a dilemma and had already sent Captain Caveman and the pooches off back home. I messaged Vanessa to tell her what had happened. Luckily, there was a spare key and all was ok. Not even an hour later, I had logged in to the device, followed Matt’s instructions over the phone and sorted it out. I’d even learned a new skill of being able to use a Play Station controller, which was a first for me – a man definitely invented that gadget!
On the way back home, I called at the shop for a few essentials and here’s the details;

Migros Supermarket
1 pack of filo pastry 54.95
1kg Sweet potatoes 73.10
A 1.6kg chicken 124.40
400g of beef mince 191.96
Total spent 444.41 (£10.17)

Of course, the beef mince was expensive but I didn’t realise that I had got it at a better discount than it should’ve been as I chose the 7% fat as opposed to the 20% fat, but still got it for the same price as the fattier meat. That evening we had Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner with some red wine and we took the dogs out together. Norman and Edna were reluctant to go out but I think it was because they knew it was rainy/stormy.
I had a video call with Vanessa and she updated me on everything she had done since leaving Dalyan, 12 days ago. Her trip to Istanbul had been good and she was glad to be back in the UK. While we were on the call, my Resort Experts Facebook page had hit 10,000 views and it had not been active a month yet, so I was pleased things were taking off a little bit.
Downstairs, I got relegated to the sofa where I get a stiff neck if watching TV, while Captain Caveman and the dogs comfortably took the other sofa. By 10pm, all 3 of them were fast asleep and snoring away.

Photo credit – some photos taken by people on the Sunday Walk, including Captain Caveman

Dalyan – 10th November

Captain Caveman’s alarm went off at 7.30am on Sunday 10th November and he was up out of bed prompt. I looked at the weather forecast and it looked a bit cooler and like it might rain. When I checked outside it was dry and, as I was awake so early, I decided I would join Captain Caveman and my parents on the Sunday Walk today. I borrowed one of Captain Caveman’s jackets in case it did rain and we left the house just after 8.30am. As I got down the stairs the rain started and I put the orange coat on, but Captain Caveman reassured me that it wouldn’t be heavy rain.
There were still a fair few attendees for the Sunday Walk and we waited under the shelter of the Kaunos Tea Gardens for any last minute arrivals. Even though Captain Caveman posts the event on the Dalyan in Winter Facebook group, he rarely knows who, if anyone, is definitely coming so he only waits for people past 9am if he knows a person is coming. In my experience most people who turn up don’t say they are coming, in case they decide not to on the day.

Today was also the anniversary of Ataturk’s death so at 9.05am the sirens sounded and all the Turks stood still and silent. We also honoured this observation before setting off on the walk, mainly out of respect and because of a short downpour. The walk went better and quicker than I thought it would, with a bit of intermittent rain. It was actually nice to walk without being hot and sweaty. Back at the tea gardens, Captain Caveman and I shared a cheese and onion toastie and we both had a tea. When I looked over to my parents, Dad was on the Efes Malt and it was only 11.30am on a Sunday – he had not realised it was still morning!

Back home we had more lunch, soup yet again (I was determined to hit that weight target by the end of the year). I worked all afternoon and then sorted us out with some curry and steamed rice for dinner. Tomorrow there was notification of a planned power cut in the morning, so I was glad that I had worked on a Sunday until gone 11pm and could have a rare lay in.

Photo credit – some of the Sunday Walk taken by Captain Caveman

Dalyan – 3rd November

It was Captain Caveman’s Sunday walk on Sunday 3rd November and this week there was a bit of excitement as we were crossing the river. I wore a red Vietnam t-shirt, cycling shorts and plastic porter sandals. I remembered to take a banana and some water as this week was a bit more hilly than usual. My parents had decided not to come as my mom had some issue with her toes and she wasn’t sure my Dad’s knees would manage it. There was quite a crowd of us and the walk turned out to be a bit too much for me, especially when I had eaten my banana early doors, then drank all of my water. We took the Portakal ferry over to the other side of the river, which cost 15 lira (34p) each, and coming back cost 25 lira (56p) each on the rowing boat. In between, there was walking on quite a tricky ‘path’ which I found too steep and the group kept having to wait for me.

