It was his sister’s fault really. I mean, what else was he going to do when Cat asked him to empty those bottles of Grolsch? Pour them down the sink? Use them for snail bait? In his garden, no amount of beer was enough to rid him of the pesky gastropods. Better to slug the … Continue reading His sister’s fault: Part A

Drogon (a.k.a. DragonDictate) has some difficulty transcribing my darling Mischa's name. Frequently Drogon refers to her as Miss Shah which, in turn, has resulted in me calling her my Persian Princess or Mischa Joon. At times Drogon also calls her Mrs Sharma. I'm starting to think she is perhaps a Mossad spy with multiple identity … Continue reading Mischa = Miss Shah = Mrs Sharma

Oh woe is me! I sit here feeling sorry for myself as I clock up 74 days as a single-handed lady. I laugh now as I read the previous post. Only a few days after writing that my life was disrupted by #CarpalTunnelGate and I discovered that the pain and limited mobility in my hands … Continue reading Diary of a single-handed lady: day #74

She awoke, bleary eyed. Her joints stiffened by psoriatic arthritis. The absence of codeine in the house made her miserable. Slipping on her oversized slippers because that’s why they’re called slippers, she shuffled into the kitchen. She was overwhelmed with a desire for Melting Moments for breakfast. But then she remembered she ate the last … Continue reading Notes on a miserable morning

I recently completed a six week online course with Lillian Rose, called "Cultivating Creativity". I clearly needed it, having not posted here since January couresty of the black dog blues. Whilst the aim of the course was to kickstart my writing, it also influenced my gardening. I discovered that not only does one really does … Continue reading Cultivating Creativity

It has been somewhat hot in my neck of the woods these past few days. Not that I'm particularly bothered by it. I like the feel of the sun on my skin. It makes me calm and content. Sometimes I get a little drunk on it. I try very hard not to use the air-conditioning … Continue reading Heat

When I started this blog, my committed intention - which I regrettably announced publicly in my first post - was to write a post once a day. WHO WAS I F*CKING KIDDING? I didn't want this blog to become like all my other blogs which were mainly stream-of-consciousness brain dumps. The intended aim for this … Continue reading Good intentions ≠ outcome

Many years ago I was house-sharing in one of Australia's capital cities* (far, far away from Melbourne) in one of its more funky suburbs* with a friend of mine, let's call her Bea, when The Mater decided that it was important for me to have a creative outlet and so she sent to me, via road freight, … Continue reading Housesharing, narcotraficantes and piano removalists

My great-grandmother, Frances Catherine, was a tall (over 6ft), lean and elegant woman who moved her family around the country to such an extent that by the time my grandmother, Leila Josephine, was 15 she had been to 26 different schools. This might explain why my grandmother loved geography and always had an atlas on … Continue reading Bond girls, Face Ache and Cocky

Julie Cameron, author of The Artist's Way says: “We should write because writing brings clarity and passion to the act of living. Writing is sensual, experiential, grounding. We should write because writing is good for the soul. We should write because writing yields us a body of work, a felt path through the world we live … Continue reading Should we write?