Double dressing, noodle salad, seeds, panic rays, makes and to-makes

Wednesday 11 December

Gosh. It’s creeping closer, isn’t it? The 25th, I mean. Why does it feel so BIG? Why does one day have the power to send panic rays out into the community, the kind that are the exact opposite of the intended vibe of the day? I’m just going to drink another coffee and wonder why I’m feeling a little on edge. Don’t mind me.

Getting dressed: Did not

It’s coolish today in Melbourne, but there’s a 41 degree day looming in the near future (on Monday) so I’m thinking of the garden and what I can be doing to protect my tomato patch from the extreme heat. Maybe some shade cloth on some kind of staked-up situation? Or an old sheet, even? Will ponder and do some poking about online to see what might work best. The day before the 41 is a 34, so it’s not going to pretty. The last thing I want is ‘blossom drop’ according to Google and I think we can all relate to that.

Above: Flowers in my garden.

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Breakfast today was Promite on rye toast and a giant cup of tea in one of my favourite cups while watching this. I’m going to take it easy today due to not feeling great. Yay me!

I spent most of the day resting and doing a little bit of blanket crocheting for the new baby. Lunch was a sausage roll because YUM. Dinner was a tray bake of potatoes, chicken drumsticks, tomatoes and onions sprinkled with lots of spices, lemon juice and a good glug of olive oil. Also YUM.

I watched a very terrible movie on the Lifetime channel, and I also watched this lovely narrowboat video because those are my favourite kinds of video.

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Thursday 12 December

I didn’t feel like breakfast today. I really dont know why. I had a big lunch instead (leftovers from last night’s dinner) and have a robust dinner planned.

Today I watched some gentle YouTubes and then added some things to my bookshop and then started the Old Lady Books Club for us all. I’m so excited about it. But I musn’t get too excited, lest I make myself sicker. I am going to be mildly excited, and see if that works.

Getting dressed: Did not

I have some good ideas for activities around our January/February book (read about that here) and I hope I can keep well enough to do them. 

I finished watching the very sad documentary series about the two little British girls who were murdered at the local school caretaker’s cottage. And then I started rewatching Maxine, the drama based on the caretaker’s girlfriend’s life at the time this all happened. I really love the actress who plays Maxine (her name is Jemma Carlton) and I just noticed that she’s in the upcoming series about the Lockerbie disaster, so I am putting that on my watchlist.

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Good Things

Have you, like me, been watching all the new behind-the-scenes clips for Taylor’s music videos? (The new ones begin at Number 17 on this playlist!)
This fried rice is on my To Make list.
Some Bangers and Mash inspo.
This powerful quote has been haunting me for the last few months, popping up in various places.
There are some brilliant books on this list.
I like the look of this baked brie.
I can’t wait for the new White Lotus season.
Do you have books that you consider your personal foundational texts?
I watched all of La Palma last night and enjoyed it (as much as you can enjoy a show about a natural disaster …)
Vintage photos of Mila Jovovich.
A bunch of brilliant gardening books to add to your wishlist.
This Sri Lankan Bean Curry looks delicious.

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Friday 13 December

It’s lovely and cool this morning, pals. My favourite sort of morning. The sheets still feel crisp and smooth. The dogs are happy. The birds are being boisterous and noisy. The cats are being … cats.

Getting dressed: Op shopped H&M khaki pants, op shopped striped long sleeve tee, Birks.

