Thanks Ryanair

For the first time in my four-decade plus existance in Bodrum, I am flying directly from Bodrum to the UK in the winter. The departure board shows just two flights today, one to Stanstead and one to Dublin, both Ryanair and both reasonably priced. Let's hope the route proves lucrative enough to continue next year and encourage Easyjet to join in too. When I first starting flying between the UK and Turkey, there were so few flights to the South that it was almost guaranteed that I'd meet several people I knew on each flight and with Turkish Airlines and Turkish Kibris Airlines' unlimited free booze policy, each flight turned into a party. There were echoes of past times today as we encountered 2 friendly faces before we got through the airport doors. With modern day Turkish airport prices, there will be no drink taken and we'll arrive at our destination sober. That never happened in the 80s.

Rain halts play

Yesterday was meant to be a busy day. We (as in 'the Bodrum Art Collective') had a pop-up sale planned. I spent Friday putting a 100 cards into envelopes and dividing them into packs of five. I got to the end of my 20 packs and found I had some cards left over. Panic. I went back to each pack and check I hadn't left any out. All were as they should be so thank you to the printer for giving us a few extra cards but please tell us next time.

Friday started with a rain storm which had my garden path under several inches of water by 9am. Unfortunately I didnt notice the flood until I had taken a couple of strides out. Finley the dog was oblivious to the water, Jake would certainly have held me back. It rained solidly through the day and the owner of our venue rang to say that Saturday's event should be postponed as the forecast showed no let up in the deluge. Long term weather forecasts were consulted and notices hastily put out on social media that we'd try again on Saturday 14th.

Saturday morning dawned sunny, blue skyed and warm. A slight drizzle which lasted for 5 minutes at 1 pm the only sign of the torrential downpour forecast. We'd postponed for nothing but at 5:30 the skies darkened and the rain came down. The power went off which made the lightening-lit sky even more dramatic.

I hope you can join us next Saturday at CRO & CUPS. As a reward for anyone who has read to the end of this post I am offering 500tl off my framed originals if you leave a comment at the end of the post - don't forget to add your name. If you can't make it to the pop-up, you can order our cards. I'll be in the UK soon and can post from there if necessary.