Mea culpa – it has been a long time since I did the 21st century equivalent of putting pen to paper. I’m not sure that having all this instant technology is helping matters much, actually. It’s not as though booting up the computer takes any longer than uncapping a pen, or that the process of … Continue reading The eclipse and other phenomena

So, here we are. A month into the new year, resolutions skittering into nothingness like old fast-food wrappers in the gutter, my weight still unchanged, promising myself that I’ll do better in Sober September. Honest. From Februa, a Roman purification festival which usually took place around mid-month, usually the fifteenth. The Ides and all that, … Continue reading The Cat Days of Winter

Once again, the weeks have passed by all in a rush, and we’re starting the final run-in to the end of the year. For many of us, that period will bring with it the joys and festivities of Christmas, and if you count yourself in that number then I wish you a Merry Christmas and … Continue reading Three Weeks to Go!

Sometimes, you just have to make decisions. This can be a process fraught with difficulties, both necessary and irrelevant. Should I have yoghurt or toast for breakfast? One is good for my probiotics, whatever they are, but requires some fruit to be palatable. Fruit has sugar – will that impact my glycemic index? A piece … Continue reading Decisions, Decisions

I was recently in Cong, a small village in County Mayo, two and a half hours east of Dublin. Cong is famous for being the place where John Ford filmed The Quiet Man, with John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara. There’s a replica of the White O’Morn cottage, set up as a museum, and a life … Continue reading Two Quiet Men

As we meandered up the Trans Labrador Highway, every so often a signpost indicating a place of potential interest would emerge out of the fog. We stopped at a couple but soon learned that most of the signs contained the same level of information we had experienced on Newfoundland. One attraction that warranted a mention … Continue reading Watching the Fog Roll

When we travelled to the Yukon last year, I started to claim that I had been to every province and territory of Canada. It took a persnickety Newfoundlander to point out that although I’d been to that island, indeed many times, the actual name of the province was Newfoundland and Labrador, and I hadn’t been … Continue reading The Last Check-Mark?

Thirty-nine steps. That’s how many there are between cracked pavement of Richmond Street and the well-worn carpet of my new studio office, located on the third floor of The Guild. I’ve got a lovely view down Queen Street to a sliver of the harbour. The room is bright, airy, and spacious, well worth the seven … Continue reading 39 Steps

I’ve spent most of the past month digging and delving in my garden, which is now starting to look a bit more like it should. We had a really dry April and May, but early June has brought some much welcome rain. As a reminder, garden updates can be found on my Facebook page, available … Continue reading Thanks, Joni

It is difficult to believe that it has been almost two months since we returned from Australia, and three months since we disembarked from the Aranui. How time flies. Friends from England arrived a couple of days ago and I was looking at photographs from the Marquesas. I have a number of images from Tohua … Continue reading The more things change