Ayak's Turkish Delight

Beki's new bed

2012-01-27T11:47:00.000+02:00

After much faffing around and because of my non-techy brain, I have at last managed to work out how to take a photo with my phone and upload it to my notepad.

OK the photos aren't particularly good quality, but as my camera isn't working, this solution is better than nothing.

My lovely Beki, who is now around 10 years old, suffers with arthritis in her back and hind legs (hmm I know how she feels). As those of us who are inflicted with this condition know, it's much worse in winter when it's cold and damp.

We found yet another vet in Milas last week. This one is definitely a keeper and I wish I had discovered him before Poppy had her op a couple of months ago. This new vet has a surgery which is clean and well stocked, together with a shop that has everything a dog could need. And a bonus is that he speaks good English and is very knowledgeable.

I spent some considerable time last week discussing my dogs with him and he suggested various treatments for Beki. To start with he gave me a 10 day course of tablets which have helped considerably and Beki is no longer yelping quite so much when she tries to jump up.

We allow Beki to sleep on our bed in winter because it's warmer and gives her some comfort. I know there are probably lots of people out there who don't approve of dogs sleeping on beds, but no matter...my dogs are part of our family and Mr A and I will allow them to do anything which makes them happy.

Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly difficult for Beki to jump up on the bed now so we decided we must get her a warm comfy bed. The new vet ordered one for us and it arrived yesterday. It's extremely hardwearing and excellent quality. The vet only charged me 55 lira (less than 20 pounds) which is amazing as in the few places here that I've seen them they have cost far in excess of 100 lira.

Beki loves it...and as you can see from the photo..Poppy has taken rather a shine to it too! In fact every time Beki gets out of the bed, Poppy jumps in. Unfortunately Poppy does have a tendency to leap about a bit, which can be uncomfortable for Beki. Poppy has put on loads of weight since her op and has outgrown her own little bed, so I think I may have to get a new one for her too.

..................

Update on Mr A. We had been waiting since Tuesday to hear about building work. Yesterday afternoon he received a call from Istanbul to start work in a carpet centre there immediately. I could scream...if only he had stayed there on Monday instead of returning home, we could have saved the expense of him having to go again. So he flew to Istanbul last night. Fingers crossed please that this is a real job and not another false hope.

Village People

2012-01-24T20:26:00.000+02:00

I mentioned in my last post that Mr A had travelled up to Istanbul on Sunday to find work. He planned to stay with a friend, albeit that the room provided was cold and damp and no bigger than a cupboard..but he wasn't complaining. He's stayed in far worse over the years.

Before he left he popped into the village shop to get me some cartons of milk. They only had one but the shopkeeper knew Mr A was heading off to Istanbul, so he offered to get some more for me on Monday, to save me having to go into Milas. I went down to the shop on Monday afternoon and sure enough my milk was waiting for me. The man kindly offered to get me anything heavy that I needed from Milas while Mr A was away, to save me the trouble.

It got me thinking about the people in this village. They do tend to be a bit nosy. They always ask where you're going or where you've been if they happen to meet you on the lanes. But they really are very helpful and genuinely care about my welfare. They will share fruit from their gardens, meals they have cooked. The woman next door often gives me one or two eggs that her hens have laid. I reciprocate of course by sharing my homemade cakes, shortbread and lemon curd, and bring them sweets and biscuits back from England on my trips.

When I went over to Aydin to visit Gwen last week, I needed to get from the village to the main road to pick up the bus, but instead of having to catch the village dolmuş, one of Mr A's friends from the teahouse gave me a lift in his car to the end of the village and waited to flag down the bus. He and Mr A also collected me from the same place when I returned home.

Mehmet, who lives at the top of the hill behind our house always looks out for my post in the village when it arrives every week from Milas, and brings it up to the house for me. He also proved to be very helpful when Mr A was rebuilding the garden wall, often spending hours helping him to shift heavy rocks and sand.

I won't forget how kind my neighbour Şevke was when I was in England for the birth of my second grandson. Mr A was looking after the dogs, but he was also working and didn't have time to cook food for them, so Şevke kindly boiled up several lots of chicken livers and pasta for them. She's afraid of dogs so if her granddaughter was around she would come into the garden to feed them. If not, our friend Mehmet would do it, and he also took responsibility for making sure they had fresh water. He loves our dogs and always stops to talk to them through the gate when he's passing.

Mr A spent all of yesterday walking the streets of Istanbul looking for work. Nothing. While he was there he received a call about the possibility of another job in Kusadasi to start around 15th February. It's another case of just " wait and see". Mr A flew back home late last night and went out at 9.00am this morning, with a friend, to see about some building work going on in and around Bodrum. He arrived home at 7.30pm...totally drenched...because the rain today has been relentless. He will know within the next week if there's work for him on a building site between here and Bodrum.

In the meantime, here are a few pics of some of our lovely village people:

Neighbours

Our friend Mehmet

Bread in the shape of the star and crescent from the Turkish flag, made by one of the women from the village

One of Mr A's elderly friends in the teahouse

Nothing is ever straightforward!

2012-01-22T04:47:00.000+02:00

It's been an interesting few days. I set off to stay with my friend Gwen in Aydin on Wednesday. The bus journey should take just over two hours. Unfortunately mine took a fair bit longer. The road going through Bafa Lake is being widened and there is one stretch where only single file traffic can pass. As a result the bus, along with lots of traffic came to a halt, and we were stuck there for nearly two hours.

One of the reasons for going this week was to keep Gwen company as her husband Suleyman had been planning to go to Bodrum on Wednesday, then from there up to Istanbul for a couple of days. Suleyman went down with a nasty cold in Bodrum, so decided to delay his trip to Istanbul and return home to Aydin. He passes the road to our village on his way to Aydin, and he takes a different route which avoids Bafa, so he could have collected me. He phoned Gwen to suggest this, but it was too late because at this time I was already stuck on the bus. So he set off much later than I did, but arrived before me!

After being dosed up with cold remedies, Suleyman was feeling much better by Thursday and decided to go to Istanbul in the evening. Gwen and I spent the day browsing the shops, and catching up with all our news. We are a couple of chatterboxes, and I think Suleyman was quite please to get away on Thursday evening!

Now I'm back at home, and should be feeling relaxed..but not quite. Mr A was due to start the job in Denizli on 7th February. The past couple of weeks has seen us shopping for new clothes and shoes for him as his wardrobe had become quite depleted. Yesterday he had a call from the Denizli carpet centre to say that his job has fallen through...apparently they do not have as many group bookings for February as they had anticipated, so don't need so many staff.

Mr A is sick to death of sitting around waiting for something to happen, so today he is travelling up to Istanbul, staying with a friend, and endeavouring to find a job.

Oh...and it's raining again...the house is leaking once more.... and I am coming down with Suleyman's cold.

Roll on summer!

I need a break...

2012-01-18T08:09:00.000+02:00

...from the monotony of winter in this village.

I have just typed out a fairly long post and managed to delete it. I have no idea how I did that but I'm not in the mood to re-do it.

It's really cold today. I woke up to -3 degrees and I'm reluctant to get out of my bed. But I must because I need to escape this village for a while.

I'm heading off to Aydin today to stay with my friend Gwen for a few days. Her husband has to go to Istanbul, so we thought we would have some female time...chatting, shopping, and just generally relaxing.

See you soon!

Just a flying visit....

2012-01-15T02:47:00.000+02:00

....thank goodness. FIL is only staying for one night. He'll be gone in the morning.

Mr A phoned me from down on the land, where he spent the day helping his father.   He sounded anxious. He knows I'm not happy about the way his father spoke to me the last time he was here. He was very nasty. Of course Mr A didn't witness it because FIL only does it when Mr A isn't around.

I don't want Mr A to feel uncomfortable, or stuck in the middle, so I told him that I had prepared food. I had made soup, börek, salad,cake and shortbread, and had left it all on the kitchen table, but that I was going to bed. I said he could tell his father I wasn't well. It's not actually a lie. Winter plays havoc with my arthritis and osteoporosis, and I do get some relief by getting into bed with the electric blanket on. "But you will come and say hello to him won't you? asked Mr A.    I said I would think about it.

I made up the second bed in the spare room. As I mentioned recently, Mr A has been sleeping in there with the soba burning. He loves the intense heat..but I can't stand it, so I've been sleeping in our bedroom. So he and his FIL could share for one night.

Mr A arrived back at the house shortly before FIL and lit the soba.  Mr A told me that when FIL arrived at the house he offered him food. FIL refused. I knew he would. He always does, but it's usually me doing the offering and he appears to take great pleasure in refusing.

I could hear them outside in the garden so I forced myself to go out.   I said "Hello, how are you?". He didn't look at me, but grunted "Fine". There was a pause and he added "How are you?" through gritted teeth. "I'm OK thanks although my arthritis is playing up so I'm keeping warm in bed".
"Everyone has arthritis" replied FIL.   Oh, OK, well there's really no answer to that is there?

Mr A, who at this time was facing me, with his back to FIL, silently mouthed "Thankyou".

I returned to the comfort of my bed.   FIL went to bed at 7.30pm. Mr A was not best pleased. He likes to stay up late with his laptop in the spare room, with the hot soba, on which he brews up endless pots of tea. No chance. FIL settled himself in the warm room and switched off the light.

Mr A finally came to bed in our bedroom, but has kept me awake until now, complaining about how cold it is in here. So he has now moved on to the sofabed in the sitting room, with several blankets and has the aircon heater blowing full blast.

Mr A is fast asleep...so is FIL...so are the dogs, curled up on my bed.   I am the only one wide awake at 2.40am, wondering why FIL decided to turn up unexpectedly without warning. We still have no idea why.

He'll be leaving early in the morning. I won't be getting up to wave him off or wish him a safe journey.

Mr A's adventures...continued

2012-01-14T12:33:00.000+02:00

I haven't mentioned Mr A and his adventures much recently. It's been a quiet winter so far and I've enjoyed the fact that he's been keeping out of mischief and causing me much less stress than usual.

He's worked hard on the garden since October. It has cost quite a lot and he did originally lie to me about where the money came from. He told me his father had sent it. I wasn't too happy about this and frankly I didn't believe it. By the time the work on the walls and fences were underway, he confessed. I knew he would in his own time..he's not a very good liar. He had earned the money himself during his last hamam job. Instead of taking money weekly from the boss, he managed on very little and had the boss hang on to the rest until the job was finished.

I was rather pleased with him as he isn't generally very good with money, but I wasn't happy that he had lied about it. His reason: he reckoned that if he had told me, I would have insisted on using the money for other things. He may be right. I'm more cautious. He was counting on the winter job in Istanbul and didn't worry about spending everything he had earned on the garden before the job started.

The winter job didn't materialise of course. Mr A was so sure it would. I, of course, don't believe anything until it actually happens. So there we were with a beautiful garden, and no money coming in. However, we have managed. We always do. Mr A sold one or two things, including his precious iPhone.

A few weeks ago he was approached by a carpet centre in Denizli (he still has many contacts in the carpet industry) and informed about the possibility of a job with them to start on 1st February. He would then be transferred to their branch in Bodrum on 1st May for the summer season. The salary they mentioned was pretty good and there is a possibility of being able to work for 10 months of the year.

He set off to Denizli on Wednesday...a bus journey of some 5 or 6 hours...had his interview and returned home. He has been offered the job, albeit the starting date is around 7th February, not the 1st, and the salary is actually half of what was originally mentioned. Turkish bosses always do this...just to get you there. Then you are so desperate for work, they know you will accept less.

On Thursday we set off to Milas on the motorbike to do some shopping. On our return, we were stopped by traffic police who were checking the documents of every vehicle entering the village. I can hardly believe what happened. Mr A produced his driving license but was informed that this didn't entitle him to drive a motorbike. It would seem that one has to have a separate driving license for a motorbike.

I can't believe Mr A wasn't aware of this, but due to the shock on his face, he obviously wasn't. I also can't believe that he has not faced this problem before, in all the years he has been driving motorbikes. It's not something that would have crossed my mind, as I understand in the UK for example one can ride a motorbike on a normal driving license.

Anyway...there we were laden with shopping bags, waiting while the policeman filled out various forms, and after telling Mr A that he would have to take his motorbike test as soon as possible...they then took the motorbike away...to Milas.

Mr A asked how he could retrieve the motorbike and was informed that someone (anyone) with a motorbike license could collect it! Mr A asked if they could hang on until he could find someone in the village with a license...and they said no.   So off went one of the police officers with the motorbike, and Mr A then found a friend in the village with a motorbike license who went with Mr A less than an hour later, to Milas to collect the bike. What a waste of time!

Mr A doesn't need the motorbike for the job in Denizli. He had intended to catch the bus there in February and leave the bike at home. So with this in mind yesterday, he sold the bike. All's well that ends well because he managed to buy back his beloved iPhone from the shop where he sold it for the same price (after much haggling). He also desperately needed new clothes for the new job, so these have been purchased, and we are left with sufficient funds to get us through the coming weeks until he gets his first salary.

We will then endeavour to save for a car.

So this morning the sun was shining and we were both feeling quite content.   We were having a lie-in when the phone rang. It was dear father-in-law. We haven't heard much from him lately, other than some weeks ago he informed Mr A that he wouldn't be coming here anymore (yay!!) He'd had enough of the travelling and mother-in-law was no longer enthusiastic about making the long journey. He told Mr A that he could do what he liked with the land in the village, and because Mr A has no interest in it, nor the time to tend it when he's working, he (Mr A) said we might as well sell it. FIL said that was fine.

Of course as most of you know I don't trust FIL as far as I can throw him...so I don't believe a word of it.

Back to the phone call this morning. It would seem that FIL is here...in the village...on the land...NOW! Having travelled overnight from Ankara. He asked Mr A to bring tools from our shed down to him. "So is he coming to the house? Is he staying here?" I asked Mr A. "I have no idea" replied Mr A, who set off with the tools about two hours ago, and I have heard nothing from him since.

Something's going on. FIL is playing games again. I don't know what he's up to, but no doubt we'll find out soon.

Watch this space.

A post devoted to Spam

2012-01-12T20:27:00.000+02:00

...no not THAT Spam. Although the origin of the word spam in relation to unwanted email, blog comments, etc is indirectly linked to the tinned meat.

According to Wiki-answers:

"The history of calling inappropriate postings in great numbers 'Spam' is from a Monty Python skit (yes, it is very silly... see http://www.ironworks.com/comedy/python/spam.htm ) where a couple go into a restaurant, and the wife tries to get something other than Spam. In the background are a bunch of Vikings that sing the praises of Spam. Pretty soon the only thing you can hear in the skit is the word 'Spam'. That same idea would happen to the Internet if large scale inappropriate postings were allowed. You couldn't pick the real postings out from the Spam.
Spam is useless, therefore it is called spam"

That Monty Python sketch is one of my particular favourites.

I get very irritated with Blogger these days because it is becoming increasingly difficult to find solutions to problems such as commenting on other blogs...or even not being able to access certain blogs..as has happened to me today.

However,their Spam filtering system is working perfectly. And isn't that a relief? Today I checked my Spam box and I had 47 comments to delete. A lot of them are just gobbledegook, some are trying to direct me to links selling anything from viagra to handbags. A few are downright pornographic....I'm not easily shocked but I have been pretty disgusted by some of them. Others are in what appears to be Russian. I've lost count of the number of comments containing lengthy paragraph upon paragraph on how to unlock my iPhone...pity I don't have an iPhone or I'm sure I would find the following instructions most useful:

"Systems for Unlock Iphone 4 you have g Anyone who has an apple iphone really should are generally shown for your needs and they also have to have unlock iPhone 4 gr ideas, commonly in connection with amazing software which is certainly all at once safe.Nevertheless, it may be very annoying as a way to open ones own my partner and i cell phone if you refuse to find very good brand-new iphone removing the fastener on utility.Web site in commercials everywhere you look, still, minus selected realizing in the market, truly stuck, consequently several options many massive revenue on the subject of next to nothing"

........clear as mud isn't it? And what's this all about:

"There are some attention-grabbing deadlines on this article however I don’t know if I see all of them center to heart. There’s some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Added to FeedBurner as properly"

So to all you Anonymous Spammers out there: Rest assured that Blogger are doing their job. Make the most of the spam I've quoted in this post, but don't get too excited because none of them will ever appear in my Comments box. They are mostly irritating...but sometimes they make me laugh.

It's good to share

2012-01-12T15:32:00.003+02:00

I'm very pleased to have received this award from Kelloggsville because she thought that my blog, amongst others, was a good read. Thankyou very much Kelloggsville..it's much appreciated.

This award is being passed around the blogosphere so that we can discover other blogs that we may not have noticed before..in particular .those that have less than 200 followers. I have to choose 5 blogs to receive this award and the following are just a few of the many blogs that I enjoy.

Those receiving the award should feel no obligation to pass it on, but please post the award on your sidebar. Should you wish to give this award to 5 of your favourite blogs, then please do a post, linking back to the person who gave it to you, and inform the people whose blogs you have chosen.

My choice of 5 are all very different types of blogs...have a look and you may find something to your taste. It's a great idea to share links from time to time, and I hope it increases your readership.

A Seasonal Cook in Turkey

A Year Down the Line (Well 4 years now)

Costa Rica Calling

Moving On

Perpetually in Transit

PS. Blogger's messing me about again and I am having trouble either accessing or leaving comments (or both) on the above blogs, with the exception of one. So I'm hoping those who were chosen will pop by and collect their award....sorry!

A brilliant new book

2012-01-09T19:58:00.000+02:00

I have just finished reading the first book by author Jack Scott, one of my blogging friends. I've been following Jack's blog perkingthepansies for some time now, and it's one I look forward to every day. It's a very popular blog and Jack now has thousands of followers from all over the world.

He writes so well, that it was inevitable a book would follow, and with much encouragement from his followers Perking the Pansies, the book, was published before Christmas, and is proving a success already.

I kind of expected the book to be much like the blog. In a way it is, but it is so much more. It's funny of course, but it is incredibly moving too. On reaching the last page, it leaves you wanting more, and I have it on good authority from Jack that he is indeed thinking about the next installment. I can't wait.

You can read more about the book here http://www.jackscott.info/

Well done Jack. Here's to your continued success.

Surviving winter weather

2012-01-07T06:46:00.000+02:00

The weather here for the last two days has been atrocious. Gale force winds, storms, torrential rain.

It's pretty much typical for January, but being stuck at the top of the hill in this remote village makes us feel very isolated.

I'm content to stay in bed to keep warm and dry, but Mr A is like a caged animal. He can't cope with being inside the house for too long.   So most days he will brave the elements and slide down the hill on his motorbike and spend a couple of hours in the village teahouse. Otherwise he will make a mad dash for his beloved shed and cut up wood or drill things...I have no idea what he is drilling but it keeps him occupied.

The dogs are extremely reluctant to set foot outside and Mr A has been forced to carry them out one by one and insist they go to the toilet.

In readiness for the rain this winter, Mr A spent a considerable amount of time sealing up all the leaks in walls and window frames...or so he thought. It hasn't worked. Thank goodness we have lots of towels left over from the hamam business as these are being put to good use, stacked up around the skirting boards and underneath windows to mop up the water.

The wind has been blowing full force in one direction bringing the rain with it, resulting in water pouring in one end of the sitting room. We have had to move the furniture to the other end and take up the rugs. The fitted carpet is now drenched. It's spreading and every couple of hours we move the furniture further away from it.

The bedroom window is leaking and we have towels on the window sill and the floor to soak up the water.   Two of the kitchen windows are also leaking. It's worse than last year. If we hadn't recently had the roof built over the balcony, it would be far worse...we may have had to relocate to Mr A's shed by now.

There is one room that is habitable...the spare bedroom. We have moved the soba (wood burning stove) in there and although this room is prone to damp walls, having the soba lit day and night has helped to prevent this. It's cosy...up to a point...but after a while it's far too hot for me. Mr A like most Turks, loves hot rooms, and so do the dogs.   So the three of them are sleeping in there and I am back in the bedroom listening to the drip, drip, drip of water coming through the window frame.

There will be a lot of work to be done before next winter to make sure that this house is really waterproof, but in the meantime we will just sit it out for now.

As usual, when Spring arrives, and the sun is shining...all this will be a distant memory..

Getting back to normal

2012-01-04T05:56:00.000+02:00

I returned late last night from a week in England, visiting my daughter and grandsons. My flight was due to depart at 11.40am. As my brother had to be at work and also needed to avoid the rush hour traffic on the M4, he dropped me off at Heathrow at 7.20am.   There's nothing worse than hanging around airports when you really just want to get going....made worse by the fact that the flight was then delayed by an hour. This resulted in a mad dash at Istanbul airport to get my connecting flight to Bodrum.

Mr A had hoped to borrow a car to collect me but unfortunately was unable to do so, resulting in squashing me and my luggage on the motorbike. Boy was I glad to get home  and climb into bed with the electric blanket on.

I am usually quite organised with my English shopping list but this time I got it completely wrong. I was overloaded with chewsticks and treats for the dogs, but completely forgot to get filter coffee or chocolate. I can just about do without the chocolate but I'm not sure about the coffee. It will be at least another three months before I can stock up again.

Mr A is waiting to hear about a job to start on 1st February. It's back to selling carpets again which he is happy about. It means he will be away for a while but frankly, after having him under my feet for almost three months, I'll be glad of the break from him!

I've missed reading all your blogs for the past week and once I've waded through the washing and ironing and re-stocked the fridge and food cupboards (Mr A compulsively eats while I'm away!) I'll find some time to catch up.

I also find that if I don't blog for a while, I can't seem to find anything to write about...hence this post which is already making my eyes glaze over. Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

In the meantime I'd like you all to tell me what inspires you to write a blog post. Do you search for topics? Does something just pop into your head giving you a perfect subject for a post? Where do your ideas generally come from?   And do you, like me, occasionally find yourself with a blank mind?

Children

2011-12-22T03:41:00.000+02:00

They give us so much pleasure don't they?

I love the way they interpret a story. A dear friend emailed me this video with her Christmas greetings.

Go on...watch it...I guarantee it will make you smile:

If you are celebrating Christmas, have a wonderful time. Even if you're not, I wish you peace and happiness.

Living in the wrong body

2011-12-20T19:32:00.000+02:00

I recently watched a couple of documentaries about Chaz Bono and his gender reassignment. Some of you may recall that Chaz was born as .Chastity, the daughter of Sonny and Cher. He has spent almost his entire life believing that he was male, and its only in recent years that he felt able to go ahead with the process of becoming who he really is.