I forgot to buy bread yesterday so I am going to skip breakfast and have a more substantial lunch to make up for that. I did have a big cup of tea and then got dressed and went to buy supplies (including bread!) At the checkout, one lady had left her things on the belt and gone off to grab something else. The checkout light was switched off and the cashier had also disappeared. I waited patiently by the belt for someone (lady or cashier) to return. A lady tried to overtake me, pushing her trolley beside me and then forward. “Are you going?” she asked in a quite agitated voice. “It’s closed,” I said. “Oh,” she said and retreated. Then the cashier came back. Then the wanderer came back. Then the cashier put their light on and the wanderer said “OH SORRY!!” and I said “It’s so fine!” and began to unpack. The pushy lady pushed up behind me and began unpacking too, her angry shopping threatening to tip onto mine. It was quite the huffy scene. THEN the wanderer forgot something and went off again. I rearranged my groceries. The pushy lady huffed. The cashier shot his eyes about the place nervously. We waited. The wanderer came back “SORRY!” she said and I said “don’t worry!” Then the wanderer’s checked-out shopping piled up so she started to move it to a nearby bench as her sale was finalised. Her sale was finalised. Back and forth she went. Her sale was finalised. It was time for her to pay. Back and forth she went. Another lady came over holding a bottle of scotch. “I can’t do this at the self-checkout,” she said. “Do you mind?” the cashier said. “Not at all!” I said. (Wanderer’s sale was finalised.) The wanderer had one more back and forth to do, it turned out. The scotch lady waited. The cashier waited. I waited. The wanderer stood quietly. We all held our breath.  “Would you like to …” the cashier asked the wanderer, nodding towards the EFT machine. “Oh pay! I wasn’t sure where we were up to,” the wanderer said, then, “SORRY!” “It’s fine,” I said. She paid. Then scotch lady paid. Then it was my turn. I paid, reader. I paid. That’s the end of the story. Well. The huffy lady WAS pressing her lips together and leaning crossly on her trolley handle as I tapped my card, but let’s not dwell on that. Hooray for Christmas!

Annnyway. At the shops (ALDI, of course) I bought a couple of chickens. One to make a favourite chicken dinner for us and one to make Rhonda’s pup food recipe. I’m doing the pup meals on the pressure cooker setting of my multicooker, because it runs off electricity and it’s fast. No long simmer on a gas stove for our doggies, unfortunately. But they won’t mind. What IS getting a long simmer is OUR dinner. These are the choices we make in an economy like this, amiright? (Next time I will slow cook it in the multi cooker, and see how that goes.)

The response to the Old Lady Books Club has been so good, right? Lots of people think that this might be just their kinda thing. I am so glad. I did not expect it at all. I just thought it would be a fun thing for a little bunch of us to do. We are a bigger bunch than I thought we’d be, but that’s brilliant too.

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Above: Vintage ANNO’S Italy book and page spreads

Below: More vintage books found at Saver’s

Saturday 14 December

A 7.30 wake up followed by tea and peanut butter toast. It’s another coolish day ahead of two hot ones, and it’s a relief to have some time to gather energy and prepare before the worst hits. I gave the tomato patch a long water in anticipation. Will do the same in the morning. The dogs are very much loving their Rhonda-inspired food and have an extra spring in their step. (Thank you Rhonda!) I did a kid drop-off thing this morning and the popped into Savers for half an hour, then came home to rest.

Getting dressed: ASOS t-shirt, op-shopped Lily Loves black pants I found at Savers, Birks.

I found a couple of treasures at Savers: some old Gourmet Traveller magazines, an old issue of Mollie Makes, an old UK Elle Deco, a kids’ knitting book and a kids’ sewing book. (As in how to knit and sew for kids. Rather than a book focused at beginners, if you get what I mean.) There were heaps of cute things on the shelves, but I had a $15 limit and I went a dollar over that as it was. It’s good to leave things for the other shoppers anyway. Nobody likes a greedy thrifter. (I am a bit sad I left the ceramic place cards and menu, but when would I ever use it?! They were a bit like this and we all make bad decisions, right?!)

I really like old magazines. It feels good to flip through them instead of scrolling on a screen. I usually snap photos of my favourite pages with my phone though, so that’s kind of defeating the purpose … Still. I like the variation and I like the nostalgia of styles-gone-by and different era recipes.

Lunch was chips and nuggets, something I never have but I was keen to use up some things in the freezer, so that’s where that ended. I got the nuggets at ALDI and they were not very flavoursome. That’ll teach me. Can you actually buy nice nuggets? For when you want a toddler treat and don’t want to make from scratch? 

I’ve been watching a series called Sacred Lies and I’m really liking it. The lead character’s name is Minnow, which I also really like. So cute!

