ArtyMar's blog: buying the dream

[ArtyMar]

Thanks for your comments, Sadler, Menthol and Bluwise. I too laughed out loud at Menthol's comment. OH heard me and asked what I was writing about. I said "the latest comments re my blog", so then I had to read the blog out loud to him. He was surprised that I could remember it all - ha! It's like yesterday and still ongoing. As to going to Infinity's offices, Menthol, that might be a bit difficult, as future blogs will explain . . .

[sadler]

Have you forgotten us ArtyMar? 

[ArtyMar]

No, no, Sadler! Apologies!

end July 2010  Koca Calis

BLOG 30:   on holiday

And we do. There’s a lot to be said for getting up in the morning with the sun blazing, not being concerned about ‘what to wear’: swimsuits are the order of every day. Breakfasting by the pool, watching the kids jumping in and splashing each other delightedly, joining them – ahh that cold water feels good while the sun beats down. Slather on the suncream. More ice for the drinks.

Daughter and I leave the kids and OH to it, while we saunter down to the Escape bar for our usual morning routine. We stroll back to our rented villa and then we all take a stroll to the beach. Here in Koca Calis, there are a number of what are called ‘beach clubs’ lined up adjacent to each other. Each has gardens, seating with restaurant and bar close to the water, free wi-fi and free sunbeds. Most have added extras such as padded hammocks and beanbags, usually under umbrellas, thatched awnings or fringed palm trees. Drinks are brought to your little table next to your sunbed. The sea is warm with gentle swells rather than surf-type waves – and unlike English beaches, it’s never too crowded. The kids can splash in the waves, just yards away from our sunbeds so we can keep an eye on them. In other words, heaven.

I’m trying my best to follow OH’s words of wisdom: take it easy / heavy building is not allowed at this time of year, so don’t expect it / relax and enjoy this special time with Daughter and grandkids /

And we do. We travel by dolmus and taxi and go to all the places that enchanted us on our previous trips: the Fethiye Tuesday market,  the Fish Market and restaurant, Calis Beach prom where the kids dart in and out of hotels comparing pools while dripping icecream, the Ghost village up in the mountains, the harbour in Fethiye. We take a 12-island boat cruise on Hanedan 11, one of the larger boats that has a slide from the top deck into the sea. The kids love this (until a bigger kid slides down on top of them). The old city with its cobbled streets – eating by candlelight under canopies of trees lit with strings of lights.  OluDeniz to watch the paragliders come in to land on a narrow strip of grass (I make an inner resolve to go paragliding on my next trip). Yes, it’s a great holiday – as long as I stop worrying about the villa.

I remind myself that it surely will be finished by this time next year, by which time OH will have recovered from his op. Next year!

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[ArtyMar]

mid September 2010 London

BLOG 31:   Looking back

We’re looking at photos and reminiscing about our holiday. How unbelievably hot it was. How tall the grandkids have grown since we last saw them six months previously. How lovely it was to have this time with Daughter and grandchildren. The boat trip stop-off with OH on the boat trying to spot us in the water below, taking photos while I tried to signal him not to hang so far out the window (not so much afraid of him falling out – worried that he might drop my iPhone!). Shopping for carpets in the old city with Daughter who is furnishing her newly-bought 100 year-old house in Boston: how patient the carpet salesmen were when rolling out carpet after carpet while she took photos and input them into her laptop in a program that allows her to see her home with the new carpet in place – and then, after all that, needing another look at the carpet on the bottom of the pile. The pleasure of relaxing at the beach clubs with the sea lapping close by – the kids burying each other in the sand and then delightedly washing off in the waves. The s-l-o-w progress of the villa building: was there any actual progress while we were there? When will it be finished?! What a beautiful place Fethiye is with its lovely harbour.  Watching the passing crowd while sipping ice-cold Efes on the prom at Calis beach. The unique peace and tranquility and personal service offered by those beach clubs at Koca Calis. The old city with its cobbled streets and outdoor restaurants under the trees, the surrounding mountains. . .  I tell OH that our villa will be the perfect place to recuperate after the op as long as we go in Spring or Autumn. He agrees and we silently visualize our next visit. I can see myself lying in a hammock by the side of our pool with OH relaxing on a sunbed nearbye reading an English newspaper. I don’t ask what he’s dreaming of – just in case he expresses worries or doubts. Worries and doubts are not to be countenanced right now.

If only we could have left our visit till late September (but of course that’s non-term time and my College work would not allow – nor would it have been possible for Daughter and grandkids), the weather would have been cooler. On the other hand, with the op looming in early October, it would not have been a good idea to go away.

By the look of the latest photos sent by L, the villa is still far from being ready for occupation. The next time we go looks like being late Spring next year, my Easter half-term break. That will be, of course, after OH’s operation. I banish fearful thoughts and instead think of us relaxing at our villa. Surely it will be ready then?. . .

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[Bluwise]

Love the description of your holiday Arty - still feeling the pain of your concerns though.

[sadler]

Me too Bluewise! 

[echogirl1]

Even though most of us know the end result you still have a way of holding on to us to find out what happens, a really good read artymar xx

[ArtyMar]

Thanks, Echogirl, Sadler and Bluwise. It's great to get feedback!

[ArtyMar]

October 2010  London

BLOG 32:  Looking forward

I’m sitting on a visitor’s chair next to OH in the ward, the evening prior to his operation. He’s had the pre-op tests and the op is scheduled to be first on the list early tomorrow morning with the full team. They estimate it to last at least 9 hours – hence the early start.
I have a special gift for him, something I have kept secret to give as a surprise. It is a hand-made art book which I made specially for him during a day-long staff development course on creating ‘art books’ . It opens from both front and back, with hand stitching on the pages with cut-outs revealing other images. These images incorporate both photos and some of my original paintings (of gardens), also my painstaking calligraphy (did a one year course) – basically it’s all about love, based on Robert Graves poem:

Grass green
And Aspen-green
Laurel-green
And sea-green
Fine emerald green
And many another hue
As green commands
The variables of green
So love
My loves of you

OH is really touched by it and says he will look at it again first thing in the morning,  presumably before they give him his pre-op medication. As I take my leave to go home, he says: “Drive carefully!” (he’s worried about me?) And then, almost cheerily: “Don’t worry. See you tomorrow.”
I hold his hand, and say, “you promise?” I mean, and he knows what I mean – that he will get through. I won’t be seeing him early in the morning- it will be after the op.

He smiles and says firmly: “I promise’".

OH never breaks his promise.

. . .  to be continued  . . .usually posted on Thursday

[sadler]

ArtyMar I wanted to post a reply to this blog to encourage you with your weekly writings, but the subject of this one leaves me without any words. I just feel relieved that we know/hope we know that the outcome was good.