Dalyan – 16th to 18th January

On Monday 16th January Captain Caveman was due out of the cave and was taking himself off on a pre Tet holiday. Here in Dalyan, the weather was sunny and around 22°C but rain was due again tomorrow. I did quite a lot of editing in the morning after walking the dogs and then found Charlie had tried to go back to bed for a siesta. Kate and I had decided to make the most of the nice weather and had arranged to meet for lunch at 12.30pm at Egehan again. Gino at Egehan gave us a lovely warm welcome and he even gave Kate’s bike a thorough wash as it was very muddy. Kate had beer, I had a glass of red wine which was rather smooth and we both ordered pasta dishes this time. The food was lovely, as we sat in the suntrap outside by the pool. Kate had made a lemon drizzle cake for me for my birthday and she’d brought it along. We worked out how to cut it up in to pieces which would be around 10 syns each and I would pop some in the freezer too.

I seemed to be attracting abandoned dogs as, at Tez bar, one which looked a bit like a ginger Charlie came over. When the weather got cold, and Mark had come to join us, I popped back to Captain Caveman’s apartment to put most of my lemon drizzle cake in the freezer, put a coat on and grab a pair of leggings for Kate to borrow. I left just after 6pm so I could feed the dogs and walk them again. On my way back to Jamie’s I called in to Migros Supermarket where I bought filo pastry sheets, frozen sweetcorn and toilet rolls for a total of 136.60 lira (£6). For dinner I put a pie in the oven and started looking at flights to Vietnam. While the pooches all slept on the sofa I found Emirates to be the cheapest on the search I did. When my pie was ready Charlie showed that he desperately wanted some by sitting underneath the oven, then climbed on the sofa to try to get a piece. I didn’t give him any as I didn’t think it would be good for him and the other dogs would want some too if I did.

I went back to bed with a cup of tea and 3 dogs on Tuesday 17th January. Norman and Charlie were getting friendlier and it was a good job, as rain looked imminent. Captain Caveman was on holiday in Hue for a few days but would be going to Hoi An soon to meet friends. I had pie for lunch but in the afternoon I couldn’t make it in time for Singing group as I had to walk the dogs and get to Tez for a birthday celebration. It was Jackie’s birthday and I’d mistakenly thought her birthday was tomorrow. I hurried to walk the dogs and call at the bank but got there for 4pm, just before it started to rain. Quite a few of us were at Tez bar, including Vanessa, Matt, Mark, Kate, Cath & Keith and a few of the other regular ‘Tez-pats’. We had to move inside when it started lashing it down so it was quite cosy, but Vanessa’s coat got soaked.

Jackie, Chris, Amanda, Jeff, Gay Gaz and I all went on to Kordon for a meal while the rest stayed in Tez and then went home. I had lentil soup to start which I really enjoyed and the Gorgonzola chicken for main. Jackie had recommended the dish, it was fantastic and enough to take half home. I had a glass of wine too and my bill came to 450 lira (£20) which was good value but more than I’d normally spend on a Tuesday evening dinner and drinks. We were still eating our meals when Cath joined us and had a bit of Chris’s mixed casserole. After a rather lovely birthday meal I said goodnight to the others and we left Cath with Gay Gaz heading to Jiks for shots, as I went back to Jamie’s to check on the 3 dogs.

Wednesday 18th January was rainy so, after letting the dogs out in to the garden, feeding them and making a cup of tea, we all went back to bed for an hour. I had just strawberries for breakfast and stayed in my PJs while the rain was so heavy. All 3 dogs were waiting for it to stop raining so that we could go for a nice walk and they looked a bit fed up.
In the morning I finished all my editing for this particular stretch and I was looking forward to getting more done during Tet.
I had more pie for lunch and there was no Fat Club due to the bad weather. I was keen to know my weight this week, though, so I got on Jamie’s scales. Obviously the scales are different to Carol’s at Fat Club but it showed 0.1kg less than last week. Pleased with this I walked the dogs then had some lemon drizzle cake for a snack.
The dogs were getting along much better now and were definitely friends, which was nice. I did a Slimming World friendly pizza for dinner but then later had some cheese and membrillo. I watched some TV and it was nice to see Norman and Charlie had become closer now too.

