I was awake so early on Monday 16th September as the burglar alarm on the neighbouring villa was sounding continuously and it was very hard for me to ignore. It was still not properly light as I went downstairs and discovered that there was no electric or wifi and it looked to have been a windy night. It was only 6.30am so I decided to get dressed, I got to see a glimpse of a sunrise from my bedroom balcony, before I went out for a walk. I had no clue where I was going so I just headed away from the ringing of the alarm. It was quite cold and I had popped on my jeans and a jumper for the first time in a month. In fact, this was one of my outfits that Clare had brought out for me. I took photos as I walked, in case I got lost and then I decided on getting some breakfast and something for lunch at a lovely café called The Cake Box, here’s what I had with prices in Euros;
The Cake Box 1 chocolate croissant 1.50 1 Feta & pesto ciabatta 2.30 Total spent 3.80 (£3.16)
This was a bargain and I continued my walk while eating the chocolate croissant which was so lovely and definitely not Slimming World friendly.
I could still hear the alarm and the streets were very empty. I guessed Ialyssos wasn’t geared up for early rises as even most of the supermarkets were still closed. The nearest beach was small, pebbly and very close to our villa and I had a little walk towards the waters edge. I saw a few people jogging but there were certainly no holiday makers rushing to get a sun lounger on the beach at 8am.
After coming across a lovely row of restaurants and cafes, I noticed an outside sink where I rinsed my chocolatey fingers and face under the tap. I found a supermarket that had just opened and I bought some tea bags and individual milks from the supermarket for €3 (£2.50).
When I got back to the villa, there were the owners and maintenance people next door. They had turned off the alarm and the owner’s sister told me the internet was getting fixed and would be on in about 10 minutes. I was rather surprised to find that none of my friends in our villa were out of bed yet. They obviously had more tolerance for noise than me! I cracked on with work once the WiFi was back on. When the girls got up, they decided they were going to have a walk for some brunch/shopping while I worked and asked if I needed anything. I still had my ciabatta for lunch so I was fine as I was. I got quite a lot of work done and was doing new leads and sourcing information.
After work, the weather had warmed up and the girls were out by the pool sunbathing. I braved the swimming cozzie and joined them for a dip, it was certainly refreshing. We had a bit of a chat before the girls got on with their holiday reads or put their music on. For dinner, the girls knocked up another lovely feast, this time Kelly had cooked corn on the cobs and some chicken to make wraps with! It was so tasty and I ended up having 2 chicken wraps as there was plenty – some even went in the fridge for tomorrow. The white wine which was definitely drinkable went down quite well. I had about half the bottle, meaning I had consumed about 3 days’ worth of syns in one day! While sipping drinks and chatting, one of my friends noticed that the swimming pool seemed to be getting fuller and may be likely to overflow. It did indeed end up in a breach and Clare having to contact the owner as we sat back and watched it. Once again, my evening was filled with laughter and I was very much loving having time with my friends – it was like therapy!!!
Sunday 15th September was a long but eventful day, where I very nearly didn’t get to Rhodes for my holiday with the girls. My friend and I were up before the agreed 4.30am and were ready to leave before 5am for our drive to Marmaris. By 5.40am we had a blow out on the main motorway and we didn’t really know what to do. Luckily, we both had a working phone and our torches were able to flag 2 men down, despite the dark. They stopped, but spoke no English and were panicking that we had not managed to get the vehicle off the side of the road. We told them we had a jack and some tools but the bolts were too stiff for us and they didn’t know how to change the tyre for the spare. We managed to get in touch with a Turkish friend and he was on his way but would be about 40 minutes, we put the 2 men on the phone so that they could speak in Turkish to try to help further. We established they were Kurdish and that they were insisting on us moving the car off the road, which they helped us with and we had to push. By 6.45am we were in danger of missing the 8.45am ferry from Marmaris to Rhodes. As I was booked on the 11am we would have to ask if my friend could get on the later one with me. I took photos of the car’s predicament in case we had to prove our excuse for being late. Our Turkish friend arrived in a yellow taxi with a mechanic and they fixed the car. We gave them simits in case they were hungry and they followed us to the next junction to check all was fine with the car – it was. Ferry check-in was at 7.45am but we arrived at 7.46am and the staff member was great. She let me switch on to the earlier ferry at no cost and all was fine. I’d already taken a sea sickness pill as I anticipated a rough crossing but I was thinking I might take another. We were a little in shock that we had made it to the ferry in good time and there were even little bunnies just freely hopping about. The Yeşil Marmaris Lines ferry, left Marmaris at 8.45am, we got sandwiches and tea for a total of 400 lira (£9), and they were fresh and filling. We both decided to take a sea sickness tablet and we were asleep before we had even got out of the dock. When I did wake up an hour later, all I could hear and see were far too many people being sick – not all of them in to the bags that the staff were desperately trying to hand out. It smelled and sounded horrendous, I could see land in the distance through the very choppy sea but I closed my eyes and went back to sleep! By 10am we were getting off the ferry, through immigration and I headed for the souvenir shop to ask if they did left luggage. The very nice lady there told me to follow her to a shelf at the back of the shop and we popped my rucksack in a hidden room for the day at a cost of just €3 (£2.51). I was glad that I didn’t have to carry it as it was jammed full but it did mean that I could probably have added in some duty free gin if I’d not been so concerned about avoiding vomiting passengers. I still had to pick it back up when we came back at 4.30pm to check in for my friend’s return ferry.
My travel buddy for the day already had a list of things she wanted to see while on the island of Rhodes, and was very keen for us to take the bus to Tsambika Monastery. We walked from the port, along the harbour and via the boats filled with stuff made from shells. The bus ticket from Rhodes Town to Tsambika Monastary on the 11am no.23 bus cost €3.30 (£2.76) each. The bus was in, we only just made it and I think I remembered where we should get off to head for the monastery. On a few of my visits to Rhodes, I had gone past it on the bus on my way to Lindos or Lardos.
It took us 50 minutes to get there and the sun was already pretty warm so I wasn’t relishing the thought of walking to the top but my friend was so keen to see this place and I’d never been. A Greek lady who also got off the bus and was wanting to visit the Tsambika Monastery was chatting to us, in Greek, as a car came past and we flagged them down. The 3 of us managed to cram in the back and got a lift to the first main car park, then set off walking. My friend reminded me a little of Captain Caveman as she forged on ahead, stopping to briefly check I was still following. I finally reached the top at 12.30pm and took a selfie at the Greek flag.
