September serenity.

It is Spring! I haven't put much love into my garden, but I did buy a few tulip bulbs and some anemones and stick them in pots, and I grew rainbow chard over winter so I am harvesting chard galore. I will resume poppies next year. 

I did the first mow of summer and now that is a fortnightly thing until Autumn, although the drought might slow it down some.

My home-resetting has continued. After the initial push, I had a break to recover, but finally tackled the spare room and the seasonal wardrobe change. I had a splurge and HnM home where I got some new towels, a table cloth, and a linen duvet cover for the spare bed on sale. And some candles of course.

I finished the Throne of Glass series (7 books but not the prequal) which has been quite an undertaking since the Christmas holidays. I then read the sequel to Austenland last weekend. I need to stay on this roll and get another book stat, however I have restarted the wheel of time audiobooks and I can't resist audiobooks, as bad as it is for attention span to multi task.

Having wheel of time viewing sessions every 2 weeks with Dad and JK.

I made some meusli. I loaded it with macadamia nuts and other nuts and seeds, and no dried fruit.

Lots of social things! JK had a bin fire at her new place to burn the backyard branches.

We also had a pub lunch.

Hung out with church women at someone's house-cooling party. Couches in the back yard, ultimate comfort.

Had a quick trip into newy on the train last saturday arvo to meet up at a multicultual event.

And I haven't been to Singleton in a while so on the public holiday Monday I went up for the morning and had a sister date, with Johnny, and also met the kelpie pup. We walked down to the local shops for a drink and a treat.

I made this bowl cosy while on the phone to Denise!

So all in all quite a peaceful and pleasant month. Pilates, cooking from the recipe tin eats book, yoga and walks with Ros, music at church, work going well, feeling normal to live alone now and in a good rhythm again.

 

August: Spring cleaning

I have been obsessed with deep cleaning, my weekends have been full, but it's been good to do some fun things and good to clean and organise some rooms. JK left some space in the house and some gaps in the cleaning products so it's been very opportune to get some tiktok recommendations for new cleaning products and a chance to freshen up the layout of some rooms.

I have been using a drinks trolley from Elsie's street find as a TV unit for a number of years, but I suddenly decided it was a mess, and I deep dived into fb marketplace for a couple of weeks until I found a refurbished one that was the right size for my space, and I invited Dad to spend the morning with me picking it up. I treated him to morning tea and we also looked at a 2nd hand furniture shop which was very fun.

Here is the TV unit. For the first time I am keeping my DVDs not in a suitcase. It takes a while to recognise the value of something fit for purpose. A drinks trolley and a suitcase were free, but this takes up less space and does a much tidier job. 

I put the drinks trolley on marketplace for free and some ladies picked it up from the front porch that night.

I've had a decent little display of daffodils and anemones, not a bounty but enough to pick a few and enough to bring joy when I look out the window. I've been spraying some lawn weeds, put some blood and bone on the roses, took down the Sweep proof fence from the veggie garden, and planted some zinnia seeds.

I dug up the sweet potato vine and it was 2 potatos! I expected more but I wasn't disappointed, they are respectable.

The exterior painting is done! 

2 years ago I painted my rooms yellow and started painting the front door. The saga of the oil based paint was resolved, I sanded, reprimed and then finally painted it gloss. I mean you don't even see the back of the front door but its nice to finally have finished painting.

And I bought a new doorbell and put it on the front door. Nobody has rung it yet but at least I can hear visitors from the back of the house now that Sweep has gone.

So that is a roundup of some of my house stuff. I also swept out the garage, washed some windows, polished a table. Deep cleaning and feeling good. It has been tiring though.

I am meanwhile looking at armchairs and sofas. Hard to figure out the most comfortable and flexible option. 

On to some socials! I went to a friend's birthday karaoke.

I went to dinner and watched that exciting Matilda's game. Very glad I did because I would not have watched it at home on my own and it was a national moment.

