Monday 22 July
New week, same old me. But actually, I am trying some before-breakfast slow walks this week, just to see if they make me feel better or worse. I call this ‘health by trial and error’ as it’s pretty impossible to know what will help with this illness (ME/CFS, which is a post-viral illness which is similar to but predates Long Covid).
I walked a circuitous route around the local streets, noting that everything was very green but flowers were mostly tucked away and waiting for warmer days. The big sky was especially beautiful soaring above all the waking houses, with pinks and blues and gold daubed across the clouds. Very bolstering.
I listened to the audiobook I started yesterday (The Mystery of Mrs Christie by Marie Benedict – so far, so good, although as with many book beginnings it is exposition heavy and the POV’s ‘voice’ takes some getting used to).
Then I came home for breakfast which was a two egg omelette with kimchi and a big cup of tea.
Now I’m at my desk – drinking a Bonsoy latte – preparing to edit and upload my Monday blog post and then dive into a block of study. At some point today I’m hoping to watch Ammonite* as recommended by Ruby Granger. And also the Love Island USA finale (sorry, not sorry!)
I ripped through five chapters of the book I’m close-reading for my Honours, then clocked out for the time being, watching the LI Finale while sipping on genmai cha and dong some crochet.
Lunch was spaghetti bolognese (thanks to the leftover bolognese and Max cooking a pot of pasta.)
Dinner was a big salad with tuna and cherry tomatoes and lettuce, cucumber, corn, parmesan and more.
I read several chapters of Angela’s Ashes before bed, falling asleep quite early and then waking up at 3am. Yuck. Luckily I fell back to sleep after an hour or so, so everything was peachy in the end.
*I did start watching Ammonite and then I realised I had already seen it. Excellent costumes/settings and wonderful cast!
Good Things
Jane Austen’s favourite SAVOURY TOAST!
A candle that smells like freshly baked croissants!
In love with these knitted washcloths. So cute! Making some.
How to make Salad Cream.
Five healing books to inspire gentle transformation. (They are beautiful, especially the Amy Tan one – above)
Incredible paintings. Chock-full of detail.
Five pick-me-ups.
Broccoli and Fontina croquettes. Yum!
Speaking of which, the favourite condiments of ten Australian chefs.
Let’s make a banana and blueberry loaf?
This HOUSEBOAT. Gosh. So gorgeous. What a dream.
Clotilde’s Raspberry and Yoghurt Cake.
These paintings are nuts/great.
Paddington in Peru is on the way!
Garlic butter, zucchini and tomato pasta.
The patchwork quilts of author Lucy Boston. (Found via Persephone)
Six excellent-looking toastie recipes.
Key lime pie cookies.
Maria Popova’s Audubon bird poetry. (below)
I love the curtain-heavy kitchen in this post. (below)
Interesting things
Women’s health sidelined (as usual).
The coquette trend is all over TikTok. Is it something to worry about?
Will Taylor Swift endorse Kamala Harris?
This paper on chronic pain/illness was heartbreaking but relatable.
Tuesday 23 July
I’m heading out this moring to see one of the kiddos, which will be ace. Breakfast was toast with hummus, cheese, ham and tomato (untoasted) and lots of salt and pepp. I watched a YouTube video by a gorgeous Australian girl and promptly found out about Milanote (which I had not heard of). I’m going to set up a board for the English Paper Piecing I started last year when I was mostly stuck in bed and doing a lot of hand sewing. Hopefully my newly set-up Milanote board will encourage me to get back to work on it. First steps is to find a contrast fabric and a backing fabric. I’m going to go second-hand for these, so it might take a wee while to find the right kind of thing.
Also, I found out about an idea called ‘underconsumption’ and it’s so interesting. It is what it says on the box, side-stepping the current voracious ‘buy this’ trend and choosing less, choosing well, choosing sustainable. I know that many of you reading here already live this way, but it’s interesting that it’s getting a bit of a rebrand, right? Expect to read much more on this in the mainstream media – ‘branded’ this way – in the future. Which is good, right? I think so.