The old monastery is built on top of a big hill with gorgeous views to the sea and the surrounding area, the views over the beaches of Tsambika and Kolymbia are pretty amazing too. Like a lot of tourist attractions, the monastery itself was underwhelming, small and full of vendors selling religious tat. My friend loved it and had already taken photos while I had a puff of my inhaler. The 300 steps with just a small bottle of water and some polo mints had been hard work and there was no time to rest at the top. We had to descend the 300 steps, buy some more water and get back to the bus stop on the main road by 1pm. I’d asked when we had bought the bus tickets what time the return bus was and got told 1pm, the driver had told us 1pm from Lindos so we weren’t sure as we flagged a fancy car down and we got a lift to the bottom with some kind locals. We both needed a wee as there were no toilets at this tourist attraction. We waited ages for the bus, other potential passengers came and went, we drank all our water, ate our emergency apples and generally moaned about the sun and lack of any shade – we could see how Michael Moseley could have got in to difficulty in this type of terrain and temperature.
I was just about to go in to the bushes for a pee around 1.50pm, when the bus came and we were very glad to get on it. By 2.30pm we were safely back in the old town and ready to tick off another few ‘must sees’. My friend was quite a lot more taken with the Temple of Aphrodite than I’ve seen any other person be, as we simply walked past it in the ruins and walls.
By 3pm I was ready for food and a drink. We sat upstairs at Archipelagos and ordered a glass of rosé wine for €7 (£5.85) each and a main meal each. I chose the pork skewer for €16.50 (£13.80) and my friend went for the beef stifado at €17.50 (£14.63). The food was lovely but we were only just going to make it to the ferry port in time to check in. I retrieved my left luggage and bought another bottle of water for 1 Euro then it was time to say farewell to my travel buddy. We had enjoyed a great day out in Rhodes and I was glad she had finally had someone to suffer the monastery with her.
At 4.45pm I was on my way out of the port and off to the bus station, once more. There was a bus which would leave at 5.25pm and take 38 minutes to get to a hotel near to where the girls were staying in Ialyssos, on the North West of the island. My bag was heavy, the sun was strong and I was tempted to get a taxi but there were none about. The bus stop was crowded and there was only one bus coming so I decided to walk back to the taxi rank and pay the €15 (£12.50) for the 10 minute ride. Unfortunately, without a working phone, I couldn’t find the location and the taxi driver only new the approximate place. I asked a waiter at a nearby restaurant but he was too busy and unhelpful. I finally found the villa, which was about 10 metres away from where the taxi driver dropped me in the first place! Finally, after a very long and eventful day, I was reunited with Clare, Kelly & Louisa at the extremely lovely villa. I was welcomed with hugs and rum which was nice and then given a little tour of the premises, logged on to the internet and I shoved my bag in the twin room. Even though I still had to work while I was there, I was sure I would get lots of time to enjoy being with my friends again. Dinner was a fantastic buffet of meats, feta cheese, salad and bread which went down very well. I hardly took any photos as my phone was on charge after today’s jaunts. We stayed up chatting and catching up on who was doing what, while drinking. I stuck to just rum with ice as I had got so used to not drinking any fizzy drinks or juice most of the time and didn’t want to dilute it. That night, I was so tired I could’ve slept on a washing line and I did not need any help nodding off.
Photo credit – some photos taken by my travel buddy
Saturday 14th September was full on for me. I worked for a couple of hours in the morning before popping to the shop to get some breakfast, as I had emptied the fridge & cupboards already. Here’s what I bought, prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket Peanut bar 9.95 1 Simit 12.50 Granola bar 15.36 Polo mints 18.95 Total spent 56.46 lira (£1.27)
Meanwhile, Gayle & Neil were off on a weekend trip with Murat to Datça early this morning. My friends Kelly, Clare & Louisa were on their way to their respective airports and then to Rhodes. I finished work and then went to the bank so that I could put a load of cash in to the bank to pay on to my credit card. Captain Caveman had decided that it would be best for him not to use his Vietnamese card to pay the money for my hotel stay and that he would transfer it to my Wise account instead. I had transferred it and paid extra on to my credit card so that it was in credit, ready to pay the hotel. When I went back to check out, the receptionist said she could only accept cash, even though I had specifically booked this hotel to be able to pay on card. It was now a bit of an inconvenience as I had no cash and there was over 14,000 lira on my credit card which I had no intentions of spending on anything else! I had to ask a friend if I could transfer some money to her and her pay the hotel when she arrived tomorrow. After sorting out the payment and transferring money to my friend in the UK, the owner turned up and said it was ok to pay with my credit card, but it was too late. I got picked up by a friend, with my big rucksack and all my luggage/laptop for Rhodes and we drove to the beach. I was reluctant to leave all my stuff in the car but I also really wanted to get in the sea after a stressful morning. I paid the 100 lira (£2.24) parking fee on my card and then we went to the beach café for a late lunch. My friend ordered a tuna sandwich and a diet coke, while I had a chicken sandwich, a bottle of water and a Turkish tea for 375.00 lira (£8.41). The food was hot and tasty and not a bad price for what we had – I noticed a sign which said the café closed at 6.30pm. The sea was super choppy but the sun red hot as we got in for our swim and stayed in there for ages, mainly jumping the waves. I thoroughly enjoyed splashing about and trying not to lose any of my bathers as it was a top and bottoms combo. It was gone 7pm by the time we had got back to my friend’s place, cracked open the wine and got a bit of a picnic out on the balcony, in time to watch the sunset. It was an early night, the alarm was set for 4.30am the next day, as we were off to Rhodes, via Marmaris.
The first thing I heard from Gayle on Thursday 12th September was that she was still harping on about not having any marshmallows in her marshmallow martini at Tapa yesterday. She knew from last year that she had definitely had a proper marshmallow martini (or 2) with marshmallows on the top. I had bread with butter, a cup of tea and some plums for breakfast and then got on with work as I was off gallivanting later. I also saw an alert on Facebook that Rhodes Town was flooded, due to stormy weather and I hoped it would be ok for the weekend for my friends’ arrival. I still didn’t know if I was joining them there, either. I had a quick cheese sandwich for lunch and then finished work around 2pm so that I could speak to Captain Caveman before another one of the Ladies only moonlight boat trips. Captain Caveman was safely back in Phong Nha and visiting Greenfield Ecostay, he seemed ok but we still didn’t have any firm plans for his return date.
