A Weekend in Cornwall

The weather forecast was good so we nipped off to Cornwall for a long weekend. The weather was great - around 26C. It was a lovely break, Cornwall is so beautiful and in my opinion has the best beaches in the world. They are so clean with great facilities and cafes.


So much space.



A car park with a view!

Himself heading off to the surf.

No seals today





Plenty of Gulls

and flowers

Home Again

After thirty days away in Turkey I am home. I had a wonderful time but after a while 40C does become almost too much and it is a refreshing change today to wake up to clouds, rain and cold. I don't think I'll be needing my sun dress today.
Here are some nice sunny photos to keep me going until I can chase the sunshine again.




Last day



Visiting a friend on our last day.



Market street



This amused us in the market!



We've not seen this odd little boat before.

Courgette fritters - yummy.

A hot morning at the market



The Peri often visits Datca.



My house is in the distance

The Marmaris to Datca road.

A trip into the mountains

Bruiser is Hil's favourite cat. He has many scars but is a bit of an old softie. As we left I asked the gardener if he would put water in the cats dishes every day. He said he loved all the cats too and would fill their bowls every day.
I'm not sure if we will visit Datca again this year as there are other places where the sun shines, but you never know. I have a few more Datca photos to share but will keep them for a rainy day here when I need to dream a bit.

Palamut Buku

Yesterday, despite the extreme heat  40C +, we decided on an excursion down the peninsula to Palamut Buku. It was quite busy but the nice waiter at the Dostlar restaurant found us 2 sun beds in the shade and we crashed out for the day.
The following photographs are of the spectactular scenery on our journey home.

The view from the mountains over Datca

Me in the sea at Palamut Buku



 


 


  





Later that evening we returned to the Gozde restaurant for some traditional food. Hil tried the stuffed aubergine and I had the casserole, we also tried the courgette fritters and stuffed courgette flowers. We finished off with creme carmamels. It was all smashing. While we were there a tremendous din started with scooters roaring down the street, honking and waving flags. A young man about to do his national service was given a 'send off' by his friends.

Cicek dolmasi - stuffed courgette flowers

Ladies Who Lunch

Yesterday we entertained at home. Three of Datca's finest English ladies arrived for a day of eating, drinking and gossiping. Hil and I had only just arrived back from Fethiye and found our local supermarket Migros was totally depleted due to the three day bayram. However we managed to scrabble together enough food to satisfy them, we bunged a chicken in the oven and ran up some salads so all was well. The meal was concluded with a fabulous fruit cake made by our friend in Calis - Liza. Her cafe 'Pastries and Pies' is a place to visit if you are in the area. Liza adores cooking and all of her food is home made and delicious.
Any way we had a lovely day with our three old friends. Thank you girls for the flowers and wine and also your company.

Sabri and Liza of Pastries and Pies in Calis. Liza made our lovely fruit cake.

Gozde in Datca, Turkey

This is another of our favourite restaurants, well restaurant is not quite the right word. It is really a lokanta. I walked past it for years as it looks so basic. It is very clean but basic. We ventured in a couple of years ago and it fast became a favourite. The food is typically Turkish, not the sort you get in restaurants catering for tourists. Each day there are different home made things and you go to the kitchen and choose it. Tonight we had a kind of casserole with kofte in it and potatoes and veg with a portion of rice and some cacik, a yogurt dressing with cucumber. We had some drinks but passed on the yummy looking home made baklava. The bill was 24 lira - around 8 pounds
The lady who runs it is lovely and she is visibly amused by us. Hil and I explained to her in Turkish that we were sisters in law as well as being friends and holiday companions. In Turkish I am the gelin (in comer) and Hil is the gorumce. She told us that in Turkey it is unusual for sisters in law to be friends like we are. When eventually Matt started eating there with us she was even more amused.



Gorumce



We had the etli yemekler - meaty food.

Our Mountain Retreat

We took Matt to the airport and sobbed a little as we said our goodbyes! I wish he could have stayed another week.
Then we headed off to see Lynne and Dave again in Uzumlu. I was right, another 4 paws have moved in. Last week Lynne watched as a hand came out of a car window and dropped a kitten in the road. Of course she couldn't leave it and so Abbo is now in residence. She now has 6 dogs, 2 cats and 2 golfish. I reckon she has room for another cat!


Molly, my favourite.



Abbo, the new boy

 We enjoyed the tranquil surroundings, swam in the pool and crashed out on the sunbeds.

After a considerable amount of relaxing and being waited on by our hosts we headed off to Fethiye to see our old friend Stella. She was thrilled to see us and said we were the first of her famale friends to visit her in her new shop. It is of course an Alladin's cave and we were compelled to indulge in a little retail therapy.



When we paid for our goods, Stella threw the money on the floor. It is one of their strange customs!

Of course there was a great deal of eating to be done during our mini break to Uzumlu.