Dailies: The Magic Faraway Tree, happy greetings, Always Traditions, Piglet pasta, Bob-along Bear

Hello, hey, hi-iiiiiy!

Thursday 27 November

Progress on the big solid granny square blanket is steady now, you might be pleased to know. I think I will have it finished by the end of the week, if we say that Sunday is the last day of the week. I’ve got about 30 more squares to crochet and then the ends, so just need to get stuck in for a couple of hours each day, and then one final push with all the ends on Sunday. I KNOW I can do it! It’s going to be a Christmas gift so I need it sorted as I have two other blankets to finish by December 25th.

I watered the seedlings and pot plants this morning and it was quite shivery weather. It’s cold again, and no doubt this time next week it will be hot again. It’s kind of perfect weather for plants but not so good for humans, is it? Topsy turvy, for sure.

Speaking of topsy turvy, I just found out that there is a The Magic Faraway Tree movie incoming. Perhaps I knew, but I forgot? No. I don’t think I knew. Anyway, it’s got a stellar cast with the excellent Nicola Coughlan starring as Silkie the fairy. Gasp. The luminous Claire Foy, the hilarious Jennifer Saunders plus Mr Andrew Garfield also feature. One thing I did quickly notice is that Dame Slap has had her name changed to Dame Snap, which seems … typical. Apparently the newer editions of the books have this update too. I thought about it and clearly we don’t want to base a character around a violent act, so I’m okay with it, I think.

I rested most of the morning and then I picked Rin and June up for a trip to the shops. We bought some veggies and bread and eggs and things, then went to Saver’s for a bit of a squizz. I found some books there – two Nosy Crow titles for June, a board book copy of Magic Beach by Alison Lester (a favourite of the kids when they were growing up) and a cookbook for me – Earth To Table by Jeff Crump and Bettina Schormann. Super pleased with this mini haul. I’m all about the mini haul, and the few and far between haul, and the non haul.

After I dropped them home, I nipped to ALDI for some dinner things (chicken fillets, tomato pesto, cat and pup food, washing liquid, bacon, pita bread) and then I went home. I put the dinner on, sorted some seeds and threw a bunch (spring onions, nasturtiums, calendula, basil, foxgloves) into the garden in the hopes of more greenery and flowers for the summer and beyond. After that? After that I sat down to write to you!

Above: Chicken dinner on a table with a glass of green cordial and a tray of recently bought op shop books and library books. There’s also a remote control and some cutlery.

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Good things

Inventories and Escapades is running a Podcast Advent, with recommendations each day. Cute!
Also? A recipe advent calendar!
I love this gorgeous Tassie home. They have a little airBnB too.
Rethink your spoon rest, friend!
The new Nicole series looks so good, right?
What foods are meaningful to you?
How much did we love Splash when it first came out?
A cute and cosy home in Portland
Who doesn’t love Liberty?
Can’t wait for The Forsytes!
Bon Appetit’s best cookbooks of 2025
This is a lovely cosy story
You might like these delicious embroideries …
I loved reading this. Just felt like a kindred soul, you know?
I’m going to give my oven a deep clean this week
Swooning at Bri Lee’s bookish home

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Friday 28 November

What’s on for today? More of that big colourful blanket, some time in the backyard (watering and weeding and pottering), digging into that course I am trying to do (my health keeps getting in the way). Breakfast was eggs with toast, bacon, avocado and tomato. Plus a giant cup of tea, of course.

I’m going to make Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder for dinner tonight, I think. In need of a bit of comfort after a bumpy week.

I think I’ve finished adding squares to the blanket now.  It’s got 357 squares at the moment. I’ve started sewing the ends in and my GOSH it’s heavy. I’ve been watching the very gripping and sad series Suspect: The Shooting of Charles De Menezes while I’ve been doing that. Gosh. What a shocking miscarriage of fairness and justice.

I nipped to ALDI to get soup ingredients, then made a big pot of soup and settled in for the night. A pretty low stakes day, mostly at home. Hopefully I have gathered some energy for the weekend, but it’s hard to know with this illness.

Above: Colourful granny square crocheted blanket beside a pile of loose wool ends which have been clipped from the blanket

Tuesday 2 December

Up early for a delicious breakfast of (crunchy) peanut butter on grainy toast, eaten while watching this gentle video. After that I got dressed and did a quick run to the shops for dinner things (chicken escalopes, potatoes, milk, Milo, pet food). Then I sat in front of Lynley and worked on the blanket and lo and behold, I finished it after lunch! Praise be! It’s a decent size and very heavy. I need to take some proper photos before I tuck it away for Christmas. Stay tuned for those (hopefully in this very post!)

Last night I started watching a show called Malice … have you seen any of it? It’s bonkers and I’m only up to the third episode, but it has captured my attention in a sort of White Lotus/Rich people behaving badly way. Also the lead male is in The Magic Faraway Tree … what is his name? … It’s Jack Whitehall. So note this, if that’s your cup of tea.

L/ Peach the pup asleep on the couch, learning to live the one dog household life R/ Blanket ends heart

Lunch was leftover Chorizo and Pea Risotto. Dinner was those Tessa Kiros escalopes, dipped in flour and then sizzled in butter, garlic and fresh parsley, with a final squeeze of lemon and a side of simple sauteed potatoes, cooked in a combo of butter and olive oil. I had some chimichurri in the fridge, so I had mine with that and chilli sauce. Simple, but good pals.

