June

 Thank you blogging buddies for stopping by on my last posts and leaving comments, it's really appreciated. I have been visiting your blogs but on some could not leave  comment as Blogger won't let me.

I changed gym to one much nearer home and had some physio sessions.  They have a nice pool and you can book a lane.  The route home takes me past my allotment, so just a 5 minute drive and more time to water everything and sit in the sun.  I can also get to the woods easily from there  ... this week everything is very green..

We have enough new potatoes and salad leaves from my little allotment to eat something home grown every day.  I am in with other plot holders for the competitions to grow the biggest onion and biggest tomato - which will be judged 20th August at our annual bbq.   It's been a year since I took my plot and I have made some lovely friends, learned a lot and love growing my own food.  Hubby too enjoys the weekly social and helps me with the heavy stuff.

Pumpkins, courgettes, leeks, beetroot, runner beans, parsnips and carrots are all making slow progress.  I am planning ahead now to plant for our Christmas dinner!  It has been very dry and hot here in sunny Surrey so I have been watering daily with cans, trying to manage without a hose as it's a very long way from the tap.  The last 24 hours we have had some much needed rain - everything grows faster with rain as opposed to treated water!

 I have this fabulous new book which I found in the library and liked so much I bought a copy!  Plenty of tips on growing/technique, written so the likes of me find it easy to follow.  

My garden is full of lobelia, lavender, roses and herbs and I have let the lawn go a bit wild as the flowers are quite pretty!

Picked randomly off the library shelves... just finished this autobiography which I recommend.  I don't often read a book cover to cover in a week but this was hard to put down.  I loved reading about how Aasma jumped in and out of two countries and cultures, adapting to different languages, education, friendships, family, tradition.  It's a good one.  

Think I might get my paints out soon, I have set up my little table in the conservatory ready.

this week

After my 30 lengths at the swimming pool, strawberries and greek yoghurt for breakfast and a quick squirt of sun lotion,  I had visions of a whole day on t'allotment but it's been so hot that would probably have ended in heatstroke.  Maybe I should grow lots of tall sunflowers to provide shade, my plot is sunny all day round - lucky me!  

Hubby is able to get me a regular supply of spent filter coffee from a cafe near work, I have been busily filling my composter and spreading it round my tomatoes and runner beans to keep slugs away - everything smells lovely :)

My red onions have been eaten raw in salads and were delicious.  I have become obsessed with woodchip! It makes everything so tidy.

Apart from allotmenteering (is that a new word?) I had a day trip to Brighton - first time lying on the pebble beach this year! (although I have had some lovely foreign beach holidays, Brighton is still special as my 3 aunties lived here and their sister (my granny) took me to stay with each of them every Summer. 

 They all sat on the beach in stripy canvas deck chairs while I splashed about on the shoreline.  This merry-go-round  must have been there all my life.

120 quid for a T-rex vinyl album, wish I had kept all mine.

I like wandering Brighton Lanes, there are some  pretty little front gardens off there - just look what you can cram into one  about 4 x 1 metre

My posts are brief as I have to wear a splint for 8 weeks due to arthritis in my thumbs.  I am managing to work ok and get on with most things but it can get very achy at times.  Currently I don't have a home laptop, typing on my mobile phone so proves tiresome... bye for now :)

Istanbul: Day 3

 Our last full day in Istanbul started and continued with rain but we soldiered on, it was still warm and the rain stopped in the late afternoon.  

After another good breakfast at the hotel we headed out by ferry using our Istanbulkart card from Karikoy to Kadikoy and decided to go up market and treat ourselves to baclawa  (layers of filo pastry dessert made with and honey/pistachio)  and coffee at the famous Cafe Erol which has been at the edge of the market since 1807.  They also sell baclawa and Turkish delight by the kilo to take home.

I have no idea what is in the bucket below, possibly goats meat in brine

we explored the vegetable market and stopped at a working mens cafe for a snack in the afternoon of pide, a bread that is sliced and filled with meat, cheese or potato and served hot.

then we headed back to the hotel using the ferry  then the tram and our trusty Istanbulkart pass covered it all.  The tram was originally built in 1915 and modernised in 1990.  An original tram is on display below 

(Below is the modern day tram which is now being used).