Dalyan – 12th January

Although it was still raining when I got up on Thursday 12th January, it had eased a little. I tried to catch up with as many birthday messages as possible and I’d got a lovely message from my sister, Gayle, who had also sent me some money for my birthday. I thought I’d maybe put it together with the money from my parents and buy, either something nice to wear, or maybe a ring, when I next went shopping. I took the dogs out before Louisa got up and we’d all towelled off and were on the sofa when she came downstairs. Annie at Bistro Blue confirmed we could go ahead with yesterday’s birthday plans tonight instead. This was brilliant news, I let everyone know and asked if anyone wanted to change their preordered meals. Louisa and I did because she’d eaten her choice yesterday in Kordon and I decided to push the boat out and have something I really wanted.
Louisa and I left the dogs at home to meet Mark and Kate at Ela’s Kitchen for breakfast at 11am. Our Fethiye friends had left early that morning so I sadly didn’t get to see them but they had given Kate a bottle of wine to give to me for my birthday – how lovely. For breakfast I had the big breakfast but agreed to do swaps of my eggs and tomatoes for Mark’s mushrooms on his small breakfast. Kate ordered a Chicken club sandwich and Louisa a bacon sandwich. I absolutely love the breakfasts in Ela’s and they have proper English tea too.

After breakfast, I confirmed menu choices and numbers for Bistro Blue but I’d had 20 cancellations already. Mark and Kate decided they wouldn’t come as we’d gone out yesterday for dinner and breakfast today instead. Vanessa and Matt also cancelled because they too had eaten out with me yesterday.
In the afternoon, Louisa and Kate came with me to Charlie’s apartment where they helped me clean the remains of any flood water up. It wasn’t as bad as I’d thought and it was just in the main bedroom. We also emptied the freezer and fridge to take the stuff to Jamie’s so that if the electric had to be turned off, nothing would spoil. We saw Milo and he now had a crate with a blanket in from Katrina so that he was warm until his new owner could collect him.
That evening, as we were getting ready to head off for my party, I got messages from Vanessa, Matt and Mark to tell me they were in Tez bar and that I should come to join them (and a few people coming to my celebrations) there. Of course, I couldn’t do that as it would mean being late for Bistro Blue and being rude to the people who were actually on their way to my belated celebrations.

Louisa and I arrived at the restaurant just before 7pm and the table was set up lovely, we had 12 people eating plus another half a dozen coming just for drinks.
Joining in the meal was Wolfie & Irena, Jackie & Chris, Linda, Ghislaine, Pete, Bill & Jaxx and Gay Gaz. Joining for drinks only were Janet & Kev, Roy, Sheila, Andy & Kaye, and Cath & Keith. Janet brought me a bottle of wine for my birthday, Linda got me a lovely necklace and Ghislaine gave me a reed diffuser from LC Waikiki and some Ferrero Rocher chocolates. I’d said I didn’t want birthday gifts, just shots and snogs so I’d done very well and I also got quite a few cards which was very lovely. Louisa and I had a porn star martini cocktail each, I also shared a bottle of wine with Linda during the dinner. Both Louisa and I had ordered the same thing which was the surf and turf. At 500 lira (£22.18) it wasn’t cheap so when it arrived Louisa saw that it had a sauce on and wasn’t happy with it. I asked Omer to send it back as she thought it might have cheese in, it didn’t but she still didn’t want the meat and prawns covered in sauce. Mine came and I tried it and liked it, I’d asked for mine medium which was fine. Louisa got her food back and the prawns were separated but still in the sauce so I suggested she rescue them on to a bit of dry bread and I had her sauce. Her medium steak wasn’t cooked enough so I asked Annie if we could send it back again and, of course, they obliged. I really enjoyed my food and even finished off some of Louisa’s which was still too raw for her but she didn’t want to send it back a third time! I definitely would eat the surf and turf again but I think Louisa would choose differently next time.

Instead of a dessert, we had more drinks, Bill bought me a Moscow Mule, loads more red wine was had, then I decided that I would buy a round of tequilas for the few of us who were left.
Things got messy as others joined in the buying of shots when Cath introduced everyone to a Baby Guinness (or 4).
We turned the floor in front of the meze fridge in to our dancefloor and Selahı made an excellent DJ. I’m not sure I remember getting back to Jamie’s but I do recall having more drink when we got there. Louisa was leaving tomorrow so she had vodka and coke to drink up!

Dalyan – 10th January

I was up and about early on Tuesday 10th January as Louisa was on her way from Manchester to Dalaman airport. I was really pleased that she was coming out to help me celebrate my 50th birthday. The dogs weren’t happy that I wasn’t back in bed with a cuppa so they had to do their snoozing on the sofa. I popped all the ingredients for a chicken and pumpkin curry in to the slow cooker and let Louisa know that’s what we were eating later. I crammed in as much editing as I could before lunch as I would be taking the next couple of days off for my birthday. Jamie had been gone a week now and he and his partner were enjoying Mauritius. Everyday they showed off their hotel towel art but it wasn’t that good, I decided to make some out of their tea towel and sent them photos of it.
I spent my lunch break walking Charlie, Norman and Edna and even got a photo of them walking together. Back home, I cleaned and tidied in readiness for Louisa arriving. The sky was growing dark and storms were predicted, my birthday tomorrow was booked for quite a lot of us so I hoped it wouldn’t get cancelled.