Our ladies moonlight boat trip started at 4pm and we met in the tea gardens. We sailed across to Köyceğiz and got off for a walk, where Vanessa, one of the other ladies and I all strolled to the tea gardens at the end of the promenade, then back. As usual, we got to swim until sunset and we had a bit of a laugh swimming around the boat and chatting to everyone. There was a delicious meal and some Sultaniye wine to share, plus I had another couple of wines. We got back just before 11pm and I’d spent a total of 1,750 lira (£39.24) for 7 hours of fun, food and drink with some lovely ladies.
It was the first time that I had felt a little bit cooler in Dalyan on Wednesday 11th September. I did my measurements first thing to find that my bust had stayed the same but I had put 1cm on both my waist and hips – this didn’t look promising for weigh day. Carol at Fat Club messaged to say that due to there being another storm forecast in the afternoon that Fat Club might be cancelled but if any of us wanted to go to her house to get weighed we could. I didn’t need telling twice and headed off with a screenshot of a map to find it. I was happy to find I had lost 0.5kg (1lb) and then walked back as the rain started to come down again. By the time I was back at my hotel it was absolutely chucking it down and I got soaked! I had the same breakfast as yesterday; overnight oats with quark, frozen berries, figs and plums. It was today that I found out that figs are not syn free and I was gutted as I had been eating quite a few this week without counting them. They are 2 syns each, which is quite high and today I had eaten 3 with breakfast. I worked all morning and the rain didn’t ease up until almost lunch time.
I had an important appointment today with our tenants, Ann & Stuart. They had very kindly invited me out for lunch and, after meeting Gayle & Neil on the boat trip, they had also invited them. Ann had asked me to choose the venue so I’d decided River House might be a nice place for lunch as they have a varied menu, cater well for allergies and always have really good service. As soon as the rain eased, I set off and the others had the same idea as we all arrived early. Ann & Stuart were first and asked for a table undercover so that if it rained again we wouldn’t have to move. We ordered rosé wine for the women and the guys had beers, we shared a meze plate and balloon bread (lavaş) as a starter. Gayle ordered fish with chips and salad, Neil and I both had İskender kebab, Ann chose the liver and onions which came with bulgur wheat and mashed potato while Stuart went for the mixed grill. We had a lovely meal with more wine but Gayle, who hadn’t been drinking much lately got a bit tipsy. Neil and Ann had to keep reminding her to drink some water but the suggestions fell on deaf ears as she got chattier. We were still at lunch and on the second carafe of wine at gone 4pm so it was a good job I didn’t need to get back to work. It had been such a lovely treat and I was very grateful for being invited out.
When we eventually got Gayle to drink some water and get ready to leave River House, on the afternoon of Wednesday 11th September, it was decided that we would go to Tapa for a drink. Ann wanted to introduce us to the delights of the pornstar martini which she had been impressed with there, and Gayle is partial to the odd Tapa cocktail too. Three pornstar martinis arrived for us women and the fellas had a pint of Efes each. The cocktails were impressively large for 350 lira (£7.87). On the next round I decided to have a whiskey sour as it was 2 for 1 on cocktail happy hour. Ann ordered a strawberry daiquiri and Gayle had been hankering after a marshmallow martini so insisted on one of those without checking the ingredients. When the barman brought it, Neil and I saw that it had sauce and biscoff all around the edge which probably contains gluten. I had the biscuit and scooped off the cream as Gayle was going to drink it. When she did drink it, she noticed there were no marshmallows in it and complained. The barman was not impressed with her and told her the marshmallows are only for children’s drinks. She was not happy! Neil told her to order something else so she got a pina colada, Ann stuck with the daiquiri and I asked for a wine which they didn’t bring in the end. Gayle was still going on about the missing marshmallows in her martini so the barman was now asking if she wanted him to go and buy her some, she said yes and pointed out the nearest shop. It was time to leave, we asked for the bill. Neil tried to pay on card, I tried to pay for Ann & Stuart’s and Gayle decided she was only putting so much cash in as she was drunk and unhappy with her drink. I ended up putting the rest of what Gayle should’ve put in instead of paying for Ann & Stuart as that was all the cash we had between the 3 of us. I bet Ann & Stuart thought we were a right set. I walked home with Gayle & Neil as she was insisting we go back to theirs for more drink. When we got there, Neil tried to hoodwink Gayle in to drinking water and pretending it was gin but she was having none of it. I decided I’d better leave them to it. They had an early start tomorrow too as they were off on a boat trip to celebrate their anniversary! I’d had a great day but I was a bit concerned we might have shown ourselves up a bit in front of the tenants. I was still chuckling to myself as I went to bed that night, thinking that Gayle would feel very differently about marshmallows in the morning.
I only had a cup of tea on the morning of Sunday 8th September as I was busy checking out the updates on Typhoon Yagi and the havoc it had wreaked in Hanoi, before I headed off on a day trip. I was happy that Captain Caveman was safe in Hanoi now but still worried he would be ok on the 5th floor of a building. He assured me he was fine, despite the capital city looking like it was a scene from the film ’28 Days Later’.
I was off on a boat trip which started at 10am with Captain Fuat on Adıl boat with some friends and family. There was a quick introduction for everyone then tea/coffee and some simit to nibble on as we sailed out towards Köyceğiz and the lake. The sun was shining, the scenery was lovely and I was looking forward to a day out with Gayle & Neil. Captain Fuat put on a delicious lunch which catered for everyone’s requirements easily (and there were quite a few of us that needed different allergies taking in to consideration). I obviously was not really concerned about the amount of syns I shoved in. I ate chicken, pasta, salads, meatballs, bread, fruit and, later, cake.
We did quite a bit of swimming, where we met a friendly terrapin who we called Bob. He took a shine to Ann’s chest and kept going really close to her, even though she wasn’t keen. He even went off and brought 2 more friends over who swam amongst us and seemed to want to play with us. We called these 2 terrapins Rita & Sue and then when we thought Bob had returned, but it was actually another terrapin who was slightly more interested in the ladies and their chests, we called him Bob 2. I probably found it funnier than most other guests that we had called our new friends Bob, Rita, Sue & Bob 2 after the film. The day was really relaxed and easy going with lots of swimming, which I loved. By the time we got off the boat I was quite merry and I’d gone way over my usual wine consumption by having 5 glasses.
We got off and said our goodbyes to everyone. Ann, Stuart, Gayle, Neil and I were walking the same way home so we ended up stopping off for a quick drink in Askın’s where I ordered a pint of draft Efes. I ended up having a gin & tonic at Neil’s insistence, back at theirs and then Jamie, Drew, Norman & Edna were passing for the dog walk so they popped in to say hello. Edna took to Neil very quickly and wanted to sit on his knee while Norman had a sniff about to check for any scraps of food. I did the dog walk with Jamie & Drew and then realised I was a bit tipsy and peckish. The night ended with me getting pizza that I didn’t recall until the next day. My Sunday had been so good and I still managed to do it on a budget; the boat trip plus drinks on the boat 2100 lira, a beer at Askın’s 120 lira and pizza 310 lira – a bargain total of 2,530 lira (£52.81).
