Bloody nice Sunday to you too!

Just got an e-mail from my landlord back in Finland saying that he needs the apartment (where my brother is currently living in whilst I'm here) for himself and that we got six months to move out. Oh, it's enough time, until the end of August, and I'm sure I can find another place (maybe even a nicer one!) but I'm still pissed off about it.

Bah.

Math is confusing.

Today I have been here in England for exactly eight weeks. That's two months, innit? So I counted that 8 down, 16 to go. One third down!

Except that, half of 52 is 26. 26-8=18. So, 18 weeks to go. Ok, that's due to the fact that a month is not exactly 28 days long. Not even February this year, the bastard!

So did I mention last time that a new worker was coming here? She arrived last Wednesday. Seemed all right, smart and calm, got along with the dogs and everyone. She also left back home yesterday morning. Lasted less than a week. Bah. Said that she had this feeling in her stomach that this wasn't the place for her.

Anyway, while she was here, the bosses took me along to shopping and driving a couple of times. They have pretty much the nicest and coolest cars I've ever been in. And driving through small English countryside villages in a Daimler while the sun is setting in the horizon and classical music is playing in the stereos... sweet.

That's all for now I guess. The weather is trying to get colder no matter how much I tell it not to. During the days it's been +15 Celcius or so, but it drops down to freezing as soon as the sun goes down. It should be warm!

Daffodils!

The first daffodil of the spring spotted yesterday evening. A yellow one. ^^

Today I've learned that when it comes to chopping wood, I am like ze lightning. Not as fast, mind you, but I never hit the same spot twice. When trying to chop wood, that isn't such a good thing.
But I am gosh darn good at making piles and piles of splinters!

Spread your wings and fly away

My third month here has just started. Well, considering that I came here in December. But in weeks, it will be seven next Tuesday. Heh. Sometimes the individual days go on forever, but the weeks seem to fly by. Seven down, 19 to go, if I stay the full half a year. We'll see!

The new girl left a week ago, didn't settle in all that well. More work for me again, but the peace and quiet is worth it. Heh again. She was humming or talking or singing all of the time. People have been applying here all the time, and the next candidate is supposed to come next week. Hopefully she'll settle in better. And doesn't put on such a show all of the time...

What else... the weather has been chilly for a few days, despite it being sunny. But at least there isn't snow! In Finland I think I would miss snow, but here it's so springy that if it were to snow now I'd hate it. It's enough that the ground is white with snowdrops (see above picture). And it looks like daffodils will open any day now!

Oh! I'll get to go to London soon! Looking forward to that! The bosses need something from Harrods. Which is on the same street where a group of us stayed on a school trip back in 2003, and the same street where one very famous singer lived and died, and where I shall go on a pilgrimage again. Hee he hee! Hyde Park is also nearby, and many museums on the same street, but I don't know yet how much time I'll have to wander about.

It was March when we visited London back in 2003, and I remember that it was very warm and springy then as well. I guess autumn and spring kind of just slide from one to the other without much of a winter in between. A winter like it is in Finland, at least. It gets dark around five in the afternoon here, despite all the warmth and sunshine. Can't say what time it gets light in the morning since I don't usually get up before ten or so. Hee. That's because we're usually up until the wee hours of the morning watching TV and movies. Last night we were watching one where the latest James Bond was kissing a man who reminded me of Bilbo Baggins. Made me giggle, but I must admit I was very tired by then.

Had a spell of homesickness this morning after calling home and talking to my dad. Also, I dreamed of home last night. Otherwise homesickness doesn't bother me all that much; there's no time for it! ;) The first few weeks were the hardest, but once I got used to being here it's been ok. That's not to say I don't miss everyone. I do, and feel lonely a lot, not having the irc in front of me all the time, or anyone my age to talk to. But for now, my belly is full of pizza, it's warm here in the computer room, and all work is done for tonight. I'm babbling, aren't I? Tired. ;)

See you later alligators!

It's STILL raining.

Or well, again.

