Market day again

We've been here three weeks and failed to make it to the Wednesday farmer's market near our house. So today we covered ourselves in sun block, donned our hats and set off in the heat. It is a lovely experience with the smells, the colours and the banter from the farmers.

Hil and Matt

The honey man

Some of our shopping

Today's super yacht

The super yacht parked up in front of our house today is called Vertigo.
http://www.boatinternational.com/yacht-features/vertigo-sailing-superyacht-of-the-year/
Quite an impressive vessel. A stately pleasure dome they say!
Only 295,000 euros a week. We are wondering who might be on it this week!

A weird old morning

Planted with copious amounts of goat poo!

This morning there was a strange sea mist hanging around the Greek Island of Symi. Eventually we couldn't see the island at all and as the morning progressed this mist rolled towards us until we had no view at all. The temperature dropped to 27C and our house was enveloped in it. It was a very odd happening and we have never seen anything like it here before.
It goes without saying that there was no wind so in order to prevent him becoming bored I set Matt to in the garden and he worked tirelessly to dig holes in the rock hard ground to plant our new white hibiscus and a shrub with pretty little purple flowers.The lady in the shop said it was called cikapu but I cant find it anywhere.
I supervised from the terrace and Hil worked hard in the kitchen preparing a delicious lunch.

For a while we couldn't see Symi at all. Here is it starting to clear.

Waiting to be planted

working hard!

Hil rustled up a light lunch.

When the boat comes in

Hil arrived today. She took one of the alternative routes - flying in to Bodrum, staying overnight and then catching the 13.00 feribot to Kormen. She chugged in just before 15.00 where we were waiting for her. Kormen is a bit of a mess now as they are busy building a new marina. There is concrete everywhere you look and the little beaches have been obliterated.
Anyway there she was waving madly as the boat came in. Her suitcase is full of goodies such as Southern Comfort, Jelly Babies and chocolate.

Squillions of goats

Now this post is really for my bonkers but lovely friends Melanie and Rob. There is nothing they like better than the sight of some cute goats. Sadly we didn't show them any on their visit and although they put on brave faces I think they were very disappointed. So today on our way to Kargi Koyu there were loads. They won't be around for many more months as I am pretty sure these are being fattened up for the religious festival Kurban Bayrami starting on 4th October for 3 days. This is the Feast of the Sacrifice so I'm sure you can imagine what will happen to most of these cute goats! Here is an explanation of why it happens
http://www.wittistanbul.com/magazine/kurban-bayrami-or-the-feast-of-the-sacrifice-in-a-nutshell/
Loads of them are rounded up and put at the top of our road where families can buy them and have them slaughtered. Not something I wish to witness but it is something that has happened here for a very long time.The goats actually have a happy enough life roaming around until then and I am told that most of them are dispatched swiftly. Not everyone actually buys a goat, some of my friends who don't want to do this give money to be distributed to the poor.

So anyway here is the large herd of goats that we saw today, especially for Melanie and Rob.

After that we headed for the beach and crashed for the rest of the day. It was a low wind day so Matt was happy to snorkel round the bay.

An extended trip

Surf Camp - Matt's favourite place here!

Last year as we sat by the harbour watching the world go by, Matt uttered "What would be the optimum amount of time to spend here?" I almost choked on my iced soda water as until then he would only come for two weeks at a time. Last year he agreed to a three week week stay which was very nice. The most I have stayed has been four weeks and that is usually enough. However we discussed it and came to the conclusion that if we were both here, six or eight weeks might be nice. So as soon as I could (before he changed his mind and as soon as they were released) I booked the cheapo Easyjet flights. Matt asked for some unpaid leave as he didn't want to use all of his annual leave in one go and the request was granted. We decided on 43 days as our annual travel insurance only covers us for 45 days at a time and we will be returning for a couple of weeks in September.
So, here we are for our extended trip. It is a really great feeling to know we have so much time here. There is no rush to do anything.

We picked up a very nice, brand new rented white Corsa at Dalaman and arrived here a week ago. In preparation for this stay we brought out a bike and a third windsurfer at Easter and for much of the last week Matt has been zooming around on the water. The wind dropped for a couple of days while we had our bonkers but lovely visitors Rob and Melanie, so that was great as then Matt was happy enough to accompany us out and about.
Then we took them for a night in Marmaris, staying at the Orsmaris Boutique Hotel. I just picked it from the hotels.com site and it was fab. On the outskirts of the town, right on the beach with good rooms, pools and gardens. We tootled over the mountain to Turunc (OMG that is another tale) to see my friend Joan and dined in her favourite restaurant. Then today we put Melanie and Rob on the bus to Kalkan and it was sad to wave them farewell. They were the perfect guests, easy going, happy to muck in, turning up loaded with goodies such as gin, Brittany butter, Jelly Babies and pork pies. So the following photos are snippets from our first week here. We now have about a week alone before Hil arrives for more adventures.

The inevitable trip to the Saturday market.

Cafe Inn

Bonkers but lovely friends

Melanie in Marmaris

Our mini break to Marmaris

Home

I never tire of our lovely views

From the bedroom

Easter Celebrations

After seven months away, we have returned to Datca. This visit was a last minute decision as Hilary unexpectedly retired and Matt had some leave left to use up. I, off course have the Easter holidays and am lucky enough to be able to take extra time off when I like. So there are three of us on this trip for eleven days. The weather is pretty much as expected for April - lovely sunny days with a couple of overnight storms and a few showers. There are plenty of opportunities to sit in the warm sunshine. As the time has progressed the weather has become increasingly summery and today Matt and Hil swam in the sea. During our stay we've had three celebrations. Hill and I both had birthdays and Matt and I  celebrated our Pearl Wedding Anniversary. On Friday night we popped out for a quiet dinner and an early night and found ourselves in the midst of Maradonna's live music and dancing night. Considering the season has not begun, it was wild.
We've done all the usual things, dining out, market shopping and such like. We've dined out often and the most delicious was at the Cullinarium.
There are some changes and rather a lot of new building going on. Two of our favourite eating places have been pulled down but we are told one of them (Gozde) will be resurrected before long in it's smart new premises. There are so many apartments springing up in all the gaps and lots of old buildings have gone to make way for new ones. Luckily there is very little building going on near our house so it has been very peaceful. The new marina is progressing and there is a huge concrete structure at the end but no one knows what it will be. It seems work halted during the winter because there was an argument over who owned the small island that they started to demolish but that was resolved and now the lorries are chugging along there. They still have a lot to do.
Many of our pussy visitors have called into see us including Bella, Bruiser, Squeaky, Aphrodite and Beyaz who was so excited to see us that she has moved back in. It is impossible to keep her out. The house is fine having stood empty for 7 months and the garden is looking pretty. It has been well kept during the winter but we decided to prune some of the bouganvillea back even harder so that it won't block our sea view. We intend planting a few more things in the next week.

The sea is as lovely as ever.

Lunch at cafe Inn.

A stroll in the sunshine.

Geese at Kargi Koyu.

My birthday photo.

Karaincir

Matt out for a bike ride along the peninsula.

Afternoon cay at the Mercan.

Ercan gave us a very nice new Doblo kitted out with a roof rack for one of Matt's toys.

Spring flowers are blooming