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Published: August 31st 2017
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Ozankoy Village - Carob FestivalDog walked as normal. As it's that time of year here in the UK the combine harvesters were out working all last night and this morning three green monsters were parked up having harvested in the fields all around the village. They finished just in time as a light shower was coming down, the first rain seen since being back in Blighty. Back home cups of tea for Dad and after a quick shower John popped out for a paper plus some snacks for the flight home tonight. Then pottering around packing and tidying around before settling down to a bit of sport on the tv, light lunch and chill. Mid afternoon and football had started so with the radio tuned in we listened to the game. By halftime and with The Posh leading 1 - 0 it was time to load up the chariot and head down the M11 to STANSTED airport keeping the radio firmly tuned in! Arrived at the airport just as the game was finishing with a great 4 - 1 win away from home.....even better we are top of the league! Said farewell to Dad, he is doing really well and
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Pottery stall hopefully when we return in November we will see even more improvement. As it was a bank holiday weekend the airport was very busy but security was fairly quick and before long John was wandering around the shops and duty free. Then found a quiet spot in the pub for a beer and of course the most important part of a Saturday afternoon, catching up on the football post match analysis. Soon it was time to board and pleased to say no delays and flight pushed back exactly on time. A very smooth trip back to Cyprus and with films and programmes downloaded the flight did not seem that long. Arrived Larnaca, quickly thro passport control and out for the pick up and transfer to the north. Eventually arrived back at 13 Zeytinledere Sokak at 5am.
Sunday 27th August 2017 As agreed with Sarah, after John arrived home the bags were dropped and John hooked up Kilroy and took him for his morning walk, letting Sarah have a lie in. Nice sunrise this morning and clear blue sky. Walk done, John headed up to bed to catch up on some sleep. Sarah surfaced an hour or so later,
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Ozankoy village festival fed Kilroy and then got ready to head into town for church parade. All quiet in the house. Just after 1pm, Sarah back home and time for cups of tea and a light lunch and a catch up on what her week had been like, plus unpacking the case - which mainly consisted of things for the hound. A lazy rest of the afternoon before it was evening stroll time, shower and changed before heading to Ozankoy village for the last night of there Carob festival. Nice evening wandering around the stalls, couple of beers and a sit down to listen to some music. Plenty of retail options with whicker baskets, pottery, jewellery plus lots of different food stalls and the centrepiece of the event a huge tub of carob mollases bubbling away. To be honest in didn't smell that great. Decided to eat out tonight so headed off to Happy Valley to see Riaz, had a nice chicken liver pate to share, followed by Steak Diane for Sarah and a Pepper steak for John. As always excellent value and well cooked. Back home by 10:30pm to find no Kilroy greeting us at the door, this only means one thing
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Basket stall - he has been naughty. Got indoors to find that he had managed to remove the flyscreen and barge his way out of the louvre doors - again our fault as we had only secured the doors at the top. There he was enjoying a siesta in the back garden - lesson learnt again! Think that we will not only close the outer louvre doors but will also secure the inner patio sliding doors whenever we go out in future....its all about the cats, if he can smell them thro the louvre doors outside his patch he feels the urge to get out and see them. ? Having checked all of our flyscreen we decided that it would make sense to have them all replaced as they are getting a bit tired and worn. Will investigate next week. Quick stroll round the block and then time for bed.
Monday 28th August 2017 So it was back to normal this morning and after our early cups of tea we went and collected Buddy dog and headed off down the hill for the hours stroll, Kilroy sporting his new retractable lead and his "Posh" collar tag. Nice wander around and
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Church in Ozankoy then back home for Kilroys promised scrub, today it was a nice coconut shampoo. Then pottered around watering the plants, sweeping up and Sarah gave indoors a quick mop around as well. Jobs done, more tea and an hours chill before time for a shower and change as we had a few jobs to do this morning.