Above: Cooking In The Moment by Andrea Reusing

Thursday 4 December

I picked up a good book at the op shop (Saver’s) yesterday. It’s this one and this format is just the kind of cookbook I love. It’s a sort of lifestyle-memoir-meets-recipe volume, and I always pick up this genre when I find it on my travels. One day I want to publish a similar book of my own, but for now I am utterly satisfied with flipping through someone else’s.

The weather started warming up yesterday, and it’s going to be warm again today. Apparently 34 degrees. Yikes. Best get out there and water the garden early, methinks.

Yesterday, Rin and June and I went shopping together, me for a Christmas gift for a family group and Rin for some postpartum summer ‘fits. After that we went to Saver’s and found aforementioned book, a Bob-along Bear for Rin’s vintage toy collection plus some more things to wear for Rin.

After I dropped them home, it was getting quite late in the afternoon so I rested with a cup of tea and a tin of travel sweets, then rallied and made the Piglet pasta alla puttanesca for dinner. So glad I did. It was delicious. I had a packet of bucatini in the pantry, so I used that. Yum. Underrated pasta. So chonky yet not. (Remember the great bucatini famine of 2020?!)

Above: Gifts from mum – Kiki’s Delivery Service book, a Cath Kidston floral covered notebook, a cute bookish ornament.

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Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for reading, buying cups of coffee and the support in general. It is so helpful and I do not take it for granted. This edition, a big thanks especially to subscribers and/or coffee-buyers of the last few weeks: Philippa H, Leanne T, Amy D, Dianne C, Lindsey M, Tracey W, Anna P, Janine R, Shelba D, Margot L, Fiona B and Amy L. Also to regular commenters Kate, Julie, Reannon, Tara, Leonie, Julie, Diane, Pam, Louise, Loretta, Tina, and Tania. And ongoing thanks to Annette H and Kate F. Thank you so so much. Could not do this without y’all.

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Above: Two recent plates of breakfast – L/ bacon, avocado, eggs, tomato, and toast R/ Promite toast with poached eggs

Monday 8 December

It’s been a quite few days of tucking some established seedlings (grown from seed by me) into the garden (zucchini, capsicum, eggplant) and resting and working on another blanket (a log cabin crocheted one) and hugging the pets.  There was a visit to Rin and June in there too, as well as an op shop visit on Friday. Just the usual palaver, you know?

This morning started with a few gentle YouTube videos, some peanut butter on grainy toast, a big cup of tea and a bit of huddling by the heater. It’s chilly clearly, but we’ve had such up and down weather … a seesaw of heat and rain and cooler days. It’s impossible to know what is going on unless you are glued to the weather apps (which I am not.)

Above: Bits of my Spotify Wrapped for 2025 – Taylor Swift features heavily (surprise, surprise!)

Today I’m going to make a vegetable curry, make sure the seedlings are doing well, prune back some of the silver beet that’s running rampant in the backyard and hopefully make some more progress on that blanket. It’s one of three I’m trying to finish for Christmas gifts. I know I can do it. I can. I hope.

I really need to start planning our Christmas menu too. We are having Christmas dinner at our house and it will be our first Christmas with June. It’s very exciting, although she will likely be exhausted from Christmas lunch … but we will take what we can get when it comes to wee Junie. When Rin was little we had a big curry banquet every Christmas, and we are keen to reinstate that ritual again and make it our Always Tradition. There is something about having a small person in the family that makes traditions feel very important. It feels like we’ve been entrusted with the happiness and wellbeing of a fresh human and we are all keen to make sure her life is joy and comfort filled. Starting with the Curry Christmas which she will likely only nibble around the edges of, but as the years pass we just know that she will be all in with the flavour and spice. It’s in her genes.

Above: Playing with June in her playroom. She is taking a call in the right-of-screen image.

Tuesday 9 December

“Be a good girl, okay?” a father called to his disappearing pre-schooler as he dropped her at the family day care a few minutes ago. Then he spluttered, coughed and walked to his car. It kind of sums up the current season, fatigue melded with optimism … I often hear these cute drop off divinations. Occasionally someone is crying (mostly a child, to be fair) but more often than not there are giggles and happy greetings. Such a nice tone to set for the day.

This morning, I ate my breakfast and drank my tea as I watched along with the two most recent Kris Atomic videos. It was hot last night … well, hottish, so I am a bit more sleepy than usual this morning. Nothing that a big coffee can’t fix, however. The nest of fledgling in the roof outside the bathroom window have fledged, so there’s no more peeping and cheeping when we go to the loo. I saw one of the babies yesterday, fluffy but already quite grown. No doubt they will be jeering and swooping at it before we know it (they are Common Mynas.)

Above/Below: New York Cookbook by Molly O’Neill and Jane Austen Embroidery by Jennie Batchelor from the op shop and flower pressing in action.

I picked some flowers from the garden mid-morning and popped them into the flower press I’d dug out of the spare room. Such a pleasing act. Then I went to Saver’s to meet Ari and found another flower press, so I’m going to do some more tomorrow morning too. They’ll be super cute pasted onto cards and things, I think.

Above: A well-loved flower press, Kitchen and Co by French and Grace and Donal Skehan’s Meals In Minutes

I also got a couple of cookbooks and a bag of felt. I am hoping to make some Christmas ornaments because I’ve seen so many clever people making beautiful ones and sharing them on social media. I want to be clever too!

Also I need to take a proper photo of the colourful granny square blanket because I want to post it here as a record of my work. I’ll share it next time, along with the other blankets I have been making, I promise.

Hoping you are as well as you can be at this time of the year. See you back here very soon, friend. Thanks for reading and for the support. You’re a champ.

xx Pip