Dailies: Pip’s Peps, Prisoner, knowing yourself, having enough, ripple blankets

Sunday 3 August

Well. I took a bit of a break because very little was happening due to illness, and I know you don’t want to read paragraphs and paragraphs about me lying down all the livelong day, now do you?!

So. What is there to catch you up on? Well … June is four months-old today and is always exceedingly pleased to see me. She stares at me intently, and then smiles. Her smile is a sideways sort of cheeky smile and I can not even handle the cuteness of it. We are best friends these days.

I watched a video this morning, and as I did the little counter whizzed in the bottom right corner, and I thought about the other people who were watching the same video, at the same time as me. 11 051. What were they pondering as they watched a sweet young woman roll filling into pumpkin leaves? I had a coffee and a book spread out in front of me, was reading about the idea of ‘knowing yourself’ and thinking about how much I have had to change my life around since I got sick. It makes me wonder if you can ever truly know yourself, because just when you think you do, the goalposts shift. What are the other people watching and going about their day/night thinking about? 11 060.

Getting dressed: Black jeans, striped skivvy, oversized brown jumper, striped socks, pink Merry People Bobby boots

I went down to Coburg to pick up a few bits and pieces – a packet of HB pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, a set of curtain hooks and wire. I was meant to meet up with Rin and June but they were not up to it, so I toddled back home and climbed into bed to read my new library book The Vintage Shop of Second Chances. I too was not feeling up to much, so I published my newsletter, then rested until dinner time, made sausages and mash, then settled down to a few episodes of Prisoner.

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Good things

Loved reading this piece about Picnic at Hanging Rock. I wrote about it last year, too.
Here’s the latest edition of Feeling A Bit Sh*t, in case you are/missed it.
How to be a better reader.
Pan-fried Nori Dumplings … yum!
I’m going to try and make this jumper, friends.
I like this Tumblr about Taylor Swift’s favourite homewares.
I downloaded this market bag pattern today.
Pamela Anderson’s pickle business seems great. (I really love her cooking/garden TV show)

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Monday 4 August

Brrr. So chilly this morning, but not quite as frosty as it was yesterday. I made tea while the dogs sniffed at the crispy grass and toured the perimeter of the backyard. Then it was back to my little bedroom to keep warm, have a biscuit (the dogs, that is) and drink tea (me, that is).

I have taken to watching ‘tourist videos’ of Melbourne, because I can’t really get out very far from home, or for very long without sparking an illness crash. This morning it was this one which popped in on a few of my old haunts.

I made some toast with tomato and cashew dip for breakfast, then read a few chapters of my book (trying to be more disciplined about reading!) and got dressed. I’m feeling pretty rubbish, so I am going to do a quick run to ALDI for supplies and then rest up.

Getting dressed: Black jeans, leopard print dress, mauve balloon-sleeved cardigan, black socks, Reebok runners.

Above: It’s PRISONER, friends!! Get onto it!

I’ve started listening to the podcast Growing Yourself Up by Cath Counihan (after a tip-off in the comments of this A Cup Of Jo post) and am really liking it and am taking lots of notes. It’s full of information that feels relevant to me as a human, a mum and a new grandparent, so I am all ears. It’s really helping me in a bunch of ways, so HIGH RECOMMEND.

I rested most of the day, just sorting out a very overdue water bill and also nipping out for some supplies from ALDI – chicken, butter chicken spices, passionfruit yoghurt, milk, cat food, paracetamol, Turkish bread rolls, basmati rice, cream. For dinner, I made Butter Chicken and a hack-y sort of Aloo Gobi. Both were surprisingly delicious, friends!

Tuesday 5 August

Tuesday. Schmoozeday? Look. I don’t know. It could be, right?

It’s very blue sky out there again this morning, after a bit of rain last night. I started the day with the hottest shower possible, because that always seems to press the reset button (albeit weakly) when I’m having a low-health week.

Getting dressed: Gingham dress, leggings, cardigan, striped socks, Blundstone boots.

I reserved a couple of library books that I heard about on a bookish YouTube – I Am Anastasia and Frozen River – so hopefully I can finish my current book this week and move onto those next. I’m trying to go to the library on Fridays from now on, trying to get a bit of a foundational routine in my weeks, which can only be described as All Over The Place. I miss working and study because those things give you a rhythm to the day. Hopefully I will be well enough to do those things again soon though. Or one of them, even. Hopefully.

I also watched this funny video about working to present yourself nicely each day. Relatable. Do not do. In winter, especially, I just dress in basics and for warmth. In summer, in basics for coolness. I’m not quite sure about the other seasons … I think they offer a bit more of an invitation to play around, but Melbourne’s changeable climate – aka four seasons in one day – often relegates the autumn and spring days to feeling either summer-y or winter-y. And then I default back to the basics for coolness/warmth. If that makes sense … How about you?

One thing I’ve been reflecting a lot on lately is the idea of ‘having enough‘. I think media of various types has us yearning or wondering if we need more than we have, but that happiness lies in feeling content with what you have (as long as you are covering the basics … I’m not talking about romanticising precarity here.) Any time I hear someone talk about ‘having enough’ I somehow calmer, because I know that we can make do with very little, if we choose to or must. Of course, for a collector like me the boundaries of enough ebb and flow, but I feel like keeping the ‘have enough’ mindset front and centre is a grounding and healthy thing to do.

Wednesday 6 August

The year is cantering by, isn’t it? It will be spring before we know it.

