I was not enamoured with the alarm going off at 4.30am on Thursday 17th April! Captain Caveman was working all day in the Tunstall office, near Stoke on Trent, so we left Barnes at 5am. I was hungover and tired but we had travel sweets and plenty of water. While Captain Caveman went to work, I was the first in to the Asda cafe. I bought a cup of a Yorkshire tea for £1.30 and found myself a table so that I could do some work. The tables were a bit grubby and the clientele rather dubious but it would do for my office for the day. I had a 45 minute Webinar in the morning after which I decided to treat myself to breakfast. The hangover was getting worse as I ordered another cup of tea and a couple of slices of toast with butter. A bargain £2.60 in total and came with the bare hands of the server who couldn’t find a plate and had my unbuttered toast in the palms of his hands. I was bound to be ill!! Next was our team meeting and an amazing training session with Gold Medal travel. I learned so much and was looking forward to quoting and booking some amazing holidays. They do a Pure Luxury range which is fabulous and I really fancied some of those for myself. In the afternoon, I finished off more work before having a walk to the Tunstall cafe for a much needed bacon & mushroom sandwich with more tea at a cost of £5.70 and they only take cash. I tried to find somewhere else to work but it was the school holidays and everywhere was rammed with screaming kids. I walked back to the Asda carpark, planning on getting some shopping in but I felt rather queasy. Captain Caveman arrived earlier than expected and we drove directly to Chesterfield without stopping at the shops. We arrived empty handed and with me feeling like death at the lovely Becca & Steve’s house. It was like checking in to a hotel and we were really grateful to be staying in their new house for a couple of nights. Becca was like the hostess with mostest and had made us a lasagne. Steve was up and down to make sure we were all happy and had a glass of something, plus the right nibbles! It was so thoughtful of them and we absolutely loved the meal and our evening together. I wasn’t going to ever drink again, red wine was definitely off the cards after last night, but I had a couple of white wines to be sociable. We ended up having a right laugh and watching game shows which Captain Caveman fell asleep during.
Gratitude List 1. Asda being my temporary office 2. Chesterfield check-in 3. Spending time with Becca and Steve.
We had planned some excitement on Wednesday 16th April, as we were off in to London to meet friends after work. Captain Caveman and I both worked all day with various meetings and calls. We had a late lunch of Tesco pizza which were surprisingly good. I finished at 4pm and headed off on my own to meet Clare & Claire at the New Moon pub. Both Captain Caveman and Clare had given me directions meaning I couldn’t fail to find the pub. Of course, I couldn’t find exit 4 and came out of the wrong exit but I did find the pub. It turned out I had been there before, years ago, and it’s quite an impressive place right next to Leadenhall Market. It does allow dogs, I didn’t see any but the house wine was good and only £6.80 for a good measure. Probably the cheapest I’d bought in London. Clare was the next to arrive as she worked not too far away and we had hugs and more wine. A couple of rather large house wines were £19.00 which I didn’t think bad for London. We chatted and waited for Claire to arrive as she had been on a work call until 5pm but arrived soon after that. Again more hugs, Claire was running a marathon soon and not drinking alcohol. That didn’t stop Clare and I as we had another wine. Captain Caveman was last to join us as he’d been working and he also had to be alert for work tomorrow so had a pint of beer. The round of 2 large wines and a beer came to £26.90 so not as expensive as the pubs in Barnes. We had a good laugh and Claire had reviewed my book to say she wished it had been longer and was eagerly awaiting the next one.
Claire had to get back home so she said her farewells and the remaining 3 of us were getting peckish and I was a bit tiddly. At Pizza Express we ordered dough ball starters, pizzas each and a bottle of red wine. The waiter probably thought we were strange as Clare and I took a selfie of us with the book (an original copy). I signed it for her and we ate like kings, Captain Caveman even had a dessert which is unusual.
After saying our farewells it was Captain Caveman’s job to get me back home. He knew the way but we had to stop for a toilet and to get some water to drink. We had enjoyed ourselves so much and it had been great to see the girls but I was already thinking I may have had a bit too much wine!!
Here’s a summary of what I spent on one night in London – it’s a good job it was a rare occasion.
New Moon Round 1, just my wine £6.80 Round 2, 2 large wines £19.00 Round 3, 2 large wines and a pint of beer £26.90
Pizza Express £84
Train £10.50
Sainsbury’s Water, crisps and a sandwich £3.60
Total spent £150.80
Gratitude List 1. Seeing Clare 2. Seeing Claire 3. Having pizza twice in one day.
Saturday 12th April was full of surprises and so much laughter. Captain Caveman brought me tea and toast for breakfast in bed then I did a little bit of work. There was a promotion on the Mitsis hotels with Classic Collection which I’d previously attended a training session on so I got busy with that. I’ve often been in countries with a Mitsis but not had the good fortune to stay in one, they looked great and the food choices looked fab. Uncle Paul arrived as he was having a brief visit for a birthday celebration and Captain Caveman was so excited that he had brought fresh eggs from home. Captain Caveman suggested we get the train in to London and we were just wondering what we might do there when I spotted a Facebook status update of a good friend. Becca and Steve were in the rooftop swimming pool of their rather swish hotel near Battersea Power Station. Captain Caveman had worked out we could be there with them within the hour (37 minutes to be precise) so I messaged Becca. Of course, she invited us over and to bring our swimmers. I hadn’t brought any back from Turkey and it wasn’t that warm so we decided to meet up in that area after they had eaten lunch. I wanted to go to the Barnes Farmers market this morning to see if we could get some nice food for tomorrow. We bought a ham hock, black pudding, a sausage roll and a piece of cooked belly pork with crackling, for around £10-£15. The vegetables looked fantastic but were so expensive at £6.50 for a cauliflower (we didn’t buy it). We also resisted all the lovely cakes, cheeses and chocolate which looked amazing, too. I thought we were going back home to eat our sausage roll and belly pork but Captain Caveman had other ideas and wanted us to walk down the street with it to get the train. I had a bite of the sausage roll and realised it might be prudent to avoid so that I didn’t get a poorly tum. Instead, I was trying to break off bits of pork from the crispy crackling in the brown paper bag without being wrist deep in grease! By the time I got on the train we’d managed to eat our very unhealthy lunch and I needed hosing down. I then had to walk past Battersea dog shelter and not go in, which was hard.
