Scattered Strawberry Summer

I'm in London again. I'm here for two day leadership training. I'm staying at a hotel, though I wish I just went home, even though it would mean I'd be home late and I'd need to get up very early to go back to London.

I went to Oxford Street but I have now decided I don't actually like shopping, I just like getting new things. Shopping is tiring, time consuming and seriously couldn't find anything I'd really like. If somebody could presort everything for me with things I might like, that would be great. I guess that's one of the reasons I tend to buy a lot of things online, so much easier to find anything.

I bought a tool set, I can't believe how empowered I felt holding a hammer. Now  I wish there was more DIY stuff to do around the house so I could use my new toys, I mean tools.

I can sense the new academic year has started without even looking at the calendar,my town is unusually full with young, seemingly lost people and also all the shouting & singing that wakes me up in the middle of night: it can only mean one thing- freshers week... It's been a a year since I graduated, I could have completed masters degree by now, but it's very expensive way to make oneself over qualified for most jobs in the current job market. The other thing, I am not sure  what subject I would like to study, I'll wait till I establish some sort of direction in my career, now I am focused on getting more work experience and spending money I wouldn't have if I studied.


I brought a few old CDs with photos. here is one of the many:
     taken 5 years ago. probably the last time it was sunny in England  Ba dum tss...

 ok ok it ain't that bad, I just love to complain

I know I said it million of times but I need to say it again: I hate autumn/winter (autumn and winter do not differ much here in UK). I despise it. with all my heart. I woke this morning to the sound of rain, it's dark even though it's late morning, it's gloomy and depressing. It seems I missed Indian summer when I was out of the country. 

Last October I was sunbathing and swimming in the sea, this seems to me like a memory I invented.  Luckily, I'm going to Barcelona in a few weeks.


I've started my "research" on Barcelona. 
      ( I should really try harder with my pics, aren't I?)

I rewatched The Spanish Apartment and flicking through guides  searching for things to put on my  to see& do in Barcelona list.





went out for a dinner last night to an Italian restaurant, was hugely disappointed when  most of their supposedly  vegetarian options were actually not vegetarian ( mainly because they use cheese with animal rennet). oh the sad life of vegetarian. That reminds me another thing, when I went home, I was thinking of getting a new wallet for my SO, you should have seen the faces of shop assistants when I asked if they have any valets made of faux leather. Back in my home country they don't understand vegetarianism  as a diet alone, so somebody choosing faux leather not because they can't afford the real thing but because of their ethical principles, is even more alien idea. 


This reminded me a scene from Everything is Illuminated

Although I'm definitely glad to be home there are things I'll really miss:

• the sheer variety of freshly made cakes and pies, biscuits and sweets 

•  kastinis (although some people insist on spelling kastinys, I say fuck them, I spell it how  I pronounce it), it's not available in my local Lithuanian food shop

•  the seaside 

We cycled from Klaipeda to Juodkrante, that's is quite a distance. It's in the Curonian Spit, which is World Heritage Site, I wrote my dissertation on it.
 It's September and the beach is deserted, also you can only reach it by bike or on foot.   We  saw a few left-over tourists from Germany and France, even in Juodkrante it was absolutely peace and calm  with practically no one around.


I love its wilderness and sand.  We had a dip in the not so calm sea, it was very chilly but very refreshing after cycling for quite a while.



In Juodkrante we had lunch, I had traditional cold beetroot soup with warm potatoes, well potato cut into 2 pieces  (yes absolutely ridiculous, potatoes are not even expensive), it was quite lovely but the portion was small and I had traditional potato pancakes as well.



I visited my home town which hasn't change much but there is hardly any people I know as most people of my age leave for studies or work. I visited my old school and met some of the teachers, some of them still remember them, well  why wouldn't they, I was a very good student.

I met a few old friends but not all that I wanted, some just live in different part of the country and didn't have time to go there as well.


Back to work tomorrow, it's going to be a difficult day, I'll be working on my own, but at least tomorrow's the pay day and also I have Friday off. It's time to start planning my trip to Barcelona in 3 weeks!

 I went to the vintage furniture and other stuff shop that my parents manage. It's like a treasure hunt there. loads of nice old stuff. I, I could get some really amazing  furniture for my flat if i lived locally.





 They have quite a few film cameras, including SLR, too bad I couldn't be bothered with film.




I will soon update with more pictures from my visit to Lithuania.

A small  victory against procrastination:

It's been a bit stressful during the past few weeks at work: I've been trained to cover someone else while they are off and now I have actually started covering. It's exciting as well as scary and stresfull, mostly pain-in-the -ass stressful. Yes, I will gain more work experience, improve my skills but also it's quite stressful because of bigger responsibilities. Although, I'm mostly stressed because of a bit patchy training and now I realise the person who trained me is not always following company's policy and procedures, which just confuses me.  I am  now looking forward to going back to my usual duties, but that's not going to be until the beginning of September. Another reason to look forward to September is that I will be going to my home country. But I'm looking forward to October even more as me and my SO will go to Barcelona, oh baby! I need to start planning our trip, how exciting!...

insert totally unrelated picture:

I need to learn how to draw...

 

The other day  at work I got excited  when I took a call from Michael McIntosh because for a millisecond I thought he's going to say Michael McIntyre. 

I have also had calls from Mr Moriarty, John Watson and I could hardly resist making Sherlock related joke. 


In other news,I bought a new laptop (Lenovo g570; Intel Core i5 2450M 2.5GHz, 6GB RAM, 750GB HDD). I signed for Amazon Prime trial, so I got free next day delivery- amazing as I bought computer 7pm and got it next day around 11am. Thanks Amazon. I will do review for amazon later after I've used it for a considerable amount of time, so far very happy.

Now what do I put as my wallpaper? Among those sample pictures I found  a picture of Seven Sisters, so it's going be my wallpaper for now.


and here's a random gif of the day:

only one day till weekend, which I'm looking forward very much, not only because it'd time off but also ,weather permitting, I'll take some pictures and I'm going to see Frankenstein (finally!!!)

quality of my life could be improved instantly if:

• summer would finally come to England.
• I would fine a nice flat to rent
• panasonic would reduce the price of lumix lenses
• I would see  Cumberbatch in a play. live. yes. 

 Comments on Clair de Lune led me to this  website.  Actually Clair de Lune + rain is perfect together