So Much Fun

Well our three weeks in the sun are over and we had a lovely time. Matt had lots of windy days so he was very happy. It was very hot but the breeze made it easier and we had lots of relaxing mornings on our terrace or swimming. Afternoons and early evenings were almost all on the windsurfing beach at Gebekum - fine by me they have good sunbeds and facilities. We had some evenings at home relaxing on the balcony watching the sun go down over the Med. Our cats were around much of the time - Beyaz, Aphrodite, Spot and Bruiser. Sadly my favourite, Bella wasn't and I think she was the one I spotted dead in the road :( she was a lovely friendly puss and this was her third summer with us. Cats there don't last long.
We had some very good meals although I lost my appetite and often had lentil soup for dinner. We didn't manage breakfast out as it would have been too much food and all I wanted was yoghurt but will catch up on that during the girl's week with Hil soon. I didn't go to the market either, just couldn't face it in the heat. I'll go in September.
We caught up with some very lovely friends and had a few boozy nights in the Sunrise bar laughing and chatting. We met a few new ones and I have Hil set up with a date for next August - that's if she's not married by then! We found a man of a similar age to her who loves going to night clubs. Could be a match made in heaven and such a shame he'll be gone when she returns soon.
There are some changes in Datca, it has grown considerably especially in the last two or three years. Some of the changes are good and there are some smart new shops. Many of the roads have been resurfaced and some pavements improved. The very ugly Ogretmen Evi has been pulled down and next year there may be a park in its place (hope so). There are a lot more honey shops and also bread shops and little cafes. The terraces by the harbour now have tables and chairs and there is a new cafe serving drinks. It looks lovely.
Metro cars came up trumps and gave us a brand new car so we looked very smart in it - he says I'm not just his best customer but his very best customer. I'm just glad we didn't prang it.
Only three weeks between visits this time so I didn't mind leaving and the cooler weather at home is rather nice.
Here are some photos of our holiday.

Fabulous flowers

Really lovely visitors

Smashing friends with such interesting lives.

The view from our garden.

Fun at the water park.

Pide - yummy!

Pide

Such a fabulous guest.

Go away I'm reading!

Our new car.

This year our palm tree has flowers.

A full moon - dolunay.

Spot, the new girl in the garden.

Aphrodite

The Ogretmen Evi was here!

Matt wanted this - Easyscoot?

Sunrise bar - our favourite.

Fresh orange juice.

More smashing friends and my favourite pooch.

Princess Beyaz of Ozbel doing what she enjoys most.

Perfect Little Visitors

The water park was a big hit.

One of the reasons we enjoy our time in Turkey is we never quite know what is going to happen next. Our experiences over the years have been funny, puzzling, crazy, infuriating but sometimes just special.We had a special one this week. My Turkish friend from a town a couple of hours away called me. We have been good friends for a few years and I really like her. She is a teacher and I have visited a couple of her schools. Teachers here seem to move to a new one much more often than we do in UK. When a group of us did the Pebble Project to commemorate a friend who had died it was one of her schools in the mountains that received some books in Pebble's memory. My friend hasn't had an easy life but a few years ago she took a step that some thought could be unwise for her. She adopted a girl who had spent much of her life in an orphanage. She says it has made her life complete and it is a joy to see them so happy together. There is another lovely girl in this story who is a little older. She comes from a family of ten and so of course providing university education is impossible for her parents. She is a clever girl and so my friend is sponsoring her through university and she spends a lot of her holidays in their home. Now I have only ever spent an hour or so with these girls, usually on my way to the airport so when my friend said please could she send them to me for a couple of days while she prepared to move house - I was rather scared. She felt it would be nice for them to be near the sea and the cooler breezy atmosphere. It is really hot where they live - it is 38C here! I was worried because they speak almost no English and I worried about them being unhappy. Well I shouldn't have worried, we had a wonderful two days together and now I wish I had said they could stay longer, maybe next year. They were the perfect guests, so tidy and polite and happy to join in with us. It made me speak Turkish, which I can a bit when I have to. Even Matt had a go. One evening they were studying a phrase book and they stood before us with big grins and said 'We like it here very much' Awww, I almost cried. We went to the water park which was a big hit, we had pide out, cooked together at home, taught them to play naughts and crosses, went to some beaches and generally had a good time. The house seems a bit empty now they have gone and my kitchen is  nowhere near as clean and tidy.