Photo credit – Vietnam ones taken from various news and Facebook pages. Boat trips ones shared from various attendees.
It was a busy day in my world on Thursday 5th September. My sister and her husband were arriving tomorrow so I had to make sure that my parents’ place was ready for them. I only had a biscuit for breakfast as I had to go to meet the cleaner at my parents’ apartment. There is only 1 key so I said I would meet her back there at noon I had a morning in Ortaca where I first went to the council office to identify which property I actually lived in on their maps and get an address certificate, then I paid the council tax up to date at a cost of 2426.20 lira (£54.16) to bring everything up to date in order to proceed with my residency renewal application. The next job was to call to see the insurance broker where I got myself a new annual policy for 1,924.20 lira (£42.95) but was very basic cover and probably doesn’t really cover anything but accident and emergency. Back in Dalyan, I walked over to my parents’ trying to get there in time to pick up the key. It was hot and I hadn’t put any sun-cream on as it was packed. As I arrived at 11.59am I saw the cleaner riding away on her motorbike. I left my bags, including wine and stuff for the fridge, outside the door and walked to King Emlak to retrieve the keys. Once there, I had a bit of a chat with Leanne, picked up the keys and walked back, a sweaty mess. I stayed there for a glass of water and a pot noodle then had a call with my boss. Things weren’t very good for him as his son was in hospital in Hanoi, and it was quite serious. I warmed up a mystery defrosted dinner and added some pasta to it for my dinner. Tomorrow I was going to enjoy a leisurely day before my sister and brother-in-law arrived.
It was a long day on Friday 6th September. My sister, Gayle, and her husband, Neil, were going to be arriving at Dalaman airport at 10pm tonight so I was making sure everything was ready for their arrival. My Mom had given them a spare key for the apartment but she wasn’t sure if it worked as it was a newly cut one that had not been tried yet. I had the other key so it had been arranged that I would be at the apartment when they arrived tonight. I started the day with tea and toast while reading the news that a typhoon was about to hit North Vietnam. Captain Cavemen was currently in Sapa but was due to travel to Hanoi very soon. He called me while he was out walking with our friends and didn’t seem unduly worried about the weather at that point. I got on with as much work as I could and tried not to worry about the weather in Vietnam. I just had a cheese and crisp sandwich for lunch. I had a break from work and popped over to check the elusive gardener at Captain Caveman’s apartment, it was impossible to tell if he’d done anything and it still looked uncared for, in my opinion. Then I popped to Captainnet to sort out my parents’ internet and extend it for the month. This cost 675 lira (£15.13) for the top plan, as my Mom would be organising for the TV Firestick to be put on for Neil. I bumped in to Drew who was at Mono & More with Pete & Carol so I stopped for a pot of green tea. It was very hot today and I was all of a fluster so it was nice to sit and have a quick catch up. The tea was really good and only 60 lira (£1.35). I also called at the bank to transfer the rest of the required amount in to my Turkish account, this then meant that I could get the print out of my account to show the deposits for the last 8 months, including this month. On the way back, I noticed that there was a new clinic in town, next door to Şok supermarket in the old market square, where they displayed information and access to a private ambulance, as well as various cosmetic procedures like mammoplasty, gastric sleeve, hair transplant, liposuction, botox and filling. I said hello to Lou Colson who was working there now, as the receptionist, so she was the first point of contact to book appointments for these sorts of procedures which were very popular in Turkey now. The rest of the afternoon was spent working and then I went over to my parents’ apartment to make sure everything was ready for the new arrivals. Luckily I had my laptop and something to eat at the ready so that I wasn’t sat about doing nothing. I warmed up a chicken casserole for dinner and opened a bottle of rose wine while I tracked their flight. Unfortunately, they were delayed but when they arrived they were very excited to be in Dalyan. We opened a bottle of fizz that I’d had chilling and Neil had a beer in an iced glass. Gayle is coeliac so I’d got some rice crackers with prawn, pork and spring onion (Banh Ep, from Vietnam) for her to nibble on. It was 1.30am when I got to bed and I was quite tired so I didn’t take long to fall asleep.
When I woke up on Saturday 7th September, I checked the news to see that Hanoi had most certainly been hit by typhoon Yagi and it looked pretty horrendous in parts of the capital city. Captain Caveman was safely in Sapa but was going to head to Hanoi today. I was concerned and said he shouldn’t travel but stay where he was until the storm had passed. He thought it better to get out while he still had the chance. I got on with lots of work and decided, while my boss was caring for his sick son in a typhoon, I would make the most of finding new sales opportunities from Facebook and news articles where Travel Agents were posting about the weather conditions.
I’d mentioned going to the Saturday market with Gayle & Neil but they couldn’t be bothered so I went much later than usual and it was unbearably hot with a full rucksack. I got some bargains, here’s what I bought and the prices in lira;
Saturday Market Mushrooms, Grapes & 3 peaches 85.00 4 onions 5.00 3 red & 3 green peppers 15.00 Plums 30.00 4 Apples 30.00 16 fresh figs 100.00 Total spent 265.00 lira (£5.94)
On the way back I also called at the shop for other essentials;
BIM Supermarket 1.5l Water 6.50 2 soda water 12.00 3 tins sweetcorn 61.75 Total spent 80.25 lira (£1.80)
I still needed more and had to drop the stuff off then go back to the supermarket. I decided to treat myself to more water and some juice as I was super thirsty. I was surprised to see the difference in the price of a bottle of water between Migros and BIM, though.
Migros Supermarket 1.5l Water 25.25 Croissant 27.95 Milk 28.25 Washing up Liquid 33.95 Cherry and Apple juice 49.95 Total spent 165.35 lira (£3.71)
I had juice and a croissant for breakfast which was not Slimming World friendly and then another cheese sandwich for lunch. I worked for the rest of the afternoon and the AC from the bedroom cooled the dining area enough too. Captain Caveman arrived during the eye of the storm and managed to get to his hotel unscathed, but the damage in a lot of Hanoi was bad. I had a quiet Saturday night in and had figs, plums and grapes while cooking a really good mushroom risotto for dinner. I had an early night, while Hanoi got hit by the worst storm that they had encountered since 1964.
Photo credit – Vietnam photos taken from various sources/new articles.
