Dailies: Scones, cardigans, Marian Keyes, books for June, surprise bags

NB: Apologies that this edition is all over the place, but I am trying!!! Also? Sorry for any typos. I am an imperfect sort.

Tuesday 22 April

It’s rained for most of the night, I think. What a turn up for the books! It’s barely rained for months, so perhaps autumn is finally establishing itself after all that hot weather? I hope so! I’m feeling much better today although my cough is hanging on, as coughs will.

I woke up later than usual – at 8.15 – and got up to release the hounds into the soggy backyard. They were not as impressed by the weather as I am, I admit. I fed the cats who asserted they had not been fed for 123 hours. Then I made tea and flicked on the telly to watch a few minutes of the coverage of the Pope’s passing, and sat down to write to you.

I’m so glad to be feeling more settled and like myself. Is there anything more horrible than being held hostage by an unexpected or new illness? Ugh. No. I feel behind on the few things I have been doing – reading and writing and making sure my surrounds are cosy and nice. Still, there is plenty of opportunity, plenty of days to remedy all that. No circumstances are forever and this is passing more quickly each day.

I watched this gentle video and added some pins to my April Pinterest board. Last night I made Jill Dupleix’s Thai Beef Salad and I would make it again, I think, with double the dressing because that’s the sort of person I am. A double dressing person. Tonight’s dinner … I’m not quite sure. I am craving very nutrient rich meals, so perhaps some chicken soup … Still thinking, pals.

Above: Just some nice breakfasts at our house

Hopefully I can see the baby very soon …  I am going to test myself for all the things and ensure my day cough is gone before I venture over. It’s been so long since I had a little cuddle and checked in with the new mum in person. It’s been very frustrating, but obviously necessary.

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Readers … I tested negative to everything and got to see the baby and the new mum! June had grown so much in the eleven days that I didn’t get to see her. Her eyes are open so much more and she’s really waking up to the world. The new parents are adjusting and recovering well too. I took some picture books and some other bits and bobs I’d been collecting over too. June and I had lots of chats and tested out various ways for me to hold her, settling on the classic over-the-shoulder/bottom pats as the favourite.

After that I did a little bit of food shopping (oranges, dill, cucumbers, a discounted rump steak, limes, bucatini, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sliced cheese, raspberry cordial, bread) and then came home for a rest and some crochet (a blanket for a friend’s daughter’s baby) and knitting (some pants for June) and some telly watching and a bit of tidying. I made another Thai Beef Salad for dinner, tweaking the recipe to suit me this time. It was delicious. All those herby leaves and raw veg and chilli and garlic must be doing all sorts of good things, I think.

Above: Some more nice breakfasts

Wednesday 23 April

A very cough-y night was had, which was annoying. It’s lovely and sunny this morning though, so I sat outside with the doggies for a while, then came in to make cheese on toast and tea. Is there anything nicer than cheese on toast on an Autumn morning? I think not.

I’m going to take it easier than planned today due to rough night and an early start needed tomorrow (one of the kids has a day procedure in the morning). Hopefully snacking and some garden time and some knitting, interspersed with lots of rest. It’s Max’s birthday in a few days too, so I need to buy him his pressies via Afterpay/Click and Collect. I am going to get a few things for his room from IKEA and pick them up later this week or early on the weekend. Gosh the weeks are flying by, aren’t they?! I need to return my overdue library books too. I am always the overdue kind. I am the worst. I am the overduest.

Below: Op-shopped Books for June: Sarah Garland treasury ‘Coming and Going’. My kids loved Sarah Garland books when they were little and I love how they capture the chaos and beauty of life with little kids.

Reader … I took my library books back and got a handful of new ones, one of which was The Glass House by Beatrice Colin which I am one chapter into already. I took it out into the garden and read it before I hung out a load of washing. It is honestly the nicest outdoors today, the hum of bees, the shrieks of rosellas, the far off laughter of some neighbourhood children playing, further still the drone of traffic. It’s such a beautiful time of the year.

I wasnt really able to read when my cough was at its worst so I’m catching up on my Old Lady Book Club book and my French food book too. Lunch was leftover Thai Beef Salad and two chocolate chip cookies which I managed to bake the other day. (I find baking to be very good medicine.)

Above: Some Thai-ish Beef Salads. Left is Jill D’s recipe and right is my own variation (with DILL and no lettuce!)

Monday 28th April

Well … it’s fair to say that spending 8 hours at the hospital while one of my kids had a day procedure not only exhausted them (all was well in the end!) but flattened me for a good few days. That’s the way with ME-CFS. You pay dearly for any activity and extended activity will knock you out for nearly a week. Well. That’s the way it goes with me anyway. I am finally back on my feet again – and glad to have been able to go with my kid as well. Helping my kids is really my number one priority.

This morning the backyard is kissed with dew droplets after quite a bit of rain. The garden is looking both pleased and bedraggled and I have a lot of work to do out there, but none of the strength required to do it in anything but very small increments. That will have to do.

