A blog about falling in love with Turkey and fulfilling a dream.

I first visited Turkey  back in 1995 and stayed in a small mountain village in Hisaronu near Fethiye with an ex boyfriend.

I really didn’t fancy Turkey, but it was cheap and so after having all my vaccinations for this dirty desert country I was being dragged off to, I bought a guide book.

On arrival the small mountain village had been taken over by bars, tacky shops and restaurants. The travel company said that 200 businesses had been developed during the winter, between the brochure being written and published.

The hotel owner was lovely and once we got over the surprise of hearing ‘The Scat Man’ blaring from the ‘village’ while women walked their cows up the dirt track road we decided to make the best of it.

My guide book talked of a deserted Greek Village not far away, and we decided to follow the books’ directions and walk there.

The book didn’t tell me I would almost die of heat exhaustion walking down there in August and I was so relived to finally find a small rustic looking hotel that looked like it might sell drinks and have somewhere to sit.

We got chatting to the staff at the Cavusoglu hotel.

‘Dr Ahmed’ made me the most disgusting tea using lemon and something green he picked in the village to make me feel better. The other guys Mithat and Mustafa were so lovely and friendly and call it crazy but I had a kind of feeling of belonging, of finding where I was meant to be.

It does sound mad, but I never had that feeling in the UK. I knew I wanted to live in Turkey one day.I had to do it.

The ex boyfriend turned out to be a bit of a loser and we split up but I stayed at the Cavusoglu  hotel in Kaya with the children almost every year, twice if we could manage it.

When I met my now husband John in 2007 I told him there was no point getting too involved, I planned to move once my children were older and settled.

John came on holiday and loved it too. That was lucky!

Cavusoglu Hotel is now Muzzys Place and Muzzy remains a very good friend, he calls me his ‘Abla’ meaning older sister.

When we fulfilled the dream and moved to Turkey I wanted to keep a log of it all. I signed up to Google Blogger and added bits when I could.

After a few weeks there was a bit of an uproar about Blogger and Digiturk showing some football match or something and the Turkish government banned Blogger.

So almost all my notes after that are  handwritten and maybe I will ever type them up, or maybe I won’t… but I’m going to give it a go.

I just finished a WordPress blog about our recent trip to Asia, and woke this morning wondering of my Blogger  account still existed.

Hey presto it did, and after some faffing I worked out how to import it into WordPress.

So here it is, the beginning and the 3 posts I made back in 2011.

A work in progress… now, where did I put those notebooks?

 

The joys of finding somewhere to live!

After what seemed like a blur of emotions and a feeling it was all happening to someone else we landed in Antalya at 4.15pm on Tuesday 1st February 2011.

The build up was so difficult, saying goodbye to friends and family at our wonderful leaving party was just awful, shedding tears every day and then deciding the day before leaving that I wasn’t going and couldn’t go through with it.
I remember feeling abnormally calm when I said goodbye to my dad when he dropped us at 7.15am at Lancing station with just 20 kg of luggage each.
I was fine until the wheels left the ground and I was looking across the land below thinking my children were down there somewhere and had another cry.

My bag was almost the last off the conveyor belt, seemed like an eternity waiting anxiously and deciding that if it didn’t turn up then it wasn’t meant to be and would get the next flight back to the UK.

We knew there was a bus to the Town centre somewhere and within minutes we were being looked after by a Turkish man who was waiting for the same bus, and remembered one of the reasons for moving.

The 202 bus took forever to get across town to the Otogar, Antalya is huge and quite congested. We then found the small bus station and got a ticket to Fethiye.
There was snow on the sides of the mountain road, it was really cold and having hogged the window seat all the way on the plane came unstuck when I realised there was ice on the inside of the window and got no sympathy from John.

It was a very long 3 hours. We were frozen, having left all our warm clothes in the UK because its hot in Turkey isn’t it?

We finally arrived at Fethiye Otogar around 10.30pm and stood like lemons outside Migros waiting for a dolmus until we realised they probably have a winter timetable. So then a taxi to the Harman Hotel in Calis, Fethiye and fell into bed around 11.30 pm. With the time difference it was a mere 14 hours after leaving Lancing.

We stayed at the Harman on a few occasions when on holiday, so it seemed like a perfect and familiar base to start our new life.

Wednesday 2nd Feb

We were relieved to see the pancake man was still at the Harman, and got lovely pancakes and Turkish breakfast.
Set off in search of some of the agencies we had seen online to see what they had to rent.
Didn’t do terribly well as the addresses were on Johns laptop…. you just cant beat a bit of paper sometimes.
The first couple of agents had nothing, one man in a place that only sells property said he might be able to rent us his summer place and told us to go back the next day.
We wandered along the harbour and saw another agency and they told us the agent was in the cafe opposite, so we went and found him, he then phoned someone else, then she joined us with her son, then another man came.
This all seemed to take forever but the views of the harbour were stunning.

