I swear the wind down, or is that up, to the end of the year starts earlier every year. I'm seeing high school graduation photos in my feed, the grand final weekend seems to be a marker to the party season once reserved for Melbourne Cup day and there are signs everywhere that Christmas is coming.

Is it just me, or are you feeling it too?

IN SEPTEMBER:

I WENT TO... Coonamble to visit the grandkidlets and their mum for a weekend. We had grand intentions of taking them all to the Warrumbungles for "a-bencha" - an adventure in five-year-old speak - but the dust storms plaguing Central West NSW right now kept us from stepping out. Our "a-bencha" will have to wait until our next trip.

I ATE... A pretty fine Turkish breakfast at The Walrus, not far from where I work in Sydney. Seriously, how much of a treat is a bang-up breakfast before work? I should do it more often.

I OP SHOPPED... A funky mid-century woven chandelier; an old Life magazine cook book; and a few wardrobe bits and bobs, including an '80s denim shirt, skirt, glass beads necklace and silver earrings with turquoise set in.

I MADE... tie-dyed socks and recycled paper. I ran a friend's Girl Guide unit through September while she travelled and we went with a spring theme. Our first week was spring fashion: making tie-dyed socks. The second week we made recycled paper sheets to write invitations for a spring picnic later in the month. The third week we potted up flowering seedlings and made newspaper pots and planted pumpkin and sunflower seeds. The last week we made pizzas from scratch, using this quick-rise recipe for the dough and this recipe for the tomato sauce.

I READ... The Testaments. Have you read this new work from Margaret Atwood? I don't want to say too much. If you loved The Handmaid's Tale, as I did, as well as the series, I simply don't want to drop a spoiler. I haven't even linked to a review here, I think they all say too much. Look away and put a hand up to anyone who wants to talk about it until you've had a chance yourself.

With the last few days of winter trying to make themselves known in my parts of the world, I am taking every opportunity to enjoy the last of winter feasting.

That includes making Maggie Beer's rhubarb and blood orange crumbles and possibly this weekend, on the nudge of Jan, a regular reader of my blog, marmalade for spreading thick on hot buttered sourdough toast.

Are you still enjoying winter fare or are you busting for summer dining?

IN AUGUST:

I WENT TO... Melbourne. It was a lightning visit for work. I wish I could say I did more and saw more. I also camped on Taronga Zoo's concert lawns with 800 Girl Guides for the organisation's annual Zoo Sleepout.

I ATE AT... Our new local, The Ferryman. I had the clam bake and it was deeeeeeee-licious, made all the better by a lovely shiraz and the knowledge of a stumble home had we wanted to kick on past a single glass.

While in Melbourne, I stayed close to work in North Melbourne and also ate close by, meaning I frequented Parkville Store for breakfasts; Naughtons Hotel for easy after-work drinks and snacks; and Auction Rooms, as recommended by a colleague, for lunch with a friend.

I OP SHOPPED... A 1950s black wool suit with pencil skirt and the most beautifully cut jacket. The collar, with rouched wool detailing, circles the shoulders, but modestly doesn't show them, just hinting at a collarbone.

Being black, it's hard to photograph, and before I do, it'll need a little stitch here and there to hold the rouching in place where it's come away.

I always wonder at the previous owner. The suit showed no signs of regular wear and surprisingly didn't hold the smell of mothballs or worse, cigarettes, so my best guess is it was worn by a woman my age or younger, given the length of the skirt and its tiny waist, to a funeral. Like a wedding gown, it was bought and worn for an occasion and could neither be thrown out, nor worn again.

I MADE... I am a few finishing stitches from finishing this cardigan. It's only been two-plus years in the making.

I READ... through the stack of overdue library books on my bedside table, starting with Queenie, by Candice Carty-Williams; Dark Emu, by Bruce Pascoe; A Woman is No Man, by Etaf Rum; and,
The Eye of the Sheep, by Sofie Laguna.

The book to add to your bookshelf is Dark Emu. It should be read by every Australian and is an anthem not only for Indigenous recognition and acknowledgement of Indigenous culture, language and science, but it's an important book to read in the midst of an unprecedented and inescapable climate crisis.