It's a fascinating subject, and one I found difficulty in understanding until about 20 odd years ago when I worked in a private psychiatric clinic in England, where one of the psychiatrists specialised in this condition. He was very well known in the UK and often appeared on TV programmes when this subject came up for discussion.

There are genuine cases where people are literally born in the wrong body. There are also cases where people "think" they are the wrong sex, and this may be because of some traumatic event in their lives. Clearly the counselling involved before any consideration is given to a sex change operation has to be absolutely thorough. Certainly this was the case with the psychiatrist I worked with, and this counselling can go on for years before it's established that an operation should go ahead.

I have seen first hand the distress suffered by those who are genuinely living life as the "wrong sex"...and the joy and relief when they finally become the correct gender.

It's also a very distressing time for family and friends, but on most occasions they seem to be supportive. In Chaz's case, because of his famous parents, his life has always been in the spotlight. It has clearly been a very difficult journey for him. One in which he hasn't always had the support of his mother.

He comes across as a charming and sensitive man, very likeable, and it's easy to feel compassion for him. I was certainly moved to tears by the amount of sadness and isolation he must have felt whilst he was growing up. I think he is very brave to have taken part in these programmes, and I am sure they will be of great comfort and reassurance to those people who are going through the same problems.

I've provided some links here, for anyone who is interested in watching the programmes:
The first one is the start of his journey. The second link is an interview with Rosie ODonnell, and the third is how he is living his life today.
http://www.oneclickwatch.com/2011/05/becoming-chaz-2011-watch-online.html

http://www.watchseries-online.eu/2011/05/own-doc-club-becoming-chaz-20110510.html

http://www.watchseries-online.eu/2011/12/being-chaz.html

It's perhaps another one of those taboo subjects that people are reluctant to talk about, or maybe don't understand. But it's life and its important, in my opinion, to recognise that there people everywhere who are living sad, unhappy lives just because they are "different".

Everyone of us deserves to be loved and accepted for what we really are.

Christmas...what does it mean to you?

2011-12-18T09:22:00.000+02:00

It's that time of the year again. Just a week to go. I was about to write about what Christmas means to me, when I recalled that I've done this before, and really my feelings haven't changed since I posted the following on this blog two years ago:

"I've been asking myself this question today.

The conclusion I reached is that my feelings about Christmas have changed a fair bit over the years.

When I was a child my parents didn't have a lot of money but my brothers and I always had a stocking containing chocolate money and a sugar mouse, small games and the obligatory orange. We also had a pillowcase each with a couple of larger toys. I don't think my parents had enough money to go out and pay cash for these toys. I think they were ordered from catalogues and paid for weekly for months after Christmas was over.

Children love Christmas of course. When my children were small I could afford to buy them much more than I had when I was a child. Subsequent generations of children have even more money spent on them. They seem to expect it...take it for granted...that they will get all the latest toys and games.

We now have a world recession, but children will still expect...and probably receive...everything they desire, even if it means parents getting into debt to do it.

Being an agnostic, it's easy for me to ignore Christmas. What I really mean is that I can ignore the meaning of Christmas. Because it is a religious festival after all isn't it? Or is it just about giving and receiving presents, and eating and drinking too much and spending more money than we can afford? Well that's the impression one gets from watching UK TV adverts. For weeks now it's all been about brainwashing viewers into believing that they have to buy an excessive amount of food and gifts.

In the years that I have lived in Turkey I've only spent Christmas in the UK on a couple of occasions when I have been caught up in this commercialised event and it's cost me much more than I can afford.

I'm not a "scrooge".....anyone who knows me will tell you I'm not! I love to give presents...but somehow they are appreciated much more at other times of the year. People have too much of everything at Christmas. Apart from a couple of Christmases here when I have been reluctantly forced into celebrating with groups of ex-pats (not to be recommended), I haven't bothered about it...it's just another day.

When I spent my first Christmas here with Mr Ayak, I thought I would attempt to make it like Christmas in England....but I failed miserably. I couldn't find a turkey so we had lamb. No christmas pudding or mince pies. No christmas tree or decorations. Christmas cards had been posted to me from England but the post was erratic so they didn't arrive until January. And it was strange to see people heading off to work and children going to school. It just didn't work.

For those who believe that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus, it's an important time. There's no reason at all why those who don't believe shouldn't enjoy Christmas as a holiday and a time to get together with family and friends. But I somehow think that the emphasis should be more on enjoying the company of the people around you...and you don't need to get into debt to do that"

Christmas this year, like others before, will be just another day for us. But for those of you celebrating Christmas, I wish you a happy time surrounded by the important people in your life.

The day I'm most looking forward to is the 27th December, when it's all over, and I'll be setting off to England to share some time with those important people in my life.

Winter

2011-12-15T18:35:00.000+02:00

Well it's the middle of December. It's getting dark very early and it's chilly at night, but amazingly the days are still beautiful.

The past few days have seen temperatures as high as 19 or 20 degrees C in this little corner of Turkey. I've been sitting out on the balcony enjoying the sunshine. It's very odd to be wearing summer clothes during the day, changing into warm pjs at night and having to have the electric blanket on in bed.

I'm still enjoying my netbook. However, Mr A had a problem with the laptop yesterday. He took it into Milas and it would seem that something was stuck. I have no idea what exactly, but it was preventing him from using it. The man in the computer shop fixed the problem and it's working fine now, and I know it's a bit selfish of me, but I'm glad I swapped it for the netbook when I did. I somehow think that the laptop is slowly reaching the end of it's life. Mr A isn't too bothered because he doesn't use it as much as I did. He visits Facebook, plays games and watches videos...so he's happy to use it for as long as it lasts.

I had a problem with Blogger today. Nothing new there of course! I wanted to add something to my sidebar but couldn't access the Design/Layout page. An error code appeared and I was linked to Blogger Help, where I discovered hundreds of other bloggers with the same problem. As Blogger didn't seem to be able to produce a solution I didn't even bother to add my complaint to the list.

One of my blogging friends, Nomad, suggested all sorts of things like clearing the cache and cookies (I still don't understand what all that means but did it anyway). And he also mentioned using Google Chrome.

I recall Perpetua, and one or two others mentioning Chrome, but for some reason I couldn't manage to install it on my old laptop. But I've managed to install it on my netbook and it solved the problem. However, I don't really like Chrome....at the moment. It's more a case of my reluctance to change things, and wanting to stick with what I know. So for the time being I'll just use it for blogging and stick with good old regular Google for everything else. Maybe I'll play around with it another day when my brain is functioning a bit better.

My recent bout of depression is gradually lifting, and I'm hoping I'll be feeling a lot better when I set off to England on the 27th.

The unexpected good weather certainly helps to lift my spirits.

Gözleme

2011-12-10T23:07:00.001+02:00

I learned how to make gözleme when I worked in a cafe in Goreme, Cappadocia. It's one of my favourite dishes. In the cafe we had a variety of fillings: cheese and spinach, sucuk (Turkish sausage) grated with egg, a mix of mashed potato and red pepper. In fact you can use your imagination and come up with lots of different ideas. The best cheese to use for gözleme is Lor, which is a curd cheese. It's quite dry so doesn't make the dough too wet.

Gözleme is a kind of Turkish pancake made with yufka dough, made from flour, salt and water, which is very thin and soft. I'm not sure if you can buy it outside of Turkey. I guess the nearest thing to it would be filo pastry...although filo is not as soft as yufka.

The prepared gözleme is cooked on a slightly domed pan (almost like an upside-down wok) over a fire or a gas hob. We have one which is attached to a gas bottle. You can also use a large frying pan.

The sheets of yufka dough are round and you can buy them ready-made here, although lots of Turkish women make their own, particularly in the villages.

When preparing the gözleme you fold the top of the sheet of yufka dough to the middle, and the same with the bottom. You brush beaten egg along the top and bottom straight edges and along the curved edge on the right. You add your filling to the middle then fold the left side of the sheet to the middle, then the right...overlapping so that the beaten egg forms a seal. You then have a rectangular parcel. You heat your pan and grease it with margarine and cook the gözleme, moving it around and turning it over until it's cooked. It only takes about 5 minutes.

As my camera isn't working at the moment I've had to gather some photos from the internet to give you some idea:

Firstly a short video of yufka dough being rolled out:

Adding the filling

Folding the filled yufka

Cooking the gözleme

.....and the result...delicious gözleme

A Brighter Day....

2011-12-10T14:32:00.000+02:00

in more ways than one.

The sun is shining brightly today. The sky is blue and there's not a cloud to be seen. The temperature as I write is 15 degrees...quite respectable for December and certainly pleasant enough to sit out on the balcony. Admittedly it was -1C when I woke up this morning, but as long as the sun is shining it helps to lift my mood.

I'm still enjoying my new Notebook. It's so much easier now I have an English programme. It's made me realise how much I struggled up till now, and how little I knew about the way all this works.

You may have noticed that I've changed my blog layout slightly. New picture at the top which is the view from the hill behind our house. I increased the size of the text which is essential for me...but might be useful for those of you who, like me, can't cope with small print. However, I got a bit carried away with trying to change other bits of the layout and colour...got confused...and gave up. So it will have to stay the way it is for the time being.

We have been without street lights outside our house for months now.  Lights were originally attached to the old wooden telegraph poles throughout the village. Although the one outside our house had not been working for some time. New metal pylons were erected to replace the old wooden poles, which were uprooted, and the lamps went with them.

The new lamps have been fitted to the pylons gradually and finally yesterday the men arrived at the top of the hill.   Mr A was quite excited (it doesn't take much!) about getting a lamp outside our house at last as it is pitch black at night and can be quite dangerous negotiating the bumpy lane.

However, the men informed Mr A that we would not be getting a light outside our house as they were only fixing them to every third pylon. As ours happened to be the second one in sequence...the other two being much further down the hill in either direction.... it meant that we and our immediate neighbours would still be in complete darkness at night.

Our neighbour, Şevke got quite upset and started complaining bitterly to the men, who ignored her (she's a woman, so what did she expect?).   Mr A decided to take the diplomatic route. He asked me to make coffee for the 4 men (yes 4...reminds me of the joke about how many men it takes to change a lightbulb).   I could see what he was doing, so not only did I serve coffee, but cake and biscuits as well.

Mr A joined the men and they chatted happily.

Half an hour later, the men fixed a lamp to the pylon outside our house.

Attempting to keep up with technology.

2011-12-09T08:19:00.000+02:00

Anyone who knows me, recognises that I don't have the brain capacity to absorb the rapid advances in technology.

I'm always quite a few steps behind everyone else. I find it hard to keep up...probably because I don't like change.

My computer/internet knowledge is limited compared to most people. Although I found blogger friend, Fly in the Web, to be a like-minded soul.  She and I have muddled through various techy problems together through trial and error. We once joked about producing a book for computer numpties.

I am almost completely self-taught...not easy on Turkish computers I can tell you. It can take me hours, if not days, to work out how to do a simple task, which would take most people minutes to perform.

My introduction to the world of the internet happened when I worked in a gift shop in Goreme about 7 years ago. The shop was quiet most of the time so I was allowed to mess about with the computer there. And a lot of messing about took place. I made an awful lot of mistakes, and often lost or deleted stuff. Thankfully I had an understanding boss.

When we moved from Cappadocia to Selçuk, we bought a secondhand desktop from an internet cafe that was closing down, and used it until it finally gave up. I replaced this with a Lenovo laptop which lasted for 2 years, which was then replaced by my current laptop...also a Lenovo.   There were plenty of models to choose from, but as I said,I don't like change, so stuck with what I knew.

I like to take my laptop with me on my trips to the UK, and also to wherever Mr A is working during the summer months, but it's so heavy and cumbersome.

Mr A's boss at Torba last summer, was a bit obsessed with gadgets and bought a Toshiba N250 notebook. He then went on to buy a different model and gave the Toshiba to Mr A.   It weighs just 1.8kg and is described as follows:

*Essential netbook computing. Offering up to 8.5 hours battery life, the ultra lightweight NB250 has a stylish gloss black textured design and features a 25.7cm (10.1" TruBrite display. Processing is provided by the latest Intel Atom processors and the NB250 has a near full-size keyboard for ease of use*

Mr A has since offered to swap his netbook for my laptop because he knows I would be better off with something more easily transportable. But I declined...as usual scared of change.

Yesterday, however, I bit the bullet and decided to give it a go. Mr A took it to the computer shop and had the hard drive cleaned and a new programme installed.   Windows 7 in ENGLİSH...yay!   I spent the rest of the day, evening, and until the early hours of this morning, downloading everything that I hoped I would need and generally trying to work out how to use it. At the same time I uninstalled and deleted stuff on the laptop, enabling Mr A to take over.

I love it! I wish I'd changed before when I had the chance. Why on earth do I not have the confidence to tackle something new?

Of course it would seem that many people have moved on to those touch-screen notepads now...the tablet type thingy. And as usual I'm a step behind. It will probably be years before I attempt something like that...by which time of course, technology will have moved on and something different will be in fashion.

Dropping like Flies

2011-12-05T10:19:00.001+02:00

....this expression could apply to several things going on here lately.

Wouldn't you think that after the recent spate of almost all of my electrical appliances dying on me, that there couldn't be anything else left to go wrong?

Yesterday my laptop died.   I've had a feeling that the battery was pretty much useless, but as long as I kept the charger plugged in, it worked fine.

But yesterday it just would not switch on.   The battery light was flashing but that's about all.

I learned something new from Mr A. I expect everyone else but me already knows this, but I didn't realise you could use a laptop without the battery. Mr A removed the battery from his laptop, plugged in his charger and showed me that this was indeed true.   We tried it with mine...still nothing.   He reckoned my laptop had a virus. I thought it had to be either the battery or the charger that was at fault.

We went to a computer shop in Milas where Mr A and the assistant discussed viruses at length. I kept trying to interrupt to suggest they tried my laptop with either a new battery or new charger. But no...they wouldn't listen...Turkish men always think they know best and that women are stupid. The assistant wanted to keep my laptop for the rest of the day and try to establish what the problem was.   Hang on...I've been here before...this is when they completely wipe your hard drive, and at the same time create other problems that previously didn't exist.

So I kind of stamped my feet a bit and insisted they try plugging in a new charger. Well...surprise surprise...it worked. The laptop came to life. Problem solved.   Although the assistant wasn't really prepared to accept immediately that I was right, so he insisted on leaving it plugged in for an hour because he was certain there must be another problem. I'm sure he hoped there was. Not only to prove me wrong and have the last word...but of course he would make more money than the cost of a new charger if he took my laptop to bits.

An hour later...laptop working...new charger purchased....and a slightly smug Ayak leaves the shop.

Talking of flies. Although it's now winter and the flies should have disappeared, there are still lots about. We are having unusually mild weather during the day with temperatures at times reaching 19 or 20 degrees and even though I have screens on all windows and the front door, they still manage to find their way into the house. I'm hoping the drop in temperatures at night...down to -1 yesterday, will gradually kill them off. It doesn't help that Beki has a way of opening the screen door from either side by forcefully pushing her nose against it, and then leaving it open to let the flies in. I'll have to try and train her to shut it behind her.

Finally, and sadly, people in our village are dropping like flies. I think the cold nights have something to do with it. I've mentioned before that we have a lot of elderly people living here, so I guess it's inevitable.   It seems like almost every day there is a call from the mosque to announce another death.   Mr A has attended two funerals in the past four days. I'm sure he will have more to attend before the end of winter.

An unwelcome guest returns

2011-12-03T23:36:00.000+02:00

Ah...I bet you thought that father-in-law had turned up for a surprise visit?

Fortunately not.

Although an equally unwelcome guest is with me at the moment....Depression.

I've talked about my depression and mental health in general in previous posts HERE.

The black cloud of gloom descends without much warning. It brings with it extreme anxiety, paranoia, insomnia, and a great feeling of isolation.

There are triggers of course. I can glance back over the past few weeks now and recognise little incidents that have contributed, but at the time they go unnoticed. As anyone who suffers with this debilitating condition will know, it can be terrifying. For me the worst symptoms are being exhausted but unable to sleep, waking in the middle of the night and bursting into tears. Feeling like every innocent comment from those close to me are a personal attack...and worst still no communication at all which leaves me thinking that my loved ones have deserted me. This is paranoia at it's worst of course. And it's important to keep telling oneself that this is exactly what it is. And that's the first small step towards recovery.

I was awake most of last night and an email from my brother popped into my inbox at around 4.00am. It was 2.00am his time and he was up waiting for a call to collect his daughter from a function, so dropped me a line or two. He made some comment which would normally go straight over my head, but I took it as an attack, and responded badly. He replied saying that he wasn't attacking me...and what was I doing up at this time? Was I depressed again? He understands. He has occasional bouts of depression too. It's hereditary in our case...my father also suffered. So my brother said all the right things. He told me that it was OK to shout and rant at him whenever I felt like it...he doesn't mind because he knows that sometimes it's necessary to have someone you feel safe enough to do this to. He knows he can do the same to me whenever he's down.

It takes an enormous amount of effort to drag oneself out of this bottomless pit. Something I have had to learn how to do for many years. Writing about it here really helps.

It's essential to drag yourself out of bed...and this is really hard at times...get out, and do something for yourself. I forced myself to do this today. I caught the bus into Milas to get my hair cut and coloured. I can't explain how difficult it was to do something so simple...but it worked. It's another small step.

It's important for anyone who has a depressive personality to find someone to offload to. My brother was there just when I needed him. He reminded me that it's only a few weeks until I will be in England to hug my grandsons. My brother will also be getting a huge hug from me too.

Coffee

2011-11-29T08:45:00.001+02:00

I am quite adaptable when it comes to food and drink. There are lots of things I miss from the UK, which I can't get here, but I will just search until I find a substitute.

One thing I cannot find though is decent coffee. The packs of filter coffee here are bitter. I do drink a fair amount of instant coffee. I used to buy Nescafe Gold Blend here. It's a well known brand of course and more expensive than the rest. However, it tastes nothing like Nescafe Gold Blend in the UK. I've tried all the other "gold blend" instants here, and strangely the one I've settled for is the Migros (supermarket) own brand of "gold" which is actually about a third of the price of Nescafe.

But when I say I've settled for it...that's exactly it...I honestly can't say I enjoy it.

On my trips to the UK I usually bring back a supply of filter coffee and had been using my electric filter coffee machine daily until it packed up about a month ago. I used to have a small cafetiere which I hadn't used in a while, but couldn't find it so I've been getting by with Migros instant.

Yesterday we went into Milas to buy a new microwave oven. We found one for 99 lira (about 34 pounds)in Migros, having compared prices eveywhere, and this was the cheapest. (I have decided only to buy cheap electric appliances from now on, because expensive doesn't last any longer).

While we were looking for the microwave we came across a lovely little filter coffee machine for 35 lira (about 12 pounds). It takes up very little space and is very efficient and clean.

It makes one large mug (or two regular coffee cups) of filter coffee in less time than it takes to boil a kettle.

I'm actually very surprised to have found such an appliance in Milas, a traditional Turkish town of tea drinkers. I've never seen a normal sized filter coffee machine here...although there are hundreds of different types of electric tea makers.

The shop assistant looked quite surprised when I picked it up. I think I may well be the first customer to buy one. She took it out of the box to check it and hadn't a clue how it worked. I have a feeling the rest of their stock will stay on the shelves gathering dust for years.

How wonderful it was to get up this morning and drink good coffee. It's the little things in life that make us happy isn't it?

What little things make you happy?

Dicing with Death

2011-11-28T11:38:00.000+02:00

Mr A and I had been discussing all things electrical yesterday.

I received a couple of comments on my last blog post about whether the electrical supply to our house is faulty and whether this had contributed to so many appliances giving up this year.

Mr A and I had come to this conclusion around the same time as your comments arrived so we knew we had to do something about it asap.

New electricity cables have been underway in the village for a few months. Maybe this has something to do with it? Mr A was about to phone the electric company in Milas this morning to arrange for an electrical engineer to come out to check our house.

By coincidence, engineers are working outside our house this morning...attaching cables to the newly planted pylons. As you can see from the photo, they are again working without any safety equipment or harnesses. It makes me feel quite dizzy to watch them. Mr A asked if they would check our house today.

As they are clearly not bothered about dicing with death every day of their working lives, we were happy to let them fiddle about with the electric supply to our house if they could solve the problem. Rather them than us!

So two engineers have now checked thoroughly and according to them there is no problem with the electricity supply to our house, or inside it.

I guess I have to accept what I've been saying for years now...electrical appliances in Turkey are crap!

OK...enough now please!

2011-11-26T15:10:00.000+02:00

It seems like this has been the year for my electric appliances to give up.

Already since this summer, my toasted sandwich maker broke. I had to have a new element fitted to our electric oven. The coffee machine, electric kettle, toaster and iron all died on me.

Today my microwave oven decided it would like to join all its friends in the electrical appliance graveyard.

It appears to be functioning in every respect, other than actually heating anything.

I' ve done a bit of googling and it would seem that the obvious problem is that the magnetron has given up. According to various sites, this is the most important part of the microwave oven that is responsible for heating. It's also about 95% of the cost of the microwave, so it's not worth getting repaired. And we all know of course that microwave oven repairs are not safe for DIY.

So, I guess another trip to the shops is in order.

BUT the mobile phone is still working by the way, albeit that it needs a new battery because it's currently having to be charged every day.

I always believed when these things happened, it ran in "threes" (one of my late mother's old wives tales)...obviously that's a load of rubbish in my case.

Just 32 days...

2011-11-25T17:53:00.000+02:00

...until I see my gorgeous grandsons again.

Playing so nicely together

Have a good weekend everyone.

A pleasant Tuesday...and more about the mobile phone.

2011-11-22T21:29:00.000+02:00

The saga of the new mobile phone continued today. The second replacement phone appeared to be working OK.

Again, I spent a couple of hours setting it all up and making sure it was able to do what I wanted it to.

After all this fiddling about with it, the battery had run low by this morning, so I plugged the charger in...and...nothing. It wouldn't charge. We had a couple of spare chargers and tried those but still it wouldn't charge.

So off we go to Milas once more to the phone shop. The guy in the shop told us that the person who repairs their phones had gone out so we would have to come back later. I suggested he call him on his mobile phone (if he had one that actually worked) and ask him to return to the shop. I was informed that he hadn't taken his phone with him (maybe it wasn't working?).