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Above: Preston Market

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Sunday 15 December

A morning drive for one of the kids and then a quick pop-in to a VERY busy Preston Market to grab some supplies for the next two days. The line for the pastry shop was sooooo long so I didn’t bother. Even though I really wanted a cherry danish. The line to talk to Santa was even longer than the bakery line. The market was humming with people, buzzing about in what felt like a dress rehearsal for the Christmas Eve rush. So many women in shirred sundresses. So many men in toddler shorts. Honestly? I felt quite anxious amongst all that energy. It felt very loaded and stressed. Maybe that’s just me though? I had to stop and take some deep breaths in front of the egg stand, to wish that energy away.

Getting dressed: Same as yesterday. (It was still clean because I changed out of that outfit into a loose and light cotton dress as soon as I got home.)

I’m going to make a soba salad today. It feels like a very good cooling thing to eat and it can sit in the fridge getting more delicious by the hour. I’m also going to make a baguette or two while the warm weather is aligned with an excellent rise. Our oven doesn’t seem to heat up the kitchen too much, so don’t worry about that.

I spent the early part of the day cooking and the latter part of the day resting and watching police procedural documentaries. I’m not sure why I am into those, but I am. Sigh. 

I was doing illness-research, as I often do, and found this program which I plan to start in January and bought this ebook. Trying new treatments gives me hope, so I will keep doing that. As always, supplements are recommended so I’ve made a list and will start chipping away at buying those as my budget allows.

Also? The green tea noodle salad was so good. I used an Ottolenghi recipe, subbing out the seaweed and subbing in some sliced spicy roasted chicken breast which I had marinated in sriracha, ginger, garlic and soy. I ate two bowls full. It was perfectly delicious. Next time I will make double the dressing, because the noodles soak it up and it’d be good to have jar to refresh them when I have a second or third serve. I did make extra pickles (radish and cucumber) so those are sitting in the fridge looking delightfully colourful and reminding me that I had some energy to do a good thing the other day.

Ottolenghi Green Tea Noodle Salad as made by Pip

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Monday 16 December

It’s here. That 43 degree day they’ve been threatening us with all week (and by they, I mean the weather forecasting folk). Honestly, it’s just one super hot day. I mean … yesterday was not exactly unbearable, so I think today will be a wee bit pesky and then it will pass. Gulp.

Breakfast was yesterday’s baguette, toasted and spread with Promite, and a cup of tea. I need to nip out for cat food, so I will get dressed and do that.

Getting dressed: Same as Saturday. Still clean. Then changed.

L/ Chicken traybake R/ Flowers in my garden

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These seeds (well, seeds by those people) are on my wishlist too. And I just added the GrowIt app to my phone. And signed up for the Grow It Local gardening club too. It’s all about the garden here at the moment. (Don’t get me wrong, my garden is nothing special, but I have high hopes!)

Gosh. It was such a gross hot day. I hid indoors all day feeling too shirty to do much except eat yesterday’s salad.

Ottolenghi Green Tea Noodle Salad as made by Pip (That’s pickled ginger slung on the top, in case you were wondering.)

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Makings in progress

• A crocheted heart blanket using this how-to by Hopeful Honey.
• A simple block stitch blanket using Caron Cakes in Tranquille.
• A mitred blanket using a bunch of tutorials I mentioned here.
• A big, big granny square blanket.
• A smaller blanket of solid crocheted squares.
• A little cardigan.
• To Makes
• These little overall-bloomers.
• A little bonnet.

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Tuesday 17 December

So. Much. Cooler. Today! Hooray! I got up at half six and made coffee as the thunder was so loud it felt like it was cracking our house apart. It was raining too, the roof confidently clattering with the sort of raindrops that signal the end of a hot, dry spell.

I’m so relieved! The heat really exacerbates my ME/CFS/Fibro and it forces me to do pretty much nothing apart from prepare the odd meal or have a short outing. Even then, I know I am very lucky as some people are unable to do those things at all. I am counting my lucky stars. 

I drank my coffee while I arranged my Ravelry library. I have been a bit haphazard with it and the few patterns I have bought over the last few years are sometimes in my Rav library and sometimes just in my email. I fixed all that up and now they are in the library which feels very organised. It’s the small things, people!

It’s a week until Christmas Eve. I can’t believe it. Time has compressed and simultaneously elongated somehow. It’s always like this at this time of year, isn’t it? It’s … a lot.

How are you managing, dear reader?

x Pip

If you fancy, buy me a coffee —>  https://ko-fi.com/piplincolne