First stop was the animal rescue charity shop in town to drop off a few pictures, these were ones we thought unlikely we would re-hang after our redecoration. Then a stop at the money exchange, needed to change some money before heading to the offices of the animal rescue centre to pay for Kilroys transportation crate for his flight home. Then onwards to the China Bazaar to pick up a new kitchen refuse bin and a couple of plugs. Call in at the bank, managed to get in just before they shut for lunch. This time a strange occurrence, we were paying money in. This was to top up our bill paying account so that there were plenty of funds to pay the water, council and electric bills for the rest of our time here plus also all over the winter period
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Getting to grips with new toy until we return next year. Onwards then to Supreme supermarket for a few items, not much just a few bits Sarah had missed off her list last week. Then up to Ozankoy, firstly calling at the plant shack on the side of the road for a couple more Busy Lizzie plants and eventually into the village to buy a few items from our favourite butcher. All jobs done we were home by lunchtime and ready for a bacon sandwich and a cold drink - it's very hot today at 40C.
An afternoon of reading, film and snooze for a couple of family members, one of which had four legs and the other has more hair than John. Late afternoon and cups of tea, planting the Busy Lizzies and some FaceTime with Helen and Annie for a catch up on the happenings at home. As it was a hot day we waited a little later before taking Kilroy for his evening walk, this time we headed off into the hills. Once home it was shower, nibbles and sundowners and a game of scrabble. Less said about the result the better. Sarah has obviously been practising. Tonights supper was homemade pasta,
pesto with chicken plus garlic bread, really nice and we both are far to much! A little more listening to the radio, then Kilroy stroll and time for bed.
Tuesday 29th August 2017 Walking of hounds, garden watered, breakfasted and showered and changed - all done by 9:30am. A shower and changed before we jumped in the jeep and headed the 5 mins down the hill to Shayna Beach Club. Took our beach items, plus books and music......preparing to just chill for the day. Pretty busy when we arrived just after 10:30am but found a nice spot with a bit of a breeze and settled down for a good old read, interspersed by short snoozes! Around 2pm we felt like a snack was needed so ordered a nice olive and feta cheese salad and a plate of chips plus a couple of cold drinks. Lunch done we retired back to our sun beds for another hour or so before heading back home.
Quiet evening doing not a lot apart from walking Kilroy around 7pm when it had cooled down and there was a nice breeze blowing. A quick meet with Gary poolside, FaceTime with Helen and then
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Yes.........I am comfy, thanks for asking. supper which wasn't a lot tonight as we were still pretty full from our late lunch - just a ham sandwich plus crisps. Final wander round the block for the dog and then off to bed.
Wednesday 30th August 2017 Took the dogs down the hill for there walk this morning, not certain but it does feel as if the mornings are a little cooler and we are not setting off for the walk until about 6:30am. Back home for a cup of tea, then John attacked the patio garden trimming back a few plants and tidying around. Then it was time for toast for breakfast followed by shower and changed. Sarah headed off up to the pool whilst John went off to the village to see Mustafa for a haircut and shave. Nice 40mins in the barbers chair then a quick call at the supermarket for some milk and back home by 11:30am. It's Victory day here in North Cyprus, closely followed by Bayram (Holidays) where all govt offices are shut for a week.......it will mean that the beaches and pool will be a little busier than normal. A lot of businesses also close but supermarkets etc
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Don't kick me off my warm sofa will be open along with tavernas and cafes all hoping for a good weekend trading.
Back home and John grabbed a couple of cold drinks and headed to the pool. Bit of reading and chilling, before Sarah went home to make a pitta sandwich to bring up for lunch. Stayed at the pool till around 3pm; only half a dozen of us there all day, then back home where John prepared tonight's supper ready for our return from the quiz night, whilst Sarah chilled on the balcony. At 5pm it was stroll time with Kilroy for 40mins - just down the hill to check out how some villa builds were progressing and then home for a cooling shower before the 10 minute drive to Ozankoy and the Club Tropicana quiz.
Mid table quiz finish tonight and no luck either on the raffle or the bingo, so we were home just on 9pm to put the rice on to go with our sweet and sour prawn and pineapple supper. This evening it felt very pleasant when sat outside, it's amazing what a difference it makes when it is just a little cooler of an evening. Whilst we enjoyed our
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Front balcony in the shade - just perfect. Don't I have nice teeth? ? supper Kilroy tucked into his biscuits and chicken livers. Bit of tv followed by Sarah watching the rest of a film that she tried to watch last night, this time managed to get to the end. Final sprint round the block with Kilroy and then time for bed.
