Flaming June

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June 22nd 2017

Published: June 25th 2017

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PoshinDevon

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Found on our walks in the hills. They couldn't read a map!

Thursday 22nd June 2017

No clouds at all this morning, it's going to be a hot one. Usual start to the day, but a small repair job to be done to the fly screen on our patio door. Late last night just before we ventured off to bed, a brave cat came strolling by and took a look thro the flyscreen. Kilroy was oblivious at first but suddenly spotted the small feline and made a dash for the door. As is the way with cats, they will always win, especially as Kilroy head butted the fly screen knocking it out of its runners. The cat meanwhile nonchalantly strolled away! Fortunately no damage done to anyone, just the job of repositioning the flyscreen back on its runners, all whilst Kilroy was sniffing around trying to offer his help. By 7:20am we were hats on, sunscreen on, shades on and off for the morning stroll. This time it was up into the hills and a circular walk down towards Catalkoy village, across the ravine and home. All in all it took 1hr 30mins with a couple of small detours to investigate some tracks that we will try another time. A good walk,

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Found my spot in the garden, time to settle down for a snooze.

watching the goats set off from their farm and into the hills for the day. It's amazing to see the shepherd let them out and off they go.......he doesn't follow or lead them - they just wander around and every evening as we are sat on our balcony you can hear the goat bells clanging as they head home. However; there are always one or two who at sometime get to old or are weak and never make it back.......managed to find a couple of trophies on our walks! Home, more tea and a sit down for a while - not a lot scheduled in for the day. Time for a spot of breakfast, after which Kilroy decided to find his favourite spot in the garden for a good snooze whilst Sarah and I listened to radio 4 to catch up current affairs before heading to radio 2 for Ken Bruce. Orhan our old neighbour has popped back to check out his place, there is a bit of painting and decorating happening, presumeably before the new couple move in. Think most of Orhans furniture has now been moved to their new place down in the village - last night a

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Sarah chilling.

pickup truck rocked up at about 9:30pm and a couple of wooden cabinets with glass doors were loaded on board. No idea if the glass survived the journey! We are in contact with Orhan and Ebru via phone and Whatsapp and he has said we will make arrangements to meet up for a BBQ in their new house sometime. They have been nice neighbours.

Just after midday as the sun was coming over to the patio and garden we decided it was time to head indoors for some reading before picking a good film to watch. Light snack for lunch; bread, cheese and salad. Late afternoon and time to stroll to the pool for a couple of hours, no one else around, just us. Gary came over to the pool to pin up the list of payers/non payers for the communal fees for pool maintenance and garden upkeep. Ramadan is coming to an end and then follows a few days holiday and traditionally the pool is well used, add to this the start of the summer season and a lot of people arriving on holiday - so now is a good time to post a reminder. We walked back

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Kilroy surveys his domain

home to find not only painting but also gardening being done in Orhan and Ebru's place next to us. Looks like the inside work is nearly finished and time to start outside - we think its family members who are helping to get the place sorted ready for the youngsters to move in. Also received a call from Orhan our handyman with details of quote for new kitchen cupboards - it was half the price of the other quote earlier this year so Orhan's advice to hold off has done us well. Accepted quote and Orhan will let us know when the work can be done, going to get indoors painted and new kitchen cupboard doors, work tops and tiles fitted in one hit.

Usual 6pm walk down the hill, this time only 40mins as we had been out longer this morning and then home for a cold drink, cool down and shower and changed. All followed by a sundowner whilst sat on the balcony watching the goats head up the road and back to the farm. With the temperature at 8pm a nice 25C it was time for supper on the garden patio. Tonight it was Sarah's special

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We have the pool to ourselves.

helim and cherry tomato, onion and a hint of chilli pasta with freshly baked bread, followed by Mardos chocolate and vanilla ice cream. We then settled down to watch the film "A street cat named Bob", which Kilroy really got into especially when the dogs were barking or Bob the cat meowing! Film done it was off to bed after another nice day.