Getting dressed: Wide-legged jeans (op shopped), Seasalt tunic, Fair isle socks, fair isle cardigan, pink Merry People boots.
I visited the kiddo and then we went to his local cafe to pick up a take away coffee and also to Saver’s. I found a couple of dresses and some jeans and a shirt, plus a few books. I was pleased. Most of my clothes are SO OLD and wearing out a bit, so some new/second-hand things are very much needed.
The books were:
Knitting for Children by Tessa Watts Russell
Indian Food Made Easy by Anjum Anand
John Olsen: A Recipe for Art by Leanne Santoro with Deborah Edwards
Avoca Soups by Hugo Arnold
Tart Magazine (Issue One)
Fabio’s Italian Kitchen by Fabio Viviani
Once In a House On Fire by Andrea Ashworth
Richard Scarry’s Busy Busy World
There’s Rosemary, There’s Rue by Lady Fortescue
Perfume from Provence by Lady Fortescue
Garden Open Today by Beverley Nichols
(I spent about $35 in total on them. Oops.)
The jeans were second hand green carpenter pants (originally from Supré, if you can believe it.) They are so comfy. I love them so much. They remind me of the 2000s and I never thought I’d be back into those looks again, but here we are. There are a few pairs up on DePop at the moment too, in case you are into the idea of green carpenter pants like me.
L/ Richard Scarry’s Busy, Busy World R/ Bill Granger recipe Sticky Date Pudding
Wednesday 24th July
My study break ended on Monday and today we have an online meeting with my honours class. I’m looking VERY MUCh forward to getting fully back into the game. I have felt a little bit lost with the directive to keep working but also rest when needed over the 6-7 weeks.
I woke up and pulled on a jumble of clothes so I could go for a slow walk around the block first thing. I listened to an audiobook and took a few photos on my ramble. (It’s this book). Once home again I made tea and some sardines on toast, and watched a video about a woman who’s bought a gorgeous house in Sweden and spends her days taking photos. Her shots are amazing and Sweden looks so beautiful. I would love to live somewhere more rural and forestry and cottage-y like that. Perhaps you are just the same?
Getting dressed: Second-hand green carpenter jeans, grey skivvy, second-hand oversized chambray shirt, Fair isle socks, pink Merry People boots.
It’s very windy today and for some reason the internet is super patchy. Hopefully that will remedy itself because is there anything more irritating than buffering? Well. I am sure there is, but you know what I mean.
I put a pot of chicken curry on to simmer away for our dinner and the pets were very pleased because they all got a little treat before the chicken went into the curry.
Lunch was a big bowlful of the vegetable curry I made last night.
Our study meeting went well and it is a relief to be back to some more structured study days after a month and a bit of dipping in and out. Everyone in our study group is so smart and funny. It’s a delight. That said I am freaking out a tiny bit that we are down to the final semester of Honours already. I hope I can do a good job of my creative project. I hope I can write a very academic-y exegesis. Gulp.
I did a couple of hours of study before the meeting, working through some more chapters of one of the novels I’m studying. It’s slow-going this close-reading, but I am feeling like I am actually getting somewhere
Thursday 25 July
It was the windiest night in the history of windy nights last night. Well. I’m making that up, but it sure seemed that way. It felt like the roof was going to blow off and as I lay in bed, I pondered what I’d do if it did. Secure the pets in the garage? Wrap valuables in garbage bags to keep the rain out? That’s as far as I got, reader. It’s okay though, because the roof did not blow off and I woke up to a less blustery but still threatening morning.
Breakfast was a slice of grainy toast (the ALDI seedy sourdough is so good!) with tomato, Havarti and a slice of bacon on top. Lots of salt and pepp. A little kewpie and hot sauce. Yum. Tea on the side. Then coffee. Perfection.
