pumpkin

A few days ago a baby gecko was darting about the kitchen. It was the size of my pinky finger and the colour of pearl. I caught it in my cupped hands and showed it to W, who stared at it with a mixture of fascination and uncertainty. I let it crawl up her leg so she could feel its tiny little feet. I’m not sure who enjoyed it more – me or W. The gecko was probably scared shitless.

These days I’m making a conscious effort to block out the noise. I’m re-teaching myself how to be still, how to be observant, a skill I’ve let lie fallow these past few years. When I’m breastfeeding in the middle of the night, or walking someplace in the morning, instead of reaching for my phone I take a deep breath and let my mind wander. Not about what needs doing or what I could be doing, but about the feel of the sun on my skin, or the colour of the bright green grasshoppers that have suddenly appeared everywhere. Continue reading “Autumn Salad with Tahini-Miso Dressing”

I slept in this morning. Such a momentous thing is actually worth repeating. I slept in this morning. All the way until 8:15am! I had woken up a couple of hours earlier with W but still felt exhausted (despite falling asleep last night on the couch at 9pm). S needed to get up for work anyways, so he got up to hang with W while I stayed in bed. Usually if I try and lay in while S and W are up making brekky and all kinds of noise I only lightly doze, but this morning I fell back into a deep sleep and probably would have stayed that way had W not come in and sat on my head.

When I did finally get up it was lovely and sunny, so W and I took a nice long walk through the streets then came home where W had her standard bowl of porridge (plain, no honey), and I had a bowl with honey, chia seeds, and the rest of the oven-baked rhubarb (recipe coming soon!) from the weekend. Now I’m sitting on the couch typing this, while W is sitting on the floor playing her latest game which involves folding blocks into a cloth, unfolding them, repeat. And again. Continue reading “Pumpkin & Broccolini Pasta with Oregano Pesto”