Life // A peaceful Sunday

Today was a lovely day, and I actually did very little which was very enjoyable. I think it's very important to occasionally take a day to do close to nothing, and to simply rummage around the home a little bit to wind down. Which is exactly what I ended up doing.

Earlier in the week I had used my free day to visit the city zoo with a close friend, both of us had wanted to view the newly renovated aquarium. It turned out rather lovely, although most of the renovations were more to update the water systems and the tanks themselves. I was happy to see that the building itself was still the same as I remember it from my childhood. Although it seems that they did take out an exhibition with some lovely and interesting skeletons. Now that I am typing this I wonder if they may have moved it elsewhere in the zoo?

We also visited the giftshop, which we have to do every time we go. My friend will always get a keychain, she has so many that her set of keys looks almost comical. I usually get a small stuffed animal and this time I went for an adorable red panda. We also both bought a pinguin pin, the proceeds of that will go towards renovating the pinguin enclosure! Quite excited about that as well, hopefully they will get more room to really be able to swim very freely.

Afterwards we also made our trip to the large grocer in the area, and also a small trip to Chinatown for some well needed treats. Bought some lovely sweet potato noodles, which I'll gladly have more often.

However today was much calmer. Finally I managed to finish Letters from Egypt, and to be honest I am almost missing it now. I was eager to move onto the next book but this book was really such a lovely collection of letters that it almost felt like conversing with a friend. So it's almost like I miss her a little bit, even if she passed away in 1869.

I started on The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman today, and I am already on page 121! I did know that this was going to happen, these books are such a wonderfully quick read. My mother has already read this one last year, so I am quite looking forward to discussing it with her. Afterwards I think I may start in one of Kerry Greenwoods Phryne Fisher books. I loved the show so much, and I think the books will also be a wonderfully snappy read.

Last year I picked up a few of them in my favorite second hand book store but I haven't gotten around to them yet at all. They're not in the right order though, and I'm a bit unsure if I should be reading them in the order of release? I'll figure that out when I get there.

Another good contender for next book to read would be the Gerald Durrell letters. Although I'd prefer to read the books he wrote about his childhood first. I had managed to snap up a copy on Vinted but the order was cancelled later, what a bummer. I'll find it soon though.

In any case, I'll settle down in bed now and will perhaps go for one or two more chapters in The Impossible Fortune. I do have to work tomorrow but it is a late shift so I don't have to worry too much about an early night.

-Lily

Life // A respite from the heat

What did I say in my last entry? That we had a break from the relentless heat? Maybe I should have not said anything, or maybe I should stop writing about the weather. The last week has been overwhelmingly hot and today has been the first day of a small amount of relief. Temperatures went up to 37 degrees on Friday, and I can share that I have never been more thrilled to have been at the office! The air-conditioning very diligently provided us with a comfortable working environment.

Of course, I love being hard on myself so during my breaks I did go out for a little stroll around the grounds which normally I do like doing. Maybe I shouldn't have done it on Friday? The first break was alright but the one during my lunch break might have been a little too much. Walking outside felt like opening the door of a well heated oven, it was really bizarre. I tried to pretend I was in some glamorous Mediterranean country to feel better but it did not work out so well.

However today it's a breezy 26 degrees and I think we all feel better for it! It is so much more comfortable, although the morning trip to the grocer was still a little much. The rest of the day I've been enjoying trying to finish Letters From Egypt, it's amusing reading about how she was suffering during the heat and realizing the temperatures she mentioned were the same here now. I hope to finish it today so I can get onto the next book, although I'm still not entirely sure what it will be. 

Now that I can actually somewhat enjoy the weather I've been eager to rewatch the 1982 rendition of Evil Under The Sun with Peter Ustinov. It's fantastically campy and so over the top, I really love the filming locations that they choose. I'd love to take a little holiday in this movie, but only if I can avoid being the victim of course.

For now I'll enjoy reading a bit more, and later on I will try to buy some new dresses from one of my favorite sustainable brands.

-Lily

Life // A Good Rain in June

In my last entry I was complaining about the relentless heat but now that June has come along it seems there isn't any sun anymore! The sky has been grey, many clouds have passed us by and there are frequent rain showers as well. It's really lovely for the lavender that I recently planted on the balcony but I will admit that visually it is a bit off for this season. However, I am trying to enjoy it whilst I can because the heat is apparently coming back soon.

Currently I am enjoying listening to a playlist filled with mostly instrumental jazz from the 1920s and so on, it's incredibly charming. I've put together the selection myself, with music that I believe could be perfectly applicable for an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot. As background music it is perfect when writing because I am not really distracted by any lyrics.

This morning I brought my lovely cat Sunny to the veterinarian for her spay appointment. She should be done by now and recovering in a warm section in the clinic. Apparently they will call on me during lunch time which would be nice, I can pick her up and bring her back home. Of course cats are very intelligent but I think she must be confused and unhappy to be away from us.

In the mean time, I have picked up a nice mouse to use at work so that I don't have to constantly take the mouse that I use at home. It's going to be so much easier! I also popped into a larger grocery store to buy some canned salmon for a salad later, I think I'll have it with a bagel.

I'm also still reading Lucie's book, it's so lovely but the last few days I haven't managed to get through so many pages, maybe a little reading slump. I do think her description of life at the time is so interesting. It is also quite wild to see how she is so welcoming of Muslims and being so supportive of their way of life both for richer and poorer ones. But in the same paragraph she can still say some offensive (By todays standards at least) things about people from different types of heritages, mostly their appearance. 

