Monday 9 February

Friends, I bought my favourite dip (Wattle Valley sundried tomato, chilli and cashew) yesterday, so I made a couple of slices of toasted ciabatta and slathered it on quite thick. Alongside a big cup of coffee it was a delicious way to start the day. I’m feeling somewhat bleary-eyed after a heavy night’s sleep and lots of strange dreams, so this felt like the perfect way to snap myself into the here and now. Yum.

Illness has slowed my Virginia Woolf Selected Diaries reading, but I am determined to pick up steam. I’m (only) at 1917 where she’s become ill – or ‘mad’ as she says – in the preceding couple of years. Illness has waylaid her writing (which sounds familiar.) She’s spending time between Richmond-based Hogarth House and Asheham in Sussex (below), in a quest to recover. She has resumed her 1915 diaries in 1915, bought a printing press which would birth her and Leonard’s imprint Hogarth Press. She also has dinner with the writer Katherine Mansfield who she describes as stinky, common and line-ravaged … but also illuminating and intelligent. #Rude

I watched a Caroline video and a Moonnight video while I ate my breakfast, wishing I had just one more slice of that delicious toast. After that I bought a study guide for Wuthering Heights, which I am about to reread for the first time since I was 13. I have the same edition I had back then (a The Literary Heritage Collection navy and gold hardcover (like these) I bought as part of a set from Gowan’s when I lived in Tasmania) but I’m keen to dip in more seriously than teenage me. Hopefully the annotations will help with that.

Getting dressed: old op-shopped high-waisted jeans, op-shopped striped men’s shirt (blue and white), silver Birkenstocks

I nipped to ALDI for supplies (sausages, potatoes for mashing, pet food, paracetamol, milk) and then came back home to read the first two chapters of Wuthering Heights, taking notes (in a notebook Kate sent me, using my freshly filled Lamy pen) and referring to the study guide for better focus. I’m enjoying it IMMENSELY, friends.

Tuesday 10 February

I announced the new Craft Film Club movie yesterday and I’m excited to give it a rewatch through the lens of making things. I need to compile my comments on the first film – How To Make An American Quilt – too. Such a giant ensemble cast in that movie. And, of course, the brilliant Winona Ryder. Have you seen it? You really should, if not.

Breakfast today was that favourite dip on ciabatta and a coffee again. Then I got dressed and ready to go and meet Ari for an op shop visit. I have a bunch of things to take to his house too … a cafetière I don’t need, some recent photos I printed for him, a couple of plates that came home from his birthday with leftovers on them, a water filter jug that I used for about 2 weeks before returning to tap water. That sort of thing.

I’m going to do my reading later on and I can’t lie, Wuthering Heights is calling. Grumpy Heathcliff and his band of nutty housefolk, the thick-skinned Lockwood, and Cathy yet to enter …

… I picked up two cute cookbooks at the op shop today: The Newlyweds Cookbook and Notes From The Jam Cupboard. Both have a bunch of good and simple recipes in them and that Skye Gyngell-ish feel about them, which is my favourite sort of food book. I also bought a denim dress with cute puff sleeves and a pair of black jeans. Of course I bought June two books too, as well as a little wooden farm set. Feeling SO pleased.

An old breakfast favourite – tinned tomatoes on grainy toast

Thursday 12 February

Quiet times here in Fawkner. The usual days full of toast, tea, quick visits and resting. The warmer months are really not my friend with this illness, but it’s not much longer until things begin to get crispier and less oppressive. Roll on Autumn!

I’m going to help Rin and June do an errand today, so that will be a cute diversion. My friend asked me a few months ago what this illness was like and I said “very occasionally, for five or ten minutes every few weeks, I will have no pain or exhaustion… but then it comes flooding back again super quickly, no matter if it’s day or night, if I’m resting or not.” It’s such a pressure living with the constant physical tension. No wonder I am so super fatigued, I guess. Annnywayyyy ….

I’m up to Chapter Four of Wuthering Heights re-read and – as you will know if you’ve read it recently – it turns very ghosty in Chapter Three. I remember enjoying the book so much when I read it as thirteen year-old. Reading it now, I’m so impressed with my younger self. It’s not a breezy read and the language requires a sort of literary surrender. I think I was reading a lot of poetry at the time (and writing a lot of poetry) so it seems as though my brain was nicely elastic back then. So interesting!

Flowers from the back yard … there’s not a lot out there due to the heat, but still enough for a pretty vaseful.

Saturday 14 February

Valentine’s Day. The perfect day to watch or rewatch our Craft Film Club flick, I think. I’ve seen it a bunch of times, but it still impacts to the core somehow.

Breakfast was hummus and tiny tomatoes on sourdough with a big cup of coffee. T’was delicious. I did wish I had some fresh herbs on it too, but the garden has been scorched beyond recognition and the plants are super frazzled. Perhaps it will be a better season later this year?

I got dressed and went outside with little Peach to water the pot plants (the only things that are doing semi-okay in the yard.) Then it was back inside to read some of my Woolf book, a chapter of Wuthering Heights and take some notes, then work on my newsletter for a little while. I want to make something delicious for dinner tonight, but I’m not quite sure what … Will think on that on the way to the shop, I guess.

