I got up quite late on Friday 14th January, we were 2 weeks in to the year now and my health kick, and being a bit more sensible on my eating and drinking, hadn’t really started out well. It was weigh-in day and I was expecting a bad result but I had lost 0.75kg and I was happy with that. I was about to have some food when Jamie messaged to say he was at Tez bar and to meet him there. As the sun was shining I decided it was a good idea but was not expecting to see someone wearing shorts – it was warm in the sun but definitely unusual to find a Turkish man wearing shorts in Dalyan at this time of year. After a couple of IPA blondes, and a spot of socialising with friends, Jamie and I left to go to the supermarket, leaving some of the others who were going to Bingo night at Lukka’s. Unfortunately Jamie and I got sidetracked and ended up in Jiks having a couple of wines and a pizza, which was really lovely and I even ate the whole thing. I did go to Migros, as intended though but only for a few bits and bobs. I got home at a reasonable hour, had tea and biscuits and finalised the invites for Sarah’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon.
Saturday 15th January started very well but finished badly; I decided to go for a walk along the river as it was another sunny day and I wanted to see how the water levels were now. Unfortunately they were still extremely high but below the flood line mostly now. I could see the snow on the mountains and the tea garden had been completed demolished.
I’d had no breakfast so decided to have lunch out at Mahir, a local Turkish restaurant in the mosque square – a place I’d been meaning to go to but had never got round to it. I ordered a chicken doner kebab and chips with a coke and it came to 50 lira (£2.74). It was big, fresh and so tasty – definitely a new favourite now. While I was eating, Peter went past and I shouted him over for a chat then we left together to walk back down the river where I went to Lukka bar and Peter carried on walking.
It was Sarah’s birthday celebrations and a few of us were meeting at 3pm at Lukka for drinks and pressie giving. There was quite a turnout, we all sat in the sun having a beverage and I chose a Turkish cider. After 2 drinks, and as planned, we walked over to Sofra bar for the next bit of celebrating and a few more people joined us there. Nanny Kay had some nachos but spilled the sauce down her white jumper and Sarah had one of the delicious bacon sandwiches. Ann and Helen had chicken stir-fry noodles, Debbie (Darling) had a burger and Jamie had a sandwich and cheesy chips. I made the mistake of being too full on kebab and didn’t have any food so it probably comes as no surprise that the night ended messy!
Peter and Selahı were drinking rakı on the next table to us and people at Sarah’s birthday started to leave so we merged the party at Sofra. Even Sarah and Debbie (Darling) had vacated Sofra bar but Jamie, Ann, Peter and Selahı remained to come up with the bright idea of going to Jazz Bar. Jamie and I are dubious about the drinks there and didn’t want to go but, before we knew it, we were watching a very talented musician play a clarinet and had ordered a glass of wine each. The last thing I remember is putting Ann in a taxi home and then having a tequila shot!
I wasn’t feeling too spritely when I woke up on Sunday 16th January and was convinced that the booze in Jazz bar was dodgy. I had 3 swollen, slightly bruised knuckles on my left hand (I had to take my ring off) and my face hurt so I messaged Jamie and Selahı to see if they knew why. They didn’t, but something wasn’t right and we vowed not to go again. We had already booked in to have Sunday lunch at Heybe’s with Ann and when I got there, in my wellies, I stunk of cat pee. What a to do, I leave my wellies outside the door so that is why they stunk from the cat spraying on them on Wednesday night. We were all hung over, cold and drinking soft drinks while waiting quite a while for our dinner. We had tomato soup for starter, beef with Yorkshire puddings for main and apple crumble for dessert. I really struggled to finish mine, due to the hangover, and took half of mine plus a bit of Jamie’s home. We were all begging for mercy and I went home and got straight back in to bed!
I’d had worse hangovers than the one I had on Wednesday 12th January but it was to be expected after not drinking any alcohol for the first week of January, due to having ‘flurona’. I had loads of birthday wishes via Facebook which was lovely, I was only just out of bed in time to get to my Turkish class and I had to have extra sugar in my tea to sort me out a bit. Because I had missed last week’s lesson, I was behind and tried my best to catch up as we went along. After class I had to walk to Spice Garden to pick up the remaining birthday cake and it was still raining, this is when I found out how high the river water had been! The walk back in the pouring rain with a clingfilmed cake and a hangover wasn’t pleasant and I stopped off at Lukka to give the staff some cake. I’d not eaten yet and it was almost 3pm so I had cake for brunch. Julie and Andy were on their way round to fix my firestick to my TV and I was hoping it would be easy to use. The firestick was amazing and I was so glad to use some of my parent’s birthday money to buy something so exciting – it meant I could now watch all sorts of TV and I had music channels!!! I was getting ready for a night of music and TV, or at least working out how to use it when I remembered that Sarah had given me her leftover curry last night and was coming round to eat it. I messaged to arrange what time and I told her that it couldn’t be a late one after last night because I had to be up at 5am tomorrow morning. We agreed 6pm and then we could eat early and I could be in bed early. At 6pm Sarah wasn’t here and I was getting peckish, she messaged at 6.10pm to say she was at the shops buying a new mouse and did I need anything. She arrived at 6.30pm and it was 8.10pm when I heated up the curry and was ready to eat, so it was a later night than I expected and I was going to be shattered tomorrow. As I said bye to Sarah and closed the door I noticed that there was a cat pee smell in the doorway which was horrendous and went to get some air freshener. I tidied up and went to bed, knowing I had to be up in less than 5 hours for my day trip.
I really didn’t want to get up when my alarm went off at 5am on Thursday 13th January but, after a couple of 5 minute snoozes, I forced myself out of bed. It was cold and dark still as I got ready for my day trip to Izmir and I could smell cat pee from the bedroom. Rebecca from Captain Boris boat trips had organised for 10 of us to go to IKEA for 250 lira (£14) and my pick up was at 6.20am outside Jazz bar. We broke down just outside Dalyan and we had to wait for another bus, I’d been sat near the back on the first bus so when we switched over I was left a seat near the front, which was good as I do get travel sick. I’d not realised quite how long it would take to get there and I was so tired that I managed to sleep quite a lot and only woke up for the one wee and hot beverage stop on the way there. When we arrived at IKEA at 10.30am I was glad I’d taken my travel pillow. My first stop was to the cafe where Nanny Kay, Mark, Kate and I all got some breakfast and Becky had a coffee, then off we went in search of some bargains. I managed to get tea-lights for me and a few other friends, freezer bags and biscuits for Katrina, a table and some biscuits for Kim, candles and biscuits for Sarah. We had a couple of hours going around the store and I sussed out new kitchen sinks for Captain Caveman’s apartment but the selection was poor and I didn’t find any that I would buy. For lunch we went as a group of 10 to a restaurant called Midpoint and it was really nice. Masks were compulsory until you were seated and they wanted us to use the QR reader for looking at the menu and for ordering – I think there was only Kate who could get it to work so the waiters gave us the paper menus to look at, warning us the prices were now more expensive. I had a lovely artichoke salad, Nanny Kay had quesadillas and chips, Julie and Jo had burgers, Rebecca went for a goats cheese salad that was huge, and I didn’t see what the others had. I took half of mine home and in the afternoon we had a little mooch around the shopping precinct. The bus was waiting for us at 3pm and we had all loaded our stuff in to the back. Denise and Nanny Kay were old hats and had brought their ribbons to tie round their bags for identifying when we got back. I was so pleased that Nanny Kay had bought some cushions as they were next to me and I managed another sleep on the way back. I was dropped outside Lukka and it was a struggle to carry everything so I stopped off to say Hi to Sarah, Jamie, Ann, Debbie, Roy and Katrina who were all there as it was Sarah’s birthday. Back home I ate crisps as a snack then finished off my leftover salad for dinner, followed by birthday cake and a cup of tea. The rain in Dalyan had been horrendous today with lots of people getting cut off or flooded in, it was good to have a 2nd floor apartment.
I had an exciting day on Monday 10th January; I woke up early, which made a nice change, but I only had a probiotic drink for breakfast because I had a lunch appointment. I had a first visit to Porta Dalya restaurant, which used to be Köşem, with Jamie and Nanny Kay. It was still raining hard and it was a lovely welcome inside the cafe where all 3 of us ordered the Chicken Alfredo for 45 lira (£2.50) and a coke. It was really lovely and tasty, served with grated parmesan too and I’d definitely go there again as the service was also great. After lunch Jamie and I went to buy butter at Alp’s Balıkcim shop and I managed to get some frozen french type for only 20 lira (£1.10). The stray dog we call Socks, had followed us and was trying to see if there were any sausages available and then we drove around the corner to Şarküteri where Jamie got some bits and I bought Lurpak at an extortionate 80 lira (£4.40) but I really prefer it and it would last me ages. I was definitely noticing the price increases more and taking note of what I was buying. I needed to make sure that any jobs I applied for were going to be able to pay in to my UK account as a Turkish monthly wage was now 4,250 lira (£234) despite a recent increase. I had the leftover Sunday dinner at home followed by chocolate and herbal tea, then had an early night seeing as I had a very busy day tomorrow.