When we reached the top there were some amazing views, admittedly, but I wasn’t convinced that it was worth the pain I would be in tomorrow. A few of the ladies on the walk were encouraging and one lady in particular helped me when I couldn’t even see a path to follow. When we got to the white building, which I had often seen from afar while on boat trips, I was told there was a water tap, and got excited. However, one of the ladies mentioned it had been off a couple of days ago. Captain Caveman went on ahead to check as he, another walker and me were out of water – the tap worked and he left it on. I, concerned it would run out, ran to the tap to fill up my bottle. The others laughed at me as a few minutes previously, I had been struggling to keep up with the walking pace, and running was not expected from my audience. By the time we had walked along the Kaunos city walls and were on the downhill stretch, the group were much faster and I couldn’t even see them.

When we eventually got back to the rowing boat, we went in 2 boats and even got a small discount, with their being so many of us at once. Quite a few of us were in need of a beverage at the tea gardens when we got back and I had a lemon soda while Captain Caveman had a beer, totalling 165 lira (£3.72). Even a double Turkish tea is only 15 lira (34p) there. It had been a great crowd and we were all grateful to Captain Caveman for his leading of it, I for one was way out of my depth but was thankful to have made it back.

I could hardly walk home as my legs and feet were so sore after the Sunday Walk. My parents would be pleased they had not attempted it and one lady had been glad that she had turned back at a sensible spot. For lunch, Captain Caveman put on more of the pumpkin and vegetable soup and we had it with fresh bread. I could easily have eaten it twice, even with the orzo added to make it extra filling.
There was no rest to be had, though, as I needed to get on with preparation for this evening, as I had invited my parents round for dinner. I made a beef mince and lentil ‘shepherd’s’ or ‘cottage’ pie but more like a hot pot as I used sliced normal and sweet potatoes on the top as Mom and I don’t like mash. We had red cabbage and leeks and I also did Yorkshire puddings to go with it. I had hoped to make a chocolate orange sponge for dessert but I couldn’t find any ready mix chocolate cake. My parents arrived around 7pm, Mom stuck to white wine while the rest of us drank red and we dished up the dinner. I thought it was rather tasty but Captain Caveman said he would have preferred it without the lentils in. Everyone ate it, though, and had seconds so it wasn’t that bad. It was nice to have my parents round and I think they were glad of the rest as they had been out and about with their Dalyan friends quite a bit lately. They only had 13 days left until they went back to Sheffield so they were certainly planning on making the most of Dalyan while they could – and who could blame them while the weather was still so lovely.

Photo credit – Some photos taken by others, including Captain Caveman, on the the Sunday Walk

Dalyan – 27th October

The alarm went off early and Captain Caveman went to make me a cup of tea on the morning of Sunday 27th October. The Sunday Walk was planned and the weather looked good. This time, Captain Caveman had made the walk so that it had a deliberate short cut in it for the slowies like me, Ma & Pa. I put in all the ingredients for a Chicken Provençal in the slow cooker and had a banana before I set off, this time. This week we had quite a few people join the walk and it was a good one going to Gunlüklü restaurant and back in a loop. For me, 10km is about my limit and my legs ached. At the end, there were just the 3 of us, me & my parents, but even they were off to the Kefal Tea Gardens via their house so left me just after the market road.
I called at the bakery for bread, then went home to prepare our lunch which was leek and potato soup.

