Not tackling the big questions in my world, namely:

+ How did we get to April so quickly?

+ How have I so far managed to avoid The Covid despite extremely prolonged exposure to two infected people over the course of a week?

As ever – this is reasonably epic, so you may want to grab a tea.

♥

01. Use the things!
✅ Fancy glassware and the bowls I made are still in regular use.
(I! Made! Bowls! – Amazing!)

I’d been saving four adorable souvenir tea-towels for many, many years, thinking I’d acquire more and turn them all into a quirky picnic quilt.

2x London from Joan? Hobart from us? Courtney Barnett from Courtney Barnett

But then these thoughts occurred to me:
+ When do I ever picnic? (spoiler: I do not picnic)
+ Am I really going to acquire further adorable quirky souvenir tea towels?
+ Why not just put them into regular rotation which will spark joyful thoughts while doing dishes?

I keep thinking quite a bit about people here and abroad who have lost everything – probably a lot of items that they had saved for special and now will never use.

Use the things!

02. Put my feet in the sea
Not Yet!

03. Buy more indoor plants
✅ Yes! Succulents! Fern! Chain-of-hearts!

quite pleased with these pots, but they are a smidge too shallow inside

Must write a concreting adventures update post in April!

04. 30 days of Yoga With Adrienne in January
✅ Completed January

Told myself I would get stuck in in March. Did not get stuck in in March.

05. Achieve Big Financial Goal
End of September!

06. Use my dremel.
Not yet – but I think I have identified two use cases for the polisher attachment

07. Choose the loving action.
✅ Several items that may on the surface appear trivial, but are big strides in terms of self-worth and disrupting this inclination to deprive myself of stuff

+ We had take-away mid-week for dinner more than once! For many years I’ve very much been way too caught up in the ‘must make all meals from scratch’ thing – in order to feel like a worthy human or the be type of person I aspire to.

+ Likewise we ate pre-made quiche more than once!

+ Conversely, I slow cooked a quite delicious lamb curry despite Don and Joe/Frank being not at home. Usually I’ll mostly eat toast for dinner if they are not around

+ Spent an outrageously large amount of money to have Gelato Messina delivered on the day The Covid visited.

+ I chose to drive the car to a couple of work related catch-ups, rather than face an obstacle course of public transport. This is quite unprecedented and felt somewhat selfish and environmentally terrible. Push past those thoughts carolbaby, the earth will not be destroyed because you drove somewhere twice.

08. Try/learn one new skill each month
I’m reasonably confident new skills were not acquired in March

09. More music through speakers in ThePalace(OLove) on working days.
Alas, no.

10. Show support financially to creators I believe in
✅ Subscribed to David Lebovitz’s paid newsletter. I’d been meaning to for ages, but was prompted by his fundraising for World Central Kitchen’s work in Ukraine

11. Take myself on an adventure in the goget (car share).
Not yet.

12. Attend another sound bath
✅ Was not quite so trippy second time around, because I had an idea what to expect. I did take lots more padding (camping mattress + yoga mat), but offered my yoga mat to a dude who forgot his and used the mattress only. Both mattress and mat would have been quite excellent. I did feel like a very kindly human – so worth a little discomfort!

I felt utterly energised and completely refreshed for at least a week afterward. Everything seemed alive with possibility! I have no idea if this is just because of the enforced laying still for two hours or whether the sounds do anything – but does the why of it even matter?

I will definitely attend the winter solstice one. And take a snuggly blanket! Action item: acquire snuggly blanket

very (very!) quickly constructed lavender and barley eye pillow

13. Take a photo of the sky every day.
March was not great for this – so very much rain. 18/31 days.

25 March: 7:26pm

14. Stay in the country for a weekend
Not yet – we have a $50 voucher from the NSW Govt for Covid stimulus that we should use and also credit from the trip we couldn’t take last July because of lockdown.

Perhaps May for this one?