Can you feel it? Can you feel spring on its way? Even though it's the middle of winter, I am already thinking about planting out spring seeds and how I'll keep water up to new growth.
There's a jug next to the kitchen sink to catch what water we can and buckets in the shower to water trees already showing the signs of water stress. I know the forecast and I know it's not good, but even so, I am looking to signs of what the garden can tolerate, taking cues from the Spanish countryside we walked through in a warm spring just a few months ago and now, no doubt, sweltering under record heatwave temperatures. We'll have the same here in just a few short months and I am walking the garden every week, looking at what will stay and what will need to go.

IN JULY:

I WENT TO... I didn't stray far from home this month. Rather, I've been enjoying this gorgeous, although dry, winter weather. It was 22C at home today: t-shirt weather when you're in the garden.

I ATE... at the Patonga Hotel. It's not the first time I've eaten there, but on a glorious winter's day, there's nothing better to spend time with friends, walking from Pearl Beach to brunch at the hotel. Breakfast is served until 11.30am, and it's an extensive, brunchy kinda menu.

I OP SHOPPED... Now that we're staying put and not moving into our teeny, tiny unit, I've ventured into op shops empty handed and brought home a few small treasures, including a stash of American Cook's Illustrated magazines from the 1990s that I'll read before returning.

I MADE... I finished sewing in the ends and working the seams on a knitted vest and have started a toe-up socks pattern: my first attempt at two-at-a-time, toe-up socks. I can see that once you get the hang of the entanglement of wool and circular needles, they can be quite addictive.

I READ... That stack of books from last month isn't getting any smaller, though I have made my way through a couple and gave up on others, happily taking them back to the local library.

Anyone else got whiplash? What a crazy downhill roller coaster run February was. In January I was giving myself high fives for slowly settling into the new year and then February came up and gave me a good shove from behind.

I manage the processes and flow of information Australian Red Cross delivers in an emergency as well as marketing the appeals that support the organisation’s emergency relief and recovery programs. It’s fair to say February was a shocker, with fires in Tasmania, Victoria, NSW and WA as well as floods in northern Queensland and a close call with a cyclone.

We've had a shocker run across the family too, with court proceedings, cars written off, personal items stolen and physical accidents. I reckon all the curve balls were thrown at us this month, so if 2019 can ease off a little now, I'd be damn thankful.

IN FEBRUARY:

I WENT TO… Bundanoon for my Mum’s 70th, and beyond that, I stayed pretty close to home.

I ATE… I bought a copy of Hetty McKinnon’s Family cook book and have started moving through the recipes. The change of season at the end of summer is a perfect time discover new recipes. We also had a number of birthdays in the family this month, so this easy chocolate fudge cake was whipped up to accommodate dietary needs (no flour or dairy) and it was a hit. Four ingredients and so easy.

I OP SHOPPED… A blue pottery breakfast bowl, for $4, and a copy of Bill Granger’s Every Day cook book, also for $4.

I MADE… A green frock. I found 4.5m of a lovely green linen blend at my favourite op shop last month and dug through my op shopped dress patterns to see what I could whip up and wear before the end of the season. Between cutting the fabric and finishing the hem and button holes, the dress sat at one end of our kitchen table for almost a month, but the fit and finish are all the better for having taken it slow.

I READ… Rarely will I stick with a book that I can't get into within a chapter or two, but I am glad I stuck to Anthony Doeer's About Grace. It was dense, but the main character is one that stays with you and you really, really find yourself wanting to know how things pan out for him.

Remember how your Mum would drag out a fading patterned envelope of writing paper and a pen and instruct you to write to distant relatives who sent gifts and well-wishes at Christmas?

The letters were short, detailed the minimalist holiday plans of a pre-teen - pool, beach, maybe a trip to the movies - and offered a generous ‘thank you’ for whatever trinket had arrived that year. These days, rather than the musty loose leaves of an unspent writing compendium, our thanks are sent by way of a phone call, text, SnapChat, Facebook post or carefully arranged Instagram picture.

