Hello and welcome to the spring equinox! Longer days and warmer weather are on the way for us here in the Southern hemisphere. One of my crabapples is in glorious bloom and, even though the flowers will only last a few weeks, it is worth it. I always celebrate the spring equinox; it’s the period […]
Only Murders in the Building
The number of streaming services showing TV series and movies is increasingly annoying me. It’s fragmenting audiences as people either can’t afford or choose not to subscribe to multiple services. It’s even more annoying when a series you were already watching changes to a different service. So, when you constantly hear and read about a […]
Book review: The Ink Black Heart
The latest book in the Strike series finds detective agency business partners Cormoran Strike and Robin Ellacott involved in the investigation of the death of Edie Ledwell. Edie is co-creator of a popular cartoon, The Ink Black Heart, and had earlier visited the agency to request help tracking down the true identity of the unknown […]
Time for tulips
I knew as soon as we moved to a cooler climate I would plant tulips. I’d never been able to successfully grow them in Sydney (humidity? microclimate?). So, after we moved, I had to learn about their requirements and tap into local knowledge. May is tulip planting time in the Southern Highlands. I always take […]
Newsletter: growth and colour
Hello to you! Here we are, heading towards the spring equinox in a couple of weeks and I am longing for the temperatures to warm. Partially so the blossoms and leaves emerge on my deciduous trees and also so people living nearby no longer have the need to use their wood-burning heaters. The smoke those […]
Binding time
There’s a queen size quilt sitting in my cupboard. I finished piecing it at least five years ago and it was professionally quilted at least three years ago. It still doesn’t have binding. I’m not sure of the stumbling block. Do I imagine it’s already finished? Does the thought of preparing binding strips put me […]
Rhubarb
I’ve always been entranced by the beauty of well-tended vegetable and fruit gardens. Those surrounded by quirky fences or walled gardens seem so romantic. All that flourishing greenery, just waiting to be harvested and eaten. Most photos of vegetable gardens found in books and online are shot when the beds are looking at their best, […]
Book review: Keeping up Appearances
Living in a small rural town can have its challenges. Inter-related families, the stress of keeping small businesses and farms working, and the threats that some people see to their ‘traditional’ ways of life. Sometimes it takes a newcomer to town to sort through the complexities and offer a different way of looking at the […]
Dreaming of dahlias
So, there I was on a cold winter’s day, with the westerly winds making the ‘feels like’ temperature outside near zero. What was I doing? Ordering dahlia tubers online. Dahlias are summer blooms. They flourish on warm, sunny days, not in the depths of the cold. Their flowers constantly delight me and I look forward […]
The telephone
Inspired by this photo, here’s a story I wrote. Thanks for taking the time to read it. Dear Lucy, I enjoyed chatting with you today. It’s always great to hear your voice and share what’s new in our lives. It reminded me of this family story, which you may not have heard before. Last century, […]