He and took us all in his car to look at a 3rd floor flat near the Otogar.
It was dark and dingy and 650tl (that was after we told him 750 was too much)
He tried really hard to tell us we wouldnt find anything else as luxurious and all about the Scottish owner being his friend for many years (like we cared) and finally gave up and took us to a house near the Pelin Hotel.
This apparently was also a snip at 700tl.
We got inside to discover there had been some sort of drain blockage on the balcony and everything inside had gone mouldy.
I actually felt really sorry for him, but still not interested when he assured me 3 days later it would all be redecorated and sorted.
3 months more like!
We gave up at that point, declined a lift back to town and went for a well earned beer at Guvens restaurant and saw Dannys puppies ( No John you cant have one)
On the way back along Calis promenade we stopped outside the Seketur Restaurant as they had a list of events, went in to enquire about the Turkish lessons, got chatting to a Canadian lady called Peri about looking for properties to rent and she said one upstairs from her was vacant and offered to show us round the next day.
People are just so friendly and helpful.
In the evening we went for dinner with Sandy who I had met through the Calis Beach Forum and emailed several times. When we arrived at the Harman she had sent a card to welcome us with a phone number and a dinner invite.

Sandy was my life saver on many occasions when I was having panic attacks and breakdowns, she convinced me that if she could do it with just her cat for company then we would be fine.
Was a little concerned about dinner with people we didnt know, but didnt need to be. Sandy and Cahit made us so welcome, dinner was lovely, lots of chat and helpful advice and rolled back to the Harman at 1am.
A really fab evening.

Thursday 3^rd  Feb 2011     a bit overcast but quite warm

Number of mosquito bites on my face – 2

We met Peri outside Migros at 10am and walked just round the corner to the block of apartments where she lives and went and had a look around the empty one on the 3^rd floor.

It was unfurnished, but just wasn’t what we wanted although it was very cheap ( about £140 a month) and had mainly Turkish friendly neighbours and a bit of outside space that anyone was welcome to maintain. There was the back of a business at the back of the garden where they dump their stuff but Peri said you don’t notice it after a while and the benefits outweigh it. I think I would have noticed it every day and never got used to it.

We went and got my mobile sorted out in the big Turkcell shop opposite the mosque, registered a new sim for 5tl, bought credit and  sat at the Kultur Cafe and started to go through the Land of Lights local ex pat paper’s classifieds and made a few calls.

Most people we rang said the properties had gone except a man called Firuz who had a garden flat to show us near Genpa in Calis and a flat in ‘Sunset’ near Letoon Hotel at the end of Calis promenade.

The garden flat was ok, that was all really. The other problem was that it would be used by the owner in the summer but we would be able to move into one of the other apartments, hopefully. We looked at the probable other apartment, again, it was ok…

We walked together to Sunset. It was very modern large 2^nd floor apartment in one of 3 blocks, nicely furnished and had use of a pool. The location was perfect, literally seconds to the beach. We could have stayed until the middle of June, but then would have to find somewhere else. That would tie in with family coming and would be perfect for them.

 

The site manager was trying to persuade us to give a deposit, Firuz said we didn’t have to if we weren’t sure, and we decided not to but were quite tempted.

Later we realised we were trying to find a permanent home for us, not a holiday home for friends and family and decided not to go for the Sunset flat.

Friday  4^th Feb  about 16 degrees and sunny

Number of mosquito bites on my face – 3

We arranged to meet another agent, from Deniz Emlak and he took us to the back of the Pelin Hotel and along way along a road towards Gunlukbasi and stopped outside a huge detached decorative stone villa with its own pool. It was available for £500 a month. We told him we don’t want anything that grand or expensive and didn’t bother to go in.

We then went to a small complex of 3 villas next to Almina aparts, still in Gunlukbasi area.

We were shown round one of the villas, very nice, 750tl a month, but could only use it until June. They said we could possibly move into one of the other villas, but if not the owner, who also owns Almina aparts would let us have one of those until September.

We said we would think about it and asked them to leave us in the area (so we could go and look for’ Kiralik’ – for rent – signs in windows..)

We walked and walked, didn’t see much though!

Went back to Almina Aparts, had a cay ( Turkish tea) and asked about the cost of the interim aparts, numerous phone calls back and forth and the conclusion was that we would still pay the same all year round.

Told the agent there was no way we would pay 750 tl a month for a small flat overlooking the villa we were waiting to move back into.

Outside the shop near the Sunday market there was a kiralik sign, so we asked inside, and the lady there arranged with another man to drive us to look, they explained we couldn’t go in as someone is living there for another 2 weeks but we could look from the outside. We said that was ok we would still like to look and asked how much the rent was. She looked me up and down and said 600 tl.

We said ok and off we went up lots of lanes getting more and more run down looking until we pulled up outside a half sized near derelict house (one where they build another bit on as the family grows)  A man came out, and chatted to us, but we were really glad we couldn’t go in.

I can only assume the 600tl was per year!

In the meantime, another agent Neyse, who we had called the day before called back with some possibles, she said she had 4 by Aydin Pide, but the owner was in Istanbul and hadn’t left keys, but had some others.

We walked back to Genpa and met her there, she was with another woman. They drove us a few feet to Lissa aparts, a complex of lots of crammed in places, with maintenance of 140tl a month because there aren’t many people living there to share the cost. It was an apartment, so at 800 tl a month it was hardly a bargain.

Then they drove us to Sunset, where we explained we had seen it before, then to another on  the main road – a HUGE complex, all ‘luxurious’ where you would be able to watch big fat beer swilling holiday makers in the pool right outside your lounge window.

By now I was feeling fed up, why did all the agents assume we wanted something ‘British’and luxurious ?