Louisa arrived and she had brought me a block of Red Leicester cheese, which I’d asked her to and I was so happy. She’d been a bit worried about being able to get dairy through as it’s on the list of produce not to be able to bring in, even though everyone does. It’s my favourite cheese and you can’t get it often here, what they do have is super expensive too.
I’d not seen Louisa for 9 months, the last time was when she’d been over with her nephew and mom in April last year. It was great to see her and she had a funky new haircut which looked great. Louisa didn’t fancy the curry I’d made for dinner so I turned it off and we could perhaps have it tomorrow for lunch. The rain was still holding off so we decided to go out to the bank. As we were walking it was obvious that it was definitely going to rain tonight and the forecast said it would be heavy for a few days. We ended up in Jiks where a glass of red wine was now only 60 lira (£2.64) but a shandy was 80 lira (£3.51). Of course we had to bump in to Madge, who came over to ask about my ‘pregnancy’ again. I really should have been eating that Slimming World friendly curry at home instead of joining Louisa for a pizza. I ordered the Slim pizza (which was incorrectly named but I took off ham and added mushrooms) while Louisa ordered the Happy pizza. They were only 90 lira (£3.95) each and it tasted so good that I ate the whole thing. My diet was, once again, postponed – until after my birthday. The rain started and we walked back to Jamie’s where I opened a bottle of red wine and Louisa had a vodka and coke. She’d not even managed to drink much of it before falling asleep on the sofa around 9.30pm – it had been a long day of travelling for her. As the rain got heavier and heavier I had a feeling my birthday tomorrow would not go as planned.

Dalyan – 7th & 8th January

I had quite a steady day on Saturday 7th January, when walking the dogs there was a small dog who had probably been dumped and was hanging around Charlie’s house. It looked like Milo from the film ‘Mask’, he was shaking and crying. I didn’t have my phone to take photos or try to find the owner but I suspected the cost of having a dog was getting too much for some Turkish people, prices of pet food was expensive as they class it has a luxury item which has a high tax on. At the corner shop the fresh bread was now 5 lira per loaf, only 22p in English money, but used to be 1 lira not that long ago. I met up with Vanessa in the afternoon at Kaunos Tea Gardens and left the dogs together for about 3 hours, feeling happy they had been walked and were now friendlier towards each other. I called in Bim supermarket to see if they had any Dairy Milk chocolate as I kept hearing rumours, but there was none. I didn’t stay out late as I felt a bit tired and headed back to Jamie’s villa for some dog and sofa time.

My Sunday, 8th January, was full of dog love and nice Slimming World friendly food.
After letting the dogs out and feeding them, Norman insisted that we all go back to bed. I obliged and, this time, Norman had priority place next to me while Charlie and Edna were near my legs. There was lots of snoring and farting during an extra lay in, and that was just the dogs! By 11am I decided we were all being far too lazy and that we should get up and go for a walk. I wouldn’t say I’d mastered it, but we were now all 4 of us comfortably walking without me being tied up in dog leads. It was clear that Edna was the boss but I loved how well behaved Charlie was on his lead. When we walked near his house we saw Milo (the dumped dog) again and I spoke to the neighbour to check if it was their’s. This time we took photos and posted on Facebook to see if we could find the owner. It turned out the owner had been traced but didn’t want the dog, Milo had now moved in to the vestibule of Charlie’s apartment block and was being fed by two of the kind neighbours. Charlie wanted to be friends with him but there was no way I could surprise Jamie, or Helen & Abi, with a new dog.
I had a late lunch of leftover curry with steamed rice and played outside in the garden with the dogs. All 3 of them were getting along much better now and they were less jealous of my attention since walking them all together. We watched TV while all 3 dogs stayed near to me and each other, which was sweet. I had another healthy meal of chicken and veg pasta for dinner and I had some of the white wine left over from the other night. When I got off the sofa for more wine the dogs spread out and I couldn’t get back to my spot.

