The Quiet Life

We've been home a week now and settled back into the old routine.  Plus rain.  Fall in Ukraine is when we get the rain we needed all summer.  So far we have had about 60 mm or 2.5 inches; my dog dish isn't very precise.

Tanya managed a half day in her flowers and gutted the front flower bed so it was a good thing I got pictures when I did.  Since it is too wet to work outside we are in cooking mode.  Which is time we can share so we are both happy.  Borshch yesterday.  Potato salad today.  Pizza tomorrow.  Mexican cornbread next day or maybe tomorrow too; Tanya has a hankering. Friday will be a double batch oatmeal raisin cookies as Saturday Tanya is going with Masha's class to Krivii Rih to the circus and museums.  There will be 27 kids plus two teachers and Tanya.  So I need 60 cookies.  Or maybe 90.  Masha made a special request.

Kuchma and I are in the doghouse.  I suppose we should be in the cathouse by rights but that has a different connotation.  I let him in the house at 7:00 am and went back to bed.  We were out of milk so I gave him sour cream instead.  The cat didn't complain so I guess it was OK.  He must have lost his mind as he jumped on the bed on Tanya's side.  She flung him over to my side and he proceeded to pick dry mud out of his feet all over the blanket.

So far the green netting on top of the fence has kept Bobik from climbing out and when they are let out to run, they come back in an hour or two, happy to go back in their pen.

The Bible commands us to love our enemies and love our neighbours, which Mark Twain observed is usually because they are the same people.  We have not been on good terms with our neighbours for a couple of years now.  They are not easy to get along with but again, there are always two sides to a story.  I am by loyalty, forced to pick one side...however...

The rain has washed holes in the pavement that were patched earlier in the year, making driving difficult again.  Water soluble pavement is a new one to me.

We have an election coming up this month sometime for Deputies to the Verkovna Rada (Parliament).  The Party of Regions are the crooks currently in power and have little support in most of the country except Donbass region.  There may be up to 90 parties to choose from; one of the "benefits" of proportional voting.  Deputies from the smaller parties will sell their souls to the highest bidder after the votes have been counted.

The Regionnaires will most likely win.  It is not who votes but who counts as Stalin noted.  Several parties have teamed up to try to defeat them but I won't hold my breath.

Tomorrow is garbage day.  I am so excited.

Bobik climbs the gates without the green mesh on top.

Front garden Oct 11 before Tanya re-readied it for winter

Staying at the Hotel Sydney 2000 in Turkey

Beldibi is a "town" that runs along the beach from Antalya to Kemer, about 30 km. It is wall to wall resorts from 3 to 5 Star and at least one 5+++ Star.  There are mainly Russian and Ukrainian guests along the strip and russian is the second language of the business people.  Other strips attract other countries as when we were flying home there were about 6 charters headed to different parts of Germany, for example.

The Hotel Sydney 2000 is right next door to the Sumela Gardens where we stayed last year. We liked Sydney much better and think we have found a "home".  We talked to others who have been coming there for 8 to 10 years.

Sydney is a small 3 Star; simple rooms, maybe 150 at best; simple fare.  The food was fabulous, though.  While there had to be some kind of rotation, in the 17 days we were there, there were no repeats.  You could not tell it was "Tuesday" by the menu.  Four hot dishes, a big salad bar and a dessert bar.  Even the salad and dessert bars had a certain amount of variation.  Always some fresh fruit on the dessert bar, too. Wi-Fi in the lounge but if you needed a table to work on, it also reached into the cafeteria.

Because we were end-of-season, the hotel was only three quarters to half full.  Not many staff but great service.  End of season is cheaper and not deathly hot.  We like +30C (86F) much better than the +45 (113F) in peak season.

The beach is narrow and gravel, not sand and drops off rapidly as you move out from shore.  Not small kid friendly yet there were always several small kids there who had a great time.  One mom was there with four very rambunctious kids ages 11 to 2.  Every Babushka in the place helped her look after them.

Cost for the two of us for 17 days, end of season, including airfare from Kyiv was $2050. I have no idea if there are American and Canadian packages available but Turkish Airlines is a very good airline and not expensive to fly.  I am sure that something could be worked out.  For those who love history, Turkey has 10,000 years of it and ruins from every culture and civilization.

Back of the hotel, pool and dining area

Path to the beach, grassy sunning area, kids playground on the right

Beach.  Most sunning is on lounges for comfort.  It is a swimming beach

Weekly entertainment night included a fire-breathing juggler

Tanya took this one.  I wish she'd have taken one of his girlfriend too in her white bikini

Front walk to the street

 

Not tonight, Dear, I have a Headache

Caught up on two bloggers tonight, Demeur and Author Lynda Beck Fenwick.  Too tired to think further so please accept these pictures of cute cats instead.

Please don't eat me.

He is always staring off into space

If you did your job, I wouldn't have to

Looking back to see 

Mom, Billy peed in the food dish again

Nanananabooboo

Things go swimmingly

People familiar with the sea and who can swim, will read this and wonder what the big deal is but for a flatland prairie boy for whom 4" of water on a Saturday night bath was significant and who never learned to swim, it is an achievement.  I let go of the shore line this holiday and ventured out into deep water.

They say during the Second World War that prairie boys signed up for the navy and merchant marine in great numbers.  Partly perhaps, because vast empty expanses with horizons at 180 degrees held no fear for them and partly because they already knew how to work and being a grunt held no attraction for them compared to shipboard with no marching under heavy packs.  But maybe mostly just the sight of so much water at one time.

Water deeper than 3 feet and wider than I can see across has always fascinated me and I have paddled around in lakes when opportunity afforded it and a few times in the ocean - once in the Pacific, twice in the Black Sea and now four times in the Mediterranean.

