Dailies: Optimistic determination, fruit crumble, blustery days, soda bread, tiny forks

Monday 18 May

How are you, dear reader? Welcome back to your (possibly) favourite place to read about someone who does everyday sorts of things and influences very little. So glad you are here.

Today’s breakfast was a bagel, slathered with hummus and dotted with sliced cherry tomatoes, sriracha, salt and pepp. ‘What a surprise,’ you may be thinking (if you didn’t read the previous edition of Dailies) or perhaps ‘oh no, not that again’ if you did. Apologies. Still loving it very much and it feels suitably healthy and balanced too.

A hot shower to iron out some of the aches and pains, then getting dressed very quickly due to chill in the air. Then sitting down to write to you. Hi YOU!

Getting dressed: Old Kmart high-waisted blue jeans, ASOS brown long-sleeved top, red fluffy ribbed cardigan from Vinnies, fair isle socks, brown Birks (from Saver’s)

I’m going to catch up on reading today, as last week was a write-off due to vision issues due to illness (ME/CFS related uveitis.) The peepers are feeling a bit better today, so I think I can make some progress! Wish me luck. I’m still tag-teaming The Farmer’s Wife and Maybe, Perhaps, Possibly if you were wondering. (OK if you were NOT though!)

… I read a bit of The Farmer’s Wife and then I worked on my Pretend New Book because I had a good idea for a chapter and it turned out pretty pleasing, to be honest. Just 1000 words, but it’s something, non?! I say Pretend New Book because I am not sure it will ever be published, but perhaps it will and anyway I am enjoying having a little side project to work away at … for now, at least. It’s good to get some non-blog use of those skills I snaffled during that Later In Life Creative Writing Degree, you know?! Not letting them go to waste.

L/ a spot of ripple crochet and R/ a front garden around the corner from me

Tuesday 19 May

Hooray! Another day! Still feeling creaky, but determined to make the best of it. I’m off for a short outing to get some vegetables and electrolytes and multivitamins. Then home to hunker down, methinks.

I woke up to an email which contained a forwarded copy of my last edition of DAILIES and the sender had written “Spread some joy!” in the email body. I am not sure if they were telling me to cheer up/change my ways due to the illness content of my last DAILIES or if they were meaning to send my blog to someone else and thought it was a bit joyful (which people sometimes say my blog is.) Polar opposite motives, non?! Of course, because I’m me, it got me down a bit … Of course I took it as a bit of a heckle. I replied to the email, letting the sender know that I write a free joy-filled newsletter every Sunday, in case that was more her thing.

I don’t blame anyone for not liking the illness content here. I try not to focus on it too much, but sometimes illness is a big part of my days (well … often!) and I’m writing about my life. I get that it might be a downer for some readers and also I don’t want my whole identity to be SICK PERSON. I will ponder all this today … truth and representation VS the therapeutic benefits of reading more cheerful things on my blog.

Getting dressed: Same as yesterday because I changed into PJs after an hour yesterday and thus it’s pretty much an unworn outfit!

So … I nipped to the chemist and bought: electrolyte powder, 50+ women’s vitamins, vitamin D and Tigi Bed Head Hair Stick for my scarecrow ends. Then I grabbed a zucchini, loaf of dark rye, three tins of cat food and a packet of veggie chips for June at the IGA. (I will keep the chips in my car for emergencies!)

Now I’m back home drinking my electrolytes (which I forgot to stir properly and hence drank a huge glug of salty powder … do not do this!) and waiting for my vitamins to work (RIGHT NOW PLEASE!) and about to climb back into bed for some quiet/rest time. Exciting, non?!

