Luxury accommodation in the Aegean countryside

Spring is here

Fantastic news: spring has arrived in south-west Turkey. We had some long cold nights through winter, but now there are wild flowers in the fields and new growth everywhere.  The first buds and leaves are out on our grapevines — soon we will have our green canopy again.

Our village by night.  (One day this will be the view from the restaurant terrace.)

The village on a cold winter night.

Spring flowers.

Spring flowers.

Cherry blossoms near Şirince.

Peach blossoms near Şirince.

And it’s not just plants coming out. One sunny morning a chameleon turned up in our back garden and I was lucky enough to get some pictures. At first we thought he was an escaped pet, but it turns out they’re native to Turkey and some other parts of the Mediterranean as well as Africa and India.  He was an impressive character, although he didn’t do a lot of colour-changing.

Chameleon suns himself on the roof of a dog house.

Chameleon suns himself on the roof of a dog house: both the dogs and the cats were not sure what to make of him.

The warmer weather has brought human visitors too.  My brother Sean and his family flew in from Vienna last week.  It was great to see them, and also great to have an excuse to put down our tools for a while and revisit places like Magnesia and Şirince.

The theatre at Magnesia — looking a little flooded with spring rain.  it was too dark for photos last time we were there.

The theatre at Magnesia — looking a little flooded with spring rain. It was too dark for photos last time we were there.

We also got to explore the Dilek National Park (Milli Park in Turkish) out on the Mycale peninsula.  (This had started to become a bit of an embarrassment for us: on two previous attempts last summer the authorities foiled our visit plans with the simple countermeasure of a 4pm closing time.)  So glad we finally got there.  The park is fantastic and we will be recommending it to all our future visitors.  It has beautiful, secluded beaches that look across to the Greek island of Samos.

Stone tower on a quiet beach in the national park.

Stone tower on a quiet beach in the national park.

A picnic table as close to the sea as anyone could want.  That is my brother being dynamic and sporty in the background.

A picnic table as close to the sea as anyone could want. That is my brother being dynamic and sporty in the background.

Much of the park isn’t accessible by car but only on foot.  We tried the first section of one of the many walking trails.  Doing the whole trail would have been quite a walk: it goes straight up and over the ridge of Mount Mycale (1237 metres).  But at least the first part, walking through deep canyons with little streams running through them, would be the perfect escape from summer heat.  And I really enjoyed getting an impression of what the landscape around here might have looked like before human settlement.

Walking path in the park.

Walking path in the park.

Stream coming down from the mountains.

Stream coming down from the mountains.

I’m sure we’ll be back soon.  As spring turns to summer we have lots more visiting friends and family lined up.  And that beach in proper swimming weather will be amazing. (We hear that it’s also an excellent spot for diving.)

On to construction and renovation topics: well, the kitchen is nearly there.  If I was a more disciplined person I would hold out and only show you the photos once it was 100% finished, but I can’t help myself.  I’m quite proud of what we’ve done with it, and the work definitely makes our life more comfortable.

The current state of the kitchen: ready for floor-levelling, tiling, and building a new worktop.

From this…

From Sketchup plan...

via a Sketchup plan…

to this!

to this!

We like the new splashback tiles a lot, and we were very happy when, having wrestled the corner wall cupboard section into position, it stayed up as the plans suggested it should.  Not much left now: there are a few cupboard doors still to build, and the worktops need to be tiled.  But then it will finally be done.

Wall units above the worktop, with a corner shelf for cookbooks.

Wall units above the worktop, with a corner shelf for cookbooks. The walls are made from clay bricks, so I didn’t want to drill into them: everything is supported from the floor upwards.

View from the doorway showing the sink, the dishwasher, and the new marble-tiled splashback.

View from the doorway showing the sink, the dishwasher, and the new marble-tiled splashback.

With the perfect weather for laying concrete nearly upon us, we’ve been talking to our favourite civil engineer and architect team, as well as surveying our block with a tape measure and a home-made water level.  We’re making a few revisions to our original plans, now that we’ve lived here for a while and know the land better.  We’re also happy to move our planned buildings around a bit if it will save some trees — will show the new layout in a future post.  The day we actually start pouring foundations up in the orchard will be our biggest milestone.

And I can’t let you go without at least one pet picture, can I?  Here’s Zeliş looking sad and dignified at the same time.

Our beautiful dog Zeliş.

Our beautiful dog Zeliş.

24 Comments

  1. Lorraine

    This just looks so gorgeous – sadly going into Autumn here :(

    • Jason

      Clearly the optimal solution would be six months in each hemisphere. I don’t know many people who have pulled it off though. :)

      Hope your summer was good, at least!

  2. margnoble@ozemail.com.au

    Hi Jason & Sirem
    Your kitchen looks amazing, well done. We are looking forward to seeing the scenery shots you posted when we come.
    Marg

    • Jason

      Thanks for the compliment. We’re looking forward to showing you both around.

