movies

,

catching up

,

My favourite hot cross buns in Hobart are from Jackman and McRoss - no mixed peel sadly (why does everyone hate it?I love it!) but with apricots and hazelnuts instead.

Hello friends - I can hardly believe we’re in the middle of April already! I had a post almost fully written just before Easter for you but then Squarespace logged me out while writing it and…that was that, it was all gone. I’m afraid I didn’t have the strength to rewrite it immediately!

Life has been full and busy, with deadline after deadline, but that is to be expected when you run a business, are in the final year of a PhD and like to keep your hand in with freelance journalism! But I am loving it. I just need to keep up the self care, which has always been a challenge. But I’m trying to get better at it - at the suggestion of one of my supervisors, I have a list of rewards that I decided to treat myself to when I reach certain milestones (two of those arrived, more on those further down!). Tom and I have also put some fun things in the diary to look forward to.

Favourite experience/s of the week

We had a lovely Easter celebration with the family - last year Tom and I started a new Easter tradition for the nieces and nephews, the Easter lucky dip, and we continued it this year, which was great fun. We get a number of big bags of mini M&Ms, Mars Bars, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Malteasers, all kid-friendly things and whack them inside a sack (well, pillowcase), along with a booby prize, which is usually a packet of dried chickpeas or pearl barley from the cupboard. Each child (though quite a few of them are teenagers now!) then picks a prize from the pillowcase and it’s so much fun, everyone seems to enjoy the suspense and theatricality of it. This year, our three-year-old niece picked the booby prize of pearl barley (we had given her a little chocolate bunny separately, I didn’t think her parents would appreciate her being given an entire bag of mini Mars Bars) which she actually seemed quite delighted by!

But the best moment of the past few weeks was Tom getting 100% on his Australian citizenship test!

Reading

Alice Pung is one of my favourite writers - I loved her workshop in Hidden Nerve last year on gesture - and so I was delighted to pick up a copy of her latest novel, One Hundred Days, which was shortlisted for last year’s Miles Franklin (probably the highest literary honour in this country). I devoured it in an afternoon, lying in bed, hot water bottle pressed to the abdomen (which made me feel a lot of the book’s content quite viscerally!). It’s simply outstanding. Set in the late 1980s, which I really enjoyed, it was almost a retelling of the Rapunzel story - an intense mother-daughter relationship which is taken to a new level of smothering and control when the teenage daughter discovers she’s pregnant. She tries and fails to keep it from her overbearing mother, who loves as fiercely and protectively as she knows how, but which leaves the daughter feeling like a prisoner, quite literally. It’s a tense and almost claustrophobic narrative at times but also very funny in places too. I really loved it.

The New Yorker: The Unexpected Grief of a Hysterectomy

British Vogue: Bernardine Evaristo: 2023 Is A Breakthrough Year For Black British Women Novelists

The Cut: My Marriage Was Never The Same After That - oof, I felt every word of this.

Lit Hub: The Hero We Need: Keanu Reeves is Demolishing All Our Dumb Stereotypes - I did not realise that there is an entire sub-genre of Celebrity Studies entirely dedicated to Keanu Reeves, especially in relation to his representations of masculinity. Just one of the many rabbit holes I fall down on a daily basis when doing my PhD work! Tom and I have ended up having a bit of a Keanu season as a result and we’ve both enjoyed thinking about his films through that lens.

I also read Ashley Kalagian Blunt’s new crime-thriller Dark Mode in just a few days - it’s really quite gripping, despite the dark and disturbing subject matter. Not normally my preferred genre but having listened to Ashley talk about it on her podcast for the last few months, I was very excited and intrigued to read it. I also loved that it was set in Sydney! Masterfully crafted and absolutely riveting, you’ll find it hard to tear yourself away - and do not read it at bedtime is all I will say. Ashley’s also shared a lot of the inspiration behind Dark Mode on her blog, which is also fascinating reading.

I’m re-reading Stephanie’s Journal (now out of print) for about the millionth time - always a good comfort read, and I always notice something different, something else to relate to. This time what has struck me most is the restraint with which she writes about difficult situations, especially in friendships and professional relationships breaking down. The details are spare but her anguish is very plain.

I borrowed this vegan cookbook from the library - I love how a local author can be easily identified by the map of Tassie sticker on the spine! - and was quite enthralled by all the delicious ideas. I think I’ll have to get my own copy, which you can get direct from the Bob Brown Foundation or Hobartians can stroll into Fullers and grab a copy by the looks of it. See Eating for more!

Listening to

I have been listening to Alexandra Stréliski’s new album Néo-Romance non-stop - it’s the perfect writing music. Londoners, she’s playing there on 4 May! I so wish I could go! If you love haunting, melodic piano (similar to my beloved Ludovico but she’s most definitely got her own style), I think you’ll love her work.

The First Time: Masters Series with Cate Kennedy - OMG this was amazing. So full of insight and reassurance. Cate Kennedy said some wonderful things, but this I played back several times: “it’s uncomfortable to write. To make anything is a state of of discomfort because you have to sit with it being in an imperfect state for a long time.”

I’ve also been enjoying revisiting the music of Riyuichi Sakamoto who sadly died at the end of March. His last album 12, released in January, is wonderful.

Inner winter playlist, on repeat!

Best Friend Therapy remains a favourite podcast, I’m always glad when Monday rolls around because I have a new episode to listen to! The episode on guilt was especially helpful - that very day the episode dropped I was in a conundrum about something, and through listening I realised that I didn’t actually feel guilty about my feelings, because I trusted them, I just felt afraid to express them. It’s easy to mistake fear for guilt, it turns out.

Eating

Tom and I went out for brunch for the first time in ages - it feels quite wondrous going into cafes again, though I am still a little skittish at times - and we were both in raptures over the Scrambled Stunner at the Little Lotus Cafe. This was scrambled tofu, squares of crispy polenta, chargrilled broccolini, tomato chilli jam and rice paper ‘bacon’. Absolutely delicious! I also enjoyed a proper chai alongside.

This pasta was also a stunner - this is parsnip pasta! Not sweet, if that’s what you’d be thinking with parsnips. Made with wholewheat spaghetti, some smoked vegan cheese, kale and chilli, it was a real treat! I also used Jamie Oliver’s trick of roasted the parsnip peel in the oven with some nutritional yeast (he uses Parmesan). I will never compost parsnip peel again - it was amazing.