To end our trip we decided on an evening wander round the cobbled streets of Shishane (you need trainers as the streets are incredibly steep and slippery when it rains).  Things close early in this part of town and we were tired so decided to treat ourselves to dinner in the Radisson Blu Pera rooftop restaurant with a quick retreat to do our packing as only two floors in the lift between our dinner table and bed!

Hubby had kebabs and I had houmous and salad with hot puffy Lavas breads.

Our journey home on the Friday was from Istanbul Airport via Metro to Taksim then Havaist bus (ticket at Taksim square kiosk).  It was Turkey's National Day and the airport was decorated with red flags and had a dj playing live music in the departure area. 

We managed to completely fulfill our challenge of using all means of public transport and did not venture into a taxi once - even in the pouring rain!  Although it was a little hard to keep our mobile phones in our pockets and resist the temptation to google if we got lost, it's a lot more fun to ask people and engage with them and we found everyone helpful and friendly.

Istanbul.Day 2

Day 2 in Istanbul started and continued most of the day with rain, I found we had left our pac-a-macs behind!  We took time over breakfast then headed out, resigned to getting wet.  We took the Metro to Fatih and found the Sulaymaniye mosque - free entry.  I took a small bag with a pashmina to cover my head/arms and then on entering the mosque put my shoes in the bag so I didn't have to hunt amongst the many other pairs on the steps.  

The mosque, built in 1550 during the Ottoman period,  has beautiful ornately decorated ceilings and stained glass windows. We had been to see the Blue Mosque on a previous trip, this mosque was no less spectacular.

The mosque is located near the University so there are plenty of budget places to eat.  We chose a

snack menu for lunch of beans, salad, rice and lentil soup.

The cafe was started in 1950 and the menu has remained much the same.

There are lots of street vendors for quick snacks too, such as these Simit

The Grand bazaar is a short walk from the Mosque and  has many small narrow roads on the approach, a web of alleyways selling copper, basketry, souvenirs, turkish delight, baclawa and fruit and veg.

I bought my 'wicked eye' souvenirs in a wholesale shop outside the tourist bazaar, they were a third of the price being asked in tourist areas (£3).

We found a little cafe selling this delicious hot dessert in the market.  It's melted in tin dishes with sugary pistachio coating and is delicious.  I was peering through the window wondering what the cheese dishes on display on hot coals were and an elderly lady called me over - she said I don't know what this is but you must try it - it's delicious!  She was right - it's called Kunefe.

We also made numerous stops in cafe's for apple tea and of course admired the market and gold shops.

Day 3 next....

Istanbul day 1

We arrived on Monday evening at the new Istanbul Airport and headed straight to the bus terminal where we bought a Havaist ticket and hopped on board the already waiting bus into Taksim.  At Taksim we went into the Metro and bought an Istanbulkart card which is for multiple users and can be topped up at many automated machines throughout the city.  We then took the Metro one stop to Shishane and our hotel, the Radisson Blu Pera where we were booked in for four nights B&B.

Our personal challenge was to only use our mobile phones as cameras, use maps and ask people for directions and use all forms of public transport, we walked a lot and used the metro, bus, tram and ferry.

Day 1: breakfast at the hotel included halva, a sweet sticky slab of goodness made with milk, pistachio nuts and lots of sugar.

Our first full day was sunny and we set off  to Balat and Fener, originally Jewish settlement areas, well known for the pretty painted houses.  This is a Unesco heritage site and was easily accessed by bus using our Istanbulkart card.  

There are stray cats all over Istanbul, they are fed and watered and look healthy.

We stopped for a Turkish coffee, the coffee is not brewed but boiled in pots on hot sand until it bubbles, then poured and served black with a chocolate coffee bean and some Turkish delight samples from the market stall opposite!

Day 2 to follow!