Friday 23rd June 2017

John was awake early this morning, so ventured onto the front balcony to watch the sun rise on another beautiful morning. Shortly afterwards Sarah was awake and started the day making our cups of tea......bit of a problemo, the China Bazaar kettle purchased 3 years ago is now refusing to work. How very dare it, it cost all of £5! Backup saucepan on the boil and John took a look at the kettle. Fuse was fine, wires and plug ok but could be an issue with one of the connectors. A quick bit of persuasion using a screwdriver and the kettle was repaired, tested and back in action. Tea done, dressed and we set off at 7am up the hill past the goat farm and onto our normal track in the

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The obligatory view from the sunbed.

hills. A really fantastic morning, with blue skies, no clouds and just the sound of the cicadas growing louder as things began to warm up. An hour later and we were back home. A few chores to be done this morning, firstly some cleaning up so,out came dusters, polish, Hoover and mop bucket. Sarah started downstairs whilst John started upstairs......it doesn't take that long to work our way thro the place, it's not that big. Kilroy did try and join in a couple of times but in the end he got bored and headed outside to chill in the shade. Cleaning done, Sarah started on the ironing pile, whilst John was despatched to town to change some money (Kilroy is off to Vet for second rabies injection tomorrow) plus we need a little bit of shopping for the weekend. Interesting journey into town as there is roadworks on the way and as is the norm, it's a slow, dusty drive in. Interesting to see a lot of large, expensive cars on the road (Mercedes, 4x4s and BMWs). Not sure why you would want a car like that out here, the roads are bang average to poor and badly maintained. Lots

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A very good book, which is made better as we know the village and can relate to the story.

of potholes, speed bumps of various sizes and very often you see cars bottoming out and grinding along. There are not many pieces of road that are like a motorway in the U.K. So we are more than happy with our little Suzuki Jeep. Orhan our handyman has been in contact to let us know that the indoor painting and mini revamp of the kitchen is scheduled in for end July and should take around 4 days, we are happy with that.

Lunchtime and we had a small plate of the leftover pasta supper from last night accompanied by some fresh crusty bread, even better second time round. Meanwhile the activity continues next door as the family gather to help clean and generally tidy up. We presume they must have bought the place and are not renting it as we thought. The internet man arrived to put in the link for them plus also a satellite dish for tv. Unlike UK most internet services are provided via a dedicated microwave dish as there is little cable infrastructure in place. Afternoon and the outside temperature has been steadily creeping up and now 35C in the shade so we spent our

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Watching from our balcony as the goats are heading home.

time chilling indoors after our working morning with some reading and a bit of tv. As it was the Friday quiz, John took the hound out for a 30min stroll, Sarah will do another once we return from the quiz night. It was really hot and looks like we may have to do a rethink on when we walk Kilroy on quiz nights. Off to Ozankoy village and Club Tropicana to meet up with Gary to form a team of 3, hopefully to improve on our not so good performance on Wednesday evening. Well we did OK considering most teams had 6 or more people in them. Heading home just after 8pm and Sarah took Kilroy for a stroll whilst John prepared supper. Ahmet and Tahiri had arrived for the weekend and a few minutes later they came across with a selection of baclava for our pudding - really kind of them. Then the electric went off, so it was out with the torch and oil light. It's a good job we have a gas hob! Supper prepared we sat on the front balcony to enjoy our meal, no light pollution or noise tonight. After about an hour the electric

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Sundowner.....G&T plus nibbles

came back on and normal service was resumed. Just time for a cup of tea and then off to bed.

Saturday 24th June 2017

Usual starters for the day, unfortunately Kilroy had an accident In the form of a very excitable and uncontrollable tail! A nice mug of tea flew off the patio table landing with a crash onto the tiles.......it's amazing how loud that sounds at 6:15am! Kilroy jumped and ran onto the garden,tail between his legs and a bit scared, whereas we just tried to be serious and contain our laughter so as not to wake the neighbours. By 7am we were off for the morning walk, but this time we hoped to have a friend for Kilroy to walk with. Gary is away across the south this weekend so we said we would keep an eye on his dog Buddy, a short wheelbase black Labrador cross. We agreed we would walk and feed him. As Buddy sleeps in a kennel outside in the summer, Sarah had his lead and went in to get him. Then followed a scene out of a silent comedy movie - as Sarah walked round the back of the house Buddy

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Managed to do a selfie!

popped his head over the wall and watched her disappear. Then he trotted off the wall and stood at the corner peering round sheepishly. As Sarah came round the front he took one look and trotted off round the back. This game continued for a good few minutes - Buddy is a bit timid and just wasn't sure about Sarah - eventually we gave up! All is not lost as John will feed him this evening and will try again to take him for a walk tomorrow. Maybe he will remember the hand that fed him? Back home to plan the day. Kilroy to the vet this morning, second rabies injection and once done we will pop out to pick up some shopping. BBQ for tonight's supper so need some salad at the very least.

