Those of you who’ve been keeping up on posts here will remember that February ended with some really tough real-life events. After all of that, March could only get better, right? Right! March was full of travel and tasty foods.
But I was also exhausted and spent a chunk of March just remembering how to be a human. Finding my balancing point again. And that’s still an ongoing effort into April, which is why this post is a bit late.
My highlights:
- Started off March with a trip through snowed-in Ullapool and across to Stornoway, with a journey on the shiny new M.V. Loch Seaforth ferry sailing between them. This was all kind of bittersweet because it was for the funeral, but Stornoway and Ullapool are still beautiful places to visit, and it was nice to see them. I just hope when I next see them it’s for happier reasons.
- Mac was adorable when I returned home, as always.
- Achieved another 2018 goal this month, getting to visit Glasgow. I was sick as a dog for the entire trip and lost my voice for half of it, so I wasn’t on peak tourist form. Instead I went full Scottish witch mode to try and fix it. LEMON & GINGER TEA. THROAT TEA. FANCY HONEY. A BILLION SCARVES. SUDAFED. ANY POWDER THING WITH GUAIFENSEN. DISSOLVE SLIPPERY ELM IN BOILING WATER UNDER THE LIGHT OF THE MOON.
- When I wasn’t doing my best impression of a hotel-room-witch-coven, we had fun! Lots of Japanese food was had, bubble tea was enjoyed, and we managed to catch a derby match while we were in town. I visited 5th Blocker, my nearest thing to a local skate shop, and they spent a ton of time and effort fixing up the skates I’d been sent poorly assembled by a London skate shop. Unfortunately as I write this post in mid-April, they’re already playing up again, boo.
- Costa brought back their white hot chocolate, YESSSS. Also I didn’t snap a photo of it but the Glasgow train station does a fantastic chilli hot chocolate, as does ‘Tea and Cakes’ in Dundee. Chilli hot chocolate is a new and wonderful experience for me.
- Joined a beginners Ukelele Club, because I own a ukelele and don’t have a clue what to do with it. I’ve got a better idea now but I still can’t play much of anything.
- Made Pasta E Olio a TON this month. I’d never made it before and I bought a ton of tagliatelle so it ended up a regular March meal. It’s really tasty.
- Finished Stranger Things Season 2! It was real good. REAL good.
- Got my Loish artbooks from her kickstarter! I’m hoping these will help fuel my efforts to make more art this year.
- Wrote 10k.
- Read An Accident of Stars, the novella The Jewel and Her Lapidary, and my favourites of the month: ‘Jackalope Wives’ (5k) and it’s Hugo-award-winning sequel ‘The Tomato Thief’ (14k).
- Listened to the new Panic! At the Disco song “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” A LOT. Like, so much.
- Took part in (MY FIRST EVER) Dungeons and Dragons group, which was a dream come true. Everyone got to meet my weird traumatised teen (who I hastily sketched up an hour before the campaign started so I could picture her design). She’s Taro, a Tiefling teen who’s gonna find out who murdered her dads and burned down her family home. This haunted lil’ emo kid gives out such a ‘sad stray kitten’ vibe that strangers help her out of pity.
That’s it for just now! I’ll see you in three weeks for a recap of my April shenanigans.