A Sadder Mothers’ Day This Year

This week our dear mother and grandmother, Joy, passed away in the early hours of Wednesday morning with her lifelong partner and dearly loved husband, Hedley, by her side. It was only just Mothers’ Day last year that I wrote about her diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. It seems sadly bittersweet then, that this Mothers’ Day …

Migraine and Headache Awareness Week

Headaches are one of those annoying things in life. Often caused by stress or noise or sometimes even a little too much to drink, they are irritating but usually quickly treated with a couple of pills or a good lie down. Migraines, on the other hand, are a serious and debilitating condition that can rob …

Family Matters

This weekend many families around Australia will be celebrating Mother's Day. Mums of all ages will be receiving breakfast in bed, bunches of flowers, boxes of chocolates and expressions of undying gratitude for their never-ending love and care. It is a beautiful celebration of gratitude for the important women in our lives. It is also …

#BookSnapSunday – the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ But ‘That’s funny…’ Isaac Asimov This week’s book snap features books from the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov (1920-1992). One of the most well-known science fiction writers, Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books. Many of them …

Travel Photo Challenge Review

Now that the Travel Photo Challenge is finished I thought it would be good to review the photos, identify the place and time, and give a quick summary of the trip. Are you familiar with any of these places? Day 1 - Wedge Island, Western Australia  This photo was taken in December 2004 at Wedge …

Hope in the Midst of Pain

 The New Year is just around the corner and I imagine there are many of us who cannot wait to see the end of 2020. The Corona Virus has delivered a major hit to our communities and our way of life during this year and our New Year celebrations will be no different. Large gatherings …

Living in the Christmas Spirit All the Year Round

I am sure I have always thought of Christmastime…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they …

#BookSnapSunday – Recipes from my Grossmutter

Today’s Book Snap is inspired by Rowena from Beyond the Flow, who recently wrote about Christmas Traditions and her grandmother’s Honey Biscuit recipe. Honey Biscuits are a Christmas Tradition in my family too. We both have German ancestry, and quite freakishly, own the same little cookbook pictured above - Recipes from my Grossmutter (grandmother). The …

Living with Dignity

Today, December 3rd, is the International Day of People with Disability. It is an annual event designed to “increase public awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability and celebrate their achievements and contributions.” Each year there is a specific theme, and this year, quite appropriately, it is “Building Back Better: toward a disability-inclusive, accessible …

#BookSnapSunday – The Secrets at Ocean’s Edge

The secrets that bind a family Can also destroy a family 1932. Ernie and Lily Hass, and their daughter, Girlie, have lost almost everything in the Depression; all they have keeping their small family together are their secrets. Abandoning their failing wheat farm and small-town gossip, they make a new start on the west coast …