Tuesday morning we had coffee in Sipahi with another Yildiz family. As usual we didn’t know that would happen, but we are finding how much we enjoy the experiences. Randal and I had joined Sharman and Sophie for a walk along the coast and then up the hills to Sipahi so Sharman could buy some chicken necks for Sophie in the small Sipahi market. I had tried to get them yesterday in Yeni Erenkoy when Randal and I went in for the Monday morning market. But they hadn’t yet been delivered and the shop where I bought them last time told me the delivery would come in the afternoon. At least that’s what I thought she had said. We figured that by Tuesday morning they would have been delivered to all of the shops so that’s why we chose the walk to Sipahi which is closer. Sharman had read that raw chicken necks are good for dogs so she uses them as training treats for Sophie. My mother used to put them in soup and I remember chewing on the bones as a kid. Maybe I was being trained? I was certainly trained to like her soup! Anyway…. The delivery hadn’t come and that made for an interesting discussion trying to learn when they would come and to explain when Sharman would come back. I’m okay with the names of the days, but not so great with time. Sharman got chicken legs which they did have. Sophie was having a hard time digesting the kibble so she gets rice, potato, beans, chicken, eggs, etc and all of the donkey poop she can sneak or the old left-overs from the Turkish guards at the small harbour down the road. Sophie is probably the healthiest dog on the planet, especially if you read up on the kibble issues as Sharman has. Yuck. Anyway… We left the store and were retracing our path through Sipahi when a small flock of sheep and goats came our way. We stopped to let them pass by. Their owner, Özgür came to talk with us, and as seem to happen in Sipahi, we were invited for coffee.
Perihan, Açelya (age 6 in 2 days,) and Özgür
We are sitting on their patio having the wonderful thick, Turkish coffee. Behind them you can see the blue school bus that Özgür drives. The sheep and goats are a hobby and provide milk, food, yarn and, I thought he said, shoes, for his family and probably the family of his father who also lives in Sipahi. Açelya had stayed home from school “with a cold” and to spend time with her cousin who was there for the day visiting. Özgür’s father was ill and needed to go to Nicosia for treatment. One of Özgür’s siblings was going to take him but their child would stay with Özgür’s family for the day. I think that’s correct. And Randal seems to remember that Özgür‘s sister works in the hospital in Nicosia and her husband is a doctor at the hospital.
Özgür and Perihan were both born in Sipahi. Özgür literally was born in Sipahi at home as was one sibling. I believe the youngest brother was born in the hospital in Nicosia. I wish I could listen in on what they tell their friends about us as they struggle to remember or guess what we had said or what we had really meant to say. Özgür had worked in construction for a Russian woman who spoke English and had learned from her and from his own determination to learn. He speaks a great deal of English but it is tricky to try to explain the collision repair business or Sharman’s race horse stud farm. I did remember the word for horse (at) so that helped. And I did have my cheat sheets so we could say we were retired but even without the sheets I could say I had been a public librarian for 26 years. These past few days I’ve been really working on my Turkish and have improved some.
Sharman, Perihan, Açelya, Özgür, and Randal
The oldest daughter, Aleyna age 11 is in school and the baby Aysima 9 months was in the house with another adult who we really didn’t meet. Sophie was patiently waiting off the patio. I somehow have no photo of the sheep and goats or the family’s adorable puff ball puppy whose name I think is Pati. Özgür said the puppy’s name and then pointed to the puppy’s paws so I thought it meant paws but that word is pence in my dictionary but is paws on Google Translate. Patik is bootie in both dictionary and Google Translate. There was a copy of an abridged Robinson Crusoe translated into Turkish on the table which was being read by Aleyna.
I think one reason we were invited in for coffee was that Sharman and I were recognized from our many walks through town. Both Özgür and Perihan mentioned seeing us.
We had a lovely visit and then it was time to go. As we were leaving Özgür reached up and took about a dozen oranges from the tree by the patio and gave them to Sharman and me to put in our backpacks. Randal and I shared one later that afternoon.
Portakal (Orange)
Many homes have oranges, lemons, pomegranates, maybe chickens, sheep or goats.
Most morning I join Sharman and Sophie for walks. We’ve added a Frisbee now that Sophie knows “fetch” so my arm gets a workout too. Good thing I’m doing all of that walking and Randal goes to the gym every other day and we also do the Thursday Deks walk because I’ve been doing some baking lately. I made great banana bread and a chocolate snack cake. Luckily we can share with other cruisers so we don’t actually eat it all ourselves.
The banana bread recipe from the Internet
I wanted a recipe that used oil rather than butter. This one did. It also called for buttermilk but suggested that whipping cream could be used instead. I had the cream but not buttermilk and it makes a really moist cake; and you can pour some on top when you eat it! I also used some brown sugar, some wheat flour and more banana than it called for. Randal said it was the best!
Betty Crocker snack cake
No eggs, just water, vinegar, cocoa powder, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda. It called for vanilla but I was out of it so used almond flavoring. It’s light and simple to make.
My knitting
My simple vest is turning into a major task. I made one side too long so had to rip part and then the armholes are making me crazy. Tatty, one of the cruisers, showed me how to pick up the armhole stitches with a round needle. She made it look simple. First I picked up too many stitches so that had to be ripped out. Then I cast on too few and had to rip that. It may never be finished.
I have also been working on my Turkish which is good. But finally I got out my “art stuff” to do some sketching. The whole table gets covered with Turkish notebooks, art stuff, books….
My Sophie sketch. It looks better here than in reality. I made her face too dark.
I got the Anthology at the wonderful book shop in Hyannis and the other, Courage was loaned to me by Denise. It is about her great, great grand uncle…I think I’m reading the genealogy chart correctly. It is an interesting picture of late 19th and early 20th century England made more interesting because it’s about Denise’s family. Look up Donald Adolphus Brown and Eliza Adelaide Knight and you will find info about them on the web in the British National Archives.
The marina wifi stopped working yesterday so we’re relying on our dongle for a while so less browsing around on the web. Hopefully it will be fixed soon. Thursday is a Deks walk. Friday since the weather forecast is for sun ,we’ll take the motorbike to Boğaz, the closest ATM (we know how to find.) There is supposed to be an ATM here at the marina but it’s not available yet.
So that’s what’s happening.