I love Shepard avocado season! It divides the nation every year - from February to April - but I don’t know what the fuss is about. They’re lovely! Far better than hand-grenade Hass, who go from perfect to inedible in what feels like half a day. Shepards last well and are nearly always blemish-free. The flesh of Hass oxidises far more quickly too. We’ve enjoyed Shepards on toast, in salad, every which way we’d normally enjoy an avocado and think they’re fabulous. Shepard forever!

I made a vegan zucchini and potato bake from zucchini and potatoes from my garden, which was absolutely sumptuous. There were leftovers, which I blended into another batch of zucchini butterbean soup a week later.

This is the chilli sin carne from Lisa Searle’s Feeding the Resistance mentioned in the Reading section. It was scrumptious! I followed her suggestion to make it mild and then smothered my own portion in pickled jalapeños! Perfect cold weather food. We loved this and the recipe made enough for me to stock the freezer with, and leftovers (with rice) for both of us to take to our respective offices the following day.

I had leftover porridge from breakfast a few days ago and was moved to make porridge bread for the first time in quite a while. It was divine. It’s so wholesome and delicious, like having porridge and toast for breakfast in one. We enjoyed thick slabs of it toasted with marmalade and cultured oat butter for breakfast, and with soup for dinner. It was so good I deliberately made extra porridge for breakfast today so we could have another loaf for the weekend. It’s in the oven as we speak and the house smells heavenly.

I roasted a whole heap of root vegetables (and a broccoli stalk) - including beetroot I grew myself - for a yummy quinoa salad.

Other meals have been the standard tofu fried rice, frozen dumplings, sweet potato mac and cheese, baked potatoes and kimchi, and leftovers thereof. I’ve also made this vegan bolognese which was out-of-this-world good - it stocked the freezer and we have plenty of leftovers in the fridge.

These chocolates were one of my “yay, you did it!” rewards to myself - I got the Love and Light Bundle, which is a box of their artisan chocolates (the Lover’s Box) and a divine sandalwood and vanilla candle. I was seriously impressed with the delivery - I ordered them on Monday evening and they were in Tassie by midday on Wednesday, packed in ice! These chocolates are unbelievable. Handmade in Byron Bay, vegan, free of all nasties, packed with superfood ingredients and natural flavours, I can’t get over how decadent and delicious they are. And seriously satisfying - Tom and I shared three between us and that was more than enough! I’ve not made my way through the whole box yet but my top three flavours so far are Coconut & Cashew with Vanilla, Dark Peppermint Creme with Matcha and Butter Caramel Pecan with Cinnamon. Seriously, I may never eat any other kind of chocolate again. If you love chocolate and want to treat yo self (and you should), I would highly recommend them.

Drinking

You guessed it - my favourite. Nothing like a proper chai this time of year.

Picking

The garden has been full of delicious things - the aforementioned potatoes, zucchini and beetroot, and yesterday I picked nearly 1kg of cherry tomatoes which went into my vegan ragu. I held out so little hope of the tomatoes going red that I hadn’t been to check on them for some time, and some of them had exploded from overripe-ness on the vine. Whoops!

I picked another kilo or so of figs, which have been roasted and frozen for winter porridge, but there are still a handful of them ripening on the branches. Some green beans, which I’ll pick to go with our shepherd’s pie this evening. It looks like we have a few pumpkins on the vine too.

My parents told me to go and pick some of their apples and tomatoes while they were away on the mainland, so I picked a bag of each. I stewed the apples with lots of cinnamon and vanilla into a delicious compote, which we’ve had with porridge most mornings, and the tomatoes became a kasundi, one of my signature condiments. I used to make it for neighbours and workmates in London who all loved it. It’s great made with tinned tomatoes as well as fresh. I use Anna Jones’ recipe.

I bought lots of basil from Hill Street Grocer today (on special!) so I think I’ll make a pesto with it together with the beetroot stalks and leaves. I also have a giant half of a red cabbage to do something with - I might make Nigella’s pickled red cabbage from Cook Eat Repeat.

Watching

As mentioned, Tom and I had a very Keanu-themed Easter thanks to my sudden interest (as mentioned above)! We watched John Wick (the first one), A Scanner Darkly and Street Kings, all on 4K BluRay. These sorts of films, it must be said, aren’t usually my cup of tea but it was fascinating to watch them taking particular note of how the roles Keanu Reeves plays are nearly always a comment on some variation of masculinity, and reflect the profound importance of kindness. Tom, of course, was thrilled that I wanted to watch these movies and dissect them from these particular angles! Film is his thing.

I always associate Easter with Little Women - very odd I know, as it’s more of a Christmas film - because the Gillian Armstrong directed version was released on video (!) at Easter when I was a teenager. My sisters and I watched it on Good Friday, eating our fish fingers and chips. For the longest time I was very protective of that particular version, I thought nothing could touch it (and I still think Christian Bale is a very charming Laurie) and I was sceptical when a new adaptation came out in 2019, even though it was written and directed by my best friend Greta Gerwig. But then I watched it. I should never have doubted Greta. It’s without question the best version of the story I’ve ever seen. So we watched that for our Good Friday movie and both laughed and cried, as usual! Utter perfection.

Succession (Binge) - after two very lacklustre episodes (we thought) to start Season 4, this week’s episode was a nail biter! A complete return to form for the series that both Tom and I were left reeling from! Who else has watched it?!

I’m also still making my way through a complete rewatch of Call the Midwife which is definitely my comfort watch (though there’s nearly always some dark tale at the heart of each episode). I adore it.

Wearing

It’s getting cold and therefore one needs SOCKS. I went to see Tracy and Jen at Red Parka in town, who sell delightful, colourful, warm and ethically-made bamboo socks. And I love that they have Tasmanian animals on them! I bought some fairy wren ones and some pademelons. I wasn’t sure if the 7-11 would fit me, as I am an 11, so I got the pademelons in an 11-14, just in case. I’m happy to report the 7-11 fit perfectly and the 11-14 are a little big, but both very comfortable and fun to wear either way!

I really love socks, I’ve discovered.

Another of my making-a-deadline rewards was this Ipsum Face Oil Intense which I’ve been wanting to try for a long time since I read about it in an article about winter skincare dos-and-don’ts (Spaced fans, you’ll get the joke I’m sure) a few years back. I’ve only been using it for about 10 days and it’s already giving me a glow. It may well be the best thing I’ve ever put on my face. It smells divine, full of lavender, chamomile and fragonia, and feels delightful and nourishing on the skin. Everything feels smoother since I’ve been using this oil. It’s just beautiful and I can imagine it will help keep my skin in good condition over winter. Ipsum very kindly included a full-size Cleansing Oil Balm with my order too, as that product has just recently won Best Skincare Product at The Best of The Green Edit Awards. I can see why, it’s also lovely and leaves my skin so soft! It also arrived within a week of ordering and I got a lovely personal email from the director of the company to thank me for my order. Supporting small businesses for the win!

