Happy as a clam

I am sitting in a 70’s style swivel chair. I begin to write.  I have a cranberry candle burning, filling the room with a scent so sweet and warm.  The radio sings in the corner from my newly acquired white technika television.  Glancing upward for inspiration, i catch the eye of my young flare wearing parents watching from the wall. They approve, I can tell. Their approval reminds me of a revelation that my sister, whilst intoxicated, announced to the room – ‘she’s really very good at writing, have you read her blog? It really makes you think. She really is very good, Sally you should read some of her work’. Choking back tears, never having once heard such praise from my siblings, I felt a wave of warmth and a tear lolloped down my cheek.  I feel warm and happy as I sit here and I begin to write.

My new studio apt is warmer now than when I first got here. Ice cold noses and cold hands, I wore gloves and had a lot of hot baths in those first few days. I wonder how much gas I am using as I pop the heat on constant at a low temperature and shuffle around the space. I have made compromises as my ex-landlord is being obstinate about releasing my deposit. So instead of the sofa bed and bookcase I was going to buy, I have settled for my old bed and a smaller bookcase. It looks lovely, and definitely is a room I can live with.  But I cannot wait for the day to come when I can upgrade to have furniture that makes it look like a real home.  *although by the time that comes, my lease will be up and I will have to decide whether to stay or move again. Lol*

I decided to put up my pictures yesterday, and this was a massive “should I or shouldn’t I?” kind of a moment.  Nails in walls are possibly not the best idea for a rental property – so I did have several nervous thoughts about being evicted for banging holes in the wall... and then.... I found No More Nails! They are little strips that can hold 2kg but also be removed without damaging the walls after use. Bonus! So I now have little pictures in a scattering and a flock of tiny origami cranes hovering above them.  Happy as a clam.

I wonder what kind of a picture I am painting of my little studio apartment. I am reminded every time I come in the door of the episode of An Idiot Abroad where Karl is sitting in a mud hut looking across at ‘The Wonder’. He exclaims that he’d much rather live in a mud hut and have a view of the wonder, than live in the wonder and have a view of the mud hut. My house looks, well, like a shared house. With a badly kept front garden area and a sign on the door asking the postman something, it really doesn’t look awesome. However, from my window, I can see the house opposite, which has a very lovely turret and weather vane. As I notice this view, despite the rain and the fact that it definitely isn’t a wonder (as such), it’s prettier than my house so I feel smug.