Dalyan – 6th January

All 3 dogs came back to bed with me on the morning of Friday 6th January. Even while I waited for the kettle to boil, Norman and Edna were halfway up the stairs and it was still too early for breakfast. They got on the bed together and there was some repositioning as Edna and Charlie both wanted to be nearest to me. In bed, while some of the dogs snored, I made some arrangements for my 50th birthday celebrations next week. It was likely to be bad weather and so I envisaged I might need to have a Plan B, just in case. I’d decided I fancied going for a nice meal and some drinks at Bistro Blue and was having conversations with the owners to arrange. I had to wait for them to reprice the menu as the prices were increasing for 2023, the new menus would be with me on Monday. I was really looking forward to having Louisa come over to celebrate my birthday with me but I did hope she wouldn’t be too bored – Dalyan can be very quiet in the winter time.
I’d brought my tape measure with me to Jamie’s so I did my weekly figures;
Bust & Hips remained the same,
Waist +1cm,
Both thighs and Right calf +0.5cm,
Left calf still the same.
I popped to the shop to get some provisions for a soirée I was hosting that evening. Here’s what I bought at Migros Supermarket:
880g chicken 67.00
400g tin of chopped tomatoes 24.90
1 carton of cream 18.90
Total spent 110.80 lira (£4.89)

I suspected that wasn’t far off the cost of the same things back in England, although I hadn’t been back for over a year. I put the ingredients for a Slimming World friendly curry in the slow cooker and brought my rice cooker over from one house to another. I had a bit of a tidy up then Vanessa popped over to join me on a dog walk.

Cheeky Charlie, obviously had us call in to Waterfall bar, which ended up being 2 drinks and Charlie getting lots of attention from his friends. When Vanessa and I got back to Jamie’s villa to pick up her bicycle, Ann and Nanny Kay were already on the patio waiting for me.

Once indoors and the dog fussing had been completed, we got the wine out. Ann had brought me a lovely birthday gift; a gift bag with Buzbağ red wine, Dairy Milk chocolate, M&Ms and a lovely purple bobble hat. Nanny Kay gave me a bottle of Tigre wine, which I also thought was a pre birthday gift as she also wasn’t coming to my birthday party on Wednesday. As Jamie would be away for my birthday, and Nanny Kay and Ann weren’t able to make it, we said we would do a night out at the end of January instead.
I thought the curry turned out well and the ladies were impressed with my rice cooker rice. Charlie took a real liking to Nanny Kay and was loving being a bit cheeky with both our visitors. We had a lovely evening and I was quite merry by the time they left.

Dalyan – 1st & 2nd January

Having been up most of the night with scared Charlie, the dog, because of the New Year’s Eve fireworks I was tired but hangover free on Saturday 1st January. I made a Slimming World friendly pizza with leftover salami and cheddar for lunch and decided to try the Slow Cooker mushroom risotto for dinner. I had a nice leisurely dog walk and then arranged to meet Jamie and Ann at Waterfall for a couple of drinks. The dogs love it there and they get to see Skippy, the dog, too. Unfortunately we were there a tad longer than planned and my risotto was overcooked. I popped it in a tupperware thinking I’d salvage it another day but I ate a small soggy portion of it for dinner. I filled up with left over Christmas cake and some cheese, which meant the diet was out of the window, once again!
Captain Caveman had left Saigon and was heading back to Phong Nha, moving back in to the Glass House and getting prepared to start work again.

On Monday 2nd January it was the end of my Christmas holidays and so I intended to get back on with working for a living. Things were tight money-wise as the inflation in Turkey continued to rise and prices of shopping was increasing by up to 35%. Ann posted a job advert on Facebook so I decided to apply and then I made a shopping list. At the top was a diary, I really needed one to get organised as January, for me, is a busy month.
I had strawberries for breakfast, the ones I had bought a week ago at Köyceğiz market and had cut them and put them in a glass jar to keep them fresher for longer. I was on my laptop editing documents but Charlie didn’t want me to, because he needed more belly rubs. I had pasta bolognese for lunch then soup and a wrap for a snack later. After a nice afternoon dog walk Charlie was insistent we went to Waterfall bar again, he was starting to find it impossible to go past without calling in to say ‘Hi’ to the locals. I met up with Mark and Kate who were on their way home from town and we had a jacket potato, courtesy of Mehmet. I left after 3 wines but, at 11pm, I’d had another glass of wine at home and more pasta bolognese before snuggles with Charlie.

Dalyan – 30th December

Charlie was loving having a bit of a lay in on Friday 30th December and even slept after I had got up, got ready, had my cup of tea and done some housework. He didn’t want to venture outside, even though it was nice weather. I took him for a walk, then back home before I went to meet Josh at the bus station in town. We had decided to go to the turtle hospital and the beach, but without Charlie this time. The bus left Dalyan at noon and the return fare was 36 lira (£1.58) per person. We were given a card for the return ticket and reminded that it was necessary to book a return ticket these days so that the driver knew he was required to come to collect us at 4.30pm, as per the winter bus schedule.
Josh and I went to the turtle hospital first and saw lots of good work and knowledgeable staff trying their best to ensure rescue, safety and recovery of the turtles. We tried to get some photos but the area where the tanks are is kept in low light and for obvious reasons, flashes are not allowed. Iztuzu Beach was very quiet today as Josh and I wandered from the bus end towards the boat end and back. We even had a paddle and the sea was not that cold, although I wouldn’t have swam right out.

