Today is Thomas’ birthday. Andy and I drove to town this morning to choose a scented candle and a card to display with his photo. We also bought flowers for his grave.
As I exit the car, the tree attacks me. It grips and twists my hair with its sticky fingertips. It pokes me sharply in my ribs. “Could you have parked any closer
In my post, The Spark, I told you I was updating my first children’s novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek. I was revising the words and, with AI’s help, generating a new
We give our daughters our Aldi pod coffee machine when they leave home. “We’ll treat ourselves to a new one,” we say, not realising there isn’t a single Aldi coffee machine for
I ask, “Watch the movie or read the book? Which one do you prefer doing first?” Imogen replies without hesitating, “Read the book.” Then she adds, “Unless the book is based on
I gave up crying, petitioning, begging, “What am I meant to do?” Exhausted by the struggle, I stopped fighting, rolled on my back and rode the waves, content to go wherever the
I was attracted to the novel The Hundred Loves of Juliet when I realised it was a Romeo and Juliet book: After a bad breakup, Helene Janssen runs away to Alaska to find some peace
The other day, I listened to a podcast conversation between Fr Mike Schmitz and Matt Fradd. Matt said something like, “I’ve been telling people I went to Sydney to give some talks,
“If art doesn’t make us better,” Alice Walker said, “what on earth is it for?” I found these words in Claire Cook’s book, Life Glows On. My sister, Barbie, gave me this
The other day, my husband, Andy, and I offered to pick up my mother, who’d been away on holiday, from the train station and take her and her heavy luggage home. Arriving
Gabrielle is having a crisis: she’s lost her top notes. How will she resume her career as a famous opera singer if her voice isn’t what it used to be? What will
This morning, I inhaled the scent of summer, even though we’re barely into spring and our recent temperatures have been rib-shivering winter-cold. As I left our house, and turned towards the bush
At 7:20 am every Sunday, we file through our front door, open and slam car doors, buckle seat belts and ignite cold engines that have been idle overnight. We drive, two cars
Many years ago, on a wet Friday afternoon, I waited with several other white-dressed brides in the foyer of a registry office, for the moment when a few words and a legal document would change my name and life forever. At 3 o’clock, I