Getting dressed: Grey long sleeved tee, black leggings, op shopped ASOS patchwork dress, fair isle socks, UGG boots.
I want to go and get some cotton or bamboo yarn today and a pair of knitting needles. I’m going to make one of the kids some of those washcloths I linked to. I have a few balls of cotton here, but they are not really what I’m after. KIND OF worried to drive in the bad weather, but also don’t want to be a wimp. Decisions, decisions.
I did go out, reader. I went to Spotlight and bought some cotton-blend yarn. After that it was home for lunch (vegetable curry) and some study and then beginning to knit the first of the washcloths I’m planning to make.
On the trip over to Preston I listened to a true crime podcast Rin recommended to me. It’s this one. Gosh.
Dinner was a big salad (the same one as last night because I had all the things for another go around.)
Friday 26 July
The internet was out for a couple of hours this morning. Honestly, what a time-waster that is. Am I the sort of person that just gets on with other things while it’s getting sorted out? No. Rather, I’m the sort of person who worries and fiddles and frets, thinking about what I could be doing and half-heartedly working at offline tasks. I’m the sort of person that keeps checking if it’s back on, has a little episode of conniptions when it’s not, goes back to doing something I had not planned on doing at this time like laundry or washing up or looking at a book. Then, when the signal’s back and the lights are merrily beaming on the modem, it’s like a celebration … it’s like a birthday. I may even have let out the sort of “Woo-hooo!!” usually reserved for Real Housewives on a Mexico trip. Honestly reader. I am the worst.
Getting dressed: Second-hand Supre jeans, grey skivvy, chambray shirt, fair isle socks, Merry People pink boots.
After we (Max) got the internet working, I got dressed and he went out and then I went out. I had been craving a danish pastry all week, so I went to Sacca’s and had a rhubarb crumble danish with a latte and I felt pleased. It was so nice to be out having a little treat. I just sat there for twenty minutes watching TikToks and eating my danish very slowly with a knife and fork. I never go to cafes anymore, so this was out of character and also reminded me of all the things I used to be able to do and then I got a bit sooky but I snapped out of it. I picked up a few things at Sacca’s (half a wombok to make kimchi with, a can of tuna, some shaved parm, some salad seasoning – this one – a cucumber) and then came straight back home to do a bit of tidying and then sit down and write to you.
Now I’m going to watch the new Miranda video and drink my coffee and do a little bit of knitting before I dive into a few hours study again.
Oh and also? I made a Sticky Date Pudding today (see photo up above next to Richard Scarry!) – this time using Bill Granger’s recipe which is quite a clever one. It calls for the dates to be chopped and then simmered in water, finally adding the butter so that it all melts together. Then you add this mix to the dry ingredients. I chopped the dates in my Nutribullet WITH the water. That worked perfectly and saved me the boring horror of chopping sticky dates by hand. I do not like doing that.
Plus? I made a mistake in my knitting last night and I am many rows ahead now. Sigh. It’s only a wash cloth, so I will knit on. Still makes me a bit cross, though. The next one will be better. But this one is still good. I swear.
Fawkner street views
Saturday 27 July
Cold. Cold. SO COLD again. Breakfast was a sort of improvised savoury toast with bits and bobs of cheese from the fridge, along with a cup of tea.
Getting dressed: Jeans, grey skivvy, blue jumper, Fair isle socks, Birkenstocks.
After that some tidying and then a quick visit to one of the kids, driving back home in the pouring rain to whack a late lunch in the oven (a chicken and veggie tray bake). I finished reading Angela’s Ashes, knitted a few rows, watched some telly and tidied some more. The I chatted to my sister for half an hour or so, made a quick kimchi with the cabbage I’d salted yesterday and then settled in with a cup of tea to write to you.
The rain has eased off a bit and the backyard has that late afternoon glow that only a midwinter rainy day can bring. So pretty.