We're only three weeks on from Christmas and I feel like so much has happened since, but also nothing at all. It's a funny, heat-hazy, lazy days time of year, isn't it? I'm trying to remind myself to keep this pace and that everything's a little nicer with a please and a thank you.

Here's what else I am up to, or reading this week:

Fountain pens are back, perfect for writing those old-fashioned thank you notes.
Reckon it’s hotter than usual? You’d be right.
Community connections - your friends, local family, neighbours, other parents at your kid’s school, teammates, the person behind the counter at your corner store - they’re all the people who will have your back in an emergency (see above point). Make sure you smile at them today. 
Do the stuff Girl Guides do, with a monthly badge challenge, in your inbox. 
Where are all the bloggers going? 
Uh oh. Is this true of your children's book collection?

I took December by the throat and really shook it. I did my final uni exams and assignments in the last days of November and waited the two weeks for results before really marking the study as done and dusted.

The results were good and I now hold a Master of Business Administration, or MBA. What was left of December was a jam-packed social calendar and last night, as we all slid into 2019, my partner and I made no plans, ordered take out and flopped onto the couch for a lazy night in.

It's been a mixed bag this year and as I scan through the posts of friends and others I follow on Instagram or on my blog feed, I can see most had the same. I wrote, some posts back, that this year had been one "of shifting priorities and goal posts". In a letter to a friend I wrote: "so much change and upheaval, a splitting open of things, a shaking out of things, a re-ordering, if you like". I feel those tectonic shifts have stopped now and what's left is a settling, of sorts, and I, like so many others, are stepping into 2019, blinking and messy but still moving forward, one day at a time.

I hope you are wide awake, stretching those limbs and ready to grab hold of the good that comes your way and bat back the bad to wherever it came from. A happy new year to you and yours.

IN NOVEMBER:

I WENT TO... Sydney for a night in the city with family just before Christmas and, later, a weekend in Bundanoon, again with family. Other than that, I was happy to be at home, sans study and with plenty of friends stopping for a morning, an afternoon, an overnight or a weekend while they travelled through with their own busy lives.

I ATE... I met friends for a glorious catch-up in the city. One was moving to Melbourne. One was between stints of work in the Pacific. One was recovering from a bout of pneumonia. One was looking forward to putting her feet up after a long and tiring year, and I was happy to be out with no study to rush back to. We had wine, cheese, delicious sharing plates and holed up inside while Sydney delivered a shocker of a summer storm. 

A day earlier, I'd met my folks and sister - all gathered from our semi-far flung corners - at Mamak, in Chinatown, for spicy curries, buttery roti and peanut sauce drenched skewers. My sister and Mum are not fans of a hot curry, but my Dad is and I think he was chuffed with my dining choice.

Dad's choice wasn't too bad either. In a month of catching up with family and friends, my partner and I spent a weekend with my folks and, aside from my mother's always excellent spreads, enjoyed a simple but delicious seafood pizza at Bundanoon's Primula Cafe. The cafe doesn't have a website, or social media, but if you're looking for a standout pizza in the Southern Highlands of NSW, the Primula, in the village's main street is your go-to.

I OP SHOPPED... Not a thing. There was more going in than coming out of the op shops this month.

I MADE... I booked into a pottery class scheduled for the last weeks of the academic year. A crazy notion but I felt the year had slipped by with very little creative making to show for it. The result was a small thrown, turned and glazed bowl and a desire to do more in 2019. I also knocked out a small basket sampler to remind my hands how to to weave and to test a stash of ponytail palm, cut and saved when I had to remove a very large palm from where it was pushing up a gutter.

I READ... This was a true delight. To down tools and pick up reading for pleasure again. I ripped through Jane Harper's The Lost Man and have just finished Susan Swingler's The House of Fiction: Leonard, Susan and Elizabeth Jolley. I picked the "who done it" of Harper's The Lost Man. I won't spoil it other than to say I understood the killer's motive all too well. The House of Fiction was an op shop purchase that sat on my shelves for some time but will have me hunting down unread works by Elizabeth Jolley to read with a new appreciation for the woman and how she did, or did not, examine her life through her characters.