My birthday was Tuesday 11th January and I woke up to very heavy rain, it was quite stormy out too. Captain Caveman had already been to have his 3rd vaccine this morning and said it was a bit chaotic with the paperwork resulting in the nurses not being that busy because of the bottleneck. We arranged to speak on a video call after I had been out for breakfast and I sent him a video of it hailing here in Dalyan – the pool was almost full of rain water! I opened birthday cards from my parents, Gayle, Neil, Morgan and April, which was nice. I was tempted to stay in bed because of the horrendous weather and expected my friends might cancel going out for breakfast but instead I got a message from Jamie to ask if I wanted picking up after he went to get Ann. I said yes and I even ventured as far as putting the bin out in torrential rain, prior to getting in the car to head a very short drive to Jiks. When we got there it was closed even though we had arranged to meet 30 minutes after it opens and Nanny Kay was texting from inside her car in front of us to check where our Plan B should be. Out of season on a Tuesday there are not too many places to go for an English breakfast so we went to somewhere we knew was open and easy to park outside of, Lukka Bar! We were the only ones brave enough to have ventured out in the rain and there were concerns that the nearby river was going to flood over. I got some lovely gifts which I really appreciated and it turns out my Dalyan friends know me well, already! For breakfast Nanny Kay had a bacon, sausage and egg sandwich which came with chips, Jamie and Ann had a full English breakfast while I went for full English without the fried eggs or tomato. Back home I arranged to spend some of my birthday money from my parents on purchasing the Firestick from Andy, which meant I would have access to UK TV because I mainly wanted to be able to watch The Apprentice and the news channels. That afternoon I had a video call with Ma & Pa and they even sang Happy Birthday to me which was lovely and I got to say thanks for my birthday card and present. I wasn’t going out until 6.30pm tonight for birthday celebrations so decided a relaxing afternoon was in order but, when I went upstairs to get out a facemask (which my sister got me for Christmas), I had a bit of an unwelcome surprise!
As I opened the drawer to get out my toiletries and facemask, I could hear a dripping sound so I checked in the ensuite bathroom to find the floor was full of water! The roof was leaking and the window kept blowing open so the rain was coming in at both sides of the bathroom and it took a couple of towels to mop it up with. I decided to check the rest of the upstairs and then spent the next hour mopping up, putting towels down, finding containers and taking photos to send to Leanne at King Emlak. The spare bedroom was the worst as there was a crack in the ceiling where water was running in from and it was fortunate that I was at home as it had started to dribble on to the bed. Luckily, I had an empty 50 litre container to hand and was able to move the bed across without too much trouble. The skylight in the main bathroom was also leaking but it was above the shower and not causing too much of a problem. I saw from friends on Facebook that the river had indeed flooded over and was inside the bar at River Terrace, this was quite unusual and had not happened for some years. There was also talk on Facebook that the mudbaths at Köyceğiz were about to flood too and locals were starting to worry about their homes. Leanne replied straight away to say a workman would be out on Thursday to have a look and make any repairs so that was a good thing and I could relax and get my facemask on. I picked the hydrating one out of the pack and went for that, while laying on the sofa, trying to relax a bit. It felt really nice and I think I may have left it on a bit too long because, when I took it off to get ready, my face was quite pink.
As arranged, I met up with the gang at Lukka Bar at 6.30pm to start my birthday celebrations. There were more cards and gifts which I was a bit overwhelmed about and Appo put his foot in it by asking if I wanted pasta, which is Turkish for cake. We had one drink and then decided to walk to our venue as we thought the rain had eased off a bit. At Spice Garden there was a table booked for a group of us and there was more cards and gifts which I really wasn’t expecting. Ann and I had the set meal for 2 at 250 lira (£13.71) which despite recent price increases was a good deal. We had chosen chicken pakora and poppadoms for our starter and they were lovely, we shared mains of butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, rice and garlic naan bread. Everything was so delicious and plenty of it, so much so that I took leftovers home. There was another amazing birthday surprise; a massive cake from Katrina, Mehmet and Jamie which was absolutely fantastic, and appropriately in the shape of a wine bottle! I was so surprised and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. We dished up the cake which was beautiful and made by Louise, one of Katrina’s friends. Louise called us to wish me happy birthday and ask if I liked the cake, which I did. It had proper sponge birthday cake inside, with shaved white chocolate and icing and I loved it. Debbie (Darling) did a little speech and I felt really special and I felt a bit overwhelmed, once again. We decided to leave the half of cake at Spice Garden and go back to Lukka for more drinks for everyone who wasn’t driving so I said my farewells to Nanny Kay, Sioned, Julie and Andy then set off walking with Sarah, who was still cheesed off about her starter being cleared away while she had left the table to take a phonecall. Back at Lukka I had a birthday whisky, or Bailey’s, or both I can’t remember and we all played Killer Pool. It was a great birthday celebration though and one I would definitely remember as being the most moist one I’d had in a while! As we were giving the ball a right old kick I was totally unaware that there were people in Dalyan who’s homes were getting flooded. I put the remaining curry in the fridge and went to bed before 1am feeling incredibly lucky.
On Friday 7th January I met Jamie outside Lukka Bar and we drove down to Ann’s house to see Jax & Lee off. I gave Jax a couple of envelopes to post to my family when she got back to the UK, having forgotten to leave them before I came back. I felt really tired after not very much sleep and decided not to join Jamie and Ann on their trip to Fethiye but I did ask Jamie to take me back some trousers I had bought on the 4th December which didn’t fit, in fact they wouldn’t have fit one leg! I went home and had beans on toast for breakfast with a cup of tea. The white chocolate orange didn’t last long and I polished the rest of it off after hummus, lavaş bread and olives for lunch. That evening I joined Jamie, Ann, Sarah and Katrina for the Lukka bar music bingo night which was Disco themed this week and we got there early enough to have dinner before the fun started. The others had burgers or pasta but I went for the BBQ pizza which I do enjoy.
It was raining very heavily on Saturday 8th January but I had plans that meant I had to venture out in it. I’d decided I did need a mobile phone to use when there was no WiFi, for whatever reason. My Vietnamese Oppo phone was a few years old now and, although still worked, it wasn’t worth the 2732 lira (£150) it would cost to register it. Here in Turkey, it is only permissable to use a foreign phone for up to 120 days and only 1 phone per person every 3 years can be registered. In 2018 it cost just 170 lira to do this but now it is extortionate and, for me, not worth it so I had posted in a local Facebook group to see if anyone had an old Turkish phone I could buy. The most suitable choice for me was from a lady who had a Samsung J4 which she was willing to sell me and I arranged to meet her at Kordon restaurant to do the deal. I was meant to go to do a full supermarket shop, after all I’d not been yet this year, but it was too wet and I couldn’t be bothered to carry much – I just got the ‘essentials’ in Migros and left.
On the way home I noticed there were some new recycling bins in the old market square which I would be sure to use from now on. I used my telephone banking to add on my phone credit to the new phone, which was a first for me. I noticed that the LinkedIn app was on my new phone so I decided to join it, I did a speed test, assisted by a friend who I was thinking of buying a Firestick from and was finding out more about it. That evening I messaged Kebapçı Yusuf to order my dinner and arranged to pick it up at 7.30pm, it cost 70 lira (£3.82) for chicken shish, salad and chips and was piping hot when I got it home. It would have served 2 people but I did manage to eat most of it and just save the flatbread and half of the salad for tomorrow. I had a video call with my parents, who were still social distancing from each other, within their own home, so that Dad didn’t catch Mom’s Corona. Ma was still sickly but looking like she had a bit more colour and was feeling a little better too, at last. None of us could believe Dad hadn’t caught it yet and he was obviously made of tougher stuff than us.
On Sunday 9th January I didn’t have any breakfast as I was booked in for a Lukka Sunday dinner at 2pm with Jamie. I spoke very briefly to Captain Caveman who had got back from the cave to find a young pig at the door of the Glass House. He sent me photos and I talked to the pig but it looked like it was trying to find some snacks. Captain Caveman managed to give it a tickle and said he would look after it, if it was still there after he’d been out for dinner. Our Sunday dinner was delicious and plenty of it, it had gone up to 140 lira (£7.67) but was still good value. I finished watching a series on Netflix, The Innocent, which I thought was one recommended by Jax and Lee but it turned out I’d probably been watching the wrong series! By dinner time I still wasn’t hungry so I just finished off the leftover flatbread and salad from Kebapçı Yusuf followed by a Double Decker chocolate bar. In the evening I started working out how to use LinkedIn and decided I would start to look for a part-time job.
Having missed celebrating the New Year in Dalyan I had been awake a lot of the night and woke up, on Saturday 1st January absolutely soaked in sweat. I had buttered toast for breakfast and couldn’t be bothered to make anything for lunch so all I had was chocolate! It was a nice sunny day, about 18°C, and I had my second PCR test booked in at Tez bar. When I got there they were going to charge me another 300 lira for a lateral flow test but I said there was no point as I had already done my own and it showed negative. I said I’d have another PCR because I wanted to know if I had Corona and that’s what they did. I sent Captain Caveman a photo of the villa building site next door and we had a video call. I started watching a cooking show and must have fallen asleep because I woke up to a dinner delivery from Ann, missed calls from Jamie who had delivered it to my doorstep. I was meant to have been going to their’s for a roast dinner, it was so kind of Ann to send me a massive portion over and it was so good! I started watching Stay Close on Netflix but fell asleep again, convinced I had the dreaded virus and I wanted to stay awake for my results. When I got my results it said negative again and Tez told me that I probably have flu, but not Corona.
It was after midday on Sunday 2nd January when I woke up and I felt a bit better but very achy. The day was pretty boring and was mainly spent on cancelling things. My friends (from Phong Nha) were here but I couldn’t go out as I was feeling rubbish and I didn’t want to give anyone flu. They even cancelled the boat trip we had planned and my comedy night was going to have to be postponed. My mom messaged to say my brother-in-law had done a test and was positive now too so I was convinced I had the virus too, despite my result. I had spaghetti bolognese for lunch which I’d got out of the freezer, then an earl grey tea with a Double Decker chocolate bar which I’d brought back from the UK. I decided to try a decluttering tool I’d read where you turn all of your coat hangers the opposite way in your wardrobe and when you wear and wash an item you put it back the correct way, anything you haven’t worn in a few months can then go to charity. For dinner I ordered a pizza from Lukka bar and had the stuffed mushroom starter from yesterday with it.
