Dalyan – 11th & 12th December

At 5.25am on Sunday 11th December it was only 17°C and I was wide awake and a bit nippy. I decided, as today was likely to be a bit of a right-off, weather-wise, I would start my tasks early. The cats were fed at 7am and the rain was on its way so we were going nowhere. I had a cup of Yorkshire tea and one of Michele’s gorgeously sweet pink grapefruits for breakfast. By 9.30am it was throwing it down. I spent most of the day on my laptop until Casha finally came in for a cuddle. Later on it became quite stormy and the internet went off but the electric was still on. I even got a text from Captain Net to say that there had been an outage and they were trying to fix it. Captain Caveman gave me a call to check on me, as the power was out at Charlie’s with the storm getting worse around bed time. The storm was loud and pretty relentless and I hoped all was ok at our own home.

On Monday 12th December all the cats were fed and accounted for by 7.50am but it looked like JC had some swelling on her face. She wouldn’t let me look or touch it and I thought it might have been a bee or wasp sting. I let Kate know in case a vet visit might be needed and we decided to see how she was throughout the day. Casha was fed up of being bothered by Bebek and decided she would sleep in the box of crisps. It was raining so all the cats stayed indoors all morning, except for Kylie. When the sun came out later that morning I decided all the cats but Casha, who was now sleeping on Kate’s handbag, could go out as I had an important appointment at noon. I had to walk to Charlie’s as I had no money on me, Captain Caveman had gone on a long walk with Cath and Keith but not taken Charlie on this one as it might be too difficult for him. He had remembered to leave me some cash which I needed as I’d arranged to meet author, Rosie O’Hara, at the Kaunos tea gardens to purchase her new book and have a quick catch up before she went to cookery class.

Captain Caveman sent me photos of his walk around Dalyan with his new walking buddies.

My wellies were falling apart but were necessary to get through all the puddles and mud from Mark and Kate’s place. I ordered a tea and Rosie gave me a yarn bag for Kate, a marvellous invention of which I’d never seen or heard of before. Rosie has written more than one book and, as I was buying her latest work, she very kindly gave me her previous book and even wrote a dedication and signed both books for me. I was also gifted some cards to experiment with and I was looking forward to seeing what effect they may have. Now I just needed to make some time to read them, I still hadn’t finished Mike Tyson’s autobiography which is really good. Rosie also recommended I get some Centaurium drops to help with my allergies/stomach reactions which now seemed to have transferred from stomach issues in to face and neck eczema. We had a short catch up before I walked back to Charlie’s in my broken wellies. If I had not lost weight at Fat Club this week I would be disappointed as I was walking for about an hour per day, minimum.

As Captain Caveman was out, I took Charlie for a walk then I took more Bolognese and some clean clothes from that house back to Mark and Kate’s around sunset. Kate had messaged to say that flights from the UK today had been cancelled due to snow and that their flight tomorrow might also get cancelled – I might need to stay longer. JC definitely had a poorly cheek and, although she still wouldn’t let me touch it, she did let me give her a cuddle.
I got most of my stuff together and did a few tasks in the evening so that I wouldn’t have to do as much tomorrow. Captain Caveman and my parents were both leaving in 2 weeks and I’d not really been out with them much. I was very tired, it’s surprising how the relaxing week at Mark and Kate’s had not really ended up as that and I was starting to miss being in my own home with all my own things.

Dalyan – 10th December

My plan on Saturday 10th December had been to get up early, feed the cats, do a couple of hours work and then walk to Charlie’s or the market to meet Captain Caveman. We’d been looking after Charlie for 10 days now and he really was such a lovely dog. The problem with being in 2 separate houses but trying to maintain a budget is that the food needs to be cooked together then split between the homes. I messaged Captain Caveman but he didn’t answer so I assumed he’d been on his Bridge app until late and was having a lay in. I’d fed all the cats on time and finished the tasks I had for the morning. On the way from Mark and Kate’s place I saw that the nearby building work included putting pipes in to the canals and ditches, it looked a mess and would be awful to walk through in the rain. The 30 minute walk did me good as I didn’t feel as tired once I got there. Captain Caveman was in bed playing Bridge on his phone, Charlie was also snoozing, so there was no trip to the market. I took Charlie out for a short walk round the block to Poo corner then came back for a shower. I could barely get any chat out of Captain Caveman apart from that he was in agreement that we would go to Altın Tava restaurant with my parents for lunch. We’d arranged to meet them at 1.30pm but we were late as Captain Caveman was getting obsessed with playing Bridge on his phone.
When we got near to the restaurant my Mom was stood in the street and Dad was walking about a bit further up. Alton Towers, as they call it, was closed despite my mom having checked with them yesterday. My parents didn’t look too pleased as we had been wanting to go to this place for a while but hadn’t managed it. Instead we made the decision that we would go to Bistro Blue for lunch and we headed off there. We sat inside, as we had left Charlie in the apartment, and we were the only ones there. This was only the second day of them being open for winter and there was no menu yet so Ömer, the waiter, took my Mom and Captain Caveman to the chiller to tell them what they had available to eat. My Dad is not a fan of not having a written menu so he didn’t go over and I had already decided I would try to be healthy. My parents ordered steaks, Captain Caveman chose a burger and I stuck with a chicken shish. The food was very good and I would definitely have the chicken shish again. All the food was nice and my parents said their steaks were delicious. We had drinks but I was conscious I wasn’t going to go too mad as I had more work to start tomorrow and I had to walk back to Mark and Kate’s later.