In the afternoon, while Captain Caveman did the laundry and played Bridge on his phone, I did some work. I had a couple of friends who had mentioned Bali to me this week so I was doing a bit of research on the best places to go and what itineraries looked good.
For dinner we had some of the Chicken Provençal which Captain Caveman cooked the potato wedges with, while I was absorbed in Bali. The meal was really nice but we had no time to waste as we were due to go out.
My parents had invited us over for drinks, which was really nice of them. At my parents’ we had some wine, my Mom drank just a couple of beers as she was taking it steady and didn’t want to drink too much. Captain Caveman and Dad made up for it. Mom also had nibbles with cheese and biscuits which were very nice and terribly moreish. I had to remind Captain Caveman to stop shovelling it in like he’d never been fed. Mom even had to get out more cheese and crackers! We had taken wine round but Dad also opened some really nice wine from Cappadocia which was great. It was good to spend time with my parents as they were leaving in 3 weeks and I had no idea when I would see them after that.

Dalyan – 20th to 22nd October

It was quite a bit cooler in the morning when I woke up with Captain Caveman’s alarm at 7.30am on Sunday 20th October. The forecast for the rest of the month looked really good, though. Captain Caveman brought me my cup of tea in bed and he was looking forward to the Sunday Walk. I was looking less forward to it as I was really tired and a little overwhelmed at how much was on my To Do list, so much so that most of it wasn’t even written on a list yet! I decided I wouldn’t go on the Sunday Walk today, so that I could take the time to get some things done. It didn’t quite work out as planned but I did manage to get some cheese and spinach pasties made with wraps, Slimming World style, and put some lentil, tomato, pumpkin and carrot soup in the slow cooker. It’s surprising how long it takes to chop veg, as Captain Caveman was back from his walk and ready for lunch before I’d done much else. We had leek and potato soup with a freshly cooked pasty and it was delicious.
Luckily, for dinner I had already got out the remaining beef kleftiko from the freezer so all I had to do was pop on the rice cooker and knock up some red cabbage to go with it.

While Captain Caveman went Dogging on the morning of Monday 21st October, I did some work for my new venture, ate overnight oats for breakfast and had a pomegranate when I took a break. I booked in my first meeting with the boss for tomorrow afternoon. At lunch time Captain Caveman came back and I heated up some of the veggie soup for us, with bread!! For dinner I warmed up another freezer special, which was the chicken curry with steamed rice. Later, Captain Caveman and I decided to watch Netflix and I made popcorn, without butter, in my popcorn maker. Within minutes of starting to watch something, Captain Caveman was asleep and snoring away.

I had my usual cup of tea in bed on Tuesday 22nd October and then stayed out of the way of Captain Caveman making his breakfast. He went to his Bridge Club and I made myself some veggie egg fried rice for a late breakfast.
I had a meeting with my new boss where he ran through the Resort Experts’ intranet sight, the quote system, the marketing guide and set me some homework. The session went well and I left the call knowing I had a lot of training to do while my Facebook business page was being built for me. I had 8 training videos to watch and would start doing them tomorrow. I also made a Work To do list and would continue to add to it as I went along.
Captain Caveman called at the shops on the way back from Bridge Club and bought fresh bread for 10 lira (22p) and 2.4kg of bananas for 141.12 lira (£3.17). The bananas, of which there were 13, looked very hard and unripe but Captain Caveman was sure they would quickly ripen. We had lentil and vegetable soup with cheese on toast, which Captain Caveman made as I was still doing work related things. I carried on working, mainly reading and training related stuff, while Captain Caveman lay down and played Bridge on his phone all afternoon.
At 5.30pm, I suggested we go to the shops so that I could get some fresh air and Captain Caveman could stop playing Bridge as it seemed to be getting even more of an obsession recently. Here’s what we bought, prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Potatoes 6.63
Spring onions 24.95
2 Quark 59.90
Tortilla wraps 59.95
Sucuk (Turkish salami) 95.90
Butter 99.95
White Cheese (like Feta) 114.90
Total Spent 500.13 lira (£11.24)

Unfortunately, I wanted to buy chicken, but they had none left – this often seems to happen on a Tuesday for some reason. We walked on to the next shop to look for chicken.