Becca and Steve were with her brother, Leon, too so we headed through the amazing shopping precinct at Battersea Power Station. Captain Caveman found them straight away and the 5 of us had hugs all round. I got something in my eye as I’d not seen Becca for some time and there was so much to catch up on. She was in the process of waiting for a kidney transplant and I learned so much in our short walk. The process for not only going through the ordeal of getting a new kidney, but getting people to be tested has its obstacles. It’s not just as simple as shouting out to all and sundry to please give me your kidney – there are rules in place to prevent coercion in to doing that. A couple of her friends had put ourselves up for getting tested but I was not aware of the process particularly. I just knew that it would be good to know if there was even a possibility of helping my friend have a better (longer) life, I couldn’t not at least get the test. We laughed and joked about what is actually such a serious subject but we’ve always been the type of friends who can laugh at anything. As we learned Steve was a match and was going to give a kidney – it was the first time I’d heard of a real life miracle. I’m not good with anything to do with blood so I had to really concentrate on not fainting when Becca got me to put my hand on her dialysis fistula (Google that – it is very interesting). It vibrates and made me feel a bit funny, while Captain Caveman loved it and was now getting in to finding out more. We said our farewells to Leon and decided to take a walk along the river, through the very lovely park. It was a beautiful day and so good to see Becca and Steve.
Of course we had to call for a drink in a couple of pubs where I took no notice of the name of them or how much the rounds cost! I was too busy catching up and enjoying my day off. In one place it was so crowded that we found it difficult to find anywhere to sit. This did not put Captain Caveman off vetting which reserved guests were already 20 minutes late. Sarah at 2pm was still not there so Captain Caveman had turned in to a member of the Punctuality Police and insisted we take the table – we did. It was a brilliant day and I was sad to say goodbye at the end of it. We decided that on our way back up North we would go visit Becca and Steve and they invited us to stay with them, which was lovely.
Back home, Uncle Paul had left a note to say he’d already driven home and wouldn’t be staying after all. Captain Caveman knocked up a sausage casserole for dinner and I fell asleep on the sofa as soon as he put the TV on.
Gratitude List 1. Barnes Farmers market 2. A fantastic and impromptu day with friends in Battersea 3. Knowing that Becca and Steve were a match for the kidney transplant.
Photo credit – Some photos by Captain Caveman and Becca
Both Captain Caveman and I continued to have a busy working day on Friday 4th April. The difference being that I’d got used to working the evenings and weekends so I wasn’t used to logging off at 5pm on a Friday night. Captain Caveman had plans for us and we had also toyed with the idea of catching up with friends in London. I had 2 friends cancel so we decided we would have a night in Barnes rather than heading in to the Big Smoke. My friend and Resort Experts colleague in Majorca, Dagne, had finished my book and sent me a review which I was really pleased with. While Captain Caveman was in his morning meeting, I had my breakfast of beans on wholemeal toast, which I loved! At lunch we both ate at the table together and had sandwiches; mine was cheese and rocket (pickled onions on the side!), his was peanut butter and marmite. We both had meetings or training sessions in the afternoon and I was making progress on my Planner Ideation course.
After work, we walked along the river again and I got a text from one of my old school friends, Joanne, who had bought my book and I was so happy to hear from her. She sent me a fab selfie with the book and it made my day. Captain Caveman took us for a drink in a pub which could have been the White Hart, where he had beer and I had cider for £15. Our next pub was a visit to the really lovely Brown Dog. It was easily my favourite on account of it having several dogs in. I also ended up having a pint of rather strong rhubarb flavoured beer and being a bit tipsy on the walk home. It was £16.50 for 2 pints in there and a bag of crisps were £1.50!! We walked home and, while Captain Caveman made us a chicken pasta dinner, I went back out to the shop to buy bread and wine. It all got a bit complicated at the self scanner when the assistant had to put in a code for me buying alcohol and then didn’t give me the wine back. He had taken the anti-stealing device off but left the wine by the door. I had to check with the Sainsbury’s security guard if it was my wine, he didn’t know, but said to take it. I paid £1.39 for a loaf and £9.50 for the wine. Our dinner was really tasty and we tried to watch Celebrity Big Brother. Unfortunately, even after googling the contestants we only knew a couple of them and thought it was a bit boring.
Gratitude List 1. More great feedback for my book 2. English food 3. Going down the pub on a Friday night.
We had ideas on Saturday 5th April to either go to see a friend presenting at the Ideal Home Exhibition, do a trip to MI5, or spend some time at Richmond park. It was cold and I ended up doing some work, eating beans on toast again and then we didn’t go to any of our ideas. Instead, we decided to visit Marc Bolan’s memorial at the tree where he died in Putney. We decided to have a walk around the area and the sun did come out so it got warmer. We stopped at a cafe in a park for a hot beverage. Loo Loo’s cafe in Putney had homemade sausage rolls which we shared one of, with mint tea for me and a double espresso for Captain Caveman. It came to £10.50 and we sat outside the cafe looking at all the dogs that came in. So many more people in the UK seemed to have dogs than I remembered.
After the park, we walked towards Fulham football ground and, of course, my stomach had started to react badly to the sausage roll. We had to motor on until we found a pub so I could go to the toilet. The Crabtree in Fulham was the busiest pub I’d seen in a long time and there were 3 deep at the bar and queuing in the toilets. I almost shit myself outside a disabled toilet but I managed to make it to the normal toilet. When I got back, Captain Caveman was only just being served and when we found somewhere to sit we realised why it was so busy.
We watched the Grand National where Nick Rocket won and no horses died. We also did some banking while waiting to see if my sausage roll situation was over. It was, so we continued walking along the river and nearly got involved in learning how to argue better. I had a laugh at the Learn to Row poster which I’d pronounced as in arguement, as we didn’t need any help in that area. We saw Hammersmith bridge and then had another drink in the George & Devonshire in Chiswick. Compared to the last pub, it was so quiet but was a lovely pub with comfy seating. We decided to splash out for dinner tonight and get the Indian Dine in deal from Marks & Spencer where we got the following;
M&S Food Starter – Baji, pakora and samosa Chicken Tikka Masala Lamb Rogan Josh Pilau Rice £15 for the Indian meal deal Carton of mixed Crackers £2.90 Brie £2.10 Total spent £20.00
It was a bargain and tasted amazing. I’d not had Indian food for quite a while and I guessed it wouldn’t be my first while in the UK. Captain Caveman drank Guinness with his and I just had tap water. Tonight was our last night in Barnes as we were heading north tomorrow for just a few days.
