So what are we loving lately?
I have been riding the solo parent train for a few days now. My husband is on a work trip in West Africa which has me thinking when did I graduate to the “my partner is on a work trip…” stage of parenting? I do not feel ready for this. Just over a year ago, I would work sure but I did not have responsibility like this and I was not prepared. Most of my free time was spent….well….lounging around like a lemming who couldn’t be arsed to do much at all except that which pleased her and I would sleep when I wanted, read when and wherever I wanted and waste whole days being a human potato. I spent my money on dog bandanas and matching collar and leash sets. I kid you not. I was an absolute fool of a took. NOT ANY MORE SON. It comes for us all. The death of our youth is in the form of the birth of a teacup human who will require an entire day and night of attendance, care, and entertainment in perpetuity. What do you do with a toddler universe? Please dear ones if you have suggestions send them my way. I have what you might call a ‘busy’ child. She is always on the move, I am exhausted; apparently, this is the ‘easy’ part of childrearing. Oh great.
Reads
I am reading (or convincing myself that I am) more than a few books at the moment. I have a commitment issue insofar as I commit to reading on average 4-5 books at a time. I tell myself, hey as long as they are different genres and I am not gonna get confused about which story is telling me what then surely I am good. Also, library e-book waiting lists are the worst and in my opinion highly problematic. Tell me why I request a book that is not available for 16 weeks so I go to request a couple more because hopefully, I can get one, and all of them are unavailable for some extraordinary amount of differing times but sure look may as well build them up hopefully I can stack them. Only to find on waking that all of my books have become available immediately at once and now I have to decide whether to read them all at the same time or put myself back to the end of the queue and which book do I choose and why is the one book I wanted the only one not actually available? Some may think reading is a low-stakes hobby but oh no my friends I disagree. For now I have a situation where two books I was trying to read at the same time on my kindle have both been returned to the library simultaneously and I am only HALFWAY through and now have to add myself BACK to the waiting list. So slap me sideways and colour me a fish. <——Is this an expression? My brain thinks it is.
Here are a few articles I managed to squeeze in a read on when nursing my little one late at night and my Kindle was dead.
1.) Dodge the vomiting cake! How TV baking went from twee to terrifying- By Stuart Heritage, The Guardian
“What these shows have in common is an understanding of why baking shows are so popular. First, all of them – even Killer Cakes, despite its gory premise – share a core seed of wholesomeness in their DNA.”
This article itself is a wholesome read questioning the longevity of the most purely good-natured of television out there-competition baking shows. These are the sifted sweetness of the human soul. A the soft place for our fragile, frazzled selves to land after fighting for our lives in a world that pushes so much fear and pain on us all of the time and has us wound up like anxiety in Inside Out 2 unable to escape the maelstrom of our manic minds (see attached gif below for context).
2.) The Outrun: My real life as an alcoholic, played out on the big screen-By Amy Liptrot, The Guardian
If you havn’t read The Outrun by Amy Liptrot I highly recommend you go out and get a copy and read it. This is for those of us who crave memoirs that address living with addiction, the trauma response of loved ones and rebuilding/repairing those bonds, and are deeply moved by love letters dedicated to the wild. This story is about Liptrot’s personal experience of growing up on the inescapably primordial Orkney Islands and her life with alcohol and recovery. The book is breathtaking, the film starring Saoirse Ronan just came out and I have been looking forward to this all year. This book feels very personal for me. I enjoyed Liptrot’s article discussing the bizarre experience of seeing her personal made global and what that does to memory and felt experience.
Ok ok one more little thing I am sharing for your reading pleasure.
3.) In Conversation-Carson Ellis
Katherine May is one of my yummy, winter bug writers I just love to love. Her way with words for taking me in and back to myself are top notch. I stumbled on this interview on her substack The Clearing, with Ellis. She is a lovely illustrator and writer whose Wildwood book I bought on a whim on my honeymoon way back in 2016! Ellis just had a new book released in September that she wrote and illustrated based on her own recently recovered diary from her twenties called One Week In January: New Paintings For An Old Diary. Such a fabulous idea. A quote from the interview that stood out to me captures the creative overwhelm I feel when trawling the online space. It’s a quick read, maybe you will feel inspired to get one of her books.
Bants
One of my fav podcasts of all time recommended a new podcast episode for listeners so I figured I would give it a listen and I am glad I did. It feels like a big theme of humaning right now is dealing with overload and information overwhelm. Since I have been trying to manage and figure out feeding an extra little person in my life every day and ensure she gets nourished I relate HARD to this idea of drowning in options. There is so much out there for me to choose and make for her but I am completely paralysed by limitless choice. There must be some psycho-social theory about how the more we have available the less we feel sure of what we avail of.
I also love food and the stories that food tells, sharing recipes that are accessible and delicious with my loved ones matters to me. “In this current economic climate….” (says every exasperated human ever) it is important to affordably shop in the best way that fits your personal level of income. Whether that is eating out at nice restaurants or making cheaper swaps and cooking in bulk to make a meal stretch, it is a personal value of mine to make cooking enjoyable and easy for my life and others right now. Have a listen below, let me know what you think.
Eats
Orzo is really having a moment for me. Annoying because it’s so niche and when you buy it at the grocery store it’s like one of those tiny box items you can’t buy in bulk. I do so love it in a dish because it’s yummy and pasta-y. This dish was so so so so so good and I made it with veggie sausage but you can certainly omit the sausage if that’s your fancy. I also did it with veggie better than bouillon base because that’s what I buy. I am attaching the recipe here for you all hopefully it will be a good meal to prep for hungry bellies as the weather starts to turn down towards the cooling dark earthy tones we expect this time of year.