  3. Sonya

    Wow a lovely post with some stunning views, spring must be the most beautiful season there. I particularly like the chameleon – I’m rather envious that you got to see one in the wild, I’ve only ever seen them in pet shops and zoos, and often think about getting one as a pet. I hear they’re pretty hard to look after though so I’m sticking with the hardy fluffy animals for now. The kitchen looks amazing too, you guys are so talented!

    • Jason

      Cheers, Sonya. The chameleon was a total surprise and very cool. I don’t know what he had been doing all winter though: do they hibernate perhaps?

  4. Anne Noble

    Wow the kitchen looks great and it must be so enjoyable now being able to use all your culinary talents in such a lovely place. Yes we are well and truly into autumn here with balmy days and cold nights. I am heading to Spain again in June to bypass half of the winter. Hopefully next year Turkey as I am longing to visit and see your amazing place

    • Jason

      Thanks. It is just nice to have decent worktop space and enough cupboards to get all our plates and glasses and pots and pans out of their moving boxes.

      Enjoy Spain: it looks like Steph is really well set up there. And we will see you next year, I hope!

  5. Cliff & Diana

    Countryside,as ever, looks stunning. We never thought of Turkey as so picturesque. Poor misguided oafs!
    Should you ever think of returning to UK, would you consider revamping our kitchen? Yours looks fabulous. What a transformation! Well done you!
    C&D. 182

    • Jason

      Don’t feel guilty about your impression of Turkey: I was exactly the same. I knew there were dry hills with olives, some mountains, and some rocky coasts with beaches. And they have all that, but they also have fertile valleys to rival Tuscany, and forests, and all sorts of other landscapes. Very lucky to be here.

      If the hotel business is unkind to us, we would certainly consider a career in carpentry. Tea with fifteen sugars, please, and we’ll definitely be finished by Christmas. :)

  6. JP

    That 17mm picture with Sean in the background: it looks like he is throwing flat stones to make them bounce on the water surface of the sea. Is that correct?

    • Jason

      Yes he is! It was tricky, given the waves, but the stones on that beach are perfect for skimming so some of them worked well. (I may have encouraged him to throw like a baseball pitcher to make for a better shot though.)

  7. JP

    What’s in those big blue jars in the kitchen?

    • Jason

      You mean the ones on the floor? With a kind of siphon sticking out of the front one?

      I want to say moonshine, but it’s actually water. The water that comes out of our tap is perfectly safe to drink, but it has a lot of minerals in it and a hard taste. So we use bottled water for drinking, but we still cook (etc.) with the tap water.

  8. Hywel Williams

    Looks lovely. I am totally jealous of your kitchen-building man skills. Abby asked me to make a shelving unit once. It took me an entire weekend, looked terrible, and I have been relegated to “unskilled labour” ever since.

    • Jason

      Ah, cheers Hywel. I’m sure you are being too modest. Anyone can learn to do this stuff. And having some tools helps a lot.

      Perhaps you unconsciously sabotaged your effort to avoid being asked to do it again? ;)

  9. Elisabeth

    The kitchen is very pretty now! Amazing work :-)

    • Jason

      Thanks very much. The tiles will be the finishing touch — hopefully we’ll get onto them soon.

  10. Vicky

    Absolutely incredible transformation with the kitchen. I’m blown away by your skills!

    No mention of new adoptees? Considering Spring is the season of new birth would now be a good time to remind you that you’re not running an animal sanctuary?

    As ever, thanks so much for the updates. You guys are an inspiration. Always very very much missed but we’re so happy for your progress.

    take care
    Vicky and Brendan

    • Jason

      Thanks, both of you. No new adoptees, we are being very disciplined. Promised to make some cat boxes for the people who run the local dog shelter (and also take in a few cats). Next winter it will be nice to know we have done something to keep them warm.

      Most days we don’t feel very inspiring. :) We just try to get at least one thing done every day. Pace could be faster but I think we are getting there. Hope Southampton is treating you well.

  11. Donna

    The kitchen looks great! Hoping to make it over next year after my two month break in Australia. How would we go entertaining a 2 year old and 4 year old ?

    • Jason

      Thanks, Donna. Plenty of animals for the 2 year old and the 4 year old to play with, if that helps. :)

  12. Cameron Smith

    G’day Jason,

    Long time no see – about 27.5 years!

    Congratulations and best wishes for your new venture. Perhaps those years of Agriculture at JRAHS won’t have been wasted on you. ;-)

    It looks like a beautiful part of the world . You’re quite the photographer!

    Regards,

    Cameron Smith

    • Jason

      Wow! Cameron — great to hear from you. This is a blast from the past. :)

      Thanks for the kind words and good wishes. And yes, exactly: who would have thought I was actually learning something useful in those years of prac ag lessons. It is a really lovely part of the world and we feel lucky to be here.

      Hope life is treating you well. Come and see us if you’re ever in Turkey.

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