Dalyan – 2nd January

Tuesday 2nd January was far from sunshine and rainbows for me, but I didn’t expect it would be. It was the day Captain Caveman left to go back to work in Vietnam for his 8 months stint. Edna had recovered, Norman was improving and they were happy to go back to bobos while I had my cup of tea, Strepsils, ibuprofen, a hot lemon and a pancake using up yesterday’s batter. I had one of the busiest days ahead of me and I felt like death, having had less than 2 hours sleep. The dogs could tell I was out of sorts and were super sweet, I was going to miss them.
Captain Caveman had booked Fikri, the taxi man, for 8.30pm from his apartment where all his luggage would be. I’d told a few friends and my parents, who we’d not seen for over a week, that he would be in Waterfall at 3pm for a farewell beer. I’d also told Captain Caveman this so that he could make sure he was packed in good time to meet everyone. The 2 of us could then get some food together before his long journey ahead (about 24hrs) and say goodbye. We’d decided we’d have a romantic meal for 2 before his taxi came, somewhere like YOLO, where we had both still not got round to trying.
With this in mind, I got on with my jobs; feeding and walking the dogs, packing all my stuff up, stripping and remaking the bed, getting all the bedding and towels washed and dried, emptying all the bins, sweeping, hoovering, mopping – cleaning the bedrooms, bathrooms, the kitchen and living room before moving my stuff back home so that it could be left there, or taken to Bill and Jaxx’s.
At 9am I got a message from Greg, the Aussie, to say he and Amanda were going to head over after 10am to see Captain Caveman, as they hadn’t had chance to see him yet. He was going home after walking the dogs to pack all his things for Vietnam and move all his personal affects in to storage cupboards for when we rented out the apartment! He’d walked Big Boy and Lucy for the last time and cycled home to make a start on dismantling the bicycle to store away. I decided to put my phone on silent and get cracking.
At 12.45pm I had a cup of tea and a sit down, after letting the dogs out for a toilet break. I saw some bad news on Facebook that Foreigners with Turkish residency had to put a minimum of 25,503 lira (£680.08) in to their Turkish bank account every month. This was going to affect me, if I wanted to keep my residency here.
Jamie was on his way and the flight was on time so I had no time to lollygag, this villa wasn’t going to finish itself. I also needed to go home to cart my stuff back, shower and change to get back to meet Captain Caveman but it was already 3pm. I shoved more medication down my throat, told Norman and Edna that Little Daddy, Step Daddy Drew and Aunty Julia were on their way and I left.

It was 3.20pm as I got my key out to open the door to the apartment, the drugs were starting to kick in but the heavy bag I’d carried over had done me in. I’d already had a message from Nanny Kay to say Captain Caveman hadn’t arrived yet and she was sat nursing a coke. On opening the door, I saw why! The Aussies and Captain Caveman were sat in the living room having a chat. I was not happy with Captain Caveman and I let it be known that he had people waiting for him in Waterfall. I had minutes to get ready so I went upstairs to shower while shouting orders to Captain Caveman of what to bring me to wear and a towel. I hurried and came downstairs to get my shoes on, Amanda pointed out they had brought us gifts of collapsible Tupperware and Factor 50 suncream, which was amazing. It took longer than I’d have liked for us to get to Waterfall where, luckily, only a couple of people were waiting. I was away with the fairies after 1 wine and the flu medication so I don’t really remember much. Ma & Pa arrived and they were still not 100% better but doing ok. Jamie and Drew arrived straight off the plane, just to say bye, but they didn’t stay long as they were knackered. Of course, we never got to go for the meal and I had to get back for the dogs dinner time. I was so hungry too because I’d not had time to eat since breakfast. Captain Caveman must’ve been hungry and he wasn’t flying until 11pm so he needed to eat. At 7.30pm, Captain Caveman said his reluctant goodbyes and we walked to get a kebab from Hatay’s. I asked for mine without chillies and they insisted they don’t put any form of chilli in them. We took them back home with just enough time to eat some of it before the taxi. We got in the taxi together and I got dropped off at Villa Infinity where Big Boy and Lucy were desperate for their dinner! I don’t even think we had a goodbye snog as Captain Caveman was in a rush to get to the airport. I hoped to see him in a couple of months or so but we weren’t certain.
Once he’d gone and the dogs had eaten their food, I popped the heater on and we sat on the sofa. I finished off my half of kebab and was convinced it had chillies in. By 9.15pm I was in the bathroom and I was not well!

Dalyan – 1st January

At least I started yet another year without a hangover on Monday 1st January but I felt terrible. This cold/flu bug really had put the kibosh on any new year or farewell drinks with Captain Caveman or my parents. I’d barely slept because of the coughing! I messaged my parents and Captain Caveman to invite them over to Jamie’s later in the day to exchange new year wishes, seeing as we had all stayed in, in the 3 different places last night. Captain Caveman said he was feeling better this morning and had given me some advice about walking Big Boy and Lucy on 2 separate walks when I take over, as they both had a likelihood of chasing cats or other dogs. Lucy had also had to be given some medication because of gun shots in the area. I’d been taking Norman and Edna separately so that was no bother and they weren’t concerned about fireworks. Captain Caveman said he would come over around lunch time. My mom replied to say she was off on the Yellow boat trip to Köyceğiz again today with some other Dalyan Dwellers and it would depend on their plans after the boat trip as to whether they would be free to pop over.
As it was Captain Caveman’s last day, and it would turn out to be our last meal together, I decided to cook a Sunday dinner with Yorkshire puddings. I made roast chicken, potatoes, carrots, onions, cabbage, the Yorkshire puddings and realised I didn’t have any gravy. I messaged Jamie to ask if I could use his and, he not only said yes, but said to use some stuffing too! Captain Caveman and I were so excited as we’ve not had stuffing in quite some time. I opened the Prosecco and we had a really lovely last lunch. It’s always weird saying bye to Captain Caveman not knowing exactly when I will see him again. Captain Caveman went back to Villa Infinity with a full belly, in plenty of time to feed Big Boy and Lucy. I braved the walk to the pharmacy and found it was open. I stocked up on Strepsils, Tylol and Advil at a cost 653 lira (£17.41) which was horrendously expensive. I messaged Mom to say I was popping out, in case they popped over. At around 6pm, I was back to being fully dosed up and was trying to get a taxi to take Kate some medication as she was also out of supplies. At 6pm Ma messaged to say they were in Tez and wouldn’t be calling round as the weather looked unpredictable. I couldn’t get a taxi, neither could Tez, so Penny kindly went to take Kate some medicine. I got in to my pyjamas, both Captain Caveman and I stayed in our respective temporary homes with our borrowed pets and had early nights (again).

Dalyan – 30th & 31st December

I woke up on Saturday 30th December and went downstairs to check on Norman and Edna. After a wander around the patio, Edna wolfed down her breakfast but Norman was not too eager to eat, he also was refusing to drink any water, which was odd. After several cups of tea and a back to bobos on the sofa session it was time to go to the market.
Captain Caveman had come over from Villa Infinity so that we could shop together but he could take what was needed at Bill & Jaxx’s house and I could keep the rest at Jamie’s.