I didn’t wake up until 1pm on Monday 3rd January and I had slept through for a solid 10 hours at once. I didn’t have breakfast as the electric was off and it continued to be on and off throughout the day, even when it was on, the TV remote wouldn’t work. I did another lateral flow test and the result was still negative despite me having the same symptoms as my Mom, she was positive on today’s lateral flow test which wasn’t good but my Dad’s test was negative. She was also sleeping loads and couldn’t taste anything. In Israel they had discovered there was Flurona which is a combination of flu and Corona – maybe I had that! I had left over pizza for lunch when the power was back on and the remote started to work again. I had a lovely beef stew from the freezer for tea which, luckily, already had potatoes in and I had plenty of Henderson’s relish on it. It was also my 5th day of not having any alcohol, not that I had planned to give it up, just because I was too under the weather to bother.
I woke up at 1.30pm on Tuesday 4th January and had missed calls and messages from people checking how I was. I had fruitcake for breakfast after remembering I had it because I really fancied some and I was pleased I seemed to be getting my appetite back. Jamie stopped by with bread and milk for me and I mainly watched Netflix and tried to catch up with my blogging and shenanigans but felt tired. I decided to make pizzas and pasta from the leftover chicken fajitas and seemed to be drinking lots of tea! I decided that I’d write a shopping list and I sent a message to cancel attending Turkish class tomorrow as I still wasn’t good enough to go out.
It was a week since I left England, on Wednesday 5th January, and it felt a lot longer because of being sickly. Captain Caveman had gone to the Song Doong exit today and would be going back in for 2 days tomorrow, it was the start of his new season and he was lucky that tours were going ahead and he would be busy working. I’d set the alarm for 11.30am because I felt I was sleeping too much but it was very cold today so I was in no rush to get up for my cornflakes. For lunch I made more homemade pizza things, I was definitely noticing my appetite was getting back to normal, and I still had lots of premade meals in the freezer. I had looked in to doing something for my birthday next week and I booked a suite at Datça Vineyard hoping I’d be better by then. My visiting friends had already started to depart and I was disappointed not to have been able to see them. I ended up having a lovely evening as I watched an interesting (but frustrating) film with Jake Gyllenhaal in, called Guilty, then I restarted watching Squid Game after a delicious dinner. I finally got round to eating the Cumberland sausage, from Alp’s shop at Balıkcim, which I had in the freezer, with some Heinz baked beans on toast, which was amazing!
On Thursday 6th January it was 13 days since I first had a sore throat and 8 days since my inconclusive Turkish PCR test, in those 8 days all 3 further tests (2 lateral, 1 PCR) were negative and so I decided I might be ready to venture outside. I’d got up late and so didn’t have any breakfast, just a cup of earl grey tea. For lunch I had some homemade chicken noodle soup at the ready and was about to eat it when I found out Jamie had got his Turkish residency approved and was on his way back from Muğla to celebrate. I ate my soup, got an email from Datça Vineyard to say there was construction work going on making the suite unavailable so I thought I’d probably cancel. I met Jamie, Ann, Jax & Lee at Lukka bar and had my first alcoholic drink this year, a Turkish cider. They were booked in for a last meal, as Jax & Lee went home tomorrow, at Egehan tonight and I was invited to join them. Most diners ordered the spicy prawns but I went for a pastry starter which had cheese, spinach and beetroot in, for mains most people had the steak. My meal was outstanding and I did the right thing by asking for my steak medium-well because Ann’s steak was definitely too rare for me to have enjoyed it. Lee drank beer, Jamie and Anne had white wine, Jax and I shared a bottle of red and I took so long to eat my meal because I wasn’t used to eating the amount of food I’d had tonight. I couldn’t do a pudding so Jamie and I had a glass of wine for our dessert while the others had some rather fancy looking desserts. The meal wasn’t the cheapest in town at 400 lira (£22) per person and I really had noticed the prices had gone up since I’d been away, due to the lira being 18.5 to the pound now, but I thought it was a beautiful meal. We had a nightcap at Lukka on the way home and, because I was a bit disappointed that my birthday plans had fallen through, we came up with an alternative arrangement. Tomorrow Jax and Lee were going back to England so we would go to see them off from Ann’s house, Jamie then had plans to take us for a little outing.
I woke up on Thursday 30th December at 8am having been cold in the night and it was less than 15°C and dark. I went to Tez bar at 10am for my PCR test, on my way round I took a photo of the progress of the villa on the building site next door. I didn’t have any internet at home as it had lapsed on Christmas day, I needed to top up my phone credit and I ought to buy bread, there are no rules in Turkey about having to have a PCR test on entry but I wanted to be sure, so that I could get on with going out and about. After my test I went to the Turkcell shop where I found out my phone needed to be registered in Ortaca, which I couldn’t do until my PCR results. Here in Turkey all foreign phones have to be registered if you are here after 3 months and it costs more in tax than my phone is worth so I was reluctant to bother with having a phone for now. I managed to extend my home internet for another 2 months and was told the price would be going up by 20% for 2022. On my way back home I bought bread and a simit for breakfast from the local bakery. Tez had said he would try to give me my results the same day but it would definitely be within 24 hours so I got on with unpacking, washing and various bits and bobs at home. I had a plain turkey ham sandwich for lunch, then got my remaining Morrison’s cherry bakewells out to have one for dessert, and was glad I had left the fridge freezer on with some food in so I didn’t have to go shoping straight away. The Turkish lira was now at 18 lira to the pound meaning my money was worth almost a third of what it was and prices in Dalyan were constantly being readjusted. While I had been away it had gone up to over 24 and the locals were really suffering. It was raining heavily all day and it was Bryan’s mom’s birthday today but I couldn’t join my friends yet, just to be on the safe side. Another friend of their’s, Jesper, who I also met in Vietnam was arriving tonight and I wouldn’t be able to join them until my result came back. I had a sore throat and was feeling a bit tired so I had another Turkey ham sandwich, a cherry bakewell, crisps and a couple of herbal teas with honey to sort me out. That evening I found out that my sister had tested positive, with no symptoms, on a lateral flow test and Sumo the dog had a funny cough/sneeze going on so I was a bit nervous for my PCR result from Tez. It came through at just after 10.30pm, so not bad for a 12.5 hour turn around at 300 lira (£16.70) and it was both good news and bad news! Although the document said negative on it, there was an additional comment that it wasn’t a suitable document to fly with, when I asked he said it was because my result was inconclusive and I had to isolate until they could do another test on Saturday!
Friday 31st December, the last day of a pretty unpredictable year, was not as planned either! My friends Mik, Hamish & Ania, Bryan & Kendra and Jesper were all in Dalyan to help celebrate the new year with me. Ann’s family were here too and we had plans for us all to go for a curry at Spice Garden. Due to the Corona situation Ann decided to cancel her small group and have a curry delivered at home. My friends were still going to go but, due to my inconclusive PCR result I had to cancel and isolate until tomorrow. I was gutted to have to cancel all our plans, including my hair appointment and hoped I could move it to another day before or on my birthday! On the Dalyan Corona heat map it was showing lots of cases at the moment and my hairdresser was fine for me to cancel and he moved Ania forward to 3pm. I decided to do an LFT, which I had brought with me and the result was negative, although I still felt incredibly tired and poorly. It was weigh-in day so, having had a monstrous consumption last week, I was not surprised that I had put on 0.75kg making me 1.75kg heavier than when I left Turkey for the Christmas holiday – not too bad I suppose and definitely worth all the food and drink I had! I was very happy to speak to Captain Caveman and he had been given his new schedule for 2022. As we expected, it would take a miracle for me to see him before September 2022 so we both resigned ourselves to that. Luckily we are both practical people and there wasn’t anything we could do about the situation, except to get on with it – I knew this might be the case when I chose to leave Vietnam and it was the risk we had to take if I wanted to see my family and friends and to look for paid work. Vietnam was slowly starting to open up but the likelihood of me getting back there, as a UK citizen, or for longer than a 30 day tourist visa were zero right now. I didn’t have any breakfast but I did have a hot sausage roll and red cabbage for lunch, I’d received offers of help with shopping (if I needed anything) from Jamie, Katrina and Tez so I felt fine plus I was fully stocked up in the freezer which I was so grateful for. In the afternoon I started to feel a bit run down and I looked pretty tired so I connected 2 Phong Nha friends together after discovering they were both in Dubai and didn’t know each other, I made chicken fajitas in the slow cooker, using one of the packet mixes I’d brought back from the UK and got on with organising our planned boat trips in early January, assuming I would be negative for Corona and we would all be able to go. This was also the second day in a row that I had no alcohol whatsoever as I wasn’t feeling up to it. I struggled to keep awake for the new year but once in bed I sent messages to family and then fell asleep before the UK midnight!
