What a relief it is to have a government that accepts and supports our Australian stories, past and present, no matter the format or medium. After many years of being ignored (and whittled down), creation and access to our stories is recognised as a critical part of a healthy society. Today the Australian Government launched […]
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.
Newsletter: reality and productivity
Hello creative dabblers and thanks for reading (maybe that’s premature to assume you’ll continue reading since this is the first sentence). I hope, though, that you will carry on! I’m typing this with a keyboard that has certain keys sticking. It’s mildly annoying but it seems to give my keyboard a personality, as if it’s […]
Having quilters as friends
Quilting involves much more than the creative activity of making a quilt. It is also about women coming together to share their skills and life experiences, often forming real and lasting friendships. I remember leaving a place where I had worked for more than 20 years. Most of my colleagues were women and many of […]
Book review: The Only Suspect
What a twisty story! Nothing is what it seems in this new book by Louise Candlish, as character after character is revealed as not what they seem. Alex lives with his wife Beth in the suburb of Silver Vale. He prefers to live a quiet life and keep his life private but, when Beth tells […]
Turning the page
My 2022 journal is nearly completed and my new one is ready for tomorrow. I’ve given my website a fresh new look and have added a menu at the top of the page. I’m ready for a new year. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my posts here and especially […]
Poppies galore
Seven years ago, I visited Glenmore House near Camden for a gardening workshop. Not only did we learn much about seasonal plants but we also enjoyed a tour of the garden. That’s when I fell in love with poppies. There were huge beds that included poppies towering over me. You can see in this photo […]
Summer solstice
Today we welcome the summer solstice, that time of year that marks the beginning of summer. Given the amount of rain we’ve had this year, it may have been optimistic of me to expect sunshine. A temperature of 13 degrees and steady showers is what we have instead. Ah, well… Instead, I’ll add brightness with […]
Newsletter: snow and impermanence
Earlier this week, my Instagram feed was full of pictures of snow-covered landscapes, both country and city. Apparently, it had snowed in Britain while I was sleeping. I follow many IG accounts based in Britain, mainly to see photos of beautiful gardens and the work of craftspeople I admire. You know how it is on […]
Six years to trip around the world
This month, I sewed the binding to my Trip Around the World quilt. It’s the biggest quilt I’ve ever made, finishing at 231cm x 256cm (91in x 101in). Let me tell you the story of how it came to be. Six years ago, I started cutting squares from fabrics in my stash. I wanted to […]
Book review: The Game is a Footnote
This is the eighth story in Vicki Delany’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery series and, as you would expect, there’s a murder investigation to solve. Gemma Doyle, the owner of the bookshop, is a level-headed English woman living in West London, Massachusetts. When strange things start happening in Scarlet House, an historical re-enactment museum, the board […]