Our New Normal

Only a few months ago we were wondering what the new year would bring. At the time Australia was in the middle of an apocalyptic fire season. This was followed by floods. Now we are in the grip of the Corona Virus pandemic that is sweeping across the world, taking lives and dramatically changing the …

From Fire to Flood

Sometimes it doesn’t take too long for things to turn around.  At New Year, barely six weeks ago, we were struggling to muster any enthusiasm to welcome in a new year. Instead we were watching our country burn. Coupled with a crippling drought, we were looking to the skies, wondering when it would rain again …

#BookSnapSunday – The Portrait of a Lady

I was deliberating about whether to post a book snap today. Our hearts and minds have been so consumed and overwhelmed by what is happening in our nation. Watching our country burn, towns wiped off the map, swathes of bush land burned, the devastating loss of flora and fauna, and the heartbreaking loss of homes …

The Silence of 2020

This morning I woke to 2020 and noticed the silence. Nothing too unusual about that. We live on the outskirts of Toowoomba where there is open space across the road and no neighbours right on our fences. Last night was New Years Eve so the revellers are probably still asleep. But then I remembered the …

Giving Way to Emergency Services

You see some interesting things walking around the city streets. Discarded shopping trolleys. Motorists running red lights. Pedestrians pummelling the button to make the pedestrian light change sooner. (It doesn’t work!) But occasionally you see something that really makes your blood boil. I was waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green (and NOT pummelling …

National Bookshop Day 2019

Across Australia today, readers and book lovers are celebrating the wonderful contribution that the local bookshop makes to communities big and small. It is a magical experience to enter a store specifically designed for the promotion and selling of books. Meandering slowly past rows and rows of shelves stacked with books, their colourful spines facing outward, …

Lifeline Bookfest 2019

Every year thousands of booklovers across Australia count down the days to their local Lifeline Bookfest. For Toowoomba booklovers this is usually the first weekend in March. Early on the Saturday morning a long of line vehicles can be seen crawling down Glenvale Road towards the entry gates of the Toowoomba Showgrounds. Inside the main …

2019: Looking Forward

  Another year has come and gone. I don’t know where 2018 went. It seems like I had just settled into 2018, remembering to write an 8 instead of a 7, and suddenly it’s the end of the year. How did that happen? The older we get, the faster the years seem to zoom past. …

Bowling for Cancer

  Sporting achievement is not something that I am known for. When the sporting genes were being dished out, I was at the back of the line and by the time I finally got to the front, well... there was nothing left. I don't mind watching it, but years of compulsory PE lessons taught me …