Proud of

As mentioned, my darling husband studied hard and learned all about Australia’s history, system of government, culture and various other things for his citizenship test, which he got 100% on! We were both so thrilled and relieved. Not that I thought for a minute that he wouldn’t pass, but something of this nature always has a lot riding on it (I remember it well when I did my British citizenship test and interviews). I am more proud of him than I can say.

Quote of the week

“The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.” - Coco Chanel

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! I hope you’ve been keeping well and that you’re also finding things in your life to savour and ponder, that give you pleasure and comfort.

Please note: this particular blog post does not contain any affiliate links. Usually I have affiliate links for books I mention but this week I couldn’t be bothered, haha! I’ve not been paid or asked to endorse anything in this post. Everything I’ve mentioned and linked to is a genuine recommendation - but that is always the case :)

,

catching up

,

Dear friends, how have you been? It feels like ages since I last wrote a post - last week was simply too much of a whirlwind to even contemplate it. And now, it’s Friday yet again, and it will be November before we know it.

The last fortnight has held a lot of work, a lot of running around, a lot of a-ha moments, and a lot of signs that I have probably been working too hard and need to take it easy. Therapy has shown me that busy-ness and work, much as I enjoy it, is also how I distract myself and keep at bay things I might not want to talk about or am not ready to process yet. It’s been that kind of year, and I’m sure it will continue that way until it’s out. Such is the way of things, I’ve learned.

As always I find my anchoring in writing, in music, in reading, in meditation, in nature and in the company of the people I love most. How deeply grateful I am to have all those things.

The main event is that we had a joyful celebration of Tom’s birthday, which was quite a change from his last two birthdays - in 2020 we could only have a limited number of people to the house, and last year we were completely locked down (an introvert’s dream birthday, you could say). So that’s leading on nicely to…

Favourite experience/s of the week

A quiet but fun-filled day celebrating Tom, where we did all his favourite things and had lovely visits and Facetimes with family and friends. We shared a cake with our niece and nephew who are heart-burstingly adorable. And we had a wonderful trip to Gold Class where we saw a great film, had champagne brought to us, and felt very spoiled indeed. You only turn 42 once, after all, and I’m glad my darling Tommy got to do it in style.

I also attended my friend Holly’s book event in Hobart - despite getting caught in a biblical downpour on the way there and therefore looking like I’d been for a swim in my clothes when I arrived, it was a wonderful, memorable and inspiring evening as expected!

Reading

I finished Lucy Caldwell’s excellent short story collection Intimacies - about young women trying to find their place in the world, navigating emigration, motherhood, nostalgia, loss, temptation. I really enjoyed it. It also inspired me to trawl through my hard drives and find short stories I wrote during my London years that I never quite finished, on very similar themes. I discovered Lucy Caldwell quite by accident and I’m so glad I did! She’s a great writer, deserving of as much praise as Sally Rooney, in my opinion.

I’m dipping in and out of Break the Internet by Olivia Yallop which is basically a deep dive into the world of influencers and the industry that has built up around them, particularly over the last seven or so years. I’m finding it both infuriating and fascinating! The internet, and the world, was a very different place when I started blogging in 2005. Back then it was hard to imagine anyone wanting to watch a video of someone unboxing something, let alone that you might get famous, amass millions of followers and a veritable fortune for doing so. Some children I used to babysit (who are now, naturally, in their twenties!) have done just that, which boggles my mind. It’s an interesting experience to read this book as someone who didn’t exactly have a non-existent online profile themselves back in the day, and to be torn between feeling like I dodged a bullet or missed the boat. On balance I think it was the former. Either way it’s a great read and showcases what a disturbing landscape has been created in terms of why and how people get famous these days. A perfect companion/antidote would be So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson, an excellent book I read a few years ago, which hammers home the very dark side of “going viral”.

Rereading Natalie Goldberg’s The True Secret of Writing - I started reading The Body Keeps the Score but found that a bit heavy for bedtime reading, so switched to something that would get me in my happy place! Natalie’s words always make me want to write. I should also reread Dani Shapiro’s Still Writing, one of my favourite books on the creative life.

I also finished reading a wonderful biography of Gwen Harwood and writing a review of it, which I’ll hopefully be able to share in a few weeks.

Creative Boom: Beat the industry’s seven deadly sins with these brilliant books - I want to read all of these!

Catapult: Trying to escape the trap of digital productivity by Richa Kaul Padte - oh boy, how I related to this! My own stepping away from social media at the start of the year was a spontaneous decision but in the nearly 10 months that have elapsed since then, I can see it was something that had been brewing in my subconscious for a very long time. Padte makes some really interesting points about social media turning your life into a performance even when you are consciously trying to subvert that idea:

Even when I am not posting a picture, when I have ideologically committed to not posting it, I am still producing it in my mind’s eye. This compulsive documentation of my surroundings isn’t for personal use; instead, it is vertically shot and artfully arranged for a grid I can’t seem to escape. It’s what the environmentalist Vandana Shiva terms elsewhere a “colonization of the mind,” which feels, in the digital era, inextricably linked with the logic of productivity.

To be honest, I can’t believe it’s been nearly a year. I deactivated Facebook quite some time before this year’s complete exodus, so it’s been even longer since I was on there in many meaningful way. It has profoundly changed my life and outlook. I have so much to say about it and I’ll do another update for you all soon. Thank you Richa Kaul Padte for throwing a log on my internal fire!

I finished Jarvis Cocker’s Good Pop Bad Pop which was as wonderful as I had anticipated. I wonder about doing a project of my own along similar lines - I have boxes and boxes of detritus from my childhood and early adulthood that my parents stored for me while I lived in the UK, and now naturally boxes of ephemera from my life in the UK too. Jarvis ponders in his book, as he is faced with an unwieldy pile of mess in his loft - why do we save things? Why do we collect things? What do these random piles of stuff we amass in the course of our lives and keep hidden away say about us and what we value? What sort of story do they tell about us and our lives? These are fascinating questions and I very much enjoyed Jarvis’s attempts to answer them.

And finally, I am listening to Toni Morrison’s Beloved on audiobook, read by the author herself, as I finish an embroidery project. It’s blowing my mind. Our Hidden Nerve session on Thursday (I can’t quite believe we only have one more to go) featured a few passages from it as an illustration of the presenter’s point about use of metaphor, how to create sensuousness in your writing without being obvious, and also how to write about anger. It was a really big penny-drop moment for me and I think it deserves a post all of its own, so stay tuned for that.