Last night I watched The Crash on Netflix. Have you seen it? Gosh. I immediately watched two other documentaries about the same case. What a cautionary tale that is, about the impact of social media on kids … about the importance of parenting well …

Things on a walk around the block

Good things

Have you caught any of Seeking Persephone?
A science-backed happiness calendar for the month of June.
Chicken Salad for celery enthusiasts.
A Weekend Bag sounds like a good sort of treat.
Crocheted wedding dresses are back in Vogue.
Now I want a paperweight collection.
Is The Land the new Friday Night Lights?
Why are buttons and zippers on different sides of men’s and women’s garments?
How do you spend your alone time?

Wednesday 20 May

Mostly a stay-in-bed-kinda rest day! I did get supplies from ALDI and make a big pot of meatballs in napoli sauce, though. Go me! And I read some of a new-to-me book that Kate recommended. I am loving it.

Thursday 21 May

Up early because the cats have taken to meowing outside my bedroom door at 6am. I think I need to buy a cat food dispenser with a timer, set to go off at 5.45 to stop the rascals doing this!

Breakfast was tea and … hummus and tomato on toast! Quel surprise! Plus my multivitamin, Vitamin D, and electrolyte drink.

Then a bit of reading, followed by a hot shower and a very brisk getting-dressed effort. It’s chilly here. I watched this excellent YouTube video while I combed my soggy hair and put on my face cream etc.

Getting dressed: ASOS jeans, ASOS chocolate long-sleeved shirt, op shopped blue-green jumper, socks and my old Merry People pink Bobby boots (for cosy toes!)

I’ve agreed to stop feeling dejected re illness (with myself) and noted that there have been a bunch of ‘out of the ordinary’ events/things that have had me straying from my usual baseline behaviour (Mother’s Day, hospital appointment, kid Birthday lunch, getting my first haircut in over a year etc.) This is likely why I’ve been feeling more unwell than usual. I’m going to be more conscious of reverting to Snail Girl baseline and avoid breaking out of my usual quiet days routines. It won’t always be possible, but when it’s not I am just going to KNOW that things might change health wise and not be a sook about it. Acceptance is always key, coupled with HOPE and the usual LITTLE GOOD THINGS I build into my day.

Some breakfasts … because I always need to post breakfasts!

Friday 22 May

You’ll never guess what breakfast was … BAKED BEANS on TOAST! It’s a miracle! Granted a very mundane miracle, but the cold weather and running out of tomatoes has tipped me into fresh old territory today and I’m super pleased about it. Is there a cosier breakfast? Well … perhaps eggs and soldiers or crumpets with honey, but you know what I mean. It’s up there with the greats.

My automatic cat feeder arrived this morning in the dark hours. The cats have been banging on my door at increasingly early hours and yesterday, when it was 4am, I decided to buy a feeder with a timer so they can get their early snack in without interrupting my sleep. I think they will get the shock of their lives, so perhaps I will test it in the daylight hours today, in the name of familiarity.

It’s foggy and grey out at the mo, but I am guessing we are in for a little bit of sunshine later on. It has that sort of ‘clouds burning off at midday’ feel to it, although I am not the weatherperson and I may well be wrong.

I watched a couple of YouTube videos this morning, as I tried to go back to sleep, so that was a snug note to begin the day on too. They were very apple-y. One featured an apple cake and the other apple tea, both perfect inspiration for a Melbourne autumn day. That said, I’m going to make a banana loaf today, and buck that appley trend. (Hopefully!)

I also watched a video on YouTube where a lady was clattering tarnished cutlery into an enamel tray. The sound I tell you … the sound was excruciating. But then she did this magical thing where she put boiling water and bicarb into the tray and right before my eyes everything was sparkly again imagine if life was like that just dip me in boiling water and bicarb please.