We had lunch at the beach café and then decided to go off exploring up the side of the cliffs. It was beautiful scenery and we could see a German Shepherd dog was playing with his family. When he saw us he came running up the mountain side and I think he was just checking we were ok as he went back down when called.
We got the bus back just as it was starting to get a bit cooler and I still got off at the bus station and walked back to Charlie’s. Josh went back to our home and I was starting to miss being in our apartment. It was a month since I’d moved in to look after Charlie and he was so pleased to see me when I got ‘home’. We played catch Slothy, his toy, for a bit before walkies and then cuddles on the sofa.
That night was Josh’s last night in Dalyan so I’d planned to make the most of it!

I arrived at China Town, a few minutes late where Josh, Mark & Kate already had a beer. I joined them and we perused the extensive Chinese menu for ages, uncertain on whether to have a set meal or order dishes separately. I went for a set meal and had chicken and sweetcorn soup for starters followed by sweet and sour chicken with fried rice. It was very good and I completely forgot to take photos beyond those of the starters. After a couple of Efes beers and our Chinese we went to join friends for Lukka music bingo night.

Most of the time it was evident that Josh was too young to have heard of a lot of the songs but it didn’t matter and we had a good old laugh. We didn’t win but we didn’t care and I think Appo, the waiter, had to ask us to leave at gone 1am! Tomorrow was New Year’s Eve and Josh would be heading back to the UK to celebrate it, so I had no particular plans.

Dalyan – 29th December

I’d set my alarm for 8am on Thursday 29th December but woke up before it. Charlie and I were at Jamie’s with Norman and Edna while Jamie was on a quick trip away. I let his dogs out for a wee but Charlie was still asleep on ‘my’ bed. I made a cup of tea and took it back to bed only to find Charlie had taken my spot and got right in the bed!
Captain Caveman was in Saigon already where the weather was nice but it was pretty cold and fresh in Dalyan. Captain Caveman had news that a Ganesh Indian restaurant was opening in Phong Nha so he was excited.
Josh came over after I’d took the dogs for a walk then we sat outside in the very hot sun at the patio table and chairs. We were waiting for the plumber to come and I had been informed by the maintenance company that it would be mid to late morning. Nanny Kay popped over to drop off some ‘spare’ wine and a slow cooker from Christmas Day. Her hands were full when she opened the gate so Norman and Edna got out in to the complex. Luckily Edna returned as soon as I shouted her however Norman, who’s a tad deaf, had legged it to check out what was going off in the far corner, but Josh was able to find him. The plumber came and blamed holiday makers in another villa putting toilet paper down the toilet, then had to get a machine to suck out the blockage. Even though the problem was from another villa, they used Jamie’s downstairs toilet to do the procedure and the smell made me heave. Luckily, they were finished fairly quickly and I’d cleaned the floor and had a cheese sandwich before the next dog walk.
In the afternoon Josh went back to our place and I stayed at Jamie’s with the pooches. Cath (wife of Keith) messaged to say she had tested positive for Covid after feeling like she had a cold yesterday. This meant she needed me to tell all of the attendees of Monday’s boat trip to Köyceğiz, which I did. Everyone was kind and wished her well and some went to get test kits from the chemist as they had ran out.
After another short dog walk, first with Charlie and then with Norman and Edna, I went over to meet my new drinking buddy. Josh and I decided we would go for a drink in Lukka bar where a glass of white wine was 85 lira (£3.75) so I had a couple, Josh had beer and we watched the sun set over the river. Next we decided to go to Jiks bar where they would have a fire on, as we were feeling the cold at Lukka. We ended up have 2 pizzas each, I took one home, and they were really tasty for around only 80 or 90 lira each (less than £4). The price of drinks had gone up now to 80 lira (£3.53) and was more expensive than in Lukka for an Efes beer. We both went home early that night but with plans for an early start tomorrow and a night out for Josh’s last night in Dalyan.

