March already

I can't believe we are in March already. The time just fly's by, and if I think about what I have been doing it all jumbles into one!! They say time fly's when you are having fun, so I must be having fun.

Tuesday saw Fethi Bey day. Fethi Bey, aka Tayyareci Fethi Bey was a famous Turkish aircraft pilot who was killed in Al-Samra in 1914. My Turkish teacher tells me he was the 1st Turkish pilot to be trained by the RAF, but I have no idea if this is correct or not. Fethiye was named after him.  Anyway, on Monday we saw the Turkish airforce practise flight, in their F16's for a fly past on Tuesday. We missed seeing the flypast in Fethiye itself, but we got a cracking view of them flying past our windscreen while we waited at traffic lights!! The noise was tremendous, and it reminded me of being in Wales where the RAF practise low flying, sometimes as low as 50ft. Usually by the time you have heard them, they have gone.  Below, is a photo I managed to capture of the more sedate motorised paragiders as they drifted around Fethiye bay.

I have started my Turkish lessons. Bulent is a great teacher, he retired from teaching Turkish and English at the local secondary school. I admit, I was dreading the lessons, it took me back to my school days and the hated French lessons with Miss Roberts, but there is a difference between having to learn and wanting to learn. Turkish grammer is quite difficult, but I've also learned, it is an economical, phonetic language. Bulent has sat and explained to me things that gave me the shivers when I was trying to learn with Babbel. A 2 hour lesson is about £20 but it is paying off. I get homework and during the lesson we get a fag break, so I cannot complain. I want to be able to get by and not feel stupid at family gatherings. He thinks it will be about a year, but he is confident I will be able to follow a conversation by then. 

I have been getting a few jobs done here in the apartment. We have cats and when we go out we usually leave the door open so they can come and go, but that then lets the flying critters in. I am Mosquito caviar, so I contacted a local English girl, who kindly installed a new mosquito screen with cat flap. The cats love it and are using it all the time now. I've also installed a screen on the front door, so in the summer I can leave the front door open without worrying about too many mozzies getting in and eating me. One thing we have had to do is try and empty the pool a bit. The council come and put poison in the water to kill any mosquitoes and flies, but because the pool wasn't emptied the cats drink from it, the poison they use can also kill the cats so we are having to pump it out enough for the cats not to be able to reach the water. We are also getting a few maintenance companies in to get quotes for the maintenance for the site. The wisest choice, we won't have to pay any individuals insurance or worry they will run off with the money. 

My daughter sent me photo's of my dad's house last week. Clearance have been and the house is completely empty apart from carpets and curtains. I must admit, I sat and sobbed my heart out. I have never seen it empty, and I know my daughter worked very hard to get it cleared. She suffers with a non obvious disability and it exhausted her. She used to go and help my mum with the cleaning and despite us telling her she could leave it to a cleaner, she wanted to clean it for the final time. Luckily she has left the heating on, as most of the UK is currently under snow with more severe weather to come. She herself has been a victim of a burst pipe with the flat above hers leaving her with 3 inches of water and a lot of damage to her electrical appliances. I feel helpless here but I have sent her over some money in case she needs it. Her, her husband and family (2 Children) have been living in a one bedroom flat and have been trying to get moved for years. Now she has actually been allocated a housing officer I'm hoping she will finally get a place more suitable as this has just about broken the camels back for her. I hope to god the private owner upstairs has adequate insurance, because it is going to cost them a lot of money to put her flat right, along with all the others below it.  

We have had  quite a lot of rain over the past week. It was so heavy on Tuesday I could hardly hear what Bulent, my Turkish teacher, was saying. But we need the rain, spring is on it's way so we will have at least the next 8 months without. Sometimes, when it is cold in the evenings and I have to light the wood burner, it is hard to imagine that during the summer months I will be melting even with the air con on.