We're a week into November and I am still stuck back in October. It feels a theme this year. The weeks whip past me and, bam, those deadlines rudely slap me in the face.

I've kept up, just, but am busting for a break in the work-study-commute-family-home routine. It'll come soon enough with that final exam at the end of this month. I can't wait.

IN OCTOBER:

I WENT TO... Wollongong for a day. I met up with my aunt, had a poke around the city centre, stuck my head into a couple of op shops and headed up the escarpment to the Jamboree weekend creative escape on Mount Keira. My folks are from Wollongong and it's weird to drive around a place you have a vague mental map of and memories of childhood visits to grandparents.

I ATE... a couple of cheap and cheerful dinners from Woy Woy's new Indian diner Spices 29 and Avoca Beach takeaway All Malay. At both my partner and I shared a dish, added either a dessert or accompaniment like naan at the Indian, and left happy and full. My excitement was in finding an old-fashioned deep-fried ice-cream at All Malay. Good ones are as rare as hen's teeth.

I OP SHOPPED... a bunch of patterns from Wollongong's Red Cross store. If you're a local, head in. There was a stash of great 1960s and '70s patterns on the shelf and because I'd shown an interest, a bag from behind the counter was dragged out for me to dig through. I left plenty. I also found a cute crossover Oroton bag and pottery bowl. I have a new appreciation for all the beautiful pottery I find on op shop shelves after starting a pottery course a couple of weeks ago.

I MADE... A Shibori scarf and cordage from reclaimed and natural fibres on my weekend away, and a bunch of new embroidered felt mandalas. I make them every year as Christmas decorations and never bore of playing with colours and threads.

I READ... I pushed myself through The Inaugural Meeting of the Fairvale Ladies Book Club. It was too slow for me, and where there were dramatic plot points they felt too far a stretch and then seemed to shape the character little. I know others liked it, so don't take my review as your sole source of evidence. It's probably just a little too chick-lit for me.

It's camping weather and I just spent a weekend at my favourite 'grown-up' camp of the year: Wild Rumpus' South Coast Jamboree.

My garden is neglected, my cleaning routine was lost weeks ago and I have seen very little daylight over the past four weeks. Uni assignments are due and I am head down in accounting equations and strategic management theory.

And, let me tell you, that's as dry as that actually sounds. I am hoping to bust through this trimester with a pass and pray the courses of the coming trimester, due to start in early May, hold my attention better than these last two have.

Are you studying? What are you studying and why? Do you love it?

IN MARCH:

I WENT TO... I barely left my study. Many, many times over the past month of a mostly glorious coastal shift from summer to autumn, I have asked myself whether a double masters in business administration and marketing is actually worth it.

I ATE... A tasty breakfast at This Little Piggy, at Point Clare. For those who know the Central Coast, I earned my feed by cycling up hill and down dale from Saratoga before riding all the way on to Woy Woy and catching the ferry back to my start point.

Cook and Co. Eatery, at Woy Woy, is an easy, breasy place for a cuppa or for a decadent lunch. I had the falafel wraps bound with garlic sauce, tabouleh and chips (inside the wrap). See, decadent.

I OP SHOPPED... Cadbury's tin, old recipe books, cream horn moulds and a Silva compass.

I MADE... A fresh shirt from an op-shopped pattern and fabric I had in my stash.

I READ... Mrs Cook: The Real and Imagined Life of the Captain's Wife, by Marele Day. I am on a bender of fictional history pieces based on fact.

Last year, just before turning 43, I collected all the lovely things I wanted to do and wrote it down as a dedicated 'soul list', revisiting it every so often to see how I was tracking. My 44th birthday is looming and I thought I'd share what I did, and didn't do.

