It's been a long time ...

... since I blogged anything, but I blame pressure of work. It's been quite non-stop. Translating this novel from dawn to dusk with just mealbreaks and a walk in the park for a coffee. I forget how lucky I am not being tied to a set routine in the normal run-of-the-mill existence that I have. I's hard to get used to a 9-6 rhythm again.

And translating this book isn't as easy as you might think either. It contains two poems in French (and several more, I notice, as I glance further ahead)that need to be translated into English (straightforward), then rendered as poems (nothing like as easy) with certain crucial words remaining in the same place (almost impossible). I'm having to spend all my time thinking in rhyme, in order to try to get into the swing of poetry.
But I'm no poet
And don't I know it.

The other difficulty is that there are several phrases that need to be translated -but they are anagrams and when they are translated, they have to remain anagrams as well. So how about this. I'm finding it Snot, Aye.

A break from the routine was on Saturday when I met Mike in Brussels and we went for a really good chat for a couple of hours, raising a glass or two to a couple of absent friends, of which, of course, Liz was one.

Sunday saw me back in church for the New Year service, and then Marie and I went for a meal in an Egyptian restaurant.

Monday was the sales at IKEA - only to find that they don't start until the Tuesday. And on Monday night I set off home.

I was going to have a slow amble back over a few days but what with a howling hurricane and pitch darkness, I took shelter in a concealed fold in the ground in a parking space I know. But the rain and the wind kept up all night and there was no break in the weather. And that was enough for me - I abandoned my plans and came home - to sunshine would you belive. But the rain and wind wasn't far behind.

So I'm crashing out tomorrow - taking it easy.