I saw the new family and baby June yesterday and she’s waking up to the world slowly, as new babies do. Of course she is very adorable and I can’t wait to read her stories and take her places (when it suits her parents best, of course!)

I bought a lovely board book which I saw on Instagram called Beautiful Eggs by Alice Lindstrom. It’s a guide to Easter celebrations around the world and the illustrations are very gorgeous. Alice has illustrated a few other lovely titles including Fox and Bird, Bees Are Our Friends, and A Stage Full of Shakespeare Stories.

Speaking of books, I am halfway through The Glass House and liking it very much. I also bought My Favourite Mistake by Marian Keyes because I managed to secure a ticket to her first show of the Melbourne Writer’s Festival and want to be all up on all things Walsh.

Breakfast this morning was Buttered Tomatoes on Toast, that old recipe from Epicurious which I have been cooking for years. It’s paywalled now, so here is my revised version (below). Tweak it as you see fit, I reckon.

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Buttered Tomatoes

Melt a knob of butter in a frypan. Add a tablespoon of ginger and fry for a minute. Add 3 chopped tomatoes. Fry for 2 minutes. Add a slosh of soy sauce, a few grinds of black pepper and any fresh herbs you have on hand (or a sprinkle of your fave dried herbs). Serve on toast or on rice or beside a salad. I have it on toast.

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After breakfast I had a shower, washed my hair, and then got dressed.

Getting dressed: Op-shopped jeans (originally from Kmart), op-shopped Gorman jumper (same as the ‘Backyard Poncho’ one below), old pink t-shirt, Fair Isle socks, old blue Birkenstocks

And then I watched the new KrisAtomic in Oxford video. Highly recommend.

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Good Things

Fifteen great books that explore motherhood
Why rituals are important to living a good and creative life
Three trans kids share their stories
I wrote about becoming a grandmother.
A bunch of photos taken on the set of The Breakfast Club
Make some Homemade Spicy Mayo?
How to start a new garden on a tiny budget
Did you know I send out a newsletter (free) every Sunday to chase away the Sunday scaries/Mondayitis?
Frances Palmer on her life with flowers.
The return of the rumpus room! We had one growing up and it was our favourite place to play.
Don’t we all want to live in an a-frame house? Gosh.

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Below: Op-shopped books for June: John Brown, Rose and the Midnight Cat by Jenny Wagner. This is an oldie but a goodie, isn’t it? Beautiful illustrations and a funny and poignant storyline make this one a keeper. It’s lost its dust jacket, but that’s ok.

Tuesday 29th April

It’s Max’s birthday today! I bought him a bunch of practical things – lamps and bed linen and study things – because he is the practical sort. And I made him a giant breakfast because a Big Birthday Breakfast is required on your special day.

For some reason the dogs were particularly restless last night, so my sleep was punctuated by their fussing and now they are dozing merrily while I need to be up and about. Isn’t that always the way?

Yesterday I visited Rin and the wee girl, took them some spicy potato borek (OK, I admit June didn’t eat hers) and some grocery items. I’m trying to visit as often as possible in the mornings so the new mum can get her shower in and get some other little things done. I get to hold the baby which feels like the best part of the deal.

When I got home I dyed my hair (I gave the all natural a go and I was not enamoured with it! Gonna try again in ten years.) Then I did some knitting (the Sophie Scarf and some little pants for June) and then watched an old series on Prime (Winter with Rebecca Gibney) until I was tuckered out. Oh and I made soup. Cauliflower soup. It was a good idea and I had mine with chonks of baguette and it was very comforting. High recommend.

Above: Cheese on toast with a side of Sipsworth and more flowers for June and Rin

Wednesday 30 April

Gosh. April is just about to turn the corner into May and before we know it the year will be half gone. What?!

I saw Ari and Rin and June yesterday, after Max’s Big Birthday Breakfast. I also went to the op shop and found a very lovely dress in my size for $9, which was super pleasing. It’s by the brand Ankoa and is a sort of button through tea dress in heavy Liberty-is cotton floral. It fits perfectly although I can’t get the side zip up by myself. I can, however, wear a cardigan over it until I find someone who can help. Sometimes necessity is the mother of invention, right?

I also found an old knitting and crochet pattern book, so last night I started a little cardigan for baby June even though I should not start any more projects before I finish the others.

Above: Too Good Too Go surprise bag from Chimmey’s Bakery and GF Vegemite for the GF ‘kid’

Friday 2 May

Friends? I have nearly finished the cardigan. I had to pull a row undone because I made the button holes on the wrong side, but apart from that it was a super easy make. I am going to nip out and get some cute buttons for it this morning. Perhaps some little hearts? And also some yarn to make another because I just used a plain colour from my stash and I’d like to make something a bit more colourful now that I know the pattern well. Also, I need a smaller hook, so I will snaffle one of those too. And some things for a big and delicious dinner.

Back sooooon.

