A busy day jet washing the terraces mainly. There had been a lot of sand in some of the winter storms and our terraces had collected their fair share! It’s actually quite fun jetwashing things when it’s hot and sunny. Which it was today. The summer has definitely got well established now.

I also spent some time online and on the phone sorting out National Park accommodation for this time next year in the States. You have to book pretty much one year ahead to the day if you don’t want to be left with only the uber expensive options. It took ages so was very glad we’d got our 30 day package with Turkcell that included 200 minutes of international calls.

Tonight we went up into Ilgaz village for dinner at Hoots. Hoots is …. a lovely informal restaurant/bar/gathering place/b&b based in an old house with a garden. We like everything about it so it was a great place to meet up with our friends Deborah, David and Pamela for a big catch up and some delicious food. Had a lovely time and would definitely recommend it. All our guests always like Hoots and go there a lot.

Their portions are large so we didn’t have starters. I had king prawns in a creamy garlic sauce served with amazing chips and a hunk of bread. Bob had Calabrian Pasta – spicy tomato sauce with tagliatelle, Deborah had lamb chops, David had mussels in creamy broth, Pamela had chicken pieces with chips and rice. All gorgeous. I washed mine down with 2 large g&ts. Bob had one beer and one alcohol free beer. With tip Bob and I paid £53. Nowhere near as cheap as it used to be, but then, where is? Good value, I couldn’t have eaten any more.

Amazing stars again tonight. The Plough clearly visible and 2 planets too. It’s great to be here eating dinner late into the evening in a sleeveless dress.