Last night I watched the first episode of the Kylie Minogue documentary which was so good. I loved the first episode. It took me back, reader, and made me cry.  I last saw Kylie live in 1998 at The Palais Theatre in St Kilda (little ten year-old Rin came too!) It was during her Impossible Princess era (which I LOVE!) and she was amazing. That was back when St Kilda was a much more beloved destination for most of us. Life was all Dog’s Bar and Cicciolina and Big Mouth and Tolarno and Spuntino and Madame JoJo. We’d drive down from our flat in Hawthorn, park somewhere on the Boulevard and wander to our faves. Gosh weren’t those The Secret Life of Us days?! Must rewatch that for the third time, actually …

Getting dressed: Black op shopped jeans, chocolate brown long sleeved tee, grey knitted t-shirt vest sort of thing, socks with dogs on them, Dr Marten black brogues (from Saver’s Preston).

I dug my old Fitbit out of the drawer last night not expecting it to work as it had been through the washing machine and into the dryer even but guess what? It did work charged really quickly and I clapped it onto my wrist and I’m going to wear it now because I’m approaching this whole illness pacing thing a bit more seriously I realise that I need data to work out. Of course this morning I subsequently had to go and walk around the block in the foggy fog and that was nice even though it was freezing. I listened to my audiobook and I did my usual noticing and came home feeling I don’t know just better even though it was the slowest walk in history so that’s positive right?

Spread Joy.

I watched the final two eps of Kylie and gosh it was so nostalgic and sad and joyful, wasn’t it? And really that just goes to show that sadness and joy often coexist, it’s just that one is sometimes so loud it obscures the other.

Also Jason Donovan was less than kind, I think. I wonder if he regrets that, watching it back. Nick Cave on the other hand was generous and unpretentious, contextualising Kylie’s cultural legacy eloquently. Watch and learn, JD.

Final flush of summer at a garden around the corner from me

Saturday 23 May

I saw all my kids yesterday, unexpectedly, as well as June (and Paul, Rin’s partner and Indi, Ari’s partner.) We hung out at Rin’s house and chattered and played with June and it was perfect. After months of saying different things like ‘wah ee ee’ and ‘what ee et‘, June has triumphed and can now say ‘what is it?’ almost perfectly. She must be so pleased after all these weeks of saying it HER way and not being quite there. I don’t know how babies manage, really. It must be so frustrating when you brain is ahead of your body. Anyway, ‘what is it?‘ really sums up her attitude to the world. So interested. Always gasping and pointing and waving and nodding and clapping. It’s the very cutest thing I ever did see.

After that I came home and rested, then made a wok full of noodles (Pad See Ew) and settled in for dinner and Kylie (in bed!)

Not sure what’s on for today, but it was crumpets and honey in the morning, alongside a giant cup of tea, followed by vitamins and electrolytes etc. It’s a glamorous life.

Getting dressed: Black op shopped jeans, pink Uniqlo skivvy, blue-green knit from op shop (formerly from Target), fair isle socks, Blundstone boots

I forgot to test the automatic cat feeder yesterday, but I set it to go off at 4am and when I got up it had worked and the cats had eaten half of their very early breakfast and were lounging on the couch, rather than beating down my door, so that’s an absolute win. Goal!

In the mid-morning, I popped in on Rin and June, detouring for a ten minute pop-in at the op shop where I found a few vintage yarncraft books and three board books for June. She was very pleased with the board books. We read one three times, the other two once each. A morning well-spent.

I started watching The Secret Life of Us again too. It’s on ABC iView, in case you want to do that too. No pressure.

Pip’s School of Taylor Swift is in session … (Op shopped books!)

Monday 25 May

It’s twelve degrees out and somehow feels colder in my house, possibly due to the concrete walls. It’s a veritable fridge in here. No matter though, because that’s easily fixed with a cosy dressing gown, a burst of the heater and a hot cup of tea. All is well!

It’s a good morning for a slow start, I think. I’m tempted to go for a little walk …

… I did not go for a little walk. I made breakfast (hummus and tomato on toast) and then did some reading, before getting dressed and going up to the shops for fresh bread rolls and a few other bits and bobs.

Getting dressed: Black op shop jeans, chocolate brown long sleeved tee, blue-green op shopped Target jumper, fair isle socks and Blundstones.

