Merhaba from the Culveys - Dec 2007
Merry Christmas!! Where has this year gone?!
When we left you last time we were in the midst of a long hot summer, and long it was, we had no rain in Izmir from May until the end of October! Since then...it hasn’t stopped! It’s rained more in the last 2 months than the last 12 months combined!
We were also inundated with visitors all enjoying the spoils of the Agean coast in the summer time. In September we decided it was time we got some of it for ourselves. So we packed our bags and headed a couple of hours down the coast to Marmaris with our friends Mel and Mentes, and their brood Leah & Kyan.
Well, what we didn’t know was that Marmaris is Blackpool on the Agean! More British than Britain, and it seems that since we stopped shipping convicts to Australia they have been going to Marmaris!! Still we enjoyed the experience of our cheap all inclusive hotel, with it’s watered down beer and strict rules during dinner!! Thankfully Old Marmaris was lovely, with it’s harbour, bazaar, and castle, it was a great place to spend the evening’s.
The other gem is the coastline away from Marmaris itself, lovely little bays and villages tucked away and unspoilt. We took a day trip on a boat along the coast and it was the highlight of the trip, simply beautiful.
Shortly after returning from Marmaris we all descended on my Boss Richard and Stephanie’s house for their youngest son Sammy’s birthday. It was a Pirate and Princesses party. The kids loved it, they have a great garden and played treasure hunts, walking the plank, and to top it off Sammy’s present was a great big trampoline which was a real hit, especially with India!
We’d been on our own for a few weeks by now so that had to change and leading the charge was the new healthy and slim Chris Peck, fresh from a summer of discovery and detox, he spent a week or so ‘getting away from it all, discussing the workings of the mind and proving that texting is an annoying habit!
Part way through Chris’s visit I jetted off to Los Angeles for work, as you all know Tesco has started up in California with Fresh & Easy and I was lucky enough to go over for a workshop. It was a great trip both professionally and personally, I learnt a lot, caught up with some old friends that are now working there, and of course shopped-Lyra was proud of me!
While I was away, Auntie Irene and Uncle Michael joined us and spent a few days around the pool with the kids enjoying the surroundings and the endless pool games with Indi and Kai. We all took off to Cesme for the day on my return and had some fun on the beach before heading to the harbour for lunch. All was going well, we had some great grub, a relaxing drink, then Auntie tootled off to the loo and tripped up a step, and fell face first on to the tiled floor. To say we were concerned was an understatement, she spent a good half an hour dazed under a bag of ice, then impressed us all by insisting she was ok despite the golf ball sized bump on her forehead!
Nothing was going to get in the way of her holiday and I drove them to Kusadasi later that day for them to continue their break there for a week.
You may recall me mentioning in our last update how much my Mum and Dad enjoyed Turkey, well at the end of September they landed in Istanbul in the middle of Ramadan for the start of their big adventure! For Turks Ramazan (as they call it) is a time spent struggling without food all day and partying all night for 30 days! Needless to say in Istanbul it was a carnival every night, after a few days of living it up the adventure continued, they hired a car, jumped on a ferry and headed around the coast to Izmir! Stopping at some of the great sites at Assos and Bergama they arrived a few days later for some fun with the kiddies (and us of course!)
Again we spent a great day on the beach at Cesme, with everyone enjoying the sea, even Mum!! All too soon though it was bye bye as they jetted off back home!
For a few years now Ly and I have been considering selling our home in the Uk. Well in October we did finally said good bye to Harrowick lane after ten years. We thought it was going to be an emotional farewell, but after a few days together clearing the place out and a few more days for Lyra to clean the place up ready to be handed over we were glad to get rid! Although Ly is still a bit sad whenever she thinks about it.
I’m sure you can imagine, but each time a trip is looming to the UK it all gets a bit crazy in our house, in October it was no different as Ly, Tan, and the kids prepared to return to the UK for a week. Lyra decided that Kai needed a haircut and got the clippers out, in her haste to get the job done, she forgot to add on the comb....and she skinned the poor lad!! Talk about glow in the dark! His big head was as white as the driven snow! Needless to say he was the talk of the trip!
Whilst in the UK Indi and Kai got to spend sometime with their cousin Kasey, even better it was her 2nd birthday so it was cake and presents all round! After all that fun there was more to come for the little Culveys as it was time for a weekend with Nanny and Grumpy! Lyra dropped them off and headed back to Northampton for a weekend of freedom and the kids had a fab time (as always) with Nanny, Grumpy, Bert, and Harry the horse! They even had their first train ride! Still Mum and Tanya turned up after a few days and it was time to fly home again!
Tanya’s friend Laura spent a wet week in Izmir in November, and I mean wet, the storms we’ve had recently are the stuff of the discovery channel I promise you. Despite that she enjoyed a ‘quiet week’ away. All I can say is her house must be very noisy if coming to ours is quiet!! Our two are very fond of either hiding each others toys or stealing them just to make the other one scream! Why do we all find such pleasure in winding up our Brothers and Sisters when we’re kids (and for some even now)??
On the subject of little people November brought us two new tiddlers... Abi and Mark brought us Cameron (who was not so little at 10lbs something!) on 12th Nov, and on the same day Sally and Mark (not the same Mark!) had Rosie!! They are both doing great and it is remarkable how much quieter other peoples babies seem!! As outrageous as it seems, we don’t have any photo’s to share with you! Maybe next time!
As we rode towards December Lyra returned to the UK alone to visit babies and to attend a life enhancing course. She was designing her destiny and believe me, I like the look of what she designed! I followed her over a week later and together we popped over to New York for quick break.
What a city! We loved NYC! The whole feel of the place, the spectacular skyline and great history all added up to a fantastic few days, oh and the shopping isn’t bad either. The Apple Store on 5th Ave is my new church!
After a couple of days we left Manhattan and headed to Maple wood, New Jersey to see Kirsty and Christian, old friends from Korea, now complete with family! It was great to see them again, and we spent a fun filled couple of days catching up and debating Tesco’s onslaught of the US market!!
Their two little ones, Brosey who we remember as a baby in Korea, now 5, and lovely little Evie just 10 months were wonderful, we look forward to being able to introduce them to our guys someday (soon!).
Just to make the trip that little bit more special, we got a covering of snow for our last day in New York! Central Park in the snow is one of those must do life experiences, just fab!
But our credit card had started to look decidedly ill so we thought it best to come home, and to say we had missed our monsters was an understatement, but the welcome they gave us on our return was so lovely it’s almost worth leaving them every now and then just to experience it again, they were so cute it made you want to cry....well almost!
So Christmas is here once again, we have had our first party with the rest of the Kipa Expat gang last weekend, so we are well into the spirit of it all! And for a Country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas it is looking pretty Christmassy all around. Turks have adopted all of the standard Christmas traditions for New Year, so everywhere there are Christmas trees and Santa Claus, just like at home (only warmer!)
We have just a couple more days work then it’s the Turkish Kurban Bayram holiday where millions of lambs are slaughtered in a tradition of giving to the poor. A good cause but not for the faint hearted so we’re off to Disneyland Paris for a few days!
I’m sure we will be seeing a few of you before Christmas as we are spending the 23rd (our 6th wedding anniversary) at Ansty Hall (even staying in our wedding night bed!) with a few of you to celebrate Christmas, anniversary, and even Tan’s birthday!
For those of you that we won’t see have a great Christmas and a positive new year! Make some plans, come and see us, do more, give more, fight less!
Loads of love....
The Culvey’s! xxxxxxxxxxx