15. Update supportive footwear.
✅ Completed January

16. Have a serious crack at meditation.
Not yet. Could definitely lay in a darkened room listening to forest or whale sounds right now. Does that count as mediation?

17. Go for a morning swim in the local pool
✅ Completed February
Planned to go once more, but the weather was uncooperative and the pool closed for the season on 31 March.

18. Have a Reiki session.
Not yet

19. Disrupt the daily routine at least once a week.
✅ Nothing particularly earth shattering, more in the realms of micro-disruptions – but those are actually the most achievable.

+ two different lunch catch-ups with former colleagues

+ amazing zoom call lasting almost 2 hours with two incredible new friends from my DFH course. I love these women, and so magical and rare just to find people you kind of instantly bond with.

+ during a rare sunny day amidst in the relentless rain I climbed onto the roof – just because – and took a few photos

+ bit of ruthless decluttering – in Pleasures of Leisure Robert Dessaix calls this nesting which I ADORE and will use henceforth.

+ bought a wee pot of flowers to make the work days brighter


+ isolated for the last days of March. Resolved to never let a day pass without walking outside once we are permitted out.

20. Cultivate a healthier relationship with work
✅ I think still yes, if not giving many fucks is healthier? It probably is.

I know I have been eerily calm in the face of incidents that I would have formerly found rage-inducing.

I was bouncing back and forth between the Information Superhighway and composing this post, and I read That, I began to realise, is the most harmful feeling of all. Not anger but apathy. (from here** via here^^) – which was a bit “oh fuck!”.

Is apathy healthier? It probably is.

21. Get a haircut/trim
✅ Completed February

22. Experiment! Tiny experiments with all sorts of things!
+ Mid way through the month I started eating vegan or vegetarian lunches – and experimenting with falafel or veggie fritters on fresh sourdough – A+++ would eat forever!

I’m thinking to update #3 eat no meat for a week on the 60before60 list to make it a little more sustainable and long term. A week is a bit stunt-y I think. I think at the very least I could be meat-free once a week for dinner and most lunches.

♥

Newsletters:
** Joanna Fuertes: A spoonful of dread
^^ Jessica Stanley: Read Look Think

Finally, The Covid has visited ThePalace(OfLove)

Joe/Frank tested positive on a RAT** yesterday morning, which meant that the household (palacehold?) was plunged into isolation for seven days.

Don had been feeling pretty unwell on the back of a Super Cold and a bunch of his colleagues tested positive over the weekend after a work offsite late last week. He had a negative RAT, but still took himself off for a PCR^^ on Sunday and the results came back negative on Sunday night. Because he was becoming increasingly poorly and it seemed less cold-like, he took a RAT last evening – and BOOM! it shone positive like the proverbial Xmas tree.

Joe/Frank and Don are both trucking along – lots of quiet times and napping.

However, I am still testing negative – but surely will not stay that way with all their germs floating about!

Send hugs!

♥

I don’t know if you call them this where you are, so to translate:

** RAT = Rapid Antigen Test = home test | stick a probe up your own nose
^^ PCR = Polymerase Chain Reaction = queue up | have a professional stick a probe up your nose and down your throat | lab test

20 March: 7:47am

Well phase three did not involve pencils or Don’s activation as a sleeper agent.

What phase three actually involved was two charges on Don’s American Express card from the evil amazon … for the same amounts as the sharpener and sketchbook.

Silly Don, you might think, this is those seeds all over again!

But this is where it gets rather spooky … there are no such purchases in Don’s amazon history – his last amazon purchase was some time in 2010.

To summarise:

+ Parcel containing a pencil sharpener arrives addressed to Don with no other documentation or indication of sender
+ Parcel containing a small sketchbook arrives addressed to Don with no other documentation or indication of sender
+ Time passes
+ Charges for each of these items appear in Don’s credit card transactions
+ There is no record of these items in Don’s amazon purchase history

We can conclude that this is Not Good.

After an “investigation” American Express have decided that the charges are legitimate. I mean, the total less than $20 – but what happens when it is a $5k television, or a Tesla?