We sat and waited for about 10 minutes, having been offered tea, as is the norm. Mr A was getting very irritated by then. I was already angry, but what can you do?   There was another customer in the shop about to buy a secondhand phone. Mr A suggested he thoroughly tested it out before parting with his money. This comment prompted the shopkeeper into action. He took my phone and trotted across the road to another shop and asked the man there to take a look to see if he could solve the problem. We followed and waited while he dismantled it, prodded and poked it with various tiny tools, and reassembled it. All of which took a further 45 minutes.   It still wouldn't charge.

By this time the repairman in the other shop had returned so we crossed the road, gave him the phone, and he proceeded to dismantle, prod and poke, reassemble, etc. Not once, but several times. He did manage to get it to charge at one point, but only when the phone was completely dismantled. He seemed rather pleased with himself and I honestly think he believed we would accept this!   Until I firmly informed him that I had no intention of taking the phone apart every time I wanted to recharge it.

By now another half an hour had passed...more tea in the meantime....and I had had enough. I insisted on a refund and it was reluctantly forthcoming.

Coming out of the shop, Mr A suggests we look for a phone in another shop. I was not amused. I said I would rather be without a phone than have to go through this over and over again. I repeated myself twice to make sure he got the message. But he's a man...he doesn't listen...and before I knew it he was inside another phone shop with an identical phone in his hand, asking the price.

As it transpired, after Mr A and I both tested and retested the phone thoroughly, we established that it worked, it charged, it switched on and off with no problems, and it seemed to be in better condition all round.   AND it was 10 lira cheaper than the previous two phones. We bought it, and as I write, it is still working. But call me a cynic if you like, I'm not totally confident that it will continue to do so. Watch this space!

It was market day in Milas and we stocked up with vegetables and fruit. I love the vegetables at this time of year...spinach, brocolli, enormous cabbages, purple carrots and green beans. And mandarin oranges are in abundance and very cheap.

We also needed to get some vests and socks for Mr A. It's getting colder and we realised this morning that he was down to one vest and two and a half pairs of socks. Before returning home, we stopped for delicious cheese and spinach gozleme.

Apart from the hassle with the phone...quite a pleasant day.

A pleasant Monday and another trip to the Dentist

2011-11-21T19:41:00.000+02:00

You may remember that two months ago I found a super dentist in Bodrum who charges "normal" prices in Turkish lira rather than the inflated prices in Euros charged by the posh Bodrum clinics. Instead of being fobbed off by the expensive dentists telling me that my tooth could not be repaired but would have to be expensively crowned, bridged and whatever, my new dentist insisted he could rebuild my tooth. He made a very good job of it too.

However on Friday a bit of the filling came out, leaving the tooth very sensitive so I phoned to make an appointment to see him. As it happened Suleyman had another appointment with the same dentist today, so he and Gwen picked me up on their way from their home in Aydin. Mr A decided to come too.

My dentist has put some kind of fluid onto the tooth to "calm it down" plus a temporary dressing and I will return again on Thursday to have the tooth rebuilt. He explained that there was always a possibility that this might happen the first time it was done because it was so badly damaged. I asked if it was perhaps better to have it extracted, but he insisted that he would make every effort to save the tooth, even if it took several attempts, and that he will not be charging me for any of this additional treatment. He says he is determined to get it to the stage where it will last at least a couple of years. I'm very happy to have found this dentist and wish I had discovered him before. When we were chatting I discovered that he had been in practise in Selçuk before he moved to Bodrum, at the same time that we were living in Selçuk. In fact his surgery was just around the corner from where we lived!   I wish I'd known.   Isn't it a small world?

Suleyman and Mr A spent some time drinking tea and chatting and Gwen and I browsed the shops. We all met up for lunch and then Suleyman dropped us back home.   A pleasant day with good company.

Before we set off today, Mr A popped into Milas to return the "new" (secondhand) mobile phone which wasn't working. He was under instructions to accept no excuses and to insist on a refund. It didn't quite work out that way (now why does that not surprise me?).  Apparently the shopkeeper said he couldn't refund the money as he didn't have any...hmmm. Mr A stood his ground and when it was clear that no money would be forthcoming, he made a very loud fuss and refused to leave the shop. Eventually the man gave Mr A another phone...identical to the previous one. Only this one was brand new, retailing at 370 lira...about 130 pounds).   It must have been some fuss that Mr A made because we only paid 160 lira for the previous phone and the shopkeeper let him have the new one at no extra charge.   Result!

The phone is working perfectly. I have worked out how to make and receive calls and text messages. That's as far as it goes for me. It does, however, do lots of other things. These are the product details:

Compact modern design featuring sophisticated stainless-steel covers, glossy black finish, and rounded edges.
Integrated 2 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom
Music player, FM stereo radio, and video player
Access your email on the go and send messages with attachments
Store music, videos, and photos with up to 2GB microSD card expandable memory.

....but of course all of that goes way over my head. You never know though...maybe in time I'll learn how to use all these extra gadgets.

Now if someone invented a phone that could do something useful like the housework and ironing..I'd be first in the queue to buy one.

Mobile Phones

2011-11-21T04:52:00.000+02:00

I've never really liked them but like the majority of people on this planet, I've become used to my mobile being part of my life.

I can't be doing with anything too sophisticated or clever though. I'm not interested in iPhones or similar contraptions. I don't need my phone to be able to do anything other than allow me to make and receive calls or text messages.

Mr A on the other hand is obsessed with them. The more complicated the better as far as he is concerned. So naturally it was a big decision for him to make recently, to sell his iPhone (it may not have been an iPhone..I don't really know...but it was an all-singing/all-dancing phone) to raise more money to spend on the garden. He is now using a cheap, simple, secondhand mobile, but I'm sure that when he's working again, a newer one will be top of his to-buy list.

I've therefore had a very simple Nokia for the past 7 years that does the trick for me. Last year I dropped it and damaged the screen. Mr A was all for persuading me to upgrade to a cleverer model, but I managed to get a new screen installed and was happy.

Yesterday morning, I discovered that the screen on my phone was blank...nothing at all. I used the house phone to ring the mobile and it was still working, but of course I can't make calls out or send/receive text messages because I can't see anything.

There are plenty of mobile phone shops here to choose from so we set off to Milas yesterday afternoon to look for a new phone. We spent hours in and out of shops, with Mr A trying out and testing numerous phones...complicated ones...whilst I just kept getting sneers from the assistants every time I produced my old Nokia and asked for a similar one.

I stood my ground and eventually found a phone which did pretty much the same as my old phone...albeit that it was a slimmer version. It was new, the price was OK, but it had no box or guarantee with it, so I wasn't too happy about buying it.

We then retraced our steps, visited all the shops again, looking at secondhand phones. By this time, I was getting fed up with Mr A trying out all the super-dooper contraptions and insisting that they were just what I needed.

He produced a secondhand Nokia, which he said was a brilliant phone. The price was good and feeling under pressure and just wanting to get a phone, I gave in and bought it. I inserted my sim card. Tried it. It worked. So we set off for home.

Of course this phone has far too much clever stuff on it which I will never use..but after an hour or so I managed to work out how to phone and text, which will do for me.

However...there is a problem. If I switch it off I can't switch it back on again.   I was pretty annoyed with Mr A for persuading me to buy this bloody contraption, but more annoyed with myself for allowing him to talk me into it. NOTE TO SELF: Do not take Mr A with you when you want to buy anything in future.

At almost 8pm last night, Mr A set off for Milas to take the phone back to the shop. I asked him to just get me a refund.   It was closed, but he spoke to a man in the phone shop next door who said it must be that the battery was dead.   So he bought a new battery.   When he arrived home, he inserted the new battery, put it on charge and guess what? You still can't switch on the bloody phone!

And to top it all...for some unexplained reason...the screen on my old phone has now reappeared. So I'm back to using it and Mr A has been instructed to take the new purchase back to Milas this morning for a refund and not to return until he has my money in his hand.

Norman Wisdom

2011-11-18T11:03:00.000+02:00

I've just watched a documentary "The Unforgettable Norman Wisdom", recently shown on ITV. It brought back memories for me of being taken to the cinema as a small child by my father to see his films. He was my Dad's absolute favourite performer. A brilliantly talented man who died in 2010 at the age of 92. He had a sad and difficult childhood, and overcame many obstacles to become one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th Century.

So I thought I would post up a link to the video HERE in case you haven't seen the programme. It's just 22 minutes long.

I particularly loved the scene towards the end of the video when he received his knighthood from the Queen.

Enjoy.

The most irritating TV ad ever...

2011-11-17T07:18:00.000+02:00

We haven't had a television for nearly two years. We don't miss it. Mr A likes football and when big matches are broadcast he prefers to watch in the men-only teahouses because there's more of an atmosphere.

Any other programmes we want to see we are able to catch-up on our laptops.

I have to admit to being hooked on UK soaps. Eastenders, Corrie and Emmerdale. But what irritates me most about ITV programmes these days are the sponsorship ads.

The advantage in catching-up online is that usually the ads are cut out. However, I tend to use Youtube for the soaps as they are posted up pretty quickly after broadcast. Or I use Expatshield and go directly to ITV iPlayer. Unfortunately in this case, the sponsorship ads still appear.

The sponsorship ad for Emmerdale, produced by an online bingo website, makes me want to scream.

They have used real people...those that use their bingo website. Their ad is trying to tell a story. It's all about real people getting together, doing real things like go-karting, hot air ballooning, messing about on a beach, etc.

The reality of course is that these people don't do REAL things. They sit in front of a screen, in isolation, playing bingo. That's what irritates me...as well as the annoying jingle!

Are there TV ads that irritate you?

Obsession

2011-11-15T02:16:00.000+02:00

I thought Mr A would be pleased to have finished building the fence this week and was pretty sure he would have had enough of sawing, sanding and hammering.

Not so. He has become obsessed with making things out of wood.

Having driven the final nail in the fence on Sunday afternoon, he asked me if I would like a couple of shelves in the kitchen.

I've been asking him to put up shelves since we moved here so of course I said yes.

I now have two deep sturdy shelves built into a recess which now house my microwave oven and pots and pans, freeing up much needed work surface and cupboard space.

I didn't see Mr A at all yesterday until around 9pm. After breakfast he set off for his shed and there he remained all day, sawing, sanding and hammering. He is buıilding a picnic table for the garden. He informs me it's practically finished and the "unveiling" will take place in the morning.

His next plan is to make a shoe cupboard for the balcony...and then he tells me he is going to build a table for the kitchen.

Will this enthusiasm for carpentry ever end, I ask myself? Or will he keep going until he replaces all our furniture? Hmm...we could do with a new wardrobe.....

Distractions

2011-11-13T12:08:00.000+02:00

We all need to be distracted at times from ordinary everyday life and I'm no exception.

Winter can be pretty boring, particularly when you live in an isolated village such as ours. It's easy for me to find myself stuck in the house day after day, and the longer it goes on the more difficult it becomes for me to motivate myself to get out and about.

I forced myself to get on the bus to Bodrum on Friday to see Gwen and Suleyman. They are at the Gumbet hotel for a few weeks, tying up loose ends and having talks with the hotel owners about a contract for the shop next year. The hotel is now closed. No guests, just a few members of staff, cleaning up. It's like a ghost town. So they met me at Bodrum bus station and we set off for Oasis shopping centre. It's one of my favourites..but mostly for window shopping rather than buying as most of the shops are expensive. However, they do have a Marks & Spencer and although the prices are in Turkish lira they are comparable with English prices. I picked up a couple of pairs of leggings, which look nice with long jumpers but also double up as longjohns under jeans when it gets colder.

We had lunch in Gumbet and then I went to buy some bacon and pork sausages from a supplier that Suleyman knows. This was the highlight of my day of course and means I can satisfy my cravings for pork products. This particular supplier also has pork chops, but I'd spent enough so they will have to wait for another visit.

Gwen and Suleyman will be going back to their home in Aydın soon but we've promised to make the effort to see each other during the winter months.

Distractions aren't always helpful. Mr A is still working away at the fences in the garden, but he keeps being distracted by neighbours or men who happen to be passing. Not happy with a 5-minute chat, Mr A sees it as an excuse to down tools, sit and drink tea. Unfortunately this can happen several times a day, and these breaks can last anything up to a couple of hours. Of course I don't begrudge him this time but I'm anxious about things being finished before he sets off to work for the winter. Some of it can wait, but at the moment the garden isn't secure for the dogs. There are still areas from which they can escape. And the forecast is rain today, so it's a mad dash to get things done.

I managed to fiddle with my camera yesterday and we took a few photos of the garden:

Mr A hard at work

The newly levelled and cemented driveway, taken from the entrance

and the driveway looking towards the entrance

Newly erected walls inside the garden and wooden fence.

All of the fences have been made from scratch by Mr A. Measuring, cutting, sanding and erecting. Pretty good aren't they?

I'm really proud of him and what he has achieved. Now if only he can get through today without any distractions he should be able to complete the fencing and the dogs will be safe. by the end of the day.

Budgeting.....

2011-11-11T06:25:00.000+02:00

...Mr A is useless at it. I'm the one in this marriage who has to be careful with money. Winter is particularly difficult, and I pride myself on being able to economise.   I don't waste electricity or water, and I can make a chicken last a whole week with a bit of imagination.

Mr A, on the other hand, plans one day at a time.   If he has money he will spend it. If he doesn't have money he will sell something. We have many disagreements over his attitude towards money. He appears to listen and promises to change his ways, but he has a short memory.

When he has money he will go out and buy the food shopping. I give him a list...which he vaguely sticks to...but he is extravagant..he just can't help himself. He will come home with all kinds of expensive food which means we live like kings for a week...then it's back to homemade soup.

He is still working on the garden. He had enough money to do the balcony roof and rebuild the wall around the garden. This was sufficient for the time being, but because he is still waiting to hear when he can start a winter job in Istanbul, he thought he would make some more improvements to the garden.

He has built another wall to cut off the top of the garden (to replace the wooden fence which was demolished by the tractor delivering sand and cement). But then he decided that all the chicken wire needed to be replaced and that he would build a wooden fence.   To do this properly, he would need to level off part of the uneven driveway with concrete. But not happy with just repairing this, he thought the whole driveway should be cemented.

I know I shouldn't criticise him for his enthusiasm. He has worked flat out for the past month and has made such a good job of it all that word has spread around the village and people are turning up daily to admire his efforts. But I would rather he had made proper plans and budgeted for this work to be done over a longer period of time.

I would post up some photos but my camera isn't working very well.   (I'll give it another go today).

Mr A could take lots of pics with his iPhone of course...except that he sold it last week to pay for wood and the last lot of cement and sand.

Even though I'm not always happy about him going away to work, I can't wait for him to get the call from Istanbul so that he can start work and stop spending money that he can't afford.

Having previewed this post before publishing, I think I must come across as being very ungrateful. I could be married to a typical Turkish man who spends the entire winter in the teahouse. At least Mr A isn't sitting on his backside doing nothing.

Perhaps I need to relax a bit more and stop worrying about things I can't change!

Amazing!

2011-11-08T00:55:00.000+02:00

My brother just sent me this Youtube video of a laser show on the front of a department store in Berlin.

It was made in 2010 so maybe some of you have already seen it.

I can't get my head around how these laser shows work but this video is utterly fascinating:

100 Followers...and my Sunday

2011-11-06T19:58:00.001+02:00

Today I noticed that I now have 100 followers of my blog. I'm amazed that people would want to continue to read something that really started out two and a half years ago as more of a personal journal.

I did keep a written diary in a pile of exercise books when I first moved here in 1998, but unfortunately these were lost during one of our many moves.

A very big thankyou to all my followers. Your loyalty makes me very happy and I always look forward to your comments and words of encouragement.

I've just changed my header photo to this one.....

It's taken from father-in-law's land just outside the village, looking towards the hill where our house is situated.

The little black mis-shapen circle marks our house (I don't know how I managed to mark the photo, but once I had, I couldn't change it or make it neater, so it will have to stay like this!)

Today is the first day of Kurban Bayram which I wrote about a couple of years ago HERE.   So to avoid witnessing the slaughter of sheep, I've remained in the house all day, while Mr A continues the never-ending work on the garden.

Feeling restless, I decided to move the furniture in the bedroom around...AGAIN!   I often move the bed to a different spot but today, for the first time since we moved here almost 3 years ago, I wanted to move the wardrobe to the opposite wall. This meant removing suitcases from the top and emptying the contents, which ended up in the sitting room.

As usual I got stuck...wedged into corners..several times, simply because I don't plan properly. I just go at it like a bull in a china shop. But eventually I managed to get everything moved and the room looks much bigger as I've discarded a fair amount of rubbish. Not to mention huge piles of dust from under the wardrobe. So it's now spotless and spacious and I am content.

The rest of today was taken up with baking pastry.   Two quiches, jam tarts and a chicken pie. And I've peeled some small onions and left to soak in salted water, ready for pickling tomorrow....my second batch since last week. I love pickled onions!

Mr A brought home some sharon fruit yesterday. I've never had them before and I tried one. It was awful. I've been googling sharon fruit and there seem to be different types, one of which is very astringent...clearly the ones I have. I felt like the enamel had been stripped from my teeth.

So I am wondering if anyone has any interesting recipes for these fruit....other than jam? Please let me know.

Who says living in the country is peaceful?

2011-11-05T10:24:00.000+02:00

I'm sitting here trying to browse the internet and I'm suddenly aware that this morning this part of the village seems to be the noisiest place on earth.

I don't just mean the noise from the cows, sheep, chickens and donkeys. I can live with those..in fact I find them quite comforting. It's everything else that's going on at the moment.

The washing machine is chugging away...it's on it's last legs so is getting noisier by the day.

Mr A is at the back of the house removing large rocks from the wall and throwing them down into the garden with a huge thud.

The woman who lives down below our house, who has learning disabilities, is being noisier than ever today. She is always shouting or wailing at the cats or anyone else she takes a dislike to, but today she is excelling herself. When she starts, my dogs bark at her. She shouts louder...they bark louder.

Mr A has just shouted at her to be quiet. She stopped for two minutes and then started up again. Then her husband started shouting at her. He is partially deaf so shouts louder than most people. They are now both shouting at each other...and my neighbour has joined in. Oh...and wait a minute...another neighbour has arrived to find out what all the shouting is about.

I am about to take myself off to the bedroom and plug in my headphones.

I crave peace and quiet.

Fatalism....

2011-11-04T11:52:00.000+02:00

...or putting too much faith in Allah.

How many times have I mentioned the way the Turks put too much faith in Allah? The way the majority drive like lunatics, believing that if they have an accident, it's not down to bad driving...it's all in the hands of Allah. The way they don't worry about everyday problems, because they believe they have no control over their own lives.

This isn't an anti-muslim or anti-religious post. I'm not out to disrespect peoples' faith. But having read the following article in the New York Times today, it just confirms my belief that the people of this country bury their heads in the sand, and prefer not to take some responsibility for their own destinies:

Recipe for Disaster in Turkey’s Quake Zone
By SUSANNE GÜSTEN

Published: November 2, 2011

Sifting through the rubble of the apartment house in which his sister died, along with her husband, her young son and five other members of her husband’s family, in the earthquake in the town of Ercis last week, a young seismologist recalled his futile warnings about the safety of the building.

.“I told them to have it tested” for earthquake safety, Muhlis Unaldi, a Boston University student of seismology, told the Milliyet newspaper, referring to the four-story apartment building the Nalbantoglu family built a few years ago.

“But they did not have it done,” he said.

Now, he added, he could see from the rubble that the wrong kind of iron bars had been used to reinforce the concrete. When a 7.2-magnitude quake struck on Oct. 23, the building folded in on itself, leaving no survivors among those inside it.

More than 600 people were crushed to death in the quake and more than 2,600 injured. It was only the latest of more than 220 strong earthquakes that have rocked Anatolia over the past century, killing some 100,000 and injuring half a million, according to government figures.

Yet, in their lack of concern about building standards in the house they poured their savings into and entrusted their lives to, the Nalbantoglus were no exception in Turkey.

Two out of three buildings in Turkey are illegally constructed without permits or supervision, according to the national chamber of mechanical engineers.

Of the 18 million buildings in the country, 40 percent are not earthquake-safe, the chamber estimates in a comparatively conservative assessment — some experts guess that share to be as high as 70 or even 90 percent.

Greed and incompetence on the part of builders, as well as corruption and a lack of oversight by authorities, are the usual suspects cited in the public debate that breaks out after every quake, only to fizzle out again without noticeable effect after a few weeks.

Yet, even with builders after killer profit and many municipal authorities on the take, the question remains: Why do Turkish homeowners and tenants put up with it?

A survey conducted by the Anar polling institute found in 2005 that, at 56 percent, more than half of Turks deemed their houses unsafe in an earthquake, while 13 percent had doubts about their home’s resilience. Yet, in the same survey, 81 percent admitted they had never done anything about it.

A study conducted by Erzincan University found that 73 percent of respondents in the province did not know whether their current house was safe or not — despite the fact that most of them had experienced at least one of the Erzincan quakes that killed 650 in 1992 and 33,000 in 1939.

So why do millions of Turkish families, like the Nalbantoglus of Ercis, agree to live in slipshod buildings on top of an earthquake fault line, without calling in so much as a safety inspection?

Poverty and inadequate legislation are frequently pointed to, but some experts believe the problem is a cultural one.

“Fatalism is deeply embedded in the culture of Anatolia,” a sociologist, Yusuf Ozkan Ozburun, said in an interview in Istanbul last week.

“It is a feature of local folk Islam, caused by a false understanding of Islam” under which man has no influence on a world controlled by God alone, Mr. Ozburun said.

His analysis is backed up by an international comparison of religious influences on cultural attitudes conducted by the Sabanci University of Istanbul in 2009.

In it, the political scientists Ersin Kalaycioglu and Ali Carkoglu found that only 28 percent of Turks believe they can influence the course of their lives — the lowest percentage of respondents in 30 countries considered in the study. Catholic countries like Poland and the Philippines scored closest to Turkey in the survey, which included no other predominantly Muslim country. In the United States, by contrast, more than 80 percent believe that man forges his own destiny, and in Japan almost 60 percent agree with that view.

The emerging picture of Turkey is one of “a society in which fatalism and a perception that life is shaped mainly by metaphysical forces are widely shared,” the scientists concluded.

.In a similar vein, an Istanbul University survey of 1,100 survivors living in tent cities after the catastrophic 1999 Marmara quake revealed that more than two-thirds saw the quake as an act of God, fate or destiny, rather than as a natural disaster, with more than half convinced that it was an intentional punishment by God.