Listening to

On my morning runs, I’ve been doing something different and listening to affirmations over house music. Elroy Spoonface Powell (Chakra Blue) is my favourite. It’s a great change, and particularly good on days I feel a bit slow and lethargic. Running is a great mood lifter anyway but with these affirmations in my AirPods, it’s a complete endorphin-filled experience! Highly recommended. You can listen to Chakra Blue on Tidal (as I do) or Spotify.

Happy Place: The Craig David episode was brilliant. If you’re a recovering people pleaser, this will resonate.

Chill and Prosper with Denise Duffield-Thomas: I don’t know how this landed in my feed but I’m glad I discovered it. I listened to the episode where Denise talks about how to fix undercharging and overdelivering in business and I had quite a few a-ha moments! Worth a listen for all you freelancers out there!

I have recently made a playlist of favourite classical tracks and have recently rediscovered Brahms’ Serenades which were a favourite of mine as a teenager, which I played non-stop (but quietly) when I sat up late writing by candlelight like Jo March in Little Women. I love how music instantly transports you back to the time you associate with it, I could practically see my school bag in the corner.

Eating

I made Deliciously Ella’s spiced cauliflower and cashew pilaf traybake again (pictured) which was even nicer than the first time - probably because I added some chilli powder, haha! It’s a really easy and delicious meal, I thoroughly recommend trying it out.

An Italian-flavoured two lentil soup which I made a vat of - took a container round to my sister who has a newborn and an almost-three-year-old, and then we enjoyed the rest both as a soup with bread and then as a pasta sauce the next day when it had thickened overnight. Love a meal that does double duty!

Vegan chocolate cake for Tom’s birthday - which our niece pronounced “delicious”! - and vegan banana bread, just for something extra!

I made a rather divine creamy broccoli pasta with capers and aged cashew cheese, which we both loved. I think there was a sweet potato mac and cheese in there too.

Now I’m trying to meal plan for the next week and this is what I have in mind:

  • Quinoa pad thai (a Rachel Ama recipe, from her second and latest book)

  • Fennel and butter bean stew

  • Veggie burgers

  • Some sort of curry, most likely an Indian flavoured one because I bought a rather addictive mango pickle from Namaste Spices in Moonah and am glad of any excuse to eat it

  • Chickpea and sausage casserole

  • Most likely a pasta as well, which Tom has said on many occasions he could happily eat every day!

That’s all I’ve got so far! What’s on your meal plan?

Watching

Tom and I went to see Amsterdam for his birthday outing and we LOVED it. Never, ever believe the online reviews. I’m glad we didn’t! It’s quite something when a film set nearly 90 years ago manages to say a great deal about the present day.

Amsterdam is a complex murder mystery that unfolds alongside a poignant tale of love and friendship between three people who met and bonded on the battlefields of the First World War. Despite the horrors they witnessed and endured at the Front, Burt (Christian Bale), Harold (John David Washington) and Valerie (Margot Robbie) spend a happy period of living it up in post-war Amsterdam, and all return to America feeling hopeful and optimistic about the future. Nearly 15 years later, the three are drawn back together when their old army colonel dies suddenly. His daughter (Taylor Swift) believes he has been murdered and asks Burt and Harold, who have stayed in touch all this time and are still best friends, to investigate on the quiet. Unfortunately, the daughter’s hunch is correct and she too is bumped off before Burt and Harold can confirm her suspicions. There is then an extensive flashback to their time in the army and in Amsterdam, which give the viewer many clues as to how they’ve ended up in this situation. Back in 1930s New York, they find themselves unexpectedly reunited with Valerie and the three join forces once again to unearth the culprit and to also expose some dangerous right-wing underground activities that are brewing, some of which involve a few people they know.

Written and directed by David O.Russell, Amsterdam is a very clever and well-produced film full of dark humour but with also some very serious messages about the world we live in today: the prejudices that are still alive and well; how needless suffering is allowed to happen; how tolerance of dangerous rhetoric can have terrible consequences (the theme of turning a blind eye was brilliantly symbolised with the use of eyes in Valerie’s artwork and in Burt’s glass eye); the futility of war and greed; and that choosing love over hate is vital but not enough on its own. We also have to fight to protect kindness, which is usually the first casualty of power being pursued at all costs. “I’m very happy to be unimportant and live in a place that has love and beauty,” muses Valerie. “Art and love, that’s what makes life worth living.”

I have spent much of the last six years despairing over the state of politics in the Western world, as I imagine many of you have too. Living in the UK as Brexit rumbled and the Tories stripped the country’s integrity away piece by piece; sharing my American friends’ horror, grief and fear as Trump was voted in; too numb to cry as I watched the Australian election results in 2019 and we learned Morrison was staying where he was for the foreseeable. In each situation, I always wondered HOW?! How has this been allowed to happen?! I am no political scientist but I am a historian. And the great lesson of history is that people and nations rarely learn from it. Watching this film, two years on from the ousting of Trump, was a curious thing. I have listened to many podcasts and read many articles about the situation and conditions that were created in America that allowed him to rise to power in the first place, but it never crystallised more for me than in the watching of Amsterdam. All the clues are there, if you want to see them. It’s not about the 1930s, or the aftermath of the First World War. It’s about the world we have lived in for the past few decades, and where it all came from.

Honestly, I cannot recommend it enough. As does the birthday boy, who said “if they were releasing it on 4K Blu-Ray tomorrow, we’d be watching again tomorrow. I can’t wait to see it again!”

Wearing

I haven’t worn them yet but I finally bit the bullet and bought myself two pairs of new running tights, as the ones I bought in 2019 are starting to get holes in them! In fact most of my running gear is very old - I still have the Sweaty Betty capris I ran the London Marathon in (which also have holes, so I use those for gardening), Lorna Jane gear I’ve had since 2013, yoga pants I bought in Canada in 2007 (!), the list goes on. It’s all lasted pretty well considering how I practically live in workout gear. My friend Anita recommended Australian brand Abi + Joseph to me ages ago and this week they had a 70% off sale, so I was out of excuses! I’m excited to run in tights that have a pocket for my phone, instead of using my spi-belt that has never sat on my hips properly or wearing a jacket with zipped pockets, which just gets too hot this time of year. Will report back.

Quote of the week

Holly quoted this short poem by Mary Oliver at her event last Friday evening, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I think it sums up the human experience in general!