Here’s what we bought at the Dalyan weekly market but I didn’t make a note of all the individual prices.
2kg Tangerines
2 onions
Spinach
3 red peppers
1 green pepper
2 apples
6 bananas
Spent 145 lira (£3.87)

Gözleme x2 110 lira (£2.93)

When we got back, Captain Caveman and I took the dogs for a walk, to the Waterfall. They like it in there and Norman loved a nosey from his pushchair as to what was going on. I just had a soft drink because I felt rubbish but I was trying to chivvy myself up a bit for tonight’s party at Ghislaine’s. I went back to Jamie’s and Captain Caveman went back over to see to Big Boy and Lucy. Unfortunately, Norman had had an accident in his pram and needed another wash.
Captain Caveman came back before 7pm, all dressed up and ready for a party. I felt worse and couldn’t go but I packed off Captain Caveman with 2 bottles of fizz and 3 bags of marshmallows. Mark & Kate and Carol & Ian were going to be there so he’d know other people and he does love a curry.
I ended up having my homemade pumpkin soup and an early night, napping on the sofa with the dogs. I really hoped to be better for tomorrow, as there was a Sunday walk, it was New Year’s Eve, I’d not seen my parents since Christmas Day and our friends, the Aussies, were arriving.

Historically, New Year’s Eve has not been the best time for me as I’m usually sick. Sunday 31st December was no different and I woke up feeling terrible. I’d hardly slept from coughing all night and when I finally got to sleep, Edna had come scratching at my door at 5am. I was coughing a lot, my body ached and I had to use an inhaler once I started coughing as I couldn’t breathe properly.
When I eventually went downstairs at 7am, Edna had been sick on the rug and on the sofa, which is not like her. So now we were the poorly trio and it was time for cups of tea and back to bobos on the sofa, after all the scrubbing and putting a wash on. Both dogs were off their food and I forced down a banana so that I could take my medication. I called in sick to Captain Caveman’s Sunday walk which was his last until next October. He’d organised the walk so that it finished at Günlüklu restaurant but I wasn’t fit enough to make it and didn’t want to pass on my germs.
I spent the day with Norman and Edna, forcing Norman to drink water as I think he was dehydrated. After a very short walk, we sat out on the patio and had a little sunbathe, while dosed up on flu medicines and drinking cups of tea.
Kate had arranged a New Year’s Eve bash at Tapa bar for this evening and I thought nearly all of our Dalyan friends were going. I’d likely be in my pyjamas by the time it went dark, cuddled up with the dogs. Even my parents were going to stay in as they weren’t well either. The Aussie’s, Amanda and Greg, had messaged to ask where the party was and where we were all meeting up but the best I could do was send them the invite to Tapa for tonight.
In the afternoon I tried to get in touch with Captain Caveman and couldn’t, I assumed he’d gone to Günlüklu and carried on having a new year drink there but when he did respond he’d gone to bed feeling poorly after the walk. He was flying back to Vietnam in a couple of days and really could do without getting ill for his journey.
I had nothing planned for dinner and really couldn’t be bothered to make anything, I was down to my last Strepsil, which were giving me a dodgy tum and I had no hot lemons left. I decided to go to the chemist but when I got there it was already closed for new year. There would have been an alternative open but I couldn’t walk that far. I decided to go to Migros and see what they had in the freezer section for dinner and I thought some sucky sweets might help my cough and sore throat.
Here’s what I bought from the shop with prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
2 Dido chocolate bars 15.75
2 packs of wine gums 21.00
1 chocolate Magnum 25.00
1 Ginger Ale 43.00
1 box of frozen pizzas 95.92
1.6Kg whole chicken 115.06
1 bottle of Prosecco 279.90
Total spent 595.63 lira (£15.88)

I was impressed with a decent bottle of fizz for less than £7.50 and a full sized Magnum ice-cream only being 67p. I wondered why I hadn’t had one before now, as I ate it on the way back to Jamie’s – it soothed my throat better than a Strepsil. I saw Fikri and he wished me a happy new year, which was nice, as he rode past on his motorbike. I popped the stuff in the fridge and had one of the frozen pizzas for dinner, they weren’t bad. I had no intention of drinking the fizz tonight but I thought my parents and Captain Caveman may want to pop by tomorrow to raise a glass to the new year. I had fell asleep watching TV but woke up before midnight and went to bed.

That’s another year of my Shenanigans done, it finished the way it started; snuggled up with a pet in someone else’s house.
What a year it had been, it’s hard to remember sometimes how much happens.
Overall, I ended 2023 weighing 4.7kg (10lb) lighter than I started it, which I was pleased about.
2024 looked to be a little uncertain, with a few challenges to suss out but I was hopeful things would work out in my favour.
With Captain Caveman and my parents leaving in January, I was gearing myself up for a quiet Dalyan winter. My priority was to earn enough money to keep my residency and continue on the Slimming World plan to keep the weight off. I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions, as I never stick to them, but I did make a note to prioritise my health a bit more.