Thursday 31st August 2017 It is definitely cooler of a morning now, with it still being dark as the alarm sounds at 5:30am for the hours walk with Kilroy and Buddy. Back home for tea, healthy granola, yoghurt, peach and honey for breakfast and more tea! First job was to train the bougainvillea a little more across the top of our pergola, it should look pretty good next year. Another small job for John this morning, replacing an outdoor plug socket which although still working the waterproof cover was not looking good. Tools gathered and old socket was removed - funnily enough the on/off switch on the socket had never been wired in since the place was built - quality workmanship! Old socket replaced with a double socket, securely fastened to the exterior wall and sealed with some silicone to keep the water out. By 10:30am all jobs achieved, time
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Another nice day at Shayna beach. to relax for a few hours, Sarah with some catch up tv whilst John did some surfing on the net. Kilroy decided to inspect the inside of his eyelids! Our young neighbours next door have visitors over this holiday period, looks like it is the young girls sister and her mum. They arrived a couple of days ago. Mum looks traditional Turkish and definitely the matriarch of the family. Not sure mum is that keen on the kittens the youngsters seem to be encouraging as she tries to shoo them away if she can. When we got home last night they appeared not to be at home and also this morning no car around so we thought maybe they had all gone off for a holiday - seemingly not as around 10am the car was back. Not sure if mum may have been at home whilst the three young people went out all night partying!
Weather this morning a little cloudy, which is keeping the heat down but it's not likely to really rain until late October at the earliest. By the time we come home in November we expect to have seen a few rainy days but it
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Must get to the pool early before the Germans! doesnt get that cold at night until January/February time. Daytime temperatures are often around 17C which is very pleasant. On the home front we are beginning to progress our log cabin/granny annexe thing in Ben and Claire's garden. First company has been to survey the site, confirmed the build is possible and has offered a few suggestions and now gone away to throw up a few designs and ideas our way......other companies to follow in the next few weeks. Hopefully we will be able to narrow things down by the time we return to the UK. Have also got a few other tradesmen primed up for groundworks, garden landscaping, electrics and plumbing so things moving along.
Lunchtime crept up on us and we decided that we should really do Sarah's birthday lunch....even tho her day was 3 weeks ago. On her birthday the Cafe Deniz was closed but we did agree to return later in the month. The cafe is set right on the shoreline, just out of town about a mile from the new harbour. Arrived at just after 1pm and found ourselves a table, lovely breeze and just a few tables occupied. Peruse of the menu ano
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Busy day poolside selected the mini mixed seafood meze to share, with a glass of chilled white for Sarah and cold Efes for John. The setting was lovely with views out to sea and the new harbour. The meal was excellent, just the right amount and it was a really nice couple of hours. We chatted to the owner as we were paying and we were told that on Sundays they have some music on.....well that was it we booked a table for a few weeks time. Lunch done we headed slowly home. First stop was wait for it..... a supermarket, this time the brand new Erdener supermarket. Had a stroll around and a vast improvement on the old place, wide aisles, nicely laid out, pleasant staff - who would have thought we could get so excited. We are lucky that we have plenty of selection in our side of town. Erdener is the equivalent of a Sainsbury's, Sah supermarket is like a Waitrose and Supreme a bit like an Aldi. Like all of the supermarkets, some prices were cheaper in Erdener and as they had just opened they had lots of promotions. Bought some sea bass at 19tl a kilo whereas in
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Birthday lunch and a chilled white Sah it was 27tl a kilo, also a couple of other items. Onwards for a brief stop in Sah supermarket for cake.....they do win on the cake and puds front. Back home to be greeted by a sleepy Kilroy, made a cup of tea and settled down with a film.
After the film we moved to the balcony for a cup of tea before taking Kilroy for his evening wanderings. Then it was shower time, sundowners and a light supper....omelette followed by our lovely cakes from Sah. Chocolate for John and Passion Fruit cheesecake and ice cream for Sarah. Kilroy had his bedtime stroll and then it was close the door and off to bed after a very nice day.
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