Obviously we are not going to let this end there.

Updates as they arrive.

I know that if I attempt to wait until the precise 12 month point for a follow-up gardening adventures post, I’ll perfectionist myself to the point of doing nothing, so let’s go!

First up: the 2022 update of 2021 update

Experiment 1: seeds from a Xmas lunch 2019 pomegranate

40cm

Going strong! Probably needs a larger pot.

Experiment 2: mangoes planted from summer feasting in 2019/20!

70cm

Definitely needs a larger pot!

Experiment 3: ginger

Harvested here.

Experiment 4:lemons

20cm

Not a huge amount of growth. Still, they have not been entirely eaten or died, so I’m calling this a miracle.

Experiment 5: cold-stratified muscat grape seeds

SAY WHAT!? These vines have gone utterly bonkers in only 12 months! Despite the very conservatory-style conditions, grapevines really do not belong in the NotCraft room – but I am loath to take them outdoors to face the apocalyptic weather (heatwaves! floods! bugs!) until we get that pergola built in maybe 2023. In the meanwhile I’m training them across wire hangers. Precious angels!

I’ve got some seeds cold-stratifying in the fridge from this grape season and some I’ve already planted straight into soil, I’ll be excited to see what comes of those!

♥

In other plant-experiment updates:

You may recall the wee figgy seeds I harvested from the ground near my favourite tree, back in 2016 when we were bike riding on the reg.

To say they are thriving would be rather understating it.

180cm!

Probably unwise to re-pot, lest it take over ThePalace(OfLove)!

Why, yes The Palace is falling to bits, thank you for noticing.

♥

You may also recall the stone pine seeds I bought in April 2020.

After quite a lot of fuss and preparation, the sole plant that made it through is surprisingly still kicking along!

21cm

I’m not certain what has popped up in the pot with it, all will be revealed eventually.

♥

And those cuttings I pillaged from the bin at SML in the Before Times?

They also rather like the Conservatory conditions. Past Me really did not care for indoor plants – isn’t it wonderful how we change and evolve?

♥

Of course, not everything is winning!

In 2010 we successfully sprouted an avocado seed on our first attempt, which grew into a wee tree, and was subsequently destroyed by the visiting possum.

Despite many (many!) further attempts, we’ve never been able to repeat the sprouting – which rather reminds me of a colleague who on his first attempt at wordle guessed the correct word on the first row and wondered what all the fuss was about.

This one has been sitting there for a couple of months – I’m about to abandon the endeavour.

♥

And I had a jasmine plant growing completely taking off on the lower balcony, until the endless rains and …

There were SEVEN of these enormous creatures munching away and few leaves left.

Not being the kind of person who squishes caterpillars, I relocated them to the nature strip.

Thankfully everything else on the balcony had remained uneaten, but I’m not sure how long that would have remained so.

♥

Last month as part of my ongoing Mid Life Crisis crafting I attended Bookbinding for Beginners at the NSW Bookbinding Guild

This was one of those “I really wanting to be around people, pursuing crafty endeavours together” activities, rather than any deep long-term desire to learn bookbinding.

The class ran over two days and was pretty intense! Tutor was amazing – group was enthusiastic, had a great energy and was pretty age diverse. We covered a lot and I was quite exhausted afterward – it’s not often I do something outside the routine for an entire weekend. Really must do more of this, I also would benefit from less saying and more executing!

I’m really thankful I learned this with the guild, rather than the other bookbinding offering – which had that “bookbind and wine” vibe and was less intensive. As a former drinker, I become irrationally enraged with the whole “wine and craft” thing that is really just everywhere. If you haven’t read the very excellent Kristi Coulter 2016 Enjoli Essay you should go and do that now.

On with the books!!

1. Single section stitched (x2)

We kicked off with binding our course notes into two softcover books – starting with 3 hole and then progressing to 5 hole with a wrapped cover.

2. Single section cased-in binding (hard cover)

Somewhat more challenging: our first blank book – bound in quite amazing wallpaper and I think the fabric on the spine is buckram, maybe?

