Thank you for all your messages about Mary in the last edition of Dailies! So nice!

Friday 5 June

It’s such a chilly morning! Cosy socks are not enough to keep the cold at bay. It’s time to put on the UGG boots, friends! I need to pop to the shop for a couple of little things later on. In between I’m going to hopefully do a bit of reading and catch up on today’s Duolingo Italian lesson. “Un cornetto e un caffé, per favore!’

Getting dressed: Black op-shop jeans, navy ribbed Uniqlo skivvy (from the op shop yesterday), fair isle socks, UGG boots

In the early part of the morning, I made a breakfast sandwich (fried halloumi, sauteed mushrooms, tomato and Crosse and Blackwell tangy mayo from ALDI special buys on Turkish bread, toasted) and had it on my new second-hand apple plate. Perfection. I think I’m back on the breakfast sandwich bandwagon again, so I am going to buy some semi-dried tomatoes, avocado and baby spinach to add to the mix today.

While I ate my sandwich, I watched this gentle video and made a plan for the day. My ME/CFS has been particularly annoying lately, so I am trying so hard to balance life/rest carefully. I’m not sure it’s making much of a difference, but I will keep trying.

Thank you for all the emails and also comments about the Mary ‘spread some joy’ situation. I am glad most of you agree that it was meant to be a positive message to me, but got lost in translation. If you’re out there Mary, hello!!

Good things

The Elizabeth von Armin Society newsletter is out.
If we are to counter medical misogyny, women can no longer be treated as unreliable witnesses of their own experience
Three historic craft hobbies at risk of disappearing – and how to give them a go
My OTHER (also free) newsletter is updated every Sunday, in case you are into that (above).
I love reading this blog. (And am going to make these cookies!)
So many things look cuter with a scalloped edge trim.
“After my husband died I couldn’t stop watching the Tour de France.”
The exquisite fashion photography of Frances Pellegrini.
Judy Blume is done with writing. Allegedly.
This blog is a lovely read.

Saturday 6 June

Another creaky morning, friends, but a breakfast sandwich cheered things up no end (avocado, semi-dried tomatoes, sauteed mushrooms, sauteed halloumi, baby spinach and sriracha on Turkish bread.) Yum. It’s a good way to get some veggies in first thing, I think. And surely that’s an excellent way to start the day?

Last night I watched the new drama The Witness on Netflix and gosh it was good and sad. Have you seen it yet? There’s also a companion documentary on Netflix. And a drama series on Stan called Deceit about the same events. Hyperfixation much? Sorry. Also sorry if you know all this already. Ignore me, if so!

Not much happened yesterday, apart from a quick coffee catch-up with Rin, Paul and June at Sacca’s. June was very busy and not keen to sit and drink coffee. So weird. (!) After the speedy sips, we did a little bit of shopping together (they had a special on boxes of 20 Baci chocolates for $10, so I got one!) and then I went home to bed because urgh. (Also somewhere in there I read Ring Of Salt in the bath for 20 minutes with some rose Epsom salts for company. So nice.)

I have taught June a cute trick where we both tilt our head onto our shoulders and smile when I say “so cuuuuuute” and she was apparently performing it on Facetime for other family members in the subsequent days, and everyone is melting. She’s at such a fun age at the moment. Listening and trying new things all the time. It must be exhausting!

Above: A couple of breakfast sandwiches

Monday 8 June

Up at 7 for a brekky sandwich of avocado, halloumi, semi-dried tomatoes and sriracha on Turkish bread. It’s a public holiday here, so a slower sort of day than usual, mostly because it feels a bit more Sunday-ish. I drove down to Coburg and met Rin and June, helped them a little bit with their shopping and then came back home. It’s such a beautiful sunny day. I knew it would be, because after sunrise the sky was so pretty with those cotton ball clouds that seem to signal a lovely day.

Tuesday 9 June

A pretty morning was soon swept away by grey skies. It’s okay though because I was cosy and tucked in with a cup of tea, the electric blanket switched to 2 and the final few chapters of Ring Of Salt. I’ve really enjoyed reading it and felt much solidarity with author Betsy. Her hypervigilance, experiences of precarity and baseline hopefulness are all familiar to me – and I’m sure so many other women. I will be sad to finish her book.

