Welcome back to another monthly overview!

April flew by and oh so much happened! The month started with the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (you can read the blog post I wrote about it here) and Wrestlemania 38 (there’s the obligatory wrestling mention, you may carry on).

I also took the first week of April off work. I spent it at home and it was just delightful, especially as Autumn was truly in full swing!

Fall in Autumn

The Autumnal vibes are, in a word, immaculate.

We’ve also had SO much rain, which is an absolute relief. We now have 2.5 of our 3 water tanks FILLED. Praise the rain and the clouds and all things water.

I have also just realised this means I can probably have a bath again oh my gosh. The joy.

This is another reason I love Autumn, the water tanks FILL UP and I get to spend at least 4 months not worrying about water omg.

But the main reason I love Autumn is the foliage. It’s not just all browns and oranges, the reds and yellows of some of the non-native plants have truly been amazing to witness!

Oliver the Chihuahua

Of course the main event of April was the arrival of Bilv’s brand new puppy Oliver!

He’s a short-coat Applehead Chihuahua and an absolute delight. Just look at him!

When we picked him up he weighed about 600 grams and when I told my dad that his response was: “that’s about the size of a jar of marmalade!” which might be the most British thing he’s ever said.

It’s been a new experience for me having a dog in the house! I haven’t lived with a dog since I was 16 and I’ve NEVER lived with a small dog before.

I was worried it would be a difficult adjustment but it’s been super easy. Even my cat Mikasa is alright with it. She does do very big hisses at him but she hasn’t tried to eat him nor has she packed her little bags to leave, so I think we’re okay.

What else can I tell you about Oliver? His nickname is Ollie, his middle name is Walter, he hunts individual pieces of his food instead of just eating (he is not food driven whatsoever) and he’s taught himself to fetch.

We love him and you can absolutely expect more Ollie updates in future!

What I’ve Been Watching:

One of things I did in my week off was sit down and watch the show Our Flag Means Death. It’s one of the best shows I’ve ever watched.

It’s a hilarious queer romantic comedy-drama starring Taika Waititi & Rhys Darby. They play the pirate captains Edward ‘Blackbeard’ Teach and Stede “The Gentleman Pirate” Bonnet and they are in LOVE.

There’s also AMAZING representation with a brilliant array of BIPOC characters, a non-binary character (played by non-binary actor Vico Ortiz) as well as a whole host of other LGBTQ+ characters.

It’s so, so funny and poignant and just utterly brilliant.

And speaking of utterly brilliant, I ALSO highly recommend you watch the What We Do In The Shadows TV series.

Queer vampires living on Staten Island that make scream laugh.

So that’s your homework; watch both these shows and then tell me what you think!

Books I Read This Month:

• The Dark Lake by Gemma Woodstock – ⭐
• Managing Meltdowns and Tantrums on the Autism Spectrum by Jenna Ward-Hawkes – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Extreme Weather: A Guide to Surviving Flash Floods, Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Heat Waves, Snowstorms, Tsunamis and Other Natural Disasters by Bonnie Schneider – ⭐⭐⭐⭐
• Osebol by Marit Kapla – ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Osebol is one of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s a collection of interviews from every person who lives in the small Swedish village of Osebol. Absolutely fascinating read!

Best Internet Finds:

I will just content warning the text in the image below. It’s contains a horrible concept involving a spider.

I saved these two images a good two weeks apart and individually they are both so funny to me , but I realised when I uploaded them that actually the frog is the perfect reaction to the comment.10/10 internet, thank you.

A Mikasa Update:

Mikasa has been a bit unwell this month! Unfortunately she seems to have picked some kind of skin infection in her ear, which has caused her quite a bit of distress.

The vet gave us some ear drops but unfortunately they irritated her we had to stop using them. A second trip to the vet had her ear cleaned out and a round of anti-inflammatories but unfortunately I think we’re going to have to go back for a third trip, as the infection still hasn’t cleared up.

She’s also not exactly the friendliest cat; she nearly fell off the examination table (I literally caught her) because she was too busy hissing at the table she was standing on to watch where she was putting her feet.

The less vet trips the better, really!

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And that’s it for April!

I shall see you next month for more animal shenanigans, Autumn vibes and ridiculous memes…

BYEEE!

🍄 🐾 🌙 🍃 🪐 🌈

monthly lookbacks autumn books cats chihuahua dogs fall ofmd what we do in the shadows wwdits