“We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body.” - Mary Oliver


If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! Have a happy and safe weekend xx

,

this week and last week

,

Has spring sprung? It’s still pretty bloody cold down here…

What can I say, things have been a bit crazy! Here we go…

Favourite experience/s of the past two weeks

It would have to be our 12th wedding anniversary, which was on the first day of September, and which, predictably, was freezing and a washout (we didn’t think when we got married in the UK’s late summer that one day we might move back to Australia!) so our plans for a romantic day out in the open air were shelved for another time. We stayed close to home instead - we had lunch out at a nice place that was only a short walk away and then went to the movies! The rain had finally stopped as we walked home at dusk, hand in hand, bundled up in our winter coats. Tom also surprised me with a bouquet of flowers the size of a small child, which were stunning and has lasted the best part of two weeks!

Last week was also the anniversary of our first date so Tom and I have also now been together for 15 years, over a third of our lives, which I find staggering in many respects. We’re still finding new things to get excited about, new adventures to plan, and we never tire of hearing each other’s stories or run out of things to say. It shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. Perhaps it’s because of everything I went through before I met him, but I never take having a happy, solid marriage for granted. Even through the harder, darker times we’ve faced as a couple - things I know previous relationships would have well and truly crumbled under the pressure of - we are still standing and, despite everything this strange and relentless year has thrown at us, we are actually happier than ever. He truly is the best thing that ever happened to me. I’ve felt very lucky these past few weeks.

Reading

The last week of August/first week of September was all about getting my first draft to my supervisors so if I read anything that week, it was just my own words, over and over, wondering how I might ever entice some magic out of the mess that a first draft invariably is. But my primary supervisor kindly texted me a few days later saying she’d read it already (!) and enjoyed it, so I have been breathing a little easier since then!

But I finished Dessa’s book which I mentioned in the last this week, and I also started at Tom’s recommendation (insistence!) Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley. Tom bought this book because of the Baron Munchausen film connection (which he loved as a child) but ended up being very moved it and thinks I will enjoy it, so I’ll report back!

I also read my friend Fiona’s debut cookbook From Scratch which was absolutely wonderful, just as I had anticipated. If you want to learn how to make some pantry staples from scratch that not only work out cheaper but better for you to boot, this is the book you need. Whether it’s yoghurt, peanut butter or rice crackers, you’ll find a simple and yummy-sounding recipe in here. I also loved reading some of my favourites of Fiona’s stories she shared back in the ye olde blogging days!

And of course we had the sad news of the Queen’s death last Thursday - I have found myself on the Guardian website more often over the past few days than in many previous weeks combined! I found this piece by Jeanette Winterson and this one by Nesrine Malik the standouts of everything I’ve read. Quite different opinions, but I agree with both of them. Charles III has previously shown himself to be an ally of the climate and committed to diversity. Now he is King I really hope he continues to be so.

Listening to

How to Fail: Jarvis Cocker, whose book I am also currently reading. Always a pleasure to hear Jarvis and his invariably funny and thoughtful musings. And yes, I am on a first name basis with him because we once spoke at a Foyles event some years ago, haha! I particularly appreciated what he had to say about being vulnerable in your creative work, as I had just sent my supervisors my first draft and was quietly terrified:

[to be creative]…you have to be vulnerable and also open to making a fool of yourself. You have to feel like you’re walking on a tightrope and you could fall off and it will all be a disaster. But that’s what you have to do otherwise what you’re writing about, singing about, making films about, painting…it isn’t going to mean anything. It’s got to mean something to you first for it then to mean something to another…I think there’s a Leonard Cohen quote that says ‘anyone can show a scar, but it takes courage to show a pimple.’

That made me feel a lot better. Author Andrea Eames, who I interviewed for my own podcast nearly 10 years ago now, also said something similar in my interview with her, which I’ve borne in mind over the last few intense months of writing and in the queasy moments that followed pressing “send” on the draft:

I felt like I was free-falling…and I sort of feel like you have to feel like that when you're writing. If you don't feel terrified of what you're doing, it’s probably not very good. I think you sort of need to be uncomfortable and off your guard and vulnerable to write anything worthwhile.

I have to keep reminding myself that books are slippery things - they often won’t be what you thought or hoped they would be - and that no one will give me permission to write this book. Confidence is something I have to choose, and I also have to hold my nerve, every step of the way. What an education this is proving to be!

Best Friend Therapy: Transactional analysis therapy - another fascinating episode, which explored the role of our various internal voices and how we can find our way to a nurturing and calm adult way of seeing things.

Picking

I took advantage of a warm day when I wasn’t feeling too under the weather (I caught a cough off my sister - but it was not covid!) to tidy up the garden, dig in some compost and mulch with seaweed which Dad brought round. I picked some very healthy looking nettles which were growing wild in the garden, and a random carrot which I don’t remember planting! The celery and rainbow chard continue to produce well. I haven’t had to buy celery all year thanks to my amazing plants! The leaves are also a great substitute for parsley too (which hasn’t grown very well for me - maybe I don’t wear the trousers in this house after all! [that’s an old wives tale]).

Eating

We had lunch outside at the start of the week, for the first time since April, but it’s been freezing pretty much every day since! Typical mercurial spring weather!

I made some rather lovely nettle soup from the nettles (pictured) which had an almost broccoli taste, which was really delicious.

Other yummy things I’ve made over the past two weeks (not all of them photographed, alas!):

  • Emma Galloway’s dhal with roasted cauliflower on the side

  • A rather epic apple crumble

  • Lime and ginger loaf cake

  • Sweet potato mac and cheese (veganised, which I think I now prefer to the original!)

  • Curried pumpkin, lentil and cauliflower soup

  • Vegetable cashew noodle stir fry (not dissimilar to this, just without tofu)

  • Tofu and rice with satay sauce (also from Emma Galloway’s latest book)

  • Vegan pizzas (still loving the mushroom, green olive and basil pesto combo)

  • Deliciously Ella’s mushroom and walnut ragu

We also tucked into some of the vegan chocolate stash we brought back from the UK!

If you would like any of the recipes for the dishes above that I made up, including the nettle soup, do let me know and I will happily write them up…provided I wrote down what I did of course, haha!

Watching

We have seen quite a few films these past few weeks.