I am going to try and do some crochet today, too. Last week it was hurting my shoulder joints, so hopefully that’s settled after some rest and I can get going again. Fingers crossed, because I have a bunch of different projects I want to chip away at.

Op shopped tiny silverware and a quick Pad See Ew

Tuesday 26 May

Did you ever read The Salt Path? Or watch the film? Probably you’ve heard of the associated controversy surrounding the story, and I have too and am thus finally getting around to listening to the podcast about the whole thing. I began this morning, as I walked around the block and spied a plump little bumblebee dipping into a hedge of lavender. So far, so good. (Both the podcast and the bee, I am guessing.)

Breakfast was baked beans on toast, just to mix things up. It was so foggy and chilly and drizzly when I woke, so a cosy meal felt like a must.

Neale Daniher died yesterday, so my boys will be feeling the weight of the chatter about MND/ALS in the coming weeks. Their dad Cameron died from the same illness in 2022, after a fairy quick decline. It’s always good to hear about the MND fundraising, and also painful to be jettisoned back to those final days, that final day. The blue beanies an instant reminder, the efforts to raise awareness so affirming and also grief-sparking. Hopefully we will travel through this time as best we can, until the next time.

Getting dressed: Op shopped black jeans, striped thermal long-sleeved tee, camel-coloured H&M jumper, fair isle socks and Blundstones

Two of the kids were keen to catch up today, so we did that and it was super cute. I bought June some hand puppets at the op shop and she was very interested in how they moved and kept yanking them off my hands and then trying to put them back on. She particularly liked the monkey one (‘ooh oohh ahh ahh’), but there was also a tiger and an elephant, two other favourites from her zoo trips with her mum and dad.

These are the plates I found at the op shop …

I picked up two dinner plates (non-matching) and three side-plates (matching) from Saver’s too and that was pleasing. Plus a French pastry cookbook and a bundle of little spoons and forks.

After all that I came home and ate a big bowl of tuna salad and rested on the laurels of a lovely day.

A few recent op shop finds …

Wednesday 27 May

Eid Mubarak, for those who celebrate! Our local shops were SO BUSY this morning, due to this celebration. Lots of people carrying lots of food, and a couple of runaway sheep in the Facebook group (poor thing!)

I woke at 6 and fed the pets, made tea and snuck back to bed for some mindless phone scrolling until 7. I know, I know. It’s unhealthy etc. I don’t do it as much anymore, so the occasional treat is OK, I think. Breakfast was baked beans on toast, then I got dressed and went to the aforementioned shops, as well as stopping in at the Salvos for ten minutes. I found a few good books, so that was worthwhile.

Thursday 28 May

Dear reader, we had 24 hours of no internet at our house, so that was quite terrible/delightful.  It’s back on now after the tech came to fix the soggy and corroded cables, so that’s pleasing as can be.

Our favourite little bookworm. Note the pleased ‘Arthur fist’ as the helicopter blades are spinning!

Friday 29 May

I’ve started new medication today, so I’m brim full of hope that they’re going to help me pep up a bit. Fingers, eyes and heart crossed!

Up at seven today and not feeling very breakfast-y, so I made a ham and cheese roll and forced that down. Somehow I feel like I’m in catch up mode today, due to the lack of internet yesterday and the night before. How interesting it is that we are so reliant on it to keep us connected and on track. That said, I did do some tidying I might have set aside due to not having the distraction of blogs and news sites etc. Maybe I need to have a no internet day each week? No. Perish the thought. I really rely on it for keeping boredom at bay when I have my more unwell days. As you were! Pay no attention to me!

This morning I did some reading and research for my newsletter, and watched a couple of gentle YouTube videos too. My feet are freezing. I think I need to dig out my UGGs to keep the chill at bay because it’s only going to get colder.

