sweet twenty-one

2 dec 2012

last night we celebrated amanda's 21st birthday. i was happy to share the joy of the date and the always good food at the cowherds. amanda is now going to college here, in a course she enjoys, found job, and started making local friends. hope she is very happy here in southampton, and anywhere else she decides to go, really. we chatted a lot, and laughed, and ate. and i had shandy. last night it was and it still is very, i mean, very cold.

a misty morning in the common

7 nov 2012

 
this is the common park. it is misty in this very cold morning. 3.5 degrees celsius when i arrived here today, 7.30am. mysterious and beautiful. i felt like going for a walk there just as i was faced with this rather rare [to me] and inviting scenery. i came to the office instead. maybe later on i will venture in the park.

these two photos show one of the ways to access the park, which is quite large and really really beautiful. it is just a 1-minute walk from the avenue campus, where i work on my research.

beauty

6 nov 2012

it was 0.5 degree when we left the house this morning. because it was so early i spent some time at latte's cafe until i could go to the bank to sort things out. on my way back from the bank and walking towards avenue campus i was very pleased to see again so much beauty at highfield campus. the autumn colours are just amazingly beautiful. the days here have been quite winter-like. really chilly. and sometimes the sun smiles through the chill. nature is perfect.

good morning, chilly february day

17 feb 2011

yes, it is getting even colder despite my desire to say good bye to winter. i go through winter only hoping and because i know it will not last forever. some days it does feel like winter lasts forever. oh, no!

the birds by the window

7 june 2010

listen to the birds in the video. i took these photos and made a short video of the car park from my window at st. margaret's house. it was a little chilly and wet because it had rained during the day. there is also music from my itunes adore jazz radio station, playing at low volume, but i opted for the sounds of the birds. i love to listen to the birds.

another chilly day

8 may 2010

 i had plans to go to the library today, to be there and just cross the road for the theatre later on. well, i also needed to try some tidying up in the area here. i started off the day with for a nice one-hour gold run at the common while i was doing laundry; when i put the clothes in the dryer i left it here because to dry the time can be longer: 75 minutes. i love the days here, with new colours and the sounds of the birds, but it was very very cold. at first i thought of trying out to go very lightly dressed up, with one or two covers only. when i got there i was happy i was properly dressed to remain at the park for the time i wanted. chilly chilly common park.

back inside the house i organized the room, a little, i mean. this is always important to me, as it makes me see better the things around here and help me move on on on on, i.e., do the different, new things i have to do. i am happy i changed and washed all my bed sheets and got back a duvet i had already put away, thinking warm spring was on the way. spring yes, but not warm yet. i now sleep on winter pyjamas and have a bed sheet to cover me, plus two duvets. yes, they switched off the heater in the uni halls. i emailed them complaining about it this week. below is my contact with them. there is hope if next week it is still too cold to bear. i'll get ready to go to the theatre now.

-----Original Message-----

From: Lima K.S.D.

Sent: 06 May 2010 13:16

To: Rxxxx; Sxxx

Subject: heater

Hello,

I live in st margaret's. I understand spring is in the air, but still very and constantly cold. Could we please the heater switched back even if only for a few hours per day? It is particularly cold in the morning and in the night.

Thanks a lot,

Kalina

__

Hi,

Many thanks for your query about the heating. I'm afraid that the heating goes off this time of year in our halls every year. It was turned off when the weather was warmer, and I do appreciate that now it has got colder again. However, the weather forecast is set to improve at the start of next week so I'm sorry but the heating will not be turned on again. The heating in other halls is off at the moment or being turned off over the weekend so the situation is the same across other sites. However, if you feel next week that you are still cold, please let us know and we can review the situation.

Many thanks

Txxx Kxxxxx

Assistant Hall Manager

warming up

9 mar 2010 

it seems like things are starting to improve around here. 2 degrees today. there is hope, afterall. i am not going to uni just now. will stay home a bit longer today and read in bed although i feel like listening to music only.

my sister will arrive here in the 18th. when she came last year it was chilly. we visited paris and amsterdam and both places were just chilly. i hope we are luckier this time and meet better winds in prague, vienna, and budapest.

in the meantime i prepared myself a good cup of tea and enjoy some jazz. this is how i start my days, every day. :-) music is inebriating, and healing.

a chilly march indeed?

8 mar 2010

i have realized the cold is far from leaving us. my hopes for the warmth of march is fading away as it feels more like we're having 'waters of march'. the rain, the wind, the need for a warm outfit and for a glass of wine :-) do tell me cold is here to stay. by the way, every year they say it feels colder. the world is upside down. why is it cold like this where i am? cold and damp, that's what is not nice. but it should be fine. i am not that unhappy. i just want to register the cold aspect of life here, but i am ok.

the wintery march?

5 mar 2010

it is even colder now that at the beginning of the month. this cold weather is very limiting of the things i do. even for a walk in the i don't feel highly inclined to go. it is chilly. actually, it is freezing cold and the wind only does make matters worse.

i can't wait to put winter clothes away and feel lighter. i am getting ready to go highfield campus, wherei teach today in about two hours, but i wish sooo bad it were not that cold. yes, the cold is a problem for me.

a chilly month ahead

1 mar 2010

it is already the beginning of march, but the cold is still around. this is second march here. last year it represented the hope for warmer days here in southampton. so, when it was very cold early this year i lived on the hope for the month which would warm my days up. my sister is about to come for a visit and i started to wonder what sort of weather will greet her :-)

chilly, chilly days. -3 now. at least the days are now brighter and longer. this is the first manifestation of spring, the renewal of life.

Chilly morning at the Common

Sunday 18 October 2009

i went this morning for a very nice walk at the Common, this awesome park in the city. you can in a way get to it from so many different areas. I am in the Hants now, and when i walk for some 20 something minutes i get to Shirley. sooo cool.

when i left the flat it was making 3degrees, very cold indeed. but as you walk for a little while the body warms up and the first impression turns into something more relaxing. i went to bed almost 3 o'clock in the morning, as i was reading a nice article by Dick Allwright about one of his many studies in Brazil. i wasn't really very tired bu decided it was time to go to bed anyway because i had this walk for the early morning today and i know if i come to uni it is very likely that when i leave it here it is already too dark for a walk in the park. plus today i am planning to go to church, to our 6.30 mass in highfield campus.

when i was back from the walk i cooked myself some pasta (fusili) and added stir fried mushrooms and pesto sauce to it. i will have it with vegetables. by the way, the most practicl way of eating veggies aroung - ha!! i bought this bag with four individual packs of a mixture of veggies. i keep the bag in the freezer and whenever i want to eat it i just warm it up in the microwave oven. what else can a lazy soul ask for? but it is good, trust me :-)

the walking this morning was a suggestion Kassandra gave to me the other day. she said i should take a nice walk in the park over the weekend, especially because we are happy for 'things' that are going so right for me these days. YEY!!! therefore, i devote this happy walk to my sister, my lovely sister.

sooo much love, but now i'd better go back to work because i go by deadlines all the time - hellooo!!!