With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come. – from The Merchant of Venice, Shakespeare The waratah flower, native to the south-east coast of Australia, is a striking plant. Its deep crimson flowers bloom on top of a branch whose spirally-arranged leaves are serrated along the edges. It is known to be difficult to cultivate […]
— the dusk light, the cloud pattern, recorded always in your heart and the rest of the world — chaos circling your winter boat. – from ‘Last Ink’, Michael Ondaatje The hot days are starting to roll across Melbourne, stretching out, settling in. The trees lining our street are heavy with new green leaves, the […]
… again the emerald green pallu of her sari tucked in at her hips, across her breast, and cough it up over her shoulder a hush of paprika and burnt honey across my face. — from ‘Wrap’ by Aimee Nezhukumatathil India is unrelenting and wildly beautiful. It is an endless array of colour and […]
Now the leaves are falling fast… – from ‘Autumn Song’, W. H. Auden The day we made these Pear & Strawberry Muffins last week was unexpectedly lovely. The morning was the first really cold one of the year. Thick socks and hot cups of tea kind of cold. Frosty breath in the morning air, clear blue […]
“I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe.” – Maya Angelou Moving back to Melbourne feels like… home. The skyline, the […]
I’ve been down in Melbourne all of this week house hunting for what is turning out to be a very imminent move down south. Which means I’m equal parts excited, tired and anxious. So I’ll leave keep it short here and leave you with this loveliest of smoothie recipes – the ideal meal when your […]
Content warning: many swears to follow, ‘coz sometimes only a fuck will do. It struck my quite forcibly recently that I’m not just growing up, I’m growing older as well. We live in a house at the front of a rather large block; up the very back of the block are two more houses that […]
My last meal then would be pastry kneaded by her hand and filled as if by magic with her love vanilla-scented soft on the tongue – from ‘Eating My Grandmother: a grief cycle’ by Krissy Kneen
Given the refugee crisis engulfing Europe – and the world – at the moment, writing about milk and oats seems totally trivial. The first time the heartbreaking image of little Aylan Kurdi lying dead on the beach came up in my feed I couldn’t look away. There was something about the way he was lying […]
Take bread away from me, if you wish, take air away, but do not take from me your laughter. – from ‘Your Laughter’ by Pablo Neruda I’m all about lists at the moment. Grocery lists, work lists, shopping lists, ten-year planning lists. Writing out the lists makes me feel as though half the work is […]