It started raining so I decided to get my wellies from Charlie’s and pick up some Bolognese before going to feed the cats. I noticed Captain Caveman had decided to open one of our Datça Vineyard wines to put in a slow cooker Bolognese and I was a bit disappointed because I’d hoped we would drink that on a special occasion, or at least together. We did have other red wine in when I left but he’d drank it. I took some food with me to tide me over so that I didn’t have to keep coming all this way to get some meals. The rain was about to come, the forecast wasn’t looking good for tomorrow so it was likely we wouldn’t leave our respective house sitting properties.
I got back to Mark and Kate’s just as the rain was about to lash it down, I had a glass of wine and then later warmed up my Bolognese for dinner.

Dalyan – 8th & 9th December

I had another gift from Bebek at 7.30am on Thursday 8th December, this time it was alive. I asked Kylie to take care of it again and this time she took it in to the garden, killed it and ate it. She then came back in and ate her breakfast while I felt too queasy to eat mine. Captain Caveman joined the Riverbums on his weekly bumming and found some shocking areas of litter, no which is disappointing. As he was out until 2pm it was up to me to put my laptop away and walk to Charlie’s place to keep him company and take him out. When I got there, Charlie was pleased to see me but was very tired from his massive walk yesterday and just wanted belly rubs.

Video of Kylie taking a live rodent away

When Captain Caveman got back we had the BBQ chicken from Tuesday but it was a tad dry. I made extra rice to take to Kate’s with me as we now had my rice cooker in the kitchen at this house. Captain Caveman and I had a walk with Charlie but it looked like rain, when we checked the forecast, 9 wet days were predicted.
Back at Mark and Kate’s I did a meal plan to try to help with the not being able to get proper diet friendly meals because of being so ill prepared. After feeding the cats they decided to play on the stairs and Casha appointed herself as the gatekeeper of who could pass.

There were some planned power outages on Friday 9th December but I wasn’t too sure which areas either of the houses I was at, fell in to. I forgot to set an alarm so all the cats were waiting for breakfast at 7.40am when I finally woke up. I had Yorkshire tea and toast for breakfast then I decided to take my laptop and walk over to Charlie’s as Captain Caveman was out. My 8GB of data I’d bought on 21st November had already run out and the WiFi at Mark and Kate’s only works for me when sat in the living room on the sofa. I prefer to type at a desk where I can have all my materials beside me and no cats helping me. When I arrived at Charlie’s, he was pleased to see me but the power was off. I decided to cut up an apple in to wedges and send a top tip to the Fat Club group on substitute snacks when there’s no electricity. Instead of potato wedges I had apple wedges, without the BBQ sauce I may have had, and that was my lunch. At 12.30 I walked Charlie over to Lukka, where Captain Caveman had been playing bridge. I dropped the pooch off while I nipped home to get my hair conditioner, moisturiser and get weighed. I found my scales said that I’m heavier than the ones at Fat Club and my weekly measurements showed the following;
Bust stayed the same,
Waist -3cm,
Hips -5cm,
Right thigh +1cm,
Right calf stayed the same,
Left thigh -0.5cm,
Left calf -2cm.
At 2pm I went to my last Turkish class of the year where we talked about what our plans for Christmas were, as part of the lesson. It was actually quite reassuring that a lot of the people in the class don’t celebrate it and would just be having a usual day, but I’m sure the teacher must have thought we were a set of miserable buggers.

