With no Southerly Busters, a manic workplace going through the annual pre-budget cycle and a virus that hit hard when I should have been paddling Myall Lakes, it's been a strange start to the year.

In short, I am writing January off as a false start and getting back on the horse for another take at 2018 in February. 

IN JANUARY:

I WENT TO... Melbourne for a quick work trip. I was not feeling the best when I left but by the time I came home I was one hot mess of snot, fever, aches and pains. Days later, despite dosing myself up with cold and flu tablets and hoping for a miracle recovery, I was cancelling a three-day kayak trip I'd been really looking forward to. Instead of days of paddling and nights around a campfire, I was flat out on my couch liking Instagram pics posted by my fellow paddlers. Eughh. 

I ATE... It's mostly been easy barbecues of snags and salads this past month. I did do a curry last week and had a craving for a Vietnamese sweet, che chuoi, which I've been eating cold with mango. I scored a copy of Bill's Basics for $4 at an op shop last week and will be trying out dishes from that in coming weeks.

I OP SHOPPED... January might have not been the start to 2018 I was hoping for, but I can't complain when it comes to the Op Shop Gods. They've shone a light on me this month. There was this $5 silk Easton Pearson dress, this $5 linen skirt and a stash of reels of rug wool, apparently discarded when the woollen mill at Parramatta closed in the mid-'70s. 

I MADE... A strappy camisole using an op shopped pattern and fabric, a summer playsuit, again with thrifted pattern and fabric and I've picked up the knitting again.

I READ... Emma Cline's The Girls and Jennfier Egan's Manhattan Beach. I'm going to try and squeeze in a little more 'fun' and 'beach' reading before the textbooks lob in coming weeks. Got a recommendation from your summer reading you'd care to share?