We can tell we are back and holidaying is over for us for a while….. no beach or pool for the last couple of days. Yesterday, we got all our stuff unpacked again and the house back to normal. In the late afternoon I went down to my nail salon and had a manicure and a pedicure. It took about 2.5 hours but very pleasing result. Pearlised rose gold fingers and toes….
While I was doing that Bob went and got a haircut and head massage at Big Men in Alsancak. Looking spruce again. Then he went out to a yapi (builder’s merchant) in Karsiyaka to order wood for a new shelving unit he is making for the under pool store. The shelving we inherited with the house is chipboard and after 20 years unsurprisingly it has warped and looks to be on the brink of collapse, partially down to all the crap – i mean things that might one day be useful but aren’t right now – that we store down there!!!!!
Today we took down everything in the master bedroom and took the blind, cushions and headboard off to Mermaid in Catalkoy to be refurbished with new fabrics. And new curtains made. The red damask has lasted 9 years and actually, the curtains are still very good, but the lining on the blind which is facing the sun all day has split, and the headboard shows wear. We have chosen a nice leafy print for the curtains and blind and a matching plain faux suede for the headboard. The cushions are 2 each. Having dropped them off , we headed to the paint shop to get the new wall colour mixed and to buy white paint for the ceilings. Have chosen a very light blue/green that seems to go with both fabrics. Will post pictures when it’s all done.
Bob filled the car boot with the unwanted stuff from the store and took that off and then went to the yapi to get the timber which had all been cut to length and spec for him to assemble. These shelves will undoubtedly see us out.
About 5pm, Habibi came up with the plumber who de-plumbed the toilet and sink from the downstairs loo and fitted new isolators all round. It made more mess than we expected because our stepladder and floormop have disappeared in the last week. We think the cleaning team have taken them by mistake. Endearingly, our stopcock is up on the roof of the house…. don’t ask, it’s not unusual out here….. so the loss of the stepladder to get from the bedroom balcony to the roof was quite important….. Anyway, it all got done and tomorrow the tiler will arrive to remove all the old tiles and then re-tile with the new marble look. He will then proceed to do some replastering in the master bedroom and re-paint in there. In about a week or so, the new soft furnishings will be ready for us to fit and the new downstairs bathroom fittings will arrive and be fitted by Pakdus. And we’ll be back to the new normal….
What else is new? Ah yes, we had a visit to China Bazaar and bought a new little stepladder and also new cereal bowls to replace some breakages. I was very pleased to find they’d just had a delivery of white china and I managed to get 6 mid sized coffee mugs. We have a lot of large white mugs and we have a lot of small ie espresso sized ones but the mid size… the ones that are good for a double espresso or lungo or even a cup – as opposed to a mug – of tea have been unavailable for the past year. Turkish people drink tea in a small glass cup and of course coffee from an espresso sized cup, so that midsize is hard to find. I might even buy a few more now I think about it……
Tonight we headed out to dinner with Linda and Mike at Silver Rocks in Lapta. It is one of the few restaurants that closes up over winter, so this is getting to the end of their season. Had a very nice meal – lamb chops for me plus a very yummy Turkish coffee and brandy. Very much enjoyed talking to them about their exciting travel plans for the winter – and of course seeing them in Patnem in January.