Friday 5 October 2007

Bringing my pumpbag home!!



Yep, it's nearly 5 o'clock and I'm just making sure the decks are clear at work, and I'll be bringing my pumpbag home, it's holiday time!! Things have been quiet at work this week, and as this is 2007 I'll be taking my PDA away with me, although I'll not necessarily answer it if it rings - I'll screen my calls. Family & Friends is fine, work can just text me and I might call back :-) Oh - if family & friends do need to get hold of me, use my work mobile please, it'll be cheaper than calling my personal phone!!
I know Mum & Dad like to know what flights I'm on, so it's the 9pm from Gatwick to Antalya on Sunday evening (TCX803K Thomas Cook airlines) and back on the 03.55 TCX803L on Monday 15th.
Olga has told me she'll be "travelling light", to the extent that she reckons she'll only be taking two pairs of footwear, including the pair she'll be flying in. As Victor Meldrew said... "I dohhhn't belliieeeeevee eeeett".
Everything seems booked already - the car parking at Gatwick, the flights, the transfers, the hotel.. I've even remembered to take a passport and my driving licence home from work. Olga has numerous copies of a hand-written note from her GP giving her the OK to fly... maybe it will help us get the exit row on the plane? Or would being pregnant count against us? What do you think? Use the Comment link below this post, I'd be interested to know (and interested if anyone is reading this drivel!)
OK, that's take it up to 4.58pm, time to start packing up here and just packing at home :-)

This is an Ex-Squirrel



I know they're considered a pest, and they eat all the even-cuter Red squirrel's nuts, but no-one likes to see one of the little fella's come to any harm. Unfortunately I watched one expire today; I was walking Mishka back from his runabout in the park at lunchtime, and I saw this grey squirrel running across the road, 20 yards in front of us. He looked perfectly OK, and I was thinking I'll take Mishka in that direction, so he can try to "play" with it, although the little guys are always too fast and make it up the nearest tree before Mishka gets near them. As we crossed the road to the squirrels side, the squirrel crossed back, and as it was about to jump up the kerb on to the footpath, it just keeled over on its side, on the road against the kerb. It seemed a strange thing for a squirrel to do, so I watched to see what the next move was. Well, I saw its chest heave 5 or 6 times, like it was taking deep breaths, but each time the period between breaths was greater and greater, until after a minute or so I didn't see any more movement :-(
It had seemed to be moving freely enough as it crossed the road, but maybe it had been hit by a car and I just couldn't see if it was injured, but it seemed to die of shock or a heart attack. Nothing to do with Mishka I hasten to add, we'd not got within 20 yards of it. It was quite upsetting really, and not the kind of thing you want to see on a lovely autumnal day. I didn't go and have a closer look, I'm sqeamish like that, and Mishka would have grabbed it as his new fluffy toy.

Well, there was nothing I could have done for the little guy or girl, and it wasn't rolling around in agony, and I didn't see squirrel-blood anywhere, so maybe it was just old age and too many nuts. Maybe it had a nut allergy?

Wednesday 3 October 2007

Turkey on Sunday. No! Not for tea...

or

I booked our holiday today, finally. A week All-Inclusive at the Club Akman Park Hotel in Kemer, Turkey. Kemer "used to be very nice until they built a load of 5* hotels there (obviously including our 4* one!) " according to one post on the Lonely Planet site, but frankly we're not slightly bothered about that, we wanted nice temperatures, a pool, the sea and no hassles about where to eat and drink, so it sounds perfect for us. www.tripadvisor.com (my personal favourite site for hotel reviews) included this as a typical review from a guest this summer:

"Akman park was very nice with nice foilage and walkways the food was as we would expect in Turkey with lots of salads pasta and stir frys. Pizza was available most days from about 10 15am until 5pm. The entertainment team do try their best but this hotel is not used to getting english guests (but they welcome you with open arms) guests are mainly russian,french and few germans. We did get on with most guests but what we did find was that they were very pushy espcially at the bar and the restaurant. The guys behind the bar are really good they try to do there best and you get PINT glasses for beer. The water slide was fun as big kids we had to try it."

So the fact Russians go there is encouraging, it sounds like there will be more Russians than English. Anyway, the flights are at good times, or bad times, depending on when you like to fly. We leave from Gatwick South Terminal (aah, Pikey Central, I must make sure Olga wears her pink tracksuit, and I have to dig out my best vest) at 9pm on Sunday, and arrive at 3am local time, but we've splashed out on return coach transfers, so at least I won't be arguing with a Turkish taxi driver at 4am. We fly back overnight on the Sunday/Monday, so we'll have to come straight to work on Monday morning, but that's not a big deal, at least we get the full Sunday in the resort.
So, time to dig out the suncream (and also umbrella - this week's forecast is mid-80s but with showers) and the Frank Sinatra biography I've been trying to read.
As is always the way, no sooner had I booked it through a travel agent, then i found that if I'd booked it all seperately myself I could have saved us a chunk of cash. Oh well. One less kebab for me next week.

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Tuesday night is cinema night

We're off to Reading tonight to see the Bourne Ultimatum before if disappears off the screen, it shouldn't need too much translation for Lucy, bang bang, kerpow, thonk is the same in English and Russian.
Olga has spoken with her mum, who got home OK this afternoon after being picked up at Ekaterinburg by a friend of Lucy's.
I'm busy trying to arrange a holiday now for Olga & I, but her Shengen Visa is making it tricky, as to go to Spain, Portugal or Greece (amongst other countries) we need to go to Holland first to "activate" her visa. Turkey or Cyprus doesn't require a trip to Holland first, so we may go there.
Anyway, time to close the Travel Agency for today and go and check on Mishka before we go out later.

Sunday 30 September 2007

Just a quick update


It's Sunday night, and Olga's mum is going home tomorrow; here's a photo from this afternoon to show off the good job Olga & Luda made of varnishing the summer house.. if only I can get the windows put in before Christmas!
It was a mix of cuisine today, with a full English breakfast and Chicken Kievs for dinner.