When I finished class I walked over to Bistro Blue which had now opened on certain days during the winter months. It’s one of our favourites in Dalyan so it was good news and my parents were very happy about it too. Captain Caveman, Charlie and my parents were already there and I was surprised to see my Dad drinking strawberry cider. As they had just opened, we got a bit of a deal on the beers and wine which were only 50 lira each (£2.17) – the cider was 70 lira (£3). The owners Selahı and Annie had the place looking good and it had an awning up and heaters inside. We didn’t go inside because we had Charlie who was loving being able to nosey around. It was quite pleasant being sat outside and it meant that Charlie could say hello to some street dogs. As we were leaving, Annie and Selahı treated us all to a free shot of either amaretto or a minty concoction to celebrate their first day of winter opening.

Instead of going straight back to Mark and Kate’s while it was still sunny, I decided to join Captain Caveman and Charlie for a glass of wine at Waterfall bar on the way to get my laptop and rucksack. Mehmet, at Waterfall, gave everyone jacket potatoes which were delicious. While I went to pick up my bag and order a taxi to go back in time for cat feeding, Charlie was given jacket potato skin which he loved. When I got in, it was a little later than usual but the cats seemed fine with it and settled down indoors after eating. I had broccoli soup which I put pasta in, to be more filling, for my dinner. I was looking forward to a quiet weekend when I got another online project with a deadline of a week so it meant I would be busy this weekend.

Photo credit – use of photos from the Riverbums

Dalyan – 7th December

It was still dark at 7am on Wednesday 7th December when I fed 5 out of 6 cats at Mark and Kate’s house. It was very cold outside so I took a cup of tea back to bed with me. Kylie didn’t turn up until 8.30am but did stay indoors after her breakfast.
Captain Caveman had decided to go on a big walk over the other side of the river and had chosen to take Charlie with him. He even sent me a photo from the top of a mountain and I hoped Charlie’s little legs were ok.
By noon I had my lunch break spoiled by Bebek, the youngest cat, bringing me a gift. It was a mouse, or a rat, and I had to get Kylie to take it away, which she impressively did. My diet had really gone a bit off track because I hadn’t brought much of my food over from any of the other houses. I ended up having half a chicken and mushroom pie from the fridge, before setting off to walk to Fat Club. Unsurprisingly, I had put on 0.3kg this week, which is less than 1lb, so I wasn’t unduly worried. After the group, I walked to Tez bar to see my parents, Captain Caveman and Charlie. The walkers had not yet gone home but it looked like they had really bonded. Charlie had been very well behaved and had been on a rowing boat, a ferry and walked quite a long trek without any issues. I had planned to go back to Charlie’s with Captain Caveman for dinner but it was getting dark so I left everyone there and walked back to feed the cats. As my dinner plans had once again fell through I had more pide, courtesy of Mark and Kate, then went to bed fairly early.

Video of Bebek bringing me a present

Video of Kylie taking the present away

Dalyan – 6th December

Tuesday 6th December turned out to be busier (and more stressful) than I had hoped! I walked Charlie, had tea and toast for breakfast, put a BBQ style chicken in the slow cooker and tried to finish something on my laptop. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, due to interruptions, and by late morning, I was on my way to Mark and Kate’s house with my rucksack and a portion of sausage casserole. They were both going back to the UK and I had already booked in the pet sitting for the kitties, before Charlie had come along. Because Captain Caveman is allergic to cats, he would stay with Charlie, while I went to Mark and Kate’s to look after their 6 cats for a week – it sounded so simple at the time!
When I arrived, they were almost ready to go and Kate pointed out her Christmas trimmings, including a tree on the wall which was a great idea with cats. Kate had left me some things in the fridge to eat, including pide, and there was red wine for me too. My bedroom was nice and tidy and I moved my stuff in before getting ready for singing group at 2pm. I was pushing it for time so I’d asked if I could borrow Kate’s electric bike. On the way there the bike felt very loose on the steering, it didn’t have much charge and the front tyre looked to be going down. I didn’t even get as far as Rehab bar before I had to get off and push the bike as the back tyre was going down as well. I messaged Captain Caveman and Mark for advice on what to do with the bike, locked it and left it at Rehab, then set off walking to Charlie’s. When I got there the downstairs door was locked, for the first time since I’d been there and I didn’t have that key, Captain Caveman did and when I called him to let me in he didn’t answer. I was late for Singing group, which started off well when one of the members of the group requested we have some more cheerful songs this week and Nanny Kay took over shouting out the next song to save it being repeated several times. At the end of singing I had a bit of a to do with Madge who asked my Mom if I was pregnant (again)! I was not in the mood for this and told her she needs to stop saying things like that, I tried to be diplomatic and say that there are women who would be more offended than me for being called fat! Crikey, maybe my diet wasn’t going so well, after all.