Dalyan – 26th December

It was the day that Josh and Martha had to go home on Tuesday 26th December and I was going to miss them a lot. We had laughed so much this last week and had done some really nice things together; mainly eating and drinking! It had also got me through the depressing fiasco of having not been paid and took my mind off being skint. My Christmas Day this year had been one of the best I’d had abroad and we’d spent less than £120 between the two of us. I wondered how much the average Christmas Day spend had been amongst my friends in the UK!
I cut up an apple and some of the Köyceğiz cheese and fanned it out all posh on a plate so that Martha could have a nibble or two before we had to leave the apartment. Josh was on ‘provisions for the airport’ duty and I helped by giving him spare food. I had my overnight oats with persimmon for breakfast, I was going to have to get back on the Slimming World plan as the weigh in on Wednesday was probably going to be quite enlightening. When Martha had packed she asked me if I would like her hair straighteners, as she was buying new ones when she got home. What a lovely thing to do and it was my first set of hair straighteners in years.
I’m not sure what on earth was going on in Captain Caveman’s head because what happened next was awkward! We’d mentioned previously that we would be getting the bus to Bill and Jaxx’s, who were on the same flight as Josh and Martha. Jaxx had said to get to Villa Infinity, between Marmarlı and Okçular, for about noon and we could go through the final dog requirements and have a wee drink before the taxi came at 1pm. Captain Caveman and I were sharing the dog sitting while they went back to the UK to visit Bill’s mom. I’d mentioned the bus several times, we’d toyed with the idea of getting a taxi but had discounted it as we would have 4 of us, plus bags meaning not enough room for a regular taxi.
We were ready and about to put our shoes on when Captain Caveman said he was cycling and would see us there. I was confused, I didn’t have internet on my phone so I couldn’t call or find it if we got lost and, if there had only been 3 of us we would have ordered a taxi. I was fuming with him, why hadn’t he said this earlier? I knew he’d probably done it to force me to learn how to find my way to places as he hates that I don’t use maps and I get lost easily. It was embarrassing and I could tell that Josh and Martha were doing the looks to say this was one of ‘those moments’. I didn’t even say bye to Captain Caveman as I was so annoyed that he would be so rude and the rest of us went to the bus stop. We got off the bus and Captain Caveman was waiting at the side of the road a bit further up to point out the turning to us. I was even more mad now that he probably thought we couldn’t manage to find it without him. I knew in his head he wanted to make sure he had his bicycle with him because he probably wanted to go Dogging tomorrow, after missing it yesterday – but he could have communicated it. Josh and Martha could see I was mad and couldn’t understand what was going on either, they didn’t even laugh at the situation this time.
Big Boy, the big black dog, and Lucy, the Airedale terrier, were pleased to see us and were friendly. They really liked Martha and tried to encourage her to share her pack-up for at the airport.
Bill took Captain Caveman in to the kitchen to show him how to work the TV, coffee machine and fire, show him what was what with the dogs, etc. I sat outside with Jaxx, Josh and Martha and had a wine.
The taxi arrived and we all said our goodbyes, with plans to visit Josh and Martha in July 2024.
The dogs were a little sad that their parents had gone and I tried to speak to Captain Caveman about what was going on with the bike v bus palaver earlier. He didn’t think he was wrong, obviously, and he got more wine and some pastries out of the kitchen. Bill and Jaxx had told us to help ourself to wine and food but I didn’t want to take advantage, I never do.
Captain Caveman was on fire duty and we both cuddled and stroked Big Boy. Lucy was a bit more free spirited and quite vocal. When it came to the dogs’ dinner time, they wolfed it down and enjoyed it, they also had some home made dog biscuits which looked great. Captain Caveman cooked us some veggie pasta for dinner and we had a cosy night in our new temporary home.
I still totted up my syns for the week and was on 426, 4 times the allowance! I was bound to have put weight on but I’m sure anyone who had said ‘well, it is Christmas’, would be in the same boat.

Dalyan – 25th December

Monday 25th December was obviously Christmas day for a lot of people, we’d decided to opt out of celebrating it specifically, but we had chosen to spend the day and evening doing something nice with Josh, Martha and my parents. Most of the expats who I’m friends with in Dalyan were doing an English style Christmas here in Turkey, either with friends in their home or going to a restaurant serving English style Christmas dinner, like Lukka or Heybe.
I think my parents would have enjoyed it but they had said they wanted to do something with us and I was pleased. I think a lot of Christmas is a waste of money and an absolute over indulgence, instead of being a time to really enjoy a day spent with people you care about most.
The 6 of us had decided to book on to the yellow boat, owned by Hakkan and Nilüfer. Every Monday they put on a boat trip to Köyceğiz for market day at a cost of 200 lira (£5.38) per person. I’d seen a post on Facebook about a book shop/cafe that had opened in Köyceğiz and I wanted to visit there as a surprise, and maybe buy books. None of us were doing Christmas presents but a personally selected book would have been a nice treat for anyone who wanted one.
It was a lovely sunny day, hot beverages and biscuits were served as we headed over to the stunning Köyceğiz lake. Josh and Captain Caveman had been to Ela’s Kitchen to pick up breakfast sandwiches for the 4 of us so I resisted the turtle biscuits which were a cute touch. We may have been the only English guests on the boat which was quite nice. Nilüfer was the perfect host, making sure the çay was topped up and chatting to everyone on board. We chatted to the others a little, all were friendly and we particularly liked Bruno who was very energetic and amusing.

Once in Köyceğiz, we found Lutra Lutra, the book shop cafe, but it was closed. Captain Caveman went rogue by motoring through to the fruit and veg market on a mission with his shopping list. It was not leisurely and my parents couldn’t keep up, I got annoyed with him and told him off in front of everyone. We then had to have a meeting point by the cheese counters to reconvene as he went off with the bag in search of apples. In Köyceğiz the prices are cheaper than Dalyan but less stall holders speak English, I usually enjoy a browse and a chat but that was not on the agenda for today.
We bought potatoes, onions, pumpkin, leeks, red peppers, apples and 2 lots of cheese from the man who lets you taste as much as you like. I have no idea of the prices of the market purchases except for the cheese being about £6 in total.
We bought 2 bottles of prosecco from Carrefour supermarket at 479.80 lira (£12.90) in readiness for New Year’s Eve then headed for lunch at one of my favourite lakeside eateries.

While people in the UK were probably checking the progress of their Christmas dinner or opening gifts on Christmas Day, the 6 of us had arrived at Avangart restaurant in Köyceğiz. Here’s what we had with the prices in lira;

1 mixed toastie 125
3 Sprites 150
1 chicken wrap 225
3 lentil soup 240
5 Fanta orange 250
1 King prawns 395
4 Tuborg beers 540
Total 1,925 lira (£51.75)

It was less than £9 each on average for a lunch and drinks with a gorgeous view, but it’s certainly not the cheapest place to choose. I really enjoyed the lentil soup I had which came with loads of bread. We left there to get back to the yellow boat for the 2.30pm departure. Nilüfer had prepared some fruit platters with nuts for the journey back and it was such a lovely trip. I really enjoyed the fruit and meant I was doing my best to be healthier, even today. My camera phone really didn’t do the stunning scenery justice but I took a few photos on the way back to Dalyan.
We arrived back in Dalyan around 4pm, we popped the shopping away and had a bit of a rest before the evening’s outing.

While most of our Dalyan Dwelling friends were merry and fully in to their Christmas Day celebrations, the 6 of us had opted for a ‘normal’ meal out. It was, sadly, Josh and Martha’s last day of their holiday too so we wanted to have a nice evening. Bistro Blue is one of our favourite restaurants where the service and food has always been consistently good so we had booked there for 7pm. Vanessa and Brad were disappointed that we weren’t joining them at Mark and Kate’s and said they would come to find us after their Christmas Day celebrations as they wanted to wish us Merry Christmas. We got seated at Bistro Blue, Dad and Josh ordered a beer while the rest of us chose wine. The waiter was Bakı who we know from various places but he had worked in Bistro Blue some years ago. Selahı, the owner, looked very presentable and he greeted us all. Josh tried to get a group selfie but it’s often difficult to get Dad to face the camera, this time he was blowing his nose. Dad wanted a glass for wine, as well as his beer, but it caused some confusion and he didn’t get it straight away. I had to ask Bakı for the wine glass before Dad got too mardy. We ordered food, Dad didn’t want a starter but the rest of us did – well it was Christmas. Captain Caveman was in good spirits and we shared 2 starters between us. More wine was had and the mains were served. I thought the food was amazing and I couldn’t eat all of my pepper steak as, even the smaller weight, was more than sufficient for me.
Vanessa and Brad arrived just as we were finishing our mains and said that their Christmas dinner had gone really well and they had all had a great Christmas day. Matt had gone home as he’d had enough of the celebrations. We had thought of going on for a drink somewhere else but a lot of bars were closed on Mondays. Captain Caveman and I paid 1,950 lira (£52.42) for starters of stuffed mushrooms and liver & onions, a bottle of house red, pepper steak and Spaghetti Bolognese mains which I thought was reasonable for the quality of it. I took the rest of my steak home and we said goodbye to Vanessa and Brad. Back home, we had one last drink to round off the night and say bye to Josh and Martha. It had been a really great way to have a none Christmassy Christmas.

