September has
been – as usual – a nice month – full but without the rush, or the extreme
heat, of August. The weather is lovely,
even a little chilly in the evenings – though I realise that it is nothing
compared to the UK where I hear there have been frosts. And it’s not even October yet!
We have had
many returning guests – and some very nice new ones. Also one not-so-happy guests who I put in the
roof apartment and who has written complaining about it on Trip Advisor. I might put a reply on – though I prefer not
to get too involved. But his view is
just that – I have several guests who like to have that apartment every time;
not to mention that the guest immediately before him and the one immediately
after both loved it. He (apparently – I
haven’t read it myself as I get too stressed) says you would need a megaphone
to communicate from there. Why would you
need to communicate from your room? And
actually the guests before him got very friendly with the ladies in the
apartment opposite – from talking to them while he sat on the balcony.
More
importantly this guest NEVER came to me and said anything. The only communication I had with them was to
greet them when they first arrived and one morning when I gave him a lighter to
light the cooker; other than that they went in and out without speaking to
anyone. Had he asked me, I probably
could have given him an apartment on a lower floor. As it is they moved out 2
days early, trundling their cases up the road and no doubt already composing
what they were going to write on Trip Advisor!
He has even commented that I spoke to Emre in Turkish and assumes I was
saying something about him. Most people
laugh at the way the boys and I speak a mixture of Turkish and English and many
of them have sussed that I usually use Turkish when I am telling them off for
something, but quite honestly this IS Turkey and what language I speak with my
children is really not a subject for complaint.
Kaan is back at
school – and the school day now starts at 7.30am, and finishes at 12.30. In the afternoon a second set of students use
the classrooms. This used to happen
quite a lot when there weren’t enough places in schools for the growing number
of pupils, but recently it has become much less common and my two have never
had to do it before. Now it is the
result of the government making changes to the education system, without really
having the facilities in place first. I
am not happy about it; Kaan, though he complains about having to get up early,
of course is happy to get the whole afternoon off!
I had a lovely
day in Kalkan on Friday visiting my sis and brother-in-law who are on holiday
there. Their hotel is very nice with
great views and a lovely pool area and we had a fantastic meal out. I stayed in a small but clean and neat little
pension. It had a framed certificate on
the wall saying it has a five-star rating from Trip Advisor which made me
smile. Though I was quite happy with the
room, I could, if I were that way inclined, write a comment that I couldn’t
lock the balcony door (despite being pretty experienced with tricky turkish
doors), the light above the bed was too weak to read by, the sink was cracked
and there was a pretty bad smell coming from the drain in the bathroom. Needless-to-say I am not going to!
Have been
feeling a little like I am running a zoo as the number of animals round here
seems to be increasing. The little black
kitten that has been hanging around for a couple of months is now a half-grown,
very hansome cat who is missing Matt who fed her sausages all last week! The puppy who turned up a few weeks ago is
growing fast; I am trying to find her a home, but most of the guests think she
will still be here when they come next year.
She is very sweet, but getting naughtier as she settles in; she barks at
the tortoises and can even flip them over, the other afternoon she cornered the
rabbit and she has run off with the solar panel for the garden lights. But it’s hard to stay cross for long with
something this cute….!