After Singing group I walked back to Charlie’s where I had hoped to have dinner with Captain Caveman but, because I needed to get the bike back to Mark and Kate’s before it got dark, I left straight away. Captain Caveman came with me to pump the tyres up a bit and said it would just about get me back. I ended up pushing it some of the way but got back in time.
I was hoping to get some stuff done today but had failed and I definitely wasn’t prepared for the next fiasco. As I was feeding most of the cats, I could hear one of the cats sounding like it was coming from the front bedroom, which was locked. Squeak, the cat, had accidentally got locked in there and I had no way of knowing how to get her out. Mark and Kate were on the flight so I had to wait until they had landed to get a response. They were delayed and it was late by the time their friends, Michele and Nick, came to Squeak’s rescue and had to break in through a window. It wasn’t easy and I was so glad to have had their help. I finally had some warmed up sausage casserole, a glass of wine then went to bed. It was cold so I was glad of an extra blanket to keep me snug and it certainly did the trick.

Dalyan – 5th December

On Monday 5th December Captain Caveman went Dogging while I worked through my to do list. I put a sausage casserole in the slow cooker and found that it peaked Charlie’s interest for most of the day as he really wanted sausages.
I went to have crumpets for breakfast and they were already mouldy so I wasn’t too impressed. I cut the mouldy bits off and only had to throw one of them away. Charlie sunbathed on the balcony as the weather was nice again then later we took him to the Waterfall pub. We bumped in to John and Andrea and had a good laugh with them, including John and I finding out we could both still get earrings in our ears despite not wearing them for decades.
Back home I tried to make Yorkshire puddings to go with the sausage casserole but the non-fan oven didn’t seem to get hot enough and they didn’t rise!

Dalyan – 4th December

We had an exciting day planned on Sunday 4th December. Captain Caveman made me a bacon sandwich for my breakfast in bed and Charlie came in to watch me eat it. Then Captain Caveman popped to Migros supermarket and bought a loaf of bread, some mushrooms and 6 beers at a total of 208.85 lira (£9.21). At 11.30am Captain Caveman, Charlie and I were round at Jamie’s villa and we were joining him, Drew, Norman and Edna for a day at the beach. My parents were going to join us at the beach and were getting the midday bus. We all fitted in to Jamie’s car comfortably and we wondered if it was Charlie’s first time in a car. On the way there, Charlie started to feel travel sick so we had to stop for him to get out. When we did get to the beach, Charlie seemed unsure that he was allowed there, off the lead too (dogs aren’t allowed on the beach in the main season) so he was a bit shy. Norman and Edna were used to it and had already started heading towards the water’s edge. Charlie ended up loving the beach but he didn’t go in the sea like Norman and he wasn’t sure how to play fetch the stick like Edna. It was a lovely sunny day and so sweet to see all 3 dogs having a good walk along the beach. We walked a lot, Charlie got loads of exercise and some bonding with Captain Caveman, as he’s not too fond of men. Around 1pm we grabbed some sunny seats at the cafe and I spotted some sunglasses on the floor which turned out to be a Turkish lady’s on the next table. She was grateful and gave us some treats to eat as a way of thanking me. They were delicious and she even gave us some of her homemade pomegranate jam to go with them.
The cafe was still serving food and we had a mixture of toasties, chicken döner sandwiches, chips and soft drinks. Dad had also brought some snacks in case the cafe was closed. Adam had some of his beers too but I wasn’t fancying a beer today.
We left in the car just before my parents, who got the 4.30pm bus back. We had Slimming World red onion soup for dinner and by 9pm Charlie was snoozing away, tired out from his beach day but very happy.
He’s not normally allowed in our room but by 11.30pm he was fast asleep on our bed with his blankie on.

