Weeknote #5

At home
The French had visitors most of last week, which necessitated a lot of indulgent nights for them, not so much for me. And now Mathieu is away all this week, so it's just me and the lovely Martial, who's just brought me a mug of peppermint tea. Perfect.

During the week I discovered that some nasty spammer had left a lengthy and nonsensical message on a recent blog post. It didn't worry me too much and at the least it was mildly amusing, in its total lack of sense. But then I realised the spam was repeated on no less than 45 posts! I've been cleaning it up in shifts, as blogger doesn't seem to provide an easy way to batch edit comments. Still, there's been an unexpected positive to this boring chore, as I wind up reading posts from years gone by and remembering events long forgotten. Mostly it's made me nostalgic for the days when I had the time to write, things to write about and the confidence to put it out there.

This morning as I watered my coriander seeds, I thought to myself, today is a good day for growing - and sure enough, this evening I found three tiny shoots beginning to peek through the soil! This makes me very happy. Remember when I lived in Wellington and the back yard was full of succulents grown from cuttings my brother gave me?

At work
My American colleague is in the States for a few weeks, so I took the opportunity to work from home for most of last week, and will probably do so again this week. As long as I manage to leave the house once or twice a day, it's very chilled out and pleasant. Various work projects are in the workhorse stage just now, with lots of effort required but not much to show for it - in a few days' time I think there will be progress to speak of.

On my mind is the fact that my current contract terminates in three and a half weeks. I hope that something decisive happens after that - something decisive resulting in a permanent job, even! That said, the uncertainty is no hardship. My only concern is that in order to carry out my plans for early next year, I am going to need to be able to start saving in the not-too-distant future. Make a stash, etc. And start repaying the many favours generous friends have shown me in recent months.

Out n about
Lovely dinner catch up at my local the Dove with Tom on Monday. Jailbreak to hang with my brother-in-law in Walthamstow on Weds evening. Caught up with Tim for the laptop handoff before heading sarf on Thurs for dinner with Mikey and co in Clapham North, followed by Dangerous Heresy at The Rest Is Noise in Brixton. Felt odd to be on the tube after travelling exclusively by bike for the last few weeks. Speaking of, I dealt with my bike-shop-man-induced paranoia about leaving the thing anywhere by getting insurance. It's only a fiver a month. Friday saw me chilling at home and then on Saturday after watching a tedious Australia vs Ghana match, Tom and I ventured down the market to the Dove. He was in mid-flow with the most preposterous tale when I realised we were sharing a table with the one and only Ian Hart...cue much excitement, gurning and crowing that it had been eleven and three quarter months since our last adventure!

I was a bit slow off the mark on Sunday but managed to get to Proud Gallery in Camden in time for kick off in the New Zealand vs Italy match. Some friends had hired a stable for us to watch the game, and it was a tense but most enjoyable 90+ minutes. Very impressed with the team, particularly the fabulous Paston.

Future happenings
Crazy to think that this time last year I was gearing up for Glastonbury - it seems to have come around a lot quicker this year. Not for me though - I'll be watching it on tv, or trying to ignore it - and anyway, Blondie is happening this weekend. I'm also excited about having made plans to attend Jane's birthday weekend in the Lakes District! Can't wait, although it's not until late next month and comes hot on the heels of some minor surgery. On my tongue. Guess how much I can't wait for that.