Özlem Warren in Bodrum

I'm very excited that Özlem is coming to Bodrum. Don't miss her talks in the downstairs lecture room in the Oasis Shopping Centre on Thursday 25th October.  English is at 15:00 and Turkish at 16:30.  There will be a chance to get a signed copy of her wonderful cookery book which no kitchen should be without. Further details of her Bodrum demonstrations and worldwide travels are available on clicking this link

A Cookery Dream

Özlem Warren's Blog  has been my go-to destination for recipe checking and inspiration for several years now.  I joined the chorus of her many friends urging her to put all her recipes in one place and write a book.  She has gone further than this and produced a cookery memoir that paints an aromatic picture of what it is like to grow up in a Turkish household that appreciates its Eastern Mediterranean culinary heritage. Özlem has written a book that is so lovely to look at that my copy will be kept on the coffee table, not on the kitchen shelf. 

Book Launch in Vout-O-Reenee's

Congratulations to Özlem for creating a work of art - on the page this time rather than on a plate, and to have sold over 700 hardback copies before the book has hit the bookshops, shows how many fans she has around the world.  

Frangipani 2

This is a test to see if I can add photos on Blogger using my iPhone and Google drive 

Good news for dog walkers

Taking a dog into a bank in the past was a bit of a grey area, sometimes we were let in sometimes shooed out but today Murat, the friendly security guard at Ak Bank, confirmed that legally all well behaved pets on a lead have to be allowed to accompany their owners into the bank. That's very good news for Jake and me as I can now comfortably do my banking during our morning walk rather than before or after.

Bodrum is buzzing but I can’t show you the pictures

Where is the photo you ask - I’m asking the same question on every forum I can find about blogging. After losing my iPad and iPhone in the same week, I decided to buy a big phone to take the place of both. As everything is backed up in iCloud, I chose an iPhone 8 Plus with all the bells and whistles and massive price tag.  I have used the Blogger app on my iPad for the past 6 years so assumed I would just carry on only to find that it is no longer available for iPhones. I can use the web version on my phone to add text but it won’t download photos.   Hours of trawling the net came up with an app only downloadable to an iPad. Friend Angela luckily had an iPad mini for sale at a non-eye watering price, so I drove over to Yalıkavak on Sunday to collect it.  I set it up, installed the app to find that despite the description in the App Store, it didn’t support Blogger.  The only alternatives I have now are to 1. Buy a Google-friendly tablet or 2. Swap the blog to Wordpress.  Or I just have to stick near my desktop which still supports the blog but as it is now over 10 years old, there is a fair chance that it will give up the ghost soon. The first option is more expense, the second is daunting.  Any advice would be very welcome. 

Paws for a coffee

A pause was needed today - a dash in the pouring rain on Monday with a rucksack full of shopping lead to a smashed iPad.  Old age (the phone, not me) caused my iPhone to black-out on Thursday resulting in confusion over a missed rendezvous, (sorry again if you are reading this!)  A miss-placed brush while painting and drinking G&T at the same time ended with the glass and now purple drink crashing down on the floor.  Today was a day of picking up pieces.  It started well with a trip to Şule's to choose a colour for my new kitchen cupboards.  The shop wasn't open but I spent a very pleasant 30 minutes in Joy Art cafe next door, drinking very good coffee with Jake by my side.  I'm very happy to find another comfortable spot that allows well behaved dogs inside.  We shall go back to sample the food. 

Sagalassos Lodge and Spa

For once ignore the archaeological remains in this photo, I'll write about them next, but concentrate on the large orange building on the left.  This is the Sagalassos Lodge & Spa where friend Helen and I based ourselves for 3 nights to explore the treasures of Pisidea.  An inspired location at 1250 metres high and only 4 kms from the ancient site, the hotel grounds spread over 40,000 square metres of forest.  We made full use of the facilities as soon as we arrived and any lingering Lake Salda clay was washed off in the hammam and steamed out in the sauna, followed by a swim in the indoor pool with a panoramic view of the valley below. We even splashed out on an aromatherapy massage from Kaya, the resident modern-day Gaia who kneaded some life back into our tired muscles after we'd spent 6 hours walking around Sagalassos.

The food is locally sourced, tasty and extremely good value and the staff friendly and helpful. Go at the right time and there are yoga classes, art exhibitions, organised forest walks and bicycles are available in a rack by the entrance.  It is also very pet-friendly. You will be met by Fox the hotel labrador and six other mutts of various shapes and sizes are looked after by the staff. I didn't take Jake this time as museums don't have the same relaxed attitude to dogs but I will definitely go back with him on my next trip to the Taurus Mountains.