Consequently, most Turks rely mainly on prayer for protection against earthquakes and other disasters, as the Sabanci University study found.

“This fatalism, deeply rooted in the collective consciousness, leads to the inertia and inaction we see in Turkish society,” Mr. Ozburun said.

An incurious attitude and an unscientific mind-set are also among the national characteristics engendered in Turkish society by its deep-rooted fatalism, he added, pointing out that the Turkish word for “wonder” or “curiosity” carries a negative connotation and citing a slew of fatalist Turkish proverbs.

“It came like this and it will go like this,” is one of those adages of resignation to fate.

“Citizens do worry about earthquake safety, and rightly so, but they dither between fatalism and negligence,” Tugrul Tankut, a professor of civil engineering at Middle Eastern Technical University, told a symposium on “Turkey’s Earthquake Reality” in Ankara last year.

In addition, a tradition of authoritarian relations between citizens and the state had led Turks to rely too much on the state instead of taking initiative for their own safety, he said.

“No one says ‘My roof is leaking, the state must come and fix it,”’ Mr. Tankut said. “But when it comes to earthquake safety, people sit and wait, saying ‘My house is not quake-safe, the state must come and retrofit it.’

“There’s no difference between the two, yet that’s the way people see it, for whatever reasons.”

Nor can lack of funds, sometimes cited as an explanation for widespread acquiescence in shoddy housing, be a viable reason, the professor said, pointing out that earthquake safety measures add no more than 3 to 5 percent to the cost of construction of a house.

“People are always asking me: ‘Professor, when will buildings be earthquake safe?”’ he told the Ankara symposium. “The answer to that is very simple: This problem will be solved as soon as people are prepared to spend as much money on their safety as they spend on pink bathroom tiles.”

As for the building laws and regulations that are once again under public scrutiny and debate after the Van earthquake, many experts do not think tinkering with them will fix the problem.

Most people were unconcerned even with existing regulations, preferring to trust that God would protect them even as they built shoddy housing in unsuitable areas, Mr. Ozburun, the sociologist, said.

Mr. Tankut, the engineer, takes a similar view. “As long as the mentality remains the same, you can change the rules and the system as much as you like,” he told the Ankara symposium. “But in practice nothing will change at all.”

source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/03/world/middleeast/03iht-M03-TURKEY-QUAKE.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2&smid=fb-share

Best of the Web

2011-11-04T03:47:00.002+02:00

I was recently approached by Pocketchange Lifestyle Blog to have my blog mentioned in their Best of the Web feature. You can see it HERE

I'd never come across this blog before and when I had a look, discovered that it was primarily a shopping blog. Not something I would normally look for.

However, it appears to be a useful resource, particularly their TIPS CENTRE which some of you might find interesting.

Anyway, apparently they get more than 3,000 visitors a day to their blog, so I was happy to have the opportunity to possibly increase my readership, and pleased that my blog was considered worth featuring.

Men and decisions

2011-11-02T17:42:00.000+02:00

I'm sure Mr A is no different to most men as far as making decisions is concerned.

We go through a familiar process. He suggests something and asks for my opinion. I disagree and suggest something better. He disagrees. We have words.   He then tells me he will do what he wants. I suggest (not always politely) that it's pointless asking my opinion if he's going to do what he wants anyway. We have more words. He then thinks about what he's going to do and eventually does what I have suggested...only he makes out it was his idea all along.

The unfortunate thing about this process is that it often takes days to resolve and for him to finally make a decision. It's such a waste of time and energy and I am annoyed with myself for not being able to deal with it more efficiently. Any ideas please?

He finished rebuilding the perimeter wall last week. He is now working on a wall to replace the fence that was demolished by the tractor that was delivering the sand. It's looking good.

He also thought it a good idea to replace the chicken wire that sections off the front of the garden with something more permanent. He asked my opinion three days ago. He suggested building another wall. The problem is that we have almost run out of stone and he would have to go up the steep hill at the back of the house to hack out some more. That in itself will be very hard work and time-consuming, not to mention pretty treacherous trying to get it down the hill. I suggested that as we still have a lot of wood that he use that to build a fence. He disagreed.

He then suggested a metal fence. I actually agreed that it would look quite good but I thought it would be too expensive.   Of course he disagreed so I had to prove the point by getting him to ring the metal suppliers to ask prices. It's very cheap...he said. I asked him to measure up the area to be fenced off and I did some calculations. It wasn't cheap at all...it was damned expensive.

All these suggestions/disagreements/having words....has taken three days.

This afternoon he informs me that HE has decided to build a wooden fence.

I give up!

The Versatile Blogger

2011-10-28T06:17:00.000+03:00

I'm very honoured to have been given the Versatile Blogger Award from Jack at Perking the Pansies blog.

Jack's blogs is one of my absolute favourites and if you are one of the few who haven't yet discovered his blog, take a look, you won't be disappointed.

There are conditions to receiving this award. I have to tell you five quirky things about myself and then pass the award on to five more bloggers.

I'm not sure I'd ever be considered quirky but I'll have a go:

1. Over the years I've tried every colour of the rainbow on my hair. My natural colour I think is boring mousy..difficult to remember because it hasn't been natural since my teens. When I was around 17 years old I tried to go dark after having bleached my hair and it turned green. I actually quite liked it!

2. I was a bit of a groupie in my teens. Not in a bad way... I never slept around..but my friends and I followed a lot of the groups around to local venues, mostly before they were famous. Groups like the Stones when they were the Rolling Stones, The Animals, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames (you'd have to be of a certain age to remember these). I once went ten pin bowling with a crowd of people including one of the Stones.

3. I own up to loving dogs more than people. I'm not sure if that's quirky or even normal...but dogs are often much nicer than people.

4. I went to a grammar school at 11 years old, and I hated it. Mostly because my parents couldn't afford the uniform and equipment so I always had secondhand. My Dad retrieved my hockey stick from a dustbin. It was splintered and had no grip so he cut up a bicycle tyre inner tube and used that....very resourceful of course but every time I used it my hands went black.

5. And following on from No. 4, I should have had a regulation black swimsuit for school but my Mum produced an old one of hers. It was far too big. It had bones in the chest part (and I was flat-chested at the time) and these ended up almost on my shoulders. But the worst part was the white piping down the front which had to be disguised...which Mum did with black marker pen. Naturally when I entered the water the black ink came off and floated on top of the water. I actually have loads of these grammar school nightmare stories...if I didn't have a sense of humour now, I could have been psychologically scarred for life.

And here are my five nominations for this award:

Nuts in May

Perpetually in Transit

Costa Rica Calling *

French Leave *

auntiegwensdiary

* These two blogs are by the same person...Flyintheweb, but they both deserve the award. However Fly, I don't expect you to complete the task twice! Unless you want to of course.

Oops!

2011-10-27T11:25:00.000+03:00

The wall around the front of the garden is now finished. It looks really good. The garden behind it is an absolute mess but it will be sorted over the coming days...hopefully.

Mr A has the dry-stone wall bug now and has decided to replace the chickenwire inside the garden with a wall. We had put up the chickenwire to keep the dogs off part of the garden. He has enough cement and stones to do the job. He demolished part of a neighbours house which gave him more stones to use. Oh don't worry...the neighbours weren't inhabiting it...it's been unused for years, crumbling slowly and frankly a bit dangerous so he has done them a favour. They were delighted to have the job done for them at no expense...however Mr A being the big softy actually gave them 20 lira and said thankyou for the stones!

We needed another tractor load of sand to go with the cement so Mr A arranged for this to be delivered yesterday. Unfortunately it was dark when it arrived. I remained in the house with the dogs and listened. There was an awful lot of scraping and crunching and similar noises going on outside...and a considerable amount of shouting between Mr A and the tractor driver. I didn't dare look. I waited until the tractor had left.

The tractor had managed to uproot half of the large fig tree, knocked off branches from the smaller fig tree, crush the chickenwire fence, and totally demolish the wooden fence and gate that Mr A had built last year to cut off another part of the garden.

And so the amount of work still to be done increases by the day.

Turkey's Earthquake: Social Media to the Rescue (an article by Pelin Turgut)

2011-10-24T20:00:00.000+03:00

I wanted to share with you a brilliant article about responses to the Van earthquake.

It is written by TIME's Turkey correspondent Pelin Turgut. (Pelin is the daughter of my blogging friend Claudia at A Seasonal Cook in Turkey

.........................................................

Turkey's Earthquake: Social Media to the Rescue

"The last devastating earthquake Turkey experienced was in 1999, back when it was still largely an analogue world, email was in its infancy and Mark Zuckerberg was just another high school dreamer. As a reporter I had to lug a satellite phone around to dictate bleak daily missives from disaster-stricken western Turkey (20,000 people had died, entire avenues were wiped out) because there was no other means of communication. Official relief took days to arrive. And when it did, it was often inadequate and poorly planned.

Contrast that to yesterday's disaster. Hours after a 7.2 earthquake struck Van, in eastern Turkey, technologies whirred into motion that would have been unimaginable back then. Google has already reconfigured the person-finding tool it used in Haiti and Chile, allowing people to both request and post information about the safety of loved ones missing in the rubble. (Their system is currently tracking some 2,000 records.) Hashtags like #van, #deprem (earthquake in Turkish) trended instantly, and are being tweeted hundreds of times per second as people share information on how to help and what to donate. Groups like the Red Crescent (the Turkish equivalent of the Red Cross) and AKUT, a search-and-rescue organization have enabled one-click SMS donation services. On Facebook, users share updated information on aid requests – winter clothing, insulin, diapers — as filed by people on the ground in Van and have started pages listing bus and freight companies that are delivering aid packages free of charge.

The sheer number of people with their eyes on the wire creates pressure on companies to respond –and quickly. ‘Van needs drinking water. Still waiting for a water company to step up!' read one tweet on the #van page. Shortly afterwards three water firms announced pledges of shipments to the region. Under similar pressure, several airlines have lowered fares to Van while a heater company said it was sending 1,000 electric heaters to the region.

Then there are the homegrown initiatives. Ahmet Tezcan, a Turkish reporter with close to 16,000 followers, posted a tweet offering his spare flat to a family in need and suggesting others do the same. Within hours, 20,000 people had emailed the ‘My house is your house' (#EvimEvindirVan) campaign, offering their homes or spare rooms. The campaign's success has been such that the Istanbul governor's office has taken charge. There is now a 24-hour hotline where people can apply to stay or host.

Social media is not, of course, a substitute for the long-term and difficult work that undoubtedly lies ahead in Van where thousands are now homeless and winter is fast encroaching. One telling tweet asked for Kurdish-speaking volunteer psychologists (the region is largely Kurdish) to get in touch. Nor should it make us complacent as to the impact of our efforts. But as a reminder of what human kindness can achieve, it too has its place."

http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2011/10/24/turkeys-earthquake-social-media-to-the-rescue/

Earthquake in Turkey today

2011-10-24T00:16:00.001+03:00

Today we have news of a major earthquake in Van in the east of Turkey. The latest news reports up to 1000 fatalities.

My heart goes out to the people of Van tonight. This is such a tragedy. The worst earthquake here for a decade.

Some of my blogging friends in Turkey have already posted about this, but Karen at Being Koy has repeated some information she first circulated in 2006 about being prepared for earthquakes. It's great advice...please read if you live in a country such as ours which is always at risk from earthquakes.

Here's the link: Earthquake Preparedness Guide

Turkish Animal Group ...Fundraising

2011-10-21T07:01:00.000+03:00

T.A.G. are currently trying to complete the new shelter for the dogs that have been rescued from the streets of Turkey.

Time is running out and more money needs to be raised.

An online auction is being held and bidding is underway.

There are lots of lovely items which have been donated, so please have a look and join in the bidding if you can.

Here's the link https://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Online-Fundraiser-for-TAGs-Dog-Shelter-Build-Urgent-Ends-Oct-31st/180173178728200?sk=info

As my regular followers will recall, I have posted before about the wonderful work being done by Karen Lowrie Wren for almost 10 years. She has worked tirelessly to rescue street dogs, provided veterinary treatment and shelter, and many have gone on to new forever homes here and abroad.

You can find out more about T.A.G. by visiting their website. Maybe you or someone you know may want to adopt one of the dogs. There is also a sponsorship scheme for those unable to adopt but who want to help. Donations of course are always welcome.

http://www.turkishanimalgroup.co.uk/

And a personal thankyou from me to Karen for all your hard work xxx

Books worth reading

2011-10-20T19:00:00.000+03:00

I recently received an email from Julia Terentyeva at The Browser drawing my attention to an interview with Norman Stone, the British academic and author who lives in Ankara.

The interview is very good, and so are his choice of five books...which I have already added to my "to read" list.

So I decided to share the link with my followers, who may also find this of interest.

A day off

2011-10-17T09:03:00.000+03:00

Mr A has been working flat out for nine days knocking down and rebuilding the stone wall that surrounds our garden. It's back-breaking work, made more difficult because the rain had knocked down some of the wall, taking parts of the garden with it.

The rain hasn't really stopped him. He has found other little jobs to do in the house when it's tipping down, and he's also been fighting against time and the weather to re-seal all the uPVC windows and panels.

As you can see, he's making a very good job of the wall. There's still a long way to go though.

Yesterday morning the sun came out and we decided that he should take a day off, so we set off to Bodrum on the motorbike to meet up with Gwen and Suleyman (who run the small shop in the hotel where Mr A used to work).

It's coming up to the end of the season at this hotel so this was probably the last chance of seeing them before they shut up shop and move back to their house in Aydın for the winter.

There were still guests at the hotel, but when we turned up at the shop it was closed and empty of stock. I phoned Gwen to let her know we were here and 5 minutes later she appeared. She was angry and upset and started to explain that there had been a huge row between her, Suleyman and various bosses the previous night. At that point one of the bosses appeared and Gwen asked to talk to him. Unfortunately, her Turkish is non-existent and Mr A got roped in to translate.

Without going into detail, it would seem that Gwen and Suleyman are owed money by one boss, who refuses to discuss it. The previous evening had ended up with crockery being smashed and lots of shouting. The biggest problem as I see it, is that there are simply too many chiefs and not enough indians at this particular hotel. Too many people interfering in things that are none of their business. Exactly the reason why Mr A decided to leave when he did and move to the hotel in Torba.

When Suleyman arrived, more discussion ensued, by which time Mr A couldn't seem to extricate himself from the situation without appearing rude. But in a way he seemed to succeed in acting as mediator. All sides calmed down, and agreement was reached, and hands shaken.

We took the first opportunity we could to get away, and as dark clouds were looming in the sky, we set off on the motorbike for home. Unfortunately the dark clouds opened on our way and we arrived home drenched and muddy.

So much for Mr A's day off!

One of those weeks

2011-10-14T08:39:00.000+03:00

It doesn't rain but it pours. Literally.   The rain has now stopped leaving a lot of damage in it's wake. The lanes leading down the hill from our house are an absolute mess. Soil has been washed away leaving jagged rocks, making it almost impossible to go up or down on the motorbike, and it's treacherous to walk on too.

Part of the dry stone wall surrounding our garden was knocked down by the force of the rain, taking a large chunk of the garden with it. Mr A had already planned to completely build the wall anyway, but this damage has made the task harder.

Drying out the house is taking time. The window frames need re-sealing and the forecast is for more rain on Sunday or Monday, so we are running out of time.

Poppy is improving slowly. I am continuing to use the Betafix strips to cover the wound, because it's still partly open. Although it's not oozing anymore so any infection I think has gone.   I think it probably should have been re-stitched but I'm reluctant to let the vet anywhere near her again, unless I absolutely have to.

And my ongoing battle with electrical appliances continues.   Turkish appliances just don't seem to be made to last.   This week my filter coffee machine stopped working.   The toaster blew up.   And when I plugged in the iron to do some ironing, the red light came on but it remained stone cold.

I searched the old house for a previously broken iron, and Mr A attempted to dismantle and fix both of them, but failed.

So we made a trip into Milas last night to get a new iron, the most essential of the broken appliances. Fortunately Carrefour had a promotion on electrical items so there was 20 lira off the normal price for the iron.   We also noticed a grill/toast maker on offer. (Similar to the George Foreman grills you can buy in the UK).   We dithered a bit over whether to buy this or not.    I used to make a lot of toasted sandwiches until my sandwich maker broke a couple of months ago. It was sent off to the manufacturer to be repaired because it was still under guarantee. They couldn't repair it and wouldn't replace it because they said it must have been bad handling on our part that caused it to break. Of course this came as no surprise...Turkish guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on.

So this machine in Carrefour would be ideal for toasted sandwiches, but also for grilling other food, as we don't have a grill on our cooker...so we bought it. It works...and so does the iron. For how long? Your guess is as good as mine.

It really has been one of those weeks...let's hope next week is better.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Turkish Vets...aaargh!

2011-10-11T19:56:00.000+03:00

I just knew it was a mistake to trust a Turkish vet. I thought I'd found a good one, and to give the benefit of the doubt, he is probably good with farm animals, but not so good with domestic pets. But of course, most Turks don't consider dogs to be pets and think we foreigners are rather strange because we care about them.

I thought Poppy was recovering pretty well from her op on Friday. She was moving about, eating, going to the toilet without any problems. But today I noticed that her stomach was a little swollen and hot. Mr A was going into Milas so I asked him to call in and talk to the vet. He came back with 3 syringes containing 2 lots of antibiotics and one analgesic. By the time he had returned I noticed that the wound had started to bleed and it looked like the stitches were not holding. I administered two of the injections, one being kept for tomorrow.

Because I was still concerned, Mr A phoned the vet and asked him to come out. He eventually turned up 2 hours later with a large bottle of iodine (about a litre) and some gauze. I spread a thick clean towel on a chair so that he could treat Poppy. He opened the bottle of iodine, placed it on a coffee table which had the only decent silk cloth I own, and promptly slopped some of the solution on it.

He then soaked the gauze in iodine and bathed Poppy's wound...then he knocked over the bottle, the contents of which covered an armchair, the fitted carpet and a cream rug. Iodine is brown...so it's not a pretty sight. There was about an inch of solution left in the bottle and he kindly gave me this so that I could bathe Poppy's wound tomorrow...how kind of him!

I guess he's normally used to treating cows and sheep in farmyards, so if he spills stuff it doesn't really matter.

I am left feeling that if this is significant of how clumsy he is...then I'm not really surprised that Poppy's stitches have burst. I have just checked to make sure that Poppy's wound is clean and I have placed some Betafix strips on it...these are similar to steri-strips which I keep handy for when I have cuts that need more than an elastoplast. I'm hoping that these will do the trick. At this point in time I am more inclined to trust my own judgment than the vet's.

I won't be using this vet again and I really wish I had never decided to have Poppy spayed. I'm feeling so guilty about subjecting her to this and I hope she is going to be OK.

Men and Sheds

2011-10-11T08:27:00.000+03:00

I've always been fascinated by the way that men need to have sheds (or workshops). I can remember both grandfathers and their sheds, and my father, and various uncles and other men in my life. I didn't think that this would be something that my Turkish husband would crave. I was wrong...this phenomenon is truly international.

Whilst I was searching for a suitable pic for this post, I discovered that there's actually a book on the subject called "Men and Sheds". This description of the book pretty much sums it up:

"It has been said that a shed is to a man what a handbag is to a woman - both contain all the essentials for surviving in the modern world and in the same way that no decent man would ever consider looking in a woman's handbag uninvited, so no reasonable woman would dream of setting foot in a man's shed."

Because of the torrential rain that has been with us since Saturday (and continues as I write), Mr A has been unable to do much of the planned work on the perimeter wall and the garden. He informed me that he would spend the time knocking down the side wall of the front of the old house in the garden so that he would have somewhere to put his motorbike for the winter.

He spent the best part of yesterday out there, knocking down the wall, banging and hammering away to his heart's content.

When I called him in for dinner, he said he was busy so could he have it on a tray? I handed him the tray over the balcony and off he went.

Finally at around 6pm before it got dark, I went outside to investigate.   And that's when I discovered that shelter for the motorbike was just a small part of his plan.

The motorbike takes up a small space in the corner of the "room". He has transformed the rest into his own little sanctuary.   He has fixed a large board to an entire wall, painted it, added hooks and nails which now hold his tools. In the far corner are two shelves for other tools, odds and ends.   He has made a workbench from old bits of wood, which doubles up as a table, and that's where I found his dinner tray.

He added a small gas bottle and trivet and asked if he could have our old Turkish teapot to brew up his çay, which I duly found, together with çay glasses, tea and sugar.   And he has a wire running from an extension lead in the house which allows him to use his drill and also to plug in a light bulb.

I have never seen him so happy. He's like a child at Christmas. I never would have believed it!

Rain, rain, go away

2011-10-10T16:15:00.000+03:00

I'm typing this on one of the rare occasions I've been online since Saturday. We have had terrific storms, torrential rain and gale force winds since then.

Mr A's job finished on Saturday, and because his father sent money for the dry stone wall to be re-built, he had been hoping to start work on it yesterday.

He had ordered sand and cement from Milas but because of the non-stop rain, the main village road is flooded and the truck is unable to get through to deliver. And we are unable to get out.

The garden is flooded, and part of the wall has collapsed into the lane below, leaving much more work for Mr A to do.

As always, water is pouring into the house and I have been rushing around placing towels under windows and walls to mop it up.

When Mr A was down in the village yesterday afternoon, checking to see if the road had cleared for the delivery lorry, I suddenly noticed that there was water pouring out of the fuse box and running down the wall.

Boy was I scared. I quickly switched off the supply and waited for Mr A to return.

Whilst there was a short break in the rain, Mr A climbed up on the roof and found the leak and managed to seal it. We left the fuse box to dry out and then Mr A bravely switched on the supply again while I waited for an explosion (ok perhaps it wouldn't explode. I don't know exactly what I expected to happen but I knew electricity and water don't go well together). Anyway it was fine.

We've had much more rain today along with a considerable amount of thunder and lightening. No more leaks into the fuse box, but until the rain stops and everything dries out, Mr A can't re-seal all the windows.

He has been outside all day between showers, dismantling the wall, ready to re-build it. When the rain starts he dashes to the old house where he has knocked down a wall to make a "garage" for his motorbike, and somewhere to keep his tools.

Meanwhile, I am confined to the house, where my modem has been more off than on, to avoid it being struck by lightening. So I've kept myself busy making potato borek, a cake, and tomato and pepper soup.