Learning to play naughts and crosses in English



A Hidden Gem



The view from Gulbahar restaurant with my beach bed waiting for me.



Many years ago one of the staff at Perili Kosk hotel took me out for the day to see the peninsula. Then he took me to meet his Mum and we sat in her garden drinking tea and eating the grapes that hung above our heads. She was a very nice lady. A few years later I visited again and my friend was building a very grand house in his Mum's garden. It is a beautiful spot right by the sea in Mesudiye. He had plans to open it as a guest house and said his sister hoped to open a cafe. I haven't seen much of my friend during the last couple of years and as Mesudiye is not good for windsurfing we rarely go there.
Anyway in June Hil and a friend and I went there for afternoon tea to a cafe I hadn't visited Gulbahar (Spring rose). We sat under a tree in this beautiful spot and drank tea. I spotted an older lady friend there and we chatted and giggled in my limited Turkish. She introduced me to her sister who was the mother of the cafe owner. She seemed familiar and later after we had left I realised that this was the Mum I met all those years ago and her daughter is the sister of my friend.
So yesterday there was no wind and Matt and I returned to that beach which is now one of my favourites. The lady remembered me and was very welcoming. I told her the story about meeting her Mum in the past and I managed it all in Turkish. I hope there is another windless day soon and then we will return for lunch. It's a very beautiful and undeveloped spot. The beach was not at all busy.

The view from my beach bed.

Someone showing his displeasure after I drowned the camera and a few other items!

A lazy morning

Well most mornings are lazy here in Datca. Matt usually ambles down to the sea before breakfast for a snorkel, returning with a grin and a present for me. Usually some nice shell, an urchin shell or a piece of amphora. We have bowls full now and are running out of places to put them. I keep saying I'll do something artistic with them - maybe one day. When he returns we breakfast on some of the delicious things we find here, fresh fruit and veg and white yogurt. Matt has a liking for the famous Datca honey. Then I usually swim in the pool. I'm not so fond of the sea as being diabetic I must watch out for my feet and there always seems to something there ready to cut, sting or bite me. Mostly I am alone in the pool but today I was accompanied by some lovely gliding butterflies and a small owl. This year the flowers around the pool are spectacular.
Yesterday Matt sprang into action and did some gardening. We have a gardener but like to do some ourselves. The bouganvillia was obstructing our view of the sea so he pruned that. I pruned the Brugsmania tree that I love and everyone else hates. It needs a lot of water and was looking a bit sad when we arrived but it is perking up now.
Lunch is usually a small affair - some fresh bread, cheese and salad. It is so hot here now that I really don't want much and this week without trying I have lost over a kilo - nearly 3 pounds. After lunch the wind usually gets up so no guesses where we go!
Here are som lazy morning photos.

lovely colours

Our simple lunch - seems to be helping my weight loss.

Princess Beyaz of Ozbel spending her 3rd summer with us.

Part of the garden looking pretty.



Aphrodite who likes to be lazy with us.





Some of the presents from Matt.



Not enough photos

That's what Matt said to me 'You are not taking enough photographs'. What he really meant was that I wasn't taking enough photos of him windsurfing in those oh so bright shorts of his. It's not enough that I have to lounge on a sunbed looking gorgeous in my new BHS swimsuits with coordinating wraps ROFL or keep an eye on the bags, lick the ice creams, read the books, watch out for dolphins or check that Matt is not being blown to Symi etc. Now I must take more photographs so here are a selection of today's photos. He came back in saying 'Did you take photos' 'Yes - squillions' I said. 'Oh bet they are no good' he muttered. Then he actually had to admit a few were ok.