Dalyan – 3rd December

On Saturday 3rd December Charlie had not left us a present and I was pleased, he was getting used to us now. There had been a noise in the night but when I asked Captain Caveman if he had heard it, he hadn’t – I wouldn’t find out what it was until later. I took Charlie for a walk and when I got back Captain Caveman was getting ready to go to the weekly market. The weather was nice again and I took some photos from the roof of Charlie’s apartment. I took my measurements, because I had forgotten yesterday, and I was surprised to find I had lost 1cm from my bust and 4cm from my waist but had increased everywhere else. I was busy all morning and Captain Caveman brought chestnuts, apples, plums and grapes back from the market.
We found out that Charlie is a sun lover and likes to sunbathe on the roof. Captain Caveman cooked a healthy chicken pasta for dinner and I happened to notice that, in our room, the wardrobe shelf and rail had collapsed – so I did hear a noise. Captain Caveman had not been content with having to leave his clothes in a bag to live from and had moved some of the clothes from one side of the wardrobe to the other. The weight had made it buckle inwards and all the clothes were now in the bottom of the wardrobe. Captain Caveman agreed he would get his tools and fix it! We had a nice pasta dish fo dinner and Captain Caveman and I walked Charlie together.
That night I checked to see how much flights were in January for friends in the UK who might want to come to visit me for my 50th birthday, they weren’t too expensive but are only flying twice per week during the winter.

Dalyan – 1st & 2nd December

December in Dalyan started with rain on the morning of Thursday 1st. Captain Caveman brought me a bacon muffin for breakfast in bed, which was delicious. Charlie, the dog, had left us a nice present on the floor of the living room before 8am, I cleaned up, and took him out but he wasn’t a fan of rain so was quite reluctant to walk and just wanted to play. He’d started to get on with Captain Caveman and I well and we spent the whole day figuring each other out and getting used to where things were in our new place. Captain Caveman made a plan to go back to our own apartment once it stopped raining to get food and booze from the fridge which I wasn’t able to carry when I moved in. The owners had kindly left us almost a bottle of wine and the fridge freezer was big enough for us to fit most of our stuff in. At 3.30pm we chanced a short walk with Charlie where he introduced Captain Caveman to Poo corner, a favourite spot for Charlie to do his business!
We had Slimming World pumpkin curry for dinner and hoped for a drier day tomorrow. Charlie started talking to me but I was unsure what he was saying, probably that he wanted some curry.

On Friday 2nd December Charlie had left us another gift in exactly the same place as the last one. I took him for a walk to Poo corner and we saw a Labrador who was off the lead. A dad and his kid were walking a black and white dog on a lead, which the Labrador attacked. Charlie was very scared and tried to run off but I kept him walking as we were far enough away. He came back from his walk very cold, wet and shaking so we decided he could have a duvet morning. Captain Caveman made us bacon and mushroom muffins before he left to go to Bridge club at 10am. I worked on my laptop for the rest of the morning, Captain Caveman finished Bridge about 1pm and he had already been to our place to pick up some stuff and do some washing. I walked Charlie over to Lukka to meet Captain Caveman and on the way the same Labrador from this morning’s walk came out of his gate to try to attack Charlie, I stepped in the way and stopped him. I spoke to the owner and told him of the incident this morning and he agreed to keep the gate closed.
After a hand over of Charlie, the dog, to Captain Caveman at Lukka I went to my Turkish lesson and one of the girls there really had me laughing. She has a Turkish husband and family and had only just realised she had been mixing up the words for ‘interesting’ and ‘disgusting’ at family gatherings! Next week would be the last class until January as our teacher was going to visit her family in the UK. After class, I went to join Captain Caveman who was in Waterfall bar, having met Kate for a drink and to deliver her English goodies. Mark joined us later, saying he had just seen my reprobate parents at Tez bar but they were making their way over to join us. Charlie loved Waterfall bar and had been made very welcome by the owners and customers, including Skippy, the dog. My parents arrived, closely followed by John and Andrea, and they were very merry. When Gay Gaz and Engin arrived, Charlie recognised Gaz and was super excited to see him. He was trying to jump across the table to get to him but when they were reunited Charlie was licking Gaz’s face and smothering him with kisses. It was quite sweet to see Charlie like this, as not many people are that pleased to see Gay Gaz arrive in a bar in Dalyan. Charlie was very well behaved and enjoyed his outing to the pub but we had to get back for dinner. Captain Caveman and I had diet pizzas and an early night. Charlie slept in Helen’s bed with his toy sloth and I hoped that meant he wouldn’t be tempted to shit in the house again.