Angela’s Ashes? It’s such a wonderful and sad and funny book, isn’t it? I think Light a Penny Candle is equally brilliant, albeit fiction as opposed to memoir and detailing the feminine experience, rather than boyhood. That weighty sense of Catholic guilt seeps through the pages of both, as do the struggles poverty brings and varioius beautiful descriptions of hard-won comfort, family, friendship and food.
Left: Veggie curry with tofu Right: Big salad
Sunday 28 July
Toast with scrambly egg, avocado and tomato for breakfast with a big dollop of a favourite spicy sauce. After that I got dressed and nipped to ALDI for some supplies – things to make meatballs, things to make napoli sauce, things to make a roast chicken, food for the pets, salad things.
After that I came home and did some doodling about on Pinterest, watched this Sky McAlpine home tour and bought a couple of dress patterns from Spotlight (they are having a 2 patterns for $15 sale on all their paper patterns). I got this one and this one and the discount was huge (plus an extra markdown for being a VIP member). No doubt these will languish in my craft stash for some time, but its good to have them on hand. I have some cute pinafore/apron patterns in there too which I am yet to crack.
Getting dressed: Supre pants (again!), striped long sleeved top, Fair isle cardigan, fair isle socks (again!), Merry People pink boots (again!) In the cold weather I am such a creature of habit with the outfits. Whatever’s in reach and cosy is what I wear.
Slow reading – I Leap Over the Wall
So sorry I had put this aside for so long. My health has not been up to scratch and it’s been hard to work out what to do and when, if that makes sense. Anyway, all that aside, let’s read along again and find out where Monica is at ….
You might remember that we left Monica working as a sort of Land Girl in two adjacent households? Mrs Batley’s and Mrs Cornish’s? Let’s go on …
On page sixty, Monica stops her story in its tracks to belatedly and properly introduceMrs Cornish, who she says is a Nature Mystic (something I would very much like to be in another lifetime.)
“She had read widely, thought deeply, lived intensely: as a result, her mind was a storehouse filled with lovely and unexpected things.” (p. 60)
Mrs Cornish introduces Monica to Agatha Christie, Mr Fortune, Norah Waln’s House of Exile, Siegfried Sasdsoon and the work of artist Peter Scott (below)
“After supper we sat together, I fighting miserably against the ogre of sleep until it completely overwhelmed me; she talking, always so delightfully, of birds, dogs, her grandchildren, books, flowers and the well-beloved cows.” (p 64)
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) Monica found herself collapsed in a laneway after one particularly exhausting week. She was happened upon and helped home by a burly old gent and was ushered into a hot bath where she contemplated her future and decided she did not have the constitution of a manual labourer.
We’ll find out her next metier in the next slow reading instalment!
Painting by Sir Peter Scott
Below Left: Savoury toast R/ Meatballs!
After my outing and some reading, I made the meatballs. This time I used a recipe from an op shopped book called Fabio’s Italian Kitchen written by Fabio Viviani. The recipe is online here. We are having ours with bread, rather than pasta. Just because. They look to have turned out very deliciously. (Next time I would fry them off before putting them in the sauce, however the book’s recipe suggested putting them straight into the sauce and simmering. They felt a bit blonde and tender doing it the way the recipe suggests.)
I’ve been trying to avoid the end-of-year financial scramble, especially since I dont know what I will be doing then (my uni course finishes in November, which means my Austudy payments finish then and I have to work out what I am able to do with illness in mind. It’s hard to know how I will be going then. It’s a very insecure feeling, I tell ya.) During the week I bought the kids’ prezzies using Afterpay already, so at least that’s crossed off the list and I don’t have to worry. I’m going to try and tuck a tiny bit of money away each fortnight for other festive costs too. Finger’s crossed. Argh.