Now most of these photos will look similar so not sure why he wanted so many. They all show my action man in bright shorts, lovely blue sea, perched on his board.

They all whizz along backwards and forwards to Symi all day long.



All the old boys sat around discussing the wind and the size of their equipment.



Plenty of wind today - on the outside and the inside he tells me!

Mr Muscles AKA Ali resting between sessions.

Whoops

Drama at sea!

In my official capacity as chairperson and founding member of the BBC (beach bed club), I've been busy testing the beach beds at the Surf Camp near Datca. There are 10 beds there with parasols 2 metres from the waters edge. They are all in good order with a comfortable cushion, a short walk from the bar and the facilities. The camp is situated at Gebekum (pregnant sand) and the bay either side consists of protected areas of outstanding natural beauty. The sand is volcanic and has floating stones which are traced back to a massive volcanic eruption in the med thousands of years ago. Behind the beach there are dunes, home to many rare and exotic plants, insects, birds and reptiles. The sea constantly washes up amphora as this area once produced wine that was exported all over the med. The beach and dunes are mostly protected by a rocky reef although sadly the company that originally set up this camp removed some of these rocks to facilitate the launching of windsurfers.
So of course this is where my other half likes to spend his time with his little band of international windsurfing buddies. We have been meeting them there for years, some camp there in tents or camper vans and others like us have holiday homes in Datca and travel there each day. Most seem to be there again this year and report that the wind has been super for the last month. This has put the wind up Matt (so to speak) because usually when he arrives somewhere and they say that, the wind usually drops. but so far so good and he is a happy chappy - well almost.
On Wednesday there was an incident that I suppose in the worst case scenario could have left me husbandless! I was on sunbed number 2 and oblivious to the shinanagins at sea because I had just discovered they had wifi on the beach so was busy reading the Mail online. There were all sorts of interesting things on there such as when will the royal baby arrive and how the queen wants it to hurry up. It is supposed to be one of my jobs to keep an eye on Matt but quite honestly it is difficult because there are quite a few of them, mostly men and they all sail backwards and forwards half way to Symi (Greek Island). Then every now and again the wind changes and every one rushes back in and changes their equipment and sails so it really is quite hard to spot him. Also I have never mastered the art of using binoculars, Matt says it is because I am a woman but I just find them very uncomfortable. There are plenty of them out at sea and there is a rescue boat. All just as well really as Matt needed them on Wednesday. His mast broke, which of course they shouldn't do as when you are half way to Symi causes a few probvlems. He faced a long swim back and the decision of whether or not to abandon his kit which of course is expensive. Thankfully another windsurfer was near and noticed his problem and alerted the rescue chap who sped out and picked him up. So all was well - but I missed it all. So now he has purchased a new mast and decided it might be an idea to replace the boom as well. Flipping expensive but there you go. It's all my fault for buying him a windsurfer as a wedding present 30 years ago!


There are 10 beds for me to test at this beach, they are rarely used much as most people who visit this beach are too busy sailing. So really it is my duty to sit there - somebody has to do it.





Forgot to mention that before hitting the beach we strolled around the Wednesday farmer's market' Here are a few purchases'



Clevedon

This was a rather sad day as Matt and his brothers and sister said a final farewell to their parents and scattered their ashes from Clevedon pier. It was the nearest Sunday to their Mum's birthday and almost a year since she died.  Hil in her position of new matriarch read some poetry and the ashes floated off like a cloud over the Bristol Channel. It was all very beautiful.
It was a gorgeous sunny day so we had coffee on the pier, wandered round a beautiful garden and looked in a few shops. Later we had lunch on the balcony of a pub and then the fit ones went off for a hike.

Hil dressed for the occasion and wore her Mother's hat !

Ms Keevill and 2 x Mrs Keevills