Karen Phillips

2012 – we gained so much and lost one special someone

When I look back at 2012 I can’t believe we did so much. The years pass ever faster but they are no less full and I have to edit and cut to get the highlights in when I look through my image library. All the…

2012 – we gained so much and lost one special someone

Lunchtime at the Lake – taking a break to enjoy the scenery

After a morning working on the House Elements project we were hot, grubby (as usual) and our minds swarmed with figures, measurements, levels and angles as we worked on the complicated three dimensional plan of the project. It was time for a break, so we…

Lunchtime at the Lake – taking a break to enjoy the scenery

A Great Little Train Trip – discovering Aydin

I like trains. Trains are cool! They are particularly cool when they are staffed by people who smile at you, when they offer you warm, fresh, sesame simits at 50 kurus each, when the trains themselves are clean and new and the price of a…

A Great Little Train Trip – discovering Aydin

Where does it all go wrong? Avoidable mistakes when starting a business abroad

I grew up on the Costa Del Sol and by the time I was sixteen I had seen pretty much every expat business mistake under the sun; I’d seen the alcoholics who bought bars, the wishful thinkers who thought Irish bacon was a unique selling…

Where does it all go wrong? Avoidable mistakes when starting a business abroad

Once more, with Feeling! Introducing House Elements, a turnkey business for sale

I’ve been wanting to write this for ages, about a year actually, because a year ago a bit of me that had been off in a corner crying since Phil died stopped sobbing and trailing streamers of snot, pulled itself together as much as is…

Once more, with Feeling! Introducing House Elements, a turnkey business for sale

Before you take up diving…some things you should know

I am a naturally fair person, if I write only glowy happy stuff I get guilty and I have to go away and write the other side of the story because that’s fair and stops people from making huge errors in judgement – boy did…

Before you take up diving…some things you should know

Playing Away – Diving Adabanko Reef and Barbarossa Reef Kusadasi

Ever since I started diving I have been under the watchful gaze of my instructors at Active Blue (www.activeblue.com), they’ve trained me, guided me, mentored me and managed my baby flippering. I think they’ve done a good job, I certainly feel happy down there and…

Playing Away – Diving Adabanko Reef and Barbarossa Reef Kusadasi

That was the season that was – we’re all on wind down in October

“How was the season for you?” I ask Bora, a friend in Kusadasi. He smiles widely, “For me it was good.” He says, “For me it was a very nice season.” “You’re the first person apart from me I’ve heard say that!” I tell him,…

That was the season that was – we’re all on wind down in October

Beyond Open Water Certification – When my inner geek meets my inner adventurer

Scuba Diving has a massive attrition rate; the percentage of people who having achieved their Open Water Certificate never dive again is high, estimates range between 50-80%. Nobody knows the real number because after that initial certification from the official agencies people may never again…

Beyond Open Water Certification – When my inner geek meets my inner adventurer

Scuba Diving – Part Two – Feel the fear and do it anyway

I grope for my pressure gauge on its long hose on my left hand side. The needle hovers above empty and I tap it, the skin of my fingers whitish green and wrinkled in the washed out underwater light. It doesn’t move. Reading just above…

Scuba Diving – Part Two – Feel the fear and do it anyway

Scuba Diving – Part One – Old Bitch, New Tricks

I’m kneeling in the squishy sand at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, three metres above my head the pale grey surface is lit with slanting sunlight, a small Bream is swimming bossily through the fat bursting bubbles in front of my mask and I’m…

Scuba Diving – Part One – Old Bitch, New Tricks

The (first) Ten Commandments for Building in Turkey (or any other country for that matter!)

I’ve built twice in Turkey and I’m about to build again. I am at the girding of loins stage, the long drawn out planning stage because it is all in the planning and the timing. This is where I remember; where I reflect on all…

The (first) Ten Commandments for Building in Turkey (or any other country for that matter!)

Into the Blue – Boat tour of Dilek Millipark near Kusadasi

Our Captain is wearing a polo shirt with Cancun, Yucatan embroidered on the chest. “I used to live there” I tell him, “on the island across the bay, Isla Mujeres.” “I used to work there” he says showing me the logo on his sleeve, “For…

Into the Blue – Boat tour of Dilek Millipark near Kusadasi

Baked Cherry Cheesecake

I haven’t done a recipe for ages, let’s do a recipe! It’s not that I haven’t been cooking, I just haven’t been writing down what I have been cooking and Nick has been inhaling everything as soon as I make it – honestly you’d rather…

Baked Cherry Cheesecake

The New Land Law in Turkey – why have the tapu offices closed to foreigners?

On 18th May Turkey ratified a new law (Law No 6302: The Law amending the Law on Land Survey) which impacted on a couple of previous laws including the law that describes who, what, where and how foreigners can buy real estate in Turkey. It…

The New Land Law in Turkey – why have the tapu offices closed to foreigners?

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