We have now found a brilliant local English owned Bar called One For The Road, www.onefortheroad.007sites.com run by Ken and Jan. They hold a quiz night every Wednesday and we have formed our own team with our best friends, Valerie and Sarah. Our team name is Norfolk 'N' Chance and we have become one of the regular winning teams. If bingo is your thing, they have this on a Friday evening. Ken and Jan are now organising special event evenings every 6-8 weeks. The last one was an American theme and the next one in 5 weeks is a Mexican: roll out the sombrero's!
May 28th and the pool is still not open, in spite of the promise it would be open by 15th. We have also learned that Hasim is going to be thrown out onto the street at the end of June, after 12 years of slogging his guts out for the benefit of Perikoy members. Some thanks eh? I will be raising this topic at the meeting and hopefully, the members will drag the committee out and hang them from the nearest tree. They have had hundreds of thousands of lira over the past 3 years and yet it appears they can't afford to build Hasim a house, costing around 15,000 lira. Naturally, they can afford to pay themselves and all their hangers-on for doing nothing.
The local roads are gradually being improved, though it is doubtful they will be completed by the end of May. 2 more hotels are being built in Gundogdu and another is scheduled to open shortly, allegedly a 7 star!!
It is now hotting up very nicely and George and Sherry are back for 4 weeks. They joined our quiz team last week and we won again, after moaning about how difficult the questions were. As stated on the site, my apartment is now finished and we had our first renters 2 weeks ago, who had a great time and found the apartment quaint and comfortable. If you're looking for cheap accommodation for your holiday, look no further. It's 250 metres from the beach and the bus stops right outside to go just about anywhere. It is surrounded by shops and restaurants and Side Centre is a 15-20 minute casual walk by road or 10-15 minutes on the beach. It is also for sale and I'm looking for offers around £32-33k.
We have now made 2 new good friends called Huseyin and Rukiye. Huseyin is the Commandant of the Jandarma Station in Gundogdu and his wife, Rukiye, is now learning English from me!!! We had a lovely BBQ on the beach with them last Sunday and are shortly going white water rafting with them. One event many of you will find amusing is that on our way to meet them, we filled up at the Shell garage and hadn't gone 500 yards when the car came to a grinding halt on a roundabout. After a lot of panic, I rang Huseyin, who was there withing 15 minutes. Meanwhile Lynda checked the petrol receipt and noted it said Benzine and not diesel. Oh S__T!!
Huseyin and his friend towed us back to the garage, where they assured us there would be no problem. We left the car and went of to enjoy good Turkish grub on the beach. Sure enough, one hour later, Huseyin gets a call, 'Car OK'. Sure enough, it was fine, so if you ever put petrol in your diesel car by mistake and they charge you £100 plus to rectify it, they're ripping you off. It didn't cost us one penny, only took an hour and they filled it with diesel after they had emptied it. Bear in mind that I had been pumping the pedal like mad to try and get it started and put plenty of petrol through the injectors. C'est la vie!
It's now June and the hot weather is on us with a vengeance. I am still working hard on the garden and Lynda is doing a lot of needlework. The swimming pool is open at last and Hasim has done a great job as usual in getting it clean and fit to use.
George, Sherry, Lynda and myself were all guests of Kemal and Musa, the Commandants of Taşiğil Jandarma station on Sunday 8th and after tea and water at the Station, in one of the most beautiful spots you can imagine, Huseyin and Rukiye took us all white water rafting and we can't remember ever having had more fun. We were continually plastered with ice-cold water, not from the rapids but the oarsmanship of the many other tourists in rafts. It was just an excuse to go back to our childhoods and make each other as wet as possible. Huseyin, Lynda and I all did our theatrical dives into the freezing water and you can see the pics in the gallery.
As if all this excitement wasn't enough, after it was all over, a dozen of us drove high into the mountains to a trout farm. Our ears were popping like crazy and all you could hear was birds and water from a dozen different springs and waterfalls. As many of you know, Grant does not do fish but the trout looked so inviting, I actually ate the whole lot, as did Sherry and Rukiye, who also do not like fish. On your plate 15 minutes after being caught!!! It was quite surreal, sitting in this spot with a dozen people, eating fish and wild cherries and drinking Raki. The mountain roads were quite hairy and the girls sat in the back with their eyes covered for most of the journey. One of the biggest surprises is that it did not cost us a penny, as the Jandarma and their guests do not pay! They are regarded as important and crucial to Turkey and are treated with respect and affection by most people. What a shame we don't treat the servicemen and women with the same respect in the UK.
We got home at 11pm, so it was a 14 hour day and we slept like tops after breathing in all that beautiful air. Our next event, compliments of Huseyin, is a trip to the Theatre, to see 'Fire of Anatolia', a spectacle that has visited 17 countries and been on T.V. Imagine a Turkish version of Riverdance and you'll have an idea.