Also went to some Highland games last weekend! A fun time out and I would do it again.

There was a hospitality sunday lunch with church people, I made some chicken legs, I need to actually get a tasty recipe for this instead of just baking in sauce.

Someone made a cob loaf, the ladies DEMOLISHED it before the men arrived.

And I still see JK and sweep regularly, we are watching some TV shows together.

Mum and dad have moved house. I took them a meal on their first night. That's a big life stage thing, I think it's exciting for them to have a newer place and less lawn. 

Coping well with work, continuing slow and steady. There is a lot on the list for the end of the year. Slow and steady. I am trying to do a little overtime each day so that I can get back to taking a flex day once or twice a month. Still doing well at my life routine, pilates, church, music team, home group leading.

July: turning point.

I feel like a whole bunch of big things happened in one month and I ran out of resilience! 

First, some little highlights. I am super into candles so I treated myself to buying a few at TK Maxx. They are so cheap! And I really enjoy hunting down evocative smells. These ones have cardamom, rosemary, patchouli, oud, things like that. 

 

I cracked out the new unopened flanelette sheets!

This is Sweep in a yellow jumper matching the walls. 

I tried to paint my front door but there was oil paint under my primer!!!!! I borrowed a friend's sander and removed as much primer as I could. Back to square one.

Here are some fun times! I went to Kickin Inn Cajun Seafood with R and Sh, it was tasty and fun, but expensive and messy. Maybe not an experience I would repeat but very glad to do it!

There were many birthdays! This was a document burning fire for Dad's birthday. JK had trivia. Johnny turned one, but I missed that one.

The first half of the month featured my job application. The process went for weeks. There was for example a video app that recorded your answers to preset questions, you had a few chances to re-record it but the whole thing had a time limit so it was intimidating. I knew that there were over 200 people applied for my job, so I was getting more and more anxious just about not messing up and looking stupid compared to all the potentially amazing other candidates. 

I highly recommend this podcast. It helped me prepare for the interview and gave me the confidence to sell myself.

I think this is my interview outfit. I actually dressed a little more professionally and wore makeup a lot in the leadup, partly to subliminally impress everyone with my professional looks lol, but partly to give myself that power. Now I've totally forgotten about it. 

This is where I did my interview on Teams, I had my laptop there, a whole lot of notes and my resume, a glass of water and a box of tissues. Prepared. I felt OK at the end, I definitely finished strongly, but I spent DAYS afterwards rethinking everything I said in painful regretful detail.

I bought myself a new pair of pilates socks as a reward!

JK moved out! It happened rather suddenly. I noticed a fb post from one of her old housemates, she caught up with her a few times and talked about things and thought about things, and then it was decided! I had mixed feelings, it is a positive move, a real turning point and an end of the "cocoon and recover" era, but it is a big change for both of us too. The move went very smoothly overall. 

We have been having the exteriors of the units repainted. Not a lot of work for me but just another big thing going on, involving a bit of logistics.

Parents went away and I added Banjo breakfast and dinner to my routine for a week.

I went to a Dr appointment in Newcastle on the wrong day, so I instead bought some goat cheese at Harris Farm and walked along Bar Beach.

I took a day off and went to Sydney to play the hymns for D's mum's funeral. I woke up with a sore throat.

I really hit the wall this week. All the anxiety of the job application kind of switched into some of my work projects and into managing the logistics of everything that was happening with the house, the dog feeding etc. So I was actually glad to get sick and take some days off work. I didn't quite do it properly, I always feel like a throat infection isn't really the same as a cold or flu because I'm not sneezing or snotty, so while I rested a lot, I also moved furniture, went to the movies, and went to church. I tried to go bak to work on MOnday, which I also had my carpets steam cleaned in the morning, but ended up sleeping in the afternoon and then sleeping on Tuesday too. I had coldsores. It was really an exhaustion situation.