3. Hard cover concertina photo album

The level of complexity increased quite rapidly with this one – lots of moving parts, including a de-bossed shape in the cover.

Honestly it is quite surprising what you can make with fairly simple materials.

there’s a whole lot more pressing and squishing with heavy objects involved in bookbinding than I’d imagined.

4. Multi-section French-stitched notebook with wraparound cover

We had some time remaining on the afternoon of Day Two, so we made two of this type.

post class photo to show stitching

The weekends work!

What I will do with all these books is yet to be determined!

♥

Naturally at the end of the weekend I bought a kit, because I am helpless in the face of craft materials and kits! And who doesn’t need a boot knife in their life?

I also joined the Guild** (mainly to support them, I cannot imagine doing terribly many Guidly type things) and have signed up for an intermediate class later in the year.

And I’ve been experimenting (albeit slowly) with the french-stitching and making wee books at home. This was by far my favourite method and I’m really keen to experiment with getting some hard covers on there!

♥

** I feel like this is peak old lady and I am here for it. Watch out NSW Embroiderer’s Guild!

Hurtling through another year we go.

01. Use the things!
✅ Still using the things! Feeling like a fancy lady.

02. Put my feet in the sea
Not yet. The sea is less than 12km as the crow flies. I’m unclear what my blocker is. I’m challenging myself to do this in March.

03. Buy more indoor plants
Not yet. But bought several yesterday (reviewing this list being the inspiration for the purchases)

04. 30 days of Yoga With Adrienne in January
✅ Also completed 22 days in February and then took a break. I was kind of bored and I’m apparently subconsciously rebelling against daily routines – perhaps that is a win? Will likely get stuck back in in March. Maybe even tomorrow!

05. Achieve Big Financial Goal
End of September!

06. Use my dremel.
Not yet. Must plan a project requiring it.

07. Choose the loving action.
✅ I think I had a reasonable February and was relatively kind and gentle to self. Realised I am little (a lot?) stuck and am trying to poke and prod (gently of course) at that.

08. Try/learn one new skill each month
✅ Attended bookbinding and candle making classes. Super-fun!

09. More music through speakers in ThePalace(OLove) on working days.
✅ Unfortunately this happened only once though. I listened to half of a classical CD I used to play to the babies when they were … babies … then had to jump on a call. Stupid calls.

10. Show support financially to creators I believe in
✅ Contributed to the crowd funding project of a creator friend. Pivoted to a few charitable donations for obvious reasons.

11. Take myself on an adventure in the goget (car share).
Not yet. Another blocker – get to the sea, woman!

12. Attend another sound bath
Booked for Equinox. Will take additional padding to lay on this time – after 2 hours the yoga mat becomes really very uncomfortable! I really should blog about my first sound bath. It was A Trip – and not quite how you’d think.

13. Take a photo of the sky every day.
✅ I’d estimate maybe 25/28 days. March has been appalling for this so far, but will keep at it!

7 February: 10:53pm

14. Stay in the country for a weekend
Not yet.

15. Update supportive footwear.
✅ YES! Completed January. White runners not holding up well to rainy weather and now rather less than white.

16. Have a serious crack at meditation.
Not yet. Again – resisting that routine thing!

17. Go for a morning swim in the local pool
✅ So glorious! Must do again before pool opening season ends!

suburban outdoor pools forever!

18. Have a Reiki session.
Not yet.

19. Disrupt the daily routine at least once a week.
✅
+ mid-week lunch date with Don
+ Whole weekend of beginners bookbinding
+ Saturday morning candle making
+ Spontaneously booked overseas trip!
+ I ran twice around the cricket oval on two separate occasions. I can’t convey how wildly exciting this is, because I had assumed I would never run again. One pair of rather expensive compression tights later and little-to-no pain. If 2 laps around the oval is all I can ever manage, I will totally take it.