A101 Supermarket
1.7kg Whole chicken 171.24 lira (£3.85)

Back home, and after a snack of cheese spread on bread, I made myself a cup of tea and then got to chopping vegetables. Captain Caveman had gone upstairs for a live online Bridge session but I cannot stand the voice of the man presenting it!
I made roast chicken with rosemary and garlic potatoes, red cabbage and spinach and it tasted really good. There was also plenty left for tomorrow’s meals. I’d already consumed 250 syns this week and then drank 2 glasses of red wine as I’d not had a drink since Friday. This was probably bad news for any anticipated weight loss this week!

Dalyan – 13th & 14th October

It was the next Sunday Walk on Sunday 13th October and Captain Caveman was once again in charge. It was a nice walk and I didn’t get lost on this one. Ma & Pa had not joined us this week as they were going to Jamie’s to look at buying one of his sofas. It did mean that I had to keep up with the group, though, and I did 10km in the hot sun. Luckily, I got to chat with Peter, who is a very nice chap and we ended up sharing my banana as neither of us had eaten any breakfast.

At the tea garden, Captain Caveman had a beer but I was sensible with a lemon soda and was feeling quite peckish. We went home for lunch where we had chicken salad sandwiches, with grapes and peanuts as a side for a bit more energy.
I contemplated a nannan nap but I didn’t get one as I prepared dinner; leftover bolognese with red lentils and roasted pumpkin – Slimming World style. After scrubbing the Yorkshire pudding trays every day with no progress I tried the bicarbonate of soda trick but they were still ruined.
Tomorrow was my parents’ 52nd wedding anniversary and they had plans to go on the yellow boat to Köyceğiz for their celebration with Dalyan friends. They were really looking forward to it and quite a few of the other Dalyan Dwellers were invited. My Mom messaged to ask if we would like to join but I declined. Captain Caveman was at the dog shelter tomorrow and I was on another free course. If there had been a bit more notice then I would have loved to have gone. Instead, I invited my parents to call in for a drink when they got back so that we could wish them a happy anniversary.

While my parents tootled off for an amazing anniversary boat trip to Köyceğiz, on Monday 14th October, Captain Caveman and I got on with our ‘normal’ Monday. Captain Caveman had his breakfast and went Dogging (helping out at the Dog Shelter) after bringing me my usual Yorkshire tea in bed. I had overnight oats for breakfast but then got peckish mid-morning and had 2 crackers with some cheese on.
I joined the Get it Started free course with Abigail Horne, owner of Authors & Co, which would help me get a book that I was writing, published. The first session was really useful and we were set to work straight away with a task for homework. I felt motivated and did it straight away.
Captain Caveman was back at lunch time so we had left over bolognese with pasta for our lunch.
In the late afternoon we had a little walk for me to get some fresh air, then I made a chicken and leek bake, from scratch, for dinner. Captain Caveman and I really enjoyed it, I had added a bit of sucuk (Turkish salami) to it, for extra flavour. We even had a bottle of wine with our dinner and did a toast to my parents. The photos of them on Facebook showed that they were having a really good time and I was pleased that they were celebrating their anniversary! Unfortunately, we had to drink the whole bottle between the 2 of us because, as I suspected, my parents were just too busy having fun that they didn’t come round and I didn’t hear from them.

