Yep - me!!!!! Both Mandi and I have been scouring the airline sites for a direct flight from the UK to Turkey (well her part of Turkey anyway). There are flights going from the UK direct to Izmir - a city about 75 miles away from her, but the UK airport is over 250 miles from my home!!!!!

The only one that we kept finding, was a flight from Stansted Airport, which is the other side of the country - I'd have to travel there by coach from my home town, but I would have to change coaches twice, making this part of the journey last 9 hours!!!. This is a worry for me, as I have to take my rollator as well as my luggage, and I'm none too clever on my legs anyway, especially at my old age!!!!!!

So okay - let's say I manage to get there - I would then have an 8 hour wait for the plane!!!!!!!! Don't say anything!!!! So the flight is 4 hours and then it takes a 3 hours car ride from the airport to Mandi's home!!!! So that makes the journey around 24 hours - and I know I just can't do that! Mandi realises that this is way too much for me to handle, especially on my own. I think we eventually had to concede defeat, we'd both searched and tried everything. There was a flight which stopped in Istanbul, but then it was an 8 hour wait for a connecting flight to Bodrum!!! They really don't want us down there - do they?!!!! LOL

The return journey was even worse - I think it all added up to 26 hours - so I thought (well I won't tell you EXACTLY what I thought!!) I think it would be wise to stay home until next year. This is such a disappointing thing to have to accept - I was really looking forward to seeing her and sharing Christmas with her and Dogan. Spending Christmas and New Year in another country was a wonderful idea.

So now I have to decorate my home for Christmas!!! When Emily comes on Friday - her first job is to go upstairs and bring down the Christmas tree and decorations, and I have LOTS of decorations. I think she's going to have to help me do some of the decorations on the tree, as I tend to wobble about and I'd be so miffed if I fell over onto the tree - so not a good look!!

So folks you might end up having me around over Christmas. There's also a chance I might just have the odd tot of brandy and ginger wine. The bottles have been there for over 3 years now, they're just behind my couch, I've even got a glass all ready to be used, but I keep forgetting they're there, unless I catch sight of them on one of my many trips back into the lounge!!!! You never know I might surprise myselfand have a drink to toast the festive season!!

I've already written out all my Christmas cards and wrapped up some of my presents. Oh there's no stopping me now!!

Apparently my daughter-in-law, Stevie, has got gallstones and has to have the operation to have them taken out on 21st December - a case of happy Christmas eh? The poor thing must be in agony, it's no wonder why she hasn't been up to see me when Tony comes up. He's running round like a scalded cat, trying to do not only his course to get his two degrees, but also he has a part-time job tutoring the students in the media studies. Then he has to get home and collect the kids from school and get them fed, that's when Stevie comes home. Then when Tony has some spare time, he get to do his homework from the College/University!!!! He's so busy, but it'll all ease off in June, when he finishes his course and hopefully will have his two degrees to help him get a good job. He has already got a job, which could turn into a full-time job if he wants - and he's also been told that he could become a teacher at the college, and also a job in a tv company!!! So at long last he's going to be doing something he's wanted to do since he was a teenager.

Okay that's about all folks. I'll write again soon - probably with pics of my tree - you lucky things!!!!