20. Cultivate a healthier relationship with work
✅ I’ve booked long service leave for the whole of July. I’m not sure that is healthier, but hey, I’ll be away from it!

I’ve been unpacking a lot with Vincenzo as he adjusts to non-SML life – insights abound!

What I think I really, really want to do is keep work in it’s place and cultivate a wildly exciting outside of work life. Even a mildly interesting one would be fine.

21. Get a haircut/trim
✅ YES! Hair lopped off to bra strap length. Stylist impressed by overall hair health once the straw-like ratty ends were removed. Overall feels infinitely better, though slightly more difficult to wrangle into a neat bun.

22. Experiment! Tiny experiments with all sorts of things!
✅
+ Running – my goodness! Glorious!
+ On the last Sunday afternoon of Feb was feeling a like I needed to mix it up after spending WAY too much time in front of screens – so I jumped up and made a concrete pot and book-ends and completed some dyeing experiments that had been waiting about for several weeks. Satisfying!

+ Joined the bookbinding guild! Because why not?

On Monday when returning from grabbing dinner fixings, I arrived to find another Amazon padded envelope addressed to Don on the doorstep.

Again, no packing slip, no sender, tracking code doesn’t work and the QR codes on the envelope go nowhere.

This time, a small sketch book …

Next will either next be pencils, or Don is some kind of sleeper agent and this is part of his activation process**.

♥

** Bessie’s theory

You might recall a bunch of stories from early in the pandemic about packets of mystery seeds arriving at domestic addresses across the US. The packets were sent from China, often labelled as jewellery and there was a ton of speculation at the time about bio-terrorism or other nefarious activities.**

♥

In ThePalace(OfLove), we don’t have mystery seeds, we have a mystery pencil sharpener.

An Amazon padded envelope arrived on Saturday addressed to Don and contained – a single faber-castell pencil sharpener.

The sharpener isn’t branded with any corporate logo. There is no sender name, no packing slip, and the tracking number goes nowhere.

We would never knowingly purchase products from amazon (let’s gloss over all those kindle books), so highly unlikely to have been an order we placed.

Just … a mysterious mystery.

♥

** Resolved a year later after some crack investigative journalism.

It obviously goes without saying that the situation Ukraine is absolutely fucking horrifying and any and all of my trivial daily concerns vanish into insignificance in comparison.

♥

It’s been raining absolute buckets here over the past week.

February invariably means torrential rain and the inevitable leaks in ThePalace(OfLove) from new and exciting locations – and this year is no exception. Though “leaks” does seem a rather inadequate word to describe the large volumes of water pouring in through the ceiling.

After 9 years we’re pretty fatalistic and chill about it, and fortunately we have a fairly decent supply of old towels and buckets.

I’m always thankful at these times for our dithering about replacing carpets and ceilings from previous weather-related misadventures – at least that is an expense not expended!

♥

This week Don and I displayed quite atypical spontaneity – deciding we’d visit Joan in July and then booking flights within less than 24 hours. Switzerland and Germany here we come! Don now is enthusiastically brushing up on his rusty university German. I fully intend to let him do the all talking 🙂

I’ve been feeling very stuck of late in all kinds of arenas and hopefully this will give me the nudge I need for other things.

I find myself subconsciously pushing back against my self-imposed daily routines. In March I’ll try to be more about “here are some options for morning activities, pick one that you’re vibing with!” instead of “it is morning, you must walk twice around the cricket oval” – after two years that is getting a bit tired.

♥

This year I’ve started using an elderly version of MS One Note (from an Office 2010 CD!) as a kind of commonplace book and it has been a bit of a revelation.

I started looking for some sort of solution to controlling my dozens of open browser tabs – which I could never remember what were actually open for. I also was also struggling to remember where I’d read interesting snippets and to remember useful quotes.

In my searches for solutions I kept seeing mention of One Note and wondered if maybe I had a copy on an old CD, and indeed I did! And honestly, screw the latest and greatest cloud, subscription-based offerings, I just want basic, ancient functionality – even better if it is something I’d already paid for!