On Tuesday 3rd September I spent most of the day working on my laptop. I had cereals for my breakfast with a Yorkshire tea. At lunch time I had to make do with a cheese and lettuce sandwich. I spoke to another Health Insurance provider who said they could insure me for a lot cheaper than the existing one so I said I would think about it while other companies came back with quotes. It rained in Dalyan for the first time since I’d been here and I had to bring the outdoor cushions in. It was soon over and it dried up very quickly again. For dinner I warmed up some of the chicken casserole that I had previously batch cooked and then had a walk with the dogs. I spoke to my parents back in Sheffield who had booked their flights to come to Turkey and were excited to be getting back to Dalyan soon.
It was weigh day on Wednesday 4th September and I was hoping that the 178 syns I’d had this week, combined with some dog walking, would mean I was lucky enough to still lose weight. I did my measurements to find I had put 1cm on my bust and hips but lost 1cm off my waist so it wasn’t looking optimistic for the Fat Club weigh-in. I had wholemeal toast with cheese spread and a cup of Yorkshire tea for breakfast and cracked on with work. Before 11am, I was at the Turkcell shop getting phone top up of 400 lira, on top of the 200 lira I’d already paid online. It seemed a bit steep to have to pay 600 lira (£13.39) for a working phone that I barely use but I needed to have it for my residency renewal application and to receive an OTP code from the post office for my E Devlet. I called at the bank to put more money in – it was turning in to a part time job, keeping tabs on how much and when. I had guests coming over tonight so I also had a quick trip to the shops while the dogs were at home, sleeping. Here is what I bought at various shops and the prices in lira;
Migros Supermarket Peppers 6.99 Pot Noodle 19.95 Chicken noodles 33.75 614g Chicken 119.73 Magnums 139.90 Total spent 320.32 lira (£7.15)
I nipped back to the bank in the afternoon to ask about increasing my 10,000 lira (£223.21) credit card limit but they now require a document from a UK pension which has been translated. Obviously, I am not retired therefore I don’t have such a document and they couldn’t increase it. I did ask if I could get a letter from an employer but they said no. This was a bit of a pain as with the rate going up and up, I had not increased my limit accordingly. If ever I needed to use the card for anything more than a bit of shopping, it was going to be too low a limit. Back at Jamie’s, I threw the ingredients in to the slow cooker for a chicken curry and did some more work. I didn’t have time for lunch so I just had an apple and legged it to Fat Club to see how kind Carol’s scales were to me. To my delight I had lost 1.4kg (3lb) so I was really pleased with that and was spurred on to keep on the plan to get back to target – I had just 4.4kg (9.7lb) to lose! I finished work at 5pm, Ann & Stuart (the tennants) came over later and we celebrated with Prosecco for Ann & I, and beer for Stuart. We had a good laugh and the dogs really enjoyed having more visitors. We had a lovely curry and the pide bread I bought earlier, doubled up as a great naan bread substitute. We had a fab time, going on to the wine after the Prosecco and taking photos to send to Jamie as we sat at his dining room table. It was quite a late night and I had drank quite a lot, the most I’d had in 2 weeks, so I might regret it tomorrow morning when the alarm went off at 7am.
I scheduled myself to start work later on Monday 19th August, mainly as I thought I may have needed a lay in after the 60th birthday for Debbie (Darling), yesterday. I also was meeting a friend at 9am in Jiks to go suss out the accommodation at the aparthotel her friends run. I had a look around and was really surprised at the ground floor studio apartment that I was offered. It would be £40 per night and had 1 bedroom with AC, a bathroom, and a living room/kitchen with a decent dining table for me to work at. The plug sockets were conveniently placed (which is more difficult than you’d expect here) and there was free WiFi and access to the hotel’s pool. They even agreed that Captain Caveman would be able to pay for it with a foreign bank card. I was extremely happy I had somewhere in mind that could accommodate me if and when I needed it. Of course, friends had also offered but I needed to be prepared for all eventualities. Back home, I ate buttered toast, a peach and some grapes for breakfast, followed by a Yorkshire tea. I worked for the rest of the morning, only stopping to shovel some mushroom pasta down me. I finished working at 2.15pm and quickly got ready. I noticed I seemed to have a load of cash in my bag so I popped over to Jamie and Drew’s to work out what had happened. We cleared up that Drew had misheard the amount for the pizza and given me more than he should’ve so I returned what was right. I apologised for drinking too much – evidently I can’t keep up with the fellas. I said farewell and rushed off for my first boat trip of August. I was going on a Moonlight Ladies Only boat trip with Captain Fuat on Adil Boat. The price of the trip was £30 or whatever the going rate is in Turkish lira (currently 43) and included dinner.
We met the boat outside Saki restaurant, ready for off at 4pm. Onboard were a great bunch of 12 ladies and we sailed over to Köyceğiz, with it being market day. I had a little walk with 2 of the ladies to the plant pot shop as they wanted to look at some tat. The off-licence where Kate and I often buy cheap fizz had now been converted in to a completely different building so we walked to Carrefour where I bought the following;
2 tins of chopped tomatoes 38.00 2 bottles of Prosecco 799.80 Total spent: 837.80 lira (£19.48) The tomatoes were half the price of those in Dalyan too!!
The Captain fed us grapes, courgette fritters and hot chips before the evening meal. There were swim stops at sunset and stargazing after a delicious dinner. To cater for all the different dietary requirements, the Captain made a vegetable noodle soup which I really liked. For main course the Captain had cooked a selection of mainly vegetarian dishes and just one dish with chicken in for the meat eaters. There was rice and salad to accompany the gorgeous food. Even the skipper had now been promoted to chief photographer and was doing an excellent job. I managed to polish off 3 rosé wines as well as some fizz and the whole trip cost me just 1,800 lira (£41.86) which included a tip! We were back before midnight and I had thoroughly enjoyed my evening out with lovely company.