Here’s what I did:

1. I went to a craft camp and I’ve booked again for this year.
2. I used a slow stitching and mending technique, quite a few times.
3. I passed the first year of my MBA. Phew.
4. I averaged a book each month that is unrelated to work or study, and am desperate to keep this going.
5. I didn’t hold a garage sale, but I did start divesting of household and wardrobe items online. Kinda counts, doesn’t it?
6. I travelled overseas to Malaysia. I loved Penang. My partner and I talk about it all the time are are keen to revisit. If you have to stopover in Singapore on your international travels, check whether a side-trip through KL and to Penang could work.
7. I visited my Nana in Brisbane. She’s a goer, my Nana. She’s got a trade in bingo winnings going on that is bordering on graft and corruption.
8. I made a Pussy Hat, and I wear it.
9. I cooked from new recipes all the time. I’m not sure whether it was once a week, but often enough to claim this one.
10. I cooked a fancy dinner once a month. We’ve had some pretty delicious dinners this past year, which may have contributed to some of what I didn’t do.
11. I am a produce swap convert. Great people, great produce and lots to learn.
12. I did do okay with the ocean dips but reckon I could still improve on that one.
13. I did see my niece and nephew a few times this year. They’re growing so fast. My nephew started high school this year.
14. I did spend a weekend at Brunswick Heads. My partner and I chose to go there to mark 20 years together.
15. I did go to one live music gig to see Martha Wainwright perform at Taronga Zoo. Man, these things are expensive. What happened to good old pub bands, I ask ya. 
16. I did go back to yoga classes. You know what, I wasn’t loving it. I prefer my home practice. My time, my pace, it’s free and it’s in my lounge room. Sure, it’s not perfect, but for right now it’s where I’m at.
17. I did write a short story, and what’s more entered it into a competition.
18. I did get my film camera out, cleaned it up and got it working again. I loved it so much I bought a new DSLR. I’ve been using compacts for years but did the research and opted for the Nikon D5600 – a mid-range, light, small DSLR that allows me to change lenses and that can be used in manual mode, something I was finding harder and harder to do with the new wave compacts.
19. I did make my own muesli. Oh my, the smell of toasting muesli. Mmmm.

Almost half way. Not bad.

Here's what I didn't do:

1. I didn’t lose 5kg. In fact, I put on another 5 meaning I’ve got about 10kg to lose to get down to the comfortable weight I was three years ago. Eat less, move more.
2. I didn’t do an overnight hike. I came so very close and then got very sick.
3. I didn’t use a solar dye pot, but I did do a one-day natural dye class, and it was magical.
4. I didn’t read more poetry. I have been reading more history though, and biographies, and it was kicked off by reading about a poet. Does that count?
5. I didn’t write that many letters to my letter-writing friends. I wrote some, but not as much as I’d hoped to.
6. I didn’t try straw-bale gardening. We’ve made a decision to move on from our house and rent it, so this past year I’ve been planning how to enjoy the garden we have while moving it to one that will suit renters.
7. I didn’t learn more about bee-keeping. Again, I am going to have to park this one until the study is over.
8. I didn’t make sourdough bread, but I am in the market for a scobie if anyone has one to share. I am going to have a crack at kombucha.
9. I didn’t write and host a webinar. If I am honest, I can’t even remember why I thought this was a good idea. It was in my business plan for my media consultancy but honestly, sometimes these grand plans for promoting the business can actually remove you from doing the paid work.
10. I didn’t try calligraphy. No reason, just didn’t.
11. I didn’t pick up the printmaking tools again and crack out some prints. I didn’t even pick up a sketchbook this year. Nope. That’s going to have to wait until, um, retirement. Who knows?

Here’s what I am ditching, and why:

1. I won’t be drawing my op shop finds. Yes, I used to do it all the time, but I just don’t have the time. How I did then, I don’t know, but I am not op shopping as much as I once was, and I am not inspired to pick up the drawing pad and pencil.
2. I won’t be spending a weekend in Melbourne with Mum. We did talk about this plan, but Mum’s busy and I couldn’t co-ordinate a weekend where I could afford to be away from the study, group meetings and assessment work. That’ll be the same this year. Next year maybe.
3. I won’t be knitting a Jenny Kee pattern. I have one on the sticks and I’ll plug away at it, but I expect it’ll still be on the sticks – albeit with rows added – this time next year.
4. I won’t be hosting a camp cooking weekend. Again, the study is all-consuming and it’s good to be realistic about what’s possible. I’ll stick with trying to get a few nights under canvas.
5. There will be no Pussy Hat or mandala stitching workshops. Again, the cost of giving my time to planning and delivering them over study isn’t worth it.
6. I won’t strike a frangipani. I bought one with a fair bit of growth on it and it’s bedding into my chosen spot in the garden.
7. I won’t be renewing my Girl Guide canoe qualifications. I am not sure what my future role in Guides will be. I’m just going to sit with that this year. My membership is current, but that’s about it for the moment.