I had set aside my other books in favour of this one, so sadness aside I will be very happy to get back to them. (My reading has been a bit hampered by eye symptoms over the last few weeks, but I’m reading Ring Of Salt on my phone, so can make display accommodations and carry on.)

The bath was accidentally flooded this morning, so we have a very clean hallway and bathroom floor now. I take that as a win! Breakfast was hummus and tomato on Turkish bread with a big cup of coffee featuring plenty of chocolate powder sprinkled atop it. Also a win, I feel.

Today is the anniversary of Cameron’s death, as well as Rin’s partner Paul’s birthday, so it’s awash with mixed feelings. It’s always such a hard day for the kids and for me too. It’s been four years now. Time has crawled along at a stuck sort of snail’s pace, but also it feels so long ago. How can things feel recent and ancient at the same time, reader? I do not know. What I do know is that it still feels terrible and also a relief for so many complex reasons including MND. One day I will write about the things that happened, but not yet. I need to get much further away.

Annnywayyyy.

Getting dressed: ASOS Birthday Jeans, peach coloured long-sleeved knit from the op shop, socks with dogs on them, UGG boots

The plan for today is to make something super nourishing to eat, rest as much as possible, sow some seeds, do some crochet. Probably that’s already too many things, but we need little bits of goodness to sustain us, don’t we? Even if they tire us out.

L/ Corn, bacon and potato chowder and R/ Bruno and I outside

Wednesday 10 June

The sky this morning! Gasp. So peachy-pretty again, I tiptoed out to take a photo to share on Instagram, so glad I did because the peach was blown away very quickly. I also managed to snatch the washing off the line, miraculously dry in the dawn darkness due to a windy night.

After that? Back to bed with a cup of tea to finish Ring Of Salt (loved it so much!) Next I made a breakfast sandwich (sauteed mushrooms and halloumi, avocado, semi-dried tomatoes, sriracha on Turkish bread) and took it back to my desk with a cup of coffee.

The stylophone I bought Paul for his birthday was a huge hit and Rin sent me a video of him playing it as June babbled excitedly and they danced together. High recommend!

I KIND of want to nip to the op shop this morning, but am also tempted to hide out at home all day due to incoming rain, low energy, the fact that I have all the groceries and things (including some Corn, Potato and Bacon Chowder that I made yesterday) I need.

Getting dressed: Black op shopped jeans, striped black and white thermal long-sleeved tee, grey socks, Blundstone boots

I try to leave the house each day, even for a little while, even if I don’t feel well, because it doesn’t take much to feel fractured from the community, you know? I don’t want to feel that way. I am lucky enough that my illness is ‘moderate’ which means I can get out. Plenty of people with ME are too sick to leave home and spend their time in bed. I had some times like that when we first came back to Melbourne from Tassie, before I found a medication that (eventually, after nine months of taking it) stopped my Post Exertional Malaise from wiping me out for weeks, so I try to teeter on the edge of my abilities. For the sake of my mental health.

Over my coffee, I did a bit of Pinteresting and then got dressed and ready, just in case I do make a sprint for the shops.

Above: Scones, of course!

Friday 12 June

A no computer day yesterday, which was v nice. It was all too much, I think. I checked in on the kids, rested, washed my bed linen and rested again.

Up at 5.30 today, due to noisy garbage trucks and restless pets. I made tea and hopped back into bed (once the pets were sorted) to read some more of the reading-on-phone book I started the other day. It’s the 1960 classic A Croft In The Hills by Katharine Stewart who has a little girl with the very grown up name of Helen. I’m loving it so far. These Country Mouse books are my favourite genre, I think. I suppose they’re really shelved as ‘pastoral’ but I prefer my own taxonomy. I also love the vocabulary of books like this – croft, moor, brooder, cuckoo-snow, stirks, sheaves, byre, glen, peat, pail, burach, bog, scullery, curlew, thresh, blustery, loch … Bliss.