Dalyan – 28th December

On Wednesday 28th December Captain Caveman had arrived in Istanbul after midnight and was leaving for Saigon at 2am. Jamie had left early for an overnight trip away and I was ready to go over to his villa for dog sitting. The maintenance company were going to contact me to organise coming to look at his plumbing either today or tomorrow too. I walked Charlie, who must’ve known he was going to see Edna and Norman as he took his time on his walk.
My weekly measurements were favourable so I was hopeful for good results at Fat Club later. I’d put 1cm on my bust, lost 3cm off my waist and hips while my legs were the same as the week before. At Jamie’s the dogs were pleased to see me and they enjoyed a walk separately to Charlie, mainly because I thought I’d struggle to take 3 together. Jamie had some Christmas cake left for me and I had a small piece just to taste it, before Fat Club. It was rather hot and a bit of a sun trap on Jamie’s back garden so I was too hot in my long sleeved top. On my walk round to Nil Lounge I spotted a stray sheep, eating foliage in the garden of an unoccupied complex. Josh went to join the pool afternoon at Rehab bar but us ladies probably wouldn’t join them as it was Ghislaine’s birthday celebration straight after Fat Club.

There were Carol, Kate, me and Nil with Ghislaine at Fat Club to help celebrate her special day. She had brought bottles of Prosecco with her as a treat for us all and, before I’d even got weighed, Ghislaine and Carol were on it.
When I stepped on the scales I had lost another 0.5kg which meant I had lost a total of the equivalent of half a stone in old measurements. I was pleased with that and surprised to be slimmer of the week, as I got handed a chilled glass of fizz. We sat down to order food and I decided to go for a cheese burger, as did Ghislaine. Kate ordered a chicken shish and Carol opted for a vegetarian spaghetti dish. The food was very good at Nil Lounge and my lunch cost just 120 lira (£5.29).

The afternoon started off very civilised but you know you’re in a bit of a pickle when Mark and Josh turn up, to help us all get home ok. During our luncheon a nice Russian hotel guest had bought Ghislaine a bottle of fizz and had it sent over to our table. This was very kind and we got chatting to Atyom who bought us more champers and was very lovely. He ended up buying several bottles but when we asked him to join us for a drink he said he didn’t drink alcohol but he would have a coffee with us before he had to go to Dalaman to meet friends. By 7pm we had asked for the bill and were sorting out who owed what. Kate ordered Fikri’s taxi for Carol, who could not pronounce where she lived, and called her husband to ask for the address. Ghislaine decided to get in the same taxi, despite living at the opposite side of town to Carol, and she forgot to take LuLu the dog home. Mark and Kate went home in their invalidity scooter, Josh and I walked back to Jamie’s and Lulu was invited to stay by the fire at Nil Lounge.

I’d promised Josh a curry from Spice Garden which arrived so promptly that I had forgotten it was coming. We got the set meals which were so good that they weren’t on the plates long enough for me to remember to take a photo. I remember us eating every single morsel and then, when I went to check on Josh after sorting the dogs out, he was done! Sleeping on the sofa by 10.10pm, I popped a blanket on him and went to bed, knowing that tomorrow I would feel a little fragile!

Dalyan – 25th December

When I woke up on Sunday 25th December, I was slightly regretting agreeing to a Christmas Day walk so early. Our friend, 007, had previously suggested that she would like to join Captain Caveman, my parents and I if we decided to opt out of the usual Christmas Day festivities and go for a walk. We’d been looking after Charlie for 26 days now and I was wanting to make sure that we gave him plenty of exercise before we left him to go out enjoying ourselves.
007 was prompt and outside Waterfall bar at 9.30am and it was just us and Charlie, who wasn’t really wanting to go out for a walk and wanted to stay at home.
We had a lovely walk, chat and 2 stops for a hot beverage at the tea gardens, one of which we couldn’t take the dog to so we had to move on. We had set off in the cold but had ended up taking several layers off and by 1pm, when I headed back ‘home’, it was very sunny. 007 had kindly given me a small Christmas gift which I put in the kitchen for later. Charlie was absolutely done in and had decided he was getting on the sofa and not moving. This was concerning as I’d already told my parents I would go on another walk with them this afternoon. The one this morning had been too early for them but I was also worried I’d even manage it as it I was pretty tired already. Captain Caveman was about to leave to meet Josh and they were heading off to Dalaman to watch Dalyan Spor play football. I was unsure if they would be going at all as they had struggled to find transport to accommodate everyone who wanted to go.
When I contacted my mom about the walk she suggested we went to the tea garden for lunch first and then see about a walk afterwards, which I was pleased about, even though I’d already been to the other two this morning. I didn’t take Charlie with me, much to his delight and we bumped in to Tay (from Rehab) and he joined us. My mom and I had Fanta, Dad had a beer, my parents had a sandwich and I just had chips. It was really warm and we spent a couple of hours there before going back home, ready to meet up again in a couple of hours, once the fellas were back from Dalaman.

