Dailies: Desert Island walks, white bread, White Lotus, dressing gowns, that rat again

Sunday 2nd March

I took the day off from writing yesterday, partly because I wanted to sit on the couch and crochet and partly because I was feeling poorly. Thankfully today is cool in Melbourne with a little bit of rain even, to help the garden out. I made some jam toast for breakfast and had it with tea and the non-stolen Sunday newspaper (hooray!) After that I finished Lost Lake (hooray!) and then started a new little bonnet for the baby. I made a couple yesterday and I am officially addicted and looking to branch out to other patterns some time very soon.

I planted some seedlings out in the garden beds, once the rain had abated. Primulas, foxgloves, poppies and lupin. Hopefully the next few days will be cool enough for them to get their roots in and reacclimatise. I have some others to plant too but I ran out of steam. Perhaps tomorrow?

Dinner will be a very daggy Australian Women’s Weekly slow cooker recipe, sped up via the pressure cooker setting of my multi cooker – Lamb Chops with French Onion Gravy and mashed potato and peas (adapted recipe at bottom of this post). While it’s cooking I will finish off and publish this week’s Feeling A Bit Sh*t newsletter. I’m also going to roast a bunch of cut-price red peppers I got at Sacca’s for $2.

Monday 3 March

Last night’s daggy dinner was delicious. Possibly the nicest way to have lamb chops, I think. The pressure cooker magicked them into tender deliciousness. Also the gravy was excellent even though I skipped adding leeks and celery (did not have them in the fridge) and just sliced up one onion. Even ignoring the chop, there’s really little nicer than mash and gravy and peas on a cooler evening. It’s cooler again this morning. Teasing that autumnal weather yet again, but we well know that there are still a few scorchers up Mother Nature’s sleeve before the true essence of autumn kicks in.

I’m going to rest today. And make another bonnet. And work on some knitting. That’s the plan. Possibly get some seeds sown and some more seedlings in, although I think I will be all out of energy before I get to those.

Good things

The incredible Golden Age painter Rachel Ruysch is having a big moment.
I always love Susan Branch’s cheery blog. I devoured this slowly with a cup of tea.
These pineapple cupcakes would be delicious!
A great review of a Claire Keegan title.
This posh house is full of lovely-to-look-at things.
Floret Flowers made a film with a little help from their friends.
“My agitation is eased by the natural world blooming all around me.”
Chipotle White Bean Tomato Soup looks good, right?
No Taste Like Home looks so good. Straight to the watch list.
Cute house alert! Colour galore!
This All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce seems like an excellent one to have in the fridge.
Before the Kardashians, there was the Gabor sisters.
This Mexican sandwich looks delicious.
How to make Thai Fried Eggs.

I got up this morning and put some SOCKS on to ward off the chill. Then I worked through my usual morning habit bundle, made tea and let the dogs back inside with the promise of a Milk Arrowroot biscuit each. I watched this gentle YouTube while I drank my tea.

Readers. I went for A WALK. It was cool enough and nice enough to take a 15 minute stroll about the neighbourhood so Idid that while listening to Desert Island Discs. I’m going to try to do that most days now that things are cooling down. I’m going to call this Desert Island Walks. Today I listened to an episode I heard recommended on BBC Radio4 earlier this morning. It was the one with Mina Smallman. She’s experienced so much hardship, yet has somehow managed to stay afloat. It must have been impossibly difficult.

I nipped to ALDI in the mid-morning to get things for a ragu and some ground coffee (dark roast) and toilet paper (double length) and pet food. It’s such a lovely day out there, not too hot nor too chilly. A dad was leaving as I arrived, his two little kiddos each nibbling at one finger of a KitKat in earnest. So cute.

I’m going to make the ragu later in the pressure cooker (clearly I’m going a bit mad for it) and also make a loaf of bread. The one I made last week lasted so perfectly and was just the right size for a Goldilocks like me. (Recipe for this loaf – made in a bread maker – further down in this post).

Tuesday 4th March

The morning is sunny and crisp, friends. The dogs went out for a dewy romp and then came back in for a biscuit and a snooze. It’s quite the life, really. I made tea and fed the cats, let one out (the old ex-stray) and patted the one that stayed in. Then I retreated to my desk to skim the news and do some reading and write to you. I might go for a walk in a minute?

… Reader, I did go for a walk. I listened to the Nick Cave episode of Desert Island Discs which was great. I only got halfway through, so will listen to the other half later … in the garden perhaps. Or tomorrow even? When I got back I made breakfast which was hummus and tomatoes from the garden on toast (made with yesterday’s bread machine bread.) It was tres delicious, pals.

I mostly rested today but I did manage to write a piece for my other newsletter, Wallflower Cordial, about the health benefits of crafting. Just in case you want to read that.

Wednesday 5 March

It was hot overnight and is still warm this morning. I was up just before 7 to complete the usual tasks. Then I put my sneakers on and went for a slow Desert Island Walk, listening to the rest of the Nick Cave episode and it was super interesting. Now to chose an ep for the next walk … There are so many to choose from. I loved this quote from the Nick Cave ep:

Hope is optimism with a broken heart.

