šŸ“ŗ Been on a total kdrama binge-fest over the last few months! Most recent: Rain and Shine / Just Between Lovers (Netflix gives weird alternate titles sometimes.) 10/10.

Last of the Cycling Postmen – so good! ā¤ļø

New newsletter went out. It was April’s, so naturally was sent on the first of May. The Beauty of Ten Minutes

Not sure if I am getting any better at this format but I think I’m less nervous about doing it. :)

Iā€™ve had two 4:30am starts in order to catch some of Cat Ramboā€™s writing classesā€¦the last was two days ago and Iā€™m still tired!

Nice things to do

Found this wacky guy on the side of the house today!

History of Sellwood Hospital in Portland

Dad recently sent me this article about the Sellwood Hospital in Portland. My grandpa (who I never met) is the “Dr. Nickelsen” of the story. It’s interesting to read about the history of the place, where Dad basically lived and grew up. He said he used to eat all his meals in the hospital cafeteria, and the cheetah (called Chui, not Chewie; Chui is Swahili for ‘leopard’) had a pen round the back.ā€¦

Read more āŸ¶

First day of school for the new year. Lots of talk about what schooling will look like with omicron here on our shores. Some people opting for home schooling instead of facing the uncertainty.

Leilaā€™s keen to go, knows she needs to be careful with her mask, and sheā€™s had one jab. I think she needs it, in the same way I need to regroup myself after six weeks of family time.

Garden first: a good watering, and then some lettuce, kale, Brussels sprouts and dill planting. The garden is haphazard but I like it that way. Things twist and turn around each other and somehow seem in harmony? Some interesting things in there this year: the peppercorns are fruiting for the first time, the blueberry is cooperating. And my favourite: a geranium with star-shaped leaves and flowers that look like wings.

I love leaving tiny notebooks everywhere. Love leafing back through them. Blog post ideas, to-dos, scribbles from my daughter, lists, quotesā€¦ theyā€™re comforting to me.

Spent an hour this afternoon sorting through the Moostieā€™s old art. I looved the unicorn hoof phase!

A day of obsessions around the house today: Moo canā€™t get enough She-Ra and I really, really, need to put down Slay The Spire and go do something productive!

Really enjoying the Domestika course “Blog Writing: Find Your Personal Style” šŸ˜

I thought this piece, considering our leadersā€™ mental health, was very good. The publicā€”and the news that stokes the ā€œoutcriesā€ when we go into lockdown by always focusing on the negativeā€”could use the reminder, I reckon. During Covid, spare a thought for our leaders' mental health - Stuff.co.nz

Lockdown day 5: lots of cooking and jobs around the house! Currently making: Venison pie - Jamie Oliver recipes

Despite the awful news about Delta and lockdown, it was great to hear that vaccinations are resuming, and open to over 40s now. All booked! By the 21st of October I’ll be double-vaccinated. Whew!

Am like a child with a new toy today! It’s been a long time since I’ve had a new piece of apple hardware.

So. Much. Fun!

I’ve just been accepted as a (volunteer) assistant editor for utopia magazine! I’m so excited :D

Hehe, trying that post againā€¦pickle beer!

Hey! Are there any Whitehack rpg fans in the house? I’ve had the 2e for a long time but am finally getting around to rolling up some characters. I’m a bit blocked with picking an interesting vocation though, and figuring out how all the character “bits” work together…

Lots of people Iā€™ve spoken to this morning are feeling pretty nervous about the news that an Australian visitorā€”who now has Covidā€”was walking around so many tourist spots over the weekendā€¦

Found this photo of my cat, Pippi, in a random Dropbox folder. Makes me laugh!

For @jean šŸ˜…

Photo I developed at a darkroom workshop last weekend! This guy was working in a volunteer bike repair workshop down on the Wellington waterfront. He was playing trumpet in between jobs and he didnā€™t mind me taking his photoā€¦