Tag: edinburgh

Frosty nights and sickly days

~ stephaniehaggarty ~ Leave a comment

The last four weeks have been shit for me and my husband. We’ve got some sickness, not Covid, and it’s not getting better. I’ve been coughing like a plague victim on and off for a month and I keep thinking that I’m going to get better in a few days, but time keeps passing and I stay the same. Now I’m thinking that I might not be healthy until December 😦

The nights also come too early. It’s dark by 4.30 and the air already has a chill in the air. I keep hearing about an arctic chill that is supposed to be coming to Edinburgh, but it never does. I’m dreading it when it finally arrives. I keep thinking of a time a few years ago when snow fell down and covered everything and the buses were down for two/three days. I’m starting to think that I might not be able to head back to the gym to lose those kilos until January 😦

One Month In

~ stephaniehaggarty ~ Leave a comment

Been in the UK for a full month now. In the meantime we got a new place, I got a new job and just had my first covid jab. In the next few days we’ll be moving our stuff into the new place and settling in. It’s hard to believe that in just under a month how much life has changed and not changed at the same time. I’m not sure where we’ll be in 6 or 12 months, maybe we’ll still be in Edinburgh, maybe we’ll be back in Australia.

I have a few goals that I want to compete by the 6 month mark. I want to:

  • Finish a new first draft.
  • I want to publish that story.
  • I want to build up savings of over a thousand pounds.
  • I want to hit the gym and get down to my goal of 55kg.

I am hoping to have all that done by January 1st 2022.

Whirlwind few days

~ stephaniehaggarty ~ Leave a comment

Not even a week into living in Edinburgh I have a job trial and fingers crossed I think it might be a deal. So the other night I was laying in bed thinking about how I’ve been a bit burnt out with writing. I had gone and looked at a website that creates pre-made book cover images and got anxious about not writing. So as I laid there I kept thinking about this one image that wouldn’t leave my mind. It was a striking and it got me thinking what story I could create around it. And then BOOM! I got a story forming. It’s a combined vampire/possession story. So I wrote down some of the starting scenes and I’m feeling good 🙂 I might go and continue with it today 🙂

10 days of isolation: Day 10

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Woke up in Edinburgh and spent the first part applying for jobs online through Indeed. I got emails from 3 places requesting a second round so I did some online tests. Then I went walking along Princes Street looking for a planner (I’ve developed an obsession with getting one lately). I didn’t find one I liked, so I got nothing. Then we met up with an old friend for drinks and then had dinner with him at my old workplace. It was good to see them 🙂

10 days of isolation: day 9

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Went on a day trip to Newcastle. We went to the castle, took a walk along the river, went to this restaurant called The Alchemist. I got a fancy green drink that had this swirly effect in it, Chris got a drink that had dry ice in it. Later that day, our friend picked us up and drove us to Edinburgh 🙂 We arrived at middnight. I keep thinking about how our cats are handling the constant change. But that’s what Feliway is for.

The Netherlands Chapter is finished

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I arrived on March 15, 2020.

I left on June 1, 2021.

It was a total of 14 months and 18 days. And I based on my experience, I don’t recommend living here.

Utrecht is a beautiful city, no doubt about it. It looks like Amsterdam without the tourists. Come visit it for a day or two but don’t settle in the city, or in the surrounding suburbs or even further out. Rent has been averaging 1200 euros a month, plus the tax rate is too much and healthcare is not free.

I know that the whole Covid thing was just one half of our issues, but it was with a combination of a lot of smaller things that made our stay terrible. I’m just glad that I’m returning to the UK. I had a better quality of life there. In fact, as me and husband self quarantine with a friend in England, we can see that he has a better life on the dole than we did in NL.

It was such an uplifting feeling when we decided to leave NL. And going back to Edinburgh too. I’ve already planned out the next few months. I’m going to rejoin the gym, get a job, get the vaccine and if I might get composite bonding on my teeth.

Also look at this stylised free image of the Netherlands below. It almost looks like this place could have been nice.

What’s on the horizon for me

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Currently, I’m going over a sci-fi mystery novella. I haven’t finished the first draft and since not touching it for over six months I have forgotten what I had written, however, I know what needs to happen etc. I’m editing as I go to get back into the story. Once finished, I’m not sure if I’m going to go back and edit that shit out of it or go onto finishing other first drafts (I have a bazillion). I don’t think I’ll be publishing another story this year, but who knows.

August is coming up in Edinburgh and that means having only one day off a week and everything being balls to the walls dealing with all the extra tourists. I doubt I’ll have time to write or edit. Afterwards, I should get back into everything.

I’ve bought myself a planner/calendar that shows the entire month so that I can visualise my time and maybe that’ll help me get back into things. I did a similar thing in uni and that helped me keep ahead of my assignments. I could just be the thing to motivate me into getting back my mojo.