Gratitude List 1. Having a day off with Captain Caveman 2. Going for a walk around the area 3. Curry for dinner.
Wednesday 2nd April would usually have been weigh day but I was away from Dalyan, and in Barnes. I got weighed on Captain Caveman’s parents’ scales, I weighed 0.7kg (1.5lb) under target and was 1kg (2.2lb) less than last week. I actually didn’t think it would be accurate that I’d lost weight this week but it was good to check. My measurements showed that I had put 1cm on my bust and hips but I had lost 1cm from my waist (all were still under target).
It was a normal working day for both of us, so Captain Caveman went to his parents’ office upstairs and I set up at the desk in Captain Caveman’s old bedroom. We met up for breakfast at 10.30am and had my warmed up pizza from last night. Captain Caveman had lots of meetings while I cracked on with attracting new customers. We had a late lunch where Captain Caveman cooked us a brunch style meal. I had beans on toast with proper butter and 2 pork sausages – it was so good!!! He had egg and tomatoes with his. We both worked the rest of the day, me until 6.30pm. Captain Caveman suggested a walk with a trip to the pub and the supermarket and I was up for that. It was great to see and smell the freshness of Barnes, it was chilly but not raining. There were lots of fancy charity shops, dock leaves in the park and the cinema was finished. I had it on my list to go but at £20 a ticket I decided to leave it. I got a bit of a shock in the Red Lion when I paid for our round of 1 red wine and 1 pint of beer at £18.15. Our next drinks were in the Sun Inn and the same round came to ‘just’ £15.20. On the way home we popped to the shop again to get something for dinner. Here’s what we bought and the prices in pounds;
I was surprised to see that fag shelters had got fancier but the shops didn’t trust us not to steal mince! Captain Caveman knocked up a superb pasta bolognese and we shared a bottle of Primitivo red wine. I fell asleep on the sofa before I’d finished my wine as I was still a bit tired.
Gratitude List 1. A nice desk to work from with views of the garden 2. Going for an after work drink with Captain Caveman. 3. Great food, cooked by Captain Caveman.
Thursday 3rd April was another busy day in our world, we both had a lot on at work so we had arranged to squeeze in a 1 hour lunch date at noon. Cote restaurant was an Ask pizza place the last time I had been in Barnes so it was nice to try out this new place which had a lunch special on. Captain Caveman had a Crab Croque Madame and I had a steak baguette with fries, we both drank tap water and I really enjoyed it. It was quite fancy for a Thursday lunch and we had to rush as we both had meetings and calls from 1pm. The total bill, because of the offer, was only £18.65 for the 2 of us. We discussed plans for the weekend and decided we would travel up to Sheffield, my home town, on Sunday. My afternoon job was to book the bus tickets and find us a hotel to stay in on Sunday night as well as a hotel at Manchester airport for when Captain Caveman flew over to İzmir. I had a bit of time back as my Team Meeting had been postponed. Working for Resort Experts means that we get great prices on hotels so I booked both, including breakfasts, for less than £60 per night. The Flixbus for the 2 of us from Victoria to Meadowhall was a total of £34.98. At 6pm, as agreed, Captain Caveman and I finished work and decided to have a long walk along the River Thames, calling at the Ship Inn. He had a pint of IPA and I had a pint of Aspall’s cider for a total of £13. I was keen to find Pork Scratchings but I had a feeling that Barnes was a bit posh for that kind of snack, and never did. The next pub was the cheapest in the area I’d been in so far. The Hare & Hounds in East Sheen was just £13 for a pint of ale and a large red win. On our way home we called in to Waitrose (it was a sign we were both working now!) and bought provisions;
Waitrose Supermarket Baby potatoes 0.61 1 orange pepper 0.65 Penne pasta 0.75 1 Garlic Baguette 1.25 Wild Rocket 1.49 Pack of pears 2.00 Chicken fillets 3.49 Total spent £10.24
I also bought a folder from a newsagents and it cost a whopping £2.99 but I needed it for the next part of my Planner Ideation course. For dinner, Captain Caveman made a lovely chicken pasta with salad and we finished off the wine from yesterday with it.
Gratitude List 1. A fab lunch date with Captain Caveman 2. An after work walk and a drink along the Thames 3. Great food for dinner.
Where was the time going!? I was finding it hard to believe that it was already Tuesday 1st April and I had so much to do. All with a hangover, too!!!! I still needed to calculate my budget v actual spending at the end of March, I was behind on my blog posts and I hadn’t even checked how many books I had sold in my first full month of trading! All this and we were off to the prison restaurant for a hello/farewell lunch with Jamie and then to the airport for our 2.30pm flight to Gatwick! I’d had a wonderful message from my friend and colleague, Dagne, yesterday but had not had chance to post it on social media. She had finally got her copy of ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ and was on the beach in Majorca, reading my book. The photo was perfect! I wondered if the British humour would still translate well enough. I needn’t have worried as she was already enjoying it and said she felt like she was getting friendly travel advice from a friend over a glass of wine! Amazing, and that is all I could have wished for! Dagne was also the first person to send me a photo where it was the new version of the book! It was also the first one to be bought in Spain! I think this was the 5th country to have someone reading my book in, and that felt good! When I checked how many books I had sold it wasn’t as many as I had hoped for but it averaged at over 1 per day. Apparently, that is good for a self published one with zero marketing budget/adverts. Still, it meant I had earned less than £150 for the month, which I would not get until the end of May. I needed to sell more and I needed a smarter way to do that. I was grateful for everyone who had bought it already and I needed a way to get it out to more people, particularly who would benefit from the travel advice. I think using Amazon puts some people off, and I’m not a massive fan of it either, but it’s the biggest seller of books in the world. If I couldn’t cut it using Amazon as a free platform, then it wasn’t wise to pay for a different platform. I was also surprised at how few ebook/kindle versions I had sold as I thought that was a popular way to read books these days. I would persevere and hope more people would buy it in the coming weeks and months. I’d already started a list of chapter titles for the next one. My next task was to check the money situation; unsurprisingly I had gone over my £300 budget. In March I had spent a grand total of £370 including bills (but not rent or council tax). I was a bit disappointed at going over by 23% but I had splashed out on my hair this month plus some extra treats. April was going to be tough to set a budget for as I was off to the UK for at least a week and we had a holiday in the İzmir area planned. Captain Caveman was also planning to move out of Sheffield as his 3 months renting in a shared place was up and he had decided to rent a house to himself in a more convenient location for work. I didn’t eat any breakfast on account of feeling sickly from too much booze last night. I’d had a whole bottle of red wine and one whisky and I really felt it!!! I was doing all I could to not be sick by the time Jamie picked us up. Unfortunately, the storm last night had blown the adjacent new build’s roof off, some of it was on our balcony and some in the garden. We drove to the prison and we ordered food, I just copied what Captain Caveman had, köfte, hoping he’d eat some of mine anyway. As Jamie was kind enough to drive us to the airport I bought the lunch which only came to 985 lira (£20) for 3 meals and 3 soft drinks – impressive.
