Sources of Joy - Days 60 – 61 Yesterday I met the woman whose cottage I had been looking for the day before. I viewed the small house today. It has advantages, but all rooms are quite small. I shall be viewing the house on top of the hill tomorrow or the next day. Yesterday my... Continue Reading →
Incongruities
Sources of Joy - Days 57 – 59 Visiting João in the care facility on Wednesday afternoon was a mixture of oddities and the perfectly natural. The odd thing was that a friend gave me a lift to the next town; the perfectly natural thing was that she should accompany me. In fact, I had asked... Continue Reading →
Change and the mustard seed
Sources of Joy - Days 54 – 56 A eulogy of sorts During this, my officially designated "respite", I have made honest attempts to achieve more regular days, manage my time with greater precision, and render plans and strategies conceived thus far more concrete. All this, yet still, days flow one into the other as the... Continue Reading →
Keeping it simple
Sources of Joy - Days 52 and 53 Day 52, a Friday, brought with it the joy of clearing a debt just in time, and of giving a few smiles to the woman at Social Security (a published poet) while I described looking at the sea as an opportunity to "look at all possible dreams... Continue Reading →
La plume de ma tante
Sources of Joy - Day 51 At some point - I forget when - during my teenage years, my favourite aunt gave me her Parker 51 fountain pen. I see from the Wikipedia reference that it was the "vacumatic" model. It was exactly like the top one pictured there. For many left-handers, fountain pens present... Continue Reading →
Showered with blessings
Sources of Joy - Fabulous Day 50 Today was a day of very pleasant surprises. Those who know me forgive me for a number of things automatically. These characteristics include a reluctance to accept compliments graciously and an independent spirit which makes it difficult for me to ask for help, or accept offers of help. I... Continue Reading →
Saving grace and saving face
Sources of Joy - scattered over days 44-49 These six days have been interspersed with the varied joys of public transport, public bureaucracy of the efficient kind, no transport except my two feet on several occasions, unexpected giving up the ghost of my own vehicular transport after its recent visit to the mechanic's, and the... Continue Reading →
No problem – new radiator required
Sources of Joy - Day 43 The first source of joy came from the utter calm of composing a quotation to a potential new client this morning. Integrating newly absorbed ideas from the recent conference into daily practice made me feel as if a plan were coming together. I was also happy that I gave this... Continue Reading →
Exquisite chuckle
Sources of Joy - Day 43 Outside of conference business, I arranged last week to meet up for (good quality) coffee this morning with a Porto-based translator who edited the English version of a big project I did in 2011. The flimsy excuse was to discuss timetabling for a large translation of hers which I... Continue Reading →
Confessions of a conference lover
Sources of Joy - Days 40, 41 and 42 Do not jump to any conclusions. All dealings at the Evento regional da ProZ em Porto, Portugal and the Freelance Box event held this weekend in Porto were strictly professional, she said prudishly. The confessions part of the title owes its existence to a fleeting thought... Continue Reading →
That elusive pair of jeans 