I do also like the appearance of the book. People say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and while I do agree in essence I have to admit I do look for a beautiful cover when I am looking for something new to add to my collection. I can't say that it would ultimately be the deciding factor if I really want to read something, but if it can be beautiful too why not?

A new coworker of mine, who is really rather lovely, picked up the book at the office and smelled it. She thought it must look weird but I do understand, second hand books can have such a wonderful smell to them. I also really enjoy that! Once I receive a second hand book from a friend but since he smoked so much it smelled awful, it took a fortnight for the smell to go away. 

I've also been so pleased with the cabinet that I mentioned in my last entry. It just fits so beautifully where it's been placed and I think it really adds something to that section of the room. I think it just looks more intentional, and due to that it has more beauty than the rather random objects that I had there before.

It's simply divine, I am so happy with it! I do want to look for a short lace curtain to hang on the rod to give it a little more allure but it has proven to be rather difficult to find one of that length. I'd love to get a vintage one, but most of them are meant for window sills and are a little longer due to that. However I've decided to practice patience and I will see when something perfect will fling itself before my feet instead of trying too hard to find something.

For now, I will pick up another package at a nearby store and afterwards I suppose I will have a cup of tea whilst reading more from Lucie. I do look forward to finishing it, simply because I would like to read a wonderful mystery after this. I'm not even sure what I have on my planning for the next read but I know it'll be great.

-Lily

Life // The sun in May

Today was a scorching day, and I was happy to spent it at the office. Leaving my comfortable home, getting up early and heading out isn't my idea of an ideal day but when it's so incredibly hot it is nice to be in the comforting embrace of an aircon. Hardly very environmentally friendly but it was already rather hot on the way to work. I did feel a smile come over my face when I entered our office and felt the cold air waving away. Really wonderful.

Overall it was also just a lovely day with a small group of colleagues. We did have a bit of trouble with a pigeon who launched itself into one of our windows, made an awful loud smack but we do think he survived it since we couldn't see a little corpse on the ground floor. 

A few weeks ago I also made a recommendation for a job opening that we had, and the person was hired which means I will receive a nice bonus and I was able to spin the wheel! The wheel is a fun little contraption, rather like Wheel of Fortune? You spin it and you win whatever it lands on. There were some fairly expensive options on there such as wireless earbuds and some type of speaker. In the end my pointer landed on a beer package though.

I was asked if I liked beer, and to be honest I do not really enjoy it. It is always a bit awkward to win something that other people deem as a 'lesser' gift but I was still pleased with it. I don't care for beer myself at all but my father does so it will make for a lovely gift for him! I think perhaps they were trying to subtly offer me to spin again but that wouldn't be fair. 

It's also nice because my father did go out of his way to check out a lovely wall cabinet that I had seen at one of my favorite second hand stores. I don't have free days until Saturday so I was a bit afraid it would be sold by then. It was still available, and only thirty five euros! A great deal, so they brought it to their home and I will pick it up later. I will post some photos of it at a later point in time as well.

Not sure where I will hang it, I am running out of space little by little. But it's so beautiful so I am sure I can find a spot for it. It has all the hallmarks of a cabinet I would find beautiful, a little shelf with a railing for some lace curtains, a glass cabinet door and the most wonderful details. Can't wait to decorate it with my trinkets.

-Lily

Life // Floating along

I feel like I just had the most marvelous summer day, and I am quite happy with the purchases that I've made today as well. Overall the heat isn't really my friend but I do really like the concept of summer and I feel a bit sad if I don't at least try to enjoy the good weather. Therefore we just headed into the city for a bit of light shopping, it was quite busy though and the overflow of tourists is always a bit bothersome. It seems like people just forget how to behave the second they leave their own country, so strange? 

The first course of action was to head to the health and beauty store. They had a great deal on various products so I purchased a honey day/night cream, a soothing aloe vera gel and two types of face masks. I bought a charcoal clay mask, and a green clay mask. My skin is fairly sensitive so I hope they'll wash off nice and gently. But the tubes are so nice since you can choose to go light on the application so that'll be very good for me.

I did also quickly pop into the fancy storefront of the company where I work. Finally the product that I had wanted for a while was back in stock! It's a lovely roll on serum which smells of lavender. Not quite my favorite scent in the world but it's relaxing and it's so cooling when you use it on your temple or maybe the wrists. I may place it in the fridge too, it'll be lovely when it gets hotter. 

And finally, I managed to get the latest Richard Osman! I can now see that I've spoken about it in the two previous entries as well. I hadn't been very lucky, when the paperback first came out it was a much larger version that the ones I already had. Beautiful but I can't manage to get one that doesn't go with the other books in the series. So finally today I've managed to get my copy. Can't wait to read it but of course I'll have to get on with Lucie first.

I think for now I'll make a cup of tea, and get comfortable in my window nook or maybe on the balcony. The view into the courtyard is lovely but there are a fair few neighbors about and I may unconsciously listen to their chatter instead of focusing on my book.

And tomorrow after a lovely three day weekend it's back to the office. Not so bad either, my coworkers are really lovely and the air-conditioning at the office is just stunning. It also means tonight I can take a nice shower, probably a cold one! Would be lovely right before going to bed.

-Lily