Dalyan – 24th December

I was fast asleep on Sunday 24th December when Captain Caveman woke me up. It was 4.30am and he could smell something; his observation was that ‘the baking of the cake smelled less like cake and more like biscuit’. He deduced that the fruit cake was done and that I should get up and go and check it. I did, using a wooden skewer and found that it was indeed cooking much faster than the 7 hours on low, as specified!
I gave it another 30 minutes then turned it off and let it cool for a bit on a wire rack (the grill shelf from the oven as I’m no baker). It smelled amazing but it was rather well done on one edge.
I went back to bed but by 7am I was back in the kitchen working out how best to cut up fruit cake while eating one of Jamie’s spare mince pies from last night – well it was Christmas Eve!
Captain Caveman, Josh and Martha had decided they were going to do the Sunday walk where the route would end at the beach, ready for the beach party. Each year, Dalyan Dwellers take food and drink to Iztuzu beach to share with each other and celebrate Christmas Eve. Many English-Turkish families join and bring the whole family and it’s always busy and a good cheap way to have a great afternoon. I had decided not to do the walk and was going to take the fruit cake, cheese, red wine, beers, tupperware, corkscrew and cups. I also decided to just get the normal bus and my parents had decided to join me. The fare is cheaper and there is less fuss involved. It left Dalyan bus station at 12 noon and returned at 4.30pm which was enough time for me to enjoy celebrating Christmas Eve. I always find it hard to eat much because of not knowing the ingredients of things and potentially getting a bad reaction/being allergic. Captain Caveman makes up for me by snaffling absolutely everything he can get his hands on.

When my parents and I first arrived, Captain Caveman and our guests were at the turtle sanctuary as it was Martha’s first trip and it’s a must see. It was already fairly crowded so I suggested to Ma and Pa that we have a quick walk to the sea and get a Christmas Eve photo to send to my sister.
Back at the tables, there were loads of people setting up and already drinking. Captain Caveman, Josh and Martha joined us next to Bill and Jaxx. I had one of Bill’s special cocktails and I had another nice walk down to the sea with Jaxx, Captain Caveman and Brad. Captain Caveman went in the sea, as did Michele and everyone commented that it was too cold but it seemed pretty warm today. Brad and Daisy had a paddle, Josh and Martha had swims and a beer – it was certainly lovely weather. I popped my Christmas cake and cheese out near Bill and Jaxx and quite a few people gave it a try. I got a lot of compliments and one of Captain Caveman’s friends said it was the best he’d had yet.

I managed to eat a delicious pasty from Bill, a spring roll made from Christmas dinner from Carol and Ian (surprising but not bad) and rather tasty sausage rolls from Cath. Even though I was sat with my parents, Mark, Kate, Vanessa, Matt, Andrea and John for a while I didn’t even see what food they had on offer so I missed trying their’s. I gave out Christmas cake with cheese to Ma, Pa, Matt, Mark, Brad, John, Andrea and Martha and poured myself a small red wine. Adam and Kath gave me some food but I suspected it had chillies in so I gave it Captain Caveman. I chatted to Jamie, who had brought Norman & Edna in their Christmas outfits, Nanny Kay, Katrina, Debbie (Darling), Mel and Roy plus a few familiar faces before coming back to where we had stationed ourselves. I’d had a cheeky piece of Mel’s Cadbury’s rocky road which was fab too!
At 3pm there was a large amount of people leaving the beach to get their pre-booked buses back. Kate mentioned that they should be getting on a bus but had said it would wait for them until they were ready to leave and hoped to stay for sunset. Vanessa was absolutely pissed as a fart and becoming a bit loud and wobbly. I took her with me to say hello to Jackie, a friend with her leg in a cast, sat propped up near the path and toilets. Vanessa was hilarious, nearly knocking Jackie over with a hug and calling her mom by a different name, repeatedly.
We came back and packed up for the 4.30pm bus, which was busy and some passengers had to stand. We left a few people on the beach saying they would make the buses wait until they were ready or get a taxi back. We were home by 5pm, dropped stuff off, grabbed warmer layers and headed back out to the pub.
My parents decided to go to Tez bar to meet Vanessa, Matt, Brad, John, Andrea, Adam, Kath, Mark, Kate and Daisy whereas I had already said wed see Bill, Jaxx and Fat Club Carol at Sofra.

Jamie had been home quite a bit earlier than us so he was ready for a quick drink in Waterfall and we popped in as Sofra was closed already. It was cosy in there, not at all smokey and quite busy, mainly with Dutch people. We sat/stood at the bar at first where a cute pooch was actually laid on the bar. We had meant to pop to Ozzy’s bar but once we were comfy we were quite happy, especially once we’d moved over to comfy seats. I thought my parents might come over but they were happier at Tez bar with our friends, who’d eventually managed to get back from the beach after the buses had left.
After a couple of drinks we got peckish and decided to walk to the river for food. At River House Josh, Martha, Jamie, Captain Caveman and I were the only ones in the restaurant and they built a fire to keep us warm. We were given dips and plenty of bread for free and we ordered a carafe of wine which was good. Captain Caveman and I shared garlic mushrooms for starter, he had İskender kebab for main while I chose the Singapore noodles without chilli. Martha tried baklava for dessert but when it came, we hid it while she was in the loo and pretended we had eaten it. She sussed us out quite quickly, though, and we all returned the pieces we had moved from her nicely presented plate. The food was excellent and when we came to pay, Josh and Martha paid for ours as a thank you. That was so kind and it made me a bit emotional – what a lovely end to a wonderful day and Christmas Eve.

Dalyan – 23rd December

I should have been up early on Saturday 23rd December as I wanted to make a Christmas cake for the beach party tomorrow. Josh and Martha had brought the cheddar cheese for us to take and the idea was to put it with fruit cake as our offering at the buffet style free for all. It being Dalyan, I had kind of left it a bit late but was not unduly worried as I’d found a cheat recipe which could be done in the slow cooker. Josh bought croissants for breakfast and I had that before we all went to the market. We were still wandering round the market at 12.30pm and I’d managed to buy some extra dried fruit. My mom had already got me 5 140g packets of sultanas from Migros when she went to Fethiye. They didn’t have the usual dried fruit stand in the Erasta shopping centre so she’d got me the next best thing when I asked her. I still needed 300g of other dried fruit so I bought dates, currants and apricots which cost a whopping 235 lira (£6.35). I think the stall holder had seen me coming and had our pants down there!
At 3pm I read the instructions for the cake making and realised I didn’t have one of the 4 vital ingredients so Captain Caveman and I went off to Migros.
I bumped in to Ozzy, a Turkish friend, which was lucky as I have no experience (in any country) of buying 2 cups worth of chocolate milk. Ozzy helped me choose the right carton and it cost 45.90 lira (£1.24) for a litre.