Photo credit – various photos taken by others on the boat
Sunday 18th August got a bit out of hand! I’d given myself the day off, with it being the weekend and I had an invite to a special birthday party. Debbie (Darling) was having her 60th birthday party at Laguna, a new river side restaurant at the top end of town. The party started at 1.30pm so Jamie, Drew and the 3 nephews came to pick me up in the car. The sun was out and it was pretty hot out there so we squeezed in, rather uncomfortably, and managed to get quite near to the venue. Jamie would leave the car as we would (obviously) have a drink. We were welcomed with a free cocktail which was pink and had gin in it for the adults and a mocktail for the kids. It was rather good but the youngest nephew thought his ‘would be better with a gin in it’! Laguna had also arranged that all drinks of beer or wine would be 100 lira (£2.33) for the duration of the party, which was a really good deal and made it easier to pay as you go. It also made it a little too easy to drink too much and I had 2 wines on an empty stomach! Debbie (Darling) looked lovely and happy as she took a drink of wine from her birthday cake. Yes, you read that right! Louize had made a cake in the shape of a wine barrel which had actual wine in it and the tap turned to pour out in to her glass. It was so clever. As the buffet was being put out, Jamie went off-piste and ordered a rather nice bottle of wine for him, Drew and I to share. The food was very good and I over ate; there were chicken goujons, spaghetti, cheese rolls and various delicious accompaniments which went down well. Debbie (Darling)’s daughter, Mel, did a lovely speech and Sioned took some great photos of everyone (I borrowed some for the blog too). I saw lots of people I knew, which was nice. Laguna was a lovely venue and looked like a great place to go for an evening meal one day. I left with Jamie, Drew and the 3 nephews with the intention that they were going to buy some last minute souvenirs and gifts and I was going to walk back to my parents’ with them. And that is where the frivolities should have ended!
As we got past the Post Office, sauntering down the street in Dalyan, one of the boys needed a toilet break. Sofra bar was close by and not busy, as everyone was still at Debbie (Darling)’s 60th birthday party. We sat down, Ahmet rearranged seating for us and I said I would have a glass of wine, before popping to the loo too. On my return, I saw that Jamie and Drew had ordered another bottle of the same wine from Laguna, between the 3 of us. This meant I was having more white wine on top of the free cocktail, 2 glasses of wine and the third of a nice bottle – I was already past my usual non-sloshed limit. A beautiful butterfly landed on the pavement behind our bench and several of us got a photo of it, I’d not seen one like that before. When it was time to leave, I gave the rest of my wine to Drew as I couldn’t manage it. It was agreed that Jamie and the 3 lads would go to buy a couple of things and then see us at home. Drew and I would go to the bank and Yaman Büfe to buy some wine and crisps for a follow up drink at their villa. I should have said no and that I’d already had enough to drink but, having been back in Dalyan a week already, I was up for it. I took out money at the bank but then I needed the loo again and we decided we would head to Jiks, where I could nip to the toilet. However, as my eyes caught sight of Ren Garden, I suggested we go there. On the short walk from the Bank to Ren Garden, Drew’s brother called and we spoke to him to say we had been to a 60th birthday and were a little tipsy (understatement from me) but we understood that he had just booked his flights to bring the family to Dalyan next year. How lovely! We got a drink in Ren Garden, as it would have been rude not to. I paid 270 lira (£6.28) for an Efes Malt and a wine and soda which was very nice. Jamie was already at home as we went to the off-licence where I bought 2 bottles of Angora white wine, and 3 packets of crisps/Doritos. It cost just 694 lira (£16.14) – which was a lot cheaper than I expected! I didn’t have any of the wine in the end as, when we got to the house, Jamie was ordering pizza from Sosyete for us all and had already promised the boys. I drank water, fussed the dogs and when the pizza came, I paid the delivery guy 600 lira (£13.95) for 3 pizzas, chips and some chicken nuggets – a reasonable price. I was hungry and I felt that the food helped to sober me up a bit. I vaguely recall Drew thrusting some money my way for the takeaway, etc and getting home about 11pm, regretting drinking so much.
Photo credit – 60th birthday party photos mostly by Sioned Wyn Duran
Jamie, Drew and the 3 nephews were off to the waterpark on Thursday 15th August so I was happy to agree to a bit of dog sitting over the lunch time period. My day started with bread, cheese spread and Yorkshire tea then working all morning. I had some chicken casserole for lunch and popped the rest in the freezer, before heading over to see Norman and Edna. They were both asleep but I managed to coax Edna out for a wee. Norman did not wake up for a while, and when he did he looked at me and went back to sleep. The electric went off so I ended up being there for 2.5 hours and had to contact Jamie to be able to get the key to manually get out of the electric gate. It was hot, I had prescription sunglasses and a hat on and was in a kerfuffle trying to bend down, see what I was doing and listen to Jamie’s instructions. I called round to the shop as I needed an onion and ended up buying 2 onions, some bread, 2 lemon sodas and a piece of Turkish salami for a total of 200 lira (£4.65). The shop was very nice and I helped some holiday makers who were confused about bags for the bread and which was the butter. Back to work in the afternoon, once I had chucked the ingredients for a curry in the slow cooker and realised the chickpeas were actually beans but had tipped them in anyway. I worked all afternoon and stopped, very much looking forward to my curry. I didn’t enjoy the curry as much as I hoped I would, probably due to the chickpea/bean mix up.
I was invited round to Jamie & Drew’s for a BBQ with the boys and Nanny Kay after work on Friday 16th August. It looked to be quite an eventful weekend in Dalyan as I had plans for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I started the day with bread, cheese spread and Yorkshire tea before cracking on with some work. I was meant to be meeting a friend, and her friend who owned a hotel in the town centre of Dalyan, so that I could check it out for when I needed to move out of my parents’ place. We moved the meeting to next week as I was ok for now but it was likely that I would need somewhere for a few days in September. I had a couple of plums and a quick break, for my lunch I had some chicken casserole and a nectarine. After work, I popped to the Yaman Büfe Off-licence where I got some bargain bottles of wine for the BBQ. I paid 279 lira for the white Angora, which I know Jamie likes, I also bought an İdol rosé for 215 lira and a Rituel red for only 172 lira. It worked out at £15.51 for the 3 bottles in total and I was pleased with that. We had a really good night and I enjoyed the burgers, meat and salad plus a drop of wine with Nanny Kay. Jamie and Drew are so hospitable and we always have a laugh with Nanny Kay. I was meant to be being good but the cheese cake was hard to resist and I had to have a slice. The nephews were very well behaved too so the BBQ night was very lovely and I was happy to be invited.
