packing

I'm part way through packing. All the easy stuff is packed and I'm slowly working my way through the annoying things which don't really fit in any box. I have to pack a bag to take to the wedding in Ireland, and a bag to live out of in London for 10 days. Everything else needs to be put in boxes and transported to one of three houses in London. Some boxes will go to my friend Louise's house, others will go to Emily's house and the rest will hopefully go around the corner to the house I am housesitting until the 10th. It is too much organisation for me to get my head around at the moment...but it should all work itself out in the end.

I'm also trying to get through all the food that I have in the house so I won't have to take any of it with me to the next place. Well, at least not the things in the fridge or the freezer at least. I supposed that Jams and sauces and such will have to come with me, but the rest of it I should be able to eat.

I had a fantastic time in Edinburgh this week. I was there from Sunday to Wednesday morning at the Fringe Festival and it was wonderful. I managed to see 7 shows in two days. I would have seen more, but tonsilitis took over and I was too tired to do much more than that. It was such a great atmosphere and the backed potato place in Cockburn St were delicious! Great toppings and very cheap. Edinburgh is such a nice city. Really easy to walk around and I was staying in a beautiful place which desperately needs to be renovated. Gorgeous house from 1818 which has fantastic original features and fixtures. But at the moment it is in disrepair...so sad. But I was thrilled to have a free place to stay and it is so close the centre of town.

Tomorrow is one of my house mates birthdays, so I will get up in the morning and make muffins and wrap his present. We are all going to a pub in the afternoon where his other friends will gather as well. Then one of my friends from Canada is coming to stay with me for 5 days. So I will pick her up from the station and then keep packing. Sunday night should be lovely as we are going to the Proms which is a huge festival in London for which her great aunt has bought us two tickets. It will be lovely. Although it is supposed to rain.

I'll be glad to get back to writting my thesis again next week. But in the meantime it is time to get some sleep so I can keep packing!

Chapter Draft submitted!

Good news from London, the city of 5 hour line ups to check-in for a flight due to insane security screenings. The good news is I will not be obsessing about my chapter for at least a week. The draft was emailed on Saturday night and now I am worrying about the accompanying 10 pages of explanation instead. At least this bit is not as much about my own theories as it is about my reasons. I have to talk about why this project is relevant to anyone! What academic 'hole' am I filling by writing about this topic and why is it interesting...sounds easy, but it is proving to be a whole new kind of frustrating! I have been here for three hours, and so far I would rather find things to 'research' online than actually write anything. But after this little interlude on my much neglected blog I will once again try to concentrate for more than 15 minutes at a time.

The beginning of July was spent on a trip to Canada/NY State. It was nice to see everyone, but hard, once again to be in different beds every few nights. I would love to have a holiday where I sleep in the same place every night and don't have to arrange travel plans for myself or anyone else! Someday...

I arrived back in this country three weeks ago and that is how long it took me to finish writing up a draft chapter which is now about 19,000 words...longer than my Master's thesis and yet it is just one chapter. The good part is that I only have to do that 4 more times! And of course edit everything including all my ideas, over and over and over and over (you get the idea) again!

Since returning I've managed to see The Comedy of Errors and Coriolanus at the Globe Theatre, as well as Henry VI parts I and II in Stratford-upon-Avon (for free no less!). This weekend I am off to Eastbourne for the church weekend away, where I will still have to do some reading...and then on Sunday to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh as a friend has offered me a place to sleep for free! So more theatre on the horizon.

The main thing I have been missing is cooking, as I have been out of the house 6 of 7 days for the last three weeks. Cooking now involves cutting up celery and putting some oil and vinegar over it, and throwing together sandwiches of cheese and lettuce. And I've discovered that porridge is quite good cold and very easy to transport in tupperware. Not quite my normal culinary standards, I know!

Hopefully I will be able to be a little more adventurous once this 10 pages is in, although I have to empty the freezer of all my food so that I can move at the end of August or beginning of September. Always something to organise and plan instead of my chapter!