I explained that we wanted somewhere traditional, somewhere surrounded by Turkish neighbours where we could have goats and chickens if we really wanted too ( slight exaggeration, but desperately trying to get the point across!)

So she took us to one near the Harman, mid terrace, pink, huge, unfurnished and had character and just 500tl a month.

 

The owner said he would paint it throughout and the present tenant was there and he said the landlord is really good and he had lived there happily for many years.

We were a bit concerned about it being unfurnished, but Neyse explained that furnished ones are nearly always going to be used by the owner for their own holidays and we didn’t want to have to keep moving.

So this was it, we decided this was the house for us and arranged to meet Neyse with the deposit the next morning.

Got the dolmus to Fethiye, found a fab chicken doner place on the main road along near the big mosque called Bim Bum, just 5tl for 2 cay and 2 doners !

Priced up furniture and appliances in various shops all around the fire station area and then walked all the way back. Hate to think how many miles we walked today.

Saturday 5^th Feb   about 16 degrees and sunny

On our way to the Dolmus, after getting some cash for the deposit we saw Firuz cycling along. He stopped and asked us where we were going and we told him about the pink house.

He said over and over why didn’t you tell me you wanted unfurnished, you told me furnished, I had the perfect place for you but didn’t think it would be suitable.

We explained that we realise there’s no chance of getting somewhere all year round with furniture. He made a phone call and then said come on I will show you another house.

I explained we had an appointment with Neyse, but he said it doesn’t matter, come on.

So, he took us to another pink house, on a mainly Turkish complex, with a pool. It was a lovely house, apart from the kitchen which was virtually nonexistent with the nastiest work top, but otherwise really lovely with a big green stretch of grass out the front and a small garden around the outside.

We walked all around the block to show him the one we nearly rented, which actually was about one minute away in the other direction. Firuz explained that we would never get any sun at the other one as all too enclosed. He was right and we agreed to rent this one and I rang Neyse and apologised profusely! It was only 50tl a month more and has a shared pool.

The site maintenance man Aytekin,  took us in his car to a second hand furniture place, most of it was only really fit for the bin. It’s a real eye opener what they keep and sell, we’re so wasteful the UK and have such high standards in comparison.

The man in the shop gave him the number of someone selling his flat contents and we went there, but it seemed expensive for what it was.

Firuz arranged for some kitchen fitters to visit, and took us to his house for lunch. Cooked by his lovely wife Nesrin. We had broccoli soup, stuffed cabbage leaves bread and salad (well I passed on the salad but surprised myself with the rest, it was lovely)

Their neighbour (who turned out to be the owner of the garden flat) invited us for cay after lunch, so we all went for tea.

Went back to pink house 2 and met the kitchen men ( about 4 of them and a random kid) . They all proceeded to stand in the kitchen shouting and measuring and came up with a stupid figure which would be crazy for a rented place but a real bargain in UK terms (about £800) for a new kitchen.

We decided we would make do and sort out some shelves for the existing traditional Turkish wooden ones and see if we could just change the hideous worktop.

Firuz negotiated with the site man to have steel bars put on all the windows, we would need to pay 4 months rent up front, and agreed this was fine and would be ready to move into on Tuesday.

We said we wouldn’t be able to get the money until Monday as needed to get the money from the bank, and were told that was ok and given a key.

Went back into Fethiye and walked up past the Otogar looking at furniture and second hand shops. Saw some lovely purple bargain sofas and decided I was having those no matter what!

Bought a few kitchen items in Fethiye and a second hand 4 ring gas hob for 50tl and walked all the way back via Kipa ( Turkish Tesco where we had to put all our stuff in a trolley and they put stickers on it all)  and then the rest of the way along the Gunlukbasi road, desperately needing a wee, to Seckin lokanta, had Moussaka and then gave in and got a dolmus back.

Miles and miles walked again, feet almost worn down to the bones now!

Stopped at the house around 9pm to drop the bits off that we had bought and the site man was there with the steel man and they were measuring windows and doors.

Booked an extra 4 nights online for the Harman.

Sunday 6^th Feb  18 degrees and sunny

We went to the Sunday market in Calis and bought lots of kitchen items from one of the stalls, they said they would drive us back with it and if we wanted to get anything else in the market they would deliver all of it, so we also got a duvet, 2 pillows, a rug to go with the sofas, sheets and a duvet cover.

Went and bought cleaning materials and spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. It was pretty grubby and had the usual paint all over the marble and door frames etc!

Sandy called round to see the house and said that her husband Cahit will be able to do something with the cupboards and the worktop.

Found an advert on Sahibden website ( a bit like the Friday Ad) for a washing machine and rang to find out more and asked if he had fridges or cookers too, he had a fridge, he took our address and within an hour or so came round with his laptop to show us photos and agreed to deliver the next day.

I asked about guarantee, he said he was the guarantee and that both items weren’t very old. 250 tl for the washing machine and 300tl for the big fridge freezer, very good prices.

Left the house tired but happy once it got dark.

Monday 7^th Feb     18 degrees and sunny

Well…. today was a bit of an adventure….

As we came out of the entrance to the Harman to go and get the dolmus to Fethiye to get the deposit money for pink house number 2 Firuz was cycling frantically towards us. He was so relived he hadn’t missed us.

He had found a nicer house…

Literally just along the road from the Harman, so in we went.