There was lots of packing activity in the morning of Sunday 11th August and it wasn’t just me! Clare was off to meet her friend in London so was planning to get the mid-morning train. She had very kindly offered to take some of my clothes to alleviate me of the extra 2kg I had in my suitcase. Clare has always been one of those friends that is super reliable and solutions driven when it comes to any issues and she had me sorted right out these last few days. She took the warmer clothes and some PJs so I had some clothes in Rhodes and it was even more of an incentive to join her there on holiday next month. In the end, she took 2.5kg and I was so grateful for the help. Claire and Mark were also packing as they were expecting all 4 kids back this afternoon and were off on a holiday tomorrow morning. What should have been a busy family day, didn’t prevent my hosts being so hospitable and Mark made us a full English breakfast with the right amount of builder’s tea. After the gorgeous breakfast, Claire and I walked Clare to Otford train station and said our goodbyes, I was desperately hoping that I would make it to Rhodes to see her again. Back home, Bee was the first of the children to arrive back at the house and it was great to see that she had really enjoyed her holiday to Turkey. I hadn’t seen her since she was about 2 years old so she didn’t recognise me. I did some work as I would be travelling later and may not be able to work tomorrow. For lunch we had a bit of a picnic with hummus, carrots, corn, pitta and even a sausage and some chicken. This was my last meal with Claire as we were leaving for the airport in a few hours. The rest of the family returned and went straight to their rooms to chill out, pack and repack for their holiday. I briefly met them to say ‘hi’ and give Bee some ‘borrowed’ face decorations from The Bull to play with Ivy. I weighed my suitcase and found that it was bang on the 20kg allowance, thanks to Clare and that I had managed to snaffle the Mini Cheddars and a bar of Dairy Milk. At 4.30pm I said my goodbyes after an amazing week in Otford and Claire drove me to Gatwick airport. I was surprised to see that they charge to drop off there and for a few minutes it was £6. We hugged and I started to get emotional, made worse by the fact we didn’t know when we would see each other again. Before I could cry too much Claire said to get in the airport as if we cried much longer (over 10 minutes) the drop off fee went up to £26 and we didn’t love each other that much! I walked in to the airport, pushing the cumbersome trolley, laughing and crying at the same time. I was early for my flight but I was glad as the airport was absolutely rammed, mostly with families some of who were quite challenging. Once I’d dropped the suitcase off I went through security and didn’t even have to take out my laptop which was handy. I headed to the Whetherspoon’s pub and ordered using the QR reader app. I spent £20.95 on a mushroom pizza and a glass of rose wine, which wasn’t too bad for an airport. Through to the gate we were delayed and it was very busy but I got in quickly. Interestingly, there were 2 queues and the one for the people with special assistance or lanyards was very long. I was the only one in my queue and went straight through where I found a seat and got a water to use up some of my English change. It cost £2.80 from the machine and was nice and cold. The queue to get on the plane seemed to take far too long to go down and lots of people were sweating a lot as it was almost 30 degrees at 9pm. We boarded late and I fell asleep on take-off. I was so grateful to have had the past 5 weeks in England with so many friends and family, I almost didn’t want to leave but I had a birthday party in Dalyan to get to!
Saturday 10th August was my last official full day and night in England and the girls had plans to really make sure I enjoyed it to the fullest. I had once again declined the kind offer of an outdoor fitness session in favour of getting a bit of work done before the fun began. My legs still ached from the last one and the top up of impromptu dance moves last night. One of our other friends, Liz, was driving to Otford today to meet up and was already on her way by the time I met Claire and Clare for breakfast. Sally’s Café Emporium in Otford is absolutely amazing and, before I’d even tasted the food, it was going on to my list of favourites. The amount of cakes they had was immense and we were going to have breakfast there first, then take cakes away. I ordered pancakes with fruit and honey, Clare had eggs benedict and Claire had the fantastic combination of porridge, fruit and a hash brown. The tea, of which they had lots of different ones, came in china teapots and cups with saucers and our breakfast was a veritable treat. We paid for breakfast, which was reasonably priced and then got in the queue for the cakes. Claire, Clare and I chose fruit scones with butter, jam and clotted cream to take away, we got one for Liz and a brownie for Mark. The 5 cakes only cost about £20 and were massive. Back at the house, I was still fuming about the Nationwide bank issue and Clare, who uses the same bank, transferred £50 in and I gave it her in cash. That way, if I couldn’t get it sorted before the next £13 charge, and because I wouldn’t be in the country from Monday, it wouldn’t incur more charges. My mom would bring my card out before the end of September and I could use the online banking to close the account. Clare and I also decided that I was going to send another strongly worded complaint to them in an effort to close the account and be done with it.
Liz arrived in the afternoon and made it into the town centre car park so that she could charge her electric car. Claire went to collect her and there were tears when we hugged each other. It had been such a long time since we last saw each other and I was really looking forward to spending time with Liz. Claire had prepared the spare room for her to stay over, I’d put the duvet and pillow cases on, and Mark had the heavy job of sorting the sofa bed out. Unfortunately, though, Liz was unable to stay and would have to drive home after dinner. I was sad that she couldn’t stay longer but at least we had the day together – it was a travesty that she would miss the Kake & Karaoke night which Claire had booked us in to tonight. Meanwhile, our other friend, Kelly, was on her sick bed and couldn’t make the weekend either and was feeling rather sorry for herself to be missing out. Lunchtime was great and we had a chicken caesar salad with edamame beans in and then it was time for tea and the scones. It was the first time in my 5 weeks of being in England that I had eaten them and it was well worth the wait – there was even a proper tea pot and tea cosy. In the afternoon, we had a wander to Otford town to pick up Liz’s car and called in to the antique shop for a quick look around. A drink was had in The Bull where last night’s dance floor had turned back into a dining room for pub food customers and we sat outside in the sun. It was a glorious day, ideal for getting me ready for the Turkish temperatures I would soon be enduring. Mark and Claire put on another BBQ and I’m sure they were getting even tastier each time. I ate sausage, chicken, pork, sweetcorn, feta salad and baby new potatoes. The pink fizz was flowing for the girls who didn’t have to drive and Mark joined us with beer. Poor Reg, the dog, had a long lesson in patience as he tried his best to get in on the meat action. It was sad saying bye to Liz, although there was a chance I would see her, Clare, Kelly and Louisa in Rhodes next month, if all went well with my residency renewal. I checked in online for my flight from Gatwick, leaving the next day at just before 9pm and would arrive at Dalaman at 3am. The rest of the evening was spent playing cards, something I rarely do as I’m not good at concentrating on the game. Mark taught us a game I had never played before, called Cheat, and I loved it. It was really funny playing with friends we know so well and a man I had only known for a few days with a lengthy career in the police force. Of course, it was absolutely hilarious and we sacked off going to the Karaoke night in favour of playing Cards Against Humanity – one of my favourite card games.