One week later and we have been to see Swan Lake, once again, courtesy of Huseyin and Rukiye. It was held at Aspendos and one can only say it was spectacular and brought a tingle up the back. The Aspendos theatre is much bigger than Side and was able to display a full troupe of dancers with lovely scenery.
On July 23rd, We went off to Bucharest, Romania for a mini-break and it was fascinating. They have done incredibly well out of the EU and its taxpayers. It's still a lot cheaper than the UK but property prices are horrendous. We actually had some rain there and the climate was very temperate, so it was a welcome change from the blistering heat here.
The roads around Colakli, Gundogdu and Kumkoy are all finished at last and they are wonderful compared to how they were.
We have now found a new Beach Bar in the shape of the Fizz Beach. Ali, the owner, is the owner of Cihan and has got it just right. Prices are reasonable, the sunbeds are free if you patronise the place and it's very clean...give it a try if you're here, you won't be disappointed.
Well, it had to happen didn't it? We've had the burglars back and they broke into 4 houses at Perikoy, all people that we knew well. They must have taken one look at our barred windows and decided to go for easier prey. It is interesting to point out that, at the meeting, we approved a budget that allowed for 600 ytl monthly for security in July, August & September. But the only security we have had is Rabani, the gardener, who only gets one salary. The night in question last week, Rabani had the night off, as he had been grass cutting during the day. Thank you Tacittin, your time is coming my friend!! Another downside to this is that Hussein is constantly on duty with his team, trying to catch this filth, so we don't get together as much as we would like to.
July 30th. I am sure most of my readers have seen the terrible news footage of the fires in our area. We have now lost 14,000 plus hectares of beautiful forest and countryside in the Bes Konak and Aspendos areas. It was heartbreaking to see the flames from our balcony and the continual stream of firefighting aircraft flying over the villa, to scoop water from the sea. Everything here is covered in ash, including myself when I fell asleep on a sunbed on the beach. Lynda and Val actually had the exciting spectacle one morning, while on the beach, of the aircraft flying close to the shore and scooping up the water. It has now involved 1400 people helping the authorities to fight the fires.
August 3rd. They now seem to have the worst fire under control but today, we saw huge plumes of smoke closer to home in the manavgat area. We think they have that under control now, as we saw the helicopters dropping their payloads.
August 4th. Once again, this morning we have been woken by the sound of multiple firefighting aircraft and the smell of smoke. The whole area is covered in fine smoke and we can only see 500 yards distance. At the moment, the biggest fire has been blamed on a power line but who knows. It could be a careless cigarette from a complete moron, who should be tried for murder if he is caught, as one person has already died and hundreds have lost their homes. It could also have been a BBQ, as many people are going off into the mountains this time of the year and with the terrible disrespect many people seem to have for their beautiful environment here, it could even have been a discarded bottle, which of course is an instant magnifying glass.
7th August. Ian, Lisa, Amber & Tia have arrived for 2 weeks with us but are staying at a beautiful apartment in Kemer, Side. We have been out every night and sampled a few new retaurants, not one of which was a disappointment. Huseyin and Rukiye arranged a day white water rafting at Bes Konak, site of the terrible fires. It was upsetting to see the terrible damage done on the drive into the mountains but very strange that we saw no sign of the colossal damage once we were in the rafts on the river. We had a riot of a time and Huseyin was the natural ringleader in the front of the boat for the attacks on other rafters. Rukiye sat safely in the middle leading us on, while keeping her arms firmly around Tia. At the halfway point, we had a photo opportunity and it was great to see brave little Tia hanging onto Ian for dear life when they did their plunge into the icy water. It was a fantastic hilarious day and Tia really took to Rukiye, who along with Huseyin, have become really close friends, especially as Rukiye now comes to me for English lessons. If she doesn’t get good marks, Huseyin says I can give her the cane!!
Ken and Jan’s bar, One For The Road, has become a regular haunt this summer with the quizzes on Wednesday nights and some weeks, our team consisting of Lynda, myself, Val and Sarah actually win.
August 10th. This year we had the garden party early, to dispense with the need for our Turkish friends to bring us anniversary presents. It was a truly memorable day, as this year we introduced some games. The Turkish really got involved and it was great to see so many people getting together and having fun. The horse racing was particularly hilarious and the final race between Huseyin and Ufuk was a great finale. Nebi, from Emek Retaurant, once again provided a complete roast lamb with salads and rice for 65 guests. Next year is going to be better still and it would be great to have some of our UK based friends join us. Val and Sarah spent a lot of time with us and Tia is very popular with Val, although her boundless energy and chatter can wear us older folk out. Beware anyone who messes with her once she is a teenager!!
