Like papersky I feel that Thanksgiving is not a natural holiday for me. Since coming to Canada, we observe it, but it does not rank high in our pantheon of special days.Hallowe'en is another about which I have very mixed feelings. I love the spookiness but am hard pressed to see any merit in trick or treating and am heartily glad that T is too old now to ( Read more... )

I have always identified as being right handed.

I am now starting to question this belief.

I have developed arthritis but only in my left hand which struck me as a little strange as I would have thought that, logically, it would be my so called dominant hand that got the more use and would therefore succumb to arthritis. Over the past couple of ( Read more... )

My 1812 novel had a June 1st deadline which was met - probably just as well considering the tumultous nature of this summer.

After returning from my sudden trip to England. I was in no mood to write (apart from some poetry and some reminiscences about my dear old dad which may or may not ever see the light of day).  We had visitors, too, visitors ( Read more... )

I see him about once a month in my local supermarket.

He smiles and nods to anyone whose eye he catches and once I even saw him doff  his hat  but that was to an older woman, one perhaps ten years younger than his ninety or so years.

The hat-he  always wears a hat-varies according to the season. In spring and fall he favours a tan panama with a ( Read more... )

I am up at the cottage and was up late last night reading James Fitzgerald's family memoir. What Disturbs our Blood. In his prologue, he makes the assertion:
Some believe all writers write for their mothers

I am pondering this. What do you think?

I have never been a great fan of cheese cake except for one my dad used to make which he topped with a black current compote. The problem for me was that most cheese cakes I tried were too sweet and were claggy in the mouth. I don't know if claggy is a word, but it's what we say when we want to describe somthing that clings and clogs things up at ( Read more... )

Back in January I was in a tizz because I couldn't find some vital notes I had made. This post tells you all about it. Needless to say extra work happened and I never did find those notes, until today that is. We have guests coming from England for thirteen days and whilst preparing our spare bedroom for them I found a file folder on the night ( Read more... )

I have been absent from here for a while and the longer I didn't write the harder it was becoming to even think about doing so ( Read more... )

My mother has been dead now for nine years.

I think of her often but she has been on my mind more of late because of the World Cup. That might sound strange, but it is because of the venue. She was a South African war bride, brought home in 1945 by my father who had been a gunnery instructor in the Transvaal once he had escaped the fall of France ( Read more... )

I haven't been sleeping well of late. I go to bed and fall asleep immediately but then wake up with a start around about 3 or 4 in the morning and then have difficulty getting back to sleep. Today I added a new twist to this ( Read more... )