April sees my 56th birthday (S----T, where have the years gone?) and it is the first time since we have lived here that I remained sober. We had a lovely dinner party at ours for 10 people and played ‘Charades’ till 2am. The next day saw us at ‘One For The Road’ for an easter bonnet competition. Some of them were quite impressive but needless to say, I DID NOT enter!
Lynda has returned to the UK for 3 week to see the kids and grand children, so it’s my cue to get stuck in and do a few of those irritating little jobs.
Billy is now doing regular karaoke nights at the Fizzbeach Bar/Restaurant and Ali is gearing up for the summer. He has made a nice lawn around the restaurant, invested in mature palm trees and loads of flowering shrubs.
I have now found a bit of confidence and am becoming a regular contributor at Karaoke nights. I don’t sound brilliant but I am having a lot of problems with my sinus’ and I have a twisted nasal passage combined with a cyst……Great!
Lynda is now back and everything is back to normal, Perikoy lap dancers sacked etc.
The weather has improved dramatically but our electricity bills have been very high through the winter.
Poor old Ali has been forced to remove all the plants from around the Fizzbeach but has been allowed to keep the grass. This is so typical of the authorities here. The fact that Ali had improved the look of the local area seems to have escaped their notice. If they spent more time chasing the people who do NOTHING to improve the appearance of the local area, instead of hounding those who do, everybody would be a lot happier but the word logic doesn’t exist here.
Our grape vine has gone mental this year, so if you know Chas and Carolyn at Tom Greens nursery in Wimbish, please direct them to our website, where they can see several of their flowers and shrubs.
We are now back into the routine of going to the Beach regularly and the girls have increased their visits to the Gym to 3 times weekly. I just potter in the garden and keep coming up with new projects. The pond is now looking lovely, with the new filter system installed and the fish are now like real pets. They go nuts when I take out the food in the morning are are quite happy to eat from my hand. The garden is full of solar spotlights and many of the shrubs have a nice ambient glow underneath them.
Rukiye is still coming for her English lessons and she and Huseyin have now bought a villa on the complex at the back of us, which they hope to move into in August. It will be lovely to see more of them.
I made the mistake of renting out my apartment to a Turkish woman in March who has now not paid me any rent for 2 months. She is the biggest liar on Gods earth and yet again, I have been conned.
Going to see and ENT Specialist tomorrow (16Th June), about having an operation on my nose etc. Hopefully, we’ll both finally get a decent nights sleep after its done.
My Mum is coming out to see us for the first time on the 20th for 2 weeks, so we’ll no doubt be running around finding things to do and places to go.
We have all just had a good laugh. Apparently, Tacittin has finally obtained the 'Iskan' (habitation licence) and we will get our Tapu in July!!! Interesting to note that the ko-op meeting is in 2weeks. Great news for the members who will all vote for him at the meeting! No doubt in July, there will be another 'problem' and Tacittin will be boss for another year and getting a 'nice little earner'.
Sadly, the Address Restaurant has closed, so Naomi and Muzaffer will no longer be providing top quality food at a budget price. However, La Sera is open again with a fabulous sensibly priced Italian menu. We also have the newly re-opened first-class Kelebek, Korelli's, who do a fabulous Turkish night every Friday for an all-in price, The Sultan Ay, The Flying Horse, complete with the lovely Semra and our old favourite, the Piknik Garden, who do a starter, chicken & chips followed by fresh fruit for a paltry 12 lira.
I saw the ENT Specialist yesterday and Yes, I do need an operation. It can wait till my Mum has gone back to the UK. Once it is done, We will all be able to get a good nights sleep!
I am so sorry I haven't updated for ages and I promise this page will get a complete update over the next couple of days. Meanwhile you can read about the crap I've had over the last year at Meliha Kaplan
Have you ever seen a Shakespeare play done in 5 minutes? This is a very quick update.