I am still working on the soul list for my 44th birthday.
What would be on your soul list?
Got any suggestions for me?

Sydneysiders, have you noticed the absence of a Southerly Buster? One is forecast for early Wednesday morning. Thank goodness, because I am missing that sweet, blustery cool wind that marks the end of a hot spell.

This is my own take on a street food dish I was partial to when I lived in Vietnam - what feels like a million years ago now. Make up a batch of these meatballs. They're easy and light to eat, and while the weather is hot you'll be patting yourself on the back for having done the cooking in advance.

VIETNAMESE-STYLE CHICKEN BURGER NOODLE BOWL

Gingerbread men are easy to bake and make a great Christmas gift. Add a packet of bought icing and sparkly toppings from the baking aisle and you've made a holiday gift to amuse creative children excited about the arrival of Santa.

GINGERBREAD PEOPLE

1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
4oz (100g) brown sugar
5fl.oz (150ml) treacle
4oz (100g) butter

WHAT TO DO

Preheat the over to 180C.

Sift dry ingredients. Warm sugar, treacle and butter until soft but not oily. Add dry ingredients, gradually, and mix to a firm dough. Chill well before rolling out. Sprinkle your bench with flour and caster sugar, roll the dough out to about 4mm thick, cut into shapes and place on a prepared baking tray. 

Bake for 15 to 20mins. 

Wild Rumpus' Jamboree was a salve to this tired, eyes-scratchy-from-computer-work, stressed-out, over-thinking, always-doing woman.

I know I say this a lot, but seriously, where did that month go? I look back over my calendar and I can see where it went. It went down a hole of university study and assessments.

My last 'pinning' post was in April. That was a long time ago and I don't know why I've abandoned them, I like seeing themes appear across my Pinterest boards, and the current trend definitely has a pink hue to it.

Things to make and do: It's close enough to Christmas that I am thinking about adding a little early festivity.

Things to cook and eat: It had me at roasted plum and cardamon.


Things to drop dough on: I just found a linen overshirt, similar to this one, at Vinnies. It's going to get plenty of wear this spring.

Things to hang on the wall: So simple, so stunning.

What a difference a few weeks can make. I walked in Brisbane Water National Park at the beginning of August and water was spilling over the falls, dripping from charged hanging swamps and there were places you had to watch your footing because of the mud.

This month, it's a different story. This month I've turned sprinklers on my garden here at home, and the park, well. The creek is down, the mud has dried and while rock orchids are in flower, the wildflower season is not a patch on past years.

IN SEPTEMBER:

I WENT TO... Brisbane to see family and work (and did a little orchid hunting closer to home).


I ATE... Simple, un-fussy Italian, at Il Verde, in the new King St dining precinct of Brisbane. I like a no-fuss Italian restaurant that lets the food do the talking. A simple, understated wine list and a select few desserts (with gelato a must) goes a long way too.

I OP SHOPPED... Brisbane's op shops are some of my favourite. My sister and I spent a day trawling stores in Paddington and Bardon. I scored an unworn 1960s swimsuit for a gold coin donation. It was going to be thrown out, as is the policy (understandably) for many op shops, but for me it was a case of "right place, right time". I also came home with a pair of Levi's jeans for $5, a couple of summer tanks in linen and silk and a 1950s Pake Muu-style Hawaiian dress, similar to these.

I MADE... a knitted beanie. I know, it's spring, and all winter knits should be off the sticks, but a work colleague gifted me some beautiful chunky wool and I found the perfect pattern on Ravelry.

I READ... I honestly don't know why I keep this here. I am reading massive amounts of text, but it's all for uni, and no one wants to hear about that. No one.