May Catch-up.

So much for Life Notes & book posts, it's all in one now!

Friends, May has been glorious weather-wise. I know weather talk is seen as boring by many, but my gosh, Perth has been close to perfection! Look at the leaves!

The skies have been mostly blue, the days mild, the nights & mornings cool, sometimes with lovely fog hanging around. We had a few grey days & a little rain. The sunsets, as always, have been stunning!

It’s felt like quite the month. Our girl turned 12. We decided to change schools for Blake. We’ve been mulling over finances & when to make a big decision. I changed up my workout schedule, & each Saturday you’ll find me on the sideline of the netball court cheering Sadie’s team on. I spent a Friday afternoon helping my lifelong friend Amy organise her pantry, which then inspired her to do her fridge. It was such a fun time! I’ve pottered a bit more in the garden, gone for more outdoor walks & genuinely felt pretty bloody good within myself. It’s a nice little life I have here.

I switched out jigsaws for colouring in this month. I find it so relaxing to choose colours & then watch the ink fill the page. Most nights, I retreat to my desk & colour a page or two in a colouring book, one of Sadie’s that she said I could use. I either play a chatty YouTube video, but mostly I listen to an audiobook. Some nights, if it’s been a very busy day, I colour in silence. My desk in the “reading room” really has become my favourite place to be.

I’ve read A LOT of books this month & most have been excellent. What an absolute joy it is to read books that you cannot wait to pick up or struggle to put down. I will give you a full rundown in a separate post ASAP

I have not watched much this month except for our nightly date with Tipping Point Australia. Watching things is not my first choice when it comes to downtime. I have, however, inadvertently watched some shows that Tim has had on when I get into bed. Should I Marry a Murderer on Netflix was interesting; the rest are not worth mentioning. I did watch Off Campus because my friend Elinore told me it’s good & I should. She was right & I binged all 8 episodes in a day. It’s another show based on a widely popular book series. I read a couple of the books a while back & as with Heated Rivalry, I think the show is better than the books. Oh, I did tick a Sandra Bullock movie off my list- Force of Nature. I like her so much & this was a nice little 90’s romcom.

I also took my movie-buff client to watch two movies at the cinema- Michael & The Devil Wears Prada. I know Michael Jackson is seriously problematic, & I would not have paid to see this movie, which makes it really hard to admit I did like this movie….please don’t hate me! The songs are still a total bop & it’s hard to stop your body from moving when they come on. The Devil Wears Prada felt about the same level of goodness to me as the original. Fun & watchable but nothing groundbreaking.

The songs I have on repeat this month are Storm 1 & Storm 2 by Gener8ion & Yung Lean. The film clip, which is about 8 minutes long, is great because it’s both songs together. The choreography from about 4:34 minutes is incredible. I’ve watched it so many times. Apparently, it was a lot of the dancers’ first professional gig, which is amazing!

Of course, I adore OR’s new song, The Cure & the film clip is great too. The girl can do no wrong in my book

Also in my ears this month has been the very excellent podcast series by Annabell Crabb called History or Hoarding about the New South Wales State Library. Very informative but also super enjoyable.

During May, I decided to really hone in on my grocery budget & play the rewards game HARD. Woollies was offering me 18000 (that’s $90 banked for Christmas!) reward points if I spent 210 each week during May. Then a new Woolworths opened up close to home, offering you $15 off every time you spent over $100 in the new store. Friends, during May, I saved $85 with the new store discount, I got my 18k rewards points plus with all the other bonus points offers going on, and banked another $30 for Christmas, taking my total to $120. And because I was so intent on milking the system as much as I could without overspending, I pretty much spent no more than $300 a week on groceries, $100 a week less than what I normally allow myself!! What a win!!

I’ve also been making these cookies & this slice on repeat all month. I’ve made a few loaves of this bread & gave this pie a go. It was nice, but I think it needed a little more flavour, so I will tweak it next time.I stocked the freezer with my favourite vegetarian sausage rolls. This korma curry paste (the one I shared I had made last month) has been a real hit with the fam, & instead of making big naan like I normally do, I’ve been using leftover gozleme dough from our Friday night gozlemes to make little bite-sized naans. I can’t tell you how good it feels to make a dinner that pleases everyone, so rare in my house!

I’ve decided on a winter uniform too. During the week, it’s active wear because I am back to walking most days with my clients, plus we do yoga on Mondays & Fridays, & I am now going to the gym in between work & school pick up. I know active wear is boring, but it just makes sense. And when you’re a round little person like me, it’s also comfy. Most weekends it’s some version of soft pants & button down top with sneakers or Converse, Birks, if it’s warm enough. Having a uniform takes one decision off my plate each day & I like that.

All my socials have stayed blocked on my phone thanks to my trusty Locked device. There have been no scroll holes this month & that is a very good thing for me. I have come to realise that I do not do well when I am shown too many opinions & strident ideas about how we should live, what we should eat, how we should move or how we should feel about things. Substack Notes is actually the worst for this IMO. I much prefer a chatty blog post or substack where the writer shares about their life, books or creative pursuits. I am also a sucker for a link list.

I am much better off being left to my own devices. I do still click over to Instagram most days, but it rarely takes me longer than 10 minutes to look at everything in my feed & that feels like the right amount of time I should spend on social media. It feels like I am getting to know myself again.

And that is May. The last week of May doesn’t have much booked in. I’ll be organising Blake’s new school, going to the orthodontist with him & I have a Costco date booked with Amy for after work one day. I also have a fitness assessment booked with one of the new PTs at my gym ( I won that & two free sessions with her). I’m a bit nervous because I think I’m fit, but am I!?

Next weekend is a long weekend here in Perth & it is supposed to rain, which I think will be glorious. I’m thinking we’ll have the fire on, eat yummy food, maybe some scones & be cosy at home. We have some shelves to put up & maybe I’ll even show you the reading room! Oh, the bathroom reno is finished & my gosh, it’s BEAUTIFUL!

I’ll see you later in the week with all my May books- it’s a lot!

Talk soon xx