Whoohee! Just last time I was whining that I haven't gotten any time off or anything, and the very next day I did! I got to go to town first thing in the morning to run some errands, and to do some of my own shopping (Maltesers! I could move here permanently just because there are Maltesers in every shop! <3 ). When I got back and finished my chores I was told that I could go to Reading, which is the closest cit (10 minutes by train) if I want to.

Of course I did! So back to town I walked, and then caught the train. Only 3 pounds for a return ticket, not bad I think.

In Reading I just sought out this huge shopping center, at the end of a street full of shops. It was Saturday, and the streets and shops were packed! I was zipping from one side of the street to the other: Book shop, chocolate shop, book shop, chocolate shop, book shop... you get the idea. Bought two books, some postcards, one CD (Rufus Wainwright's latest) and some sweets. Darkness fell at around five in the afternoon, but since the shops were open until six or so, the streets were still packed when I started to walk back to the station. Had my first Subway sandwich there, and some hot chocolate (with which I completely burned my mouth, ouch) while waiting for the train (which was late, heh).

One I got back to town it was pitch black and raining. And of course there are no streetlights anywhere near the road I have to walk to get back here, so it was an interesting walk. But I made it back safe and sound. My feet were killing me, though, from all that walking.

What else... a new girl from Finland came here yesterday, so I'm not the only worker here anymore! She's still adjusting to everything (hell, it took me a few weeks to adjust and I'm pretty adaptable), and I hope she'll stay a while.

More supergluing myself into the ceiling has occurred... the thing about that is that to glue the decorations back up, I have to first warm them with a hairdryer, until they're so hot I can barely touch them, to make them more flexible. The glue of course gets hot as well immediately, so it gets more than a few swearwords out of me whenever I manage to get stuck with piping hot glue to the ceiling. It's so strong that it tears off the skin when you pull yourself away! But, I have discovered that the best way to get it off my hands later on is by sandpaper. I used to take such good care of my hands, and now I'm tending to them with sandpaper. XD

I think I owe a lot of people an email, sorry! Even though I don't get back to you immediately doesn't mean that I'm not thinking of you. ^^

That's it for today, see you later!

It's raining, it's pouring...

No wait, the sun is shining already. But it was pouring really hard two minutes ago. That's what the weather is like here these days, changes in the blink of an eye.

This week I have been mostly gluing my fingers to a ceiling, and to some nice ceiling decorations I was supposed to be gluing into the ceiling. The days are long and I feel like I could sleep for a few of them and still feel tired. Ooh, whiny! It's one of those days when I miss home and family and friends and cats and just want to go back to Finland. But then again, I haven't had a proper da off since I started, so I am kind of tired now.

Other than that, I think I've adapted quite well to life in here. I tend to adapt to new situations fast, and it has been almost four weeks already (!!!). Time does fly when you have a lot to do. Geez. First month of six almost over!

What does surprise me is that I'm not spooked at all by the house (really old one, could be full of ghosts and stuff (full of spiders at least!)), but I'm not. I'm ok with going into the basements and attics and walking in dark corridors and taking the dogs out in the middle of the night when it's so pitch black everywhere that you can see the stars so brightly. It's actually very beautiful, and peaceful, not having noisy neighbours everywhere. The days are getting gradually longer, and hopefully warmer as well. We had a few very stormy days and nights here.

Still, I do miss home. One day at a time! ;)

Oh yeah, the picture is from the drive to the house, a road I walk at least four times a day when taking the dogs out.

Happy new year!

2008 has started chill in the UK, with cold, hard winds and a little tiny bit of rain.

It has rained far, far less here than I had expected, considering it is the UK. And it's also colder than I had expected, but it's warm in here with all these computers.

Christmas pudding. Man! You know, I HATE raisins, I really do. But for some reason I love christmas pudding, which is made out of a ton of different raisins, a lot of rum and brandy, some eggs, nuts and whatnot. It is so good. Mmm.

Have to take the dog out now, so this is just a small update. Take care!