Last weekend I had a lovely day at Chester Zoo with some friends of mine I was visiting for the weekend. The visit was a pleasure – these were old friends I haven’t seen properly for a long time, who have a young family and lots of love and stability to offer them. I felt privileged to spend time with them. This gave me the chance to take some more photos, the best of which are below. You can view the whole lot by clicking here.
I’ve stopped using Facebook and Twitter for Lent. I thought this might prove difficult, given how easy it is to log in and spend time on them without really meaning to. But it’s not. Change the passwords to something random you can’t remember, don’t tell your browser, and remove anything from your phone that might push a notification into your pocket and make your ears burn. Social media works by making you think that you need to be connected, need to be fighting off messages with a repost here, a witty comment there, a rebuttal there. But you don’t need this; you didn’t need it before you signed up for Read full post >>
I recently attended two weddings, each of a close friend. The reception for the second was at the same venue as mine would have been. My thoughts turned inwards and backwards, towards my own brush with matrimony. The last time I went back to this place, I felt very upset, haunted by the passing of time and the changing of circumstances. This time, I had a few moments of wanting to wander away from the celebrations and have a quiet moment to myself, but was won back again by the company of friends. My feelings were the same – I still love the place, and I still regret some of Read full post >>
I’m not sure why I’ve been away for so long. I’d say I haven’t had time, but you can always make time for things when you’re motivated, so let’s just say I haven’t had the motivation to blog for a while. Things have certainly been busy, especially at the weekends; since the start of February every weekend has been taken up: I’ve had the family visiting and went to an excellent gig with my sister, two weekend conferences in the UK, and friends visiting Brussels for the last two weekends. Things have felt as if they are starting to settle in with work, as well; the report I’ve been writing Read full post >>
Not for the first time, it has been quite a while since I wrote a proper post. Time has been passing, and I’ve been busy. I spent Christmas home with the folks at their new house in Herefordshire, soaking in the peaceful atmosphere and trying not to freeze solid in the Arctic weather conditions. The house is lovely – a barn conversion with a big living room, large fireplace, Aga – all the trappings, in other words. I can’t wait to see it in the summer when the white of the landscape turns to green and the flowers are out. Then it was back to London, and flatsitting at my Read full post >>
I have spent a significant amount of time since I got here trying to get my phone unlocked by o2. After all the grief, hours of wasted time and farcically inept customer ‘service’, and just as I was on the verge of sending my phone back to the UK so that my parents could tap in an 8-digit code to unlock it (because that’s what o2 told me I had to do), well…. I’ve only gone and done the bloody thing myself with the help of an internet phone-hacking site! This has saved me €30-odd, though I can’t get back the many hours I spent on the phone to those Read full post >>