Half a sheep’s head

I had half a sheep’s head for dinner tonight, along with a bowl of tripe soup drizzled with chile oil, garlic and vinegar. Rather intense, and will be followed by some burnt apple crumble. A good thing my digestion is as sturdy as it is. It’s a cool, grey evening so I thought I’d best […]

Funny tofu

I made a funny tofu dish today which turned out surprisingly pleasant. It had tofu, turmeric, dill, a stick of cinnamon, chillies, fish sauce and lemon juice. So maybe slightly Vietnamese tinged? Anyway, it was good. Today is a lockdown so the streets were quiet. It was also a little cloudy all afternoon, so cooler […]

Old times

I had a call with a client today which reminded me rather of my old work at a university, where I became an expert in helpfulness with a soupcon of flattery for some, to get what I needed out of them. A useful skill but a tiresome one. It was a sunny afternoon and tomorrow […]

Return to the city

Today was our return. In the morning, after breakfast, we took another short walk, in a different direction, but this was mostly over roads katcha and pakka. Along the way we chatted about the potential downfall of global capitalism as sparked by the top football clubs in Europe deciding to form a mini-league of their […]

Paths through the back

After a Turkish breakfast we took the barge across the river and went out through the back of the other hotel. Here we came straight into fields and farms, though still with signs of construction which makes me think that Agva will not be as pleasant a couple of years from now and it is […]

Soothing to the eyes

This morning the GF and I went to Agva for a delayed Easter break. This seemed one of the few plausible places to visit during a pandemic: in Istanbul though outside the city proper, no need to take public transport, with small bed and breakfasts instead of the gigantic hotels in many of the areas […]

Cosmic significance

I was on my own for dinner today, as there were only enough leftovers for the GF. I ordered in a yaprak ciger, and I must say, it cheered me up quite thoroughly. Such a pleasant change. Other than that it’s been another long working day. The GF is a bit under the weather, and […]

Exposure

The comic formerly on this website has appeared, in bowdlerised form and under another title, in the magazine. I daresay the original version will appear in my postmortem collected works, a slim volume but one offering great delight. I was rather on edge about this comic. I objected to having to tone it down, as […]

Drums in the distance

It is the first of Ramazan and I am working late into the night. Outside, drums are playing and a man is chanting or singing to wake people for sehri. Distance is more alliterative than accurate, as he is standing under our window. It seems rather early to me, as it is not yet 2 […]