Update

How was it possible I didn't post anything throughout the entire months of May and June? Let me catch up on a few things. My last post in April finished with a dramatic cliffhanger. It was about Old Anna, our neighbour. She had been away for so long that we almost forgot about her. And then came the message about her departure from this world. We visited her grave some time later, a very picturesque graveyard with a view. 

On 14/04 died Frania, another of my parents' cats. Young, black, lovely. Fuck you, feline leukemia! And one more death in the middle of June -- stinky Max is no more :(

Both our girls were spayed at the end of April. It was a stressful time, but we got through it. By now the bald patches on their sides have almost disappeared.

One weekend in May we headed up to Dublin for Melissa Hamilton’s Ballet Star Gala at the Bord Gáis Theatre. It was a very nice experience, we also made good use of our time before the concert -- we stopped in at Flower & Bean on Cork St.

In the meantime we bought tickets to spend some time in July at my family home. We also bought a new fridge -- tiny in comparison with the trendy ones, a little black midget. We'd love to have a fridge without a freezer but it's not so easy to find a suitable one. It was necessary to buy it now, as during our holidays we'll have a pet sitter looking after the house.

Since the last post, I've finished reading ca. fifteen books, one of the best of them was Zyta Rudzka's Krótka wymiana ognia. So far only one book by Rudzka has been translated into English, Dr Josef's Little Beauty (I have it as an audiobook and plan to listen to it after our holidays).

June was taken over by builders. Several contractors are working on our little house. The heating system was modernized (we use a heat pump now), the windows and front door were replaced and they are still working on the insulation. Most of the time it's been a nightmare, they have already destroyed parts of our garden, and some eejits cut down the lavender that was growing close to the walls (I complained officially).

Anything else? ... Stay tuned ...

In the starting blocks

The money was allocated to renovate our small house, that’s the news of the weekend -- I found out yesterday while I was walking towards the beach. Hope it happens soon, as I’ve been battling with the front lock for the past several months.

Friday was my final day at the place where I started working four years ago, just after the lockdown year of 2020. The farewell "party" was short -- grand, I'm not really one for those sorts of things. I don't think they've had anyone before who was so organized without being full-on OCD. Technology worked in my favour, with one click I shared via Microsoft OneDrive everything I’d been working on over the last few months, and that was that. No regrets about this job; I've learned a lot, it gave me some time to ponder what I'd like to do next, and now I'm happy to begin a new adventure.

As of late, I finished reading Norwegian Wood by Murakami; I found it to be quite pretentious, and moved with relief on to Jon Fosse's I is Another: Septology III-V. I read both books in Polish translation, but, as always, I think it would be interesting to compare them with the English versions, as both Japanese and Norwegian are all Greek to me ;) And yesterday my husband and I watched There Will Be Blood with Daniel Day-Lewis, a fantastic actor. I loved the slow-paced script.

Sunday has been rather laid-back so far. Fred cooked beef stew, and I haven't done anything practical, just blogging and thinking, letting my thoughts settle a bit before tomorrow. In the evening we plan to go to our friends' for a chat and maybe watch a film on Netflix.

Below, Friday's farewell Victoria sponge.