The opening scenes in Ronda have me completely HOOKED!! Oooh, this is just what I need. www.imdb.com/title/tt3197...

Oregano* & thyme* roasted lamb rump salad with roasted beetroot* & carrots*, feta, pesto, baby spinach, red onion* & pomegranate seeds. *homegrown It's good. 😍

A small film of spring flowers from my garden because we recover from stress 60% more quickly when we look at plants & if we find them beautiful our brains release dopamine, lifting mood. Pause for a few moments to help your synaptic soup 🌿🧠:

just a reminder that we aren’t even seeing the worst of what is happening in Minneapolis from someone detailed at the Whipple Federal Building yesterday

How it How it's started: going:

Do this!

I saw Hamnet last night with my Mum. It was so beautifully done, & I've been thinking about it all day. I love that Maggie O'Farrell co-wrote the screenplay with Chloe Zhao, and I love that it so beautifully, & in a slightly different way to the novel, captured the complexities of love and grief.

One of my top 3 Depeche Mode songs, and a superb version. youtu.be/U6QS8PL-ue0?...

This is frickin awesome. www.imdb.com/title/tt3659...

This is the sort of truth we need from the media. Well done, Chris Hayes.

The Mall-hole is really coming through with the retro bangers tonight. You cannot even FATHOM how much I wanted to be just like Olivia Neutron-Bomb in Xanadu when I was 13, in 1980. youtube.com/watch?v=DnkH...

Need this as an antidote to watching the world burn today.

Absolutely sickened and appalled by today's US developments. I just can't believe the Repugnicunts are getting away with this. It's WAAAY too Handmaid's Tale and utterly inhumane. My sympathies to all of the sane Americans on BSky. Wishing you strength from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Yesterday I fell off my bike when leaving the house - who flippin knows how - and bent my left ring finger back as well as bruising my left inside knee & calf. Nothing terribly serious but ouchie on the finger in particular!

No cheating. Reskeet with the most recent picture of your pet.

This is superb.

Fits nicely with my own choice of WINS, I guess.

My first day of 2026 has been spent doing as little as possible. Read a bit, snoozed a bit, avoided any jobs. Haven't spoken to a single human. It's been blissfully quiet here all day, just sporadic rain for company. Trying to decide what to have for dinner while lying in the couch.

I met Deborah Hill-Cone when I was at Prego one day and she told me she liked my (slightly) buck teeth and wished she hadn't had hers fixed. It was both humiliating and quite charming.

HNY, all. Let's all hope it's a better year than last year's absolute shit show. I don't make resolutions because I find them a crushing weight of guilt and pressure, and also just pretty cringe, but my mot de l'année for 2026 is WINS. My hope for the year ahead is that fewer people are dicks.

Excellent. A warning I'll be happy to heed. The combination of the supremely vapid Chalamet, 2.5 hours of my life, and a story glamourising sociopathic, consequence-free American 'hustle' was my idea of hell anyway. Phew. regionfree.net/marty-suprem...

If I'd been born in the 1800s I would have spent long periods in a scold's bridle.

Currently cloudy with a little blue sky in Otautāhi. I'm about to make myself presentable for an early dinner at Burj with some friends. Putting some vino collapso in the fridge in case we party on like middle-aged heroes. Thanks all for your company this year, and especially Secret Santa peeps! Xxx

This year on Bluesky I wrote 300 posts and 1,481 replies. I received 7,284 likes, whereas 589 was from my most popular post, and apparently I love saying "love" and 🤣! www.madebyolof.com/bluesky-wrap...

Things I've done on the last day of this year of our Lord of Enshitification, for future me: 1. To start the year off well: New sheets on bed New toothbrush head Clean house 2. For my inevitable slight Harry Hangover tmrw: Sparkling Water Panadol Extra Choc Yoghurt Med Foods Frozen Margarita Pizza

Things I planted in Ted's garden since arriving in Chc and am now plundering: Spinach, cos, courgettes, red onions, carrots and cucumber And a couple of things I haven't but am happy to plunder anyway: Runner beans and raspberries. Yum.

I just witnessed something odd in Sydenham. A veritable tribe of 100 or so sparrows suddenly descended at the top of my shared driveway and systematically covered the ground and small gardens all the way down to pick off everything they could. Top to bottom. Like a plague of locusts. End times, obv

Since I've been a bit under the weather since before Christmas I haven't really partaken in much seasonal overindulgence. So, tonight i made a panettone & fresh cherry bread & butter pudding and it was DELICIOUS. And had it with Pegasus Bay Riesling which was also delicious. I'm back in the game.

If you're an old music-loving romantic like me you will LOVE this series on Neon. I was right in amongst the mix tape era of the 80s, with a boyfriend who travelled and still remembers my mix tapes fondly. Prob the one who got away. Maybe for the best. www.imdb.com/title/tt3050...

Butter Money Car

Sold Jimmy Barnes some beer when he came through Carlton Liquorland circa 1987 pre-concert.

Why is this in my saved photos?

Just watched Train Dreams on Netflix. Connection, and how rare and fleeting it can be in life.

My spirit animal.

How I'm walking out of 2025:

There has been a gang of brats running around and shrieking outside our store for more than 10 minutes. My kingdom for some noise-cancelling headphones. I may be about to get arrested.

Mall-hole. When you are feeling like death warmed up and nauseous as well from all the cold drugs on a mostly empty stomach, having to use a heavy-traffic, not oft-cleaned block of public toilets is NOT THE NEWS. Ugh. Bring on 6pm. Did just eat some fried chicken and rice. Fingers crossed.

Back in the Mall-hole for a glorious 9 hour shift today. Feeling like 17 types of arse, but soldiering on out of necessity rather than enthusiasm. Bah humbug.

Best gift: an excellent framed photo of my Dad and his favourite family member, Max the miniature schnauzer, in his MG. I got him the photoshoot - and a donation to Dogwatch - for his birthday. Prob Ted's last Christmas, so a very fitting gift.

Woke up this morning with an absolutely HELLISH sore throat, could barely swallow, took: 2 sudafed with pseudoephedrine 2 panadol extra 1 diclofenac 75ml (and a partridge in a pear tree) and righteously battled my way through a very pleasant outdoor family Christmas brunch (staying well clear of 1)

How the other half (of the family) live. In Parklands. Christ on a Kawasaki.

Some vulgarian either in my office or in the godforsaken Riccarton Mall has passed their filthy germs on to me and I have a bloody festive Christmas cold. I'm fine, obv, but it does mean I can't attend any family events because I have a brother & father doing chemo. They're sadder than I am. Ha.

Exciting news today - I have sold my first house in my new job! I've had an absolute bastard of a year, professionally and financially, so hopefully the gods have decided I've been punished enough for my non-crimes, and the annus horribilis is over! Soooooo relieved.

Snoozy Zelda. ❤️🐈‍⬛

I don't know what you party animals are up to on the last Satdee night before Santa comes, but I'm happily ensconced on the couch in the comfort of my own home with a belly full of chicken & sweet corn risotto, a glass of Wairau River rosé, Coro on the telly and a thunderstorm outside. Rock n roll.

The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go. Christ I'm old. This one has a happy ending (f'nar, f'nar) at least, so I'm going with that.

We all need some Franky today.

This afternoon I'm based in the Grand Old Dame show home on Bealey Ave. Built before the earthquakes, it's a fantastic, massive, high-ceilinged illustration of how good steel frames withstand a good jolt.

This looks a-maaaaaaa-zing!

Sweet peas & sugar snaps.