A Croft In The Hills is full of the peaks and troughs of farming life and dotted with the sorts of domestic and family detail I love the most …

“This June day we lay on our backs in the heather, watching a curlew glide round the shoulder of the hill, uttering its long, drowsy call. Then we plunged into the smooth, dark water and Helen splashed in the shallows of the little beach. We made a fire of roots and twigs to boil our kettle; and we walked home deeply refreshed and ready to tackle whatever might come next.” – Chapter IV

Getting dressed: H&M jeans ($2 from Salvo’s), pink knit ($2 from Salvo’s), grey knitted vest/tabard thing from Saver’s, fair isle socks, Blundstone boots.

I’m going to nip down to Coburg to buy some electrolyte powder, olive oil, pet food and a few other things. See you back here in a trice!

Above: Rin and June on the baby monitor (such a cute show to watch!)

Saturday 13 June

It was one of those nights, blustery and warm, but also cold. I woke up in the middle of it and could not get back to sleep for an hour or so. I watched a bad Lifetime movie eventually, and that did the trick. Up at seven, subsequently, for a hot shower and a hair wash. I’m going to take Rin and June on an errand they need to do today, so neat and tidy is the go (which is hard for me!)

Getting dressed: ASOS birthday jeans, chocolate brown long-sleeve tee, fair isle socks, pink Converse One Stars

I finished The Farmer’s Wife yesterday (at last) after a month of vision issues slowed me down. It’s a lovely book. Have you read it? The format is a sort of then-and-now diary, interchanging between origin stories, historic life context and the present day. It’s dotted with recipe notes, and has a thick section at the back with all the recipes mentioned. What I love about this book, apart from the rural locale, is the way it dips into the often hidden world of domestic detail and behind-the-scenes care that goes on in many families. You may remember I wrote my Honours project about those themes, so it felt like coming home to see such subject matter front and centre in Helen’s book.

‘I know the small domestic things matter; they always have – my mum taught me that. Learning that the word ‘mundane’ has its roots in the Latin word ‘mundanus‘, of the world, made me see everything through a different lens. To me, caring for my family is, and always has been, the most important work in the world.’ – Rebanks, H. (2024). The Farmer’s Wife. Faber & Faber, p.256.

Breakfast was a brekky sandwich with sauteed mushrooms, fried halloumi, semi-dried tomatoes, spinach and sriracha, alongside a big cup of coffee. I watched this video while I ate, and made a list for the week ahead because I’ve been feeling a bit scattered and un-me leaving my to-do’s to my memory of late.’

L/ op shopped Mikasa crockery and R/ clean up on Aisle Pickle (I did not do this!)

Sunday 14 June

It’s weirdly warm in Melbourne, despite a bunch of rain yesterday. It has that feeling of the mildness before the storm, you know, yet there’s not much rain forecast for today. I was up at 5 for some ridiculous reason, so I made tea, read a bit of my book, fed the pets, washed a handful of dishes and then made breakfast. You guessed it, a breakfast sandwich of the usual persuasion, plus a big cup of coffee to wash it all down.

Getting dressed: ASOS birthday jeans, pink Yale sweatshirt from the op shop, fair isle socks, brown Birkenstocks from the op shop

I am going to bake some scones this morning and take some over to Rin and June later on today. I’m also needing to finish my other newsletter off and send it out. I have been scheduling it for 4.44pm each Sunday (Au EST) for a year or so now. Imagine my surprise when I was reading Ring of Salt and the number 4.44 had a significant meaning in Betsy’s book. Betsy suggests that the number 4 is tied to security and home which feels significant to me too. Those are the things I seek most. I suppose lots of people might love 4.44 for their own reasons. Do you have numbers that follow you around too? Or do you think that’s poppycock?!

Above: the Mother’s Day garden bed

Monday 15 June

It’s the middle of June already and I don’t know how we find ourselves here. There’s frost on the lawn this morning. I crunched it under my shoes when I went outside to put a load of washing on (our laundry is outdoors!) and take a photo of the pretty sky. Then it was back inside to make a breakfast sandwich and coffee, feed the pets (actually that was in the reverse order, of course) and catch up on the news. The US/Iran war has apparently ended, but I will believe it when I see it. David Hockney died a couple of days ago. Drones are to fly over Bondi and surrounding beaches after a near-fatal shark attack on the weekend (this should be the norm, right? The drones, I mean.)