Gorgeous, loved it. And it had 3 wardrobes! Same price as pink house 2.

All the things I didn’t like about pink house no2 were lovely, lots of kitchen cupboards, lovely wood flooring, all freshly painted and a garden all the way around it, which was just a pile of mud as they were going to make a car hardstand on the front.

 

Firuz had bumped into the owner Fahri this morning and told him about us.

It was still being worked on, new light fittings in progress but they agreed we could move in Wednesday as we had to leave the Harman.

John and Firuz had to sneak off to the pink house and collect all the items we had left there and were hoping not to bump into Aytekin.

Later Aytekin kept ringing Firuz and maintained he had paid a deposit of 300tl to the steel man. Firuz said it was impossible to know if he was telling the truth or not and to ignore it.

Firuz introduced us to Fahri the owner and he explained about the work being done. He also said he would put steel on the back door, get the upstairs back balcony door looked at as is very warped and put a solar light above the front door. The electrician was there doing the light fittings.

Went into Fethiye to get cash for the deposit and 2 months rent. Went and asked about the purple sofas and they said they were sold to someone else but they made a phone call and told us they could get 2 more and to call in again around 4pm the next day.

Went and bought a bed and a cooker from another second hand shop, Fethiye Ev Kur near the fire station.

They gave us a lift home in the truck with the stuff and shortly after the fridge and washing machine were delivered. The washing machine people wanted 10tl for delivering, but didn’t get it as they chipped a bit out of the laminate trim and were totally careless!

We gave the 4 ring gas hob to Firuz as a present as he said he needed a new one,and we are able to have a full sized cooker in this house .

Firuz invited us for dinner in the evening, lovely evening with him and Nesrin until I got locked in the bathroom and they had to use a big knife to get me out!

We told Firuz that if we see him cycling tomorrow morning were going to ignore him!

 

Setting up home from scratch!

Tuesday 8^th Feb – warm and sunny again

Cant believe so much has happened in just one week! 

Walked round past the house, they had started the hard stand. Firuz came by, he said that Aytekin was calling all the time and wanted payment for the window deposit. We offered to pay half, Firuz rang him and we could hear all hoo ha but he wouldn’t accept it, he wanted 200 at least, so in the end we gave it to Firuz to give to him.

Firuz rang the gas man for us and he arrived with a bottle within 10 minutes.

They’re open 7 days a week, 7am to 7pm , til 9pm in summer – amazing.

Went into Fethiye, called into the purple sofa shop, Deniz Ev Kur, near the fire station while down that end to check was still ok for 4pm and they said they weren’t having anymore.

I explained what they said the day before and they were really apologetic and showed us the other colours but I only wanted purple. After another phone call they said I could have them!

They offered to deliver there and then but we were going to the market, so they said no problem they would take the rest of our shopping too on the truck,

So we bought some vegetables in the market had a chicken kebab in Bim Bum and bought 2 plastic garden chairs.

We didn’t want to buy too much and on one stall picked up 3 tomatoes, when they stopped laughing they said we didn’t have to pay for them!

The hard stand was almost complete when we got back and looking very smart.

Went for dinner with Sandy and Cahit to meet a friend of hers, Debbie, from Brighton, who is also moving to Calis and arrived this morning and will be house hunting too.

It turned out that Debbie went to the same senior school as me, but she’s 4 years younger, but we would have overlapped by 1 year. Freaky eh?

Had a lovely meal with them all and they said they would call in and see the house tomorrow.

Wednesday  9^th Feb – 18 degrees and sunny

Moved all our belongings the few yards along the road from the Harman into the house.

Did lots of cleaning and unpacking.

John found lots of poo in the top kitchen cupboard, which he deduced probably couldn’t be rats as it was very high. Then he found a lizard skeleton, nice.

Decided to use the washing machine, have never seen so much lime scale in a soap tray, had to go and buy some descaler, then discovered the fabric conditioner bit had a hole in it, the buttons on the front probably don’t come from this machine, the door was loose and John had to fix it.

When it was running it was making high pitched noises, was struggling to spin and took over 2 hours to complete a cycle. The clothes came out wringing wet

Rang the guy and he said he would come and fix it, but never turned up.

Later Sandy and Debbie called in. Firuz called Turk Telecom for us to arrange for a phone line and then took Debbie off to Fethiye to show her an apartment and Sandy stayed and chatted while they were gone.

Telecom came within 2 hours to do the phone line, 2 guys, not sure what was going on, but lots of muttering and I heard the word problem a few times.

Then they told me to go with them to the end of the road to the little telecom box.

They gave me a piece of paper with the owner Fahrirs name on, with the house phone number handwritten on it, and another piece the same was put threaded through a wire in the box and the box was closed up with sticky tape.

Then they said ‘yarin elktrikci’ – tomorrow electrician – so I nodded smiled and thanked them and off they went.

 I cooked in our new home – vegetables !!! Now this doesn’t sound too amazing, but people close to me will be in shock.

Cooked aubergines, courgettes, onions, mushrooms and potatoes with garlic and chilli- very nice! Couldn’t actually find the 3 tomatoes so didn’t put them in.

Fahrir called to see if Turk Telecom had been and I told him yes and tomorrow elektrikci.

We then went off in the evening to buy a mattress protector, walked to Tansas, no luck, so went to Migros and were finally able to make the bed and fall into it, exhausted again.