We drove to the airport and said our farewells to Jamie, it felt weird that I was going back to the UK after almost 9 months and I wasn’t sure when I would be back exactly. At the airport they let us go through to the lounge with our water and Captain Caveman went off to do a reccy in the Duty Free. It works out cheaper to get the small wines or spirit miniatures at the Duty Free shop, than buying in the bar but I had no plans on drinking or eating anything. On the easyJet plane, I had a whole row to myself, Captain Caveman was sat in front of me with just 2 of them in a row of 3. We took off on time and then Captain Caveman came and sat in my row, taking the window seat and I had the aisle. Luckily, I had brought chocolate Dido bars for a snack but we didn’t bother buying any food or drink on the entire journey. We were due to land about 5pm and Captain Caveman managed to get quite a bit of sleep.
We landed in to Gatwick airport on time on and got the train to Barnes. Captain Caveman and I were staying at his parents while they were away. We were walking in to the house just before 6pm, having cost £15.60 using my Wise card to get from Gatwick. I was really excited as I had a package, it was 3 copies of my book. It was the first time I’d touched or seen a copy of it and I was actually quite happy with it. It was small enough to fit in to a handbag which was a good selling point. I took a couple of photos and then we unpacked.
Captain Caveman suggested we have a walk around Barnes, get some dinner and do some shoping ready for us both being back to work tomorrow. Barnes was really beautiful and it wasn’t as cold as I thought it was going to be. Captain Caveman treated us to dinner at Base Face Pizza which was just amazing. I wasn’t going to be drinking but I ended up with a red wine and a pizza with ham and pineapple on. Captain Caveman had beer and a spicy pizza. He paid the bill so I wasn’t sure of the exact total but it came to about £50 for the 2 of us, including a drink each. Tap water was free and I just couldn’t get enough of it – it’s one of the things I miss when I’m not in England. Our food was so delicious, the waitress was really good and I took half of my pizza home as I was trying to be good. We saw the sunset over the river Thames and it was so nice to be in London together. Our next stop off was at Sainsbury’s where I was gobsmacked at how much chocolate they had. Cadbury’s Cream Eggs were in abundance at 85p each or 5 for £3 but I resisted the urge to buy any chocolate. Here’s what was in our shopping basket (prices in pounds) and doing the self scan, which Captain Caveman was really good at;
I was shocked at the price of tomatoes and bread but pleased with the baked beans and sausages. We didn’t even watch any TV as we were both tired so we had an early night.
Gratitude List 1. Jamie taking us to the airport 2. Being able to go back to the UK with Captain Caveman 3. A night out with pizza in Barnes.
Captain Caveman arrived at his Dalyan apartment at about 1.30am on Monday 31st March. His flight had been delayed by 4.5hours and they had to change on to a different plane. There was a quick welcome kiss but we had more pressing things to attend to. Captain Caveman emptied the case of the frozen and chilled products which had been wrapped in the Metro newspaper. We needed to get the bacon and sausage in the freezer, the cheese and chorizo in the fridge. The rest of the stuff could wait until morning! He had brought so much stuff and the only things he couldn’t get from my list was bouillon and a particular coconut powder. After the coldest wares had been attended to, we ate cheese pasties and finished off the wine before finally going to bed at stupid o’clock! Miraculously, we slept in until about 8.30am!!! Captain Caveman had taken the day off work, as well as tomorrow, but had decided to check if he could log in to do work while in Turkey. Unfortunately, he couldn’t join the morning team meeting but he did have access to files so he would need to get that fixed if he wanted to be able to do work while visiting me. By 10.20am, Captain Caveman had unpacked the rest of the goodies and we had a full kitchen table of them. My old stick blender had broken so I was so excited to get a new one, plus a silicon liner for the air fryer. Captain Caveman had also brought out my freebie copy of a book, from Charlie Day of The Sales Agency. I’d been following her and had helped with some lead generation work. It was about making sales without being aggressively salesy and was right up my street. I couldn’t wait to read it but I wasn’t about to take it back to London with me. Captain Caveman was meant to have brought a couple of copies of my book out for Sezgin and Debbie but he couldn’t get them in time so I had ordered them to come to London. Captain Caveman made himself some breakfast with eggs and I had overnight oats with a cup of tea. It was raining and the wind was getting up a bit so Captain Caveman had resigned himself to the fact that we were going nowhere. For lunch we had homemade soup with cheese pasties and bread. We also marked the occasion with a beer each, mine a gluten free one as normal Efes no longer sits right with me. While Captain Caveman opened boxes from storage and rearranged all his belongings, I attended the next session of Claire Clarke’s Planner Ideation course. This is where I decided I needed a white board, some marker pens and highlighters adding to my office. I had another project on the go and was excited to see where that would lead. Captain Caveman also managed to squeeze in a trip to the barbers. It was my Dad’s birthday and they were enjoying their last day away so we had a video call and said Happy Birthday. Dad seemed to be enjoying himself and was impressed by the dessert selection on offer.
