Exercise and walking are done. A pause on my return to admire my newest Geranium.

Breakfast is over. I put on a load of washing, adding three drops of lavender oil to unscented detergent because husband’s allergies can’t take the manufactured scents and I think things smell a bit musty without something. Most of the lavender washes away but it just lifts the smell of the fresh air dried clothes.

I finish a few small tasks, sorting of my art supplies and tools, having moved the things that are going with us into the house over the weekend. Now I can prepare for the sale of what remains in the ‘Shedio’ (garden shed + my studio).

Nearly 10am. I’ll have a cup of tea and the remainder of my Mother’s Day almond croissant.

Turn on the kettle, realise I forgot to toast a fresh batch of macadamias yesterday. The house is still cool so the oven will warm things up nicely.

I turn on the oven to heat.

While the boiling and heating is happening I hear the load of washing has finished but so has the kettle. Pour hot water over the tea bag in the cup and think…

“While the tea is brewing I’ll hang out the washing.”

But first I’ll mix up the salt water to drizzle over the macadamias and put them into the heated oven. Set the timer for 13mins but remind myself to stir them in 7mins.

Go into the laundry and see the storage bin I put in the sink to clean before I pack it for our move. But I see the old label looks untidy so I try to remove it. Stubborn. I tried my usual label removing trick with eucalyptus oil. Very old label, still stubborn.

It’s been 6 and a half minutes so I stir the nuts and put them back in the oven. Ooops tea has over brewed. New discovery…I like Nerada tea brewed for 7 minutes just fine.

Remove washed clothes from machine, wipe excess moisture from the rim, and hang clothes outside to dry. I retrieve the can of Barkeepers Friend and in less than a minute the old label is gone and the bin rinsed clean. It should be renamed, ‘Homekeepers Friend’.

Timer goes off to remove the nuts. They are not quite toasted enough so I stir and pop back in the oven for another two minutes. This is an inexact science, as is most cooking in my kitchen. Toasting depends on the size of the macadamias and their freshness. (Usually 160C (325F) for 12-13mins, fan-forced, with the addition of a tiny pinch of salt dissolved in one-two teaspoons of water stirred through them does the job.)

There sits my tea. Cold. I slice the leftover pastry, having carefully saved it in its bag on a nice plate and then in plastic which I have learned from trial and error saves it enough to go with a hot cup of tea the following day. Problem. No hot tea. While I dislike tea made in a microwave, I don’t mind it reheated in one, once brewed properly (even over-brewed properly).

Add a splash of milk and sit down to let things dry and cool…and me to chill. Refreshing and delicious.