Jamie’s alarm went off at 5am on Wednesday 29th December and he went in the shower, my alarm went off at 5.20am and I had a bit of a panic. I had been dreaming that my passport was lost so I checked my bag, pockets, the set of printed documents and it wasn’t there. I went out in to the corridor, in my pyjamas and barefoot to the chair I had been sat on near the club lounge and saw a cleaner, she hadn’t seen my passport but had washed the floor! I went back to the room where Jamie was puzzled as I told him I dreamt my passport was left on a chair and I called reception. They had it! I got showered, dressed and packed before I went to get the passport and was so relieved, especially as we would still be on time. It was a short walk to Terminal 2 check-in desk but Jamie had thought we were flying from Terminal 1. We checked in, showed our vaccine papers and Turkish PLF then waited for Nanny Kay, Sioned and her children to turn up. Nanny Kay had overslept and didn’t arrive until later than arranged and she was in a bit of a flap, she had to borrow my hair brush and she looked very hot in her fur coat. There was still no sign of Sioned and she, like me, only had a Turkish phone so we couldn’t contact her. At 6.45am, 45 minutes after checking in, Nanny Kay and I decided to go through security while Jamie waited for Sioned so he could help her with luggage, checking in and the 2 small children. It turned out Sioned had also thought she was flying from Terminal 1 and so was quite late, Nanny Kay and I had eaten a toastie and drunk a tea by the time they all came through security. The flight from Manchester to Antalya was eventful; there was terrible turbulence soon after take-off and we all felt it, the staff were chirpy as anything and Jamie went for the white wine straight away. As Sioned had us there to help, she ordered Prosecco but I didn’t feel too well and by the time we were landing I was in the toilet with a dodgy tum and vomitting – just what I needed on a 3-4 hour car journey at the other end! After we landed, Sioned and I took the kids through the Turkish Citizens queue which was much quicker than Jamie and Kay’s foreigners queue and it took quite a while to get all the many suitcases. Jamie was worried he would get stopped because of having Graeme’s ashes in his luggage but luckily, they were only stopping every third person for extra checks at Antalya airport and we were through! The journey back in a mini-van was very tiring but the kids were super well behaved and we made it back to Dalyan in about 4 hours! I’d booked an official PCR test in at Tez bar for 10pm but by the time we got there it was closed and so I dragged my cases to Lukka as it started to rain, to see if Jamie, Mehmet or Appo could help me with the large suitcase. While I waited for my PCR test result I had specifically decided not to arrange to meet my friends who had arrived in Dalyan today. Because they were unable to contact me they were sat in Lukka bar, already fairly merry, waiting to catch me as I returned home. I kept my mask on and told them my situation and that my Mom had tested positive for Corona but they didn’t care and all hugged me! Hamish, the Londoner bought us all a shot of Jägermeister, Mik tried to swerve his and was the most drunk. I had a beer and they finished their drinks and went back to their villa (next door to Jamie’s), with arrangements for me to message them after my PCR test tomorrow at 10am (Tez had rescheduled). Jamie had arranged to meet Ann, Jax and Lee in Lukka so they came in and we had the same situation. Appo, Yasemin and Mehmet were all really happy to see me and Jamie and there were more hugs – I really hoped my test would be negative and that I wasn’t going to give everyone Corona for the New Year, or stop them from being able to travel home at the end of their holidays! Safely back home I decided I was hungry and warmed up a couple of sausage rolls (which turned out to be cheese rolls) which I’d got from Emma and were in the freezer. It was nice to be back ‘home’!
Tuesday 28th December didn’t quite go according to plan; Mom was still waiting on her results from yesterday’s PCR test but Dad and I decided to do a lateral flow test. As we waited Ma started cooking us all a breakfast and I started to worry if I was positive I wouldn’t be able to go back to Turkey. I was meant to be leaving in a few hours and, although Turkey had no requirement for me to have a PCR test to enter the country, I couldn’t really risk being put in quarantine on arrival if I still went. To pass some time I scrolled through Facebook and saw that in Vietnam now the authorities were carrying out door to door checks to find people who had yet to be vaccinated and giving out jabs – imagine that in the western world with anti-vaxers! The 15 minute timers went off; Dad and I were both negative and we were so pleased. I decided to leave in the next hour, I checked the bus, tram and train times and found that, due to Corona, there were some train cancellations and Dad was insistent I needed to leave ASAP. At the time Mom and I thought he was being a bit pushy at me going but it would turn out that Dad was absolutely right, if I’d not left when I did I wouldn’t have got there! I said my goodbyes to Dad and Mom drove me to the tram stop with a big, heavy case and a smaller hand luggage case. I almost went back home as I started to have a bit of a dodgy tum coming on, but I took an imodium, said goodbye and got on the tram to the train station. As I paid the unmasked conductor who was wearing a lanyard with sunflowers on (which means she has a hidden disability) I wondered if I was doing the right thing by leaving and I had tears in my eyes that rolled down my cheeks as we left Halfway. When I got off the tram at Sheffield train station I was desperate for the toilet, couldn’t carry both cases at once and the lift to go to the platform level was on a go slow. After a cumbersome pulling and pushing of luggage in a public toilet I had to retrace my steps to go back to the footbridge level and over to the ticket office. A number of trains were delayed or cancelled, the station was busy with post Christmas travellers but about 60% had masks on now – a massive change since my experience 17 days ago. I was reluctant to use the machines in case I booked a train which wasn’t going and when I spoke to the very helpful woman at the ticket desk it was a good job I chose that. I had 10 minutes to get the ticket and get to the platform as the train for Manchester Piccadilly was on it’s way, she mentioned to check when I arrived but the trains from Manchester to the airport were getting cancelled. It cost me just under £30 because I’d not been able to book in advance and off I went. The train (delayed by a welcome 5 minutes) was busy but not packed and, as I got on I heard that the Sheffield to London train which had a lot of people waiting for it, was cancelled – I was lucky I wasn’t going back to Heathrow! On the train there was free WiFi so I checked the connecting airport train times and found that I had 3 minutes to change trains if this one got in on time. As everyone got off the train on the furthest platform from where I needed to be, I had to push my way in the opposite direction against all the other passengers in search of the lift. I got up to the footbridge and hurried along to the lift to take me down to Platform 13 where the train was already in and about to go. The lift was out of order and I was going to have to carry both cases down the stairs if I was to be able to get a train in the next 2 hours! I grabbed the handles of one case as a young man came running to get the same train and it all happened rather quickly; he picked up my big suitcase with me and we ran down the stairs together, shouting to the guard to hold the train doors! We made it and I was so thankful as the train was empty, it was the last one to the airport for a while and I would probably have missed it, or hurt myself! I was so grateful that the guy was helpful and could see I was struggling and I almost cried! I logged on to the free internet and let my Mom know I had made it, unfortunately during my journey Mom’s confirmation that she had tested positive for Corona and that her operation was cancelled had come through, she had completed the track and trace details for the family and let them know. We were all so disappointed for her but I just hoped she wouldn’t be ill with it, Gayle and the family were all fine! I was about to get off the train so I quickly responded to the friend I would be meeting when I arrived at Manchester airport to let him know that I would be at the Radisson Blu hotel soon and would come straight to his room. I’d arrived at Manchester airport train station at just after 3.30pm and there were very few people on the train or in the area. I seemed to be more proficient with the luggage as I walked towards Terminal 2 and to the hotel. My friend, Jamie, had booked us in to the Radisson Blu hotel for a night and he was waiting in room 922 so I went straight up, still in my mask and winter coat. We had a lovely room with a king size bed and already he had his trolley with 3 suitcases on, plus hand luggage – his story was that he was not giving up his trolley which he had put a pound in as he would need it tomorrow and he had a Christmas tree and half his husband’s ashes in the luggage so it had to stay in the room! I was about to get my 2 remaining cherry bakewells out when Jamie said to get ready as we were off to the club lounge. For an extra £18 we were able to book in until 9pm for free drinks and nibbles and I didn’t need telling twice! We went masked up but there were no staff, just help yourself so I had a beer, Jamie had a white wine and soda and we sat in a quiet corner. I told him about the family’s Corona situation and that I’d tested negative. He had been vaccinated and had already had the virus in November so he wasn’t unduly worried but I decided I would tell the other 2 friends we were travelling with in case they were worried. The nibbles were not too plentiful and so at 6.30pm we gave up our free bar, which we had easily got our money’s worth from, to go to meet Nanny Kay for dinner. On the way to meet her in the reception of the Clayton hotel Jamie managed to get us lost and we had to do an assault course style journey to get there, he also managed to drop 3 bank cards in the wet mud on the way but we luckily noticed! The restaurant was empty but they wouldn’t let us go in because we hadn’t booked so we booked for in 15 minutes time and found a quiet corner in the bar to sit at. While Jamie went to get a bottle of wine for us to share I was about to let Nanny Kay know I was worried I may be carrying Corona and that my Mom was positive when she started to tell me how she had been ill recently with a virus. So that was a bonus and we went in to dinner with our wine and had some lovely food. I had the soup and a beef dish which was massive and very tasty but I had to take half back to the room. We left at a reasonable time and arranged to meet at the terminal at 6am tomorrow so we could check in, another friend and her 2 kids would also be joining us. When we got back to our hotel Jamie and I had another drink in the hotel bar and then I realised I still needed to complete the Turkish PLF and check-in online so we decided we had better go back to the room to do that. Jamie had more wine and I had trouble with the checking-in online so went to go to reception for them to print it for me. On the way I got an error message and sat down on a chair to resubmit my passport details before continuing to get my print out. Back in the room I put my printouts on top of my hand luggage and we both set alarms as well as having a wake up call as we didn’t want to overlay or for anything to go wrong!
