Feeling A Bit Sh*t #074

Charm bracelets, garden generosity, Boston Bun +

Hello! Hoping your Sunday has been the best it can be, and so glad to see you back here.

Three Good Things

1/ The lady at the nursery giving me a free geranium plant when I bought two little trees this morning.
2/ A thick wodge of Boston Bun eaten with a giant cup of tea.
3/ Planting those two trees I bought earlier today. A wattle and a compact eucalypt.

one/ “The Pied currawong says its own name - currawong, currawong - with a varied, fluting song besides - that always comes back around to that first part. White flashes on wing and tail, a formidable beak, and definitely too much black to be a magpie.” Kirsten Bradley in Currawong Moon.
two/ Who knew that Jane Austen had a favourite Cheese Toastie recipe? Watch someone nice make one here.
three/ Underwater gardeners are restoring ancient kelp forests in Tassie. Legends.
four/ Looking to read historical fiction that centres women? Lots of bright ideas here.

five/ Turning 13 by Stella Blackmon (above).
six/ If you’re writing a book (or keen to) here’s some good advice.
seven/ Take a virtual visit to the Towpath Cafe. (Via Phillipa … and by Ellie.)
eight/ Did you read about what’s happening to Miranda July’s garden?
nine/ How about this Tassie beach house for your next southern holiday?
ten/ Asian-style Cucumber Salad (I made it this week and it was v. good!) Tunisian-style Chickpeas and Toast (below top) looks so comforting. Greek-style Garlicky Green Bean, Potato and Tomato Stew (aka Fasolakia - below bottom.) Easy and Spicy Cucumber Noodle Salad. Low Effort Scallion Chicken with Rice. Baked Rhubarb with Labne.

eleven/ Have you heard of ‘unswept floor mosaics’?! The coolest ancient trend I’ve seen in AGES. (#boom-tish)
twelve/ How to very, very, VERY successfully line a cake tin. It’s ART, I tell ya!
thirteen/ The new Saoirse Ronan thriller looks good/devastating. She’s my favourite. The Map of Longing looks interesting?

fourteen/ One of Elizabeth Taylor’s famed charm bracelets is for sale. She had a bunch of these (e.g. top image) and they’re all beautiful and whimsical.
fifteen/ Don’t be a nosy parker if you visit the Faroe Islands! Gosh! The houses!
sixteen/ The latest in Prime Ministerial cat Larry’s adventures. (At this point he’d likely run things better than the actual PMs?)
seventeen/ You might love the floaty works of Cecilia Reeve? (Found via Sara.)

Above: Parliament Hill Lido by artist Cecilia Reeve

eighteen/ The guy that looks for diamonds in the streets and cobblestones and gutters found another diamond(s)!
nineteen/ How TV series The Bear nailed their depiction of ageism.
twenty/ Craft your own herbal seasoning blend?

Around the grounds

I bought June a little soft toy Elmo this week and she’s delighted with both it and the cardboard tag that was attached to it (it also had a photo of Elmo on it.) She folded the tag in half and squeezed it tightly, grinning with her four and a half teeth, treating it like treasure. She calls him “ALMO” which of course is adorable.

What have you been watching?

I’m rewatching Offspring, catching a million glimpses of my old neighbourhood in Fitzroy. Even glimpses of our cars parked in that old neighbourhood. It seems like so long ago ... I also watched A Toxic Love Story on Netflix which seemed bonkers and also a very rushed production. Lots of questions, and reminiscent of Love Trapped (the excellent and also bonkers podcast) … but also not. And I watched About Time which I loved.

Joke of the week
What’s black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white ..?
A penguin rolling down a hill!

Hoping to see you again - right here - very soon. Have an okay week!

x pip

If you fancy, buy me a coffee. —>