Cukurbagli's Blog   My life in Turkey

Earlier this month, after a lot of administrative nonsense I got my scooter to the testing station at the allotted time and as expected it passed. Third time of getting there though and it would have to have been during this spell of hot (40C and above) weather that we were going through. However apart from a slight grumble I took it in my stride and kept smiling.

My spirits were at rock bottom a little while later when I heard that my first and best friend here had suffered a heart attack and died. Buke Yılmaz Kadırıkan, “Yilmaz” to everybody, was well known and well liked. He owned the famous Hijazz Bar in Kaş and had lived and worked in many countries before ending up here in Kaş.

Yılmaz 01-01-1949 — 07-07-2017

When you have pets, in my case dogs and cats, it’s hard to stay fed up for long, they always lift my spirits with their antics and funny ways. Sitting with them while eating my breakfast in the morning or having a glass of wine in the evening is always a nice thing to do.

I have bought a motorbike. That set my spirits at an all time high since moving here. It’s been about twenty years since I had a real motorbike, this one is not the biggest or heaviest or most powerful that I’ve had by a long chalk but it’s in my possession now and that’s the point. I have really missed the feeling of riding a bike. A scooter just doesn’t have the same thrill, adrenaline does not flow. Now I’ve got this I’m going swimming regularly in the mornings, what an incentive eh?

I’ve been experimenting with dog beds and concluded that I’m too big for them. Ha ha, no, our local dog sanctuary uses wooden pallets for the dogs to sleep on, the dogs are ok with that but cleaning the pens out is a problem because all the poo, hair and other detritus including thousands of ticks gets stuck in and under the pallets. Cleaning them and around them is a nightmare. I am developing a bed that is sturdy, easy to make, easy to clean under and above all cheap. Most animal sanctuaries have limited funds so it’s worth cutting the cost down as much as possible. One of my cats was checking out the original version.

This was one idea using strong plastic water piping but I think I can cut the cost even further. We’re going to need a couple of hundred or so. Watch this space.

There was a big drama a few nights ago in the town harbour in Kaş, a nice big yacht caught fire and burnt itself to the waterline and beyond. This was a nice yacht around 45 feet long and this is all that was left. A very sorry looking few bits of the stern, what a shame. Hope the insurance was up to date.