Three Thousand Years of Longing (at the cinema) - this was our anniversary treat, and as it was a rainy Thursday afternoon we (almost) had the entire cinema to ourselves. Anything with Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba in it is going to be good, am I right? This was just what I was in the mood for - a well-crafted and acted film with a big brain and surreal/fantastical elements. An accomplished, outwardly content but somewhat lonely scholar (Swinton) buys an artefact in an Istanbul bazaar while there on a conference (she is a narratologist). Back at her hotel room she cleans the artefact, and a Djinn (Elba) appears, offering her three wishes in exchange for his freedom. Anyone expecting a “adult version of Aladdin” as I saw the film referred to in some reviews might be disappointed. It’s actually a very intellectual (as well as visually stunning) exploration of what stories mean and what cultural functions they serve (as cautionary tales, to maintain the status quo, etc). It also examines the idea that unless love is given freely, it isn’t really love at all (in other words, you cannot wish for it). Visually arresting, ambitious in scope and very funny in places, it’s a wonderful film to escape into. I really loved it.

Jurassic World Dominion (4K Blu Ray) - Tommy’s choice, you’ll not be surprised to hear, haha! Getting the original cast back together for this film was the main attraction for me, as I imagine it was for many, and Jeff Goldblum delivers even the most mundane lines in his usual scene-stealing way. Especially when he says: “Jurassic World. Not a fan.” Hahaha! But overall, despite the dazzling animatronics and some genuinely terrifying moments, it wasn’t my favourite of the franchise. Good fun though!

The Flipside (DVD) - OMG, what a find this was. Tom had gone into JB Hifi to get Jurassic World and while I was waiting for him to find it, I spotted this. Reading the synopsis, I was immediately intrigued. An Australian film, set in Adelaide and the Barossa, with all the ingredients of a Phil film - comedy, romance, food and wine, road trips, missed chances, the complicated emotional lives of women. A no-brainer, frankly! The minute it started playing, I knew we were going to enjoy it. It was very charming, clever, well-acted and the right amount of quirky. It reminded me a lot of one of my all time favourite films, Sideways. And yes, we watched it while drinking a Barossan shiraz and a meal that included quite a few Maggie Beer products - I like to team the evening meal with the theme of our chosen film!

I’ve become a little obsessed with Marion Pilowsky’s (the director) back catalogue - she has a lot of very funny and clever short films available on Youtube. I really related to what Marion said about why she made The Flipside:

After working in London for many years I returned to my hometown of Adelaide to focus on writing and directing. In the beginning it really struck me how alien I felt after being away for so long. As I readjusted the vast differences in culture and mind-set between Europe and Australia, it gave me an idea for a story that I felt many could relate to - the visitors from hell. This is a film about finding your true home, love, sex, food and bloody good Shiraz, as well as being my own personal ode to Australia.

She’s pretty much described the sequel to The Latte Years (which may or may not be in the works)!

Honestly, nothing makes me happier than discovering a funny, well-written, truly enjoyable film - and the fact it was written and directed by an Australian woman is a wonderful bonus. From what I could tell it wasn’t particularly well reviewed and I can’t really understand why - I guess people just didn’t get it. But I got it wholeheartedly! I urge you, if you’re in Australia, to seek it out - I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. And Castle fans, you’ll spot a beloved actor from that film in this one and he uses profanity in exactly the same hilarious way. Let me know if you check it out!

Grateful for

Good health (well, the knowledge that a hacking cough is just that and it will pass). A loving husband and family. Friends who show they care. That I live somewhere safe and uncrowded, where the streets are so silent at night you would think you were the only person living there. A roof over my head, food on the table, clean water, a warm bed. The usual suspects!

As I think I’ve hinted at quite a bit in my This Week posts, 2022 has not been an easy year. But, in my stronger, more clear-headed moments, I like to think I have grown more resilient because of it, and I have also been shown that I have a choice where my energy goes. I cannot control how anyone else has chosen to behave but I can choose how much energy I give to things that are, at the end of the day, not actually about me at all. It’s so easy to get bogged down in dramas and doubts, but life is not a guarantee, it is a gift and should be lived with reverence for what matters most. “Be here now” is my most oft-repeated mantra in meditation and it does help ground me. I am truly grateful for all the moments of enlightenment, in whatever form they’ve come, that have led to greater awareness and resilience.

Quote of the week

“We are what we believe we are.” - C.S Lewis

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! I hope you’re all keeping safe and well xx

,

this week

,

It’s always fun to spot The Latte Years out in the wild! I don’t think seeing my book on a library shelf will ever get old. I also love how our State Library puts a little Tassie sticker on the spine if you’re a local author.

Sometimes I’m glad I just went with This Week as the title of these weekly updates - something simple, rather than anything clever or exciting. I got trained out of that some years ago when the Elders of the Internet suddenly told us that blog post titles that were too clever, a pun or a play on words, where the reader might have to work for the meaning, were bad for SEO, or led to lower engagement and higher bounce rates. I get the rationale for it, I do.

But if I were giving each weekly update post its own title, this week I might have gone with The Physics of Failure.

A supremely clever and dear friend of mine is an engineer and that is her specialty. But I also think it’s a fantastic summation of trying to write the first draft of a complicated novel.

Take this equation from my most recent work day - write 500 words, delete 5000. What kind of algorithm is that? How is it possible to estimate or predict anything about the creative process? “Honestly, who would do this?” my colleague wrote back in solidarity when we exchanged emails about our writing progress that day.

But I do want to do this, as excruciating as it is. Putting a book together, as Annie Dillard writes, is “interesting and exhilarating. It is sufficiently difficult and complex that is engages all your intelligence. It is life at its most free.”

So, there is nothing to do but keep buggering on, as Winston Churchill said. I steel myself as I prepare for the week ahead, but also I’m rather excited as I wonder whether the draft might be completely different this time next week. What might happen? What might I discover?

Favourite experience/s of the week

Coffee with my parents at a cafe for the first time in about a year (in a cafe, that is, I have seen my parents often in that time!). I’m grateful that hanging out with them regularly is now the norm, no longer a biennial event, though I still savour spending time with them, all the same.

A visit to the hairdresser for the first time since February! My last hairdresser sadly moved away so I had to find a replacement - the lovely lady who did my hair on Tuesday recognised me once I pulled my mask down to take a sip of water. It turned out she did my sister’s hair for her wedding, many years ago. Hashtag Hobart!

Reading

Again mostly PhD stuff but I also managed to read Karen Hitchcock’s The Medicine: A Doctor’s Notes, a collection of her essays about what it’s like to work in the Australian public health system today - interestingly, published in February 2020 and therefore some of her warnings about the dire state of things proved to be correct. Her writing is so insightful and sharp and quite haunting. Karen has been one of my favourite writers for years, ever since I listened to a highly entertaining and engaging interview with her on the ABC in 2010, which I also very much recommend as well as her book of short stories.