Dalyan – 6th October

Captain Caveman had arranged the Sunday Walk on Sunday 6th October and I had said I would join him. Linda, Ma & Pa were also able to join and so I fed the dogs and had my overnight oats and a cup of tea before leaving to meet everyone at Captain June’s statue in the Kaunos tea gardens at 9am. I got there 15 minutes early so had chance to take some photos of the river and the other side. Captain Caveman had posted the event on the Dalyan in Winter Facebook group so that he would have an idea of who was coming, but he was surprised by how many people turned up. Before 9.30am, we had chatted to Kate who was looking for her missing cat outside her house. The rest of the group had gone on without us so Linda, my parents and I were lost before 9.40am and were too far behind the group to be able to catch up. None of us had any internet or could decipher the map without any markings on so we decided to go to Kingfisher restaurant for a cup of tea, or even breakfast. Unfortunately as we were nearing Kingfisher, we saw a path the others must have taken and carried on, we walked for ages and eventually a local man came to our rescue and told us a short cut – we must have looked hot and tired as he even offered to go get his car to drive us back to Dalyan. We carried on and came out just slightly ahead of the group and re-joined them. The walk ended at the Kaunos tea gardens where I had a soda and a piece of Captain Caveman’s gözleme (Turkish pancake) which he had with a beer. My parents ordered beers and toasties and a few of the walkers were having a beverage.

I went straight back to sort Norman and Edna out, who I had to wake up and then my parents, Captain Caveman and us decided to go for a beer in Aşkin’s. My parents had a bit of a to-do with losing a key so they had to go, luckily they found it once they got home and that was the end of that outing. Back at Jamie’s I made a potato and leek bake for dinner and had to wake Captain Caveman up to eat it. I took the dogs out by myself as Captain Caveman was back to sleep as soon as he had eaten. I struggled as my feet and legs ached from the 9km I had walked this morning.

Dalyan – 29th September

The alarm went off at 7am on Sunday 29th September and I got up to see the sunrise over the opposite block in the complex. I had tea and toast for breakfast and then made my way to the meeting point for 10am. I noticed that a small miracle had occurred and that Mehmet’s Dad had been and cleaned all my cuttings off the floor beneath my balconies. He had not done the rest of the trimming and, when I asked Mehmet, he said not until the end of October. I said he had to do it sooner, as I still couldn’t hang my washing out, and he said tomorrow – I didn’t believe him. At the corner shop I bought a 19 litre water bottle top up for the cooler and it was now 100 lira (£2.19) which had gone up more than I had expected.
I had decided to join the Sunday Walk which one of the Dalyan Dwellers had organised. A couple of friends had said they were going as well so was a good opportunity to see them. It was about 10km so would be a challenge for me after sitting at a laptop most days and not moving much. The walk was lovely and 18 people turned up, which was good. Michele, the organiser, asked me if I thought Captain Caveman would run the next one, with it being the day after he arrived, and I said I would ask him.

After the walk my friend, one of my friends talked me in to a beer with her at Tapa – so that she could take her dogs too. As I’d not seen her for a while and she was limited as to where we could take her dogs, I agreed and messaged my other friend to say we were there if she wanted to join. She had been at the front of the walking crowd and I am always at the back of the group as I walk slowly compared to everyone else. I introduced the 2 ladies who got on well and, despite me chatting to another friend about how well I’d been doing on not drinking any beer, I had 3! My drinks came to 270 lira (£5.92) in one of the cheapest places in town for draft Efes. By 3pm we were over in Okyanus having some lunch and another beer. My friend had a new dog from the shelter, called Polly, and she was a real cutie. I ate a chicken wrap with salad and chips and it was very good. My friends ordered a chicken wrap too and a pizza which the lovely waiter, Üstün, ordered in from Pamukkale restaurant. My lunch and drink came to about 300 lira (£6.58) which was very reasonable, especially for a riverside restaurant.

When I got home, shortly before 6pm, I messaged Captain Caveman to ask if he would do the next Sunday Walk but Michele and he had already arranged that he would.
Later, Jamie and Drew were taking Norman & Edna for a walk and I suggested they call in. While the pooches had a snooze on the sofa, the boys had a drink and I only had tea because I had already overdone it today. I was now on over 170 syns for the week so far and had spoiled the idea of getting some exercise. I made myself a vegetable and egg fried rice for dinner and had another relatively early night.