Cavy and Dee, owners of the the Kiss Bar, Side, also met the family this year and we had a few great evenings with them. Our favourite beach bar, the Fizz Beach, also had the pleasure of our company and Tia had her first go at entertaining us with the Karaoke. It was very sad to see them off at the airport on the 21st and we are really looking forward to next year when they are coming for 18 days.
Lynda and I, along with the usual suspects, had a riotous evening at Andy and Tanya’s and everybody ended up in the swimming pool fully clothed, pictures are on the gallery page.
We now have a new gardener on site and although Rabani was a lovely lad, our new gardener, Ilias, is a grafter and really takes pride in his work. The gardens look great, provided they are watered and cut regularly but unfortunately, the garden watering system broke down, YET AGAIN and plants and grass started to look very sad. This was the alleged new pump system that cost us 7000 lira! Our own garden gets better and better and my latest project was to make a pond in front of our terrace, complete with waterfall, so we can listen to the water while getting pleasantly inebriated on those warm summer evenings. It is now stocked with 11 assorted fish and big thanks to Neil for bringing out my Titan 2000 pump. The Turkish game, Okey, is now very popular with Lynda and I and playing with our neighbours on the terrace proves you don’t have to speak each others language to have a great evening together.
I have now created a mini orchard in the back garden with trees from a new garden centre, the proprietor of which has now become a friend. We can really recommend him, as it is a beautiful centre and only 5 minutes from Perikoy on the main road. I have put in Banana, Orange, Pomegranate and Grapefruit. The Lemon tress I put in 2 years ago have really done well and I think we’ll have a lot of fruit this year, along with a lot of grapes from the vine I bought from the UK, which is now up to the first floor balcony.
We have found 2 new superb restaurants in Side, on the Sorgun road, the La Sera, which is Italian and The Address, which is international cuisine. The owners of the Address are Muzaffer and Naomi and both restaurants serve great quality food at a good price, along with a classy atmosphere, which is rare in this tourist area. We went to the Address for Lynda’s birthday with Val, Sarah, Neil, Julie, Tanya and Andy and had a lovely evening. We also had a lovely evening in Side with Huseyin and Rukiye at the lovely Gul restaurant, followed by a few at The Kiss.
The Fizz Beach has turned out to be a Godsend for the Brits in this area, as Ali serves great food, has free sunbeds and a lot of evening events, notably, Billy’s Karaoke and Belly Dancers.
September was pretty uneventful with more of the same, the beach, bars, Karaoke, restaurants and quiz nights. I wonder what the poor people are doing? We did, however, have one of our balconies blocked in with UPVC and a window to make a giant cupboard for our tools etc. Also, unfortunately, my printer packed up and I made the big mistake of sending it to an Epson service centre in Antalya. It cost me 245 lira and it came back 3 weeks later in a worse state than it was. Thank you Fulser! I contacted Epson who sold me the new version at a fantastic price and all I have to do now is get it over here. Hopefully, Paul and Sharon will bring it in November on their next trip over. My garden shed has also been a great idea, with everything that should be outside, outside.
October saw the arrival of the other half of Lynda’s family, Lee and Jane, with the kids, Jack and Georgia and while they were here, I did something I have been dying to do for years…parasailing! We all went up, part from Lee, who preferred to endanger the tourists on a Jet Ski. Next summer, I will take the camera up and get some aerial shots of the local area. Huseyin and Rukiye, once again, organised a white water rafting trip for us all but Huseyin unfortunately was on duty, trying to catch the thieves who are so prolific in this area. Val and Sarah were victims to these bastards in August and the Jandarma caught the culprits the following day. Although it is a lot cooler in the mountains now, the water temperature was practically the same as it was in summer, so we didn’t bother too much about getting wet, although because there were only a couple of other rafts out, there was much less water flying about. It was also interesting to note on the journey there that the amount of work that the woodsmen had achieved in the clean-up operation after the fires was colossal. They had cut down, stripped bark, sized and stacked thousands of trees and planted new trees in place of every burnt one. By this time next year, it will have recovered a lot of its beauty and we all hope that there will be no repeat incidents due to unbelievable thoughtlessness.
The family had a great week and may come again next year.
The evenings are now getting quite chilly but we are getting virtually no rain, which is very bad news. Because the site irrigation system is still not working, we are having to use the house water and it can work out to be expensive every day watering my newly seeded lawns. We actually had only 2 days rain in November, about 25 percent of what we had in 2007. Although we are getting a lot of sunshine during the day, since the clocks changed it is also notably cooler.
November saw me back in hospital for an operation on my knee, which was a terrible mess. I had been suffering it for weeks and the crunch came after a weekend on my knees in October in the garden and it swelled up like a balloon. Off I went for an MRI and into hospital 4 days later. It’s a bit stiff but the surgeon said I should get mobility back in 2-3 months. Thank god for our health insurance!
