My supercalifragilisticexpialidocious boyfriend turned ... five years older than me ... yesterday. Happy birthday to him! The plan was to take him on a VIVID cruise aboard the Sydney Harbour Tall Ships tomorrow night, but that's been screwed by COVID-19. Instead, I made him write a story for Drinks Digest during his lunch break about... Continue Reading →

Twitch the rat passed away yesterday and I cried buckets. I cried because my child was so devastated. I cried because Twitch was actually quite nice for a rat. I cried because I'm menopausal. I cried because it happened during this damn, never-ending lockdown and I'm over it. Aside from my own fragile emotional state;... Continue Reading →

I decided to play sunrise roulette on Sunday night and sleep over at DD's place. What side of the bed I slept on, following his recent revelation that I've spent the past seven years on his side? I switched over to my side, which is the right side if you're looking at the bed, but... Continue Reading →

Sometimes it's the smallest, most random things that knock you off balance. I heard our local Italian restaurant was giving away a free pizza with every order, so I booked a 6.15pm pick-up for Saturday night and swung by after collecting the youngest from her shift at Baker's Delight. A bloke came out with our... Continue Reading →

My freelance world has been a little more complicated than usual this week because the "b" key on my computer keyboard is malfunctioning. It's sticking and misbehaving. You don't realise how often you use the second letter of the alphabet until it starts playing up. I’ve been putting off going to Officeworks to get a... Continue Reading →

I haven't been sleeping well this week. Bilbo the moxie has decided - for some unknown and totally infuriating reason - that he is scared of sleeping in the laundry after months of quite happily heading there of his own accord each night. His whining woke me at 3.30am on Wednesday morning. Then I couldn't... Continue Reading →

I may have to stop watching the 11am COVID-19 updates on the NSW Health Facebook page. Geez they're depressing. Oh, who am I kidding? I’ll be glued to my computer screen this morning, when Gladys is apparently announcing another month of lockdown for Sydney. Sad face. I was watching yesterday’s grim report when someone rang... Continue Reading →

It's my weekly cook-up-a-storm day in The HotHouse Kitchen. My friend's kids have been mourning the loss of takeaway, so I've come up with a menu that I hope returns some balance. I'm taking over a casserole dish of special fried rice for their dinner tonight, plus some chilli con carne that can be turned... Continue Reading →

I can't put into words how furious I am with the COVID protestors who effectively put us into lockdown for gawd knows how much longer with their "freedom" march on Saturday. So I'm going to let The Shovel do it for me. You’ve probably seen the meme, it’s gone viral: Hopefully COVID won’t do the... Continue Reading →