Feeling A Bit Sh*t #064

Fainting goats, Emily Bronte's hawk, the connecting power of cake +

Welcome! Or welcome back! Let’s dive in …

Three Good Things

1/ The tree outside my bedroom window is switching from green to orange, red and yellow and it’s a delight to see where it’s up to each day.
2/ The ranunculi I planted a few weeks ago are popping up in their garden bed, promising a lush patch of greenery and blooms come Spring.
3/ I made a loaf of banana bread this week and there’s nothing much nicer than having a wodge with a big cup of tea in the late afternoon.

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And the non-sh*t things …

one/ Did you hear about the kindergarten teacher that became caretaker to a couple of hundred penguins.
two/ The very scientific reason that chips from you mate’s plate taste better.
three/ Matt Dillon’s lowkey career as a visual artist. (Found via Wardrobe Oxygen)
four/ Eleven ways of looking at the world: “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
five/ A bunch of gorgeous photos of a young Jane Seymour. (eg below)

six/ The beautiful bird and bloom themed works of Vasilisa Romanenko. (Above - click through for a bunch more.)
seven/ I love the idea of a ‘Grandma Stand’! So chatty and cute.
eight/ Are these the 100 best novels of all time, do you think?
nine/ Some helpful tips on managing your energy when life feels like one long episode of burnout.
ten/ A delicious-sounding Vanilla Bean Cheesecake for your consideration or even this Pineapple Banana Bread. One Pan Chicken Spanakopita Pie = cosy. How about a Rhubarb Tart, perhaps? (Previous two recipes found at Foodie Crush.) Lemon Myrtle Butter Biscuits look so comforting (top) or Raspberry Cookies (below.) As do these Greek Yoghurt Buns. Caprese Pasta Salad looks like an excellent go-to. Or maybe Bang Bang Tofu, to spice up your dinnertime?

eleven/ A pair of FAINTING GOATS has arrived in Australia, friends. What?!
twelve/ How cake can connect family, even across great distances.
thirteen/ Engaging with art and crafts may slow biological aging, according to science.
fourteen/ A bunch of chatter about the importance of COUSINS!
fifteen/ A new book of poetry inspired by Emily Brontë’s … hawk Nero.

sixteen/ Is Sarah Raven’s home and garden the prettiest you’ve ever seen? (Above … and it’s time to plant your tulip bulbs if you are in Australia!)
seventeen/ Could writing for wellbeing be practised as a rejection of AI.
eighteen/ How avoiding plastic when you grocery shop for just ONE MONTh can impact your sustainability habits long term.
nineteen/ ‘That quilt serves as a daily reminder of all the goodness in this world’
twenty/ A very happy (slightly belated) birthday to Mrs Dalloway.
twenty-one/ A 126 year-old Cadbury chocolate bar is up for auction, friends!
twenty-two/ I LOVE this story about battered copies of Stephanie Alexander’s The Cook’s Companion. (Norman Day’s copy below and more at the link.)

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Around the grounds

I popped into the op shop (thrift store?) today and picked up a bag of little wooden circus figurines like these ones (also below) but there are around 30 different ones. There was a strong man and some acrobats, clowns, lions and monkeys, a snake (circus snakes are surely a thing?!) and tigers too. I took them over to my little granddaughter’s house and she was delighted with them, making various animal sounds and entertaining her parents, aunty and uncle no end.

What have you been cooking?

I made a delicious vegetable soup using this old favourite recipe. And I also made a cream of cauliflower soup because apparently it’s Soupy Days. I also made a big chicken curry which crossed off a bunch of meals for our household this week. And banana bread (I use the PWMU banana cake recipe.) And scones. I made scones today too!

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Silly joke of the week

What do you get when you cross a centipede with a parrot?
A walkie-talkie.

Wishing you the best sort of week, dear friends. May it be full of small, good, comforting things.

x pip

If you fancy, buy me a coffee. —>