Late September

On Monday 17^th our friends Eric and Diane were going to Kusadası. They had never been there before, so we invited ourselves along as unofficial guides. Our bus journey there takes us through the cotton fields on what you might call the Söke plain .. a broad flat area with a large river meandering through it. The cotton fields require a lot of water especially when it is planted, very similar to rice. This time of the year it is ready to be harvested, but this year we observed that the itinerant workers who usually nomadically follow the seasonal agricultural work were largely absent, and in their place were large combine harvesters moving up and down the fields. A sad sign of the times. These workers have been employed on subsistence wages for many years, living in shelters made from sheets of polythene and canvas, all along the edges of the fields, parents, children dogs and all, and now, almost overnight, the tradition has changed. Last year it was a novelty to see one of these combines, but this year it has become the norm.

Our day out in Kusadası commenced with a visit to Bird Island, where we unexpectedly met two friends of E & D who live in Kusadası. We had a coffee with them and a long chat, followed by a walk around the island and it's castle battlements. Then it was a bit of retail therapy as Diane was looking for a sparkly top for a “do” she would be attending in the near future in the UK. This was followed by an excellent late lunch of çöp şiş, a wander along the sea-front, more liquid refreshment before returning to the dolmuş station for our journey home.

On Tuesday we had a frustrating morning. We had gone down to sail. It was still very windy, but we thought we might manage it. However, fate took a hand because the electric motor decided not to work. Without it, we won't venture out onto the sea. Our friends Ed and Peter do, they rely on paddles should they get a problem, but that seems like hard work, especially if you happen to be 3 Km away from Gaye 2 when the mast breaks or a stay fails and you have to row all the way back, with the wind against you ... no, not for us. We gave up and returned home to investigate the problem. It wasn't a big problem fortunately. The salt water had eaten into one of the cable clips that attach to the battery, and although it seemed fine just to the eye, it had in fact corroded to the point of not allowing a current to pass. A quick repair later and the motor was fixed, but by this time we had lost the urge so to speak. Anyway, at that point Melih, our Turkish architect friend came round with the plans of his new project which he wanted us to peruse. He's going to build a block of 4 houses in Altinkum, each one having 3 en-suite double bedrooms and it's own swimming pool. He came round earlier in the year, and was measuring our lounge and kitchen, and has incorporated many features of our house into his own. He has taken on board many of the comments of people around, to correct failings of other houses and improve on features incorporated into his previous projects. He is aiming to sell these 4 for around £75,000 each, which is very competitive in the current market. We don't think they'll be hanging around for long.(USD 8.11)

Wednesday we had to collect our post, and was spent socialising and serving our fellow Brits as an information bureau. We seem to do a lot of this ... we ought to have a sign outside with office hours. The sign would read “Information Bureau, estate agents, insurance agents, flight booking office, travel agent, money exchange, banking information, internet café, legal advisers, home services. Opening hours 5pm to 7 pm” (so as not to interfere with sailing or sleeping). Three times this week information seekers have got us out of bed. However the day ended on a very pleasant note at the police academy for a really peaceful meal with Ken and Betty, overlooking the sea as the sun went down. Not many souls there, so even better service than usual, with the waiter giving us a lift down the road at the end of a lovely evening.

Thursday we sailed for most of the day. Amanda and Lawrence's new boat had arrived, but they weren't out in it as they were waiting for the company who built it to come and fix a few teething problems. By the time we finished, the man had turned up and I spent the next couple of hours with them, assisting where I could. It is a very good looking boat and the quality of the fixtures and fittings is second to none. We were a bit concerned about an apparent crack in the hull, but Feridun, the boat-builder said it was just in the gel-coat caused by the journey down and easily repairable. It was almost dusk before they could take it out for a test run, and all seemed to be well. When we got home we had a message from Phil and Lynn. They needed to come round to book their tickets home. They had to be back before Lynn's birthday as the family are organising a party. That done and the rest of the evening was our own ... just time to go to bed!!!