Breakfast today was cheese and tomato on toast (grilled) and a big cup of tea. Then I started watching the first episode of the Meghan Sussex show. I can already see all the things people are going to criticise her for when viewing it and it makes me feel sad for her. The fact is you can find fault in anyone and anything if you look hard enough … but why would you want to do that? In the first ep she’s making bath salts and little bouquets and cute snacks for her friend. Why you’d deem that upsetting I have no clue, but I know people will. Don’t be like them.

Today I need to make a birthday cake for my Eldest and I’m going to make a potato curry to have for dinner. I’m going to do a non-usual one. One with a nice gravy to have with roti, rather than my standard dry-fry potato curry. No shade to that one, I just feel like a bit of sauce, you know?

Thursday 6 March

There’s lots to do today because the kids and partners are coming over for an early (one day early) birthday dinner for Rin. The theme is Mexican and I’m going to light the charcoal BBQ and cook some corn and other bits and bobs on it. I Afterpay-ed Rin a Kip & Co Miffy dressing gown for her birthday, which I know she is going to love. All new mums need a very good dressing gown, I think. I am also going to give her the bonnets I made for the baby (who will arrive late March/early April, we think.)

Friday 7 March

Yesterday was a much busier day than usual, which means today is a much more painful day than usual. Stupid fibromyalgia. Anyway. I am glad for a quieter day to recover and try to get back to my usual baseline of ‘feeling a bit sh*t but able to do a couple of things each day’. I borrowed a book from the library which I am keen to get further into. (It’s Inheritance by Jenny Eclair.) It’s just after seven now, so I am going to take a hot bath to try and soak away the woes and set myself up for a slow morning. Not that I would always wish for a slow morning, but that’s the way the cookie crumbles with chronic illness.

Shall I tell you a little bit about last night’s dinner? We had charcoal grilled steaks and chicken drumsticks. Also corn. I marinated them all in separate mixes in the morning – mostly garlic, chipotle sauce, tomato paste for the corn, oregano, cumin, s and p, olive oil. I lit the BBQ in the late afternoon and Ari cooked everything on there for me because he is now the BBQ king of the family. We also had guacamole, homemade tomato salsa, rice with beans n corn, chipotle roasted potatoes … and lettuce, grated cheese and taco shells. I made a flourless chocolate cake for the birthday cake. It’s the Elizabeth David recipe, but simplified slightly. It’s a family favourite and has been for 35 plus years, now especially so because some family members have gluten sensitivities.

Also? I made some bonnets for the baby over the past few days, so I gave those to Rin too and she was so delighted with them. I’m pleased to be doing the granny things in the right ways, so far.

This morning I made tea and watched a YouTube video or two,  just to set the tone for the day. Then I did a bit of a brain dump into my notebook to work out the things I need to and want to do over the next few days. I really want to do some gardening, but that will have to wait for another more feel good day. I’m going to write our Book Club Meeting post today, I think. Get that discussion started. And I have a craft project to make too, also for Book Club. I have planned it all and gathered my materials, but I need to actually get started. (I had planned to get this done sooner than now, but reality intervened!)

Saturday 8th March

Readers, yesterday was quite the write off. I mostly lay down due to illness but it was a good reminder that the usual pace of my life is the right one and that doing anything different will cause (even more) pain and exhaustion (than usual). Oh well. You can’t do nothing for the rest of your life, right? Sometimes you have to have a nice family dinner, no matter the consequences.

We’re into another heatwave that looks like it will endure for at least seven more days: 35°, 35°, 35°, 35°, 31°, 34°. I keep placating myself with the idea that by the time my birthday comes around on the 20th the hot weather will leave us behind, but I am starting to doubt that now. There is milder weather in the west later in the week, so perhaps those highs in Victoria will dissipate once the weekend hits? I HOPE SO! It’s just too hot to have a nice life.

I went for a walk around the block to wake myself up a bit, then nipped to ALDI for some supplies and after all that I came home and made a little stack of Vegemite toast and another cup of tea. I’m feeling a lot better than I did yesterday, thank goodness, so hopefully I can stay out of bed today?

I”m going to make chicken with French onion sauce and mash and peas for dinner. Even though it’s a hot day … The chicken was marked down to $6 and I have spuds and peas and French onion gravy things at home, so it’s a hearty dinner without too much of an outlay … which is a win in my books.

Monday 10 March

Readers. I was just sitting at my desk, reading the news and something caught my eye. I looked up and a plump rat ran along the top of the fence, glancing back at me as it disappeared out of sight. Was it the same rat as a week or two ago? I have no idea. He was quite cute – if you ignore his rattiness – and very fast.

Yesterday was, you guessed it, hot. I spent the day inside resting (finally starting to feel a bit better) and watching Lockerbie and knitting. The forecast has revised a little and we have two more hot days and then a cooler one, then two more. So that’s not so bad. A little reprieve in there.

