New new new

Yesterday meant a new home, new job and newly invigorated desire to learn how to make the most of a very snug living space. Hurrah!

P.S: Posting will slow down for a little while in the wake of all the newness taking over my everyday life at the moment. I'll be back in a week or so with lots to share.

Did I once say "I thrive on keeping busy?", because I think I lied.

A super quick update - tomorrow we move house, we are nowhere near packed, paying the deposit and first month of rent has been crippling for my beleaguered bank account, I'm desperately trying to find patterns in my dissertation data so I can cobble a final chapter together before the deadline at the end of the month, and I start my new job tomorrow. It is all kicking off.

In other news, some encouraging before and after shots for anyone who fears they are incapable of growing healthy plant life (most certainly me, at the very least):

TA-DA!

I was so excited to have grown something successful and edible that we ate them all in one sitting, mixed into a salad that laughed in the face of the grey weather we've so consistently been enduring lately.

Community garden

The community garden is in full bloom. In true British tradition, everyone is far too shy to take anything, even though the placards assure us that this is the very purpose of this little patch of volunteer-nurtured land. I have my eye on some tomatoes, hoping they ripen up and turn red soon!

Freelancing - a few early observations

I like translating because sometimes I feel like a detective. Like a sleuth, surrounded by dictionaries and rapidly consulting my old friend Google to solve linguistic puzzles with the merest of clues available to me. I don't always feel like this, of course. Not when I am knee-deep in translating instructions for cleaning aluminium bannister rails ("Rust film can be removed using powdered lime and methylated spirit", snore snore snore!). However, those types of projects are fewer and further between than they used to be, and I am generally able to financially support myself on the more interesting projects offered to me. Freelance work is hard, though. I think it's one reason why I am so drawn to various blogs: so many are run by hard-working, freelancing young women! Young women who usually have a design background that I lack, but all the same, it's a common trait! I like that. And I love the positive approach to the world of freelancing seen in so many blogs - the idea that it isn't an employment choice made through laziness (quite the opposite, in my opinion), and the acceptance that it necessitates careful juggling. I attended a talk last year where translator and writer Maureen Freely spoke about necessary steps for translators. Find other things you can turn your hand to, she said. I like that. On that note, I have a new job! I'll be working 4 days a week, leaving a perfect window for translation, but I predict some late night/weekend working in my future. However, no matter what other work or study commitments I've ever had, translation always has me working late and long hours, which has often led me to question the apparently charmed existences of freelancing bloggers. Can they possibly be up at 1am stressing out about deadlines, dark circles under their eyes and greasier hair than they would otherwise like to be seen with? I can't say I buy it, not with the wonderful things I see going on (see here and here, oh and a trillion other inspiring places, as if you don't already know where to find these things!)


I think I require greater self-discipline. Earlier morning starts, and lists. More lists.

Alfalfa shoots

I'm hoping for results somewhere between these two distinct stages, but love the idea of eating something that would one day become a very lovely flower of the sweet pea variety. A lot more than I like eating eggs and thinking that they could have become lively members of the poultry family... moving swiftly on! Any ideas for repurposing old glass jars come in very handy over here, as we love to save old glass jars from the resounding smash of the communal glass recycling bin where possible, and this little 'Lawrence of Arabia' jar (as it has become known) is sprouting some delicious alfalfa seeds. Easy peasy to care for (twice daily rinsing with tepid water and space on a shelf in normal temperature), ready for harvest within one week, and a tasty addition to all the summer salads we are readily consuming!

The calm before the storm

   

Cypriot plant life, the lushest of the lush and a model for my future windowsill greenery

Today feels like the calm before the storm. I have spent the past week making audio recordings for my dissertation that will require hours of transcription and days (weeks?) of analysis, and I am poised to begin a new translation project for a contemporary art gallery somewhere in Germany. When I'm not worrying about the fact I haven't really started those two things, I then remember I have a job interview tomorrow, and it all seems to pile on top of my head and balance precariously while I do very little to rectify the situation.

In spite of numerous serious and grown-up obligations, my head is filled with projects and DIY adventures for our new place, and I'm excited to see what I can do with such a small space (which, for the record, feels huge for us, having lived in a glorified shoebox for a year!). I will also pick up on the blogging side of things - it has been a little stop-and-start over here, which reveals nothing more than my dubious timing to begin this little venture. All in good time (and many promising posts to come, with that).

Mjölk, anyone?

One more thing occurred to me that I miss about Sweden: the lovely little milk cartons!  Regional dairies package their milk in different designs, which adds a little variety when it hits breakfast time and you’ve ventured elsewhere in the country. It puts our dull (and difficult to recycle) plastic cartons to shame. In fact, on the topic of recycling, these cartons aren't only a great addition to the recycling bin, but also to the craft pile, with ideas printed straight onto the cartons (ingenious!):