This is an example of the furniture moving and junk sorting I undertook, because the carpets needed a clean after 9 years of me and 18 months of a puppy, and with a lot of empty space after the move out it was the perfect time to declutter, move furniture and get the carpets cleaned. It was terrible timing for my health, but I am very happy it is done! The house is so fresh now. More on that next month.

This is me having lunch with a throat infection at my parents house for the last Sunday lunch before they move house.

Anyway, being sick ended up being a very helpful circuit breaker and reset. Some guilt-free days to rest, and letting go of work stress. My motto for the rest of the year is now 'slow and steady'.

June jaunts and job.

June has been a good month! I had some busy weekends and two trips to Sydney but I also had lots of time to sit in the sunny spots of the back yard and read, and I have read about 6 books this year which is a great number! 

  

R and me went along to the local production of Little Women the musical. We know one of the leads. The singing was great, the musical itself is not memorable but it has it's poignant moments. I checked out the orchestra while I was there as it is my hope to join them, and I sat next to someone and struck up a conversation with them and she knew all about the orchestra, the time commitment and what they do each year so that was great information. 

I pruned my roses which was 2 green bins worth of wood waste. I'm treating one for scale and white aphid things.

And I tackled one of the scariest jobs I've ever done! I cut and unravelled the sleeves on the cardigan mum knit me last year, and wove the cuffs back on, making them 4 inches shorter. I did this at mums house with the support of mum and heather just in case it went badly. I am SUPER PROUD OF THIS. I do a lot of crafts, and the youtube videos were quite clear about how to do it, but it still feels like a miracle achievement.

I was dreading one of the trips to Sydney because I'm nervous about driving into the CBD and getting into unfamiliar car parks. I drove down with a colleage, dropped her in the city for a meeting on monday evening and got my car and myself parked at darling harbour. Then I was heaps more relaxed! I enjoyed walking over to Myer, over the beautiful pyrmont bridge, and I tried on some jeans I'd seen online. I concluded that they looked like dad jeans on me and I will not rush to straight or wide leg jeans. Then I met G for dinner and we had shanghai dumplings at Darling sq and I burnt my tongue on the soup inside the dumpling, which I am not unfamiliar with but I sucked it right into my mouth and my tongue hurt for 2 days. Then we walked up the goods line and back, had some kurtosh for dessert, and had an early night.

Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at a workplace wellness conference, learning a lot about managing workplace mental health, HR, latest trends and free coffees. It was quite a lot for the brain so it was tiring. 

We left a bit early on wednesday afternoon so I ended up getting home at 6.30 and then back to work on Thursday.

I received an update on my job application and had to make time to record some video responses, so I took thursday arvo off to do that, and then on the weekend I uploaded some requested samples of work. I have my interview via Teams on Thursday 6 July and then this ordeal will be over. I know I have an advantage in getting my existing job, but I also know there is a lot of good competition and I also have the most to lose! So I am looking forward to when this is all over.

My second trip to Sydney was for pleasure, I left work Monday arvo and drove down for the Getty Sing! Australia events, the first one at Castle Hill on Monday night, and the second on Tuesday night at the Opera house. I enjoyed both, the music was excellent both but Monday had a sprinkle of short topical talks, on the songwriting, singing with kids, the place of music in suffering, the ministries Getty and City Alight are involved in.

I stayed with R and her mum, and Tuesday we went out for lunch at a Filipino restaurant, delicious BBQ skewers and I had to have a pandan dessert. 

R and I met Heather at Central, we enjoyed the Railway Brass Band while we waited!

It was R first time inside the Opera House! And I was excited to see the new acoustic renovations too. It was a great night of music--irish, bluegrass, gospel, a choir and audience singing. Immaculate sound. 

And now on to the second half of 2023! My parents are moving house in August, which is huge news for the family. They haven't moved in 25 years so there's lots to deal with, and it's a bit of a shame they haven't enjoyed the renovations very long, but the new place is nice and has a lot less mowing so it's a good change.