I mentioned in my November newsletter that the first meeting of a local writers’ group that I am facilitating was happening on Wednesday. I was anxious that no one would come so I was relieved when eight other writers arrived. We chatted about ourselves and what we were writing for thirty minutes and, for the […]
Welcome
Hello! I’m Erica Spinks and I’m glad you are here. I write mostly about gardening, reading, writing, quilt making and creativity.
Check out my ABOUT page to find out more. You can sign up for my Creative Dabbling newsletter here to be delivered to your inbox.
I’d love to hear from you, so please leave a comment on any of my posts if anything resonates with you.
Growing epiphyllums
Picture this scene. I was at the Collectors’ Plant Fair at Hawkesbury Racecourse some years ago, admiring the variety of plants on display. I was drawn to the wall of dahlia flowers (of course) and started to ponder which ones to buy. It was overwhelming so I wandered away, planning to come back. Then I […]
Newsletter: November 2023
Hello! I hope you enjoyed your November and are ready to welcome December. We had a deluge of rain (102 mm) overnight so the garden is happy. Now it needs to soak into the parched ground to be truly useful. November is epiphyllum flowering time at my place. Look at these stunning blooms! They only […]
Book review: The Mystery Writer
Wow. Sulari Gentill sure knows how to captivate us with complex story lines. In The Mystery Writer, Theodosia Benton leaves her attorney job and shows up at her brother’s home with only two suitcases and an unfinished novel. She has many doubts about her life, including whether she is capable of becoming a successful writer. […]
Enjoying quiltmaking
I remember Gwen Marston saying this at a workshop I attended with her some years ago. Making quilts is my hobby, it’s not a business for me. I don’t sell anything. If you make quilts for pleasure, perhaps remembering this quote from Gwen could be useful to you, too, when you feel overwhelmed by all […]
The promise of cherries
It wasn’t until the second summer we moved house that I realised there was a fruiting cherry tree in the backyard. I’d watched the tree blossom and grow new leaves but assumed it was only an ornamental tree. It never occurred to me that there could be fruit. Only after I’d seen spots of red […]
Newsletter: October 2023
October is my favourite month of the year. When I lived in Sydney, I knew that October would be the last comfortable month before the humidity arrived and stayed until April. I struggled with the discomfort that high humidity brings. It’s different here and I love it. October has wildly fluctuating temperatures – last Tuesday […]
Every quilter needs a design wall
Sometimes, it’s difficult to appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore. That’s what I experienced when I tried to accommodate all my sewing paraphernalia into a bedroom in our current house instead of the huge space where I had previously lived. I’ve been making quilts since the 1980s and have acquired masses […]
Book review: Murder at the Book Festival
Murder? Book festival? An alluring combination and, of course, I was going to read this! The small village of Merrywell in the UK is hosting its first book festival, organised by Eric Nash, the owner of the local bookshop. He’s organised a full agenda of talks and workshops, with Leonie Stanwick, author of best-selling raunchy […]
Evoking another time
Inspired by this photo, here’s a story I wrote. Thanks for taking the time to read it. The plants were in small pots and sat in rows on a stand. There must have been about a dozen of them, blooming in the environment of the enclosed verandah. Some showed simple flowers, while others had frilly […]