Autumn Adventures

We had a rental car delivered to our house at the end of September.  Nicole thought it might make a nice 16th birthday present!

I used the rental to drive to the airport in Istanbul to pick up Cam's friend Ray.  I was grateful for Nicole's good navigating. This was the first time I've driven in Istanbul without following Cam and I was not sure I was up to the challenge.  We enjoyed a Starbucks treat while we waited for Ray's flight.

Cam about to enjoy some of Nicole's birthday cake.

Ray with a "slice" of cake. Ray spent about a week with us. I took him to the market one day and introduced him to our pal the cheese vendor as "yeni adam" which might translate as "new man".  The vendor (Yildrim) often asks me if Cam is with his girlfriend when he doesn't come to the market with me.  Yildrim thinks this is riotously funny, so I enjoyed turning the tables on him, though he didn't get the joke.  I made Cam go to the market with me the next time I went in order to set the record straight.  

After Ray left, we had the car for a couple of days.  Nicole and I went on a little adventure one afternoon.

A village on the peninsula.  Many of the village houses don't really look like anyone should live in them.  However if you look closely, the windows are spotless, the curtains are lace and the plants on the sill are in bloom! You'll have to take my word for it, since this picture was taken on the go!

The other side of the mountain.

Typical Turkey - somebody has dumped a collection of household trash beside a field.  There's a holiday village in the background.

At the Erdogan (with the boss!) playing with their baby rabbits. We met a Canadian family for lunch.  They have a daughter Nicole's age, but they are being transferred to Ankara which is 8 hours from our house.

So little and so cuddly

Cute and cuddly once you catch them!