Summer is here, guests are slowly starting to find us, and we keep working on construction as usual. That’s the short version.
The long version? OK. My mum and dad were here for a few weeks recently. It was great to see them and they were a huge help. And, as often happens, visitors gave us a reason to take a few days off to enjoy the local area. First stop was the village of Kap?k?r?, by Lake Bafa — we mentioned it on the blog a couple of months ago. It’s such a tranquil and beautiful spot that we thought my parents needed to see it too.
Restaurant and ruined castle on the lake.
Lakeside houses dwarfed by the rocky mountainside.
We went back to the same restaurant, where the menu is fantastically simple: it’s basically either fish or köfte (meatballs). This time we were up on the terrace instead of down on the beach though.
Shady table at the restaurant.
We had a small team of professional restaurant cats lurking under the table hoping to get some scraps. (Yes, of course we gave them some scraps.) Here’s a shot of the smallest and cutest one. We didn’t actually take this little guy home, but we made sure he got the most fish. If you look at his face you can hopefully see why we have trouble with adopting too many cats in Turkey.
Kitten under the table.
Our second tourist stop was a hidden gem we’d learned about from one of our guests: Ayda Vineyards & Winery. They’re about 20km west of Izmir airport, way up in the hills. Their wine is really impressive, but we were also blown away by how good their restaurant was. And they have a few hotel rooms in case you drink a little too much for the drive home. Overall a fabulous place, and I’m sure we’ll be recommending it to future guests.
Selection of wines.
I should add that they took wine-tasting really seriously, too. Everyone gets eight glasses and a water glass!
The tasting room.
So many glasses!
I didn’t get a perfect photo of the setting so this shot of their lawn terrace will have to do. But it’s a glorious spot with views in all directions.
Terrace with a view.
Meanwhile back at our place, it was great to have the pool and the gardens so much further along since my mum and dad’s previous visit. The poolside area really feels like a comfortable place to spend time now.
Morning sun on the pool.
Lucy relaxing.
Rainy day by the pool.
Not sure if it’s clear from the photo above, but it was raining that day. It has been a strange wet summer so far, with afternoon thunderstorms a lot more common than usual. Good for the garden though.
And yes, that is a piece of wood floating in the pool. Don’t ask. (Well, since you asked: it’s the best way to straighten them out when they warp from uneven drying in the sun.)
Now for your regularly scheduled dog, cat, and flower photos.
Sleeping dogs.
Leyla at full speed.
Leyla looks concerned. She is probably thinking about biscuits.
Roses and figs.
I think that’s a daffodil? No? Maybe?
On to the serious stuff: with my dad on mixing duty and Koray on plastering duty, lots of progress has been made on the second building. The outside plastering is pretty much done. Currently the interior of room four still looks a bit rough, but room three is getting close to complete. Almost ready for guests — we just need to do the tiling, the bathroom, and the mini-kitchen area. Oh, and I have to make all the windows. Details, details.
Room four is the sanding workstation right now.
Room three is getting there!
Lathe and plaster, rear view.
In parallel with all the plastering work, we’ve made some progress on our new house. The floor joists for the second, mezzanine floor are now in, and I’ve tossed up some temporary floor boards so we can walk around up there. I sort of wish I’d planned for more upstairs windows as the views from the top floor are going to be great.
Our new house: view from the lounge/kitchen looking through to the bedroom. Upstairs floor joists now installed.
Home-made joist hangers, as seen in Sketchup!
Interior shot. This will be our bedroom one day.
Temporary floor boards so we can work upstairs.
View from upstairs looking south.
Next step is to get the big beams and columns in that will make up the spine of the house. Then to finally get a roof on it!