When I woke up on Christmas Day (Saturday 25th December) I could hear my sister talking to the dog, Sumo, who was opening one of his presents from underneath the tree. I also felt a little bit out of sorts and my voice had gone. Neil made me some buttered cranberry toast for breakfast as the others were having scrambled eggs and salmon, which I don’t like. There was also lots of bucks fizz which seemed to sort me out a bit and my voice came back! We opened presents and I was gobsmacked at how much everyone had, especially the kids. When I’d been asked what I wanted for Christmas this year I’d said a Terry’s chocolate orange because I love them and had not had one for years. I was not expecting to get any presents, Captain Caveman and I don’t bother with them any more so it was a bit of a shock to be given a gift bag with gifts inside. The Leesing family had surpassed themselves and I was so surprised to get all sorts of lovely items; a bracelet, toiletries, chocolates and a voucher for Marks & Spencer’s. I’d not really known what to buy for them and, of course, I was on a much tighter budget. For Neil I picked Merino wool socks as Captain Caveman swears by these and I thought they would be good for work or fishing, I decided on an underwear set for Gayle hoping I had picked the right size and colour, for Morgan and April I picked Lush bath bombs thinking they would be able to have a nice relaxing soak in the bath with those and they always smell nice, for the whole family I took a bit of a risk and decided to buy them my favourite game, not knowing if they already had it or if it was a bit inappropriate. Cards Against Humanity is just hilarious and reminds me of playing it at Momma D’s house with Des, D-Dub and Hanh so I knew it was funny. Everyone got so many lovely gifts and I found out what a boo pillow is when Gayle got a massive one given as a gift. Sumo got lots of presents too including a camera which he hadn’t realised squeaked. There was even a tiny bit of snow falling but it didn’t settle at all so there was no outside snow activities. Our Christmas dinner would be served around 5pm so I was given the job of peeling and crossing the sprouts while Neil and Gayle were busy in the kitchen, preparing the Christmas Day feast. I sat at the dining room table to do them and got a call from Captain Caveman who had already had his quiet Christmas Day and was over at Stu’s house, slightly inebriated after they had sent Multi out to get more beers. I was very pleased to join the kids with a melon and berry starter, while the adults had a choice between pâté or seafood, it meant I had more room for the main turkey dinner. Neil made sure we all had our wine glasses full and then he and Gayle, helped by Morgan and April, brought out the main course in a selection of bowls for us to help ourselves. It was outstanding; on my plate I had turkey, stuffing, pig in blanket, roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts with bacon, chestnuts, and cauliflower cheese – I swerved the broccoli, parsnips and roasted fennel. Gayle had a mountain of a plateful and we all laughed as there was no way we would eat it all, even though it was delicious. We had to have quite an intermission before the Christmas pudding and proper custard. We played more games in the evening and my Dad did not like Cards Against Humanity one bit and said it was stupid, my youngest niece seemed to be the best player and I thought it was a great laugh. When the Trivial Pursuits game came out Dad was more settled and we managed to consume yet more alcohol, all of us managing thus far to enjoy a truly remarkable day, with no falling out (well, apart from Gayle putting in a complaint to Neil about the quality of the cream content in his liqueur coffees). For supper I had more booze and a good sized portion of the ‘smash’ cake which was probably the best sponge cake I’d ever had!
I woke up on Friday 24th December, Christmas Eve, with a bit of a sore throat and paranoia that the dreaded Corona might have got me, even though I didn’t feel unwell or have any other symptoms! Given last night’s shenanigans in the Williams’ household, it was surprising I didn’t feel a tad worse but it was almost midday! It was also the weekly weigh-in day so I stepped on the scales and found that I had put on 2kg in the last week! I decided to do another lateral flow test, just to check before we got ready for our festivities, even though we would still be with the same people as last night but I wanted to be sure I wasn’t about to give anyone Corona for Christmas. The test was negative so that was a relief and I took a paracetamol and manned the F up! I had tea and toast for breakfast and witnessed a rare site of my Dad doing the hoovering. Ma & Pa were excited for Christmas and had started to gather everything together as we were all invited to my sister’s house. I think Dad would have set off at midday if it meant we could start the party earlier and I’m sure Mom was slightly concerned that either me or my sister would ruin Christmas with a family fall out. It seemed different this year, the pandemic had certainly impacted everyone in different ways and I’m sure we all just wanted it to be a fantastic time for us to all be together and celebrate. I was definitely looking forward to it and I had even bought a terribly ill-fitting Christmas jumper for the occasion! I spoke to Captain Caveman who had spent Christmas Eve day (he was 7 hours ahead) with Leonard and a bottle of wine at Funny Monkeys and it was nice to chat before the mayhem commenced. For lunch we had to eat the remnants of last night’s buffet between the three of us and I do love an overload of carbs before a family celebration. I remembered my brother-in-law is very generous with his drink pours, my sister had more bottles of booze than the drink cupboard could handle and I’d heard there might be more games being played. I was up for whatever the Leesing family had planned for us and was grateful to be invited to spend the next few days with everyone. At the back of our minds there was the fear that, come boxing day, the Prime Minster, BoJo (no relation), would announce a lockdown and we’d all be fed up. My sister, her husband and kids had gone bowling in the afternoon but we had decided not to join them for a few reasons but mainly because I’m not keen on bowling, we all had injuries, it would be full of families and we were trying to minimise Mom’s risk of catching Corona before her hip operation. We arrived at Gayle & Neil’s house around 6pm, it was cold and raining. Dad and I unloaded the very full car while Mom put stuff where it needed to be indoors. The house looked wonderfully Christmassy, I lost count of how many Christmas trees there were inside, and everyone was excited for the family festivities. Under the main tree in the living room there were already a few presents and I was conscious that the gifts I had bought would look superfluous. It had been 10 years since I had spent Christmas with my family in the UK (& 7 years since I’d even been in England during the festive period) so you can probably imagine how much I thought things had changed – there was certainly already evidence of an overabundance of consumerism in this home and I was a bit overwhelmed at how lucky we all were to be in this situation. Sumo, the dog, was keen to get the party started and had spotted a joint of ham that he was sure he could reach if he really tried, so I put the chair between him and the rather tempting ham! Neil was ready with the champagne and I felt like royalty as I was given one of the big flutes (again) to drink mine from as we all did a cheers to being together, during a pandemic, at Christmas. The buffet spread was magnificent and I almost felt guilty eating it as it was just so indulgent, even my Dad said it put my Mom’s buffet to shame and she agreed. There was a big cheeseboard, smoked salmon, prawns, pastries (including mini beef Wellingtons which were gorgeous), cured meats, as well as the ham, olives, chutneys, sauces, nuts and crisps. A new culinary invention had reached the buffet table this year and I couldn’t wait to see if it would be as popular as when garlic met bread to form the now run-of-the-mill garlic bread; chicken doughnuts – well, I never! We drank more and I had no room for sweet stuff, except for a couple of nuts dipped in caramel chocolate which are a real winner, although I kept eyeing up the fancy ‘smash’ cake on the end of the table. After a couple of bottles of fizz (between us!) I went on to red wine to compliment my return trips to the cheese board and then the games started. The one where you have to model a word out of plasticine was quite tricky but Mom and I were on each other’s wave length with that one, there was a true and false game which was amusing but my face hurt so much from laughing at the next two games. The most hilarious one was Dik Dik, where we had to ask our opponents (fellow family members) if they had a specific creature on their card but the names of the imaginary creatures were so inappropriately worded that we were in hysterics most of the time – surely it’s not right for a granddad to be asking his granddaughter if she has a Giant Beaver!? My Mom had a favourite game which definitely defied the sensibilities of the Corona virus transmission by playing ‘name that tune’ on a kazoo – unbelievably addictive, competitive and just priceless! By the time we had passed in to Christmas Day I was on the whiskey, Dad had broken a glass and was shit-faced, Neil was hoovering up glass and Sumo was banished to the garden so he didn’t get glass in his paws – it was mayhem! Mom pumped up the blow up bed for me, I helped Morgan get the almost dry bedding back on for Ma & Pa to have her bed, then coerced April to tidy her room enough to fit Morgan in with her. After helping my sister bring down even more presents from Santa to put under the tree it was finally bed time, after just one last nightcap for everyone!
Thursday 23rd December, or Christmas Eve Eve as I refer to it, was definitely not as it was planned to be! In the news Spain had announced that masks must be worn outside now to try to stop the Omicron variant spread and in China there was a rule put in place that only 1 person per household was able to leave the house every 2nd day for essentials in the city of Xi’an, where over 13 million people were under strict lockdown still. In England there were no changes to rules and what rules there were, were often not enforced or upheld anyway. When I was in Vietnam we would hear more news about what was happening in China but there was rarely a reference to it on the English news. As I ate my toasted teacake for breakfast, my mom was busy getting things ready for her first Christmas party. My parents were officially opening the Christmas bar tonight and had invited my sister, her husband and their 2 kids over for a small party. Unfortunately, we decided our family trip to Chatsworth would be cancelled and we would look forward to going in warmer weather during the summer instead. I’d discussed Louisa’s situation with my parents and let them know that, to be on the safe side, I’d sadly cancelled plans to meet later, I asked if I’d be allowed to gatecrash their party instead and they said I could. Sheree and John picked me up from my parents after taking a risky detour which got them stuck up a narrow lane in a car, we made sure we wore our masks in the car and we tried as best as we could to be careful, as is the norm these days. Sheree is always a hostess with the mostest and put on a lovely lunch of meatballs, rice, frittata, cheese, pickled onions and gerkins. It was wonderful and I washed it down with a glass of wine as we talked about most topics under the sun. Poor John’s ears must have been almost bleeding as when I said it was time for me to get going he seemed rather keen to get the car started. It was a shame we had made the decision for me not to stay over, given the Corona situation, but we would definitely do that once I was back again – I used to love those times when John would go to bed leaving me and Sheree almost crying with laughter and drinking so much wine! When I got home I had left my phone charging and had realised that was another set of photos I’d not taken – it was becoming a habit. My mom was fussing over what food to do, if there was enough room in the oven and what my sister could or couldn’t eat (she’s coeliac) so I offered to help. Dad was in charge of the bar and putting plates in the dining room and so we all mucked in with the putting stuff out for the buffet. When the family arrived it turned in to an episode not dissimilar to The Royle Family TV show because their dog, Sumo, had a shitty bum and my brother-in-law was wiping it with a bit of kitchen roll in the kitchen (the dog didn’t like it one bit) while me and my dad told him to go in the garden. Even more hilarity ensued when the games started with Christmas themed charades and my nieces were the best at it, we had a very difficult Christmas quiz but the girls won the boys. We played the ‘Who am I?’ game and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much; no-one knew Justin Bieber was Canadian, my youngest niece took a while to work out she was the Queen, I’d never heard of Kylie Jenner, Sumo the dog got upset that he wasn’t included and my Dad had the hardest time figuring out he was a passion fruit martini! I ate so much from Ma’s delicious spread and drank loads of red wine, sherry and a couple of Bailey’s – we had another one of those nights that went on way past midnight!
