The Magic Carpet Ride (Book) http://www.Writing.Com/main/books.php/item_id/1204616-The-Magic-Carpet-Ride I’ve been trying to find a different word to describe the nostalgia enveloping me this week. There are a few reasons for this, so consider yourselves warned because this is going to be a “Me Myself I” entry. You might want to walk away now... Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of our move from Greece to Turkey. The idea is thoroughly depre...[Read Full Post] Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:28:53 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/677032 NoNaNo Yesterday afternoon I put an end to my NaNoWriMo hopes for this year in the most brutal manner. I’d been for my weekly grocery shopping, and included in my purchases was a fine metal knife - the one with the handle and the blade fashioned from a single piece of steel. After unloading the car I put away the shopping. After deciding to cook the beetroot for dinner I set about preparing...[Read Full Post] Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:31:33 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/675991 I’ve just finished writing from a man’s POV in Nano; here’s the last few paragraphs: I filled her in on some of the mundane details of the evening, deliberately avoiding any mention of the woman who stood silently in the room with us, visible only to me. Desperately hoping she would leave I ate quickly, and finished my second glass of wine....[Read Full Post] Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:23:45 EST http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/675065 I am in awe of cross-cultural relationships. I have great admiration for those who make a commitment to build a life together; it takes courage and determination to overcome racial, religious and linguistic differences... not forgetting the possible diversity of each person’s cultural and traditional background. And then there’s the relati...[Read Full Post] Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:10:13 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/674030 Robert Byrne’s words have been on my mind a lot this weekend. I’ve been unpacking our winter clothes this weekend; a singularly depressing task. When I packed them away earlier this year I honestly didn’t think I’d be taking them out again while we were here. We had a dream and a plan... sadly Allen Stanford destroyed those hopes a fe...[Read Full Post] Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:52:57 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/673241 Today I girded my loins , and took a drive to Bornova. It’s the first time I’ve been out of the house since returning from Zimbabwe on Sunday evening. Not that I have cabin fever or anything... the first reason was to do some shopping, and the second was to get Kit washed. I’ve been munching my way through the tins in my pantry, something that’s...[Read Full Post] Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:43:44 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/671862 During the three weeks I’ve just spent in Zimbabwe I saw more friends and family during those three weeks than I have during the three years I’ve been in Turkey. The thrill of catching up with everyone was enhanced by the positive changes I saw in my homeland. I’ve been fortunate enough to have returned home three times this year, previo...[Read Full Post] Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:47:06 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/671541 At 04.50 am on Thursday 17 September Ivan and I will be flying home to Zimbabwe for three weeks. We land at Gatwick at 07.10 UK time, and are taking the bus across to Terminal 5 to dump our luggage before meeting our friend Terry from Guildford to spend the day with him in that lovely quintessential English town. This trip we’re using up our British Airwa...[Read Full Post] Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:57:45 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/667861 This morning NATO forces in Afghanistan launched a raid to rescue a British journalist kidnapped on Saturday by the Taliban. Stephen Farrell, who works for the New York Times, was seized on Saturday with his Afghan translator, journalist Sultan Munadi during a visit to investigate the NATO air strike on two hijacked fuel tanks that killed Afghan civili...[Read Full Post] Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:21:23 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/666968 Last night my dreams were filled with handsome, virile men striding all over my farm. They were planting and harvesting crops, milking cows and goats, collecting down from ducks and eggs from chickens, shearing sheep (black AND white ones) and erecting... fences. Making the dream even more visually interesting was the assortment of beautiful, scantily clad women, carefully collecting plums, apricots, pomegranates, cherri...[Read Full Post] Mon, 07 Sep 2009 15:28:53 EDT http://www.Writing.Com/main/books/entry_id/666780