Dalyan – 30th November

On the morning of Wednesday 30th November, I really enjoyed my cup of Yorkshire tea but, unfortunately, Captain Caveman wasn’t in a good way. He’d slipped up the stairs last night and now his knee was giving him some gyp. I had to take him painkillers, buttered crumpets and water to bed and I decided to have cheese spread on my 1 crumpet. I had promised to be at Charlie’s, before his owners left for the airport, at 12.30pm but it was obvious that Captain Caveman would not be coming with me. I finished off some tasks, packed my bag and said goodbye to Captain Caveman, he was hoping to be able to make it over to Charlie’s later. I had my wellies on for the first time this year as the ground was wet, rain was expected and I was probably going to get muddy walking Charlie, the dog.
After saying goodbye to the owners, I petted Charlie and did a little unpacking. I had been allocated the daughter’s lovely bedroom but there wasn’t any space in the wardrobe. In fact, I had not seen such a full wardrobe in my life! I decided to leave my clothes in my rucksack and get them out as I needed them. Before the rain came again, I walked Charlie round the block but he didn’t seem very keen on going out. He walked fine on his lead but was quite nervous when he saw or heard other dogs. I left him at home while I went to Fat Club and as I left I decided to check the key worked as I had been warned it can be a bit tricky. I couldn’t get back in but I was running late for Fat Club so I went anyway. On the scales, I was disappointed to find last night’s frivolity had taken its toll, I had put on 0.3kg (less than a lb) this week. After Fat Club, Kate, who has the same type of door at her’s, came to help me try the key – it worked. Charlie was pleased to see me but then I left him again while I went to Rehab bar to meet Adele about Turkish class. She too had quit the class when it moved to a morning one and wanted to join the Friday one. We joined the others for a drink at Rehab and Captain Caveman called me to find out where I was. He was feeling better so was coming over to Rehab bar and he joined Mark, Wolfie and Tay to play pool. Back at Charlie’s, he was super excited to see us both and I took some photos to send to the owner for when she landed.
We had a tomato based curry I’d made for dinner with some ready rice, as I hadn’t got my trusty rice cooker with me. Charlie, the 4 year old Turkish puppy dog, was definitely going to be great to look after and would keep us entertained until the end of the year!

The Pros and Cons of living in other people’s homes when pet sitting

Advantages
•You get free pets to look after
•You don’t pay any bills for electric or internet
•You have a new local pub and can meet new people
•There may be better facilities/bigger accommodation
•Some owners leave you food, beer and/or wine
•Some have a cleaner
•Prevents me from going out or drinking as much as usual
•I spend less because I’m not as near to shops or bars
•Quieter environment (no Jazz Bar)!
•Getting more fresh air and exercise

Disadvantages
•Living out of a bag or suitcase
•Not having your usual things (e.g. kitchen equipment)
•Being further away from home/town
•Having to be super organised with belongings
•Not having enough fridge/freezer/cupboard/wardrobe space
•Other people’s washing machines don’t always have the same settings (no quick wash)
•When there are no cleaners you have to do it yourself, despite having a cleaner at home
•Lack of lighting and plug sockets in the right places
•Still having to go back and forth between own house for stuff
•You are still paying electric and internet on your existing home
•You are used to your own shower and other people’s are often not as good or easy to use
•Feeling like you can’t properly relax as you’re in someone else’s house
•Having to get taxis home if you go out of an evening so that you’re not walking home in the dark after drinking
•I have less time to spend with family and friends
•Missing my own comfy sofa/bed/pillows
•Having to double up on things you buy which are at the other house (shower gel, washing up liquid, washing powder, drinking water)
•When friends come to stay they are in the original house so more arranging needs to be done for meeting up
•Not having a desk
•Only having 1 set of keys between the 2 of us, when Captain Caveman joins me.
•Having more power cuts and slower WiFi than at home

Dalyan – 29th November

While Captain Caveman was on his way back from London to Dalyan, on Tuesday 29th November, I was doing my best to finish as much stuff as possible so that we could go out and play later. I’d spent the last 2 days at home, had zero alcohol and had not spent anything. I had cereal for breakfast and the remaining pasta for lunch before I headed off for an appointment. Unfortunately, this meant I had to miss singing group in the afternoon and instead I went to see some friends about a house and dog sitting arrangement. My Mom and Vanessa still went to singing group so at least they had each other to get into trouble with. Charlie, the dog, recognised me from before and was very friendly so I knew we would get on fine. Captain Caveman and I would be moving in to his apartment tomorrow and would look after Charlie for a bit. While I was there I got a message from Captain Caveman to say he was home and I headed back to meet him. When I got there, having past a bicycle on a gate and a big black cockerel, the kitchen table had lots of goodies on it and the freezer was being stocked with even more. Captain Caveman had brought back grub screws, cheese, bacon, crumpets, muffins, sausages, a proper Yorkshire pudding tin, freezer bags, a fish slice, silicone pan lids, hoops for poaching eggs in (apparently called poachettes), chopping boards and, best of all, 210 Yorkshire Tea teabags!
I was very interested to see how the prices were in the UK as I hadn’t been back for almost a year so I took Captain Caveman’s receipts to check out the details. Here’s a list of what Captain Caveman bought in England and the prices in pounds;