I slept in until 10am on Monday 20th December and it felt good to have a lay in so late! After we put some washing in I walked with mom as far as the chemist, as she was picking up prescriptions, and I went to get the bus to town. I’d been in England for 9 days now and unfortunately I’d not been able to meet quite a few people who were still getting over the dreaded virus but today, after rescheduling, lots of lateral flow tests and concerns about logistics I would be meeting up with more friends. Poor Vanessa and Matt had been stuck at home longer than they wanted to be, due to a delay with their day 2 PCR test results but were finally free to be let out, Maddie was in Lincolnshire and was no longer coming to Sheffield due to other commitments, and of course my parents were trying to minimise risk by not going out, plus they had a food shop delivery due that afternoon. I got off the bus and walked to the wrong venue because I’d mixed up where I was planning on going tomorrow night but luckily I was early and had enough time to walk down towards where Debenhams used to be. It was heartbreaking to see so many of the high street shops now closed and, to say it was almost Christmas, it wasn’t nearly as busy in town as usual. I walked past the Christmas markets where quite a few shoppers were and arrived at The Furnace, a new addition since I’d last been back. I was impressed with Becca’s choice of venue as, not only did it look fancy, it was spacious, airy and almost empty. Becca, Caz and Nel were already there but there were to be no hugs which was sad, of course, even the menus were already laid out on the table. All 3 of the girls had suffered with Corona this year and so it was good to see they looked fab, especially Caz’s hair after a trip to the hairdresser’s this morning. We ordered drinks, and it was different to our past meet ups where we would have shared a bottle of wine. We all ordered food and drinks; I had a pint of lager, another pork belly dish and some poutine, Becca and Caz had fishcakes, while Nel had a Korean chicken burger and chips. All the food was fantastic, with the starters/sides being easily enough for a lunch and I’d definitely go there again – it was the cleanest place I’d been so far too (the toilets were immaculate)! Our next stop was made in an attempt to be sensible by being outside as we headed to the Christmas bar in the peace gardens. Vanessa had already let me know that it was just her coming in to town but she also had a shopping delivery on it’s way so we said we would go to the Alpine bar and wait for her. Of course, I had no WiFi on my phone so once we had all drank a rather expensive (£4.50) mulled wine in a small polystyrene cup, Becca messaged to check where Vanessa was. There was also another pop up bar at the top of Fargate called the Sleigh bar and she was there so we set off to meet her and bumped in to her on the way. We all had one more drink (£2.50 for half of dark fruits cider) at the Sleigh bar then it was time to say bye. Again, it felt funny to not be hugging, or even touching, each other and also not really knowing when we could all ‘get back to normal’. Vanessa and I had a wander back down Fargate to Marks & Spencer’s and we bought a few treats and some Christmas presents before sacking it off to call for a quick half in the Brown Bear. As I walked in to the half empty pub I had a wave of nostalgia as it was one of those boozers I loved to visit in the winter, with its cosy interior and no nonsense bar staff – there’s not even any WiFi. Vanessa bought us half a cider each and we just had time before I had to tog back up in winter layers to go to the bus station to get the bus home. I only just made it on time and, as arranged, I was home by 6pm. Mom had been busy making another one of my favourite English meals, toad in the hole (sausages in Yorkshire pudding, for the unfamiliar) and Dad was supervising the process. It was bloody lovely but my dad had a face on when it wasn’t up to his expectations and he thought Ma should have left it in the oven longer as it got a bit stuck in the middle. Mom was more worried that the ends would burn and I wasn’t complaining because I think I got the most sausages – I thought it was spot on. Dad seemed happier once we got a red wine on the go and we started watching something a bit odd on BBC1 called The One Before. After dinner I got a message from my friend I was meeting tomorrow night saying she had to cancel our plans which we had arranged some time ago as she had double booked herself. I had done similar in recent weeks so I was fine about it, I think once it gets in to December it is hard to keep track of everything that’s meant to be going on – I knew it was nothing personal and it was just one of those things. It was a shame I wouldn’t get to see Leanne this time but I hoped I would be able to see her in the summer instead and maybe even help her out with a new project she had taken on recently. I went to bed and, conscious I was falling behind on my Duolingo Turkish practice, tried to do some but ended up watching Lubricant (Russell Howard) in bed – it made me laugh!
I was excited on Tuesday 21st December to be seeing my aunties, Jill & Rita. They were going to be at my sister’s house around lunch time so, as I got up late, I had an M&S sausage roll for breakfast and read the Vietnamese news. In Vietnam cases were higher again (just over 16,000 in a day), and more deaths (250) in a day than in the UK, more info here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20211221/vietnam-records-16325-coronavirus-infections-50191-recoveries-250-fatalities/64844.html My parents and I walked up the hill in Mosborough to my sister’s house where Jill and Rita had already arrived and the dog, Sumo, was going crackers over Rita while she tried to get her shoes off. There was an offer of a hot beverage or a glass of fizz and it was easy to see how the family split went; Jill was driving and so plumped for a cup of tea with ma & pa while Rita and I decided prosecco was on the cards – we aren’t one to turn down alcohol often. Gayle doesn’t have a normal kettle, more like a fancy teasmade-come-coffee machine type of appliance and so, while she fannied about with that, I poured the prosecco, not realising the champagne flutes were far bigger than usual. Rita and I had almost a half bottle of prosecco in each glass and it was rather moreish. I had planned on getting a photo of us all but between stories of excrement and Harold Shipman plus a quick quiz on what that name of the doctor my nannan hated was, I got distracted. I genuinely feel that the TV show Gogglebox has nothing on my family and I think cameras in my sister’s house would make for entertainment gold! There were chocolate cupcakes and luxury biscuits to eat and poor old Sumo wanted them all, he picked his moment to wolf down an unattended cupcake wrapper and wouldn’t let me or Gayle get it out of his mouth. When Neil and my nieces returned I found out something that all my English friends had been keeping a secret from me, something that I had said would be a great idea about 20 years ago and is now a thing – you can order a Macdonald’s! April, my youngest niece, wanted to order one and I was amazed that this now existed, even though she was told ‘no’! Neil got some white wine out and we carried on drinking, ma & pa had one and Rita had a whisky. It was good to have everyone together when we finally remembered Dr Paget’s name (crikey, we wouldn’t have slept tonight)! The walk back home was down hill and easier because I was merry and Dad zoomed ahead so he could put the fire and heating on for us as it was getting dark. My Mom really was pulling out all the aces as she had a beef stew in the slow cooker which was for dinner tonight and she only made her best Yorkshire puddings yet – Dad was happy! I had some stew left over for tomorrow and, instead of a night out in Sheffield as planned, I got to watch the 2nd episode of The One Before in the living room with Ma & Pa – I was a bit late to realise that there were 2 female characters, Emma and Jane, who I thought were the same actress (they weren’t) and wondered why it now was starting to make more sense. I didn’t have any wine with Dad tonight but I did finish off Clare’s blue cheese with Red Leicester mini cheddars for supper and really enjoyed them. We had some more family plans for tomorrow so I was in bed before midnight.
It had been arranged before I left Turkey that my parents and I would go to uncle Gary & aunty Jo’s for lunch on Wednesday 22nd December. They had moved house since I last visited but didn’t live too far from my friend, Sheree. I’d therefore also organised for a sleep over at Sheree’s after visiting my relatives. Unfortunately, due to the Corona virus those plans had to change, my cousin, Liz and her family, were coming back from Scotland and we needed to make sure Gary & Jo didn’t have to cancel due to catching Corona. In an effort for us all to still be able to see each other my Mom and Jo arranged that we would instead go for a walk around the lake(s) at Rother Valley at 11am. I explained this to Sheree and we decided we would come up with a Plan B once I got back from our country walk. To be quite honest I wasn’t looking forward to the cold or the walk, given that my ankle still hurts, my mom has a bad leg, my Dad has bad knees and my uncle Gary had not long since had knee surgery, and it didn’t involve a homemade lasagne or an alcoholic drink – we were more likely to be out of action from exisitng injuries than Corona! On my bottom half I put on my thermal tights underneath my Christmas leggings but only one pair of socks and my new boots, my top half consisted of a t-shirt, a hoody, a scarf, my big coat, a hat, gloves and a face mask – I forgot to put my ankle support bandage on but couldn’t be bothered to address that issue. It was great to see Gary and Jo and instead of cooking me a lovely lunch they had brought me a bottle of red wine, and from one of my favourite regions in Italy – I love a Primitivo from Puglia so I was very happy! We had a good walk around and didn’t go too fast, first I was chatting with Gary and Dad and we were having trouble keeping up with Jo and Mom who were speeding ahead with Henry, the dog. Once we had walked around one of the lakes I thought we might be cutting through but there was no chance of that, it was a 5km total loop around the main and northern lakes so not too far for able-legged people. By this time I was warm and had taken off my mask as there was only me who had kept it on, even though the UK rules don’t say you have to wear one if you’re outdoors. My feet were the only part of me that were cold but they soon warmed up when we swapped walking formations and I went to the front with Jo and Henry. It was great to see Gary & Jo while I was back and such a shame that we couldn’t go to the pub with them but the walk and chat was rather nice. This was the first time since tearing my ankle and knee ligaments that I have managed to walk 5km without limping or a sit down and I think having a slight heel on my new boots helped. When we got back home I made new plans with Sheree for tomorrow lunch and cancelled the plans I had for tomorrow daytime with my sister and my parents. This gave us a free evening at my parents tonight and of course we made the most of it. We only had fish and chips again and it was sad knowing this would be the last time until July next year! This time the chippy tea was even better than before as the owner had just cooked fresh fish and we had plenty of chips. Dad put the kettle on and we all had a cup of tea while we watched the last episode of The One Before – which was all a bit confusing. While we watched Live at the Apollo with Jason Manford, Dad fixed us all an alcoholic beverage, mom and I managed 2 sherries, each with 3 cherries, and thoroughly enjoyed our Harvey’s Bristol cream, seeing as it was almost Christmas. There were a couple of disappointments before bed though; today was the 10th anniversary of me meeting Captain Caveman but, because of the 7 hour time difference, I didn’t even get a chance to speak to him. My friend, Louisa, who I was looking forward to seeing tomorrow night, had sent a message to say that she had been in contact with a relative who had tested positive for Corona yesterday, she herself was negative on 3 lateral flow tests, and had already had Corona a while ago, so it was up to me if I still wanted to meet up. It was awful news, as we all knew we could catch the virus anywhere and at any time, but no one wanted to catch it for Christmas or jeopardise my mom’s operation.