Mum came out on 20th June for 2 weeks, after having had a month in Belize with my Uncle John in March. She looked like a native when she got here. She was kept busy and she saw a lot of the local area, including Bes Konak, where we actually got my 82 year old Mum white water rafting. The Ko-Op meeting in Antalya was the usual farce with the 3 stooges peddling more of their uaual lies. The upshot is that if we pay 1500 lira extra over 3 months, we'll get our Tapu in January. 3000 for us, as we have 2 houses. After Mum went back, I checked in for my 4th admittance at the Anadolu for my nose op and if my nose wasn't big enough already, it was twice the size when I came out. I looked like something out of a horror film for 2 days. The worst part was having the tampons pulled out. I have all the parts from my nose in a saline solution in a Schartz spice jar for those who are interested in seeing just how much surplus material the human body contains. I tell you what, you'd never get all back in there, no wonder my nose is the size it is!
The garden is looking fantastic and the fruit trees are supplying minimal amounts. The Passion has gone mad again, as has the grape. We have made some red wine....woohoo! Lynda duly crushed the grapes in a huge bowl by feet. We will open the first bottle December 2010 with the Perikoy vineyards label.
3 friends helped me take out the top terrace wall and we all sweated buckets. It was done in 2 days and very amusing to see the sacks of rubble being loweed by rope. Oh, for a good old English skip service. I did the finishing over the next 2 weeks and it is now huge. Pics here later.
Quiz nights continue at One For The Road but it looks like Ken will have to move, as the greedy landlord wants to put the rent up. We go the karaoke at Mehmets Restaurant in the ruins regularly now and I am finally getting the confidence to sing in public.
Lyndas family all came out in August. Lisa and ian with Amber and Tia for 3 weeks and Lee and Jane with Georgia for 2 weeks.
Needless to say, they were all taken white water rafting, compliments of Huseyin and Rukiye. I continue to teach Rukiye English and she has a good enough grasp of the language to converse normally now.
We had dinner in the Italian 'La Sera' for our 4th anniversary.
Our annual garden party was the usual riot, as this year we did some organised games. We did our own BBQ instead of bussing food in on the newly built brick BBQ.
Side is very quiet this year but we continue to find things to do, including my improvements to the villa and garden.
Vals nephew, Andy came out for the first time in September for 2 weeks and we had a brillant time with him, including a day out with Huseyin and Rukiye at the Green Kanyon. We actually hired a 7 seater jeep for the day, so that we could visit the ruined city of Seleukia (Lyrbe) on the way back. DO NOT try to go there in a normal car!
The summer continues well into October and I have decided to go back the UK for Xmas this year.
November 18th saw the first court case to evict the parasite living in my apartment but she didn't bother to turn up, so a new hearing was scheduled for Dec 23rd, which my slicitor attended for me BUT she didn't turn up again.
I went back on December 22nd for 2 weeks and tried to sort out my artwork, still dumped in my poor old Mums spare bedroom. Please buy one to help her out. You can find it all at
www.joli-triste.com There are 2 pages, with a third page to be added shortly for unusual items.
It was nice to catch up with people like Larry and Jessica, Mike and Ruth, Dennis the barber and Malcolm and Judy. Sorry but I can't name everyone, you're all special and I am very sorry if we didn't get to see you this time but 2 weeks just flies.
I came back ahead of Lynda to atrocious weather. The usual leak was still on the top floor and I WILL FIND IT this coming year. Have had some terrible storms and water finds finds its way into every orifice BUT I am gradually sorting them out.
We now have a new gardener called Ilias and he works like a trojan, unlike the previous skiver. The complex is really taking shape due to Ilias' hard work and NOT because the 3 stooges are spending any money here. The less they spend here, the more they can shove in their very deep pockets.
Going to bed one night, I could hear water on the roof. Investigation revealed that the main water pipe had come apart at the joint, so I had to climb onto the roof at 2.30 am in pouring rain to turn of the mains. Hey ho, this is Turkey. A local man called Ebu came out the following morning and sorted it all out. He re-connected and checked and sealed every joint, all for 20 lira. We have known him 4 years and he is a diamond, who wouldn't know how to rip you off. Anything to do with solar and water, he's your man. He is in Colakli village and you can get him on 0536 772 4004 but he doesn't speak English.