The house is huge and very very cold! Couldn’t believe how freezing cold the sheets were and had to get into bed fully clothed.

Thursday 10^th February  sunny 18 degrees

Number of mosquito bites on my face – 4

As the weather was so lovely we decided to have an outside day.

The local gardener had turned up and left us a plant as a present with his business card, nice touch!

All of the garden is just soil and where the workers had been there was lots of rubble and sand which should have been swept into the gaps between the block paving.

John was sweeping sand and I decided to just remove the rubble in the soil… on closer inspection the soil was a mass of small rocks and big stones, so we spent a few hours picking them out and putting them in the builders hippo sack and dragging to outside the gate.

A few hours later and realising we just didn’t have the tools to dig it properly I spoke to the gardener, who I recognised from Cem Aparts where we stayed a couple of times, he was the gardener there and the grounds were always lovely.

I asked how much it would be for him to dig it all over and prepare it for planting, and asked him to find out how much some slabs would be so we can get to the washing line without trampling on the ground. He said 60tl and we agreed and he said he could come tomorrow morning.

I rang the washing machine man, he came a bit later with the service guy, he put a bit of glue on the door seal, shoved the machine about a bit, opened the flap on the front, spilled water everywhere and sods law the machine didn’t make any horrible noises and didn’t leave the clothes soaking wet.

There had been something in the pump I think, but we argued that the machine is really old, there’s a hole in the conditioner drawer and were generally unhappy and feel misled for the price.

Lots of arguing, he is refusing to replace or give money back, the guy left and the service guy said something about tomorrow… and then he left.

I boiled the 3 tomatoes that had been hiding in with some tea towels, added them to yesterdays leftovers, bit more chilli –yum!

Went to bed to keep warm and watched a film on the laptop, a bit achy after all the rock removal! John is virtually immobile now.

Friday 11^th Feb  18 degrees and sunny

The gardener came, we cleaned the balconies, gave him soup and bread for lunch and walked to the local hardware store Yapi market

Its an Alladins cave of goodies, a hive of activity, lots of helpful salesmen- reminded me of Eddowns in Lewes Road, Brighton circa 1972

Bought an air vent cover to stop lizards getting in kitchen cupboards, screwdriver, gardening gloves, a jug and a new door lock.

2 men turned up to fix the warped balcony door. They reminded me of the Mario brothers.

Bearing in mind the door is really warped with about a 2 inch gap at the top, it didn’t seem likely that the tub of filler and the wood stain was going to do the trick.

Didn’t stop them having a go though, they filled some hairline type cracks, looked at me like I was mad when I gave them polythene to put on the balcony floor before wood staining. I showed them some quite large cracks on the front door, and they filled them and even sanded them before staining ( but only because we were watching! )

We asked about the huge gap at the top of the door and they did a sort of charade of throwing the filler knife on the floor, shrugging and said goodbye!

Later Fahrir and Firuz came to take us to Fethiye to sort out the internet. I asked Firuz to ask the gardener if the 60tl includes putting the stepping stones down next week or if its extra, the gardener then refused to take any money and said next week would be ok, so off we went.

Fahrir then explained to Firuz to tell us that he had already paid the gardener as part of finishing off outside…..

We went to the Digiturk shop in Fethiye too, and agreed on a 12.99tl a month package, with just 20tl installation charge. They could have come within the hour, but we don’t actually have a TV yet, so coming tomorrow instead.

The whole of Fethiye seemed to be in the TurkTelecom building, well half of them really, as the other half are usually in the bank when we go there.

We had to take a number and wait.

After much discussion, and Fahrir signing several pages of a huge document we were handed a modem. Special offer of 5 months half price, Fahrir signed up for 2 years to get the free modem. Total bill at normal price will be 70tl a month, which includes 100 free landline minutes and unlimited internet.

The agreement is in Fahrirs name as we don’t have residency, but the bill will be in my name and the Turk Telecom lady told Fahrir he was very good to do this for us as Brits don’t usually pay their bills!

Really excited to go home and plug it in, has been horrible not having internet.

Got back, plugged it in, doesn’t work.

Told Firuz, and it turns out “yarin elektikci” means you arrange for your own electrician to come and connect the phone wires, it’s not something Turk Telecom do (so not sure what the original guys with the piece of paper in the box did?)

While outside we got chatting to Les who lives just round the corner, with his wife, has been here 5 years. Then Laura over the road came out, she has 3 children, including a  baby and they said the first 2 years are the worst and there will be times that you just want to kill the Turks, but they said we will have to adopt their mentality and then we will love it.

Went to our local BIM, its a cheap supermarket, a bit like Lidl, ok for some things but you couldn’t do a full shop there.

I have now discovered the joy of hazelnut spread, which looks like, but tastes nothing like peanut butter. Yum.

Went and bought a TV from local Sok supermarket. 32” and is totally lost in our huge empty lounge! They said try it for 3 days, if it’s ok come back and we will give you your guarantee.

Also bought a telephone to test the line and it is definitely not working.

On the way back I recognised Andy from the Forum, he does a lot of work with the animal sanctuary so we stopped and chatted about animal fostering and fundraising.

He invited us to join the fundraising quiz night at the Winehouse in Uzumlu.