Can't wait for the rain to stop.

PS. Poppy is recovering well from her op on Friday.

Poorly Poppy

2011-10-07T17:36:00.000+03:00

I've been on tenterhooks all day. The vet from Milas collected Poppy from our house and took her to his surgery to spay her.

I never totally trust Turkish vets, but this one is the best I've found. Nevertheless they never quite feel the same way as we do about our precious dogs.

She was with him for 6 hours during which time he performed the op, checked and cleaned her teeth and cut her nails.   Also, as instructed by Mr A and not me, he trimmed her hair. Well more to the point he shaved her.   It wasn't really necessary but it's tidy and clean, and at least it will be more hygenic not to have her hair caught up in her stitches.

You may remember the vet came out a while ago to the village to look at Beki and Poppy. Beki had mastitis and the medication prescribed cleared it up in a few days. Beki was pronounced too old for the snip, so Poppy had to suffer alone.

I hadn't paid for the vet's previous visit...he told me to wait until after Poppy's visit today. I am totally amazed at the cost for all this treatment, which included two round trips to the village.   190 lira...which is approxımately 69 pounds. I'm sure this will come as a shock to those of you in the UK who make regular visits to the vet with your pets.

Poppy is clearly uncomfortable at the moment, and when I tried to pick her up on her arrival she gave me a nasty nip on my finger. She never bites so clearly she is in pain. Poor little girl.    Mr A is on his way home now with pain relief and antibiotics prescribed by the vet.  The picture shows her snuggled up on my bed with her favourite cuddly toys.   I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for her.

It's been quite a day....I don't know who's more traumatised...Poppy or me!

My favourite place to blog....

2011-10-05T20:23:00.000+03:00

...is right here. As from today, and until it gets too cold, this is where I will blog.

My comfy sheltered balcony

Beki likes it here too

.....and so does Poppy

Health & Safety at Work....

2011-10-05T07:13:00.000+03:00

...is unheard of in Turkey.   Like everything else in life here, the Turks take huge risks every day. They tend to believe that their fate is totally in the hands of Allah, so don't feel it necessary to protect themselves. You only have to look at the way they drive to recognise this.

When the workmen were building the balcony roof on Saturday, there was a good deal of welding being done. Bright lights and sparks flying everywhere, but no safety goggles or protective clothing. Goodness knows what damage they are doing to their eyes.

Early yesterday morning the power was cut...nothing unusual here of course. The work is continuing in the village to install a new electricity supply. Ugly metal pylons have been planted all over the village to replace the old wooden telegraph poles. They are now at the stage where the cables are being transferred from the poles to the pylons.   Yesterday they reached our house.

As I couldn't use the internet, I decided to sit out on the balcony and read, but found myself totally engrossed in watching the men at work. They scale the pylons and the poles with no safety harnesses. They work away at the top of the pylon, fixing the wires and cables, occasionally stopping, perched there, to smoke a cigarette or chat on their mobile phones.

There is one vehicle involved in this operation. A large mechanical digger. It was previously used to dig the holes to plant the pylons. It's now being used with the digging bit upside down, as a lift, with a man standing on it to take cables up to the man at the top of the pylon.

And to my horror, the digging bit is also being used to loosen the old wooden poles, pushing them violently to remove them from the earth. We had one such wooden pole in our garden. The digger pushed it back and forth to make it loose, then a man stood on top of the digger to tie a chain around the pole. He remained there while he and the digger attempted to pull the pole out of the ground.

At one point as it came out of the ground it swung precariously towards our balcony roof. I had fleeting visions of our wonderful new roof being demolished in one fell swoop. Needless to say I rushed back into the house for my own safety.

Finally, with me holding my breath, the pole lurched the other way and fell into the lane below. By 6.00 pm they had packed up and left, and eventually power was restored at around 7pm.

Before the workmen arrived this morning, Mr A had arranged for a man in the village to come and cut down the mulberry tree. We have decided it has to go. It has never produced fruit. We cut it right back last year because it was touching the electricity and telephone wires, and also blocking our view. It grew back again even stronger...but still no fruit.

The man arrived and cut off all the branches with an axe and then produced a chainsaw to cut down the trunk.   He was so old and shaky, and could hardly hold the chain saw. I couldn't bear to watch and retreated to the house, hoping I wouldn't hear screams that would signal a nasty accident.

A bit later he was still having trouble sawing through the trunk and phoned his son for help. He arrived and proceeded to try to push the trunk back and forth while his father used the chainsaw.   Eeek...his legs were so close to the chainsaw it brought me out in a sweat.

They still couldn't uproot the tree, but I actually laughed out loud when the man's wife arrived...a stout little old woman...who gave the trunk a huge shove and it promptly fell over!

I feel like I'm on holiday.....

2011-10-04T06:44:00.000+03:00

....simply because my brother and sister-in-law arrived in Bodrum from England in the early hours of Friday morning. They have visited before and have stayed with us on previous occasions. They decided this time to stay in a hotel. As I mentioned in a previous post, by coincidence, they booked the hotel where Mr A was working before his current job. I still make regular visits there to see my friend Gwen.2, and other members of staff I know quite well. The hotel is also where my hairdresser has his salon, so all in all I've become a bit of a regular there.

Mr A is still on good terms with the owners and management at the hotel, and is considering going back there to work next year. He also pops in regularly, and was there to greet my brother and SIL on their arrival, making sure they had a good room, and putting some cold drinks in their fridge.

As they are only here for a week, my brother and SIL decided on a hotel in the tourist area. Because our village is so off the beaten track, if they stayed here it would mean they would spend too much time travelling and not enough time chilling out. They were, however, keen to see our house and we arranged for Gwen and her husband Suleyman to bring them over for lunch on Sunday, and we all had a lovely time. My brother tells me how pleasantly surprised he was to see our house and where it is situated, particularly the magnificent views.

They are loving the hotel, and intend to return next year. He is hoping to persuade my other brother and his wife to come too. I hope he can...it would be lovely to have them both here.

Yesterday my brother, SIL, and I did a day trip to Kos. This is when I really started to feel like I was on holiday. I spend too much time on day-to-day living. Life can become pretty mundane at times so it makes a pleasant change to do touristy things. We had a very enjoyable day. We walked and browsed around the tourist shops, and also popped into the hotel where my brother and family have stayed in previous years so he could catch up with the family who run it. The Greeks, much like the Turks, always remember people, even if they haven't seen them for years, and made us very welcome.

We had a delicious lunch of swordfish at a restaurant in town, then made our way back to the ferry for the return journey, calling in at Duty Free to pick up a bottle of Jack Daniels for Mr A for his birthday on Saturday.

The holiday ends on Thursday and I'll be sorry to see them go.

Our newly covered balcony

2011-10-02T21:40:00.000+03:00

Mr A's father sent him some money last week...yes you heard it right. Apparently it was to be used to rebuild the dry-stone wall that surrounds the garden. I'm highly suspicious about FIL's actions. Sending money to Mr A is totally out of character.

However, Mr A did his sums and worked out that he could re-build the wall himself at a fraction of the cost of hiring workmen. He will be finishing his job within the next couple of weeks as the season comes to an end, and will make a start on the wall. He also has to remove all the silicone from the uPVC extension and re-seal it. He made a decision to use the remaining money to get our balcony covered. Not only will it provide shade in the summer but it will give us some extra shelter in the winter, so we can leave our shoes outside without them getting wet. I'm not sure whether FIL will approve, but frankly I don't care if he doesn't.

On Friday evening he went into Milas to get a quote, and being satisfied with the price, arranged for the workmen to start yesterday morning. They arrived at 9.00am and worked flat out until 8.00pm in the evening.

Making a start

Taking shape

Sealing the roof

And the end result

A sense of perspective

2011-09-29T16:48:00.000+03:00

Yesterday morning I set off on the bus to visit Gwen.2 in Bodrum for the day. Along the Bodrum road, just before the airport, the bus slammed on the brakes. I could see traffic in front of us doing the same thing and flashing their warning lights. There was a road traffic accident. It must have happened just seconds before we got there. A car appeared to have hit a motorbike carrying a man and a middle-aged woman. Judging by the state of the car it must have been some collision. The man was trying, with difficulty and in a state of shock, to lift himself up from the road. The female passenger was lying lifeless some 50 yards away. The traffic had to stop, and it was pretty distressing, particularly as I was next to the window and the woman was literally a few feet away. I'm pretty certain she was dead. I pulled the curtain across the bus window...I don't know why...I think it was a mixture of respect and not wanting to gawp at such a tragedy.

But the picture of the woman is still in my mind and I just can't shift it. I suppose that's normal.

Mr A met me off the bus in Bodrum to give me some money. He had promised to pay for tickets for a daytrip to Kos on Monday, for me and my brother and sister-in-law.

I think he was a little bemused when I got off the bus and threw myself into his arms and burst into tears. It wasn't just the sight of the accident. Mr A and I had had a silly disagreement on the phone the night before...so silly I can't even recall what it was about. It made me realise how precious life is and how it can be cut short in a moment. Mr A travels this treacherous road many times every week, and it's a terrible risk.

It puts everything firmly into perspective. I vow from this day onwards that there will be no more petty arguments. Life is just too short.

And I want to end this post on a lighter note, and replace the sad images in my mind with some joyful ones, so here are a couple of pics of my lovely grandsons.

Beautiful Jimi

Billy washing his car in the sunshine

A warm welcome

2011-09-28T07:12:00.000+03:00

I arrived home in the early hours of Monday morning. Mr A collected me from the airport on the motorbike. It's amazing how much he can carry on it...a large suitcase, hand luggage and me.

As I walked through the gate to the house, the dogs greeted me with excessive enthusiasm. I love the loyalty of dogs. When we were driving from the airport Mr A mentioned that he hadn't managed to get any shopping, just milk and water. I was too tired to worry about it and avoided having a moan.

When I entered our house I could see that Mr A had done all the housework and for that I was very grateful. I put the kettle on to make coffee and on opening the fridge for the milk, found it absolutely full of food. Everything I could possibly need to last me for ages....meat (including steak...oh what a treat), vegetables, salad, fruit, and all the basics. I was delighted. He apologised for having forgotten to get me icecream (he knows I love icecream) but he brought home 3 cartons on Tuesday night.

I think I should go away more often!

PS: Having attempted to catch up on much needed sleep over the last couple of days, I've just found time to start reading my favourite blogs....only to find that I am still unable to leave comments on the majority of them. I still have no idea why it's possible to comment on some but not others...even when they are all Blogger blogs. So apologies for this...but rest assured I am reading.

Last day

2011-09-25T08:50:00.000+03:00

Where has this week gone? It seems that no sooner was I setting off on the flight to England, than here I am about to get the return flight today.

It's been a fabulous week. I have seen my daughter and grandsons every day...I've looked after both boys on my own a few times, and it's given them the chance to get to know me better.

My daughter and I spent her birthday last Monday together. The boys stayed with their paternal grandparents, which enabled us to hit the shops and to enjoy lunch at our favourite restaurant...something we haven't been able to do for about 3 years now. It was a real treat. I have missed far too many of her birthdays, and I don't intend to miss another one.

A get-together with both of my brothers and their families yesterday, finished off the week nicely for me. Although it will only be a matter of days before I see my youngest brother again, as he and his wife are flying out to Bodrum on Thursday, and they will be staying at the hotel where Mr A worked before his current job.

I will see my daughter and grandsons one last time this morning before setting off and I'm dreading it, because I know there are going to be tears. Just the thought of leaving them...even typing about it here...is making me well up.

I've made a decision though. I have vowed to make a trip to see them every three months rather than the twice yearly visits. It will mean making sacrifices, counting the pennies, tightening of belts...but it will be worth it. I really want to experience more precious moments with these two beautiful boys.

Being a grandmother is one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences of my life.

I'm off....

2011-09-16T19:04:00.000+03:00

...tomorrow morning to England to see my daughter and grandsons.

I'll be there for 8 days and I'm not sure I will bother to take my laptop with me, as I doubt I will have time to use it.

My daughter has given me a schedule for the week and every day (except a couple of hours on Wednesday afternoon) has been filled with activities, including a couple of evenings babysitting.

It's my daughter's birthday on Monday, and the boys will be looked after by their paternal grandparents so that the two of us can spend the day together. It's been a number of years since I've been there for her birthday so I want to make it very special.

I think it will be a pretty exhausting week but I am so looking forward to it.

See you when I get back on the 26th.

Invisible Yabancı

2011-09-15T06:51:00.000+03:00

I was having a conversation on an ex-pat forum recently about the way we yabancı (foreigners) are treated by the Turks.   It doesn't matter that I (and many others) have dual nationality, and have lived here for a number of years, we are still treated differently.

Don't get me wrong, we are welcomed warmly by most Turkish people. Their kindness and generosity is well documented on my blog. It's just that they seem to think we are at best incapable of organising our lives or at worst just plain stupid.   Almost every time I use my Turkish to communicate (and I am confident I am using it correctly) they make out they don't understand or that they haven't heard us. Reading Jack's blog perkingthepansies, this morning reminded me of this, when he mentioned that it's sometimes easier just to speak in English to get a response.

I sometimes get offers of help to undertake the simplest of tasks without asking for it. Mostly I accept it as just plain willingness to help, but occasionally it irritates me.   I have the easiest of things explained to me at great length as if I were a 5 year old. Teaching your grandmother to suck eggs springs to mind.

When shopping in the markets, we foreigners are often asked where we come from. When I say I live near Milas, it's almost like they refuse to accept that this is my home...it's where I have lived for 13 years. They seem to find difficulty in accepting that I am English but have made Turkey my home.   And we all know that when you buy anything in markets, there is a different price structure for Turks and foreigners. How long does one have to live here to be treated equally?   Why do I need to explain every time I want to buy something that I'm not a tourist...just so that I can get a fair price?

Whenever my inlaws are due to visit, FIL never rings me to tell me the date and time they are due...he rings Mr A who then (if he remembers) has to call me. FIL knows Mr A isn't here most of the time, so surely it's best to let me know?   Of course I am aware that FIL will do this to a large extent just to annoy me, so I let it go.

Yaşar, Mr A's ex-boss and good friend to both of us, was very kind last Friday and took me to the dentist in his car, then returned to collect me after my treatment. Later, I discovered that Mr A knew all about this because Yaşar had phoned him to let him know. I didn't think much of it at the time. I just thought Yaşar felt it right to let my husband know.

However, on the same day Yaşar informed me that his English girlfriend was due here this week, and that he would like to bring her over to visit me.  I invited them to come yesterday, and they were possibly going to bring Gwen.2 with them if she could get away from the shop.   I expected them to arrive at around 2.30pm. When it got to 3.15pm there was no sign of them. Gwen.2 phoned me to say that she was stuck in the shop and wouldn't be over after all. It wasn't a definite arrangement for her to come, so I wasn't concerned. She said that she had told Yaşar and assumed they were on their way.

I phoned Mr A a bit later and happened to mention I was waiting for Yaşar and his girlfriend to arrive and he informed me that they would be late. "How do you know?" I asked.   Well it would appear that Yaşar had phoned Mr A to tell him this. And Mr A had forgotten to let me know. Yaşar has my number. He knew Mr A wouldn't be here, so why are he and Mr A making arrangements for ME? Is it because I'm a foreigner and I'm not considered capable of sorting it out for myself?   They don't do it with Turkish women.

I was extremely irritated by this and told Mr A to ring Yaşar and say that it was too late now for them to come as I had to go shopping, but they could come tomorrow instead....and to please tell Yaşar that if this wasn't possible, or if they were going to be late, to phone ME and not him.

I have to admit to being tempted to just go out...let them arrive late...to find me not here.   After all it would seem that I'm somewhat invisible, so maybe I should be just that.

Rant over...back to normal tolerance tomorrow, I promise!

Accident prone

2011-09-13T18:40:00.000+03:00

Does anyone else get days where they seem completely out of sync? I do. Days where I burn myself on the iron or the oven, bump into doors and trip over my feet.

Today was a typical example.

I woke up early, let the dogs out and made myself a coffee to take back to bed. I placed it on the bedside cupboard and opened the drawer to get something, knocking over the mug of coffee which shot everywhere. Up the wall, the bed, the top of the cupboard and inside the drawers. So everything had to come out to be cleaned and dried out, and the bedding changed (I only changed it yesterday of course).

I had arranged to meet Gwen.1 in Milas today at 9.30am. I showered and got dressed. I leave the dogs outside while I'm out so I filled their large water container to put in the shade. As I was carrying it outside and down the steps, I tripped and tipped the water over myself. I was drenched and had to hastily change my clothes.

By this time it was getting late so as I rushed out I banged the top of my foot on the metal gate. It just broke the skin but wasn't bleeding, but it is now bruised and swollen.

Fortunately, I managed to spend the day in Milas and return home without further mishaps. However, whilst washing up about an hour ago, I dropped a glass jar in the sink. As I tried to grab it, it smashed and sliced the top of my finger quite deeply. It probably needs a stitch, but I have managed to stop the flow of blood with a steri-strip type dressing, so hopefully it will heal ok.

I should have stayed in bed today.

9/11. Ten years on.

2011-09-11T08:06:00.000+03:00

For the husband who told his wife I love you one last time before his plane went down in a field.

For the wife who stopped in the stairs to call her husband to say I will love you forever.

For the mothers and fathers who kissed their kids goodbye the morning they died.

For the policemen who rushed in with the firemen to help get others out only to die themselves.

For all those who lost their lives and for those they left behind.

Today.... tomorrow.... ten years from now.... we will still remember.

7 more sleeps...

2011-09-10T10:09:00.000+03:00

...until I fly off to England for 8 days. This is what I am so looking forward to:

Jimi...just look at that smile

Billy concentrating

Billy off to see his grandparents

Jimi...looking very smart

Happy!!!

2011-09-09T20:58:00.000+03:00

Yes I am very happy today because I've been to the dentist. No...I am not cracking up. I wouldn't normally be happy about a visit to the dentist but today I really am.

I have been struggling with a broken back tooth for years now. When we lived in Cappadocia I had it re-filled a couple of times, but gradually bits would chip off and lumps of filling would drop out.

Most of the time I can tolerate it. It doesn't usually ache, but sometimes the jagged edges cause me to bite my tongue and the inside of my cheek.

I have been searching for a dentist since last year who would either be prepared to extract it or to re-build it...to be honest there really wasn't much left of it to re-build. I found a dentist in Bitez last year who filed it down as a temporary measure, in the hope that I would return to have it crowned. He informed me that it was too far gone to re-build.

Now this is the problem I face. Since then I have not been able to find a half-decent dentist in Milas, so for the past couple of months I have been searching for one in Bodrum. BUT not one of them will remove the tooth. AND they say it's impossible to re-build it and that I must have it crowned. Oh and while I'm at it I should have that crown attached to a bridge which would be attached to another crown. And by the way several other teeth, which I didn't ask them to look at, in their opinion need crowns, bridges, veneers, etc etc.
All of which would cost me a small fortune.

So I walked away from all of them. OK maybe I do need more dental work, but it will be my choice as to when I have it done.

I searched the internet last night and found another dentist in Bodrum, and decided to give it one last shot. I set off on the bus, and found the dentist's surgery at 10.20am. I rang the bell, the door was locked and there was no answer. A notice next to the door said opening hours 10.30 am till 7.00pm.  I waited half an hour...till 10.50am and no-one arrived so I gave up. I went off to visit Gwen at the Gumbet hotel (I will now refer to this Gwen as Gwen.2 to avoid confusion (my other friend Gwen from Selçuk is Gwen.1).

Mr A's former boss, Yaşar, (who helped Mr A sort out his motorbike the other day) said he knew of a very good dentist in Konacık, just up the road from Gumbet. He offered to take me there, and Gwen.2 came with us. He then insisted we ring him when my treatment was finished and he would collect us. What a kind and helpful man he is.

This dentist speaks very little English...his only words are OPEN, CLOSE, RINSE and BITE. But that was fine. Most important of all was that he looked at the offending remains of my tooth, and said he would fix it. He didn't tell me it couldn't be fixed, or try to convince me that it should be crowned, bridged or whatever. He just said he would re-build it and it would last at least two years. And the price he quoted was an absolute fraction of what I had been expected to pay elsewhere.

He x-rayed it to make sure there were no signs of an abscess. After 4 injections, he drilled, filled layer by layer, filed it down to get a good bite, more drilling, all of which took about an hour. He even matched up the filling to the colour of my teeth to get a perfect result. And it is indeed a perfect job. It feels so good and it looks like a brand new tooth.   He didn't then try to recommend any further treatment, he just said if I had any problems or needed any further work to let him know.

That's why I'm happy. I now have a dentist who will do exactly what I ask him to. I wish all those other dentists who are just interested in making money would take a leaf out of his book. Gwen.2 has now made an appointment with him for some bridge and crown work and we have recommended him to two more people.  In my opinion he will be far more successful by not being pushy.

It started well...

2011-09-07T08:44:00.000+03:00

...yesterday. In fact for the most part it was a pretty good day. I had arranged to meet up with my friend Gwen from Selçuk. She had never been to Bodrum so liked the idea of a day out there. It wouldn't have been my choice. I do like Bodrum. The hustle and bustle, the harbour with it's magnificent boats, the views. But Bodrum is expensive, and if you're a foreigner and not familiar with the town you get ripped off.

I set off from home just before 9am and met Gwen at Bodrum bus station at 10.30am. We took a gentle stroll along the harbour, and stopped for a coffee.   Well the truth is we stopped at the third cafe we came across, having refused to pay exorbitant prices for a cup of instant coffee at the previous two. We still paid over the odds but by then we were desperate for coffee so gave in.

We checked out the cost of a day trip to Kos. If you ever decide to do this, don't buy tickets from the agents in the town. Always go down to the departure point at the harbour, where you will find there are usually special promotions available. One company is currently doing the return trip for 12 Euro, which is excellent value. I'm hoping this price will be the same when my brother and sister-in-law are here at the end of this month as we are planning a day trip during their week's stay.

It was market day in Bodrum yesterday so we decided to take a look. The prices are ridiculous, often double what you will pay for the same items in markets such as Milas and Selçuk. If you want a reasonably priced lunch, opt for one of the small cafes in the market area, who serve wonderful pide and kebabs. We had pide which was delicious. However, always check your bill before paying. Gwen paid the bill without checking, and it wasn't until we were outside the market that we discovered she had been overcharged by 7 lira. I was all for going back to complain, but Gwen wasn't, so I backed down rather than cause a fuss.