It is now February and the Tapu has not appeared, are we surprised? Still very cold and more thunderstorms than last year, which is no incentive to go out but we are kept entertained with good old Digiturk (when the storms haven't killed the dish) and a 300 DVD collection. A 5th court case took place this month but once again, it was a 'no show' for her. Meanwhile an article was done in a local newspaper abou her, along with my photo and she had the gall to go to the local Jandarma to lodge a complaint about my humiliating her. Needless to say, they did nothing and her humiliation will be total when we finally throw the slag out.
She didn't turn up for the 3rd or 4th court case and the judge decided enough was enough on 28th April and ordered her to quit BUT SHE IS EFFING THERE. Great legal system eh? No wonder hundreds of Europeans are being shafted every day in this country. make sure you check out some of the links on this site and www.joli-triste.com for some great horror stories.
April finally saw me get on the roof with Billy to sort out the 4 year leak and we stripped the roof tiles off. Billy found the first leak with 5 minutes and I found 7 more small holes. This, after workmen have been twice to sort it out. It took me 2 days to seal the leaks with aquarium silicone, tar, cement and 3 hours to put all the slated back and we now have a leak free roof. Sadly, Ken has now closed One For The Road and his short venture at the Kelebek also finished as quick as it started. He is now running the quiz at the Fox Garden Hotel in Kemer. We use the Flying Horse regularly and I sing at the karaoke wih Billy on Thursday night.
April also saw me completely re-designing the front garden, using a lot of cement, huge plant pots and lovely white pebbles.
The bougainvillae is now nearly up to the first floor balcony on one side of the house and the grape vine has gone completely mental on the other side, as it has now reached the top terrace.
We had dinner out with a load of friends for my birthday at Koreli's restaurant on Turkish night. Needless to say, I hopped over the balcony every time the dancer tried to get me on the floor. I humiliate myself quite well without assistance from a Turkish dancer.
My cigar supplier has just been caught flogging illegal cigars and fines 42K lira, so I am now back on the fags and slowly killing myself.
The swimming pool was actually opened in time for the start of the season this year, due to the incerdibly hard work done by Ilias and Halil. Sadly, after 19 years, Hasim has left us but unfortunately, the 3 stooges are still in charge until the next meeting. They had the nerve to turn up 4 times over the past 3 weeks with more lies and excuses but now, after a court action was started by the 2 controllers, Yacob and Gunay, they have suddenly got things moving. Watch this space!! My mother has arrived on 7th June for 3 weeks and we will have her up parasailing this year, amongst other things.
9th June, the 3 stooges turned up again and we now need a new well, costing 9000 lira because the original one was done on the cheap, just like everything else here. We'll be glad to see the back of them and once we have the Tapu, we'll start a court action against them and try and get them thrown into prison, where they should rot for the misery they have foisted on everybody at Perikoy with the lies and broken promises. My health has suffered as a result, along with my temper.
14th June I decided the downstairs terrace wall had to come out, now the Tapu was imminent. It made one hell of a mess but with help from 2 of my neighbours , we got it done very quickly. It would have been even quicker but I had a blind date with a plate glass window, which did a bit of damage to my back. Hooray for nurses David and Sandra, who cleaned me up and dressed my cuts. Cost of 2 plate glass windows...38 lira. Cost of phone call to Lynda to give her the bad news....60 kurus. The sight of me going through the window....priceless!
Today, I have been clearing up, tidying various edges, laying cement etc, ready to lay the mosaic tomorrow. Only problem so far, cement will not stick to the pillar or lintel. Any ideas anybody? I managed it myself in the end just sitting down and thinking about, so now it is all finished and it looks pretty damned good, even if I do say so myself.
I think that brings me up to date and tomorrow evening, I will load lots of pics. I then need to get into the habit of updating weekly, so feel free to kick my arse, as it only takes 10 minutes.
As many of you know, I have left Perikoy Villa and moved into my apartment in Side that I purchased in 2006. I now busy myself with presenting quiz nights, taking part in karaoke evenings, where EVERYBODY gets to sing, other than the karaoke organiser. I also intend to organise various games evenings. This all takes place at Conny's Hotel and Restaurant Conny's is a small and intimate Boutique Hotel, incorporating a high class restaurant which is open to the public. We have many fun, themed evenings throughout the summer season and we hope you will visit. Most of the entertainment takes place in the downstairs bar and may we recommend that you book in advance if you wish to dine in the restaurant.