He said he currently has a four week old puppy whose mum was found by the Winehouse and the puppy aptly called Amy is needing a home…. either temporary or permanent.

Decided the purple sofas wouldn’t cope and just not really sure about having a puppy, but would definitely like a dog or cat at some point.

Off to bed shivering again, and watched Cold Feet on Laptop.

Saturday 12^th Feb  – 18 and sunny again

Heard John sounding disgruntled downstairs, there was an old lady begging at the gate. He seemed really annoyed that the only English word she knew was money. She had a large white sack over her shoulder and was very stooped over.

He came back in, she waited a while, then went away. I watched her from the bedroom window, couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, but was worried that if we gave her anything she would keep coming back. I would prefer to know what she needs and give it to her if we can rather than give money.

We’ve seen many people going through the bins carrying big sacks, and I would happily save whatever it is they get money for, but not sure what they collect. It certainly looks like a hard life for them and makes me feel quite sad.

Went to Park Yapi for draught excluder (unfortunately came back with double sided tape) a replacement post box, new shower head, and wardrobe door handles as the existing ones sort of disintegrate in your hands. Finally got a cheese grater, just hope I can find grateable cheese somewhere.

Digiturk came and put up our dish and set up the receiver, works really well and we have a great choice of channels.

Fahrir came with the original electrician, and another electrician, they played around with the telephone wires for a bit, said “problem” and left.

So were assuming it’s a Turk Telecom problem that they can’t resolve.

Cooked ‘mantar’ – have seen them on menus and being made painstakingly by hand.

They look a little bit like tortellini, but are basically flavourless little carbohydrate parcels of something that are quite ok for 3tl a big bag from BIM with a bit of bolognese and chilli sauce.

                                                                                               

Freezing this evening, brought the duvet and pillows down and watched Turkey’s got Talent.

Sunday 13^th Feb – a bit overcast, but got better as the day went on.

Even John is now saying we need bedside tables, despite protesting that he doesn’t need one as has nothing to put in it.

Tea and coffee get very cold very quickly on a freezing cold marble floor!

Went to the Sunday market, bought freezer storage boxes, tea plates, draught excluder, tea light holders, potato masher, spice jars, 3 pairs of slippers in case of visitors ( 3 pairs for 5tl – bargain, got 1 male style and 2 girly pairs with hearts) and garden shoes  (they look a bit like crocs, cant believe its come to this)

Couldn’t carry any more, so walked back and dropped everything off and went back for what we went for, which was fruit and vegetables.

Stopped at Cafe Pazar as desperately in need of an internet fix, and a beer.

While the whole Turkish population are either in the bank or Turk Telecom, all the Brits are in here.

Think I preferred Turk Telecom to be honest, but not the bank, it’s too hot in there.

Made egg mayo half breads, relaxed on the balcony in the sunshine, John did the draught excluding.

Saw Firuz briefly and he confirmed it is apparently a Turk Telecom problem with the internet and should be sorted tomorrow.

Old habits die hard, made Sunday roast chicken, roast potatoes, leeks, carrots and peas.

Bought strawberries in the market and found the closest thing I could to cream – hmm,wont be bothering with either of those again!

Maybe the strawberries weren’t quite ripe, but not sure the cream would ever become a favourite!

Got the duvet and watched American Idol and ‘Yok Boyle Dans ‘ Turkish Strictly Come Dancing. Even has the same theme tune, but the Brucie is one of the judges from Turkeys Got Talent and isn’t old at all.

Monday 14^th February 

Valentines Day, was going to make John a card but haven’t found anywhere that sells paper yet.

Mosquito bites have subsided, and have no new ones. Must be all the garlic and chilli.

We decided we would buy each other a bedside table, but the owner Fahrir and Firuz came round this morning to say that Turk Telecom will be coming to fix the line either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, so we had to stay in.

They came in, Firuz got to the male slippers first so Fahrir was wearing pink size 5’s with hearts but didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

They settled down on the sofa and were chatting about this and that and the price of petrol. Offered them tea, but they declined.

After a bit more chatting to each other they left! Really nice though that they felt comfortable enough to come and do that.

A bit later Fahrir turned up with an 80 year old carpenter, they looked at the warped balcony  door and then left.

A bit later the gardener turned up with a van full of men who dropped off 13 decorative paving slabs and said they were 62 tl.

I was a bit confused as the original plan was he would come tomorrow with a price for some, and after the confusion of him planning to charge us to dig the garden even though he had already been paid by Fahrir thought it best to call Firuz for advice, he came round, apparently they were 52tl not 62, but in any case we need so many things its crazy to spend that on stones and would prefer to choose them ourselves.

So they’re inside the gate now and apparently someone will come and pick them up later.

Cooked loads of tomatoes and chopped them up, should be enough for the week. No wonder most women here don’t go out to work! Tinned tomatoes are almost a pound a jar, so looks like my future is in boiling fresh ones. 

Cleaned the insides of windows while John did outside and swept the floor.

Made a chicken curry, made lunch, sat on the balcony until too cold.

No sign of Turk Telecom

Was actually bored today, something I haven’t been able to say for many years. Will definitely have to find something useful to do, I cant chop tomatoes every day or I will go crazy.

Decided at 6pm Turk Telecom weren’t coming so walked to Tansas supermarket to get a halogen heater, they didn’t have they style we wanted so walked to Kipa ( Turkish Tesco) and they didn’t have one either.