It wasn’t until almost 5pm that I noticed the instructions for the cake said to soak 1kg of dried fruit in the 2 cups of chocolate milk and three quarters of a cup of Bailey’s for 24 hours! Ooops. I popped it in a bowl and then started preparing for a soirée/curry night, a glass of residual Baileys on the go. There were Josh, Martha, Jamie, Captain Caveman and I for dinner so the tables had to be moved to fit the 5 of us in. Captain Caveman was playing Bridge on his phone and got annoyed at having to help move furniture and didn’t see why it had to be done yet. I wanted to be organised so that I could get on with the vegan and the chicken curries, get enough rice in my cooker for 5 and not forget the naan bread. Before putting the Baileys away, I had another one – I’d forgotten how moreish it was.
The curry night went well with some of the diners having thirds and I did forget the naan bread.
I didn’t take any photos because I was too busy trying to make sure everyone was ok but by the time we’d finished I decided to fold the flour in to my soaked dried fruit. Licking the spoon from that mixture was a bit boozy and I wasn’t convinced it would turn out well enough as they don’t have self raising flour here. I didn’t have any baking powder either so I used Bicarbonate of Soda and a bit of lemon juice – which is meant to be an exact measurement but by now I’d had too many wines and Baileys to care. Jamie took photos and posted on Facebook about my culinary first and I wasn’t surprised to hear that not many people had faith in my efforts.
It was meant to take 7 hours on low so we set a timer to turn it on at midnight, and an alarm for 7am tomorrow to turn it off. As one of our friends on Facebook asked; ‘What could possibly go wrong?’

Photo credit – Jamie

Dalyan – 21st & 22nd December

Some of the guests in the house were feeling a bit delicate on Thursday 21st December. Poor Martha had spent a bit too much time in the bathroom last night after a bit too much gin and wasn’t feeling too great. I decided to make banana, egg and blackberries in to Slimming World style muffins and I also had my overnight oats for breakfast. Josh had gone to the shop for croissants, Captain Caveman had gone Bumming. We decided on an easy day and night today, we needed to save ourselves for Christmas Eve on the beach and I still had to make a fruit cake.
I was already on over 50 syns from yesterday but chose to eat crisps! Captain Caveman came back, showered then popped to the shops as I’d decided we were having curry tonight. Here’s what Captain Caveman bought and the prices in lira;

Migros Supermarket
Onions 7.80
Red Cabbage 16.74
Carrots 44.65
Filter coffee 76.90
Spray oil 89.90
Bananas 92.15
862g chicken 111.97
Total spent 440.11 lira (£11.89)

We had lentil, pumpkin, chickpea, and spinach curry with steamed rice and it tasted ok. Josh fancied a beer at Lukka after, under duress Martha and I agreed. While the men had beers, Martha and I managed to force down a hot chocolate, which was gorgeous.

Friday 22nd December was our 12 year anniversary, according to me as I go by the actual date. Captain Caveman, on the other hand, likes to mark it as the Thursday before Christmas. He still said Happy Anniversary to me and brought me my cup of tea in bed, I had started to feel quite under the weather now and I looked pretty rough.
I’d not been able to justify paying to have my hair done until now, but I was getting quite desperate so I was going to splash out. I had an orange from our tree for breakfast then drank cinnamon tea and a lemon & green tea to try to alleviate my cold symptoms.
Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club, Josh and Martha were heading out to the tea gardens and asked me to come along. I actually wanted to go back to bed but I showered, got ready and joined them. I do like the Kaunos tea gardens and, as it is council owned and run, the prices are really good. Captain Caveman joined us after Bridge too and it was a nice lunchtime visit. Here’s what we had;

2 large Turkish teas 20
1 Nescafe coffee 25
1 cheese toastie 45
1 Efes Malt beer 75
1 Menemen 75
2 spinach pancakes 130
Total spent 370 lira (£10)

Captain Caveman went to the barbers for a shave, I headed over to Emrah’s new hairdressers for the first time since he moved. As I was leaving home I’d noticed the water was off and, unfortunately, it was the same at Emrah’s. It didn’t stop him and he simply got on with dying my hair, this time I’d gone for something a bit warmer and a mix of 2 colours. It was raining hard outside and as I sat catching up on my blog, Michele came in for a trim. We had a chat and she mentioned that she was after photos of the shelter sponsored dogs wearing a Christmas hat, for a Facebook post. I volunteered Captain Caveman and I to go up, as long as she could lend us a Christmas hat.
My hair price had gone up to 1,000 lira (£27), he’d dyed it, cut it, added a few layers, blow dried then curled it and I was pleased with the colour too. The cost was still very reasonable if you compared it to the UK but was probably 5 times the cost of where I get it done in Vietnam. It’s always the rule that after a hair appointment, it’s compulsory to go out so, despite it raining heavily, we were off out. We’d arranged to meet Nanny Kay at Lukka bar but she cancelled due to the weather. Instead, we decided to try Filo which is a relatively new place that I’d not been in yet. We walked past Heybe towards Retro bar and found that Filo was closed. As the 4 of us turned around Michele and Nick drove up with the Christmas hat and gave it to Captain Caveman. We went in Lukka bar where we were the only people, the rain meant most people were staying indoors. We played pool and learned how to do some slower and harder shots. I had only one glass of white wine because I prefer the red but I was finding red wine a bit too harsh on my sore throat.
For dinner we went to Jiks where Vanessa and Brad joined us. They had been in Tapa with the pool gang but ordered their food to take away and had a drink with us while they waited. The pizzas were really nice and the waiter didn’t mind when we all did swaps or asked for certain toppings. It was a good night, I’d been able to show off my new hair and the rain had not spoiled our fun.

