The End is Nigh

We are nearing the end of our extended trip.We return to UK on Monday. We've had a fabulous 6 weeks but I am not too sad as I will actually be returning in 25 days time for almost 3 weeks! Then Hil, Matt and Jack will accompany me so I am looking forward to that. Quite a few folk have asked me why I am bothering to return to UK for those 23 days - well, I have 2 visits to the dentist, a wedding to attend, my health insurance only allows 45 days at a time, a hair appointment to sort out my very damaged mop from all the sun. Also my visa allows me to be here 90 days in any 180 so I am getting close to that allowance this year. We have also missed 6 weeks of our dancing lessons and haven't practiced at all so we must get back to that, we missed the Ceroc Summer ball too. The Winter masked ball will be along before we know it so we need to brush up our moves!
Matt has enjoyed the windsurfing and catching up with the Brothers of the Wind. I often woke at 7.30 am to find he'd gone off for a spot of cycling and an early morning swim. So he must be feeling quite fit now or perhaps exhausted. I have swum most days but have found it too hot for much else. It didn't drop below 30C and usually hovered around 35C. I have enjoyed catching up with friends, having BBQs, lots of lovely meals out and in, listening to musicians in the square, lazing around and just being warm all the time. We spent the majority of our days on the beach at Gebekum, where even when it was really busy everywhere else remained peaceful. I bought a few new cool clothes for the trip but most of them still have the labels on as almost daily I wore the same dress - a long flowing beach dress from M&S. I washed it out at night and put it back on in the morning!
We had planned to maybe travel around a bit during our stay. Rhodes was a possibility and Symi but then we were so settled in here we couldn't be bothered. We did have one night in a hotel in Marmaris and that was nice. Ercan the car hire man did us a very good deal on a diesel Corsa for 6 weeks. It was brand new and very smart. Best of all the fuel consumption was very low so as well as a really good rental deal we spent very little on fuel.
We've had some of the bonkers experiences we often get here. Shopping for things like bath sealant, new air conditioning remote controls (I put one in the washing machine) and such like always proves to be amusing.
Melanie and Rob came to visit for a few days and Hil came for 2 weeks. Beyaz the white pussy moved in with us. This is her fourth year of hanging around. Matt gave up trying to shoo her out of the house and we treated her for ticks and fleas. She isn't really bothered about food, just likes our company. Although she usually appears bright eyed and bushy tailed at lunch time. We didn't encourage the rest of the entourage and I discovered a Turkish lady feeds them all at night outside of our house. Maybe I'll give her a bag of food to help a bit.
So here are a few photos taken in the last few days.

Some of the Brothers of the Wind.

Beyaz in the bush.

The wind mill has a small companion - it will be returning to the UK with me!

The new shorts.

... and the back view!

Someone once said to me 'There isn't much at Gebekum just a load of dunes'. Such an idiot, the dunes are teaming with life. If you sit still there you will see masses of insects and other life. I didn't see any lizards or tortoises this time but they are there along with rare birds and butterflies. It is the wrong time of the year to see the plants but there were a few surviving in the sand.

Gebekum at the height of the Summer season.

The evening sun at Gebekum, you can see the reef that protects the dunes. Sadly in places this has been blown up with explosives. At the far end the dunes have been bulldozed in order to build an 'environmentally friendly' hotel - madness.

Bye Hil x

There she goes!

Our Pretty Garden

I love our garden in Datca. I can't take much credit for it as the gardener looks after it all year. Matt and I potter about a bit while we are there and quite enjoy a spot of pruning and sometimes planting something new. We have a little plot of our own and then there are communal areas.
So here are a few pictures of some of the pretty flowers.

Beyaz, not a flower but she decorates our garden when we are there. I think others feed her but she likes to hang around with us.

Early evening sun in Eski Datca

Today was a no wind day so no windsurfing. I had my weekly refloxology treatment this morning and a swim. We watched the boats coming and going for a while and then as it was slightly cooler today we decided to go for a stroll. First we stopped off at the newly built windmill which has opened as a winery and purchased a bottle of their finest red wine, we have heard some good reports. Then stopped off at Eski Datca for the stroll. Eski Datca is a very pretty village just a few Km's inland from our house. Most of the houses are stone and until the exchange in 1923 were mostly inhabited by Greeks. After they left it fell into disrepair until more recently the houses have been gradually bought and restored. In high season lots of little cafes open and very interesting shops. We wandered around a bit and found some more little streets that I don't think we have been along before. Then we had a drink in Nil Cafe and sampled some very delicious seftali pasta (peach cake).
Here are a selection of photos taken today.

The recently built windmill winery.

The winery garden

Ladies selling their craft work in Eski Datca.

Eski Datca main street.

So many interesting door ways.

Miaow

Yummy! Seftali pasta at the Cafe Nil.

The mosque

Another Saturday Market Day

It's Saturday again and that's the day of the big market in town. Traders come from far and wide to sell their wares and it's a social opportunity when you bump into friends. Sometimes in this very hot weather I just can't be bothered to go but today we set our alarm clocks and rose early (well early'ish), lathered ourselves in sunblock and Matt dropped us off before he went sailing again. This trip has proved quite good for wind.
After the market we headed to the Cafe Inn for coffee and very naughty cakes, then we went round the corner for soft drinks in the Sunrise Bar and as we were wandering along the harbour looking at the boats, Meral called us in for yet more drinks in the Beyaz Amca. It was very hot so all these drinks were very welcome but there was a breeze and I didn't expire.
Here are a selection of photos from our morning.

Hil bought some shoes to wear in the sea.

Plenty of shoes in the market.

My first purchases at the market were a couple of hamam towels.

You can even buy your undies here!

... and your dressing gowns.

Lovely smells and colours.

Matt once bought a leather wallet from this trader. We enjoyed the buying process as he was so funny but the wallet fell apart very quickly.

We love the pestemals. 10 lira is about 2.88 sterling and there is usually wiggle room if you buy a few! I bought the better quality 20 lira ones but got some discount for buying two.

The Datca peninsula is famous for honey, almonds and olive oil and the main street is full of shops selling them.

The view from our coffee stop.

11.00 am, coffee and cake time at the Cafe Inn.

The town beach was awarded the 2014 blue flag.

Our favourite bar - Sunrise.

Kittens at the Sunrise Bar.

You can see our house on the hill above the trees with the

pinky coloured roof.

A copy of the statue of Demeter found at Knidos and a modern sculpture of Badem the seal who visited Datca a few times.

I love the fabrics, this was just hanging by the road.

So beautiful