This was the best holiday ever for me and our fourth vacation in Turkey.  I had nothing hanging over me and was able to totally relax.  The sea is almost always calm in the mornings; some mornings there aren't even wavelets washing the shore. And it was warm; 27C or 80F.  It wasn't like I hadn't been in the water there before but for some reason it dawned on me I could not sink regardless of what I did.  Tanya said that the Mediterranean has 30 grams of salt per litre, which combined with my body massive index mean I was pretty much guaranteed to float unless I hit an iceberg.

The fat in my head and the lead in my ass balanced so well that I stood at attention in deep water and floated, with my head above water.  Long ago I had learned to float on my back even in lake water so I was off.  Using my arms as oars I rowed my way around.  A rowboat from Ukraine; a veritable Hunky Dory.

Now I didn't move very fast and sometimes when Tanya was in a hurry to get to shore (lunch time??) she would get behind and push me like a tugboat pushing a barge.

There was a rope barrier way out there to separate swimmers from boaters and I actually swam/rowed my way out to it twice every day, a few times three times out and back.  It was an awesome feeling not to panic simply because I had no sea bottom to touch.  The only time I did almost panic was one morning I got out there and found the barrier had broken and drifted away.  There was NOTHING between me and the entire Mediterranean.  There was no limit to how far I could go and that was scary.  A good psychologist could have a heyday.  Analyse this!

Narrow gravel beach.  Drops off quickly.  Great swimming

The rope barrier is about where the white line is.

Along the beachfront are piers every so often for sunning and diving

About 2/3 of the way there and rowing for all I am worth.

Trying to Stay Sane

Reducing stressors has become a must.
I've made some rules for myself which I am more or less following.  Mostly regarding politics, religion and related social issues.

I have stopped trying to read everything as it is simply impossible to start with and I am finding that the themes repeat and repeat.  I have canceled several of my regular newsletters or whatever you call them.  Ezines is a horrible word.

If the tone of the headline or beginning of the article is ugly I stop reading it.  If it looks like it might be reasonably intelligent, well argued and that I might learn then I will attempt to read it.

One of the things that depresses me is the knowledge that the real enemy is not the person or problem in front of you that "hates you and wants you dead".  These are honest and can be dealt with.  It is the people who are supposedly "on your side" that are the true enemy, that seem to do everything to prevent success of the stated goal, caring only for their own vanity, position, wealth etc..  Ask any soldier.  Or anyone who ever worked in any kind of bureaucracy.  Hence my frustration with the "Luddites of the Loony Left" who divert energy from the more important goals of social and economic justice.

Instead I look for stuff that makes me smile.  DogHeirs website with cute puppy videos is great (I know cute puppy videos aren't news, Doonesbury, that is why I watch them). GoodNewsNetwork is another source of smiles.  And of course, FaceBook is loaded with cute pictures of dogs, cats, lids and other critters.  Jango is a great "radio station" in the net with all of my favourite music.

And I will steer very clear of serious stuff on this blog.  So much as is possible.  Three of my regulars commented yesterday about the overload of politics in America being depressing.  I need to keep up more or less with politics in four countries.  Canada and Ukraine.  America and Russia.  Not a pleasant prospect.

Oh, I have a couple of consulting projects ahead of me AND have begun reading my backlog of books.  History and otherwise.

Our holiday in Turkey was the best ever and that will fill a couple of blogs.

Tanya and I in Turkey on my 65th birthday

Starting again

To my readers, thanks for staying with me while I took a much needed break.  I have been on my new meds for two months; Tanya and I are back from our annual holiday in Turkey and I am ready to face the world again.

Now to catch up on reading everyone's blogs that I missed over the past five weeks.

To those of you who are receivers of spam because of linking to my blog I am truly sorry about that and have no idea how to cure it.  My ISP is People.net which is a Russian owned company I believe and I know that a great deal of spam gets routed through their servers though I don't know where it originates.

Me off my meds

Me on my meds

Maddy is a Cockapoo.  Having raised five litters of pups, which was one too many according to her, she has little patience.  She is quite protective of her owner which used to be my oldest daughter (MayB in her blogging days) and now belongs to MayB's sister-in-law.  She has a ferocious fake snarl and bite but wouldn't hurt anyone.  I think the kiss-and-make-up was genuine.

Shuttin' 'er down

Story is that a chap going on a honeymoon cruise stopped in to buy some condoms and seasick pills.  Druggist says, "If it makes you sick, why do you do it?"

That is kind of how it is with me right now. This is the 1129th post since April 10, 2008 so four years and four months is long enough. It started out fun and sometimes funny.  Blogging isn't fun anymore and some days nothing is funny.

Problem is I am switching meds right now and weaning myself off the old one slowly to reduce withdrawal symptoms.  I am at a very low dose and have two weeks to finish and two weeks to let it clear my system completely before I start the new one which I can buy locally in Ukraine.  

Now, understand, the meds don't do anything for me.  But I find when I take them that other people don't act like complete flaming assholes all the time just to piss me off.  If THEY would take Prozac, I wouldn't have to.  Told my late wife that one time.  Didn't help matters any.

At any rate, I have been so grouchy lately, I could put my teeth in backwards and bite myself in the throat. So the time has come to acknowledge that I need a rest. And I am cutting waaaay back on internet readings on politics and religion, too.

My thanks to faithful readers, especially those who comment from time to time.  I have learned a great deal from your comments and often wish we could continue the conversations.


There are blogs I have followed and enjoyed and intend to continue checking in from time to time.

Again, many thanks to my readers.