Ikea
2 bathroom pots £1.80
Ziplock bags £3.00
3 saucepan lids £12.00
Total Spent £16.80

3 Phone Store
10GB SIM and phone package £10

Wilko
Yorkshire Pudding tray £1.50
Fish Slice utensil £1.50
Poachette rings £4.00
Chopping boards £6.00
Total Spent £13.00

Lidl Supermarket
Ginger nut biscuits £0.49
Muffins £0.65
2 Malt Load £1.44
1 Unsmoked bacon £1.55
Vegetable stock cubes £1.65
2 Crumpets £1.78
Gorgonzola cheese £2.19
Red Leicester cheese £2.69
2 Oxo cubes £3.78
2 Cheddar cheese slices £3.98
Yorkshire tea teabags £4.49
2 Richmond sausages £4.78
1 Christmas cake £4.99
3 Smoked Streaky bacon £6.57
Total Spent £41.03

He also bought some meat, galangal and lemongrass back for Kate, as you can never have enough.
We really didn’t need those lids from IKEA for £12, nor the new chopping boards when we already had some. I wouldn’t use the rings for poaching eggs either so they would be redundant until at least September 2023. It was amazing how he got all this and his clothes in his hand luggage, but I was very happy that he had.

Seeing the teabags made me actually cry tears of joy and Captain Caveman couldn’t stop laughing at me! To cheer me up even further he suggested drinks with Ma & Pa at Tez bar so I texted Ma to see if they were available. She didn’t answer so we decided to go there anyway and, when we arrived, my parents were already there, sat with some of the usual frequenters. They had taken to having an early bar recently so I should have known they would be there. After a couple of drinks we decided to go to Duble for dinner to celebrate Captain Caveman’s return. I tried to order sensibly to help the diet I was meant to be on, so I had lentil soup and a chicken shish. Of course the main dish comes with chips, rice, salad and flat bread, with oil and butter used in the cooking, but it was better than some of the dishes I could have had. Dad and Captain Caveman had some delicious looking potato croquettes and we had wine with our meal. We had a complimentary hot beverage to finish off our meal and were home before 10.30pm having had a lovely night. Tomorrow we would be taking on another canine responsibility that was just so cute!

Dalyan – 27th & 28th November

Having not slept too well, I was treated to breakfast at Mark and Kate’s on Sunday 27th November. Kate seemed in fairly good spirits considering she had gone home for an early night and it had turned out anything but. We said bye to Julius and Toni and then Mark and I went to drop off some lemon grass at Janet and Kevin’s on the way to take me home on the mobility scooter. When I did get home, I went straight back to bed for a couple of hours as my body ached from too much dancing at last night’s Bistro Blue party. I ate the Spice Garden curry for lunch as it was too tempting to save it and I generally pottered about at home. I vaguely recalled saying I’d go to watch Dalyan Spor play football at home but I hate football and can’t think why I would have said yes. I didn’t go and was glad as I managed to get some chores done. I was still busy doing stuff at 1am and had only stopped to have a diet pizza.

I was on the laptop all morning on Monday 28th November, it was cold and raining so I had to put the Air Con on heat mode. The living area was full of wet clothes that I was trying to get dry before Captain Caveman came back tomorrow.
For lunch I had a Slimming World friendly pasta with quark, which Katherine had shared at the Fat Club group, and it was very tasty and filling.
I made arrangements to visit friends tomorrow about house and dog sitting for them while they went to England. That evening I had a quiet night with a pumpkin based curry and no alcohol, for a second day.