Today I am going to do some cleaning and resting. Plant some radish seeds (after being influenced by this YouTuber) and some chives (because who doesn’t love chives?!) and make something nourishing for dinner. Last week’s soup saw me nearly through the week, so perhaps another soup would be best. And some nice bread … maybe the unpretentious Baker’s Delight Block Loaf might strike again? Or a loaf of soda bread? I think that’s better, actually. So nutty and good.

… Okay. So I got the soup things and I got a pair of $20 pjs from Kmart because I needed those. Plus two bath bombs because The Farmer’s Wife reminded me of them. And also a three pack of undies. Because mine are four years-old and falling to pieces. I went past the op shop and filled up a bag full of toys for June for $6 and found this book, which looks a bit farmy to me. I also found a pair of M&S jeans for $2.

I made the soup and bread, and watched some Bondi Rescue. And now I’m having tea and scones and writing to you. I’ll have the soup and soda bread for early dinner. Cosy days, pals.

Above: Soda bread and veggie soup

Thursday 18 June

So windy outside, the leaves on the tree next door have almost all blown off. It’s heading into high winter here, but still remarkably warm for this time of year. A very hot shower and a hair wash to start the day.

Getting dressed: Red track pants, green vintage sweatshirt featuring large stag from Saver’s (Ari found it for me), socks and Converse One Stars in pink.

Yesterday I did a few little things … I made a big bowl of salad to boost my healthy eating vibes (I made a variation of the Taverna Salad from this book, which I saw recommended on Reddit.) I watched a couple of excellent new-to-me documentaries – Dear Zachary and God Knows Where I Am. Both were so interesting and sad. I caught up on some reality TV and I generally pottered about.

Rin and Paul and June have been unwell since Monday, so I have been staying on the wrong side of their front door, but did drop off a bag of groceries and a big bag of toys for the baby. Hopefully I can see them properly on the weekend, once the bugs have flown the coop.

I have been chaotically throwing seeds into the back garden and already the coriander is going gangbusters. I also scattered lettuce, spring onion, and radishes. Let’s see what remains after the birds do their thing. I also enacted the cardinal sin of planting mint in the ground and it’s doing so well and I don’t care if it goes nuts. It just doesn’t thrive in a pot for me and I hate not having it on hand to brighten up salads and veggies and things.

I managed to finish up my rewatch of all four seasons of The Secret Life of Us and have started on a rewatch of Love My Way. Loving dipping back in, so far, although the final season of TSLoU was not my favourite …

L/ Neighbours book (a catch and release from Saver’s) R/ pretty sky to start the day

Saturday 20 June

It rained a lot last night and I woke up later than usual (at 8) to a soggy backyard and much in need of a hot cup of tea. The neighbour’s tree is almost down to the bare branches now, just a scattering of yellow leaves clinging on for dear life. It’s quite windy today, so it could be lights out for those guys.

I found The Absorbent Mind at the op shop last week, so have just started reading a related but more contemporary book The Montessori Toddler via Libby, in preparation for the OG. I went to a Montessori kindergarten and remember it with such fondness. My cousin Natalie went there too and we spent a lot of time together playing and baking cup cakes and generally feeling cared-for and independent and clever. I’m brushing up on the science and philosophy behind the Montessori method, because I know a lot of it will be helpful when spending time with June. So far, so great.

I’m also still reading A Croft in the Hills, and am loving it so much. It’s just so beautifully and simply written. I’m only half way through, but I thoroughly recommend it for a gentle and diverting read.

Yesterday I caught up with Ari and we went to Choukette for a coffee and then did the rounds about the aisles of Saver’s. I bought a stripey top, this book, a little keyboard for June, some board books for June. I haven’t been able to see them this week because they’ve all been ill, but hopefully by Monday or Tuesday things will be peachier in their world. Is there anything harder than being sick and a toddler parent? Well … probably when that toddler is sick too. Fingers, toes and eyes are crossed for them to be VERY well super soon.