It was very hot, and we had walked a great deal. Gwen was due to return on the 6.30pm bus but decided get the 3.30pm bus instead. We had both had enough.

I caught a bus over to Torba to Mr A's hotel and stayed there until he was ready to leave work at 7.00pm.

On Sunday I had made the trip over to the hotel where Mr A previously worked. I've found an excellent hairdresser there called Ferdi. He has a small salon in the hotel, and it will remain open all winter, even when the hotel is closed as he has many clients from the surrounding area. He first cut my hair about 5 weeks ago when Mr A was still working there, and as Mr A is his friend, he only charged me 10 lira rather than the normal price. I was delighted with the result and paid him 15 lira...still very cheap.   So on Sunday he cut it again for me. I was expecting, and fully prepared to pay the normal price, but again he insisted on only charging me 10 lira...and I insisted on 15.

Whilst I was sitting over at the Torba hotel yesterday, their hairdresser, Uğur, came out to chat to us. He asked where I had my hair cut and I told him. He said it was very good, but he thought it needed a little thinning out at the back. So I let him do it. To be honest it doesn't look very much different, but he hadn't any clients so it seemed to make him happy.   He is trying to improve his English, so has offered me free haircuts in exchange for a bit of help with his English. I told him I'm happy to help with him with his English, but I will stick with Ferdi.   I think most women would agree with me that when you find a hairdresser who suits you, you don't change unless you really have to.

We set off for home at 7.00pm, and halfway there, the motorbike started to splutter and there was a smell of burning. We pulled up at the side of the road and Mr A wasn't sure what was causing the problem, but it was clear we couldn't take the chance on trying to go any further on it. We were a couple of hundred yards from a petrol station so we pushed the bike there and Mr A made some phone calls. His previous boss is still a good friend and he offered to find a vehicle big enough to collect us and the motorbike. However we were probably going to have to wait a while, and if I had to be dropped off at the village first, it would delay them getting the bike back to Bodrum.

I had a bag of shopping containing fresh and frozen food...isn't it always the way? And I was anxious to get home. There was a taxi driver in the petrol station, and Mr A negotiated a price with him to take me to the village. His final price was 50 lira..still expensive but we had no choice. I didn't have enough money on me but the taxi driver stopped at an ATM on the way home...and I eventually arrived at just after 9.00pm.

Mr A and motorbike were eventually collected just before 10pm and taken back to Bodrum, where he will get the bike repaired over the next few days. I'm hoping it's not too serious or costly, as we are counting on him coming home every night for the dogs when I go to England for a week on the 17th so it has to be in good working order and safe.

Soooo looking forward to my trip to England...can't wait!

In the absence of....

2011-09-06T02:12:00.000+03:00

...anything really interesting to write about, I'll just do an update. It's still very hot here, I'm pretty bored most of the time. Nothing very exciting happens here. Although...I could tell you about the invasion of the sheep. I know you're supposed to count sheep to help you sleep. And here I am at 2am, unable to sleep but thinking of sheep will most definitely not help me sleep.

I mentioned a while ago about the black sheep that managed to get into our garden and eat most of the new grapevine. Well he's clearly been influencing the rest of the flock.

Early Saturday evening, the flock were making their way back down the hill at the back of our house after a couple of hours grazing. Mr A was at home, in the sitting room, and I was on my laptop in the bedroom. All of a sudden there was the sound of rocks falling off the wall at the back of the house and the clattering of sheep surrounding the house. Mr A and I both rushed out into the garden, leaving the dogs in the house, to find that the entire flock (about 30 I guess) had managed to get into our garden. Some had managed to get in through our neighbours garden and over the wall, and others had clambered over the wall at the back of our house. Because areas of the garden are fenced off with chicken wire to keep the dogs safe, the sheep were in groups in different parts of the garden. They were helping themselves to the fruit trees and generally making a mess. Then they started to panic because they spotted Mr A armed with a stick and me with the broom..intent on removing them. So they began to head-butt the chicken wire in an attempt to get out.

It took us a good half an hour to round them up, open the gates and get them out. One thing is for certain, Mr A and I are not good shepherds...we are pretty useless at getting sheep to follow us like sheep.

Mr A got quite cross with the shepherdess who had obviously taken her eye off the ball. He told her that if he found another of her sheep in our garden, we would be eating it.

An interesting post

2011-09-02T19:46:00.000+03:00

I had some welcome support for recent posts I published concerning the appalling state of a dog shelter in Izmir.

My fellow blogger jedilost showed his understanding of my feelings concerning the reactions I had to my posts. But his post wasn't entirely about this subject. It's a fascinating read and another insight into why people behave the way they do...take a look

HERE

Changes

2011-09-02T18:18:00.002+03:00

I've had a lot of changes during my lifetime...some good...some bad. I guess that's the way life goes for most of us.

The biggest change was coming to live in this country 13 years ago. And there have been so many changes since. Far too many to mention here.

We've moved house 15 times in 13 years, eventually ending up in this village two and a half years ago, living in the house given to us by my father-in-law. Something that has surprised me recently is the change in FIL's attitude towards me. At last he seems to like and respect me. It's been a long time coming, but I think it was worth the wait.   He and MIL arrived on Monday in time for Şeker Bayram. Many of you will recall how I used to dread their visits. FIL's constant criticism of everything I did...how I tended the garden, my cooking, the food I bought...well practically everything really.

I used to just wait it out until they eventually left..and of course I never knew how long they were likely to stay, and it's considered rude to ask. Turkish families "share" their homes. Everyone is welcome to come and stay as long as they like. I never really had a problem with this in principal. Goodness knows I need the company, but FIL always made me feel uncomfortable so I could never relax and be myself.

The last couple of visits have seen a gradual shift in our relationship.   He still criticises some things, but I have realised that he is actually like this with everyone, so it's not just me.   These days he is much nicer to me, he now takes an interest in what I have to say and this week we have spent many pleasant hours together. I don't cook for them anymore. I stopped this over a year ago when I was criticised for my cooking. They take their food down to the land and prepare it while they work. It's fine..one less chore for me. However, two days ago he came home with 4 beautiful fish which he handed to me, saying they were for our supper. One each for them, Mr A and I.   I thanked him and said I had already eaten earlier and wasn't sure Mr A would be home that evening, and would he like me to put them in the freezer for them. He said, please put them in the freezer for you and Mr A, and would you be so kind as to cook two fish for mother and I? Good grief...I nearly fainted!   He was trusting me with cooking their fish for them?   I said I'd be happy to.

I cooked and served up the fish and he complimented me on how well I had cooked them!

MIL has been wearing a really nice long-sleeved, full length kaftan in the evenings when we've been out on the balcony, perfect for protection against the mosquitoes. I told her how nice it looked. FIL immediately asked me if I would like one, what size I wanted, and they would get me one when they returned to Ankara.

I'm overwhelmed with all this niceness!

Something clicked this week. Mr A and I have been having a few problems recently and after many arguments he said something which made me stop and think. He says I try to change him. He thinks I've always done this. I think he is right. I am a control freak and I don't even realise when I'm doing it. But what really stood out was when he said "You are doing exactly what my father used to do, many years ago. He tried to change me, to make me into something I'm not. I couldn't stand it, so that's why I left Ankara for good".   And to be fair Mr A doesn't try to change me...unlike a lot of Turkish men and their wives.

Maybe FIL and I have more in common than I thought. I think he and I both know we can't change Mr A, but  FIL has gradually backed off and stopped trying so hard. As a result his and Mr A's relationship has vastly improved.   I am attempting to follow his example. However, we both seem to be finding a way of getting Mr A to make small changes, sensible ones, without him feeling he is being controlled. I call it subtle manipulation.    So far so good.

And talking about change on a more practical level. We no longer have a rubbish bin. In fact there are now NO rubbish bins dotted about the village. Ours hadn't been emptied again for weeks. Mr A spoke to the Muhtar last week. The same day the Muhtar arrived at our house with two men, who took away the bin containing the rubbish, and the bin wasn't returned. He explained that after Bayram the rubbish would in future be collected by Milas belediye (council) with the usual large dustcart, which be unable to come up the winding lanes leading to the top of the hill. So from Monday onwards it will be a trek down into the village to dispose of our rubbish.

Mr A's recent job change is going reasonably well, although he isn't terribly happy there, and is uncertain about committing himself to the boss for winter in Istanbul.   There are other possibilities in the pipeline...aren't there always? Mr A changes jobs as often as he changes his socks...well most of you already know that. I'd be happier if he settled down a bit more, but I've said before he's a nomad at heart. He was like this when I met him. I doubt he will ever be any different. I guess I have to learn to live with it.

I'm attempting to stop my controlling ways. There are some things we shouldn't try to change and others that we should make an effort to do so.

ETA. I take it all back... I was wrong!   FIL has just spent the past hour having a go at me for not being a good daughter-in-law. I have just been criticised for everything I do or say.   He is a very devious man. He's good at this. Having spent the past few days being extremely nice and lulling me into a false sense of security, he then throws all this at me when I am completely unprepared and unable to give any sensible responses.   Ah well...all change again.

Searching for Inspiration

2011-08-30T16:44:00.001+03:00

It's been a week since I last did a blog post..most unusual for me. I just don't seem to be able to find anything interesting to write about at the moment. So just a quick update which will have to do until I feel a bit more enthusiastic and inspired to write more.

Today is the first day of Şeker Bayram, the holiday following Ramazan, when people eat far too much chocolate and sweets. I have my basket of sweets by the door ready for the children who will come calling.

Mr A changed jobs last week. Still selling the hamam experience, but for a hotel spa centre in Torba, just outside Bodrum. He had become disillusioned with the way the last hamam was being run. You may recall my recent post about this. His new boss is someone he has known for a few years. He worked for him a couple of winters ago in a hamam in Istanbul. This man has been regularly contacting Mr A for weeks now, trying to persuade him to join him. Finally, Mr A succumbed, and the decision was made easier by the promise of a higher percentage commission, and the possibility of a job for the winter.

The in-laws arrived yesterday, and have actually been quite pleasant company so far. They are off out today to visit friends, then will start working on the land tomorrow. As usual, I have no idea how long they will be here.

And that's it for now.

My wonderful brother-in-law....

2011-08-24T16:50:00.000+03:00

Mr A's brother is a treasure. He lives in Ankara. We never see him. But every time I have a problem with my laptop I contact him and he takes control of my laptop via teamviewer and sorts it out for me.

He is extremely busy though and has very little free time, so I always feel a bit guilty about asking him for help. Sometimes I have to wait a few days but we get there in the end.

The problem is that his free time seems to be very late at night and when I'm expecting him to call I have to force myself to stay awake.

Last night he called at 11.30pm to help me reconnect to the wireless network, something TTNet's technical department seem unable or unwilling to do. No wonder, as this time the whole process was a lot more complicated than it usually is. Certain downloads had to be uninstalled, new ones installed, some of which didn't work. They were then uninstalled and others tried. Each time I had to re-boot the laptop, which meant that on opening it again I would have to download teamviewer again for BIL to connect.

I worried about him having to be up early for work in the morning and told him I wouldn't be offended if he decided to give up for now. But he cheerfully replied that he would keep trying.

Eventually at 2.45am I was reconnected to the wireless network and could remove the USB cable.

I thanked him and apologised for keeping him from his bed, to which he repied "anytime...day or night..I'm happy to help". Bless his heart!

Guest Post

2011-08-24T02:08:00.000+03:00

I was very honoured to be asked by Jack at PerkingthePansies to write a guest post for his blog while he is away on holiday. Here it is:

http://perkingthepansies.com/2011/08/24/glorious-gumusluk/

If you haven't yet discovered Jack's blog, do take a look. He writes with such good humour and I always look forward to his posts. I'm delighted to report that he has now written a book which is due to be published in December....can't wait to get my copy!

Coping with Ramazan

2011-08-23T05:25:00.000+03:00

We are in the last week of Ramazan. The heat at this time of the year is intense and I don't know how those who are fasting are managing to cope without even being able to drink water. I admire their determination.

This year is the first time we haven't had a drummer banging away from 3am onwards every day, and it should be a relief for someone like me who doesn't fast, and resents being woken up at this unearthly hour. However, the woman with mental health/learning disabilities who lives in the lane below us, seems to have decided to take matters into her own hands. She can be pretty noisy at the best of times. She shouts, wails, calls the cats, and takes great pleasure in immitating every sound she hears, from sheep and cows to tractors. It's surprising how one can actually get used to noises and most of the time I don't notice her. Most mornings during Ramazan....not every morning thank goodness..she is waking up around 3.30am, standing outside her house and giving her interpretation of a drum...very loudly.

I've pretty much ignored it...turned over, put the pillow over my head and gone back to sleep. But this morning I'd had enough so went outside and shouted for her to be quiet. She responded immediately and silence reigned. But she'll forget and will no doubt be outside doing the same thing tomorrow morning.

I have Gwen from Selçuk staying with me for a few days. We're off to Milas market this morning, but it's just after 5am now and having had little sleep, it's a trip I'm not looking forward to.

Ramazan ends on the 28th, to be followed by Şeker Bayram. The shops are full of sweets and chocolates and I will be getting my supply in today, ready for the visits of children from the village.

The in-laws are due to descend on me at the end of the week and as usual I have no idea how long they will be staying. I have a feeling I may be spending most days over at the hotel with Mr A.

I'm off to visit my grandsons on 17th September just for a week. Having this to look forward to keeps me sane!

Benni's Story

2011-08-20T17:03:00.002+03:00

This is Benni's story.

Benni was found wandering the streets of Turkey. He was 7 weeks old, alone and starving. TAG rescued Benni from certain death. They fed Benni, gave him shelter and veterinary care. Soon Benni was fit and healthy and was able to get his pet passport. TAG searched for Benni's forever home. Benni found his new home and arrived in the UK in July 2011. At first he was very scared. He had never been in a house before and had never met children.

This video was filmed 3 weeks after he arrived in his new home. Benni loves everyone he meets. He is a fantastic dog and has learned to trust humans. He was one of the lucky ones who was given second chance.

Can you help TAG give a dog or cat a second chance?

From the streets of Turkey to his forever home in London. His is one of the many success stories of T.A.G. (Turkish Animal Group) and the wonderful work carried out by Karen Lowrie Wren. They need people to adopt, foster and sponsor the dogs and donations to help with food , vet fees., and the costs involved in finding and transporting them to their new homes.

Please support T.A.G. in any way you can, even if only to spread the word on social network sites.

Watch the video...it will make you smile and brighten your day.

Please visit http://www.turkishanimalgroup.co.uk/

Look for the Turkish Animal Group (T:A:G) - Dog Adoptables Page on Facebook

Inappropriate behaviour

2011-08-18T23:57:00.001+03:00

Well I'm back online again...just!

While I was at the hotel yesterday Mr A phoned TTNet to check whether they had fixed the phone line and restored internet access and they said yes it was all fixed. When I arrived home I discovered it wasn't.

Mr A phoned again this morning, and was advised that it was fixed outside but as they couldn't get into the garden because of the dogs they couldn't complete the job (well we all know by now how these macho Turkish men...Mr A excluded...are terrified of dogs).   Anyway...they promised to return today. They did and fixed the telephone line and the modem showed access to the internet but I couldn't get the wireless connection on my laptop so I'm now attached to the USB cable again. Inconvenient but better than nothing. I'll get my brother in law to sort it out for me again when he's not too busy.

It's now 11.30pm and I've just been chatting on the phone to Mr A and he's very upset.

Anyone who has experienced hamams (Turkish baths) will know how they are run. They are respectable establishments and everything is very proper. Mr A just sells the tickets so doesn't go into the hamam very often, but occasionally he pops in to check that everything is running smoothly. A couple of weeks ago he noticed one of the masseurs enter a massage room with a young female customer and close the door. It's a rule that while someone is having a massage, the door is always left open.   He reminded the masseur of this who replied that this was his "new" girlfriend and she wanted the door closed. Mr A told him it was not allowed and that the masseur should know better than to bring his girlfriend there.   An argument ensued...the girl was asked to leave and Mr A reported the masseur to the boss. It was pretty obvious what this couple were up to, and Mr A insisted that this was very damaging to not only his reputation but that of the hamam. The masseur was sacked.

He was replaced by a new masseur a week ago. I met him a couple of days ago, and my strange sixth sense told me that there was something just not right about him. I couldn't put a finger on it and I didn't mention it to anyone.

This evening a female customer has complained that this new masseur touched her inappropriately.   She was extremely upset and so was her husband. Mr A told me he was so angry with the masseur, he took him outside the hotel and had a huge row with him, and Mr A actually hit him. I don't approve of violence but I have learned that this is often the way Turkish men deal with men who they feel have behaved badly...so I do understand how he feels.

Mr A has spent the last couple of hours talking to the customer and her husband, apologising and trying to calm them down. The husband insists that he is going to write about the incident on Tripadvisor when he returns home...and that's not good news. The masseur has of course been sent on his way.

When we finished talking on the phone Mr A was about to have strong words with the manager who employed this particular masseur. I doubt he'll get much sleep tonight.

Reports of this incident will naturally spread around the hotel. It's really bad for business. Really bad for Mr A who works for commission only.   Mr A is wondering if I might go over to the hotel tomorrow and talk to the customers concerned and use my "people skills" to pacify them.   I honestly don't know if I can do any good. Although I suppose I'd really like to get to the bottom of the incident. There's always a possibility that the woman wasn't touched inappropriately...maybe she was mistaken...but naturally one has to assume that the customer is always right.

What a mess.

Patience....

2011-08-17T11:16:00.000+03:00

...is a virtue. So they say. My patience has been wearing thin of late. Today it has almost run out.

I have patiently tried to adapt to the ongoing powercuts, knowing that I would have internet access early morning and late evening. I'm even coping with the water cuts, making sure I fill up large containers for when this happens.

Imagine how I felt last night when the power came back on and I discovered that the phone line was dead and I have no internet access.

Mr A phoned TTNet last night and they said it would be fixed...last night...it wasn't. He has phoned again this morning and they have promised it will be fixed today...hmmm.

So this morning I am at the hotel using the internet..but I have limited access. Hence this blog post to say to my followers, old and new, thankyou for continuing to read and leave your comments, and apologies if I don't always manage an individual response.

Bear with me please...hoping to be back to normal service soon...I live in hope!

Here we go again....

2011-08-16T07:59:00.001+03:00

Blogger is preventing me from commenting on blogs again. It's been difficult trying to catch up with everyone's blogs during our daily powercuts. I'm managing to read them, and just when I'm up early enough  to be able to comment before I lose connection, I find I can't.   I have just typed out comments on three blogs, only to lose them completely. So frustrating!

It's only Blogger of course. Others like Wordpress are no problem at all. I will have to consider changing if this goes on for much longer.

I'm getting into a different routine now during the day...adapting to life without electricity...and most days without water too. It's given me the chance to do a bit of sorting out. Tidying wardrobes and cupboards, sorting out paperwork...and reading. The internet seems to take up too much of my time when I'm at home and I haven't been reading as much as I normally would. At the moment it's easy to get through a book a day.

Some days I'm going over to the hotel to see Mr A. Although he is so busy chatting to customers that I don't really get to spend any time with him. He has turned into Mr Grumpy. He's like a bear with a sore head. I think it's mostly due to stress. Working for commission only and no salary creates so much pressure. He has to constantly be Mr Happy to all the customers, even when he can't stand them, and he is exhausted. Working 16 hour days, 7 days a week, without breaks is taking it's toll.   So on the rare occasions when we find time to attempt a conversation he is snappy and takes out all his frustrations on me. I should just let it go over my head but I don't. I make it worse by snapping back. As a result we both end up feeling hurt and unhappy. If he finds time to bring me back home, we are both so wound up that we don't even speak. He then has to rush back to work. He hasn't been able to spend a night at home in weeks.

Yesterday was particularly bad and left me feeling wretched. I vowed I would keep my distance...stay out of his way...until the season is finished.

When power returned yesterday, I checked my email box. I read my horoscope. It talked about one particular relationship being tricky at the moment, and about feeling like you want to run away but you know you can't. It quoted the old adage "you always hurt the one you love..." but that the one doing the hurting is also hurting just as much. I phoned Mr Grumpy and read it out to him.   We both agreed that it was so true and he admitted that he feels hurt too. We apologised to each other, and promised to try not to let all this get out of hand.

I don't exactly have Mr Happy back. That won't happen till the end of the season. But I did sleep better last night knowing that I had seen a glimpse of the real Mr A beneath the Mr Grumpy exterior. It will have to do for now!

Guest Post

2011-08-14T22:31:00.000+03:00

I was very honoured to be invited to do a guest post on Deniz Bevan's blog.

Here it is.

Thankyou Deniz. Enjoy your holiday xxx

Just a quick message....

2011-08-12T19:55:00.000+03:00

...to say that because of the daily powercuts in our village which we are now told will be a further 10 days at least, I am spending very much less time on the internet. At the moment the power goes off around 8am and doesn't come on again until 7 or 8pm.

I won't be blogging so much, and I'm afraid I probably won't have the opportunity to read as many of your blogs as I would like to.

Here's hoping normal service will be resumed as soon as possible...before I tear my hair out!

Trying to be nocturnal

2011-08-10T20:16:00.000+03:00

No sooner had I loaded up the washing machine and switched on the laptop yesterday morning, than the power was cut again.

I asked my neighbour if she knew how long it would be off. She shrugged her shoulders. She doesn't really care. After all she has only had electricity in her house for a couple of years. She's used to managing without.

I hadn't intended to go over to the hotel because the bus fares are adding up...and so is the petrol if Mr A has to bring me home. It's also unbearably hot and waiting around for buses isn't pleasant. It's also Mr A's busiest time and he really can't be away from the hotel or he will miss customers.

However, on the spur of the moment I decided to go. I spent a hot sticky day there and although really not looking forward to it, was prepared to make the return journey by bus. But Mr A insisted on bringing me home. Just after he dropped me off and was about to return there was an announcement from the Muhtur over the public address system to say that the electricity would go off again this morning and wouldn't be switched on again until around 6pm.

It would seem that work on the new electricity system for the village, which should have started last month, has finally begun.

Today I decided I would stay at home. We just can't afford all this travelling back and forth. But I was prepared. I stayed awake as long as I could last night to make the most of being able to use my laptop, get the washing done and vacuum the house. The dogs woke me up as usual at 6am, and after being fed and going out, I managed about an hour on the laptop before the power was cut just after 8am. It returned again at 6.30pm.