Kilroy enjoyed his trip to the vet, injection done and vet says he is looking good. Return in two weeks for a blood sample which is sent off for checking, then there is a waiting period of 3 months before he can come to the UK. So all good so far. Dropped hound back home and then headed out for a bit of shopping,

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Sunrise 5:30am Friday 23rd June 2017

first stop a sort of 1001 shop to pick up a couple of glasses and a small bowl. Onwards to Ya Beles, the fruit and veg stall before arriving at Supreme supermarket. Very busy this morning as today is last day of Ramadan, so tonight there will be lots of parties and celebrations. This will go on for the next few days with shops etc shut.......everywhere will be mobbed for the holidays. Car park at the supermarket even had one employee out directing cars to spaces, however that did not stop one lady deciding she really didn't know how wide or big her very old battered car was as she decided to do a side swipe on a nice shiny black Mercedes. Ouch! Police were called for this minor bump, do they have insurance, tax, mot - who knows. After the supermarket we headed to Ozankoy village to the best butcher around and picked up some lovely meat, he even threw in a couple of kidneys, explaining how to cook them on the BBQ. Back home and unpacked, then bacon sandwich for lunch followed by a shower to freshen up. Sarah then decided to make a chocolate cake, in this

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7am and in the hills

heat?! Have to say tho an hour or so later when we were sampling it, it was worth the effort. Kilroy a bit lethargic this afternoon following his injection and has decided to find a cool spot indoors and enjoy a quiet snooze - good idea as the temp has hit 36C outside and according to the forecast is set to rise further over the next few days. As it was hot and sweaty it was time to test the aircon unit for the first time since arrived and so sat indoors with the papers and a film. Pleased to say the aircon worked well and soon had the indoor temperature down to a more pleasant 23C.

Around 6pm and John went to feed Buddy and then it was time to do some preparation ready for tonight's BBQ. Kofte (small spicy hamburgers), sheftalia (Cyprus sausage) and some pork shish (Yes you can buy pork here) plus the kidney the butcher threw in for free earlier today. Sarah did the salad with lovely Cyprus tomato, cucumber, shredded cabbage and also a version of rocket. Add to this some dips and pitta bread and we were ready. Kilroy off for a

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Great scenery on our daily walks.

shorter walk a little later this evening due to the heat and once back home it was time to test our new G&T glasses and fire up the old reliable BBQ box and test out our BBQ kettle which is used to speed up the heating of the charcoal. Enjoyed a lovely meal under the stars but by 10:30pm, our early start plus the heat was having an effect so time to retire indoors and head to bed.

Sunday 25th June 2017

On our walk by 6:15am this morning as its getting hotter every day and back home by 7:20am. We did attempt to encourage Gary's dog to come with us but he was having none of it - think we will need to get Gary to be there so he understands we are not a threat. Quick water of the garden and pots plus also gave Kilroy a nice shower to cool him off. More tea, followed by toast and a few minutes of sitting quietly, just enjoying the peace as no one else was up and about. As it's Bayram and a few days holiday we have nothing much planned in for the day apart from

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7:30am, looking east towards Arapkoy.

Sarah heading to church. Sarah home just before lunch, what to have.....Sarah decided on a late late breakfast of granola, yoghurt and fruit and John finished up the left over salad from last nights BBQ. An afternoon of reading, followed by a couple of hours by the pool. The weather forecasters have certainly got it right, in the shade its 36C at 4pm!

Early evening short walk before quickly showering and changing then heading down the hill to Catalkoy village to meet Norman and Jill at a small, local restaurant (Really it's just an outside area under the vines in a garden, a few tables and chairs and that's it), which serves fantastic lahmucen (Tortilla like flatbread with various toppings) and pide (Turkish pizza) plus salad and a couple of beers. A simple meal, freshly prepared by a lovely lady. Plus it is ridiculously cheap. Norman and Jill introduced us to this place a couple of years ago, very laid back - help yourself to the drinks and also add your own bill up at the end. A good catch up was had by all and back home by 10pm, stroll for Kilroy followed by a coffee, bit of