There was a moment yesterday when I was juggling too much: slicing potatoes with a mandolin, creating a PDF of a job ad for a client, organising a job interview, shooting Nerf balls for the moodle and writing a story about modern slavery. I thought to myself Fark! I AM a modern slave! That's a... Continue Reading →
Bundle of nerves
I filmed my second Tik Tok video yesterday. I was so nervous that I was slightly breathless. I need to calm down, which I hope comes with practice. DD commented that he'd never seen me breathless from talking before. He should see me when I walk up steep hills with my female friends. I am... Continue Reading →
Major versus minor
Can you believe it was the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks on Saturday? Even my local fire station - pictured above - paid tribute. Reading all the recollections swept me back in time. I was living in Singapore 20 years ago, editing CLEO magazine. On the morning of September 11, I was blithely... Continue Reading →
Go easy on me
OK, I did it. I didn't do it very well and I couldn't do it again, because I only had one canned cocktail to open with a flourish. DD and I guzzled the other three - they come in 4-packs - on Sunday. We couldn’t help ourselves, they were so delicious. Rookie error. I also... Continue Reading →
Recipes of the week: Cheat’s meatballs with tomato & feta pasta salad
I have two ancient books that I’ve been sticky taping recipes into over the decades. I started the first one when I was a teenager. They’re so old that the sticky tape has stopped being sticky in most cases - the books are falling apart and filled with little loose clippings. Those recipes - plus... Continue Reading →
Seeing the light
I bought myself a "live beauty light" when I was at Woolies yesterday. Well, Woolies doesn't sell them, but they were in the window of the shop next door and I went “oooooooooh!” Live beauty lights are ring lights with a holder for your mobile phone in the middle of them. I got one to... Continue Reading →
Fixing things
Gotta love a boyfriend who drops over on a Tuesday night to fix your kitchen cupboard door and your grey roots. Well, you don't gotta, but I'm pretty stoked. The cupboard door fell off last week, while I’ve been sporting an impressive swathe of regrowth. DD answered my distress call and trekked south to ensure... Continue Reading →
Getting cut off
If there had been a pandemic when I was a kid, I don’t think I’d have noticed many changes to my life. I grew up in Newcastle in the ‘70s. Lives were much smaller back then. Our most exotic family holidays were a couple of trips to Surfers Paradise. The rest of my school breaks... Continue Reading →
The international incident
My mornings are very relaxed these days - I don’t need to get ready for work and the kids no longer require lifts to far-flung bus stops for school. So I start each day with a relaxed scroll through my phone in bed, then I walk the dogs to my local coffee shop. I will... Continue Reading →
Recipes of the week: Massaman lamb shanks & Creamy salmon bake
Welcome to another instalment of the HotHouse Kitchen. I’m not sure if the dishes I made this week were easier or whether I’m simply getting the hang of cooking three dinners on a Tuesday. But I was very calm and collected when I packaged everything up at 5pm and dropped it to my friend’s house.... Continue Reading →