At 5.30pm, despite the grey skies and threatening rain, I suggested to Captain Caveman that we go for a walk. I knew we needed to be at Sezgin and Nur’s house for 6.30pm for the surprise dinner and drinks. Somehow I needed to get the chocolate, rakı and wine round there too so I said I needed to drop something off along the way. I tried to be a bit vague as I shoved it all in a rucksack while Captain Caveman wasn’t looking. Once on the walk, which Captain Caveman decided we were going by the river for but we needed to be heading to Gülpınar, he wanted to carry the bag! I think he could tell something was up as he suggested we go to Heybe for a drink and to say hi to Donny. I knew we were going to be late but I had to make it look casual, so we stopped off. We noticed that Retro bar was close to being reopened for the start of the season and now had a massive statue – it was certainly going to stand out and be a bit different to how it looked before. We carried on walking as I pretended we were just passing near where Debbie & Mike lived and I said we could perhaps stop by and say hello, knowing they were already at Sezgin’s for the surprise party. We ended up getting a bit lost (on purpose) and were late so I had to say we would just say hello to Sezgin and Nur, as we just happened to be passing! Everyone was so glad to see Captain Caveman and I think he realised what was going on but didn’t say anything. Nur had cooked an amazing meal with börek, salad and Baba ghanoush for starters. Then for main we had liver with rice which was delicious – Captain Caveman ate two lots. For dessert we had creme caramel which was delicious too. There was lots of wine for me, I’d taken red, white for Nur, plus the big bottle of rakı for Captain Caveman to share. We had a great night with lots of laughter and music. I think it was about 1am when we finally went home, having danced and drank whisky. Why do I do this on the night before a flight!? It was the last day of the month and I’d been too busy today to see how I’d done against my monthly budget of £300 – I suspected I had gone over, though!
Gratitude List 1. Captain Caveman finally making it to Dalyan for 34 hours! 2. Being brought lots of goodies from the UK 3. A great ‘surprise’ party for Captain Caveman at Sezgin and Nur’s place.
Sunday 30th March was the day that Captain Caveman would be flying from Gatwick to Dalaman just to see me for a couple of days. When we initially booked the flight for £27, we had booked it without hold luggage. Since then, Captain Caveman had added on a case so that he could bring me some items that were cheaper or only available in the UK. He’d started buying the items before we decided that I would also fly back with him on Tuesday. I was up and about early as I was excited for his arrival, even though his flight didn’t leave London until 13:40 UK time. He was due to arrive in to Dalaman at 19:50 and our friend, Debbie, had volunteered to pick him up, taking me with her! The weather wasn’t fit for a Sunday stroll as it was raining and the skies were grey.
I’d arranged to meet my friends at Kefal tea garden at 10.30am as we wanted to discuss arrangements with Sezgin about our surprise BBQ (no longer a BBQ) tomorrow and our trip to İzmir at the end of next month. We were looking to do a cheese and wine trip for a couple of nights and Captain Caveman would fly directly to İzmir to join us. Tomorrow we had decided that Nur would cook a Turkish meal at their home and I just had to get Captain Caveman there as a surprise. Debbie and I agreed I would be at her house for 7.15pm tonight to go to the airport. No one had any breakfast at the tea gardens so I stuck to my 2 hot beverages. It’s still so cheap at the tea gardens, tea is often half the price of a tea elsewhere in Dalyan.
Kefal tea gardens 2 Turkish teas 40.00 lira (81p)
Back home, I ate overnight oats with berries for a late breakfast and decided to ask the AI tool, Chat GPT, about my book. It was hilariously inaccurate and read like it had made it up just from the title. I decided to reply to let ChatGPT know it had got ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ wrong but I didn’t expect an apology. I was impressed with that and decided to use it for marketing purposes in the future.
After doing a bit of work and making cheese pasties for lunch, I popped to the shops. I needed to buy booze to take tomorrow, as well as get some beer for Captain Caveman’s arrival tonight. I already had treats at the ready. Here’s what I bought with the prices in lira;
Yaman Büfe 2 2 Salt & Vinegar crisps 120.00 1 bottle of white wine 229.00 1 bottle of Rakı 1095.00 Total spent 1444.00 lira (£29.41)
About an hour after returning home, Captain Caveman messaged to say they hadn’t took off yet. They should have left at 3.40pm (Turkish time) and I was tracking the flight. It said it had taken off at 3.53pm (Turkish time) but would land earlier than scheduled so all was still good, according to the internet. Unfortunately, Captain Caveman reported back that an engineer was coming to fix something and it looked like it could be delayed an hour or 2. Interestingly, the flight tracker showed it had departed on time and was flying over Serbia as Captain Caveman told me they were all getting off the plane and on to a new one. We cancelled the lift to and from the airport as we didn’t know what time Captain Caveman would depart, if at all, and he was still not on a new plane by the time 3 hours had passed. This meant he would now get compensation but wouldn’t land until after midnight. I was more concerned about all the goodies that might be getting a bit warm in that suitcase! I thought about asking someone else or a taxi to pick him up but as it was Bayram that proved tricky. Captain Caveman said he would just get a taxi at the airport. They finally took off on the new plane just before 8pm, Turkish time, I decided to make more cheese pasties so that he had something to eat when he arrived. At 10pm I sat down with a glass of wine and watched something on Netflix while I waited for Captain Caveman to arrive, which would be around 1am!
Gratitude List 1. Having a Plan B for tomorrow’s cancelled BBQ 2. Slimming World style Cheese pasties 3. Knowing Captain Caveman was finally on his way but could claim £350 compensation for his flight delay.
I watched the sunrise on Saturday 29th March and got a text from a friend from the Berlin 10. Her delivery of ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ had come yesterday and she had sent me a selfie with it. I was really chuffed and hoped Drexy would enjoy reading it. I also got a review from my mate Jamie, in Dalyan, who had only read the first chapter and thought it was hilarious! Unfortunately, Amazon only lets you review purchases once you have spent £40 so anyone who only used it to buy my book was not able to review it. This was a shame as it meant I only had 5 reviews so far. I decided not to go to the market today and cracked on with work, seeing as Captain Caveman would be here on Monday and I was taking Tuesday off. I had overnight oats with berries for breakfast and checked my money situation. I was pleased to find I was doing OK for March, despite having splashed out a bit more this month. I had a break for a sage tea and couldn’t resist a Dido from the fridge, since I had quite a stock of them now. At lunch I had more of the soup with bread and then I popped to the bank and shops, here’s what I bought with prices in lira;
In the afternoon I continued to work as the skies turned very dark with rain forecast. Another couple of friends shared my book posts on Facebook and a friend of Jamie’s sent me her book selfie as she had also started reading it. I was really pleased and sales were starting to take off but it was a hard slog doing it self published, just getting people to know about it. That evening I warmed up a veggie curry with a naan bread and drank red wine, counting down to seeing Captain Caveman, tomorrow night. Tonight the clocks would go forward in the UK, but not in Turkey, making me only 2 hours ahead.