By 5pm on Christmas Day, Captain Caveman and I were treating Charlie to a trip to see his friends in Waterfall bar after his walk to Poo Corner. My parents were on their way to meet us and Josh had popped back to Captain Caveman’s apartment to get ready for tonight’s shenanigans. After dropping Charlie back off at home we walked to Bistro Blue where I had booked the 5 of us in for a meal. Captain Caveman was on good form and behaving himself, he even agreed to share starters with me. We chose stuffed mushrooms and garlic mushrooms, Josh had the onion bhajis and I can’t remember what my parents had. I was too busy trying to make sure Captain Caveman didn’t snaffle both starters. For main courses my parents had casserole type dishes, Josh had a veggie stir fry, Captain Caveman had chicken fajitas and I decided to have the steak with peppercorn sauce. My parents ordered a nice wine that they particularly liked, Captain Caveman and I stuck to the cheapest, Buzbağ, and Josh was on Efes. The meal was really lovely and I enjoyed my steak very much, having gone for the big size I had to take some home. Captain Caveman couldn’t eat all his chicken fajitas either so we had that packaged up along with a trifle and a mince pie, courtesy of Annie. We had thought we might pop by Adam and Kath’s for a drink to wish them, as well as Mark and Kate, a Merry Christmas but it was getting late. By 9.45pm Captain Caveman had surprisingly ordered an Irish coffee and was scooping the cream off, Dad was on brandy, Josh on the posh whisky, Mom and I on the Bailey’s. Annie gave us complimentary shots, Ferrero Rocher and After Eight Mints to finish off our meal and we didn’t leave there until almost midnight. I’d really enjoyed my non-festive Christmas Day and it seemed like everyone else had too.

Dalyan – 21st & 22nd December

On Wednesday 21st December we had Jamie booked in for introducing his dogs to Charlie. Captain Caveman was leaving in less than a week and I already had Norman and Edna (Jamie’s dogs) booked in at the end of December and again in January. Jamie had kindly agreed to let me bring Charlie with me when I moved in to his villa but we did need to make sure the dogs got on. They had met before but Edna had been a bit of a Diva so Charlie had been scared of her. Captain Caveman decided to warm up left over sausage casserole and potatoes for our brunch, it certainly wasn’t Slimming World friendly but tasted lovely. An update popped up on a Facebook group to say that the local buses were going to be on from 12 on Christmas Eve to take people to and from the beach at the usual cost of just 36 lira (£1.60) return and I sent it to my mom just incase but she’d booked the private bus with Vanessa already so she didn’t need it. I popped a curry in the slow cooker, we both walked Charlie and then I went to find out my fate at Fat Club. To my surprise I had lost 0.4kg (less than a pound) which meant I had lost just over 3kg, in total. The group had a good chat, mainly about trying not to use the Christmas excuse to eat and drink more in the run up to Christmas Day. Our group leader, Carol, confirmed we would still be having a meeting next week, in between Christmas and New Year, so that we could attempt to keep things under control! After Fat Club, I went to meet Captain Caveman at Rehab bar where he was playing pool. Charlie was making more new friends and trying to eat cat food from a hole in the bottom of a bag. I’d invited my parents but they didn’t fancy it; they had been for a walk, called at the tea gardens and were heading to Tez bar. I saw Kath, Kate and Vanessa at Rehab and more talk about Christmas arrangements/buses and such like had ensued and I could feel the tenseness of it all. I was glad not to be doing anything Christmassy as it seemed to be stressing some of the women out. Captain Caveman had decided he was going to watch football on Christmas Day and I fancied doing a dog walk. When we got home the chicken curry was coming along nicely and Jamie, Norman and Edna were due over soon. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman and I had a row because he was annoyed at me for getting involved in Christmas arrangement discussions. I was upset and was very close to cancelling Jamie coming round but decided it was too late and I didn’t care if I was emotional in front of Jamie anyway. I took Charlie out for a walk, it was dark and he alerted me to something by the side of the road – a dead cat. I took a photo so that I coud send it to the Cat charity woman, Tina, it looked like a well fed pet rather than a street cat – I thought she could post it on her page to let people know.
Fortunately, I managed to hold it all together and get on with our night without a meltdown. Jamie never suspected a thing because Captain Caveman acted as if nothing was wrong. We were all so pleased that the dogs did get on, albeit a little apprehensively on Charlie’s part at first. The curry went down a treat as did the red wine and we had a good night in the end.