Getting dressed: Op-shopped wide legged black jeans, bootleg Taylor Swift ‘God Save the Queen’ t-shirt, silver Birkenstocks.

Good things

The Other Bennet Sister looks good, right?
An interesting Virginia Woolf lecture.
Have you read about The Candy Factory?
I always love seeing what Ann Wood’s up to.
This piece on Pink Sugar by O. Douglas. (Which I bought, but have not yet read.)
Romanticise your hair, friends?
Eight readers share the recipes they know by heart.
Love this insight into the house of Pucci.
How beautiful does this Easter table look?!
The radical bathtub.

Monday 16 February

I popped in on Rin and June yesterday and we had a big play and a chatty chat, which was lovely. I have been tracking my family visits pretty informally over on Wallflower Cordial, and I now realise it’s a very cute weekly diary of June’s growth. First smiles, first waves, first crawl, first tooth (not in that order!)

I’m going to run an errand soon (in this YUCK heat … blerk) to help one of the kids, then come home to blob about. I’m still not sure how to handle the hot weather, at this ripe old age, and I don’t know if I ever will be. All the usual things are good, but nothing really mitigates the stuffiness and boilingness, now does it?

My mum sent me this book last week … so nice!

Saturday 28 February

So … clearly I needed a little break. I have not been feeling great, and that doesn’t lend itself to writing anything very interesting, but I’m back for another crack at it.

I woke up early after a bit of a rainy night and a lot of trouble sleeping. I fed the pets and then snuggled back into bed with a chapter of September on audio book (which I have read before, but was feeling like listening to again.) There’s more rain coming today, which is nice, and I don’t have much planned except some slow tidying up. I thought about going to the market early this morning, but it’s probably best to stay close to home when the energy is so flagging.

I’ve been watching The Lady, Love Story and The Pitt with much delight … I haven’t been doing a lot of actual reading – apart from Wuthering Heights and the VW book though. Hopefully I can remedy that!

Breakfast was tomatoes on toast and a cup of coffee in a new cup I found at the op shop last week. It’s made in Portugal and has that chunky cheeriness to it that summery European ceramics often do.  I like drinking from it very much. (Edit: I chipped it on the sink! Darn it!)

From Virginia Woolf: Selected Diaries 
Wednesday 10 April 1917
A very wet dark day. Printed. I set one page in one hour and fifteen minutes – my record. At this rate, the book might be done in a month. (page 40)

I’ve been making tiny granny squares – just two rounds – over the last week or so. I’m sewing the ends in as I finish every couple or so (revolutionary!) and am going to make a join-as-you-go blanket from them when I’ve got a decent amount. It’s a good project to keep half an eye on when I’m watching telly, due to the muscle memory involved in making a granny square. I reckon I could make one with my eyes closed easily!

I also deleted TikTok and Threads and Reddit from my phone. Gosh. I am so glad I did. The amount of mindless scrolling I was doing on those apps is RIDICULOUS. Our brains are not meant to process all those mini thoughts and ideas, one after the other. I’m banning myself (for now) as it was just not enriching my life in any way. Instead it was dulling my senses and glazing my eyes and just muting my common-sense. I’m so relieved. I needed a good talking to, I tell you!

Sunday 8 March

Still limping along here, unfortunately … but perhaps slowly feeling a bit better? I’m not quite sure. It’s a beautiful autumn day here, and even though there are some hot days ahead as summer rebounds, I’m super glad of the reminder that the cooler days are on the way.

It was raisin toast and coffee for breakfast today. Rin’s birthday celebration was last night, so a bit of a slow start due to that, but feeling super pleased she had the best sort of day. We headed to the Edinburgh Castle for drinks and chips and chatter. Little June managed two hours of being passed around before she started to crack, which I thought was a sterling effort for a not-quite-one-year-old. This morning, I read in bed for a while (this book) and then got dressed and nipped to ALDI for supplies before things got too busy there.

Now I’m home again, home again finishing up my newsletter and then moving on to Wuthering Heights and VW for an hour or so.

Do you remember doing this?! (Rin’s house, of course.)

Wednesday 11 March

Still hobbling along, rationing energy and spending a lot of time resting. Hopefully one day, things will not be like this.

It’s going to rain today and our rental inspection was rescheduled so instead of tidying up today for that I can do some Me sort of things. I yanked all the washing off the line as it was spitting lightly, and that felt like a triumph. The sky’s a swarthy grey and looking not like it will be the hot day that was forecast. Also a bonus, right?! I watched this video while I warmed up to the day. I also read a few chapters of this book, which I am liking a lot.

Getting dressed: Old high-waisted Kmart jeans from the op shop, gingham smock top (also op shopped) and silver Birks.

I want to make some soup today, I think. I need a bit of restoration and you really can’t beat a bowl of soup for that, can you? I’m tossing up between my favourite minestrone or French country soup, both of which I’ve been making for years and years. I might go for the French one, actually. It’s been a while since we’ve had that one. I’m very tempted to go in search of a nice loaf of bread to have it with too … Perhaps later, if I can rally?