Gratitude List 1. Getting to the end of the month and still having money left 2. Support from friends with my handy travel tips book 3. Looking forward to only being 2 hours ahead of the UK.
I had strawberries with quark and a little bit of honey for breakfast on Friday 28th March and checked my bank while I sipped my tea. Ordinarily, today would be the date of me checking I had the required money in my Turkish account for residency. I didn’t need to as it had already been done and that was lucky as it was a Bayram (holiday). It felt good but I also felt like I needed to put in the amount for April, as I still needed to get my new card. It felt like I could somehow not receive it and need to have put in the amount to show proof still, which was probably silly. Back in the UK, Captain Caveman had been paid and sent me some money to take care of a few bills for the apartment, plus a bit extra so that I wasn’t having to be frugal with the housekeeping. It was a habit now, though, and I couldn’t help be thrifty – I hoped this mentality meant I could start to save for future holidays and trips with Captain Caveman now. I was busy working in the morning and had a break for a sage tea and a Dido chocolate bar, I had loads in the fridge as I’d bought them when on offer! In the news there had been an earthquake in Myanmar which had also been felt in neighbouring countries such as Thailand. With there being a war in Myanmar, it was difficult to know what rescue work was actually happening, which was sad. Debbie popped round and brought me a couple of pairs of size 12 jeans, I think she was sick of seeing me hoisting mine up on the Sunday walks, complaining my trousers were falling down! A lot of my clothes were too big for me and I was starting to look like a bit of a tramp. I was looking forward to getting some new clothes in England. I had cheese on wholemeal toast for lunch and then got back on with work as I had a long awaited event happening at 4pm. I finished work and left home for my hair appointment with the fantastic Emrah Kilis. I’d only been waiting to get my hair cut and coloured since last year. I had meant to use my birthday money to go sooner but I’d not really had any reason to bother. Now that I had Captain Caveman coming over, I’d been advised by one of my friends that it would be a good time to sort my hair out in readiness. I was peckish on the way so I nipped to the shop for a treat and wanted something that wasn’t chocolate. Unfortunately, that didn’t work out and I ended up getting chocolate anyway.
Şevikoğlu Supermarket 1 X 4 Finger Dido 29.90 lira (61p)
I ate my KitKat-like treat after having my dye put on and the assistant brought me a cup of tea. I sent a photo to Captain Caveman asking him to guess where I was. He didn’t answer straight away but when he did, he responded ‘Dentist’.
Emrah and I had a laugh about that and then he got on and did wonders with my hair. It felt so good as I’d not had it done since June. It cost me 1900 lira (£38.70) which I thought was reasonable. In the past I would associate getting my hair done with going out but I’d already decided I wouldn’t be. I wasn’t paying almost £40 to have my hair done for it to then stink of smoke from going to a bar! In the winter time most of the bar owners are much more slack at allowing smokers inside so I had decided I would rather stay at home, eat nice food and drink my own wine. I called at the shops on the way home and here’s what I bought, prices in lira;
On the way out I noticed something on offer and went back in for it;
Migros Supermarket Washing up liquid 59.95 lira (£1.22)
It was a sign I had more disposable income this month as I stocked up on treats for when (if) I got invited round to friend’s houses.
I had a lovely drop of Levissi Gamay red wine, spoke to a couple of friends in other countries and then danced to my favourite songs on YouTube – a lovely drama and smoke free Friday night! I was so excited to get a photo and message from an old Phong Nha friend who had bought my book. Jamie was a friend who we met when I first went to Phong Nha and was even present in at least one of the chapters. Her young daughter had opened the package and been shocked at the curse word so Mommy had to put a 💩 emoji over it – genius! Maybe I needed to adapt my front cover like that for more sensitive audiences!
Gratitude List 1. Having a hairdresser’s appointment with Emrah 2. Knowing my American friend, who had lived in Phong Nha, had bought my book 3. Enjoying my Friday night doing what I wanted.
If you want to buy my handy travel tips book, here is the link:
I took the morning off on Sunday 23rd March. A few of us had decided to go to the beach as it was looking to be a nice day. We walked along the beach, I had to take my jeans off and have a paddle in the sea. It was cold but not freezing and braver people than me would certainly enjoy a swim in it. We walked back and had a cup of tea where we came up with a plan to have a bit of a trip to İzmir. I said I would invite Captain Caveman and he could perhaps fly in to meet us for the weekend. I walked back home from my friends’ house, passing Jamie and Drew’s villa. Edna was outside and was barking to say hello but I didn’t go in. I had my jeans in my hand still and needed to get back to shower off the sand.
I also needed to get ready for the Sunday dinner that I had invited people to. I’d meant to have made the Yorkshire puddings in advance yesterday, so I was already a stage behind. I only just had enough chairs and the table was a bit of a squeeze, having moved the sofas forward. Along with plenty of Yorkshire puddings, I made roast chicken, roast potatoes, carrots, and stuffing. Then I opened a bottle of Levissi Gamay red wine which was still going strong, while I waited for my guests to arrive. Everyone brought something that they had made and we had so much food on the table. We had mücver and börek from my turkish friends, veggies and strawberries plus a trifle from my other friends. I almost forgot to make the gravy so one guest got drafted in to help stir. As soon as I sat on the stool (my only spare chair) it cracked and I nearly went through it. I then had to use the folding step stool which I use to reach the top cupboards. The food was well received and everyone was kind about my cooking. I’m not one for catering for large numbers usually but it turned out fine. We had wine and a good laugh – I really enjoyed it
Gratitude List 1. Going to Iztuzu Beach 2. Yorkshire puddings being a success 3. Sunday dinner with friends
By 7am on Wednesday 19th March, I was having snuggles on the sofa with Edna after both dogs had eaten breakfast and been outside. The weather had turned and more bad weather warnings came. My measurements showed no change to my bust or hips but I’d lost 2cm from my waist – I was doing really well with being under target on actual centimetres. For some reason, I had managed to be so busy with other stuff that I forgot to do my food diary. I checked my Amazon account as I had been actively selling ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ for the last 10 days and had sold more than 1 per day on average! I was continuing to get 5 Star reviews too, which I was pleased about. This was good news as I was only using my own Facebook page to promote it, so far. I realised that I had not even added any information to the author section of my book page on Amazon, so I did that. I did my Turkish homework last minute and was just about to leave to go to class when the post man came with a special delivery for me. My friend and colleague, Dagne, had sent me a really lovely gift of a purse, some homemade jewellery with shells she had collected from the beach and a lovely postcard. She had already told me that she was desperate to buy my book and I was still working on getting it available in Europe as a paperback – it was already available for Kindle/eBook everywhere. On the way to Turkish class the wind was starting to get up and it felt very cold again. Our Turkish class was good and I wished I had more time to actually practice some of what I learned. At 1pm I rushed back to attend a training Webinar about package holidays. I then had a call with Dagne to thank her for my rather lovely gift, before shovelling down a salad and running off to Fat Club. There, I was obviously disappointed to find that the 300 syns I had consumed this week, had resulted in me putting on a whopping 1.6kg (3.5lb). Because my measurements were so promising, I wasn’t overly bothered about the huge weight gain and was confident I could get it back down to target again.