Dalyan – 20th December

Wednesday 20th December should have been my pay day so I had organised to meet a few friends and take our guests to a live gig tonight and was hoping for a bit of a blow out. Unfortunately, I would have to wait until January for my pay to get processed, due to a problem with my bosses new card being sent in the mail over the Christmas period.
I could certainly do without the stress of having no money but I had 2 choices of how I was going to let this affect me for the rest of the year! I decided there was nothing I could do about the situation and I was going to do my utmost to remain positive and get through the rest of 2023 as best as I could. Luckily, Captain Caveman came to my rescue and transferred some money in to my account.
I had a cup of Yorkshire tea, overnight oats with persimmon and then a lemon & green tea. As it was weigh day, I should have taken my measurements and got on the home scales but I forgot. Downstairs, Captain Caveman told me that he’d put some treats away which Josh and Martha had brought for me. It made my day that I had a bar of Dairy Milk chocolate, cheese (cheddar AND Red Leicester), and some duty free booze – the legends!!!!
Obviously, my Fat Club weigh in resulted in me putting on weight. A whopping 0.8kg (1.8lb), twice the amount I lost last week! It was reassuring that a lot of the other ladies were kind of in the same boat.
Afterwards, I met the gang at Rehab bar where Captain Caveman had dragged Josh and Martha to, as part of their continued initiation in to the expat life over here. Both of them seemed to be fitting straight in to the madness and were doing well.
After a walk home along the river, we went to Çağrı for dinner with a couple of friends. The tomato and lentil soup was tasty and I really enjoyed my chicken shish, the meal for just us 2 came to 600 lira (£16.22) including drinks.
Our next stop was to go to Ren Garden to meet more friends, including Jamie and Nanny Kay for a pre gig livener. With it being a new drinking establishment, I thought it would be a nice change but it wasn’t open and we plumped for Jiks instead. I had started to have a worse sore throat so I only had the one glass of white wine then I nursed one glass of red wine at the Jazz Bistro. I was glad I did as it cost 150 lira (£4.05), even a beer was 100 lira (£2.70) and a small water 40 lira (£1.08), which is more than most other bars. The music was great, though, and we had a good time – a few of us even got up for a bit of dancing. Martha gave the ball a good kick and none of us thought to mention that the measures of gin in Dalyan are often doubles, definitely larger than she’s used to back in the UK. Nanny Kay did rather well as she accidentally left without paying her bar tab and Jamie got her a taxi ride home as it was too busy for the usual ones to come.

Dalyan – 19th December

It was all go on Tuesday 19th December and we were both excited for Josh and his girlfriend to arrive in Dalyan that afternoon. Today was also Daisy’s 25th birthday with a party booked at Tapa from 2pm.
The cleaner was not at our apartment at 8.30am, as agreed, so we waited to see if she turned up. She was late as the office wasn’t open for her to collect the keys any earlier but no harm done. Captain Caveman and I decided we would go to a cafe or somewhere for a hot beverage, maybe some breakfast, before he went to Bridge Club. After walking round Dalyan to find nowhere open yet we bought 2 chocolate croissants for 37.90 lira (£1.02) from Migros and walked round the streets eating them.

When Captain Caveman left, I waited for Kaunos tea gardens to open and had a tea. I messaged Jamie to see if he fancied meeting up and I had a second breakfast with him, at Ela’s Kitchen. As tomorrow was weigh day, I tried to make as sensible a choice as I could. The beans on toast that I ordered was a very generous size and I was pleased id managed to resist Sev’s sausage.
By 11.30am I was on my way to my parents’ place as arranged so that I could go to Jiks with Dad, while Mom went for her hair cut. Captain Caveman would meet us at Jiks for lunch. Ma finished early and we all ate together; Dad a burger and the rest of us had pizza which was great – my diet was well and truly blown! While there, Jamie messaged to ask if I would be able to take 2 bed side lamps to Tapa for Janet. He was selling them for a friend, Janet, who was going to be at Daisy’s birthday party, where we were going to go for one, before Josh and Martha arrived. Of course I agreed and we carried them over to Tapa where the Dalyan gossip started that Jamie must have sold his house because he was getting rid of some lamps!

Daisy’s 25th birthday party at Tapa was busy with lots of friends. My parents had a cold but had managed to muddle through and I had a bit of a sore throat coming. We’d already said we weren’t staying long as we needed to get back to greet Josh and Martha who were on the plane. Captain Caveman left first with instructions to ring me when he knew that Josh was in the taxi. He forgot, so when I got back home our guests were already there!
It was great to see Josh again after a year and it was impressive to see he’d really done well for himself. Captain Caveman and I liked Martha straight away as she was really lovely – it takes a special kind of person to agree to a week in Dalyan with us lot (as I’m sure you can imagine). I just hoped we wouldn’t be spoiling her Christmas holiday and that she could get through the Dalyan shenanigans. We decided to ease Martha in gently with a trip to the Waterfall so we could have a drink together and get to know each other a bit better. She had a good sense of humour and it was obvious we were going to have a great week. Jamie popped in for one with Norman and Edna and he wasn’t too pleased that Dalyan Dwellers thought those lamps were his – surely they knew he had better taste in décor! We asked my parents, who had also left Tapa when I did, if they wanted to join us to meet Martha and welcome Josh back. Dad had already got bored at home waiting, so they had gone back to Tapa. The four of us decided to go to join them where we introduced Josh and Martha to everyone, some people Josh had already met. We had a couple of drinks and decided we were going to go for a meal as we were all peckish and I’d already booked Simple for the 6 of us. Daisy didn’t want us to leave and Josh, the not so devout vegan, managed to eat a slice of chocolate birthday cake as we were departing.

Simple was lovely, just the 6 of us indoors, with Onur the chef making us very fresh and tasty food. Josh and I had the vegan pumpkin soup, the others had the chicken soup – all were delicious. Martha and I had the pulled beef burger (with chips), Captain Caveman had a chicken quesadilla and the rest had the Asian noodles (meat for my parents, veggie for Josh). All the food was excellent although the noodles were on the spicy side.
Simple is not licenced for alcohol but we were able to get beer and wine from next door. The prices were reasonable to say it felt like a private dining experience. Unfortunately, my 2 breakfasts, a pizza lunch, a few wines and a loaded burger meant that I had completely gone over the top on the syns this week. We went back to Tapa to rejoin the birthday shenanigans which were now getting even more lively. It had been a great day and we had more excitement planned for tomorrow. Fat Club was going to be a bit more like a confessional for me tomorrow, having had 548 syns.

Dalyan – 16th & 17th December

Of course I was hungover (again) on Saturday 16th December and it was raining heavily. I spent all morning in bed and felt bad when we couldn’t even make it to the weekly market. When I did venture downstairs, I made myself an egg and banana pancake, with persimmon and quark for a very late breakfast.
There was a Christmas treat auction being held at River House at 2pm but I was in no fit state to make it. Even if I were physically able to attend, I really didn’t need to break my diet for excessive treats that I hadn’t budgeted for anyway so I wasn’t too bothered about missing it.
It was date night for our 12 year anniversary tonight and we decided we would just go to Lukka bar, with the weather being so wet. I’d tried to get booked in for my hair doing but I couldn’t get an appointment until next Friday. At Lukka I ordered soda water while Captain Caveman insisted on a bottle of red wine. I was absolutely begging for mercy as Çetin, the waiter, poured us a glass each of the red Buzbağ wine. For starters Captain Caveman wanted pâté but they didn’t have that, instead he had cheesy garlic bread, I had garlic mushrooms. Both starters were great and Captain Caveman even shared his starter with me. For main course he had pepper steak and I went for one of my old favourites, sweet and sour chicken. Both came with homemade chips which were nice and we enjoyed our food. I only managed about a glass of the wine while Captain Caveman drank the rest. I started to feel quite unwell before we had left to go home and I even had to go home before Captain Caveman, with some leftovers in a bag. Our anniversary celebration night out cost us just less than £50 in English money equivalent.
Back at home, I felt quite unwell and thought I might spoil date night by having to have an early night by myself. By the time I’d come out of the bathroom, Captain Caveman was on the sofa, fast asleep and snoring, it was only 9.15pm!