Oh well it must have been Migros, but nice and warm walking.

Kipa had lots of reduced bits and pieces, was really excited by the reduced mince as its really expensive usually, and cheap packs of kofte and chicken breasts ready for when we have barbeques.

Got a big tub of ice cream too, so nice to have something in our freezer at last!

Bought a couple of fleecy blankies for the sofa to save having to lug the duvet downstairs.

Watched some more Cold Feet on the laptop. Enjoying it even more second time around.

Moving onto week 3

Tuesday 15th Feb


Cant believe we’ve only been here 2 weeks. So much has happened.
It rained really heavily last night and again this morning.
Turk Telecom came this morning,it turned out that our telephone line was under a banana tree 2 doors away, of course!
Internet is now working, which is a lovely feeling as being cut off from everyone was not nice.
This morning my phone said the sim wasn’t valid and I had no service. I remembered that the Turkcell shop gave me a card with my phone number on and said something, so switched the phone off and on again and it asked for a PIN,which was on the card, entered it, and hey presto all is well.
Thank goodness, felt like I was being totally cut off from the world, and for the first time wondered if we were doing the right thing and felt a bit homesick.

Anyway, phone is fine, internet is fine, feel much more positive now!
Went into Fethiye to look for a table and chairs. Walked miles, saw some nice wrought iron furniture, but the table and chairs weigh a ton and make horrible grating noises on the floor when you try to move the chairs.
I liked the coffee table, but John was unsure.
Walked forever, then John decided that actually the wrought iron was the nicest thing we have seen.

Still no decision about table and chairs though.

We saw some nice net curtains outside Azra curtain shop in Fethiye,  in a basket, a bit like offcuts really. They were good value at 20tl each for a 2m width. They said we could have the length changed if we wanted to.
Bought 3 drops for the lounge, 1 for the bedroom, one for the kitchen and said we would measure for the backing material and go back tomorrow as we weren’t sure what we needed.

Found some plastic storage containers in a small shop, 2tl, only 1tl, at the market so said we wouldn’t have them, the man muttered about the Pazar ( market) and said 1tl OK, got his step ladder out and got some down from the top shelves, and almost fell off and killed himself – all for 4tl, I felt quite guilty… actually very guilty.
Bought a halogen fire, black to match our new coffee table and the black on the net curtains. And 2 door mats.
Saw 2 second hand bed single bases in a shop near the fire station and decided they were really good value so should get them even though we dont need them yet.
Went to Fethiye Ev Kur,  the shop where we bought the cooker and double bed and bought 2 new single mattresses to go with the bases, ready for when the kids come to visit.
We asked if they would mind picking up and delivering the bases too and they said no problem.

Now – imagine for a moment going to Beds R Us in the UK, buying 2 mattresses, then they pick up 2 second hand bases from another store and deliver them to your house, at no charge – and carry them up the stairs for you! Hmmm, wouldnt happen would it?

John had to sit on the back of the truck with the furniture, as there was another lady inside the truck with me and the driver who was also having something delivered.
Think he quite enjoyed it really

The curtains were quite a nice length, not going to have them shortened, but need another one in the lounge so they will hang nicer, had totally forgotten that there were 2 windows in the bedroom, so need another one to match for there and the one we got for the kitchen just wasn’t the right colour so we’ve put that in the small bedroom.

Pretty rubbish really, but got to go back anyway for the backing curtains.

The bed bases are obviously meant to be put together ( like the others we bought for our room) as a double and not designed to be 2 singles. The mattresses overhang the edges, so not ideal, but will do for now as they were a bargain!

I think were actually pretty bad at shopping!

Had a lovely evening being warm and toasty by the fire on the internet. Starting to feel like home now.

Wednesday 16th February   gorgeous sunny day today. 

Called into Park Yapi diy shop for some boys stuff, screws, draught excluder etc. 

Outside we saw a lovely little Staffie cross type dog that’s recently had puppies. Made lots of fuss of her, she followed us home and against Johns orders ( or maybe because of ) I gave her some biscuits. 

We then needed to go to get the dolmus to Fethiye, and had a few attempts at losing her and thought we had succeeded until she joined us at the bus stop, having crossed the busy dual carriageway.

She flopped down at my feet and waited with us. The bus came, we got on and she was running as fast as she could after it.

Heartbreaking!!!  We couldn’t stop thinking about her all day and were hoping she would have made it safely back again. And of course I got reminded several times it was all my fault as I shouldn’t have fed her…

Went to the curtain shop with the measurements for the backing fabric, no second one to match for the bedroom so chose a different pattern, and a plainer one for the kitchen and they said they would have them all stitched and ready by 5pm.

Went back to the wrought iron shop to have another look to be certain. 

They can make items to order, so we asked if one of the stands could be changed to have a glass shelf for the TV, and 2 shelves below instead of the open shelves and section for wine bottle and decorative leaves.

No problem, will be ready in about a week, and will be the same style as the coffee table we liked.

Walked some more, still hoping to find a table and chairs and gave up and went for lunch in a little lokanta opposite the bus station and had the nicest cheese and mushroom pide. (Turkish Pizza).

Decided to try some little furniture shops we’d seen from the dolmus along from Migros supermarket to see if they had tables and chairs, but they didn’t, and ended up side tracked by the garden centre!

