Tormented by Tinsel
Is there any such thing as a Good Taste Guide to decorating a Christmas tree? If so, I’d like to purchase a few copies as stocking fillers for both my…
The Mystery of Memoir
Having just relocated with my husband from Australia, and with time on my hands, I signed up for a writing course in New York City to learn about the craft of fiction, specifically short stories. I loved the intensity of this form and the fact that every word counted. I began a few stories and worked on them obsessively. Memoir was not even on my radar...
Born Again Funeral Junkie – a response to growing up atheist
Growing up, I used to think funerals were exotic things that other people’s families had — like a holiday house — something just a bit out of our reach. My family didn’t ‘do’ funerals. We didn’t even ‘do’ death. As for any talk of an afterlife, well, don’t even go there. When I was seven Mum’s father died. He lived in a country town far from Sydney, so we rarely saw him. My brothers and I were not told of his passing, but I overheard a phone call between Mum and her brother. I could only hear her end of the call. She was worked up, almost shouting...
Did I Wait Too Long? (Ageing with Billy Joel)
Okay, I’m outing myself – when I was young, I was a little in love with Billy Joel. Even after I’d moved on, his early stuff could always transport me. Just a few bars from Piano Man, Italian Restaurant, She’s always a Woman and I’m back there at a particular time and place, filled with a sense of endless possibility. I hadn’t thought about Billy Joel in quite a while. Then in February...
The Importance of Being Ordinary
Sometimes lessons in parenting can sneak up un us and in this case, arrived for me just in the nick of time. I'd been invited to a lunch where I was surprised to run into a classmate from primary school.
“Being Good” with Isla
It was during Covid that a brand-new set of twin girls burst into our lives. There is no history of twins on either side of the family, so none was more surprised than my daughter and son-in-law.
In Support of the Helpline
The other night Martin and I had dinner with two couples we've known forever.As Paul stood over the barbecue, he mentioned that after he’d assembled this brand-new Weber, he’d found the lid was cracked. He called the Helpline.
A book, a shop, a welcoming gallery in Madrid
What’s the link between the woollen jacket I bought in Madrid on our recent holiday, and The Fire and the Rose by Robyn Cadwallader, longlisted for the 2023 Ara Historical…
SPECTACULOUS!
We’re on Foehr, the island in the North Sea, where Martin’s parents spent their later years. Our kids used to call it the Snow White Island. Thatched-roofed cottages and fields dotted with lazy Friesian cows really do give it a fairy tale quality.
Canine Wisdom
Q: What do Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, and I have in common? A: We both like dogs that talk.