Today I am going to do some more knitting, some tidying before it heats up, a little bit of shopping for groceries and some more watching Lockerbie. Gosh. I was conscious of the disaster when it happened, remember the terrible images on the TV and in the weekly magazines I loved to tear through, but I had no idea of the real story behind it all. It’s a diplomatic sh*tshow, really. The episodes are satisfyingly long and the cast is excellent (Colin Firth!)

I made cheese on toast for breakfast and ate it with a big cup of tea while reading this Longform piece on the Luxton mystery. Now I want to read the book about it. And I want to read the book the Lockerbie dad wrote too. I’m going to track both down. I’ve always been like this. When I was a teenager I spent a lot of time reading crime mysteries and was particularly fascinated and repulsed by the Vincent Bugliosi book on the Manson family crimes. I think I suspected that there was danger everywhere and wanted to be as up to speed with its dark methods as possible.

Getting dressed: Black Lily Loves pants from the op shop, God Save the Queen bootleg Taylor Swift t-shirt, Birkenstocks (yellow)

I watched this gentle and cute video while I drank my coffee and did a couple of rows of knitting. Lunch was chicken curry which seems absurd in the heat but it was delicious none-the-same. Dinner? Some of the potatoes fished out of the chicken curry and smashed onto toast, eaten while watching Episode Four of The White Lotus. So good, pals. (Except THAT shot which was enough to put my off my dinner, lol. Middle Kid walked into the room at that moment and I spluttered “It’s the new episode of The White Lotus!” as I covered my view of the telly. We then talked about the lack of male anatomy on mainstream TV and agreed it was about time things levelled up (even if we didn’t reallllly want to see it.)

Tuesday 11th March

Still hot. Not long to go until the heatwave breaks for a day on Thursday. In the meantime, everyone is doing their best not to burst into flames/melt into a puddle.

Breakfast today was overnight oats with raspberries because I realised I need to work harder on nutrition. I’m going to have a leafy green themed lunch – perhaps a very green tuna salad – and then some of yesterday’s curry for dinner, I think.

I watched a video or two while I knitted a few rows (the back of the jumper is done, the colour work part of the front is nearly there! Nine rows to go!) Then I had a shower, got dressed and nipped out to get those greens and some pup food too.

Getting dressed: Old Zanzea cotton floral dress bought on eBay years ago, leggings, Birkenstocks (yellow!)

I nipped out for some supplies – rocket, a cucumber, an avocado, pet food, milk, bread – then came back home and rested/knitted/hid from the heat. Lunch was a tuna salad with lots of rocket, avo, cucumber and the last few cherry tomatoes from the back garden. Delicious.

I’m going to ignore the weather and go to Preston Market tomorrow, to meet a friend for a coffee and chat. Wish me luck! Also? I’ve been trying to keep the water up to the garden each day, but I am pretty sure a bunch of seedlings are going to conk out from all the hot weather. Darn it.

Thursday 13th March

My sister and her family are visiting, so I will take a few days away from writing here. I’ll be back very soon though and will tell you all about it …

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… Thanks for the messages about my mum. She was briefly out of hospital but is back in again today and hopefully finally on the road to recovery. She’s been through it.

Hoping you are as well as you can be, dear reader. Thanks for the support, and for reading. I’m lucky to have you.

xx Pip

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

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Easy Bread Machine White Loaf in the style of Fran Warde

This loaf stays fresh and is good for sandwiches and/or toast.

Makes one small loaf

1 cup of lukewarm water
3 1/2 cups of bread flour (not plain/all purpose flour)
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

Place the above ingredients into the bread tin in the order given.
Set your machine to: BASIC, SMALL, MEDIUM CRUST.
When the second rise has finished, brush the top with milk to help it colour nicely. (If you remember. It’s okay if you don’t.)

Recipe adapted from Fran Warde’s recipe in 80 Recipes For Your Breadmaker by Richard Ehrlich

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Lamb Chops with French Onion Gravy
(my version – also gluten-free)

This recipe is designed to be cooked in a pressure cooker, but you could slow cook it in a slow-cooker for 6 hours on low, if you prefer. Or slow cook on the stovetop/in the oven for 3 or 4 hours checking the liquid level and topping up as needed.

Serves 2 to 4

6 – 8 lamb chops, trimmed of excess fat (I used six loin chops)
Plain flour (I used GF because Middle Kid is GF)
3 individual serve packets of French Onion soup (the ALDI kind in Australia is GF)
1 onion, sliced
1.5 cups of chicken stock (use stock cubes if you like!)
1 teaspoon dried herbs of choice
olive oil, salt and pepper

To serve with: 1kg of potatoes for mashing, butter, milk …  and 2 cups of frozen peas, please

Coat the chops in a dusting of flour and season with salt and pepper.
Sear until golden in a frypan with a glug of olive oil.
Put seared chops into the multicooker/pressure cooker.
Sprinkle in the soup powder.
Add 1.5 cups of chicken stock.
Cook on ‘pot roast’ setting of multicooker or pressure cook for about 40 minutes.

Serve with heaps  of mashed potato and peas!