Dalyan – 26th November

I had a mystery meal defrosting on Saturday 26th November so that I could eat a sensible lunch before I went out. I was busy all morning until lunch time and then worked out what the mystery meal was. It was a chicken casserole so I added roast potatoes and roasted cauliflower to give it a bit of substance. It was delicious and would sort me out for any beer drinking which might (would!) happen. Captain Caveman had been in touch and he’d given me some money to go to the Christmas Fayre with but it came with strict instructions to not buy anything unnecessary. Neither of us like ornaments or trim up for Christmas so there was no chance of that – it was more likely to be spent on food and drink, unsurprisingly.
I’d told friends I would be at Bistro Blue at 2pm and I was already running late so when I arrived some people were there and others not yet. Vanessa and her mother in law were waiting for me and we managed to find a seat, as Diane isn’t too good with her legs. Ann, Jax, Debbie (Darling) and Kate were already there and I briefly said hello. Vanessa ordered a white wine and soda, I had a beer and Diane didn’t order a drink. My parents were running late and when they arrived my mom had a black eye from being drunk lask night. At first she started to tell everyone about her drunken walk in to a door but in the end I said she may as well say Dad hit her (which he didn’t), and no-one seemed to care about that. Kate came over to join us and was keeping an eye out for a tall black guy with dreadlocks, Julius. She did ask a few people if they had seen him and they said they wished they had. Julio (the less tall Welsh man) turned up first and his friends were also joining us later.

I had a little mosey round all the stalls with Kate and there was a lot of stuff for sale. We bought some cheeses and Kate bought a crocheted top. I decided to get some curry from the Spice Garden stall to take home and I also ordered some onion bhajis for us all to share. The afternoon got lively, my parents got tired after overdoing it yesterday and I walked them part way home with the intention of dropping my stuff at home and returning. I got changed and came back out as it was difficult to not get involved with 40 lira Bistro Blue beers and DJs giving it the ‘what for’! Most of the day time people I knew had either gone home or were about to leave but the evening crowd and the hardcore few had arrived already.

There was lots of dancing and I really enjoyed chatting to and dancing with Katrina, Steff, Penny, Eileen, Julio, Toni, Julius and Mark before it got quite messy.
Needless to say a few of us ‘accidentally’ ended up back at Mark and Kate’s for some more shenanigans, despite Kate having gone home before it got dark. I slept in the upstairs room in a single bed with a tremendously warm blanket. Not everyone made it back to Fethiye as planned either so tomorrow was bound to have people with sore heads!

Dalyan – 25th November

On Friday 25th November I did my weekly measurements and found that I had lost a tiny bit more weight on the home scales and a few centimetres from my bust, waist and hips. I treated myself to beans on toast for breakfast using some syns but I didn’t have any lunch. After checking some of the documents I went to my new Turkish class which was very interesting. The students in there had asked for revision of things they had already learned as well as conversational practice which I found useful – especially as I was sure I’d not learned half of it before. After class, I’d let my parents know that I’d be in Lukka at 3.30pm for a glass of vino if they fancied joining me. Seeing as it was Friday and I had achieved 3 alcohol free days and 3 days of spending zero money this week I was out for a treat. I had decided already that I wouldn’t ruin my hard work, though, and limit myself to 3 drinks.
Because Ma & Pa had stayed in for a day due to the weather, Dad was already extra excitable and loud. Maybe he was excited for the England football match that night but my mom had to keep telling him off. Fortunately, Lukka didn’t have many people in at that time so he managed 3 beers without disturbing anyone and was getting louder with each one. Mom had 2 beers and I had 2 glasses of wine. The house red wine in Lukka bar is Buzbağ which has replaced the Tılsım and is served at the perfect temperature for me. My parents fancied one at Tez bar as the sun was gone at Lukka and they hadn’t brought a coat. I said I would go with them but I was only having one because I needed to stick to my diet and was busy tomorrow morning. At Tez there were Penny & Phil, Andy & Kaye, Irena & Wolfie, Jack & Sue – already some of them were quite merry but not a loud as Dad. Tez kindly gave us free walnuts and all was going well with an early evening drink. I’m not sure what happened, exactly, but after my 1 glass of red wine in Tez bar, I decided to go home. My parents didn’t want me to and started calling me boring, surprisingly it was mainly my Mom who was a bit tiddly and on her 4th beer. I’d not seen them both act as lairy in a while and, given the week I’d had, I stuck to my plan and went home at 7.30pm. I thought I’d done well to stick to my 3 wines in 4 hours and knew if I’d stayed out I would have blown all my syns in one night, and my budget! I made myself 2 diet pizzas, this time one with BBQ sauce as a base and got ready for and early night.
I was in bed at 11pm, with my winter socks on for my cold feet, when I got a message from my Mom to say they were eating in Duble. I responded with a thumbs up and went to sleep a bit disappointed to not be out drinking on a Friday night but proud of myself for managing to do it. Tomorrow was a big day as it was the Christmas Fayre and I’d arranged to meet everyone from 2pm.