I was like a kid in a sweet shop. Fruit trees are 5tl – £2 each, and bougainvillea are £4 each.

Bought 2 plum trees – one has fruit in May, one in September, 2 peach trees ( for same reason) an orange tree, a mandarin tree, 3 different coloured bougainvilleas, some flowers and some crocuses.

We arranged delivery to the house and everything was there when we got back later.

Walked back into town,stopped at a household shop on the corner opposite the Tuesday market and bought some egg cups, a bath mat set -which was a fraction of the price of all the others we’ve seen – and some salad dishes.

Went to Eren Spot shop and ordered a chest of drawers and 2 bedside cabinets to match the wardrobes, which will take about a week. They knew exactly what to order from looking at a photo I’d taken of the wardrobes…

We quite fancy having students, and need a nice cosy bedroom ready for them, so this will mean one bedroom will be almost furnished and ready. (It’ll also be a trial run too to see if the mattress falls off the bed when they turn over)

Got home- all excited to hang the curtains and looking forward to them blocking out all the draughts – unfortunately they had made them all 5cm too long, for some reason!

The cheap bathmat is probably the most misshapen bath mat I’ve ever seen, but at least I wont freeze on the bathroom floor.

Made some pasta using the stinky cheese. Really need to find nice cheese.

Thursday 17th February – really warm and sunny today

Cleaned the curtain rails and had a bit of a tidy up. John was outside hanging out the washing when Fahrir arrived with the old carpenter man. They looked very surprised to see a man hanging out the washing!

The man was having another look at the warped balcony door and went off and came back with some thin off cuts of wood which were then put around the frame somehow. 

Hey presto one bodged balcony door!

Oh well, its marginally less draughty than before and not much daylight showing at all if you look at it with your eyes shut.

I proudly tried to explain about our fruit trees to Fahrir. He was tutting and shaking his head and saying problem.I felt really guilty that Id over stepped the mark by buying something that’s obviously going to grow too big and uproot the foundations and was worried I might have upset him.

Oh well, they were only £2 each…

He then rang Firuz, who appeared on his bike a few minutes later. I waited to be reprimanded, and Firuz translated that the fruit trees must be planted with lots of stone because of the water table.

Phewwww….. another phone call to the ‘expert’ who appeared, told John to go with him, came back with 2 large shovels, a bag of compost and a bag of the biggest lemons we have ever seen.

He then dug a hole and demonstrated how to plant fruit trees. They didn’t need to be packed in stone as the water table isn’t a problem here, but they need to be planted by making a moat effect so they withhold plenty of water. he also used the soil at the top of the ground rather than the soil that resulted from digging the hole, to bury it, as this soil will have oxygen in it.

Fahrir, Firuz and the local street dog Beyaz all stayed to see what was going on!

We planted the rest of the plants, a gross under estimate of the size of the garden, everything looked very lost but its a start. 

We’re going to grow some vegetables from seed and have planted some oleander seeds too.

Went for a walk in the sunshine, were pleased to see our favourite doner kebab place, Gunisik, open so just had to give in and eat a chicken half bread.

Friday 18th February 

Fahrir turned up with the Mario brothers. They wood-stained the bodged balcony door. Oh yes, that’s made all the difference. Maybe John can draught proof it?

Theyre so sweet though!

Beyaz came to visit, ate some breakfast with us, rolled about wanting tummy tickles then went on her way.

How anything so huge can be so soppy is just strange.

We went into Fethiye to take the too long curtains back, but the’re in the midst of building work so wont be done for a few days, oh well, we haven’t frozen to death yet, so what’s a few more days?

Bought a brush for Beyaz, walked around the market, and then went to find the FIG shop.

Fethiye International Group  http://www.figfethiye.org/  are an organisation in Fethiye that raise money for children, schools and  families. They have a charity shop, and run a coffee morning on a Wednesday by Fethiye harbour. Most of the volunteers are English.

The ladies in the shop were, errmm, mature ladies, it was just like being in a charity shop in the UK and they were obviously passionate about the remarkable work they’re doing and very cheerful, singing along to the cd they were playing in the background.

They have loads of English books, and run a book exchange, so we bought a couple and I picked up a knitting pattern for sleeveless jumpers that they need volunteers to knit for local under privileged children.

I asked if there were any particular colours they wanted and they said no, you knit them they will wear them and said they always get excited when new jumpers arrive.

I couldn’t imagine children in the UK being like this, they would be fussy about colours and fashion I’m sure.

On the way to the tax office, to get John a tax number so he can open a bank account, I got side tracked by another garden centre….

a few more plants, 2 olive trees, hibiscus, primroses, big purple daisies – they delivered them to home, and gave us a lift back again, after stopping en route to pick up some workers from their plant ‘depot’, and piling them all in the back with John.

Went and got the tax number, the hardest part of that was finding the right desk to go to!

Stopped at a little garden restaurant opposite for soup, then walked  to Kipa and to buy a few  groceries, bought far more than planned as couldn’t resist the special offers, walked back down to the Calis main road, gave up and got a dolmus home.

Gave Beyaz a good brush, not sure if she will have ever been brushed before, but she didn’t seem to care one way or another and wandered off once finished.

Made a vegetable bolognaise and it was very tasty.

I’m almost a vegetarian now!