Life

Life

Sticky Fingertips

October 21, 2024

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

Life

The Short Cup

May 11, 2024

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

Books·Creativity·Faith·Life·Womanhood

The Woman Chain

January 18, 2024

Just over a year ago, I was in a dark place. The world had returned to normal after covid, but I was finding it hard to shrug off the effects of being

Books·Creativity·Life·Marriage·Womanhood

Waiting and Creating

January 2, 2024

“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

Books·Faith·Life

Delightfully Slow

December 31, 2023

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

Books·Life·Womanhood

Getting Older, Feeling Lost

October 3, 2023

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

Life

Smoke

September 12, 2023

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

Faith·Life

Love Unchanging

May 29, 2023

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

Creativity·Life

Love Blooms

May 25, 2023

Early on Mother’s Day morning, when I turned on the living room light, a magnificent bouquet of flowers appeared out of the dark. I wondered who had arranged the flowers and left

Life

My daughter Imogen pushes the large cardboard box marked Christmas decorations, across the carpet towards the naked tree. Charlotte and Gemma-Rose appear, and the three girls take turns dipping into the box.

Grief·Life

Impossible Hope

August 31, 2020

When I was a child, my grandmother – the maternal one – arrived from England for a visit. And when she left, inside her suitcase, sandwiched between her dresses and nighties was

Life·Motherhood

The Final Word

July 17, 2020

As Kerri fastens a voluptuous black cape around my neck, she tells me that I’m her first client since she returned from maternity leave. I feel fortunate. I like my hairdresser, and

Life

Coffee Hands

July 16, 2020

When Sophie returns to the car after going to her physiotherapy appointment, she suggests we have lunch together, instead of driving straight home. A few minutes later, we’re sanitising our hands at

Faith·Life

The Last Laugh

July 15, 2020

Sitting on the sofa under my soft fleecy blanket, safe in my bubble, I read the latest news and discover that a second wave of covid-19 is about to hit our state.

My children’s novels

My unschooling books