A favourite chicken curry, served with crunchy roti, of course.

Thursday 12 March

Yesterday ended up being super quiet, apart from the soup-longing and the reading. Today I am venturing out in the hopes that my energy will hold out for a couple of hours. It’s been a rough patch, right?!

I’m going to pick up Rin and June and take them to a shopping centre they need to visit. I am very much looking forward to those bolstering chats (Rin) and affectionate little hands reaching for me (June).

Getting dressed: Old high-waisted Kmart jeans from the op shop, gingham smock top (also op shopped) and silver Birks. I know… I know …

Maybe today will be the day I make that soup? Fingers, toes and eyes crossed for that too.

… While we were out I saw the CUTEST framed tea towel at Saver’s and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t buy it. It was this one, neatly framed for $25. It’s going to haunt me for the rest of my life, I think. Then, one day when I’m more financially secure, I will find it on eBay or Etsy and buy it and frame it myself, for ten times the price I saw at Saver’s. Don’t be like me. Do you have any regretful passes that you still mourn? I know I’m not the only one.

Another lovely playdate …

Friday 13 March

Spoooky. Gosh.

Up late at eight for a bagel and a coffee, then I read a couple of chapters of my book, washed my face and brushed my hair, thought about getting dressed and instead sat down here to write to you/myself. Another coolish morning, chilly enough to flick the heater on for twenty or so minutes to take the chill out of the air. Summery weather is ebbing and flowing away at last.

Soup! I made the soup! It was delicious and just what I felt like.

Monday 16 March

Drizzle friends. It’s a drizzly day and I’m very pleased about it. I had a quiet breakfast (Vegemite bagel and coffee), then read for a little while, got dressed and headed to ALDI. A quick nip in for supplies (tomato paste, leek, pet food, canned tomatoes, stock cubes) then home to finally make that Soup Paysanne. I had it with a slice of toasted dark rye rubbed with garlic and it was deliciously homey in the way that soup is on a rainy sort of day. Bliss.

Bruno <3

Thursday 19 March

The last few days have been a bit of a jumble of trying to feel well, reading, watch things (Madame Bovary, for instance … loved it), snacking and hoping for less unwell days. I’ve read a couple of books in the DS Walker series by Patricia Wolf and enjoyed their polished plotting and Australian vibes. I’m onto the third one now, reading via Libby and am finding the various character arcs so attentively written. I’ve read Outback and Paradise, and am about to start Opal.  I think there are a couple more in the pipeline too? I wonder who will play the lead character if this series comes to the small screen … I vote Mark Coles Smith.

I nipped to the shop early to get a few supplies (raisin bread, bagels, pet food, paracetamol, yoghurt, muesli) then came back home for coffee and toast. Yum. It’s raining a wee bit, really drizzle again, so it’s perfect home weather. I’m going to do some crochet and reading today, perhaps put a hair treatment in before bed even? My hair is a birds nest at the moment. I really need a haircut! It’s been over a year since my last chop and my ends are not my friends.

After watching Madame Bovary yesterday I’m quite keen to read the book. I also want to rewatch the Mia Wasikowska version of Jane Eyre again. (If you didn’t know, she also plays Madame Bovary … she was in Tracks too, which I loved … both the book and the film.)

Baby’s first plane trip

Monday 23 March

I’m going to publish this post today! I swear I am. And then I will get my blogging sh*t together again. I promise!

Getting dressed: Old Kmart jeans, pink Yale sweatshirt, silver Birks

Things have been quiet here over the last few days as the little family has gone on holidays, but they’re almost back now. Things will hopefully settle into a more regular routine again now. I suppose I had a holiday of sorts too, but I miss them so much!!

I spent the weekend resting, reading, tidying for a rental inspection that has already been rescheduled once, catching up on Love Story (did not enjoy the latest ep) and trying to summon more energy, as usual!

Max had friends over yesterday and I hunkered down and read Ask Not, wrote my newsletter and watched bad reality TV in my room, so they could all have the run of the house. Ari was away down the coast with his partner Indi, so I was utterly pleased that everyone was having nice times while I was slothing about. That’s when I’m happiest raellly, when they are all doing well and having fun.

Breakfast was tomatoes on toast again, with fresh basil and lots of pepper and Maldon salt. I nipped to the shops early and bought a can of San Marzano toms from the Italian IGA near me, plus an avocado, some grainy toast bread, pet food, and a can of baked beans. The tomatoes were especially good.

Today I need to mop the floors and clean the kitchen … rest … then do some weeding in the very late afternoon if I can manage it. Our inspection is meant to be tomorrow, so best foot forward and all. More times than not they don’t turn up, so it could all be for our shiny house benefit and nothing more. That’s the way the cookie crumbles when you’re renting, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m going to publish this before it ends up being 37 weeks long. See you back here with a MUCH better go at Dailies next time. I promise!

Your pal,

Pip

x

PS: Sorry for any typos or mistakes!

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