When the alarm went off on Friday 17th December it was still dark and cold – I didn’t want to leave the comfy bed! I read in the Vietnamese news that a shopping centre had been closed due to Corona, in Ho Chi Minh city, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/business/20211217/retailers-withdraw-from-shopping-malls-over-coronavirus-flare-up-in-ho-chi-minh-city/64763.html Becca, Steve and I got an early bus in to town so that I could pick up a few things on my way back to Mosborough as we were off for a family meal. None of us could be bothered to shop really so when we got to Marks & Spencer’s (the shop I have missed the most) we just mooched around and I (who had a bad stomach from cheese and wine last night) used the facilities and the free WiFi. When I got home I waited for Dad to finish in the shower so that I could get ready, then we all walked to The Mosbrook. I wore my new boots and my feet stayed warm and dry, the walk was mostly downhill but I found I was still rather slow at walking. When we arrived the staff were busy so we had to wait a bit to be seated, Gayle & Neil arrived shortly afterwards and seemed a bit flustered on account of Neil being late and on the cross-trainer, instead of getting ready. We waited a while to order drinks and I’d already decided I would be having pork for my dinner so I ordered a cider. The festive menu was available as well as the regular one so we each did whatever we fancied. Dad and Neil had pâté, Mom chose squid, Gayle had prawns and I went for butternut squash soup for our starters. For the mains we had the following; ma – Asian duck salad, Gayle – sea bass, Dad – Turkey dinner, Neil – steak, me – belly pork. It was bloody lovely and mine was so big a portion that it took me ages to eat it. In fact I ended up leaving some because everyone was fed up of waiting for me to finish my dauphinoise potatoes and wanted a dessert. There was no way I could manage a pud so my mom had my Christmas pudding, Dad had the same, Gayle had a lemon cake and Neil just a coffee because he had to go and pick up one or both of the kids and transport them about. After a lovely family lunch we decided to go back to my parents’ where Neil would join us later at the micropub if we could get a table. I tried to book in but it was full so I rang them and a walk-in table was still available. Mom was a bit embarrassed about going again, after Mad Monday, and she only drank coke, the bar man checked how long we planned on staying and we only managed 2 drinks before going back to my parents for another impromptu party/nightcap with Neil on taxi duty once again. It was a lovely family day and we had a really good laugh and catch up, it was nice to be able to be with my family when I know so many people who can’t be with their’s this year – I felt extremely lucky indeed.
What was tipped to be the biggest reunion booze up in Sheffield ever on Saturday 18th December had begun to reduce as fast as the Corona cases were increasing. So much so that what had been a possible wild night out turned in to a very tame, but wonderful, day. The virus was definitely having a massive impact on plans with friends and family being either cancelled all together or moved to something more sensible, in efforts to avoid Corona for Christmas. After my buttered toast and English tea I got ready to meet at a nearby spacious, airy and empty venue. Paz was unable to meet tonight but came to meet me for a hot beverage in the bar area of Mosborough Hall hotel, a short walk from my parents’ house. When I got there, a bloke from the previous night’s party tried to talk to me and mentioned he had been up drinking until 5am, had meant to have gone back to Wales but had booked another night as he was too drunk to drive home. I kept my mask on and my distance then went to order a pot of tea while Paz arrived. When she got there it was brilliant to see her, she looked so well and fresh and I noticed her hair was lighter – we couldn’t stop smiling and it felt good after all this time. Time went too fast but we decided the venue was a good place for us to perhaps organise an afternoon tea when I’m next back in Sheffield, so I popped that on the potential plan list for summer 2022. When I got home my parents had their hairdresser over and mom was still getting her hair dyed so I had to wait a little for her to finish so that I could cadge a lift to the tram stop. I was off to Kelham Island to meet Luan & Paul for a couple of drinks in the afternoon. They’d also invited me to the cinema but I wasn’t bothered about that and thought it would be nice to watch the Strictly Come Dancing final with mom, I don’t usually watch it but when there’s an English ballroom dancing competition between a deaf soap actress and a gay male TV presenter it’s worth watching just to see my Dad’s confused face! On the tram I bumped in to Luan and Paul who were just getting back from Wolverhampton and were pretty done in, this meant we could all call to Luan’s for a nice cup of tea and a natter. I’d prearranged to get the 6pm tram back so we changed our venue to go for a nice ale at Salt (used to be the Stew and Oyster) and was just round the corner. It was a nice pub and I really enjoyed the real ale without any side effects and we were non-stop chatting in the short time we had together. It was lovely to see them both looking healthy and happy together, they were so pleased to be able to be going to gigs again too and they told me of a great one next year that I’d love to go on too, as I have missed proper gigs! We all got the tram from Kelham Island, they went to town and I continued to White Lane where mom came to pick me back up, as she was also giving my sister a lift later too. That night we had fish and chips from Tony’s chip shop and watched the Strictly programme. The fish was great and the portion of chips was enough with 2 portions between the 3 of us because I had to put my lounge wear on soon after snaffling it all. Next, Mom let me add some essentials on to her shopping order which was being delivered on Monday and I went a bit mad ordering slow cooker sachets, Henderson’s relish, sweets and some gluten free cherry bakewells. Dad and I shared a bottle of red wine and I was quite glad the day had been a lot quieter than the first plans as I was pretty tired and wouldn’t have wanted to be too worn out for the Sunday plans, either.
I was excited to have my mom cook me a bacon sandwich for breakfast on Sunday 19th December. I can get bacon in Turkey but it’s not as good and it’s expensive with it being a Muslim population so I don’t have it often. While it was cooking I did a lateral flow test which was negative so we were all relieved about that and my nose was getting used to doing them. I got told in Vietnam that if you breathe out through your mouth (or even say ah) as the stick goes up to the end of your nose it is more bearable. In the news, Vietnam had reports of the spread of the omicron variant, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/international/20211219/omicron-cases-doubling-in-15-to-3-days-in-areas-with-local-spread-who/64793.html After my delicious bacon sandwich I spoke to Captain Caveman who was doing well, keeping busy, but was missing me now and I was him. My mom needed some bananas so she gave me a lift to my lunch appointment, Ma & Pa had been invited but they were trying to limit going out a bit more because of the operation and not wanting to be ill for Christmas either. Kerrie, Paul, Thomas and Jack were already at the British Oak having been to Disney on Ice earlier and it felt weird not hugging each other. I’d missed her hen do and wedding so it felt amazing to finally get to see her and the family. They were all so happy and it was fantastic to have a shared love for good food (pie for the girls, lamb for Paul and a massive Sunday dinner for the kids) as we chatted on about all sorts of things, including how much I love Henderson’s relish. I was so full that I didn’t order the sticky toffee pudding that I fancied but I did try a bit of Kerrie’s and it was gorgeous. The pub was quiet for a Sunday but customers were spaced out and the staff were really good so I felt it was one of the nicer meals I’d had in there. I got a lift back home with my mask on and I was sad that they couldn’t come in to see the finished house my parents were renovating when they last met but we hoped for a BBQ in the summer instead. I was so stuffed and just sat and watched a bit of TV, my Mom made a curry for dinner just for the 2 of them as I wasn’t hungry. Later though, I had some really nice treats; fruit cake, cheese, chocolates, crisps, dates and some wine with my parents. It felt like I’d never been away as we tried to keep up with Ronnie O’Sullivan on the snooker and watch the Sports Personality of the Year – I took my eye off what channel we were on and thought Ronnie had won the latter! Before bed there was more news that plans for tomorrow were going to be changed again and some friends who might have been coming to Sheffield could no longer make it, there was definitely a sense of people being concerned they might get stuck if a lockdown got announced and of course no one wanted Corona for Christmas.
We had a nice homely day on Tuesday 14th December and it was clear that, due to the pandemic, there was going to be a likelihood of me not getting to see some people who I had hoped to, particularly those who had messaged to say they, or people they lived with, had tested positive for Corona this week. This was the first time since the height of the pandemic that I knew several people who currently had the virus and it did worry me. My parents had some workmen pop in to service the boiler and a friend/work colleague called in to chat to my Dad. He was still there over lunchtime meaning we were delayed in getting to Tony’s chip shop for our lunch. I had been looking forward to English fish and chips after not having them for years but we only managed to just get there before they closed and had a chip butty each, as there was no fish left. They were lovely but a fish and chips meal was still on the list for another day and Dad made us all a cup of tea as he was the first to finish his lunch. I had a root around in the box of belongings I still had at my parents house and I was happy to see my popcorn maker, an ice bucket and some bits and bobs I had almost forgotten about, including my childhood bear, Patsy Panda. I decided I couldn’t be bothered to go through all the pensions paperwork today and would leave it for another day, before I left. Mom prepared another delicious dinner, one of our favourites, spaghetti bolognese, and the portion was huge so I saved some leftovers for tomorrow.