I’m also spending some time with Annie Dillard in her restorative and elemental The Writing Life.

Listening to

The First Time: Masters Series - Christos Tsolkias. I managed Part One, which was great, and Part Two is even more insightful but I’ve still got some of that to go, so that’s first on the list for my next walk. Such a talented, humble man and so passionate. I particularly loved this bit from Part Two:

I get told that people want to write revolutionary stuff; they want to write radical stuff; they want to burn the world; [where] their writing is “talking back to the man”…and then, it’s the most timid writing. Everyone I speak to seems to be terrified of what someone’s going to say about them on Twitter so they will not risk an opinion that is challenging. And, more vilely, they won’t defend a friend who gets attacked because they’re scared of the damage that will come their way.

Christos was referring to the mindset and viewpoint of his characters Christo and Andrea in his latest novel 7 1/2 but these are thoughts he, like anyone writing a contemporary novel, has as well. I think it holds a lot of truth!

I also discovered that the Dandy Warhols released an extremely interesting album, that’s about four hours long, in 2020 called Tafelmuzik Means More When You’re Alone - I’ve not yet listened to the whole thing as it’s not quite writing music, though the first two tracks could be. It takes the concept of Tafelmuzik, which was designed to be played to accompany banquets in the 16th century, and turns it on its head a bit. It’s meditative and weird and I kind of love it.

I’ve also had Nils Frahm’s Lemon Day on repeat this week, and while writing this post!

Seriously sensational mashed potato flatbreads.

Eating

The week’s eats were:

Sunday: All-in-one sweet potato Thai curry from The Green Roasting Tin by Rukmini Iyer - this was luscious and so easy to make when we’d got in late from watching the football with the family. It was lovely and soupy, a bit like a laksa.

Monday: Jerk-spiced lentils with rice and mashed potato flatbreads. The flatbreads were seriously out of this world and totally worth having to have all the windows and doors open because of how smoky the kitchen got! Next time I’ll do them on the barbecue but WOW, they tasted like the naan from the Indian street food stall at Spitalfields Market, where I used to prowl around on a Thursday lunchtime back in the day. I can write up the recipe if you like but it was very simple - equal parts leftover mashed potato and self-raising flour, with a bit of soy milk to bind it all together. Spread each flatbread with butter or vegan equivalent while you keep them warm. We had the leftover flatbread (I’m amazed there was any left) with soup the next day for lunch.

Tuesday: It was meant to be risotto, but I ruined it by adding something that had gone off to it (why didn’t I check it first?!) so we ended up having hot chips in the air fryer and a packet of Digestive biscuits. Plus wine. That might have been why the risotto was ruined.

Wednesday: Jerk spiced lentils with pasta (as an alternative bolognese, it’s very delicious).

Thursday: Vegan curried sausages with rice and greens. Very yummy! I was trying to recreate the dish I remembered from my childhood after a chat with my new hairdresser about comfort food, but it wasn’t quite how I remembered it. I think my parents might have used a milder curry powder as well as extra turmeric and milk instead of stock to get more nutrition into their growing girls. I recall the sauce being neon yellow, and very creamy. More experiments needed.

Friday: Jerk spiced lentils with pasta again - I had no desire to repeat Tuesday’s disaster so went with something safe! After a long day, the most I could handle was boiling water and stirring a sauce through.

Saturday: Burger and chips, which we hadn’t had for quite a while. I put some aged walnut cheese on mine which felt rather decadent.

I also made another stash of Nigella’s vegan gingerbread which happily keeps for weeks, and Rachel Ama’s ginger lime cake from her brilliant One Pot book. One cannot write a book without cake. And tea. There’s been plenty of that too.

Watching

Mission Impossible: Fallout (4K Blu Ray) - a Tom choice, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the Mission Impossible franchise is. A bit like James Bond (up until recently that is!), I relax a lot knowing that Ethan Hunt will never be killed off and will therefore pretty much get out of every situation, however dire and un-winnable it appears. That helps me enjoy an action film a lot more. Though I was genuinely sad and shocked when Alec Baldwin’s character doesn’t make it (sorry for the spoiler!). And the sprightly presence of Simon Pegg makes any film a joy to watch.

Sisters (Blu Ray) - we watched this in 2015 and, being so new to Tina Fey’s work at that point and most of the SNL alumni (I know, what rock had I been living under?), I have to confess I didn’t enjoy it on the first watch. We gave it another try this weekend, having become great fans of Amy Poehler and Paula Pell in the intervening years as well, and on this watch I thought it was fantastic. Perhaps I just get the humour more, or recognised so many of the cast, or perhaps now I’m in my early forties, the same age as the protagonists, everything felt a tad more relatable? Either way, I’m really glad we gave it another go.

The Brittas Empire (DVD) - Tom surprised me with the boxset as an early anniversary present and we’ve been laughing non-stop. A lot of comedies from the 1990s have not aged brilliantly but this one is an exception. I was only a child when this show was originally televised and there is something about revisiting shows that you enjoyed as a kid about workplaces and obnoxious bosses as an adult that just gives it so much more meaning and that rings true so much more. I wonder if my favourite blog Ask A Manager might ever dissect Gordon Brittas’ management style for a laugh?!

Quote of the week

Spotted in London a few months ago….

“Create. Every day. And making excuses does not count.” - Wrdsmith

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! Let me know what you’ve been up to, and what’s been inspiring you, if you like. I love hearing from you. Stay well, until next week! xx

,

this week

,

Daphne, one of my favourite smells, and prolific at this time of year. I brought some to my office so I could smell it all day while I’m writing.

I know I say this nearly every week but I’m not entirely sure where this week has gone.

But this week I know why - because I have been putting my head down to make some serious headway on my novel. My supervisors would like to see a full draft by the end of August and so on Monday I printed out the current draft as it stands, all 370 pages of it, and have been lost in that world ever since. Hours pass and I barely move, apart from my fingers on the keyboard.

It has reminded me a lot of when I was writing The Latte Years with a short deadline, around a full time job and everything else that life in London entailed. Days became weeks very quickly.

I’ve decided for the next few weeks, while I’m ensconced in my work, that my This Week posts will be written and published on a Sunday instead of Friday (which frankly has usually meant Saturday!). That takes the pressure off considerably and allows me to devote writing time during the week to the PhD, which is absolutely where it needs to be spent.

It also means that my This Week posts might not be all that exciting for the next little while - if all I’m doing is writing, sleeping, eating and exercising, there might not be much to report! But I’m a firm believer that it’s the little details that are worth paying attention to in life, where we might see interesting patterns, and where we might learn a lot about ourselves.