After finishing work, Edna and I were excited that Nanny Kay was popping over for a natter and some dinner. Nanny Kay decided to drive over as the storm and blustery weather had started – cycling would not have been sensible. We had a good catch up with cups of tea and it’s always lovely to talk to Nanny Kay. She’d been away and catching up with friends so there was lots to get through while Edna got some fuss. We decided to order a takeaway for delivery from Simple. Onur, is the owner and chef of this rather lovely restaurant, located near Migros and Mimi’s, in the corner of the square. I really enjoy Onur’s food and he does some fantastic noodle dishes. We decided to order one each of the beef and the chicken noodles, I asked for it without chillies (as I’m allergic) and it came delivered to the door very swiftly. I thought it was well presented in the boxes and it cost a total of 680 lira (£14.26) for both of us. We both thought it was absolutely delicious and I would definitely recommend it, if you’re in Dalyan.
Gratitude List 1. Not being too concerned about the weight gain this week 2. Gifts from my lovely friend and Resort Experts colleague 3. Nanny Kay and the Simple takeaway.
My Residency Renewal agent, Dale, had told me to be ready for pick up at 7am on Monday 17th March. The appointment was in Fethiye at 9am and he wanted to get there early to meet Gürkan, the translator, who had set up the appointment for me. I got a message at 6.50am that the pick up would be 7.30am and I think we even set off later than that. I had already let the dogs out at Jamie’s and fed them early so Edna knew something was going on. I’d allowed for the fact that we would probably spend time in Fethiye, after the appointment. Gürkan had already paid the application and card fees so we didn’t need to go to the separate office to do that, like last time, and no one had mentioned about the Council Tax needing paying. I still didn’t have the earthquake insurance document either but that was being prepared for later today. I sat outside the GOC office to wait my turn. It was a lot quieter than when I was last there and even seemed to be a bit more organised. I met Gürkan and we handed my documents in. After waiting just a few minutes, I got called in to the office where the lady had already printed off my residency renewal confirmation paper and simply asked me to sign the application form. There were no questions and I was out in less than 30 seconds of sitting down to sign. I had been granted the 2 years residency and I was really pleased. I thanked Gürkan and Dale and we left. My new residency permit (ikamet) would be issued from Ankara in a month’s time when the existing one expired and would probably arrive in the first week of May.
Back at the car, I suggested we go to get a hot drink somewhere and we were thinking of MacDonald’s but it wasn’t open yet – we’d been so efficient. Dale suggested a place he’d been before which was a bit nicer and I was happy to try it. Big Chefs seemed like an appropriate place to go for a bit of a treat to celebrate the successful renewal. Dale ordered a protein shake while I ordered sage tea and a cheese and sucuk toastie for my breakfast. The views were great and the place very clean and relaxing. Here’s the prices, in lira, for our fancy breakfast;
Big Chefs Sage tea 173.00 Protein shake 235.00 Toastie 390.00 Total spent 798.00 (£16.84)
I gave a cash tip and we made our way back to Dalyan as Dale had to get back for another appointment. Upon return, Edna was super excited and tried to insist on opening some wine but I said no. It was far too early in the day for celebrations and I had work to catch up on, but I did invite a few friends out later to mark the occasion.
After sorting out the dogs and cracking on with some work, I let people know I had got my 2 year residency renewal. As per usual, I hadn’t spoken to Captain Caveman, he hadn’t wished me luck for it and he didn’t respond to my update that I was successful as he was probably busy at work. I had a cheese sandwich for lunch and overnight oats as a pudding. Aytaç, the insurance man, called and had my earthquake insurance documents ready for me. It had cost 1,501.14 lira (£31.67) for the year. I nipped out to collect the document and decided to ask him to quote for our contents insurance as he had done such a good job. That evening, I arranged to meet friends at Ren Garden for a drink to celebrate Residency Renewal success and St Patrick’s Day. I had a good evening despite the rather eclectic mix of people. I managed to drink 3 cans of Guinness but then I was getting peckish and I needed dinner. We paid the bill at Ren Garden, my 3 drinks were 600 lira (£12.63) which I was more than happy to splash out on as a treat. One of the friends and I decided to eat at Çağrı restaurant where she just had a lentil soup with bread. I had the soup and a mushroom pide and took half of it home. I paid the bill which came to a total of 530 lira (£11.16) including a tip. When I got home, Norman had already took himself off to bed and was snoring. I’d also got a photo from one of my friends who had bought a copy of my book and it had arrived today. I spent the rest of the evening on the sofa having cuddles with the dogs and feeling relieved about my 2 year residency.
Gratitude List 1. Getting my 2 year residency renewal. 2. Having a bit of a celebration for my renewal and for St Patrick’s Day 3. Soup and pide for dinner.