Pals … what have you been watching lately on the streaming services or TV? I’m in a bit of a rut. My sister and I were talking about it yesterday, how we are just watching stuff that’s not really engaging us. I did remember to tell her about No Offence (which was the last addictive thing I watched) but apart from that and Fake, it’s been slim pickings. What are your thoughts? Any bright ideas?
xx Pip
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Thanks to your blog post, I read Perfume from Provence and absolutely loved it! I’ve since bought a few of her other books to read, but meanwhile, became curious about Peggy Fortescue and downloaded the ebook of a biography called Escape to Provence by Maureen Emerson, about Peggy’s life after her husband passed away, still living in Provence with her good friend Elizabeth Starr. It is the most mind-blowing story of these two incredible women before and during WW2, with a cast of very colourful (many of them famous) characters passing through, like the artist Rex Whistler and his reluctant muse Caroline Paget. It’s funny, inspiring and heartbreaking too. I can’t believe their story is so little known and hasn’t become a movie or a miniseries. It also needs a better biography. The author doesn’t acknowledge that this is a largely queer story of love, courage and friendship. I would never have known about these amazing women if it wasn’t for your post. Thank you!!
Thanks for the washcloths link! You inspired me to swap my scrolling with knitting. I’ve just used up some yarns in light blues and did an okay I cord with my normal needles. Not as bright as yours so next stop Spotlight (thanks for the frugal tip!).
Enjoyed your slow reading episode (no apology needed!), how good is that description of fighting sleep while listening to someone? Took me back down memory lane ?
Hope your weekend is going well Pip xx
Thanks for reminding me about Light a Penny Candle, love Maeve and love that book. I also really love Marian Keyes, but Im sure you know about her.
Tania in Hawthorn
Also some of my fav recently watched shows. Somebody Somewhere, Julia, Bad sisters,
Love your posts so much Pip. As a fellow chronic illness person , I seem to fall in the trap sometimes of wanting to do more , then realising I can’t and then feeling a bit down in the dumps. Your blog reminds me there are good little things all around. I think I’ll give the Bill granger sticky date pudding recipe a go . After you recommended Stephanie Alexander sticky toffee pudding a few weeks ago my partner and I said we will never try another sticky date recipe again as we are now S.A sticky toffee pud for lifers but I may be dip my toe in the Bill granger camp 🙂
We’ve been rewatching Spooks on SBS On Demand which is strangely comforting. Blue Lights is also fab. Have you seen Slow Horses? Brilliant.
Five healing books to inspire gentle transformation! I clicked on the link and read the post, adding several books to my list on Good Reads. I then clicked on a link at the bottom of the post to another post and did exactly the same thing. This carried on for a while while I went backwards through her posts. Thank you so much for the link, I have now found a lovely new blog.
I recently watched This Town on SBS. It’s set in 1981 in Birmingham and centres on a young man and his friends who form a ska/two-tone band. Very nostalgic viewing from me as I lived in Birmingham at that time and the soundtrack is great.
I love Lucy Bostons Patchwork of the crosses and have the book. It is on my to-do-one-day list but I would make it using inklingo.
I’m always happy when I see you in my inbox. And always, always reminded how valuable doing nice things for oneself is. The food you make, the cups of tea, the little trips to the oppie the gentle things you watch and read bring me so much delight. And inspiration.
Hi Pip,
I have just finished bingeing The Marvelous Mrs Maisel on SBS On Demand. I loved it – a bit over the top at times but …..Jewish, New York upper west side, 50s – 60s timeframe with fashion, decor, attitudes, politics. Gorgeous colours and lighting. If you haven’t seen it already maybe give it a go.
I really look forward to your posts, thank you for finding the energy and inspiration to keep at it. I find myself using your activities and cooking and overall pleasant doings to motivate myself to just do a little something pip-ish to enhance my days. Go well xx
Doing something a little pippish – what a lovely thing to say, Margie!
Watching ER here on iview! I was about 12 when it.first aired. Enjoying the nostalgic 90s vibes! Interesting to see how many things have changed since then, and how many things haven’t.
Hi Pip, Have you thought about going onto Disability? It’s not easy to get but you can’t work like this. I am sure you medical team would support this.