Favourite experience/s of the week

I loved making some serious headway on my draft. I found myself waking in the mornings, itching to get back to it. I am delighted and frankly relieved that I’ve hit this point with it - it has been a hard slog over the past two years, where research has been so much easier than trying to enter this world with my imagination. I knew I had only got to know these people superficially - I had shaken their hands and nodded politely at them across the room, not sat beside them at a campfire or, God forbid, kicked down their bedroom doors (as the wonderful Morag Joss once instructed me to do). I had a wonderful video chat with a dear friend in London who is also a theatre director, so she is well-versed in making characters come alive. We workshopped a few ideas together and she really encouraged me to step up and take ownership of my subject as a character - I have to invent, because the historical record is so sparse.

Things I was grateful for this week

Is it lame to say my husband? He went out to get some groceries while I was working at home and I heard him come back, shuffling at the front door with the keys and bags. I hopped up and opened the door for him, and he was standing there with a huge bouquet of tulips in his arms. He never misses an opportunity to show me he’s proud of me. I’m so deeply grateful for how supportive he is.

Tea and a pile of library books. Two of my favourite things.

Reading

Honestly? 99 per cent of my reading this week has been PhD stuff. My notebooks, flicking through them looking for things I know I wrote down months ago in a flash of inspiration, or for obscure references that I thought would come in handy. Wonderful books lent to me by my supervisors, poetic deconstruction and interpretation of sparse archives. Combing through JSTOR for papers on fictive memoir and metaphorical mapping in Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace. There hasn’t been a dull moment!

But I also like to read for pleasure as well, where I can! I got myself a pile of library books yesterday and brought them back to an empty, silent house. I put Ludovico Einaudi on the stereo, brewed a cup of tea and dove into the pile. My happy place.

I’ve already read Breathing Space which is a wonderful collection of poetry, essays, art and short fiction from Tasmanian writers and artists about our changing relationship with this state’s landscape. I adored it. And I know a few of the contributors, which is always special.

Listening to

The First Time: Masters Series - Tony Birch. I had of course heard of Tony and read his writing, but I had never listened to an interview with him before and I was spellbound. He really emphasised the importance of getting into a good working routine for your writing - whatever works for you - and I also appreciated what he said about rejection. I was still feeling sad about one I’d had the week before and his words were really bolstering - and to know that even a writer of his stature still gets turned down was very comforting!

WILD with Sarah Wilson: Ask Me Anything with Melissa Hemsley - fabulous episode, full of Sarah’s usual thoughtfulness and proactive take on life. I must admit I had been feeling a bit despairing over the climate crisis of late and listening to this made me feel hopeful again.

We Can Do Hard Things with Glenn Doyle - OMG, how had I not discovered this podcast until now?! (answer - most likely because I have not been on social media since January). Thank goodness for my walking commute! I have saved so many episodes to listen to but this week I managed both Cheryl Strayed episodes, both Liz Gilbert episodes, and the Reese Witherspoon episode. They were all fabulous and just such great reminders of how important it is to be resilient, courageous and make the contribution that you are here to make.

Best Friend Therapy: Toxic Friendships - how do we define friendship? What makes a friendship toxic? What can we do about it? - I’ve already listened to this twice so that probably tells you how deeply relatable I found this episode. I particularly appreciated their definition of friendship which was thinking of the other person with goodwill, wanting the best for them (even if it means you don’t get what you want from them) and always making generous assumptions. Life is a lot easier when you have generous assumptions! There tends to be less drama too.

Thursday’s tofu fried rice - always a favourite!

Eating

The week’s eats were:

Saturday: Pizza night with family

Sunday: I did a big cook up and made our winter favourite Pip casserole (vegan version obvs!) and Rachel Ama’s Jerk-spiced Lentils, both of which kept us going through the week! We had the casserole with chunks of homemade bread.

Monday: Jerk-spiced Lentils with coconut rice and flatbread. Seriously, every recipe of Rachel Ama’s that I’ve tried has been incredible and this was no exception. If you’re a vegan you need to get her books immediately!

Tuesday: Casserole with flatbread

Wednesday: Jerk-spiced lentils with pasta (it made a delicious pasta sauce!)

Thursday: Tofu fried rice (using leftover rice from Monday)

Friday: Sweet potato and coconut soup (loosely followed this recipe) with bread

Saturday: Nigella’s puttanesca, veganised (use 2 tablespoons of miso paste instead of anchovies) and with shredded chard from the garden added.

The bread machine has been getting a workout (it’s a wonderful enticement to get up with my alarm, as I time it to be finished at the same time. Whatever works!), I made another loaf of banana bread, and also an ill-fated tray of granola which was gutting. I prepared it so lovingly - coconut oil, vanilla and organic honey I wanted to use up melted down, stirred through nuts, almond meal, seeds and coconut into clustered sweetness - only for it to burn in the too-hot oven. The place smelled of honey, coconut and vanilla for days, the promise of what could have been hanging in the air! Sad face. I managed to salvage about half a cup of dark brown on the cusp of burnt granola, and it was pretty nice. Sigh. I will be much more careful next time and watch it like a hawk!

Watching

Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (4K Blu-Ray - Tom was keen I make the distinction, haha!) - I quite enjoyed this! The highlight was realising that one of the shady guys was Cecil the choirmaster from the Vicar of Dibley, haha!

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (iTunes) - apart from Sisters (which I may need to give another chance), I love everything Tina Fey is in and this was no exception. The year is 2003 and a news writer (Fey) stuck in a rut decides to chuck in her comfortable but depressingly mundane life, and volunteers to report from the frontline of the war in Afghanistan. Unsurprisingly, her life is utterly transformed (to put it mildly) by the experience. Admittedly a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is required when watching Anglo actors play locals but overall I found the heart of this film to be in pretty much the right place. It’s well shot, well paced and also, despite its serious subject matter, very funny in places.

Quote of the week

At the library yesterday I picked up a book I’ve read before - The Writing Life by Annie Dillard - and at random it fell open at this page when I picked it up.

“Aim for the chopping block. If you aim for the wood, you will have nothing. Aim past the wood, aim through the wood; aim for the chopping block.” - Annie Dillard

I think of this as encouragement to see the bigger picture, widening one’s perspective rather than being focused too narrowly on the wood itself - the finished work, the published book, and how it is received. Don’t worry about doing it perfectly. Focus on the act of writing itself, the chopping block.

If you’d like to share your thoughts on this post, or anything else, with me, please do! I hope you’re staying safe and well, wherever you are xx