It was our 11 year anniversary on Thursday 22nd December but it didn’t go well. We had mentioned it a couple of days ago but that morning, Captain Caveman didn’t acknowledge it and neither did I. He was constantly playing Bridge on an app on his phone and every time I spoke I had to repeat myself so I was at the point where I couldn’t be bothered to converse. He went Bumming in the morning and I got the laptop out. There was meant to be a plumber coming today or tomorrow too so I stayed in to make sure Charlie wasn’t near any workmen or left alone as he would be scared. In the afternoon my Mom messaged to ask if we were planning on doing anything for our anniversary and I replied that Captain Caveman was probably playing Bridge on his phone. She suggested we go out to celebrate, I wasn’t really feeling it and I needed not to be hungover tomorrow for a busy day. When Captain Caveman returned I asked if he wanted to go to meet my parents and he then twigged it was our anniversary so we decided to go. My parents had already been out for a bit when the 3 of us got to Tez bar, which was busy and full of smokers. I instantly had a coughing fit and just could not stop, despite having not coughed for 2 days. I walked off towards the river to get some air and my mom joined me shortly afterwards. I eventually went back and sat down but I was not enjoying not being able to breathe very well. I joined my parents, Captain Caveman and Gay Gaz outside and at least I could tell Gaz to move his fag without upsetting him.
While I wasn’t looking, Dad organised for a bottle of fizz to celebrate our anniversary and we were probably in the wrong place to get champagne. I think he paid a lot for it and I got annoyed that Captain Caveman didn’t even say thank you. We ended up giving Gay Gaz a glass seeing as he was sat with us and he didn’t waste any. My parents asked us to go for a meal but we weren’t up for it and we had some curry left over at home. We said our goodbyes to my tiddly parents and then arguments got worse between me and Captain Caveman. He was generally being condescending and unkind, I was not happy about it so I went in to the bedroom. Charlie kept me company as he could tell I was upset but nothing prepared me for what happened next; Captain Caveman had eaten all of the curry for his dinner and not saved me any.

Dalyan – 15th December

I wasn’t feeling too sprightly on Thursday 15th December so I wasn’t really looking forward to the afternoon invitation. Gay Gaz had invited a few people over for food, drink and carol singing at his place. Captain Caveman went Bumming in the morning while I looked after and walked Charlie. My parents were ready at their place when Captain Caveman and I arrived to walk to Gary’s party. We decided to take gin so that Captain Caveman could have his with tonic and I took cherry juice for mine. My parents took a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine and I wondered if they had underestimated how much they might need. When we arrived Debbie (Darling) and Roy were already there as well as 2 of Gary’s Turkish friends. John was there too but Andrea was at home sick and couldn’t come. Mark had made a recovery after being poorly and had arrived with Kate who had started to feel unwell. Sue, Janet, Kev, Engin and Sheila arrived while Liz & Dave and Rach & Nuri were last to arrive. Sue brought sausage rolls which were lovely and so my diet this week went out of the window, only a day after the last weigh-in. Gay Gaz had made gammon which was delicious and various friends had brought other tasty morsels. As you can probably imagine it turned in to an absolute piss up and a half! The 4 dogs (Jeffrey, George, Wilma and Linus) managed to get out of a bedroom and 2 escaped which cheesed off a neighbour. We sang loads of Christmas carols and it was hilarious. Once my Dad had drank his bottle of wine he and mom left but Captain Caveman and I stayed longer, enough for me to try a glass of Sheila’s homemade wine.

Dalyan – 14th December

Knowing that I had something arranged in the afternoon of Wednesday 14th December, I cracked on with getting stuff done in the morning. Captain Caveman went Dogging so I took Charlie out for a walk to Poo corner. At 2.30pm Kate came over to pick up her house key and pop some stuff in the freezer for Christmas day. Captain Caveman and I were looking forward to having our mate, Josh, over from Christmas Eve and we were happy to not be doing a traditional Christmas Day, we were in Turkey afterall.
At 3pm I got weighed at Fat Club where I had lost 1kg (2lb). This was good news as we were about to start our Christmas party at Nil Lounge where we had already pre-ordered food and prosecco. The place looked gorgeous, everyone was dressed up, except for me as I’d not taken many clothes over to Charlie’s. Kate and I had 3 bottles of fizz between us. Others from Fat Club were much more sensible and only had 1 bottle between 2. We also both ordered the mixed mezes as we didn’t want to eat a big main course but it was huge and I ended up taking quite a lot home. We had issues opening all of the bottles of wine, which Carol had got for us from outside of Dalyan, so Katherine got the knife out on them – for the price we didn’t care! The food was very good and we had a lovely afternoon which turned in to a late one for Ghislaine, Kate and I as we had a couple of beers in Mustang bar. We had tried to join the pool lads at Rehab but it had closed and they had all gone home. When I got home I was very tipsy having had a really good time with the Fat Club girls.

Dalyan – 11th & 12th December

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

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

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

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

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

Dalyan – 10th December

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

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