Gypsies??

Last week the six year old son of friends we stayed with a few times in Turkey was doing his English home school and was learning about the different kinds of homes people live in, including gypsies living in caravans. He turned to his mother very seriously, and asked, "Are Uncle Dazza and Aunty Leanne gypsies?" She kept herself from laughing (just barely) and told him no, that not everyone who lives in a caravan is a gypsy.

A few hours after I read the email from my friend Dazz came into the van and said ‘gypsies, hey…’. I asked if he’d seen the email too. He had no idea what I was talking about. He’d been working on the car in the shed with my uncle and as they walked out of the shed my uncle commented on the gypsies camped behind the shed. So maybe we really are gypsies…

Sunset

As the sun began to set metaphorically on our time in Turkey Dazz decided to take some literal sunset photos.

Miniatürk

Miniatürk is a great tour around the sights of Turkey. There are miniature versions of most of the significant sights. It's an easy way to see the country in a day, and a number of the 'ruins' are even shown in their original form.

Back in Istanbul

One of the great things about Istanbul is the water - you never know what you're going to see on a ferry trip across the Bosphorus...

Bursa

We had a quick stop in Bursa to see some friends on our way back to Istanbul from Izmir - just long enough for some good Iskender, a short walk around the town centre and a bed-time story...

Izmir

Arriving at our friends' place in Izmir was like stepping back in time. Most people we know have moved house since we were last here, so it was great to be in a familiar place. It was hard to get used to there not being young kids running around though! We've enjoyed our time catching up with friends, some of whom we've known since 1991. The city itself has changed a lot in ten years. It's a lot cleaner, and the water front is a lot nicer. We visited two church services on Sunday (to catch up with friends) and in between wandered along the bay.

We're now staying with some other friends and, as usual, Uncle Dazza is a big hit at story time!

Tarsus

We’re part way through our quick tour of the south and west of the country. We spent a few days in Adana with friends, then went to Tarsus. Tarsus is famous as the birthplace of the Apostle Paul and has a number of historical sites in and around the town. When excavation began in the centre of town a number of years ago this old basalt Roman road was discovered. The planned construction hasn’t taken place, and the site is being developed into an open air museum. Here’s a few other pics from our day wandering around the town…

The Bosphorus at night

Not much sight-seeing being going on lately, but we did get down to Üsküdar the other night to take photos of the bridge before it started to rain. We've had a bit of rain where we are, but aren't near any of the major flooding.

Views from a bus window

We've done a bit of travelling, but have spent the time at the other end with friends, so there aren't many pictures of exotic sites. We did have fun taking photos from the bus though! There's such a contrast between rural and urban, and of course the variety of vehicles is amazing.

The Parable of the Jigger’s Brick

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away (from where we are now), two brothers sat around a campfire discussing souvenirs for ‘The Jigger’. The Jigger (thus named for his ‘jigging’ on the willoughby – a piece of sapphire fossicking equipment) and his wife had already left the Field of Gems for the greener pastures of home and dust free environment of work. His wife had a particular fondness for the clay slurry in the bottom of the willoughby, thinking it would make the perfect mud bricks for a pizza oven… and an idea was born.

The brothers carefully filled a sieve with the clay, patted it in firmly and left it to dry. Once dry enough to turn out of the sieve a motif was designed, complete with letters formed with small pieces of ironstone (the bane of fossickers).





After much discussion as to the necessary temperature for firing a jigger’s brick, a bed of coals was prepared in the campfire, the brick (sitting on a stiff mesh) was buried, and the all important final stage began. By morning the coals had turned to ash, and the brick was removed to cool completely.


At various times during the day passersby gently blew or brushed some of the ash off. A few pieces of ironstone were dislodged, but carefully replaced to be later glued in place. The Jigger’s Brick. A perfect gift for the Jigger and his clay-loving wife.



Transport home… in the trailer with the camping gear was definitely not a good option, lest it return to the dust from whence came. In a plastic bag in the car… should be easy, right? Unfortunately…

With plastic bag in one hand a brother picked up the brick to safely wrap it for travel. It cracked – not into a multitude of small pieces, but into enough to make it unsalvageable. The immediate verdict? Next year it will contain some chicken wire for reinforcing.


The brick looked great from the outside, and had even been through a strengthening process, but without the inner strength of a different form it was unable to sustain the simple pressures of life.