It was definitely a bit chillier today! Which was quite fitting as it was the day of the TFR Christmas Ball, held at the Deniz Kizi hotel in Alsancak.
We did some light jobs around the house in the day. Laid out the watering lines with watering points in all the right places and tested them. At last! Everything right and no geyser style leaks or splits…. shhhhh…… say nothing……. We moved the cooling fans out , put out our cozy throws, and brought in two plug in radiators to support the gas fire and the bedroom heating. We haven’t had to do this for a few years but we have guests staying through the end of December and they may well need to heat the house at night.
Did a bit of online Christmas shopping in the afternoon. There won’t be much time after we get home.
Habibi came up about 230 and started some pruning and tidying up around the garden. His pool guy joined in about 330 and went down into our pool balance tank and began hoovering and bucketing out all the dirt and leaves in the bottom. It’s a really big tank, over 5 tonnes, like an underground room. They got it all spick and span and ready for the winter.
Had a facetime video call to Stuart and Fi about 530. We were in our Ball finery by then which amused them. Discussed our trip to Florida and we look forward to seeing them soon on our way back from Yorkshire next week.
And so….. off to the Ball. It was at the Deniz Kizi hotel which is about 5 minutes from our house. We got there at 630 and members of the The Foreign Residents Association were already partying and enjoying a first glass of champagne. The room looked lovely all dressed for Christmas. The Association has a more European mix than some of the other groups. There are quite a lot of German, Dutch and Scandinavian members as well as a lot of Brits. We were on a table for 10 with Pamela, Eddie, Mike, Linda, and others. Andy Reay, a popular local singer, provided the entertainment and he was on throughout the evening and indeed people danced throught the meal as well as after. The food was not special. Bob started with vegetable soup, I had the smoked salmon. We both had turkey for main course and then profiteroles for dessert. There was a nice cheeseboard at the end. We did a lot of dancing and it was a very enjoyable night indeed. Midway there was a charity raffle but we didn’t win anything. Father Christmas made an appearance to thank all the officers of the association and to wish us all a Happy Christmas.
At the end we sadly said goodbye to our friends and look forward to sharing more great times when we return in the spring.