As you can imagine in this heat food in the fridge is going off, and stuff in the freezer is gradually defrosting. It's a bloody nuisance! Mr A phoned to say he had spoken to the Muhtar who informs him that these daily powercuts will continue for the next 10 days!

So I am trying to adjust my body clock to accommodate. Today I have had two long naps and am hoping this will enable me to stay awake tonight, to do all the things that require electricity, that I would normally do during the day.

By the end of the 10 day period I should be completely nocturnal.

It's Monday

2011-08-08T12:57:00.001+03:00

We have electricity today, but the water coming from the tap is a pathetic trickle. My first load of washing is still in the machine. It's been there since early yesterday morning, having done 5 minutes of the wash cycle, before the 10 hour powercut, and before the water dried up.

I am in desperate need of a shower. I have managed to wash myself...sort of...with the trickle from the tap, but it's not enough. I had intended to catch the bus over to the hotel but it's so hot I can't face it.

The work on the roads in the village continue. This is a typical "before" shot of one of the many winding lanes leading up the hill to where we live.

In fact this one is pretty good compared to most of them.

Today the workmen have reached the lane in front of our house. They are attempting to even out the surface of the lane with a huge digger. The noise and the dust is unbearable.

This is what one of the completed lanes looks like, and what they will all be once they are finished.

They are still uneven but a vast improvement on the existing ones.

We are due another powercut sometime today, and I've no idea when the water supply will be back to normal.

I'm not in the mood to write much today so I'll leave you with a little video I found of Milas...our nearest town.

şu milasın içinde - nazmi yükselen türküsü loveinbodrum

(If you can't open the video..just click on the link below it)

COMMENTS ON A PREVİOUS POST

2011-08-08T06:18:00.000+03:00

Please note that my earlier post PLEASE WATCH THİS VİDEO is now closed for comments. Please read the post by all means, and if you feel there is any way you can support Karen in her work, then please follow the link to the T.A.G. Facebook page.

Sorry to have to do this, and to introduce comment moderation on my blog, but I never realised there were so many nasty, vindictive people involved in animal welfare and rescue. Their comments are not welcome here.

My support for Karen Lowrie Wren continues.

I want to feel cold again

2011-08-07T19:38:00.000+03:00

The heat of August is stifling. Hot, sticky and so humid it's difficult to breathe at times.

I've just come online after a 10 hour powercut. Not only that, the water has been off for about 8 hours so I can't even cool down by taking a shower.

I had decided to stay at home today because housework needed to be done and also a pile of washing and ironing. But of course without electricity and water I haven't been able to do anything. Mr A came home with me last night, and had I known what it was going to be like today I would have gone to the hotel with him this morning. The bus service from the village on Sundays is almost non-existent so I decided against attempting to get to Bodrum under my own steam. In any case I really didn't want to venture out in my lack-of-shower smelly state.

When we leave the hotel, we normally arrive home around 6 or 7pm, and often Mr A returns to work. At this time it's still hot and although it's preferable on the back of the motorbike rather than inside a stuffy car or bus, the breeze is still warm.

However, last night we left later than usual, at 9.30pm. It was dark and there was a stronger breeze and it was cooler. The cool air was so wonderful, I didn't want the journey to end. At one point I actually shivered!

I'm definitely in favour of leaving later in future....I really want to feel cold again.

PLEASE WATCH THİS VİDEO

2011-08-05T07:25:00.002+03:00

The way that dogs live in Turkey is something that I find distressing. In all my 13 years here, I have never been able to get used to the numbers of dogs starving and dying on the streets. In my early days here, I adopted a number of dogs, had them vaccinated, kept them for a while and then Mr A found homes for them.

Since then, finances have not allowed me to do more...although my regular followers know I've taken in three more since we moved here but couldn't manage to keep them. However we gave them a good start and Mr A found a home for them.

My own two dogs, Beki and Poppy, were also rescued. Beki almost 10 years ago at 2 weeks old, and Poppy 18 months ago...you may well have seen the "before and after" photos of her on here.

Foreigners come here, see what's happening, and with initial good intentions, try to do what they can to help. They set up dog shelters, raise money to feed the strays and to pay for veterinery treatment. But it's just the tip of the iceberg.   The best run shelters operate a mass sterilisation programme and return the dogs to the streets. It's better than herding them all into one place, where they will starve through lack of money, and suffer long lingering death through disease.

Sadly, some of these shelters are so badly run that the dogs would be far better back out on the streets. The video in this post is an example.

The Turkish Animal Group (T:A.G) is run by Karen Lowrie Wren.   Karen has worked tirelessly and unselfishly for 9 years to address the problem. She has relied on donations, and a considerable amount of her own money, to rescue dogs, get them speyed and vaccinated and eventually to be adopted by people here and abroad.

She has also been visiting some of the shelters and secretly filmed the following video.   You can hear the frustration and distress in her voice, when her requests to take some of the dogs for adoption is refused. I warn those of you who care about the welfare of animals, that this video is hard to watch.

sopen izmir

click on the above link if the video doesn't open on here

If you feel that you can do anything at all to help, please visit Karen's Facebook page here.

NOTE:

To all those people posting nasty vindictive comments and personal attacks on either Karen or myself who also hide behind "Anonymous" because they don't have the courage to reveal themselves.   Don't waste your time.   Your posts will be deleted.   My Blog = my choice.

Difficult journey

2011-08-02T22:29:00.000+03:00

Today didn't start terribly well. I woke up this morning to find the water was off, and shortly after the electriciy was also cut. I had intended to spend a relaxing day at home, but when Mr A phoned he suggested I catch the bus over to the hotel and he would bring me back this evening.

As it's market day in Milas, I decided that I would avoid a crowded dolmuş and catch the one due at 1.00pm. I set off to the village early at 12.30 because work is being done on the roads leading up the hill, so I thought I may have to go by a different route.

I arrived at the bus stop with 10 minutes to spare and waited...and waited. By 1.20pm the bus still hadn't arrived so I phoned Mr A to let him know I'd either be delayed or may give up and go home. He called me back 5 minutes later to say he had spoken to the Muhtar who had informed him that there was a new system on Milas market day. Apparently the bus driver won't leave the village before ours until he has at least 6 passengers. Would have been nice if we had been told!   So eventually it arrived at 1.40pm, then sat and waited for a further 10 minutes for some more passengers.

Eventually I reached the main road and crossed over to wait for the Bodrum bus. I rarely have to wait more than 10 minutes, but today I waited for 35 minutes. When I got on the bus there were no seats, but a man sitting in the back row got up to give me his seat. It might have been better if I'd remained standing as I was then squashed between two very large, very sweaty people, so it was rather unpleasant.   And there I remained for the rest of the journey, which normally takes 45 minutes.

When we reached Guvercinlik (about half-way) we were diverted into a lay-by where the Jandarma were doing one of their checks. This does happen from time to time here but I've been pretty lucky so far in that this is only the second time I've experienced it. A jandarma officer got on the bus and collected up everyone's kimliks (ID cards) and took them away to be checked. While we waited the bus driver decided to collect fares.   He tried to charge me 7 lira instead of the usual 6 (maybe because he thought I was a tourist) but when I informed him that it always costs me 6 lira, he gave in!

We waited for a further 10 minutes, then the driver set off.....without the kimliks!   As I was sitting in the back row I could see the jandarma officer shouting to him to stop, and at the same time some of the passengers on our bus were doing the same. He seemed quite oblivious to all this commotion until one of the passengers got up and proceeded to the front of the bus and shouted at him.   So he eventally stopped, reversed back up the road, collected our kimliks and off we went.

This journey normally takes me just over an hour. Today it took two and a half hours.

To top it off, as I was getting off the bus in Bodrum, my sandal broke. However, the day did get better. Mr A gave me some money to get some new sandals. He was going to one of the other hotels with his boss in his car, and they dropped Gwen and I in the centre of Bodrum where I managed to get some lovely new sandals. We spent a couple of hours happily browsing and were then collected by Mr A and his boss, calling in at another of the hotels for coffee and then back to our hotel.

Finally, instead of coming home on the motorbike, and because Mr A had to return to the hotel this evening, his boss brought us back to the house, where we had coffee before they returned.

This picture is of one of the teahouses in the village. These men must be so bored. They sit here from early morning till late at night. It must be even worse at the moment as Monday was the start of Ramazan...the month of fasting...so nothing must pass their lips...no food, drink or cigarettes.

So it's now just after 10pm...time to relax. The water is still off however, so no shower for me tonight....but the electricity is back on...for now!

Baa baa black sheep....

2011-07-31T10:59:00.001+03:00

Are black sheep more intelligent than white sheep? Or just a bit more independent?

A couple of female neighbours from down the hill bring their flock up past our house very early in the morning, they turn onto a narrow track at the back of our house then up and over the hill to graze for a couple of hours.

They repeat the process again early evening.

Having watched this most days since we moved here more than two years ago, I can see how easy it is to control sheep. The women make clicking noises with their mouths to call the sheep. They also use an empty plastic coca-cola bottle filled with pebbles. If one of the sheep climbs onto the wall at the back of the house..a couple of bangs on the wall with the bottle usually brings them scurrying back to join the rest of the flock.   After all...they are sheep...they just follow each other like....well...sheep!

There is one black sheep amongst the flock, who seems intent on doing his own thing.   He charges on ahead of the rest of the flock...or hangs back and chews on anything that grows....usually one of our olive trees, the branches of which hang over into the lane.

This black sheep is running riot in our garden. This started over a week ago. I discovered that a small grapevine which we planted this year...a cutting from the large vine, had been chewed, leaving a few straggly leaves. Also three small apple trees are now almost bare of leaves.    Also there was further evidence...sheep poo.

Because I had been at the hotel most days, I hadn't seen the sheep in action. However I was at home yesterday and my dogs were outside barking furiously. I ran out to see the black sheep munching his way through the garden.  He manages somehow to get into the part of the garden which is mostly enclosed by chickenwire, and the parts that aren't have a wall with a high drop to the lane below.

I chased him with the broom and to my surprise he leapt over the wall into the lane below. It's a long way down but he was very agile and it caused him no problem....but it would be impossible for him to climb in the same way. He then sped off in the opposite direction of his home, with one of the women chasing after him...shouting sorry to me as she passed.

The same thing happened again last night and this morning. I honestly can't see how he manages to get into the garden other than if he climbs the lower wall into my neighbour's garden, and would then have to walk about 10 metres along a narrow stone wall, almost like walking a tightrope...and then taking a huge leap into our garden.

Clearly the women have no problem controlling the rest of their flock...but this black sheep has a mind of his own. We need to do something very soon to prevent him gaining access to our garden, before there is no garden left!

What I'm missing

2011-07-29T22:58:00.000+03:00

The past few days have been quite hectic. I'm going over to the hotel most days and am really enjoying it. Since I've been there during the past couple of weeks, I've been getting to know the woman who runs the small hotel shop with her husband. She is English, her name is Gwen and she has been married to her Turkish husband for two years.

We seem to have lots in common and we are both absolute chatterboxes...so the time has flown by. It has been extremely hot and humid today and Gwen and I were discussing how our ankles swell up and our feet are sore. I said wouldn't it be lovely to be able to sit there with our feet in iced water.

I didn't realise Mr A was listening and 5 minutes later he appeared with a huge empty container, full of water and ice cubes, so Gwen and I took it in turns to dip our feet... what bliss!

Oh...... my post title..."what I'm missing"......this is what I'm missing and what I can't wait to see in September...my beautiful grandsons...who are growing and changing every day:

Good grief it's Friday again! Where has this week gone? Have a good weekend everyone xx

Too helpful?

2011-07-27T05:34:00.001+03:00

It's a common Turkish trait....being helpful.   Everywhere you go in this country, people bend over backwards to help if you have a problem. I think it's what visitors remember most about the Turks when they return home.

I've talked before about dolmuş drivers going out of their way to accommodate their passengers. On Sunday I planned to bus over to Bodrum mid-afternoon and travel back in the evening with Mr A. I waited at the village bus stop for the bus due at 2.30pm.   Before the dolmuş arrived the phone was ringing in the tiny office and one of the men from the teahouse popped over to answer it. When the dolmuş arrived he had a word with the driver. I got on the bus, paid my 1 lira which takes me to the main Bodrum road, a journey of 5 minutes. However, the driver reversed the bus and set off back in the direction that he had come. He carried on driving until we reached the next village...about 12 kilometres away, and a bit further till we reached a fish restaurant way out in the woods (a place I never knew existed, but think I'll visit some time).

It would seem that the phone call was from the restaurant to say that two customers needed collecting to go to Milas.   When we arrived, there was no sign of them. One of the passengers got off the bus and went to look for them...nothing. We waited 5 minutes, then the driver went off to search. He came back on his own and we waited a further 5 minutes.   Eventually, someone came out and informed the driver that the people concerned had managed to get a lift into Milas after all.

Wouldn't you think the driver would be a little upset or annoyed? Not a bit...he shrugged his shoulders...reversed the bus and set off again. My 5 minute journey to the main road took almost an hour. I guess before I lived here, something like this would have annoyed me, but how can you be upset when someone is going out of their way to be helpful?

I've been over at the hotel with Mr A a fair amount this past couple of weeks and I've been observing this helpfulness firsthand. If you are a guest in a hotel and you have a problem, your first port of call is Reception. Guests latch on pretty quickly to the fact that if Reception don't respond immediately they can just take their problem to another member of staff...and another...and so on until they get what they want.

Mr A works for the Hamam...his job is to sell tickets...that's it. The running of the hotel and guests problems relating to their stay, are not his concern. However, like everyone else here, he won't refuse to help if he can. In the short time I've been there, I have seen him respond to the following:

"My aircon in my room isn't working"

"I'm not happy with my room, can you get me transferred to another one?"

"I've booked a day trip tomorrow, but I'm not feeling well, so will the rep refund my money?"

"I need to see a doctor" (Mr A took this person to the hospital, and waited while they received treatment then brought them back)

"It's very windy and the umbrellas around the pool are blowing about...can you make them safe?"

"Where can I go to buy ...... ?(fill in the blank space with any number of items such as herbs & spices, shorts, sun lotion, medicines, etc)

I could go on...the list of requests for help is endless...and it's time consuming. And I know that Mr A isn't the only one. Everyone from cleaners, to bar staff, to waiters will be asked for help and will willingly give it. One of the Turkish reps actually took it upon himself to assist two guests to move to a different hotel. They had been booked into this hotel by mistake.  Their own tour rep was unavailable until the evening and they were anxious to move, so he arranged transport and escorted them there.

It must be catching, because I was asked yesterday where the nearest ATM machine was situated, and having given directions and been met with confusion, I escorted the guest out of the hotel, 10 minutes up to the main road to show them where it was.

Coming from a country where it's more usual to get the response "I can't help you..it's not my job"...it must be a refreshing change for visitors to Turkey to find that they only have to ask...anyone...and help is provided willingly.

Problems posting comments...again!

2011-07-24T20:55:00.000+03:00

I seem unable to post comments on any blogs other than my own at the moment. I'm not going to bother to seek "Blogger Help" because past experience tells me it's a total waste of time. The problem will no doubt be resolved when Blogger chooses.

But just really letting you know that I'm still following your blogs...reading them...but not being able to comment.

Saturday Snaps

2011-07-23T11:12:00.001+03:00

The first of the grapes

Making a start on the balcony sofra area..still work in progress. Have more ideas to make it more comfortable!

This is me with our wonderfully comfortable new motorbike....and sporting my new crash helmet. It's bright pink...not my colour of choice but it's the only one we could find that fit perfectly.

My old helmet was the "perch on the top of the head pudding-basin" type. Highly unsuitable for our new "go-faster" motorbike, which needs a helmet with a visor to protect my eyes and face from the wind, and also has to be much stronger and safer....and this one does the job on all counts.

I went to work at the hotel with Mr A again yesterday. Another enjoyable day. I helped book some customers for the hamam and was rewarded with a haircut by the hotel hairdresser, plus re-shaping eyebrows with the cottoning method (ouch...my eyebrows were totally out of control so the process was pretty painful!).

We spent a lot of time on the motorbike yesterday. To and from home, and we also visited two of the hotels that Mr A covers.   The first was in Yalıkavak, and the journey there which takes you up high into the hills, then down into the resort was a little like riding a roller coaster at times! The photo was taken on our way out of Yalıkavak, half way up the hill, and you can see the sea in the background.

The second hotel was in Gumbet, Bodrum, where we chatted to customers and had lunch, then back to Mr A's hotel for the remainder of the afternoon.

I'm beginning to think that I am somehow going through my "second youth".   When I was young, you would never have got me on the back of a motorbike...I was far too sensible to take risks.   Now you can't get me off it!   It's an amazing feeling to travel the road to Bodrum, to see the wonderful turquoise sea as you drive through Guvercinlik, the picturesque white houses as you come into Bodrum, the beautiful harbour and the hustle and bustle of this busy town.    The feeling of the sun on your arms, and the constant changes of smells, as you drive past restaurants, is something that can only be experienced on a motorbike.

So here I am...a grandmother...at the start of my twilight years...growing old slightly disgracefully! I almost convinced myself yesterday that I'd quite like a tattoo!    I said "almost".   It was a fleeting thought, and I quickly talked myself out of it!   I'll just stick with the adrenaline rush I get from the motorbike for now!

Have a good weekend everyone xx

Unnecessary exertion and recycling

2011-07-20T21:49:00.000+03:00

Those of you who have followed my blog for some time know that I have an occasional obsession with moving furniture around. Of course it's best done during the winter months, but yesterday in temperatures which hit 41 degrees, I stupidly decided to move sofas and armchairs. Not just for the sake of it..there was method in my madness. We have a long window in the sitting room which allows us to gaze at the wonderful view. There are two windows either side that open, but as is normal in Turkey, windows open inwards.

I had one sofa in front of the large window which meant that during the coolest parts of the day (ıe around 30 degrees!) I could only open one of the windows. So I needed to swop sofa for armchair so that both windows could be opened. As usual I end up with furniture all over the place. It's a small room so everything gets stuck and wedged together. At the same time I decided I was fed up with the large (very heavy) carpet, so I lifted that and dragged it out onto the balcony. The space left was filled with a (heavy) kilim from the spare bedroom.

Eventually after literally sweating buckets, it was all in place and looks great...and I'm now sitting in 29 degrees of "coolness" with both windows open.

Mr A is home tonight and he has now spread the large carpet out on the balcony to make a sofra area (Turkish comfortable floor seating), and we have added an old soft throw, folded up to sit on, and an assortment of cushions.

So what to do with the round table and chairs that were on the balcony but now don't have a home? Well a sofra area isn't complete without a low table for eating off, so he is at the moment, with great difficulty...and also sweating buckets, cutting down the metal legs of the table. I do love recycling! And I'm really looking forward to cooler weather so that we can enjoy meals out there in the traditional Turkish way.

And as if that wasn't enough exertion in this heat, I set off to the hotel again this afternoon and enjoyed a few hours there...meeting some more holidaymakers and staff.

Mr A has another "new" (different) motorbike...don't worry if you can't keep up...I've lost track. He is very much a motorbike man rather than a car man, and I have to admit there's nothing quite like riding pillion in this weather...the only way to feel any kind of breeze blowing through your hair. However, all the motorbikes we've had so far have been very uncomfortable for me. They're OK for short journeys but that's about it. Well at long last he has found one that is so comfortable, it's like sitting in a favourite armchair. So we travelled all the way back on it from Bodrum to the village this evening with me enjoying every moment.

Enough exertion for one week...tomorrow I'm doing absolutely nothing!

Venturing out in the heat

2011-07-18T20:04:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I decided it was about time I visited the hotel where Mr A is currently working. I set off on the village bus at 9.00am, picked up the Bodrum bus at the end of the village and Mr A collected me with the motorbike at Bodrum bus station.

From there it was just a 5 minute journey to the hotel.

It's not bad as hotels go. It's one of the older ones and could do with a bit of updating in places, but with package deals being so cheap these days, I can't imagine how the owners would actually make much profit at all, let alone have any spare cash for improvements.

Which brings me to the subject of all-inclusive package holidays. I don't like them and I wish Turkey hadn't jumped on the "all-inclusive" bandwagon a few years ago. Because guests have all their meals and drinks included in their holiday price, most of them rarely leave the hotel. This has had a devastating effect on local businesses. It's also a great shame that those people who wish to confine themselves to their hotel for the duration of their holiday, miss out on seeing this beautiful country and what it has to offer.

And the all-inclusive hotels have become very competitive, slashing their prices to attract more customers.

My brother and sister-in-law decided last week to book a week's holiday in Bodrum at the end of September. I hadn't mentioned the name of Mr A's hotel, and when my brother emailed me to confirm his booking, by sheer coincidence it turned out to be Mr A's hotel!

So this was one of the reasons for my visiting yesterday, so that I could take some photos and give my brother a bit more information about the hotel.

I talked to a few guests yesterday to get their opinions. Most agreed that even though the hotel is rated 4 star, it doesn't compare with 4 star in England for example. However, they did say that when you start to break down the costs of flight, room, all meals, drinks and entertainment, it was exceptionally good value for money.

Then of course we have the "professional complainers", and unfortunately I got stuck with one for half an hour. She was the most miserable woman imaginable. She moaned about absolutely everything. I did point out that you get what you pay for, and in this case you get an awful lot for your money. She wasn't convinced, and even when I suggested that if she wanted 5 star luxury, then she would need to pay at least double, she didn't agree.   It's impossible to reason with people like this, and when Mr A approached us he could read my expression which said "please rescue me"......and he did!

I have only one regret about venturing out yesterday and that is this damned sweltering heat! It's just unbearable.   When I was ready to come home just before 5pm, my dear Mr A dropped me at the bus station to pick up the Milas bus. He then went ahead on the motorbike to the top of the village road and waited to take me back to the house...just so that I woudn't have to wait in the scorching sun for the village bus.   After dropping me off he returned to Bodrum...a round trip of more than 2 hours. It was a timely reminder for me that this journey for him is dangerous and tiring...and he's getting so little sleep at the moment with the excessive number of hours he is working.

And talking of sleep...none at all for me last night. My bedside fan just moves the hot air around. I moved to the sitting room and tried the sofa with the aircon on. The noise kept me awake. I tried the spare bedroom...that didn't work. So I stayed awake.   I managed an hour's nap this afternoon but I'm desperately hoping for a drop in temperature tonight...but according to the forecasts there's not much chance.

....and the forecast says it's getting hotter....groan!

