Well, April has been a month of TWO HOLIDAYS, which feels pretty cheeky, really.
I guess I needed them though, because I started the month with…
LOW MOTIVATION (tbh I think I was just grappling with a tedious freelance task I did not want to do)
But then I had something else to think about, which was a bit of good old fashioned Emma travel anxiety, ahead of me, my partner, and our friends Justin, Dav and Davey’s trip to Northumberland.
But I needn’t have worried. We made it there safe and sound! The cottage we booked was really nice! I enjoyed train and my partner enjoyed driving KJ up in the car! KJ was not happy about this but she was still a very good girl.
We had a mostly nice excursion to Cragside national trust property. I say mostly because the weather was a bit bad and it was very expensive, but the house was extremely cool and there was lots of nice outdoor walking to do.
On our final full day we explored nearby Warkworth castle, and had a big walk on the beach to see a sort of outsider art assemblage of beach detritus. The weather was still kind of not good, but we made it work.
Mostly though it was just nice to spend time IRL with my favs… I can’t say I especially liked Northumberland, but I did like getting the chance to cook and play games and laugh in a big house with nice people.
I was, however, very glad to go back to London. (Food options for vegans in Northumberland were dire, so it was lovely to just walk through warm sunset south London streets with V and go get Thai from an all vegan place within walking distance of her house)
This is the month I finally got going with gardening, mostly because I realised that once you get the knack, unearthing dandelions is quite satisfying. (Fighting a losing battle though tbh)
Finally bit the bullet and got a new battery in my phone. It only took like two hours but I still felt totally bereft for that entire time, constantly reaching for my phone and panicking I’d lost it. Oh dear.
My partner has also been gardening. Somewhat differently to me.
Famous last words, but this past month has actually felt like it’s has a fairly reasonable work-life balance… (still doing a bit of work on a Saturday though, sigh)
Day 1 period in ikea energy
V likes to troll me
Anyway this is a belated tribute to the great rug I bought in ikea. (Me and Kelly Jessie love it, my partner will tolerate it)
Look I know it’s not like I’m not getting to go on holiday myself, but our long dreamed of trip to Japan feels so far off financially, and yet somehow everyone else seems to be making it over there! (The Michael portillo series is regrettably very good, even though he sucks)
KJ likes to lie in the sun while I pull dandelions. She got a ladybird on her bel
The mainstream chain vegan food options have gone downhill in the years since Covid, and I simply will not shut up about it.
Stood and watched this fox pottering about in the sunset for ages.
(No really I think I spent more time in the garden this month than in the entire 2.5 other years I’ve lived here so far…)
I mean maybe this is a sign that I actually leaned too far into the ‘life’ side of work life balance?! (Finally did some sewing work I’d had waiting for ages)
Had an errand to run with my lovely boss Keir and we got glorious Ethiopian food near brick lane, my appetite for injera bread is nigh on insatiable
Funnily enough, I think I could have foreseen it
I’m actually really enjoying teaching illustration. I definitely had imposter syndrome to start with but actually I know a great deal more than I thought! Funnily enough for the first time in some years I’ve been offered some teaching work on a pure graphic design course and am now feeling much more imposter syndrome about that, because even though in theory graphic design is my passion, I realise I’ve maybe been paying a lot more attention to illustration practitioners and theories over the years, oops (I’m sure it’ll be finnnnnne)
Sometimes a Friday is such a classic Friday it’s hard to come up with an original drawing…
But for Saturday here’s KJ in our living room lying on that nice new rug (maybe I could go to Japan sooner if I didn’t keep buying nice new rug)
I am having a lot of self loathing about my face at the moment (hate to be perceived) but my hair’s doing okay!
Imagine bao, but terrible
Luckily culinary redemption is found in the form of POTATA SPICY BISCUITS
Anyway, that’s the 28th, which isn’t the end of the month, because from there, next holiday commences! And I think I’d like to put that all in the same blog.
So bye for now, and I’ll see you at the end of May with further updates on that!