Just when I was enjoying having breakfast sandwiches, I have lost my appetite in the mornings. This is very on brand for me and the illness I have. Regardless of the lack of appetite, I made myself a sandwich today and ate it, purely because I figured it was a) the healthy thing to do and b) better to take supplements on some food, rather than an empty stomach. It was semi-dried tomato, brie, rocket and my favourite REED avocado with s&p and sriracha. It tasted good, but I didn’t really want to be eating it. Reader, I ate it anyway.

Do you like those Reed avocados too? They’re the best of the bunch that we get in Australia, I think. So round and cute and deliciously creamy. High recommend. I bought a bunch of vegetables yesterday – red peppers, zucchini, pumpkin, rocket, tomatoes … as well as some parsley and dill. I’m planning on making a vegetable curry this week, in an attempt to get some deeper nutrition in. Wish me luck/energy!

I’ve continued listening to Grow Yourself Up and am making notes and thinking on it a lot. If you’re keen to sort of reset your life, it could be interesting to you too.

Getting dressed: Black jeans, floral dress, odd socks, Merry People pink Bobby Boots

I started making a ripple blanket yesterday, because I have not felt well enough to knit or crochet for a couple of weeks. It was a good decision because I am several rows in and it looks like sunshine and is urging me to keep working on it. It’s from a pattern I wrote ages ago and I have since found out that the pdf has been deleted from the site that hosted it (Issuu). Hopefully I have a hard copy somewhere. They deleted my whole account, which had several old and special things on it. Darn. I suppose it is what it is …   I wish I had known it was going to happen, but I guess the emails are buried in my non-functioning inbox. Is your email like that too? Just completely stuffed and full of 99% rubbish? So that you miss the important things? Just me?

Thursday 7 August

Rent day! Doctor’s visit day! Then Rest day! (With a capital ‘R’ due to sore throat, aches and sniffles etc.)

It’s grey out there right now. Perhaps it will blue up as the morning moves on? Perhaps it won’t. I’m checking in with my GP today, and also hoping to progress a little more on the ripple blanket which I added to a bit yesterday, along with reading a bunch of my book. Perhaps I will finish the book by the weekend?! I will be so happy with myself, if so, mostly because I find reading a bit tricky these days due to vision issues. This week those haven’t been too bad, thankfully.

I made Teriyaki Chicken with broccolini for dinner and began to make a mental plan for our rental inspection next week (lots of tidying to do … ugh!)

Sunday 10 August

A little days-skip there, due to … the tank being a little bit empty. It’s Sunday again and so crisp and frosty and blue and bright outside. Yesterday I visited Rin and June, spending a little while playing with the wee one while I chatted to her mum. I’m going to pop in again this morning to hold the wee one who is at the age where she needs someone to hold her all the time or the world might end.

Getting dressed: Jeans, striped skivvy, op-shopped H&M knit, striped socks, Reeboks

In the afternoon, I rested and also did some cleaning because the dreaded rental inspection is on Tuesday. I bought a new nozzle for the hose too, because the old one kept shooting off the end of the hose, resulting in water spraying everywhere. When I tried the new nozzle it … shot off the end of the hose, resulting in water spraying everywhere. Turns out I need a new hose FITTING, not the nozzle. So there you go …

Sausages and mash and pepperonata for dinner. (I made pepperonata this afternoon too, because red peppers were $2.99 when I popped in to the shop to buy potatoes.)

Monday 11 August

Another sparkling day in the suburbs, friends. So chilly but so pretty outside. A wattlebird has made a nest in the tree next door and it’s busying itself with some sort of preening and snacking routine which is super charming. We don’t often get wattle birds in my part of my suburb, so it’s lovely to see. There are also a few currawongs hanging around and a regular big raven that visits the yard to eat what my puppies leave lying around. It’s a sort of dystopian bird land, you might say. Just a tiny few species other than the usual and bountiful pigeons and spotted doves. We do get cockatoos and rosellas flying over often though, which is noisy and nice. Speaking of sky-type things, a meteor flashed across our state last night, although I didn’t see it. Did you? Apparently there will be bits of it littered about the place and the rock hunters will be out looking for them. I just love a special interest like that. Get your rocks, rock heads! (The videos on this ABC link are so good! Gosh! I also learned the horses aren’t really attuned to meteors.)

Also readers … I did not finish the book I was reading. I slowed right down due to anxiety about the rental inspection, so I KNOW I will finish it by … the end of this coming weekend.

Tuesday 12 August

Gosh. Rental inspections. So draining, especially when you are unwell and have to make sure your house is putting its best foot forward as you await that visit in the dreaded 9am to 12 window. I’m the most neurotic person in the history of neurotic people when it comes to inspections. Our house is neat and nice, but the idea of being inspected taps into my sense of security and I am worried and edges for about a  week before and a minute after each rental inspection. It does not help that they are every six months, either. That seems so close together, don’t you think?! Annnywayyy. Waiting … waiting … waiting. No breakfast due to nerves.

… Readers … the property manager did not turn up. We waited until 11.30 and then I checked my email and she’d sent one just after 11.30 rescheduling for two days later. Ugh. I kid you not when I say that half of our inspections the PM has not shown up. At least this time she emailed though. Long and short, we do it all again next week. Sigh.

Here’s to a better day tomorrow, pals. Hoping you are okay and perhaps excited about the new Taylor Swift album – The Life of a Showgirl – because I very much AM!