Getting dressed: Levis button-fly 501s, thermal striped long-sleeve tee, H&M camel coloured jumper, fair isle socks, Merry People Bobby boots

I had to drive over to Ari’s to pick up his house keys (their car is out of action) as they are going away for the weekend and their cats need my attention. So I did that and then nipped back home to catch my breath, eat a bowl of vegetable curry and settle in to some telly watching and crocheting. Perfect.

In the afternoon, I made this Italian Pot Roast, but I left it in the oven for too long and it was a titch singed. I still ate it though, with a spoonful of mash and much optimistic determination. I’m going to revisit it more attentively next week.

The last summer flowers from the back yard

Saturday 30 May

Gosh. Look at the year absolutely fanging by. The older you get the faster it goes, as my Nan used to say. Breakfast was back to the old standard of hummus and tomato toast, then a chapter of this book, a very hot shower and a very fast episode of getting dressed. I’m going to go and feed Ari and Indi’s cats this morning and then grab some supplies and head home. Hopefully I can shake off this fatigue without setting aside too much of the day for rest.

Getting dressed: Levis button-fly 501s, striped long-sleeve tee, blue-green jumper, fair isle socks, Blundstones

I’m planning to catch up on some reading and crafting … and to make something good to eat. Perhaps pop in on Rin and June if they don’t have other plans. So far, so good.

Also? I finished The Walkers podcast (the one about The Salt Path) and it was really interesting and perplexing. I’ve started another now, about Lucy Letby.

Monday 1 June

It’s JUNE. The first month of winter in Australia and other southern hemi parts. The sky is super blue this morning, the clouds drifting airily and the neighbour’s tree is looking less leafy by the day.

Getting dressed: Old op-shopped Kmart jeans, striped tee, H&M camel-coloured jumper, fair isle socks, Blundstones

It was a quiet and blustery day, so I mostly watched old episodes of Bondi Rescue on 7Plus (crying when a new-to-Australia man drowned) and drank hot tea with a scone on the side.

Soda Bread! From the Donal Cheddar and Thyme recipe.

Tuesday 2 June

Feeling creaky today, but hoping for the best! I made a roast chicken dinner last night, so breakfast was Bubble and Squeak and a cup of tea, which was an excellent treat. I have a quiet day planned: a very short ALDI pop-in, then home for some reading and resting and crafting. Yesterday it rained for most of the day, so we’ve fully clicked into cosy mode and I suspect some sort of fruit crumble is on the horizon, friends. The more Nanna-ish the better (ie no nuts and seeds … just depression era kinda crumble, for old times’ sake.)

The book I’m reading has me wanting to make Soda Bread, so I might add that to the list for this week too. And a pot of pumpkin soup too, I think.

… so the day did not go as planned. Rin messaged so I popped over to have a chat and play with June and that was perfect. In the late afternoon I made pumpkin soup, soda bread and an apple crumble in quick succession, so the fridge and pantry are stocked for the next few days. The soda bread turned out very delicious, dotted with cheddar and thyme. Yum. I ate a serving of the crumble watching Bondi Rescue and figured that was peak cosiness on an early winter evening.

Pumpkin Soup, Soda Bread and Women’s Weekly Apple Crumble

Wednesday 3 June

A little sleep in and up at half seven. Chippy was mewing at the door, awaiting his second breakfast so I sorted that out quick smart, as well as snacks for Bruno and Peach, then made a cup of tea and retreated from the cold for 15 minutes back in bed.

Breakfast was sourdough with cream cheese, spring onions and tomato. Something different, friends! It was delicious and comforting and yum.

L/ Yesterday at Rin’s house and R/ today’s delicious breakfast

I’ve got some tidying and busying about the house to do today, as the rental safety inspection people come tomorrow and they always take photos. Sigh. Renting, eh? It’s just one long series of 3 monthly surveillance episodes.

I’m going to publish this post today, before I get bogged down in stacking craft supplies in old wardrobes and putting laundry away and things …

See you back here soon, dear friends. Thank you for the reading and the support and the comments and the ideas you always share so generously. Smooches.