I'm gradually making my little apartment into a lovely home and have done a lot of renovation work. I will be starting on the bathroom shortly. Various friends have been out to see me, including my oldest friends, Frank and Jan from Newmarket. I made a week long visit to the UK in July, to try and sort out my huge collection of artwork at my Mothers house and it pissed down 6 days out of seven. I caught up with a lot of old friends, including Frank and Jan and Larry. I also managed to sell a few of my prints while I was there, which paid for the extortionate air fare from Pegasus and the meals out.
It is gradually creeping up towards the 40's and I could really do with an aircon unit but not a lot of point when I am selling the apartment so cheaply.
Since moving here, I have made a whole new bunch of friends, mainly Dutch and Scandinavians and all incredibly genuine people.
The apartment gets hotter and hotter and thank god for the slight respite with the ceiling fan. My quiz night is becoming very popular with the Dutch tourists at Conny's but as yet, a foreign team has not won, it's not the winning that counts, it's the taking part. The karaoke evenings go from strength to strength and we have our own Barry Gibb now, in the form of Cavy, ex proprietor of the Kiss Bar in Side. Cabaret night on Saturday is also a very successful evening and we have a Yoga Show, a troupe of Russian female exotic dancers and a male belly dancer cum snake charmer all taking turns to entertain the guests.
I have found a great beach to visit, which is very quiet and I have taken up poetry again, as well as catching up on my reading. My front tooth has decided to fall out on a regular basis and it looks like the expense of a bridge is looming.
Had our last karaoke and quiz evening at Conny’s this month (October) and I am now getting ready for a very boring winter. Had a short trip to Holland for the Conny’s reunion and I was the only foreigner there but had a fantastic time with Ad and Conny and the usual suspects. Planning a short trip in December to look at some property, with a quick 12 hour stopover in UK to pick up some goodies for Xmas.
Have managed to do a lot of repair work on my windows at the apartment and the garden is next…the bathroom can wait until it gets a bit warmer! Fortunately, I finished the work on the windows the day before the heavens opened!
The underground shelter at Perikoy is doing great and Yakob is convinced we’ll have our Tapu in February but who knows, after all the lies we’ve had in the past and the intransigent attitude of the local council.
The temperatures are plummeting now and the heavens open on a regular basis, which means flooding everywhere, as is the norm.
Now planning my Xmas dinner and intending to cook a traditional dinner for 9 of us, complete with crackers, Xmas pud and stilton.
Ad & Conny had a party on Xmas eve and Graham provided the music with his guitar, accompanied by several drunken singers and a great time was had by all, we crawled away at 3 am!
Xmas is on me and I have my goodies to make it go with a bang. I’m doing turkey with cranberry sauce, my own recipe stuffing, roast potatoes, sprouts, carrots, broccoli and gravy, followed by Xmas pud and cream, port and stilton, Irish coffee and brandy. Needless to say, it went down well and in spite of my usual panic, everything was cooked at the same time. After we all stuffed our faces, out came the Monopoly and Ad was the eventual property tycoon.
Boxing Day was spent at Lisa’s house and the food spread was superb…every English goody you could imagine, including crunchy pickled onions…IDEA!!
9 of us went to the Hemerra Hotel for New Years Eve and what a bargain! 140 lira for the Gala Dinner, all the alcohol we could drink, room for the night and a hearty breakfast.
The weather is now apalling and as a result, I am having 2 or 3 power cuts every day. It messes up the workings in all sorts of electrical equipment and has already buggered up my PC and laptop. it's a complete joke and I wonder if Turkey is ever going to solve the problem in this area. Chimpanzees could run an electricity grid more efficiently!
Still trying desperately to sell our car, so if you know of anybody who would be interested and it results in a sale, you get 1000 lira!
My water bed is finally assembled and is welcome warmth when I get into it at night, it will also be nice and cool in the summer. I have been making pickled onions and lemon and orange marmalade this week.
It is now the first of Feb and Ad and Conny are back from their Panama holiday tonight, although it didn’t go as planned, since the stupid airline lost 2 of their 3 cases.
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