I thought I’d add a new type of post to these pages, to record the small things and the passing of days. You may find it interesting, or you may not but please leave a comment either way. I’d love your feedback. Monday 17 January My birthday was celebrated by the sun emerging after a […]
Welcome
Hello! I’m Erica Spinks and I’m so pleased you are here.
Welcome to readers who have followed me from my Creative Dabbling blog and to all of you who have just found me.
I write mostly about gardening, reading, writing, quilt making and creativity.
Book review: An Intriguing Deception
This was a fun read, set in late Regency 1820s London. Enter Miss Olivia Featherstone, who is smart, adventurous, and skilled at throwing daggers at villians. When she seeks to right a slur on her family’s name, Delavel Chêne-Craven, a mysterious aristocrat with mysterious ties to both foreign and domestic governments, crosses her path. Soon […]
Out of sorts
Growth is rampant in my garden, due to the constant on-and-off showers we have had for the past several months. I’m over it. The earth is too wet to garden and never has an opportunity to dry out. I suspect several of my dahlia tubers have rotted in the ground, even some of the ones […]
Roses – yes or no?
Let’s be honest – we only grow roses because of their flowers. For most of the year, many of the plants are ugly stems that grab and scratch when we go too close. The flowers don’t make up for that, in my opinion. The previous owner of my garden planted many roses here. Some I’m […]
Book review: A Family of Strangers
I am saying goodbye to ‘My book of the month’ in 2022. Instead, I’ll be adding more regular reviews of books I have read. This means you’ll see what an eclectic reader I am. There are certain types of novels I avoid (horror and fantasy – I’m looking at you) and there are certain genres […]
Ups and downs quilt
As soon as I saw a photograph of Sarah Fielke’s Ups and Downs quilt, I knew I wanted to make my own version. It looked simple to piece by machine and I immediately knew I wanted to hand quilt it. Then I remembered that Sarah makes ENORMOUS quilts and I don’t. How she does it, […]
Thank you
Thanks to everyone who visited or commented on my posts in 2021. I’m grateful you took the time to stop by here. I am ready to optimistically start my new 2022 journal. Let’s turn the page to end this year and focus on activities and projects that nourish us, instead.
My book of the month: December 2021
What an irresistible novel; a story full of stories. Start for the mystery but stay for the powerful words and the spaces between them. Jasmine is an Indigenous lawyer who takes her mother, Della, on a tour of English literary sites. Their relationship is, like those within most families, filled with unspoken thoughts. Triggered by […]
Welcome to the summer solstice
I was asleep at 2.58 am this morning, when the Earth’s tilt placed us closest to the Sun. Funny how natural events like these don’t take any notice of what we insignificant humans are doing at the time, isn’t it? Celebrated by pagans as Litha, the summer solstice is a day to contemplate light and […]
Listening to my quilts
The challenge was to make a quilt that measured 50 inches square. Sounds straightforward, right? No such luck – my quilt had other ideas. It simply did not want to be that size and fought me all the way. Spoiler: the quilt won. It has always been difficult for me to make a quilt to […]