My Granddaughters

Nikoya - "the absolute seriousness of being fourteen"


Tegan - "look at me"

North Head

Alexx does his Ray Charles Down Under impression during our visit to the rugged beauty and sweeping views of North Head.


Alexx took this snap of me doing my Sound of Music impression against the breathtaking backdrop of Sydney Harbour.

Birthday Blouse

Alexx surprised me with this beautiful Vietnamese pure silk blouse bought with his very last pension cheque!

Recent Reading November-December-January

The Kalahari Typing School for Men - Alexander McCall Smith

- more absolutely enchanting magic from Private Ladies Detective Precious Ramotswe and the land of Botswana

Lady Spy, Gentleman Explorer (the double life of Herbert Dyce Murphy) - Heather Rossiter

- extraordinary early-twentieth century Australian eccentric whose exploits included being a British lady spy (!) and an Antarctic explorer with Mawson

Silver Wedding - Maeve Binchy

- Maeve Binchy - what can I say! Journey to Ireland and the human heart through her books!

The Glass Lake - Maeve Binchy

- a solitary woman drowns in a lake - or does she?

Tara Road - Maeve Binchy

- another epic tale of families and friends in Ireland - now a film

The Secret Life of Bees - Sue Monk Kidd

- one of the best books I've ever read! Powerful woman/human/spirit stuff! Thanks Pat!

The Earth Path (Grounding your spirit in the Rhythms of Nature) - Starhawk

- melding the pagan spirit with a hands-on caring for the earth

Fall on Your Knees - Ann-Marie MacDonald

- four sisters grow up in early twentieth-century Nova Scotia amongst pain and secrets - a powerful story that rushes on getting darker and more powerful as it goes! I love Canadian writing!

Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - JK Rowling

- finally! Love it! I would love to be Hermione but alas I think I'm Dobby!

The Travels of Maudie Tipstaff - Margaret Forster

- great tale of the scottish mother/mother-in-law from hell and how she changes!