My parents and I joined Captain Caveman on his weekly walk on Sunday 17th December. It was a sunny day for the 12km so I could just about manage that. As we left home I noticed that the person who was staying in the apartment opposite us, had a German Shepherd dog and it was on the front balcony, barking. Captain Caveman and I assumed the Turkish woman who was inside was the cleaner who had brought her dog to work with her.
After the walk Captain Caveman, my parents and I had lunch at the Kefal tea gardens. I was good and had 2 big Turkish teas while the others had beers. I accidentally ordered a chicken döner sandwich instead of a cheese and onion toastie but it was rather tasty. It did mean that I’d gone over 300 syns for the week now so Wednesday’s Fat Club weigh-in was certainly looking a bit dicey.
Here’s what we had and the prices in lira;

2 çay 20
1 chips 50
1 chicken döner sandwich 65
2 cheese toasties 90
2 mixed toasties 100
4 Efes Malt 300
Total spent 625 lira (£16.90)

Not a bad lunch for less than £5 per person on average.
That evening, I made enchiladas for dinner using up lots of defrosted leftovers from various meals out. It was lovely but I was ready for an early night as it would be a busy day off work tomorrow.

Dalyan – 15th December

On Friday 15th December it was raining really hard outside so I decided on making a veggie Dahl in the slow cooker. Captain Caveman went to Bridge Club and while he was gone I made chicken and vegetable curry pasties with wraps, ready for our lunch. Unfortunately, our chosen restaurant cancelled our anniversary meal booking because of the heavy rain storms and we decided that we would go out with Jamie for a night out instead. Captain Caveman had already arranged it with Jamie for us to go to Sofra bar which was back open at weekends. I also had an invite from Janet, who’s birthday it was, to join her at 8pm in Cafe Ivy for birthday drinks, but we were already booked up – it’s all or nothing here!
Debbie from Fat Club popped round with a something for me. At the Fat Club party she’d asked me if I’d like her spare airfryer liners and an old stick blender (as she had got a new one) and wanted to give it to me for free. I was so excited and appreciated it a lot, especially as I now couldn’t justify buying one. She’d even brought it over in the rain so that I could use it as soon as possible. She was a mind-reader as I’d intended on getting the potato masher on the Dahl I was making. It was such a kind thing to do that it made me a bit emotional.
After lunch, Captain Caveman and I went to the shops to stock up for the weekend and for next week when we had guests arriving from England. We were both getting excited that Josh was returning for a week at Christmas and, this time, he was bringing his girlfriend. Here’s what we bought with the prices in lira, which was now 37 lira to the pound;

Migros Supermarket
Cherry juice 38.00
3 tupperware tubs 49.90
Toblerone 69.90
4 tins of tomatoes 89.68
Total 247.48 lira (£6.69)

Millennium Shop
Ceramic dishes 50.00 lira (£1.35)

Bim Süpermarket
1 wholemeal loaf 14.50
1 pack lavaş wraps 19.25
1 pack naan breads 33.00
Total spent 66.75 lira (£1.80)

Yaman Büfe 2
3 Bottles of wine 388.50 lira (£10.50)

I’d decided that I was going to buy the same ceramic pots for Mom so that she could also do amazing Yorkshire puddings in her airfryer. Mom does a great pudding mixture and doesn’t have an oven in Dalyan so this would be great for her to have with her slow cooker stews. We had french onion soup for dinner which was very nice but I gave most of my bread to Captain Caveman as it goes soggy in the soup.

We met Jamie in Lukka bar for a couple, he was wearing his ‘A Gay in a Manger’ Christmas jumper and was looking to get on it for the evening. Lukka bar beers were 90 lira (£2.43) each and a glass of wine was 120 lira (£3.24), I had 2 wines and Captain Caveman had 3 beers. We had a great night in a quiet Sofra bar, as everyone seemed to be at Cafe Ivy. Jamie left as John, Andrea, Mark, Kate and Daisy arrived as he needed to get back. Captain Caveman and I didn’t get home until 2am.

Dalyan – 13th & 14th December

Before work on Wednesday 13th December, I got weighed and measured to find I’d got reasonable results; I’d lost 0.3kg on the home scales, 2cm off my bust, 1cm off my hips and my waist had stayed the same. I had my overnight oats with persimmon and a cup of Yorkshire tea for breakfast and was looking forward to my day as we had the Fat Club Christmas party later.
I worked until 12.30pm then I’d finished work for the week, month and year. My bosses were already away in the UK for a quick break to see family.
At 4pm I met 3 of the ladies from Fat Club at the bakery next to the bus station. We hadn’t been to Debbie’s before but she had pointed to the back of it once when I walked towards Jamie’s with her, after Fat Club. I’m not good at following maps but I knew if I walked the same way, I would find it and the others had asked if they could come with me – and why not!
We had walked a few metres past the gate to Debbie’s house when we bumped in to Kate who was on the mobility scooter with Daisy. She pointed out our error and we all went in to Debbie’s. One of the ladies apologised profusely at the 4 of us being late because I had got them lost. She was glad Kate had found us as we had been walking round lost for ages! I popped my curry down so that I could get weighed, I’d brought my own food as the curries that Ian (Carol’s husband) had made for us all, had chillies in, which I can’t have. I’d brought the IPA beers to have with my curry but Debbie had made us all a mulled wine. I got on the scales first and was pleased to see I’d lost 0.4kg (0.9lb). I was the lightest I’d been in 7 months, having lost a total of 8.2kg (1st and 4lb) since I joined Carol’s Fat Club. Now, I only had 1.8kg (4lb) left to lose to hit my target weight and I (rather optimistically) hoped to do it by the end of the year.
The curry night went very well, although not without a bit of drama. Just as we were about to sit down to eat, I got a message from my boss, to say he had lost his wallet with all his cards in, on a train in England, which meant he had no way of being able to pay me as scheduled. I tried not to let it spoil my night but it was obviously on my mind that I wouldn’t be able to do a few things I’d got planned for the rest of the month now. December was Captain Caveman’s and my parents’ last full month in Dalyan and I’d hoped I’d be able to afford to go out for drinks, meals and even the odd day trip with them.
Debbie’s hosting was second to none and we had a really fun time at the Fat Club party. There was a new first for me, seeing a bottle of red wine wearing a jumper to keep it warm and look festive! By the time Debbie’s husband came home, Kate, Daisy and I had (drunkenly) decided to go for more drinks at Tapa. Kate rode the 3 of us in to town on the mobility scooter as we carried a big box of cat food.