We’re now gearing up for Xmas and Lynda goes back on the 17th for 18 days. I can’t face it this year, all the madness, the expense, my poor joints affected by damp as much as cold…..bah, humbug!
Rukiye’s English is improving at a rate of knots and she now comes regularly at 3pm on a Friday. Huseyin always phones just after she leaves for a report.
Lynda has now left for the UK band it will be quite strange after all these years, not being together for the ‘festive’ (?) period. Our quiz team have moved up 3 places up the league in 4 weeks and we managed a 2nd and 1st place in December which now places us 3rd overall. We have a chance to win the title by April and considering we missed 2 weeks, we have done well. Xmas eve was quiz night with Val and Sarah and my Xmas day was spent at One For The Road. We had pork, beef and spit roast chicken with the usual trimmings, including sprouts!!! It was the most sober Xmas day for me for years and I drove home, rather than stay the night in my cold Side apartment. On New Years eve, a few of us went up to Nirvana, the new British-built complex at Tasagil. Big mistake! Apart from Billy’s Karaoke, of which I was a major contributor, the evening was a rip-off. The food was mainly a Turkish style cold buffet (mese) and the only English style food was stone cold and overcooked. Thankfully, like our friends Dave and Carol, we sneaked our own alcohol in, so didn’t have to pay the rip-off prices. We left at 1.30 and I called in to Billy and Phyllis when I got back to Perikoy, as their light was still on. Five and a half hours later, I crawled home!! It’s surprising how quick time passes when there are just 3 of you drinking and putting the world to rights.
Lynda is back home and very pleasantly surprised at the amount of DIY I have carried out. The office now looks like one and all the paints, tools etc are now in our huge balcony cupboard.
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR to all our friends and readers of this site. Please remember to look in from time to time for updates.
Winter, due to crap weather, was going to be dedicated to getting my 200 plus VHS cassettes onto DVD but the hardware I bought on Ebay for £30 to do it with, doesn’t work. Basically, the DVD recorder will not allow me to copy a tape because the hardware that is supposed to disable the macrovision on the tape doesn’t do it. So, if you have a VHS collection, tough shit, you’ll have to go out and buy the film again, as the tapes deteriorate after about 7 years. I am not happy but that’s Ebay for you.
Sun 4th. The storm from hell started today and it is the worst storm we have had since living here. It rained, thundered and lightninged (is that a word?) for 2 days and culminated in loss of electricity on Tuesday night at 9.30pm. We had hailstones that ripped plants to pieces and turned every garden and road into a lake. The swimming pool down the road took in over 1 metre of water! We finally got power back at 7pm on Thursday evening at 7pm. The only brick construction that stayed completely dry was my coal bunker that I built for garden tools that didn't let in one drop of rain. We're thinking of moving into it at the first sign of the next storm but it might be a bit cramped!
Good news. Diesel is nearly back to the level it was when we moved here in 2005 at 2.20 per litre. The temperature was 17 today (Thurs) and is predicted to be 19 tomorrow...weird!
The price of diesel has dropped even further, now down to 2.05 lira but that’s no surprise due to the plummeting price of oil. What a shame we have to depend on head lopping arabs to run a modern world!
The weather just gets worse and worse, with the local people saying it’s the worst weather for 15 years. Fortunately, we have an incredibly large DVD collection and Turkish TV is marginally better than the crap the cash gobbling BBC dish up.
Our Wednesday nights are still given up to the quiz and we still go out on a Saturday night for dinner. February has seen the formation of a women’s group for ex-pats to try and broaden member’s circle of friends. They have a website, which I set up for them and is now maintained by Sarah www.manavgatwomensgroup.com One of the sub committees is a charity group and its members now hold a table-top sale once a month at Kens ‘One For The Road’ bar in Side. It’s also a great way to get rid of the unwanted gifts and DVDs you’ve watched 50 times. Lynda has now joined a gymnasium and goes twice a week with Val and Sarah and various other lady friends from the women’s group.
The rain has eased off slightly bit it’s still bloody cold and we’re not even sure what colour the car is now. We still have our annoying drip through the roof and it has affected the framework of the built in wardrobes, which are made with MDF. I guess it’s up on the roof for me once the weather is warmer.
I’m getting in to the garden whenever I can to get it ready for the summer. The pond and fish are doing well (forgot to mention I made a small pond and waterfall in July) and I now have 11 fish (sadly, sooty died after 2 weeks). It’s an effort to keep it clean because of the sand and muck blowing in and the sun will turn the water green very quickly. I have now invested in an ultra violet filter system and I our friend Ian will bring it from the UK when he drives over. Sadly his coffee shop didn’t survive and he is now looking for another venture.
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 soory 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 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.
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