Photos

2011-07-15T21:54:00.003+03:00

It's just too hot to write..too hot to do anything..so I'll post up some photos.

Mr H at Subsistence Pattern asked for a pic of my grapes. They are coming along nicely and should be ready soon:

And here's a photo of Jimi who is now almost 3 months old...and I thought I'd post one up of Billy at roughly the same age to compare. I think they look very different. Billy resembles his father's side of the family, whereas Jimi is more like his mother's side. Both absolutely gorgeous!

Jimi at 3 months

Billy at 3 months

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

Word association and heat

2011-07-13T08:16:00.000+03:00

You might have gathered from previous posts that I'm no good with foreign languages. That's an understatement...I'm useless.

When I first met Mr A his English was very limited. It's now pretty much fluent. OK we have a few laughs at his misinterpretation of certain words at times...and he often "invents" English words. For example if he is looking around an area he refers to it as "rounding". And he still calls toes "feet fingers".   His English is so good that he actually dreams in English....I know this because he occasionally talks in his sleep...and it's often in English!

He has also grasped an understanding of several other languages as a result of chatting to tourists..his German is now pretty good too.

And here I am, 13 years in this country, and I still have problems communicating. I have a fairly extensive vocabulary. I just can't put all the words together in sentences which would enable me to have a proper conversation with anyone.

I do so envy those people who absorb a foreign language so easily...it's a gift isn't it? It's not that I haven't tried. I've had lessons in the past, I've bought lots of "teach yourself Turkish" books and dictionaries but I'm still struggling. Still just getting by.

It occurred to me yesterday that the way I remember certain words is by using word association. I must do it subconsciously most of the time, because it was only as I was struggling to recall the Turkish word for label that I realised I was doing it.   "label" in Turkish is "etiket".   How did I eventually remember it? Don't laugh please!   Etiket sounds like etiquette.   I had a picture in my mind of Hyacinth Bucket (the expert on etiquette) in the opening credits of Keeping Up Appearances where she is setting out place names at her dining table.    So....etiquette...place names...labels...etiket.   Get it?

Well it works for me!   BUT if any of you out there also struggle with languages and have any other useful tips for me, they would be most welcome!

....................

I don't know why, after all these years here, that July and August and the intense heat of these months, always comes as a shock.   The temperatures are now in the high 30s and getting hotter. I'm confined to the bedroom for most of the day as it's (only slightly) cooler than the rest of the house. I don't use the aircon in the sitting room because, having cooled down and then having to move to another room or venture outside, the sudden difference in temperature actually makes me feel faint and physically sick.

The dogs have settled for the bedroom too, and it's a real effort to get them outside.

I only go outside to move the hose pipe around early morning and early evening. We have it set on a constant dribble, so each tree gets 12 hours. This seems to be working well as all the trees are looking very healthy. There are huge amounts of grapes on the vine, which should be ready soon. And we will have bumper crops of figs and pomegrantes this year.

I'm finding it extremely difficult to venture down to the village to pick up bread and other daily essentials, because the climb back up the hill in this heat nearly kills me. Mr A pops home every few days and brings supplies with him, which keep me going. But every so often I really need to get into Milas to do a big shop. He managed to get home yesterday for a few hours, around 4.30pm, so we set off for Milas. It was an opportunity to check my postbox and post some letters at the post office, and then hit the supermarket. You would be amazed at the amount of shopping the two of us manage to carry on the motorbike.   It's a bit dangerous really, but this is Turkey, and you will often see an entire family...mum, dad and a couple of chiildren squashed onto a motorbike, so the two of us and half a dozen bags of shopping is quite normal.

I'm getting up around 5am most days, particularly if I need to clean the house.   Around 6am it's possible to sit outside with a coffee, but by 7am it's just too hot...so it's back to the bedroom.

Roll on winter!

The 7 Links Project

2011-07-10T13:12:00.002+03:00

I've been asked by Karen at Being Koy to take part in the Seven Links Project which was started by Katie at Trip Base.

To quote Katie "The idea is simple: bloggers publish 7 links from their blog to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again"

Karen reckons I'm "someone who reflects more than most so it should be a doddle"...we'll see!

THE RULES

1. The Blogger is nominated to take part by another blogger

2. He/she publishes their 7 links on their own blog. One Link for each category

3. They nominate up to five more bloggers to take part

My most beautiful post
My Beautiful Daughter   I can't really write beautiful posts. I don't have a beautiful way with words, unlike many other bloggers out there.  It's the subject of this post that is beautiful, and the feelings of love I experienced when writing these few words, that make it beautiful for me.

My most popular post
Marriage in Turkey    I don't think about how popular my posts are. Do you judge popularity by the number of views or comments? I don't really know, and I've waded through my statistics in the hope that I would find the answer. This is one of several posts that I've done about differences in culture...and I think readers are always curious about such things (I certainly am) and maybe this is why this type of post is popular.

My most controversial post
An eye for an eye   I think this may be my most controversial post. It was how I felt about the death of Osama Bin Laden. It was an emotive subject, which clearly dredged up strong feelings with a lot of people.

My most helpful post
Depression (2)    I have written a fair bit about Depression. It's a subject close to my heart, and one which I feel should be talked about much more. Sometimes we don't recognise the signs, and I did this post because maybe someone out there will see my "checklist"..identify with it...and seek the help they need.

A post whose success surprises me
When the cupboard is bare.   This is one of many posts I've produced about how to make meals from basics. Those times when money is scarce..or non-existent...the cupboard is bare, but you can still rustle up something to eat. This is based on my extensive personal experience of course! So this..and my other cheap and cheerful recipe posts seem to be successful and this did surprise me!

A post I feel didn't get the attention it deserved
Try as I might...I just cannot find a post to fit this category. Why? Because I write my blog first and foremost for me. The fact that I get attention at all, is always a pleasant surprise, and will continue to be so as long as I can keep this blog going!

The post I am most proud of
Depression (1) Well this post goes hand in hand with My most helpful post above.   Having worked for many years in the mental health field, and having also been a victim of Depression for most of my adult life, I am someone who believes strongly that Mental Health should not be brushed under the carpet.   We all need to be more open about it and this is what I try to do from time to time on my blog.   The reason this is the post I am most proud of, is simply because it took a while for me to pluck up the courage to be honest about my experiences and how I feel at times and to share them so publicly.

I actually found this task quite difficult to do. And now I have to nominate 5 more bloggers to undertake the project.   So here is my choice.....Good Luck!

Fly in the Web at Costa Rica Calling

Nomadic View

Claudia at A Seasonal Cook in Turkey

auntiegwensdiary

Kelloggsville

Local "Expert"

2011-07-09T07:40:00.000+03:00

Well the scheduled powercut due at 8am yesterday to run till 6pm, didn't happen. No-one knows why, and as usual no-one really cares or bothers to find out. I enquired of my neighbours yesterday afternoon if they knew what was happening and got the usual shrugs of shoulders. The people in this village are so laid-back...they are happy to just go with the flow.   Maybe it will happen today? Who knows? It's going to happen some time and I am prepared for hours without the internet. I have a list of jobs to do which don't require electricity and I have a pile of books to read.

Late yesterday afternoon two men turned up at the house. As usual I was in the bedroom on the laptop, keeping as cool as possible, with the dogs sprawled out on the floor doing likewise.

They barked and headed towards the door. I held on to Beki's collar and opened the door. I then proceeded to open the mosquito screen door (outwards)...still holding Beki, to talk to the men. As soon as one of them saw Beki he pushed the screen door shut..trapping my finger in it! Boy was I angry...and boy did it hurt!   I lost my temper and shouted. I asked them what they wanted and they said they wanted to see Mr A. I replied that he wasn't here.   Just as I was talking (or rather shouting) at them my mobile phone rang. It was Mr A. I explained what was happening and proceeded back to the door with the phone so he could talk to them.

As I opened the screen door ...the blasted man did the same thing again...pushed the door shut and fortunately this time I removed my hand just in time. However I let go of Beki's collar and she ran out. She sniffed at the men and the one who had pushed the door raised his hand and was about to hit her. I responded by shouting even louder "Don't you dare touch my dog!"   The other guy said he was sorry but his friend was afraid of dogs. I replied "I don't care. You hit my dog, or shut my finger in my door again and you'll be sorry!"

Naturally Mr A could hear all this on the phone and I spoke to him briefly about what had happened and then passed the phone to one of the men and left them outside to talk. He passed the phone back to me and Mr A said they wanted to see him about some paperwork to do with his motorbike, so he had given them his phone number and the address of the hotel where he is working in Bodrum.  He also said that the man had apologised to him about shutting my finger in the door but he had done this because he was scared of the dog. Rather a shame that he couldn't actually apologise to me!   He proceeded to ask me for directions to Mr A's hotel and I said I hadn't a clue. He continued to talk but by this time I had run out of patience and just told them to go away (I actually used stronger language)...they got the message and left.

I'm left feeling a bit embarrassed and slightly ashamed at my outburst. I wouldn't normally behave like this but I guess they just caught me at a bad time. The finger was swollen for a few hours, but with the help of some ice and ibubrofen gel, it's back to normal size, but a bit tender.

I'm very honoured to have been asked recently by three people to do guest posts on their blogs. Two fellow bloggers Deniz Bevan, and Jack Scott from PerkingthePansies, will be publishing guest posts on their blogs whilst they are away so my contributions will appear towards the end of August. I'll let you know when this happens.

The third request was from a blog run by Easyjet.   Ooh I thought, how wonderful, maybe I'll get free flights!  I submitted a post yesterday. They are happy with it and it will be published in the next few weeks. No-one gets free flights..sadly...but I have been awarded a badge which you will see on my sidebar, which according to Easyjet makes me a "Local Expert".   I'm still chuckling at the thought...Local Expert? Me? Hmmm....

To be perfectly honest I'd rather have recognition than a freebie. Of course it works for Easyjet too, because it's free publicity, but it also means that more people get to read my blog...so I'm happy.

So this is your Local Expert signing off and wishing you a happy weekend!

Here come the power cuts

2011-07-07T22:07:00.000+03:00

I thought I'd better do a blog post this evening, as the Muhtar announced from the mosque this afternoon that the power will go off at 8.00am tomorrow and will be off until 6.00pm. There is a new electrical system being installed in the village...there's been talk about it for months now...one of the excuses we were given for not repairing the street light outside our house.

So now it's all happening. This will be the first of many daily cuts until the work is completed. It baffles me why this work can't be done during the winter months, rather than when temperatures are now up in the high 30s. Fridges get warm and food is wasted. Aircon can't be used. And worst of all...no internet connection. It's Turkish logic. The same logic that's applied when main roads are also re-surfaced at this time of year...there's nothing much worse than hot sticky tar!

Yesterday I picked plums from the one plum tree in our garden. They're not ripe yet, but last year most of them were destroyed by insects, and in spite of treating them with insectide regularly this year, I noticed a few days ago that they'd been attacked again. So I decided to pick them as they are.

I made some jam...not easy when the plums are too hard to de-stone before cooking and very messy having to remove them afterwards. I also made a plum crumble and some shortbread

Today was my birthday and I wasn't really expecting Mr A to be here. It's very busy at the hotel, and when he does manage to get home it's very late at night. So I was pleasantly surprised when he turned up mid-afternoon with a bottle of wine and a delicious double-chocolate cake topped with chocolate almonds

We ate far too much cake. We also ate shortbread. We even ate bowls of plum crumble with icecream. No sensible food at all. Thank goodness birthdays are only once a year!

The wonders of the internet

2011-07-04T02:09:00.000+03:00

Here I am at 2.00am watching live streaming of the Casey Anthony Trial direct from Orange County Courthouse in the USA....on my laptop. It's a fascinating case. There's been little or no coverage in the UK as far as I'm aware and certainly none in Turkey.

What amazes me most of all, is that while I'm watching it here in Turkey, one of my blogger friends, Charlotte Ann who lives in Louisiana, is also watching it...and we are discussing it with each other on Facebook. Instant communication between two people who live so far from each other.

Isn't the internet fantastic?

Disturbances and lack of sleep

2011-07-03T08:25:00.000+03:00

I was very tired on Friday evening and was hoping for an early night. It's impossible in these temperatures to sleep without the bedroom window open, so I am quite used to village noises at night...dogs barking, cows, chickens, sheep, etc. These sounds don't bother me at all...I also hardly notice the call from the mosque these days. I think most of us get used to the sounds within our own environment. I remember once in England, living fairly close to a railway line. At first the noise of the trains kept me awake, but after a while you just get used to it.

My neighbour, Şevke, had family visiting. They were pretty noisy until around 10.30pm, but then they left and I settled down to go to sleep.   About 10 minutes later I heard shouting from the hill behind our house...just one man's voice, and he sounded drunk. The street light closest to our house which illuminates our garden has been out of order for months...(another ongoing battle with the Muhtar to get things fixed) so it was impossible to see who was making all this noise...not that I particularly wanted to go outside and investigate. I sent the dogs out into the garden...they barked at the man and he stopped shouting. Five minutes later he started again....and this carried on for a further half an hour or so.

Mr A phoned during this time to say goodnight and he could actually hear the man even though I was on the phone in the bedroom. Although I didn't feel unduly worried...my dogs always make me feel safe...Mr A said that he would come home. It was late and he was very tired so I was concerned about him making the journey back on the motorbike. So he decided to ring the Jandarma and the Muhtar to report the man.

A little later two Jandarma officers and the Muhtar arrived at my gate,by which time the man had disappeared, but they reassured me that they would search the area and find out who it was.   In spite of my protests, Mr A did in fact come home. On his way he saw the Jandarma with the Muhtar and they had found the man concerned.   It was rather sad really. He used to live in a house behind ours..it's no longer there. All that remains are the foundations and a few bricks. His parents spent their lives in that house. They died in that house. Sometimes the man gets drunk and he goes up to the ruins of the house and sits there with his memories. He apologised to Mr A and asked him to ask my forgiveness...not necessary of course...no harm done. He says he won't do it again, but I'm not concerned if he does. At least I know the reason and I wouldn't be alarmed in the future.

So not much sleep on Friday.   Last night there was a wedding in the village...these are very noisy affairs...so no sleep last night either. Maybe tonight will be third time lucky!

At 7.30 this morning a tractor and trailer arrived to collect the rubbish...I literally jumped for joy....hmmm I really need to get out more!

Are you having problems posting comments?

2011-07-02T12:08:00.001+03:00

One or two people have mentioned problems they are experiencing in that they can post comments on some blogs but not on others.

I have had the same problem for the last couple of days. You type a comment, try to post, it asks you for your ID...you click "google account"...you get sent to the google log in page and log in...you go back and try to post your comment and it just keeps sending you back to Google log in on a loop. So frustrating!

I have spent hours trying to find a solution on Blogger Help. I've cleared the cache (even though I don't really understand all that stuff), deleted cookies and browsing history, and followed various other instructions...but to no avail.

At last I spotted a comment from someone who suggested it may be an Internet Explorer problem, so I've changed over to Firefox browser...and guess what? It works!

Maybe some of you are already aware of this, but in case you aren't I thought it would be useful to share this info.

A day trip, life and death and other stuff (again!)

2011-07-01T21:47:00.001+03:00

This morning I did this post...published it...and then it disappeared. I searched but couldn't find it so I posted again but wasn't happy with what I had written. I received a comment from Jules who had found my original post and she kindly copied and emailed it to me. Thankyou Jules...I am so grateful.

My apologies to Bombshellicious and Kelloggsville who commented on my original post before it disappeared giving me no chance to respond.

I am now about to delete my second post, because I wasn't happy with it. I couldn't re-create what I felt when I wrote this one. So I would also like to say thankyou to those of you who commented : Deniz, Charlotte Ann and of course Jules, and apologies because of course your comments will be deleted along with the post.

Mr A was asked by his boss if he would be prepared to collect his car for him yesterday. This would mean Mr A travelling by bus to a place called Salihli, which is 90km east of Izmir. The boss agreed to take Mr A's bookings for him in his absence, to make sure there was no loss of earnings, and to pay for any expenses incurred. It seemed like an ideal opportunity for Mr A and I to spend some time together, so he bought bus tickets for both of us.

I left the dogs out in the garden yesterday. It's now very secure and they have a large area in the old house for shelter from the sun, so making sure they were settled, I caught the dolmuş to the main road outside the village to wait for the bus carrying Mr A, which left Bodrum at 11.00am.

I haven't done any long bus journeys for a number of years. I've always been impressed by the service provided and how inexpensive and efficient it is to travel all over Turkey by bus. Things have improved enormously. There is now internet connection, each seat having its own monitor . Although I decided not to make use of it ...it makes a change to have a totally internet-free day. As soon as I sat down the steward brought me an icecream..lovely. He then dished out water at intervals, and half way through the journey served coffee/tea, cold drinks, and a huge variety of cakes and biscuits. They even have a little "dolly trolley" like the airlines!

There are always problems of course. Mr A's boss has had his 10 year old son, Ali, staying with him for a few days, and he needed to be delivered back to his mother at Izmir bus station, so he accompanied us. Mr A tells me that the boss and his wife are separated and the boss doesn't treat his son terribly well. In fact a couple of days ago Mr A almost came to blows with the boss for the way he was shouting at his son. He's a lovely boy, but quite timid...and clearly quite scared of his father. I felt like weeping for him.

Poor little boy clearly suffers from travel sickness, so spent the entire 3 and a half hour journey throwing up into plastic bags, which Mr A gathered up and disposed of once we reached Izmir. Mr A was so kind and gentle with this little boy...he really looked after him and was rewarded with a big hug from Ali when we said goodbye.

From Izmir we caught a bus to Salihli...90 km further. There's some interesting history attached to this town here but we didn't really have the opportunity to explore...maybe another time.

At Salihli bus station we picked up a taxi to take us to the address provided...which turned out to be a huge tomato warehouse...don't ask me why...I have no idea, and nor does Mr A. The car had been undergoing repairs by a guy who also humps crates of tomatoes...well this is Turkey...nothing comes as a surprise. The car was absolutely filthy, inside and out. Boy am I glad I changed my mind about wearing my white jeans. The cleanest bit of the car was the ashtray...and that had been well used.

We set off on the return journey, hitting Izmir at around 6.30pm and decided to pop in to Ikea. We had something to eat in their "value for money" restaurant, and a quick browse. We don't have money to burn at the moment but I picked up a couple of doormats for 2.95 lira each (just over a pound) and a large frying pan for 9.95 lira (about 4 pounds). We then popped into the Kipa supermarket next door and bought some dog food and milk, both on offer, and I managed to get a small electric fan for the bedroom, which at 24 lira was a pretty good deal.

We arrived home, exhausted at 10.30pm and the dogs were absolutely fine. I worried about them being left for 12 hours, but it didn't seem to bother them at all. Mr A took a shower then set off back to Bodrum to deliver the car.

It was a tiring day but one that gave Mr A and I some rare time together to talk. He was telling me about an accident on the Bodrum road that happened around 7am yesterday, when he was driving back to work on the motorbike. A car driving extremely fast overtook Mr A so close that Mr A had to swerve. No more than a few minutes later, the driver of the car seem to lose control and ploughed into two young men standing at the side of the road. They were thrown up into the air, and died instantly. The car crashed and was a complete wreck, the driver was taken to hospital in a serious condition. Mr A witness the whole thing, waited for the police and ambulance along with other witnesses. The incident has really shaken him up...understandably.

While we were walking around Ikea yesterday, Mr A received a call from his father to say that Mr A's grandmother is dying. Mr A is very close to her. He spent more of his childhood with them than his father. Grandmother is 97 years old. Grandfather is the same age. They have spent more than 70 years together. I'm not sad when people die who have lived such a long life. It's almost a cause for celebration. Grandmother has had a long, happy life...her time is up.

Mr A usually becomes quite emotional about his grandparents. He loves them dearly. Yesterday however he said he couldn't be sad about his grandmother dying because he can't stop thinking about the two young men, in their early 20s, whose lives were so tragically cut short without warning. This is really sad.

A strange day for us both. A timid little boy..scared of his father. A dearly loved grandmother coming to the end of her life, and two young men losing theirs so abruptly. A thought provoking day in so many ways

A welcome break

2011-06-28T07:28:00.000+03:00

This past couple of days we have had a very welcome break from the recent intense heat. There have been strong winds blowing from the north...in fact high on my hill they've been pretty much gale force at times. I've had to move tables and chairs off the balcony or risk losing them forever.

Temperatures had reached the late 30s...at one point briefly touching 40 degrees, so this wind has been such a relief. I've managed two nights of much needed sleep with the windows open. Of course the furniture is now covered in thick dust as a result, but it's a small price to pay!

This morning the wind has dropped and I will set off to market in Milas early before it gets too hot again.

My friend Gwen stayed for a couple of days last week and today is on her way back to England. She's back again in August/September.

I'm planning a trip over to England for just a week in September. I need to be with my daughter on her birthday. I have missed far too many of her birthdays since I moved here, and it's about time I rectified this. She is looking forward to it as much as I am. And of course I can't wait to see my grandsons again. Billy continues to be as cute as ever and I just love talking to him on webcam and Jimi grows more gorgeous every day.

Beautiful boys!

Mr A continues with his job over in Bodrum/Gumbet and isn't getting home as much as he or I would like him to. He's working long unsociable hours, is very tired, and frankly I worry about the journey from Bodrum to home on the motorbike. It's a busy, fast road, and one well known for traffic accidents. He intends to come home this evening and of course I'm looking forward to it, but I'm getting used to this situation yet again. I don't like it but I have to accept that he needs to earn money and that has to take priority. I cope when I have something good to look forward to...my planned flying visit to England in September helps.

An update on the rubbish collection...it still hasn't been collected. I spoke to the Muhtar myself the other day and got the usual shrug of the shoulders. Having filled the bin to overflowing, I placed an old plastic bin beside it which is also now full. So I'm now taking my rubbish further down the hill to the next available bin....which is also almost filled to capacity. I can't understand why I seem to be the only person in the village actually bothered by this problem. I decided against dumping my rubbish in the Muhtar's office...it's right opposite the teahouse, and I don't relish being laughed at by the men gathered there. So I have decided not to pay my water bill. It's overdue, but it includes the charge for rubbish collection...so it won't be paid until the rubbish is cleared. This small act of protest makes me feel a little better, although as most villagers seem to avoid paying their bills for as long as six months, I doubt it will have any effect on the Muhtar.

Well that's all for now...off to face the crowded dolmuş to Milas.