L/ June and Rin R/ pretty early morning sky

Sunday 21 June

Gosh I hardly slept last night. Something to do with the winter solstice, I think. I am not sure why that is, however.

The backyard is so soggy after quite a bit of rain. I squished out to hang some towels on the line and noticed a lot of the seeds I sprinkled into the 2024 Mother’s Day garden bed are sprouting, and the mint is so happy and the winter seedlings are established and glad. The ranunculi are on the go too, so that bad is going to be a chaotic and crowded mess soon enough. I can live with that. I need to make another big bed, so hopefully I can find the energy to do that this week.

Ari and Indi are unwell now too, so the winter bugs are making their way steadily through the family. Hoping you and your family are not experiencing similar.

I’ve written my Sunday newsletter, done some washing and been to ALDI already. I’m going to read and crochet for the rest of the day, I think. I might make some scones too, actually.

L/ Cherry Danish from the Preston Market R/ Taverna salad with bonus sliced canned potatoes

Monday 22 June

I slept so well last night, as I had hoped after the ridiculous few hours of the night before. Up at half six to feed the hungry pets and make tea. Then back to bed to scroll on my phone, update my Visible app, complete a couple of Duolingo Italian lessons.

Breakfast was next – a breakfast sandwich packed with veggies and halloumi and a slice or two of streaky bacon. I had that with a big cup of coffee and watched the ABC news as I ate.

Yesterday I managed a little bit of work on two crochet projects (big granny squares and a ripple blanket) and I watched the Litvinenko  series WHICH WAS GREAT. Gosh. What a terrible story. I am kind of keen to read a more detailed account/book about it now. Putin, eh? Confirming his status as a homicidal dickhead. I watched some of The Woman In the Wall but stopped after a couple of episodes. It was a bit convoluted and leaned a bit too demonstratively into ‘mad woman in the attic’ territory. I love British drama because of its restraint, because of what it doesn’t show the viewer. This seems to favour hysterical over disturbing. But that’s just my view. Maybe you loved it?!

I’m going to get dressed and go to the shops for some veggies, in the hopes of having a nourishing and possibly energised week.

Getting dressed: Op-shopped Levi’s button-fly 501s rolled up, op-shopped black turtleneck sweater, Blundstone boots.

Despite all the monitoring I’ve been doing of my health symptoms, it hasn’t really assisted me in any way. The only pattern I have is consistently low heart rate variability, which is common in the unwell. All other symptoms are wildly fluctuating and result from wildly fluctuating circumstances. In short, I am managing an unpredictable condition in the only ways I can. Go me! Sort of.

Above: Some dinners from the week that was. I roasted a bunch of vegetables and made a couple of salads in a meal-prep sort of way.

Friday 26 June (My sister’s birthday!)

Okay so I took a few days off there. Much needed for all the reasons. I’m back now, though! I’m sure you’re THRILLED, haha!

It’s my sister’s birthday today! I saved up and bought her two Kate Spade idiom bangles. They come with engravings inside. The rose gold one says ‘stop and smell the roses’ and the silver one says ‘look for the silver lining‘. I used to have one of these, but that certain someone I used to be with nicked it and sold it at the Camberwell Market (along with all my other jewellery). I know. I know. Don’t ask. He was not in his right mind. … ANYWAY … I thought Sara would love the cheerful bangles and … she did! Phew!

Finally the little family are well again, so I popped in on Wednesday and June promptly decided to start calling me “Mimi”. How cute is that?! I mean, I love Granny as a grandmother name, but if June has decided otherwise, who am I to argue? Before I was born, my brother dubbed my paternal grandmother “Icky” and we were all taught to call her that. I did not love it, to be honest, but that’s the way the cookie crumbled and she was lovely, regardless of her name. Anyway, we will see if Mimi sticks. I don’t mind a bit if it does!

… Later that day

I met up with Rin and June at Saver’s. June was asleep in her pram, but when she woke up Rin said “Mimi’s here!” and June gave a sleepy 1/5th smile. Apparently when they were leaving the house, Rin said we’re going to see Mimi and June said “Mimi!” so it appears that Mimi is a thing! HOW CUTE.

