old books and mabel

i think i'd like to work in a secondhand bookshop again. maybe not actually own one, though. the lovely loopy old bookshop lady - or mabel, to state her given name - often tells me never to get lulled into thinking it's a good idea to buy one. she's been running it for eight years now she says (often with a very long sigh), and i've started to believe that the place going under is her idea of salvation.

we found a very early edition of huckleberry finn in one of the boxes today. much excitement ensued. mabel hooted, she really did. "look at it!" she cackled, waving it at me. "just some bits of old paper and a smelly old cover and it'll buy me a ticket to the theatre!!"

i do love her.

drumroll

lordy.

a fair bit has happened and i've always been awful at filling in backstory. let's do one of those tv show-type recaps instead, and pretend you've been watching the previous episodes and just need to refresh your memory.

new flat: studio, tiny, book-filled, wallpapered with artwork/posters/post-its.

part-time job: secondhand bookshop, slightly batty (but very lovely) old lady who runs the place, she's selling out in a week and i'm helping catalog, carry, organize and pile books for her while she gives me the occasional toffee and asks me how school was. the pay's pretty rubbish but i LOVE the job.

job-hunting: i'm waiting to hear back from a couple of places, had an editorial test last week and they said they'd let me know about an interview this week. waiting, i've learned, is a noble art. i have also learned that i'm not very noble.

living alone: it's the most fabulous thing EVER.

new buys: a blue and white ceramic teapot with stars on it (i don't drink tea), a potted african violet named fred (who i'm rather besotted with at the moment), a canvas and oil paints, faaar too many books.

volunteering: at the oxfam bookshop on saturday mornings. i love it.

internet/laptop issues: no internet connection in the new flat, sky's being a pain. i have taken to stealing internet from the chip shop two floors down instead. there's a spot by the window (wedged between the couch and the wall) where i get two bars of signal. and the laptop stopped working three weeks ago, but i finally managed a temporary fix a few hours ago (yay me!)

there, i think that covers it.

i defrosted my freezer today with a knife, a spoon and several sainsbury’s plastic bags. well, part of it anyway. enough to get my half-bag of frozen veggies in. if and when i have something larger than a thumb to put in there, i will defrost the rest.

what’s that you say? why not just press the defrost button? let me explain. i have a tiny primitive fridge (it came with the tiny flat, more like a package deal), and the freezer is strongly reminiscent of a small cave during the ice age.

so, risking hypothermia in the form of frozen fingers, i dug in. i also discovered an ice cube tray in there, but only after my trusty knife cut it in half.

more updates as flat-life continues.