When Claire, Clare and I started the day on Friday 9th August, none of us had any idea that we would be part of an event that might go down in the history of Otford. I started the day with a short spell of work and a warmed up leftover chicken tikka masala, rice and garlic naan, washed down with a cup of tea for my breakfast. The girls were good and had protein shakes after they came back from the fitness class in the park, the one I was still aching from! While Claire had meetings and work to get through, Clare and I took ourselves off on a little adventure. We walked to the train station and got a ticket to Sevenoaks. I even managed to operate a ticket machine and pay on card the £6.40 for 2 of us, before the train arrived so my skills were improving in the somewhat cashless UK. The walk up the hill in to the town was a killer on my legs and even Clare welcomed the stop off in Marks & Spencer’s. We had a good old look around and Clare found something to buy while I resisted. It had been so many years since I’d shopped willy-nilly that I now had the default setting of not getting anything. When we got to the town we located the Nationwide and I stood in the lengthy queue to close my account, for the upteenth time. I didn’t mind that the queue was made up of the old and disabled and was extremely slow moving as I felt like today would be my lucky day. I’d even had a message from my Mom to say my new bank card had arrived back in Sheffield and the old PIN was still active. When I finally got to the front, the lady explained that she wouldn’t be able to close the account as it was £3.54 overdrawn so I needed to pay that in to close it. I tried to remain calm but in the end I gave her a £20 note and told her to put £5 in and then close it, the balance could be transferred in to my other account. She paid £5 in and then said the system wouldn’t allow her to close it, and maybe there were more charges to come, which she might not be able to see. I asked her to check and she said the account looked fine, with a £13 fee due at the end of August so she didn’t know why it wouldn’t close. I left very annoyed, Clare took me for a cup of tea in a nearby café and listened to me rant on about what a ‘useless set of twats’ the Nationwide were being. Her Dad in Canada had experienced a similar predicament with the same bank but he had got his account closed and all the fees and charges refunded. We decided we needed wine to sort out a plan! After a little detour for me to pick up a small gift for Claire for hosting me (and her forthcoming birthday) we found wine in a very nice pub. The man serving behind the bar at The Restoration welcomed cash which was great, including 50 pound notes. He even told me of an incident last week of one of their other pubs having to close when they had a system failure and couldn’t take card. Clare and I discovered they had a rather nice Pinot Grigio which we had with soda and I splashed out on some pork scratchings and spent about £20 in total and we’re there a while. I only had 3 days left in England so I was sure that I was going to miss pork products like the scratchings, until I broke my tooth on one. Claire joined us after a trip to the opticians and getting her new glasses which looked great. We drove back to Otford via the Sainsbury’s where I treated myself to new PJs for £7.50. Mark was in charge of the BBQ once again that evening and we had a fab feast of meat, salad and rice before getting our gladrags on for an evening with a bit of a difference.
One of the local pubs, The Bull, in Otford was hosting a Gay Pride night on Friday 9th August and Claire, Clare & I were off to support it. Each of us had a bright outfit on and I was grateful to have brought my £6 multi-coloured long sleeved shorts suit with back fastening. On arrival at The Bull, we were greeted by friendly staff and decided to try their Rum Punch special cocktails. They were strong but good and we bumped in to a guy who looked like he’d just clocked off work and was having a pint of Carlsberg. The guy was from Leeds so he and I instantly had that Yorkshire bond and became buddies straight away. The girls and I discovered sticky jewels for faces and that a bottle of decent wine was on offer at £18 so more than one of those was enjoyed. The do was quite quiet, as I’m not sure Otford was yet the hub of the gay scene, or even had many open supporters, so we gave it a go at keeping it lively. I suspected an old couple who’d come out for their dinner, had to rush their pud to make sure they were out of the way of any of this sort of shenanigans in their local on a Friday night! By 9.20am, I was dancing like a bad Rick Coffey (Google him, he’s one of my idols) on a carpeted corner of a dancefloor, giving it everything I had, including a solo chair dance performance to Lady Marmalade! We had such a great night and my aching leg muscles from the fitness class had only just started to loosen up. I met Guy, a gay from Otford, who personally thanked me for supporting Gay Pride at The Bull and emotionally shared that he had never imagined such a thing would ever be happening in this fairly traditional village of Otford. I assured him that he really wasn’t going to be the only gay in the village now and then broke in to a dance with Mr Leeds. My choice of outfit had proved itself troublesome with the double button fastening at the back when I had to take the whole thing down for toilet visits. I did manage to keep my sleeves dry and I knew my Mom would be proud I’d not peed on them. It was after midnight when we got home and Claire, Clare and I were shattered after such a memorable night. I had loved it and knew I’d sleep well that night and probably ache a lot tomorrow!
Claire and I had exciting plans on Wednesday 7th August as she had to be up north for work and I had agreed to keep her company. I could hardly get out of bed and my whole body ached from yesterday’s workout. I got on Claire’s scales to find I had put on 0.7kg (1.5lb) which was not bad, considering what I had consumed. My measurements were much less favourable having put 2cm on my bust, and 1cm on both waist and hips. I now needed to lose 4.7kg (10lb) to get to target and that was going to be difficult. I had my tea and toast for breakfast and decided that it would be something to worry about next week! I had a message from our Estate Agent in Dalyan to tell me there was an incident at Captain Caveman’s apartment complex and someone had left the outside tap on. The pool had overflowed badly, the road was covered in flood water which the gardeners said wasn’t them. It turned out it was probably our pool and garden company and I, as well as our tenants, were so impressed that they had turned up and put the hose on that we were willing to overlook the tap incident, mistakes do happen. However when the agent got there to speak to the Gardening company, they said it definitely wasn’t them!! I think it was. Claire and I worked from home in the morning and then drove from Otford to Knutsford. On the way, we stopped at services to grab some lunch. Claire had another wrap and some crisps, while I went for the New York Deli Pastrami M&S sandwich deal with a brownie. We both ignored the money saving tip for the drink and just got water – but Claire was wearing white trousers. I was having trouble with the new style plastic water bottle tops which stay attached to the bottle. We arrived at Cottons Hotel & Spa in Knutsford quite late as it had been a long drive and I’d done my best to keep Claire entertained and fed with wine gums. We had to log on to do some work emails and then we popped on our swimmers and decided to make use of the spa facilities. We had a sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and some swimming which was so lovely before going back to the room for a nice glass of wine and some nibbles while lounging in our room. Claire arranged for us to meet a colleague for dinner and we ordered food in the bar which was very nice. I had (yet another) steak and ale pie which would more than likely be my last one in a while. Back in the room, we finished some wine and nibbles and put some weird jelly-like patches under our eyes. I’m not quite sure what they were for, but it’s some strange beauty phenomena which had become popular in the UK since I’d been away and we didn’t have any cucumber slices. I fell asleep while watching a very peculiar dating TV programme called Naked Attraction – it involved contestants who have trouble meeting people romantically but are not shy at exposing themselves to all and sundry on national TV.
joloyolo 