I found two pairs of very nice shoes at Saver’s as well as a shockingly beautiful book about origami and a Disney knits book. SUCH a lucky trip. I was hoping to find a beginners Italian language book too, but that was not to be. I want a book to revise as a sort of companion to my Duolingo efforts. I think that learning off screen as well as on improves knowledge retention, so I might need to buy a new book. We will seeeee.

After Saver’s it was home to bed because energy is lowwwwww. I had a plate of picky bits from the fridge for dinner and it was delicious. After that? Hot bath and Love My Way. (I’m going to re-watch Tangle next. Gosh Ben Mendelsohn was in everything in the 00s, wasn’t he?!)

Above: Pages from the Happy Origami book

Saturday 27 June

Still low energy, but I find that if I don’t get up and ready and out of the house, I feel even worse. My system doesn’t boot up at all and I’m in more pain and more sluggish, due to the lack of movement. So I am going to get sorted and get out, even if it’s just for a little while.

So it was up at half six, tea and pets, phone scrolling in bed for a little while, hot shower, dress, breakfast, sit here and write to you.

Breakfast was a weird comfort meal I have been making on and off for 20 years or so – two slices of nice bread toasted and then topped with thinly sliced brie (cold), a few spoonfuls of (cold) Four Brothers tomato sugo (formerly called Provista Sugo) and Lee Kum Kee Chilli and Garlic Sauce (c0ld). I told you it’s weird. There’s something so good about it though. The brie melts and the sugo is bright and fresh and the spicy sauce lifts the whole thing and wakes me up. I’m sure we all have weird meals like this … well, some of us might. My other one is the spaghetti we grew up with, which comprises spaghetti topped with warmed Heinz Big Red Tomato Soup (undiluted) and grated Dairy Lea cheddar (formerly Kraft cheddar). That’s the dinner I have when I’m super down or depleted. The night after Cam died? That spaghetti. In bed. Dorky comfort in a bowl.

Above: Hummus and tomato on toast with fresh herbs … such a nice breakfast!

Tuesday 30 June

Gosh. So sorry this entry is impossibly long. The usual dilemma of taking enough photos to illustrate the post has slowed me down. I’m going to publish today, though. Enough photos be damned. And if you skimmed/read to here, then you deserve a medal!

Dame Penelope Keith had died, according to the news. I loved her most as Margo in The Good Life. Behold her genius below.

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning, so that makes it the perfect day to go to the op shop. Traffic will be lower than usual and they will be partly restocked after the busy weekend days. All signs point towards finding something good, I think.

Getting dressed: ASOS birthday jeans, black turtleneck jumper, fair isle socks, Converse One Stars (pink)

Breakfast was a delicious breakfast sandwich: Turkish bread spread with pesto and tomato chutney, then piled with roasted mushrooms, roasted peppers, semi-dried tomatoes, sliced potato, bocconcini and grilled until piping hot. I used to make sandwiches like this when I was part-owner in a cafe back in the early ’90s. I like to revisit these flavours when I’m feeling peaky. It sets of cosy nostalgia and provides a cheeky dopamine hit, I think. A little bit of bocconcini fell into my coffee while I ate it, and honestly it tasted no different. The coffee, I mean.

L/ coffee in Coburg R/ poached eggs on Promite toast

I met Rin and June in Coburg yesterday and we went to the library where I looked after June while Rin did her shopping. June was delighted and approached all the other children in the kids’ area, blowing them kisses and waving at them happily. She then sidled up to another granny who was reading her toddler companion a story. It’s fair to say that she is a) very social and b) loves the library so much. She was plucking books off the shelves and sitting down with them, patting the cover and encouraging me to read them to her. We’re very lucky to have this little bookworm in our lives!

I’m going to publish this monster Dailies now! Thank you for reading! It’s so nice of you!

Your pal, Pip
x

PS: Sorry for any typos or mistakes!
PPS: Thank you so much to the people who have bought me a coffee! So much generosity. Thankyous coming in the next edition of Dailies.

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