Work is growing critical and today, finally, I managed to spend a good bit of time and write several chapters. Still less than halfway, but I think I might be able to finish the first draft by the end of tomorrow. Aside from work, today the GF and I took a short break for coffee […]
Unburnt beans
Today I tried cooking the final third of the white beans I had bought late last week. The first two times I forgot the pot on the stove and they burnt, and needed a good bit of scrubbing with baking soda to get the black off. But this time it worked and they were very […]
Terrible people
The newspapers, the internet, all available social media and I daresay a good bit of English language television and radio as well is plastered with the Oprah interview with Prince Harry and Meghan. I gave in and watched the clip where Meghan reveals that a member of the royal family had muttered something about the […]
Twice burnt
We went to the flat this afternoon and were surprised and pleased to see that the plumbing has begun, with sloping drainage pipes running through the walls. We stood in the kitchen to see if yesterday’s decisions were the right ones. They were, I think. Then we came back and I put on the beans, […]
Harrowing day
The morning started with a phone call: my grandmother is not well again. We left for our Ikea appointment to order our kitchen. It was not a good journey: the day had turned cold and grey, with a bit of rain. It was also the first weekend day after the lifting of lockdown and the […]
Abort, abort 2
We caught a taxi to take us to Ikea – a little indulgent as it is on the Asian side and we could get at least part of the way there by public transport. We were supposed to go there to get our kitchen planned out and then to pay for it and hopefully not […]
Vitiating
A soul draining start to the afternoon. We had a nice stroll up to Nisantasi, and on the way got a call about progress on our flat which was very reassuring. With the language barrier it is very hard to work out what exactly is going on sometimes. We were going to the Vitra showroom, […]
All nighter
I had a rare all-nighter last night, only a couple of hours of sleep, as I scrambled to finish work and send it off. I am not used to such nights these days, I found it much easier in Malaysia when they happened every so often. Well, I finished and the work is gone and […]
Red carpet
This afternoon, as the cleaners came, we popped by the flat to meet the architect and give her a small payment for windows, show her the basement, and measure the wall where the projector screen will come. Then we walked through Galata’s light shops to get a sense of what is available – light switches, […]
The chosen tiles
We have chosen our tiles. They are extravagant, but will be very beautiful. The pattern is below, though the central star is more blue and flecked with white, rather dusk-like, and the smaller star is a dark grey. They are handmade to order, so will take a few weeks to arrive.