It was a very busy day on Friday 14th March and I didn’t really know if I was coming or going for most of the day. It started with tea and toast before 7.30am then I got on with sorting out my health insurance which I had decided to go with Aytaç Saraymine for. He had quoted me for a 2 year policy, starting from mid-April for 4,372.50 lira (£92.25) and covered mainly in-patient use. Aytaç used to work in the bank and now has an office within Hey Dalyan, he was very nice and efficient, given that I needed the proof of insurance for my residency appointment. I would be paying 6,125 lira (£129.22) for the residency application and new card fees. A total expected pay out of £230 for a 2 year residency with the essential costs. I was glad I had been frugal in the last couple of months to be able to do this. Then there were the agent fees on top of that, if you didn’t do the application yourself, which varied depending on who you went with and could cost up to £300 so it definitely was a good idea to shop around. The first issue of the day was that Gurkan, in Fethiye, had checked my bank documents and said that the amount deposited in March was short by a few lira. I checked my bank statements, I didn’t think it was but I had an amount of 2,172 lira (£45.82) gone in to my Turkish bank that morning. It would be easier to get the bank statements printed again than challenge this. The next issue was that Aytaç needed me to come to pay and sign for the insurance papers NOW so I had to do that. I got the insurance paper copies, email copies and Aytaç said he would get the official stamped ones sent over for tomorrow morning. I questioned this, with it being a weekend, but he was confident all would be fine. I stopped by Maizie Moo where I had a Coke with Jan & Katrina – it was nice to sit down and rest. I rushed back to Jamie’s to take the dogs for a walk and, as I was walking them, I got a call with my next issue, the Residency application system was down so it was proving tricky to get an appointment for next week. I was asked that I keep my Turkish phone on so that the OTP code could be sent through and they would keep trying, in the meantime I needed to get those bank statements reprinted at the bank, urgently. I parked the dogs at Fire Opal, they were quite happy on the sofa, while I went to the bank. While in the long queue, I got a call from Aytaç who needed Captain Caveman’s Turkish tax number and, of course, I had no idea where I would find it. This was for the renewal of the earthquake (Dask) insurance. I messaged Captain Caveman to ask where it would be and then got served at the bank. Time was cracking on and the bank was about to close so I was pleased when the bank employee started the transaction. He then asked me for my passport, which has never happened, and I didn’t have it. It was at Jamie’s so he promised to stay late after closing and told me to go and get my passport, he wouldn’t take any other ID or a picture of my passport.
I walked quickly back home, found Captain Caveman’s tax card, walked the dogs back to Jamie’s and picked up my passport. As I turned round to leave again, Norman was having what I thought was a funny turn and his back leg wouldn’t work. I got him up off the floor and he looked fine but he couldn’t stand and Edna was licking his eyes. I got the lid off the treat tin and, miraculously, Norman’s legs were back to normal. I waited a few minutes, snaffled down a chicken wrap, then put him on the sofa and left. I almost ran back to the bank and was in there way after 5pm. I was hot and red from rushing so the young girl brought me water and offered me her last Toffifee, which I politely declined. They printed everything out, and updated my Turkish phone number. Aytaç then phoned to say he wouldn’t have my insurance documents ready as it was a Saturday and I was fine with that as it was unlikely I would need them until Monday. I was meant to be meeting friends for a drink at 5pm and had already let them know I was going to be late. I had not had an OTP code on my phone so I had assumed I wouldn’t be getting an appointment date today, but then I got a call to tell me my appointment was for first thing on Monday morning. I said I only had copies of the new insurance policies and we could take them as my originals would arrive too late. I arrived at Ren Garden to meet friends after 5.30pm, a hot sweaty mess but in need of a cold beverage. I love Ren Garden, which is the bar at the Grandma’s Garden hotel. The mother and son who run the place are really nice and always friendly. I ordered a rosé wine with soda and the others had beers. We had a good catch up and a bit of a laugh before Debbie and Mike went home. I tried vegetarian çiğ köfte which The owner and her friend were eating, it was very nice. The remaining three of us decided it would be a good idea to head back to Sezgin and Nur’s house for a bit of tongue and cheese!!! We called at Yaman Büfe for drinks along the way and I took a photo of the rakı which Sezgin recommended for when Captain Caveman arrived. I went to check on the dogs and let them out for a wee. Norman was his usual sprightly self so I was pleased he was ok. When I arrived, Nur was cooking up a bit of tongue for us to eat with Tulum cheese. I had more wine, they had raki and the food was great. We listened to music and had great fun but Nur got upset when we called Captain Caveman and she saw he was in the Broady with 2 gorgeous women! She was jealous on my behalf which was funny and I had to explain he was with Caz and Lucy plus a whole group of men and women who were celebrating Leroy’s birthday. I got home late and wondered if I would get up early enough for a market visit tomorrow.
Gratitude List 1. Being able to afford the Residency Renewal application and all the costs associated with it 2. Having drinks with friends at Ren Garden 3. Hilarity at Sezgin & Nur’s place and a video call to the UK.
The dogs were awake early on Wednesday 12th March, Norman barked at 6.45am to be let out. It was about to be a long day! After cups of tea and dog cuddles I took my measurements – they were not favourable! I had put on 1cm on my bust and waist, 2cm on my hips. Knowing the damage was already done, I decided to make frozen yoghurt bars with peanut butter, chocolate chips and blueberries in. I put it in the freezer then popped to the photographer to get my passport photos done, which cost 350 lira (£7.38) for 4. I called at Fire Opal to test the new fan light fitting worked, and stood on a stool to turn it on – it was whizzy and would be ideal for the summer months. By 10am I had done all my morning jobs and I had a frozen yoghurt bar for breakfast after having done some work and blog writing, while cuddling the dogs who were both keen to put in a shift today. Turkish class was at 11.30am, after which I went back to Jamie’s to let the dogs out and eat cheese on toast for lunch. At 1.30pm I was on a Webinar training session for Melia Hotels which are really popular luxury hotels.
Fat Club was at 2pm where I was delighted to find that I had only put on 0.1kg (0.2lb) so had pretty much stayed the same and remained under target! By 4.15pm, I was on my way, with Norman and Edna, to celebrate a few sales of my ‘You Can’t Shit Yourself on a Bicycle’ book. While drinking a red wine at Mono & More in the sun, one of my great friends sent me a selfie of her with my book and I was so excited. I was even more thrilled to see that she posted on Facebook to say how much she was looking forward to reading it and how proud she was of me. I was emotional. Edna was so excited too but that was because her and Norman had found some scraps of food on the floor. We bumped in to some of Jamie’s friends so Edna was pleased to be out with the girls and hoped it meant they would share food with her. I didn’t stay out as it was getting cooler so I paid for my wine, it had gone up to 145 lira (£3.06) now but was still a good price for the measure. Back at Jamie’s after feeding the dogs, I had a chicken curry with naan bread and rice, followed by strawberries. I worked a little more on letting people know about my book and travel business and then started working on chapter titles for book 2.
Gratitude List 1. Melia hotels training webinar 2. Still being under target weight at Fat Club 3. Homemade chicken curry for dinner.
joloyolo 