Friday got off to a good start as we got an email from Christie, our daughter. She has passed another module in her HND course in Horticulture. As she fits this in between work and bringing up 3 children, she is doing remarkably well, especially as this particular module, large scale commercial horticulture didn't really interest her. The next module will be plant genetics and should provide more challenge. She has also booked flights for her whole family to visit us next year ... a wonderful piece of news. We can't wait. The rest of the day was spent socialising as it was too windy to sail.

Saturday we were woken early by Phil and Lorraine who were after information on who could build them some kitchen cupboards. We gave them the name of our carpenter and they went off to the industrial estate to find him. It being windy, we lay in the sun on the top terrace and read for the rest of the day. In the evening we borrowed a wheel barrow and collected up several loads of waste wood from a building site we had spied on a walk, in readiness for cool winter nights. We've become scavengers and recyclers since living here.

More wind on Sunday, and still too much for sailing, so we went to Altinkum. If it's windy in Yeşilkent, it's usually not so on the other side of the peninsular in Altinkum, so a walk along the seafront there was very pleasant, and we met several of our neighbours doing the same thing. We returned to Didim in the evening to have a meal at the Sabila restaurant with Diane and Eric. As we weren't sure of dolmuş times, it being the end of the season, Sabila were very good and fetched us in their vehicle and once we had finished our meal, brought us all home again. Not many restaurants in the UK would be so accommodating .... something maybe they should look into?

Another early morning awakening, when Ali, our carpenter woke us. He was looking for Phil and Lorraine to measure up for their kitchen. We pointed him in the right direction and then we packed up our things and went to Tuntaş beach for the day. This is a tourist beach that we normally avoid, but as we are at the end of the season we thought it wouldn't be too busy. Wrong!! However it was interesting to people watch. Most of them should follow the example of the Turkish Muslim women and cover up, as what was on display would have been best hidden. Yewk! Once again with the high winds on the Yeşilkent side, Tuntaş beach was sheltered. It's also a gently shelving sandy beach, so the water round there is still very warm.

Tuesday we went down to Gaye 2 to check the winds. (USD 8.11) It's not always easy to know about the strength of the wind up at our house, as when the wind is from the north, we are quite sheltered. It was much too windy for sailing so imagine our surprise to see Mandy and Lawrence's boat missing. We asked Turkoz (Peter's wife) and she said the boat was gone. We were surprised they would go sailing in such a high wind, but Turkoz said no not sailing, back to Izmir for repairs. Apparently it had sunk the previous day, (the “crack in the gel-coat”) and had to be returned to the factory. It needs a complete new hull. Poor Mandy and Lol's bad luck that has dogged them all year has struck yet again. The only good thing is that the guy is very apologetic and will put it all right with absolutely no extra cost to them. Later, in the afternoon, the wind subsided enough, to around a force 4 or 5, and we were able to get 3 hours of enjoyable sailing in. When we got back Phil and Lynn were on the jetty watching us. Lynn said she had spent the day baking, so I invited us round to theirs for apple pie and cream. Yummy!!

Wednesday, we read, swam and sailed the day away. Gaye 2 seems to have got busier again. More houses are open again and more people are around. Marbuleh (that may be how you spell her name), our 93 year old Turkish neighbour, seems to have a new lease of life since the heat of the summer has subsided. She can often be seen chatting to her friends and walking up and down from her house. She swims from the jetty every day, sometimes more than once, climbing down and up the steps at the end. She's very remarkable. At the moment she is reading Dan Browne's Da Vinci Code ...... the ENGLISH version. She has a dictionary at hand to translate the words she doesn't understand, and if really stuck, asks us. She is VERY remarkable, we know we have repeated ourselves but she IS.

Believe it or not there was no wind at all on Thursday, so we collected more wood, swept the chimney and washed the living room curtains in readiness for the winter. Not something to look forward to. Then visiting, swimming and finished the day off with a meal at Café More.