July | 2010 | Cukurbagli's Blog

My veranda faces west and while it’s nice to able to sit in the sun, it’s impossible to use that space in July and August because it’s just too hot. I’ve been thinking about having a frame with vines growing over it for a few years and yesterday the first part of the plan was completed when the frame was erected.

While they were putting it up I was a bit concerned about it. It looked a bit stark and angular but I know it will soften as soon as something is growing over it. Ramazan, a neighbour and local steel fabricator, brought all the necessary stuff and, along with his brother, started the job about 9.30. He asked me if it was too early for me, bless him he doesn’t realise the dogs have me awake at 5.30 every morning, and before that quite often. Recently Bayram’s big dog has been baying nearly all night at just about everything that moves and because I have my bedroom window open at night I’ve not been getting much sleep, I’m getting fed up with it.

When it was finished I started to paint the frame green (a vine frame is called a çardak in Turkish) but only had a small amount of paint left from a previous job. Tomorrow I’ll get some more and some thinners and gloves to keep the paint off me. I’m very messy when it comes to painting and always get it all over my hands, most of my clothes and even in my hair sometimes. This morning some of the green paint was on the side of the bath, how did that get there?

Once the painting is done there is some shading material to put over it to provide shade until the vines grow, the legs will need concrete put round them to secure it for the winter winds. The second part of the plan is to remove the wooden veranda, level the area from the house foundation to the outer limit of the frame with sand and then pave it to make a big patio with the same flat stone I’m using for the drive. The level will be about eight or nine inches lower than the veranda so it will need a step down from the house too.

My eyes are still improving and I’m so glad I had the laser surgery done it’s making a big difference to my life. I had a check-up a week after the surgery and there is a tiny bit of astigmatism left but if it doesn’t rectify itself after a month I can have it done under the guarantee.

Last Tuesday I went to the World Eye Centre hospital in Antalya and had laser surgery on my eyes to correct astigmatism that I have suffered with all my life. I now no longer wear spectacles. just normal sunglasses. It was a strange feeling having it done, not painful, just a slight discomfort and lots of unusual and new sensations. As soon as the operation had finished I could tell that my sight would be better but it wasn’t until the protective contact lenses came out the next morning that I realised just how much better it would be. I was perfectly able to drive myself home and since then my sight has fluctuated slightly (as they said it would) as the muscles relearn how to adjust and focus. I can read a newspaper without reading glasses and see details on the mountain opposite my home that I could not even see with glasses before. To say I am delighted would be a gross understatement, I am also sad that it wasn’t available when I was in my teens, how different would my life have been?

If you have ever considered undergoing this treatment I would wholeheartedly recommend it, providing you can find a good hospital. The cost here in Turkey was about 1,200 Euro for both eyes.