In the morning our tiles arrived, terribly exciting to see them finally here, though heaven knows when they’ll be installed. Our architect was there and assured us that everything would kick into high gear next week. I am rather doubtful as the tone from her and from the contractor has had a tinge of the […]
Afternoon in Balat
This afternoon, the GF and I took the ferry up the Golden Horn to Balat. It was a stunning journey; the Golden Horn is lovely no matter what, but today it was clear and sunny and very beautiful indeed. We got off at Fener and had lunch (ok, nothing special) and then strolled through the […]
Day’s inspiration
Yesterday I had the brainwave of making a short comic about an encounter earlier this week, for the magazine’s social media. This was rather ambitious and, unsurprisingly in retrospect, I ended up spending most of yesterday planning it, and most of today drawing it. So a very, very enjoyable day, with the sort of tiredness […]
Another day lost
It was a pleasant sort of day, but felt like another day lost, largely because I was trying to draw a short comic and didn’t get anywhere. I’m in charge of the magazine’s social media this week and have no idea whatsoever what to post. I had one post on Middlemarch on Monday, then today […]
Over the hill
The GF had today off, and I had finished my work on Sunday, aside from the social media posts for the week. I finished up Monday’s lot and sent them off, and then got asked to look at the layout for a document I’d edited, and was appalled at the number of errors – it […]
Longing for lockdown
Sunday lockdown today, so it was all somewhat quieter, though certainly nothing to lockdown proper. I had a bit of work I’d saved up for today, which I didn’t actually manage to do until quite late at night as it was one of those days when nothing seemed right. So the GF went for a […]
Back to the markets
Today, Saturday, and the organic market in Ferikoy was on, so we strolled there. We took the route through Dolapdere, with its vertiginous stairs, crumbling churches and beautiful neighbourhoods, and up to Ferikoy itself. It is yet another of the parts of Istanbul with truly lovely old houses, easily the equal of Balat, but very […]
A very long blink
The city has truly unfurled in the sun and with many lockdown restrictions gone. There is a different feel to the streets, it’s like there has been a very long blink, and what was before was Istanbul in September or October, and then there is now. There are many more people in the streets, there […]
Another island
It was a bank holiday for the GF and I had arranged my work so I didn’t have anything today, so we took a ferry to another of the Princes Islands, this time to Kinaliada. It was a less sunny day than the last time we went over, and in fact it pelted with rain […]
A moderate success
The workshop is over, and it was a moderate success. The timing was very poorly managed, and my technical skills were not up to managing breakout rooms etc so that was a fiasco, but my bit of the presentation was ok, and I think most people appreciated the one-on-one discussions (other than the time issue). […]