Captain Caveman had been in Tez bar and Mark was just leaving Tapa as we arrived. Both of them decided to join us ladies and the party at Tapa began with Daisy getting the microphone out and starting an impromptu karaoke style night.
I’d had 3 red wines in Tapa and I was very drunk when we eventually went home.

When I woke up on Thursday 14th December I had a bad hangover. I’d had 2 mulled wines, 2 proseccos, 2 beers & 3 red wines yesterday. I had gone over the week’s allowance of syns in one night and it was probably the most I’d drank since October. We were home by 10.30pm, though, after quite the wild night! It was also somewhat ironic that it had been at the Fat Club Christmas do, in a country where they don’t celebrate Christmas.
Captain Caveman brought me my tea in bed and announced he was off Bumming, I suspected I would be lucky to leave my bed today. He’d also popped the brisket with onions in to the slow cooker and would be doing dinner tonight.
I didn’t manage any breakfast until 12.30pm when I forced down toast and a paracetamol. For lunch I had garlic mushrooms done in the airfryer and they were very nice.
At dinner time Captain Caveman served up the brisket with onions, red cabbage and my amazing airfryer Yorkshire puddings. It was our 12 year anniversary next week so Captain Caveman decided he was taking me out for a date this weekend, he had booked a table for 2 at My Arancia and we had pre ordered our food.

Dalyan – 8th & 9th December

I chopped and deseeded the rest of the persimmon on Friday 8th December, so that I could use them for my overnight oats. Captain Caveman had gone to Bridge Club and would meet me at Jamie’s villa. Jamie was off to Istanbul with friends for a birthday weekend, while we looked after Norman and Edna. For lunch I did us a jacket potato with cheese for a nice change then we walked the dogs. It started raining while we were out so we had to take shelter. Edna loves to nip in to Waterfall, her local pub, so we went there for a drink. Mehmet gave Norman and Edna some sausage which they enjoyed but Edna was disappointed as her boyfriend, Skippy, doesn’t frequent the bar on a Friday.
Back home we had some chicken curry with steamed rice for dinner and some tangerines for after.

Saturday 9th December was quite a lively one but started off lazy. I was still in my pyjamas on the sofa with Norman and Edna at 10am. I had Tetley’s tea and my overnight oats for breakfast before eventually getting ready to walk the dogs prior to our weekly jaunt to the market.
Here’s what we bought and the prices in lira;

Stall 1
Potatoes & onions 29

Stall 2
Red & Green peppers 25

Stall 3
Persimmons & bananas 53

Stall 4
Tangerines 30

Stall 5
2 spinach gözleme 100

Total market spend 237 lira (£6.51)

The lira had dropped to 36.4 to the pound yesterday but it was still set to increase again. Captain Caveman chose a different stall for tangerines this week and she charged us 3 times more than the guy last week.

Back at Jamie’s, I fell asleep on the sofa and my parents went for a walk ending up in a visit to Tez bar. Mom was looking for the new location of Emrah the hairdresser so I told her where it was, next to the Şarküteri shop along from the butchers. We were waiting for Norman to wake up so that we could go to Sofra bar for a drink and meet Ma & Pa.
Edna insisted that we go to see Skippy in Waterfall as she, quite rightly, pointed out that football would be on at Sofra meaning talking would be frowned upon. We got there about 5.15pm and let my parents know so they could join us, they were very merry when they arrived. By 7pm Mom was murdering Bonnie Tyler’s ‘It’s a heartache’ to a bewildered Norman and Edna. I have a video but Ma will not allow it to be published, so I took a screenshot of the dogs watching and listening.
We took the dogs home and gave them a late tea, Norman grumbled something about it being a good job they get treats in the Waterfall if dinner is going to be this late! We left the dogs, snuggled up in their bed, to go back out for dinner with my tipsy parents.

We decided on Mahir’s Kebabs which have fantastic fish and chips and cheap wine – yes my diet was going well! On the way I showed Ma where the hairdresser was now located and she looked in through the window to check it out.
At Mahir’s, Dad had chicken shish, Mom ordered an Adana kebab, Captain Caveman İskender kebab and I (obviously) had the fish and chips. The food was so good and service from Mahir is always excellent. A beer or a wine was just 80 lira (£2.20), Captain Caveman’s meal was 230 lira (£6.32) and mine was 280 lira (£7.70) which we thought was reasonable for the portion size. Mahir gave us free chocolate treats at the end of the meal too. We went straight home after dinner as I don’t like to leave the dogs too late, plus my parents probably wouldn’t remember getting home as it was.

Photo credit – Captain Caveman and Mahir

Dalyan – 6th & 7th December

I stayed in bed until after 10am on Wednesday 6th December as it was raining heavily. I had the usual tea and a banana for breakfast. It was weigh day so I did get on the home scales to find I’d lost 0.25kg (0.5lb) which was surprising after all the cheese and wine last night. My measurements were also quite promising; 1cm on my bust, hips remained the same but I’d lost 1cm from my waist.
At lunch time I tried cooking the sweet potatoes to find they weren’t as I expected them to be. They took ages in the air fryer to cook, and I’d have been better off doing our lunch in the oven.
Captain Caveman popped to the shops when the rain stopped and bought 2 jars of passata as it was on offer at 39.80 lira in total (£1.09) – a bargain.
At Fat Club, Carol’s scales were not so forgiving and I had put on 0.1kg (0.2lb) so I really did need to be more disciplined this coming week.
Having said that, we were invited out this evening again. I popped to the shop on my way home, here’s what I bought;

Migros Supermarket
Bicarbonate of soda 6.50
Lentils 20.00
Milk 22.50
1 tin of tomatoes 29.90
4 Dido chocolate bars 42.00
Total spent 121.80 lira (£3.34)

That evening we got the bus out to Bill & Jaxx’s villa, not far from the Günlüklu restaurant. On the way we saw an outside toilet and a dinosaur which were great landmarks for us to get off at the right bus stop next time. Bill picked us up and I should have took more notice of the route, but that was Captain Caveman’s department! We had agreed to house and dog sit for them later in the month so we were going over to discuss further and for Captain Caveman to meet their dogs.
We had a lovely evening, with lots of wine, garlic bread, chicken pasta, a cheese board and port. It was so indulgent and delicious and we had such a good laugh. The dogs were great and we knew we would enjoy looking after Big Boy and Lucy while their owners were away. It was gone midnight when we left, a little bit merry!

On Thursday 7th December Captain Caveman went Bumming, I had my obligatory Yorkshire tea in bed then got up for my overnight oats which I’d added frozen raspberries and persimmon to.
For lunch we had chicken wraps with fat free yoghurt, carrot and red cabbage which were lovely.
For dinner we were happy at being invited over to my parents’ place for dinner and wine. We had a great time and a tasty chicken casserole too. I went off my diet yet again when I was tempted to eat the crisps and some chocolate. It was only Thursday and I’d already consumed 162 syns so far this week. I was going to have to try my best to curb it a bit more this weekend but it would be tricky as we had some nice plans.