A homely house

The little treasures in our lives enrich them and they develop stories as they move through our lives with us.  I’ve always loved bone china.  I love the delicate feel, how you have to handle it carefully so as not to break or crack it.The ornate detail, the beautifully painted flowers, the gold rim and the delicate handles on the cups, jugs and sugar bowls.  Many years ago I treated myself, spent almost a week’s wages on a beautiful set of “Royal Tara”.                               

  It was displayed for almost 30 years in our dining room dresser which had 2 glass doors.  It was taken out and used for just a few special occasions.    In that dresser there are 3 shelves.  As well as the china tea set there were other treasures. A large china jug with delicate flowers on it, a green glass smoker’s pipe, 2 blue and white cockerels which were from my grandmother’s dresser!  There were 2 handmade mugs again in which the most delicate flowers were painted by my aunt Mary.  She made these in her first pottery class.  I think of her every time I see them and how happy I was when she choose me to have them.  Along with the china there were other treasures too, 2 little china cats which I bought on a school tour as a young girl.  I remember seeing them in a little shop window and fell for them instantly. On the top shelf there was a gold coloured china set of 6 cups and saucers on a little gold stand, this was given to us as an engagement present. There were two urns which I brought back from Yugoslavia on one of my first foreign holidays.  There was a plate, a gift from Sarah a friend in Paris. There was a doll collection too but I donated them to a charity auction which then made the dresser less cluttered!  A small oil lamp also given to me as a gift.  The brass candle sticks barely visible on the top of the dresser were a wedding gift to my parents and they stood on their mantelpiece throughout my childhood. There was a little pair of ballet slippers which were worn by my daughter at the age of 4 for her first ballet class. A small black teddy cat which belonged  to my nephew David.  All these little possessions are simple treasures to me and are irreplaceable.

On my window sill in Ireland I have some little treasures too. The lamp with the blue glass base I bought for myself,  I love anything blue and had to stop myself from starting a blue glass collection!

 In my home here in Turkey there are no window sills!  I drew up a simple design for two small wall units. A neighbour made them for me. I brought some of my favourite cups and saucers from Ireland and along with some local coffee cups and saucers they make a nice sense of home in our living room here. I was thinking that in the autumn I will organise a monthly gathering with my friends called  "Sunday afternoon with tea and cakes" in which we will meet up and have home made cakes and tea from our china cups!

 The two cups and saucers on the top shelf here with the little shamrocks  were made by Carrigaline Pottery in Cork Ireland a company which sadly no longer exists.  If we move back to Ireland permanently at some later stage,  these two will have to come with me! 

  I also bought a unit with 2 glass doors which has some new treasures,  gifts from friends here. This space is now full with part of our growing book collection.  I really need to get wall book shelves for all our books which are in piles against the wall and give this unit over to our new glass collection!  Books really need their own space.  We brought some out from Ireland but have built up a collection here.  There are book sales on every three months in aid of charities and it's a great way of getting rid of the ones we've read and getting new ones but again we get attached to the books and it's not always easy to let them go.  I love to hear about other peoples "little treasures" and their stories,  maybe a subject for our Sunday afternoon tea!

The garden - a life of it's own

Last winter was a colder winter than is normal for western Turkey,  the coldest in 50 years!  We even had frost and ice in January.
  I thought I'd lost a cherished bougainvillea and a hibiscus in our garden but low and behold, new little shoots are beginning to emerge, so it's looking good!   Now that summer is truly here my lovely roses are soaking up the golden rays of sunshine.  In February I built a little arch from bamboo and it's a good support for my yellow climbing rose.

I planted some new pink and orange geraniums.  The fruit trees, pear, pomegranate, loquats and banana trees are looking good. I'm looking forward to next month when the first of my cherry tomato plants will hopefully bear fruit.  I've also planted beans, basil and peppers.  I planted a grapevine which which my neighbour was discarding but he assured me would bear delicious fruits!  So far, I have been unlucky with the quality of the grapes.  I know I'm doing something wrong and my mission this year is to correct this. It's a learning process.

Gardening is so rewarding,  I can see new growth everyday.  Plants thrive with the heavy rains in winter and long days of sunlight and high temperatures in summer.  I've managed to keep the weeds at bay.  Weeding is a therapy for me during the cooler months, it gets me outside in the sunshine and works wonders on my mood. I plan a new project in the garden every year even if it's just a small one.  My next project for the winter ahead is a mural.  I am gathering tiles, pottery and coloured glass. I have an idea of a little yacht with some waves and clouds but this could change between now and then.  Meanwhile for the summer, on with the photography and paintings.

The garden is on 2 levels with a step down from the top garden to the lower garden.  The main feature of the lower garden is a banana tree.  I first bought it as a little plant with just one stem.  I transported it home on the carrier of my bicycle and over the past 10 years,  it has thrust out new shoots every year and is looking like a miniature forest despite it's yearly cutting back by Mr. D. 
 He loves to hack cut it's soft fleshy stems, saying "they are like cutting through butter"Now that we are living here all year round, I hope to make improvements to the garden. I will be able to keep on top of pruning and feeding of plants.

Also in the lower garden is a lovely pomegranate tree.  It just seems to do it's own thing. My neighbour Mehmet gave it to me,  it was a seedling from one of his trees.  I water it in summer but I've never fed it.  I must look into this.  Ideally I would like it to be more red.  I love the sweet juice.  I've paid 12TL for the pleasure of just one glass of the freshly squeezed juice in the local restaurants. How do I make organic plant food in Turkey?  It's easy to make in the west but I cannot find the herb "comfrey" here. I've made a potassium tea from the cuttings off banana leaves and I've fed the tomatoes and roses with this.     I'm off now to search out "herbs and their uses"

We are where we want to be.

My dream will stay with me always.   It’s taken more time and finance than was originally planned.  There were hurdles along the road and at times it seemed like it would be wrenched from my fingertips. I had a sense of abandonment and would sink into that world of grey doom.  But the angels have looked favourably on my husband and I.  For however long it may last, we are here!  in our place in the sun, on the Bodrum peninsula in Turkey.  A world of tranquillity with books, art, food, flowers, music, conversations and a wonderful welcome from the Turkish people.