A cardigan for June – the pattern is in this book (which I found at the op shop for $4). The bee buttons are from Spotlight. The grey yarn is Pony 4ply. The bronzey orange yarn is from a pack of mill ends, also from Spotlight.

Sunday 4th May

Pals? I finished the cardigan and chose two little bee motif buttons to complete the lewk. I also bought some mill ends in a mustardy colour for another baby cardigan, and a smaller crochet hook. Onward! Cardigans for all!

I spent the afternoon with Rin and little June yesterday, the longest time I’d ever spent with the new baby. We got to know one another very well, spending some wakeful Witching Hour time walking laps of the dining table and thinking of nicknames for the new arrival. It’s amazing how many pet names you can come up with when a four week old baby is staring intently at you, fighting off sleep.

I took some sausages and sliced bread over, and we had our own ‘democracy sausage’ for a late lunch due to missing out as we both chose postal votes and didn’t get to go to the polling places. I also made a potato curry for the new parents, and took over my Multi-Cooker so they could try it out before investing in their own. Rin quickly made a batch of vegetarian bolognese and declared she needed one ASAP. Honestly? I think a Multi Cooker is such a good gift for new parents. You can pressure cook up a meal in no time and there’s not the usual risk of burning the bottom of the pot, because it’s all on a timer and you can’t really mess things up.

Above: L/ Rin and Paul and June’s cat – his name is Tony R/ on the road front seat op shop jumble

When I got home it was early evening and I watched the election coverage which was a very speedy result, wasn’t it? I had a potato curry for dinner because I’d been smart and left one small serve in the pan, ready to be spooned onto rice and enjoyed in front of the telly.

Monday 5th May

I forgot to write here, but on Monday I helped one of the kids with some medical stuff, picked up a Click and Collect Multicooker from JB Hifi for the new mum (she paid for it though) and then popped in on them to hold the baby, drop off the cooker and catch up on the day’s news and general developments.

Above: I made some choc chip cookies … and grew some flowers for Rin and June

Tuesday 6th May

Gosh. Last night. Ugh. At about 10.30 someone drove down Ari’s street and smashed their car into Ari’s partner’s new (parked) Jimny, as well as another parked car. The driver then jumped out of their car and left the scene, keys in ignition, car running. I went over immediately to offer moral support while the police did their thing and a tow truck removed the hit-and-sit car. So annoying and mean, right? Perhaps a drunk driver? It’s hard to know. The Jimny is pretty smashed up, but hopefully not a write-off.

Weird thing is, the same thing happened a couple of months ago. That time it was a stolen car and the offenders smashed into Ari’s neighbour’s car and then ran away, again leaving the vehicle behind. Then they CAME BACK because they had left their phone in the car and asked if they could just grab it. The answer was no. Off they ran again.

Last night’s offender also left their phone in the car. Gawd knows what’s going on with then. Hope they were not hurt but also … what a loser thing to do. At least hang around and face the music, you giant plonker.

Annnnywayyy. That was not cool. What was cool was popping over to see JuneBug and her mum this morning, swapping some soup for some Bolognese and also handing over an egg and bacon roll and a chocolate croissant. I tried out 2Good2Go yesterday afternoon and bought a $6.99 Surprise Bag from Chimmey’s Bakery (they have a new shop in Coburg North, but I used to go to their Richmond store a lot, back in our Richmond days). The Surprise Bag contained a sourdough baguette, two egg and bacon rolls, a raspberry danish and a chocolate croissant. So pleasing. Raspberry danishes are my favourite kind, so that was quite the coup. But back to the pop-over this morning … I hugged the baby while her mum had a shower and did some other things she needed two hands for like tidying and eating breakfast (egg and bacon roll, ahoy!) After that I came home and did the dishes, popped to the PO and the chemist, and came back to write to you.

Still thinking about the poor ‘kids’ and their broken car. Hopefully the insurer is quick and non-annoying and they can get it sorted stat.

I’m going to watch some dumb shows and do some knitting and eat some toast this afternoon. And have a bath and an early night after last night’s drama. Down with giant plonkers.

Above: Melbourne laneway near Little Collins St + Marian Keyes Athenaeum event

Above: Rin’s first Mother’s Day

Tuesday 13th May

Gosh. A whole week without a bit of chatter. It seems a baby in the family really does shake things up?! I’m going to post this today and endeavour to a) be more consistent here and b) write more interesting things.

On Saturday I went to a 10.30am event with author Marian Keyes for the Melbourne Writer’s Festival. It’s the first time I’ve been to an event like that in years, so it was pretty nice to be in the company of lots of other writers and book-lovers, and hear Marian talk about her latest book, the new Walsh Sisters TV series, her writing process and so much more. I now want to read every book in the Walsh Sisters series, starting at the very beginning.

On Sunday, for Mother’s Day, I went to Rin’s house to make scones for her and help her celebrate her first ever Mum’s Day. More on those scones here.

xx Pip

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