I’ve begun dumping all sorts of other useful items in there too – tracking purchases, things to buy, keeping receipts for tax, links to future classes, lists (so many lists), books read, new-to-me word meanings (tenebrous, anyone?) – it is very soothing.

All this organisation empowered me to review the samples of books on my Kindle – I had well over 50 on there! I’d read all the samples, but at this point couldn’t remember which was which and if I actually wanted to read any. So there was A Reckoning – and a much reduced “to read” list captured in One Note.

In the spirit, I also returned all of my unread library books and will be confining myself to a borrowing limit of two books – maximum. I’m guessing the piles of library books fulfilled some sort of hunter-gatherer or scarcity void. No more.

In retrospect those endless browser tabs and book samples and books was placing quite a lot of pressure on my poor brain to keep mentally organised. Thing is, until recently I had a mind like the proverbial steel trap, so this sort of thing came absolutely naturally. Perhaps my older brain is too full for new information, perhaps mid-50s brains work differently, perhaps it was ever-thus and I just didn’t realise.

This way feels much calmer.

Reader, I did not buy the pictured Japanese leather glasses strap for AU$90 – but I kind of wish I had.

♥

I’m very envious of the most excellent ganching who retired this week. Definitely hashtag-goals!

♥

Way back when, maybe 2016 (which doesn’t seem very long ago, but is SIX YEARS), I’d post a monthly update on my progress against my intentions for the year.

On reflection, this was quite a good way of not forgetting what they are, so I’m dusting off this process for 2022.

Onward!

01. Use the things!
✅ I’m using the plate & bowls I made for my breakfast and lunch – and the fancy Mom crystal tumblers for kombucha.
I made functional objects! Honestly those rustic bowls give me so much joy!

02. Put my feet in the sea
Not yet!

03. Buy more indoor plants
Not yet!

04. 30 days of Yoga With Adrienne in January
✅ This was completely transformative. I’m astonished that a short daily practice can make such a difference when compared with those weekly hardcore sessions. Am continuing in February – have quite a lot of health/fitness ground to recover due to sloth.

05. Achieve Big Financial Goal
Scheduled for the end of September! There will be much rejoicing!

06. Use my dremel
Not yet!

07. Choose the loving action
Trying, not always succeeding. Is a journey and likely always will be.

08. Try/learn one new skill each month
I’m not entirely sure I did this. Glazing?

09. More music through speakers in ThePalace(OLove) on working days
Not yet! February for sure!

10. Show support financially to creators I believe in
✅ I finally subscribed to Craig Mod‘s Special Projects after utterly adoring his pop-up walks.

11. Take myself on an adventure in the goget (car share)
Not yet!

12. Attend another sound bath
Next one is in March – must book!

13. Take a photo of the sky every day
✅ 29/31 days – it’s a lovely pause in the day (or night).

14. Stay in the country for a weekend
Not yet!

15. Update supportive footwear
✅ How disgustingly grody and awful my very old pairs of runners were in the bright lights of the store! New shoes are making a positive difference. Obviously it is also not a great idea to wear the same runners for 6 years.

16. Have a serious crack at meditation
Not yet

17. Go for a morning swim in the local pool
✅ YES! AMAZING! 21 laps of very slow breaststroke + back float on a Saturday morning. Such good friendly, positive energy there! Will definitely repeat this.

18. Have a Reiki session.
Not yet!

19. Disrupt the daily routine at least once a week
Hmm – maybe? I’d forgotten this one. But last week I did go swimming, and for lunch date and art gallery visit mid-week.

20. Cultivate a healthier relationship with work
✅ This has started – could have helped that January was a very short work month. How to continue?

21. Get a haircut/trim
HolyGoodness! This was needed – I keep getting trapped by my plaits in the night and waking myself up. Happened today! The freedom!

22. Experiment! Tiny experiments with all sorts of things!
✅ Started off cherry and grape seeds in fridge for future planting | more cement experiments!