On Wednesday 15th December I felt like I was so lucky, I’d slept well, I had a nice cup of tea and toast for breakfast and I had come to the conclusion that England definitely has the best toast – the bread is just so good and it was not making me poorly! I was so pleased to not have a dodgy stomach that I had the leftover spag bol with a slice of cheesy garlic bread for lunch. That evening I was invited to a small soirée at Clare’s house with Sue, over the past 3 years these ladies have been amazing online friends who were supportive during my lockdowns, had some of the best bits of advice and have a similar sense of humour to me, I also know them from working at Aviva. Clare picked me up from Mosborough, as she doesn’t live far away and we drove to her house. We chatted on over a glass of Prosecco with Chambord (because we were being fancy) while Clare prepped what she called scraps. The idea was for us to have leftovers (scraps) as part of our buffet and Clare also got the crisps out while she topped up my Prosecco. Sue arrived after her hair appointment and it had been so long since I’d seen her in person that I hardly recognised her as she had lost a lot of weight and gone short with her hair. Within a few minutes we were talking about random subjects, laughing away and I was impressed by mini cheddars being available in stick form. Clare was absolutely the hostess with the mostest as we troughed through her amazing spread; including chicken tikka bellinis, sausage rolls, cocktail sausages, a full cheeseboard, delicious roast potatoes. The time just went too quickly for a school night and I’m sure we didn’t get through all of the stripper stories! Sue, was driving, and so had not been able to drink, unlike me – I was a little tipsy and had a lift home with Sue after a wonderful evening where Clare’s scraps were anything but and I even had some blue cheese to take away!
On Thursday 16th December I started the day by checking how much extra it would cost me to add luggage on to my return flight. I’d already bought new boots, bras, knickers and socks that needed to be added to the popcorn maker and ice bucket in my hand luggage and I thought that was a little optimistic. The good news was that it only costs £34 for 22kg and there was an option to add on an annual insurance policy which included Covid for £35 so I did that. I used my card and it worked fine so it was good that my Turkish bank card worked here. My next job was to do a lateral flow test to check if I had caught Corona because later I was going to a friend’s house and didn’t want to put her at risk, she’d also been doing tests and working from home. I was surprised at the amount of plastic packaging in the 7 day kits but the instructions were pretty simple and I did it then set the 15 minute timer. I didn’t feel unwell but it was a strange feeling, waiting for the result to show up on the plastic cartridge. It was negative, I registered it with the NHS but I don’t have a UK phone so I gave my mom’s and she got a text to confirm the negative test. I then decided I could pop to town to get a few more bits and would also have a look for a few Christmas presents for the family. Money was tight this year so I couldn’t afford to splash out but I wanted to at least get something small for everyone I would be spending Christmas day with. After I’d ended up in a rather warm Primark buying myself more knickers (a specific kind that I had before and wanted some more) and some lounge wear/pyjamas I found myself a bit peckish. I was worried about eating somewhere busy (like Greg’s) or going in to a shop due to the Corona risk but I found a very empty precinct on the Moor which had a Nando’s in so I went in there. I was missing having the East Hill chicken in Phong Nha so the next best thing was ordered; a quarter chicken with corn on the cob and chips plus a bottomless coke. The place was quiet, customers spaced out, the staff were really good and they even took cash so I felt a bit more at ease. When I ordered, from behind a plastic counter, the guy serving had a bit of chitchat and I mentioned I’d been out of the UK for a while which was why I was asking if I could pay cash and didn’t have a Nando’s app. He was such a nice guy that he gave me a free drink and seemed genuinely surprised that I was there. The food tasted good, obviously not as good as an East Hill BBQ chicken but it was tasty and filled me up – I didn’t take the piss with the free drink by filling it up with a free refill. My bus back out of town was busy but everyone wore masks and tried to sit on alternate seating, the only person who I saw not wearing a mask was the old dear at the front who had pulled it down under her chin and was coughing quite a bit in to the air without putting a hand over her mouth – she wasn’t on the bus for longer than 5 stops and all the windows were open. I arrived at Becca’s at 5pm, when she finished work and was greeted by Max, the dog, but I could hardly see him as I was steamed up and dressed very warmly. It was great to see Becca again after all this time and was sad that neither of us had made it to Cheese Night this year, a tradition which started 10 years ago and was the night I met Captain Caveman. We laughed until my face hurt, while we had a small tribute to a cheese and wine night instead. When Steve got home we had started a nice bottle of red wine and so we all sat chatting and laughing while playing with Max, who showed off with 5 toys in his mouth at once – surely that must be a record. It was a lovely night and I felt lucky because she was meant to have been wearing her sparkly outfit to her Christmas party. Becca had really been looking forward to going out to celebrate the festivities with her work friends but it had been cancelled. I was quite the night out in Redditch but I was definitely grateful to have been able to take advantage of her availability instead. That night I stayed over in the very comfy spare room, we didn’t drink as much as we would have done in previous years when we both had the next day off because I needed to be up quite early!
When I woke up at 6.30am on Monday 13th December I checked to see if I had my PCR results back yet and I had. The email had been sent at 11.55pm last night, after I had fallen asleep, and was negative so I could now go out. I googled the bus time table and saved screen shots as I wouldn’t have access to a phone, or be able to Google anything, once I left my parents’ internet and I went for the 8.35am bus in to town. As I hurried for the bus I heard my name called and turned around to see Amanda and her daughter off to walk her dog, what a lovely surprise. I was dressed warmly but I did feel the cold on my feet in my Volleys and thin socks as I waited for the bus, which came roughly on time and wasn’t too busy. A single bus journey to town (Sheffield) is £2.10 but a return is £3.60 so I went for that and the bus was occupied with only 50% mask wearers, the windows were open, no heating on and the driver didn’t wear a mask, which I was surprised about as there was a sign to say masks were compulsory. It didn’t take long to get to town and not much had changed along the route during the 3 years and 4 months I had been away. When I got off the bus in Fitzalan Square I did notice they had smartened up the area next to the bingo which lead to Arundel Gate and it looked much safer. I was at the bank by 9.05am but I wasn’t the first in the queue and had to wait a short while to sort out my expired/lost bank cards predicament. By 9.30am I was in a rather empty Marks & Spencer’s looking at winter boots to keep my feet warm and dry. I tried a pair on which fit perfectly and would be ideal in the rain so I bought them along with socks, knickers and bras. A lovely lady who worked there let me put my purchases to one side to pick up later and also I was able to use the free WiFi. My Mom sent me a message to say she was leaving home to go to the optician and, because I didn’t have a key or know if Dad would be in, I looked for an alternative to going straight back to Mosborough. I almost went to meet Gayle, my sister, at Meadowhall shopping centre but I’m not a fan of that place and a friend who worked there had just been commenting on Facebook how she was sick of people there not wearing masks in shops. Instead I decided to find a place for a spot of breakfast and saw that one of my old favourites was still around.
I decided to go to Marmaduke’s for my breakfast, it wasn’t too busy and the place had screens up between each table. I ordered a bacon sandwich with a cup of Yorkshire tea and it was served pretty promptly. The breakfast was excellent, there was free WiFi and I got a message from my Mom that she was back and Dad had been at home anyway. I decided to pay and go to get the next bus home, but I’d not accounted for the fact that, due to Corona, some places don’t accept cash and I had just cancelled all my English cards to get new ones reissued. All I had was my Turkish one which when presenting it to the waiter was told it was useless as it had no chip on it and I was meant to wave it at a tray like device he was holding. I had no idea what he was talking about and he now had to request help from his supervisor because I wasn’t allowed to pay cash. As I was explaining that my card is from a Turkish bank, he said the transaction had already gone through, without the need for a PIN or a signature, and I was shocked. Apparently I have a contactless card which I didn’t realise and so now I was able to get the bus back to Mosborough via Boots where I picked up some imodium, senocalm medication and a new ankle support (at a cost of £23) as my ankle was still playing up from walking on hills. The bus station in Pond Street was very cold and completely empty, the bus had just 2 other people on. My sister had finished having her nails done and came over to my parents’ house bringing cakes and we all had a cup of tea while I tucked in to a massive piece of Yule log, Dad also had a piece but my Mom had fruit cake and Gayle had gluten free fruit cake. I had an idea that we should go out for a festive drink to the micropub on the Mosborough high street and I booked us a table online for 4.30pm. I’m not saying my Dad was keen to go but by 4.15pm he was at the door waiting to go to the pub. I’d not seen my sister in over 3 years so we decided to give the ball a bit of a kick, I had a gluten free IPA, my parents had a pint of stout each and Gayle had a mulled wine. I’d managed 2 pints of the IPA, 2 Brockman’s gin and ginger ales and possibly a Bailey’s. It was great to catch up over a few drinks, the small pub was really good but, of course, we overdid it and by the time we’d had 6 rounds it was time to get a takeaway. Gayle ordered curry from Khushboo and the rest of us ordered pizza but when we went back to get mom she was worse for wear and we had to send for reinforcements. My brother-in-law, Neil, came with the car and took us all the very short distance home and we had an impromptu party, where my niece must have thought we were all mental. This day has now been named Mad Monday by our family and we all burst out laughing every time we talk about it!
joloyolo 