This Easter weekend has been pretty special this year, mainly I think thanks to Cyclone Cook. With the arrival of so much rain, leaving New Zealand somewhat drowned, we changed our travel plans and instead stayed nestled at home- an ideal time to ensure on my next trip I take considerably less baggage. Thanks for your words of wisdom JM - 20 minute forays into my drawers & wardrobe were just enough without being daunting. I can see a glimmer of hope fo...

Cyclone Cook hit during the night. It's not often we can hear the weather from inside our compact two bedroom hideout, but not this night. I woke often to torrential rain and buffeting winds but the piece de resistance was the earth shattering wail of our fire alarm at 1am. It turns out that maybe this was yet another gift from Cook as we could find no evidence of a fire before stumbling our way back to bed. And here I am at 5am awake, reading and writing,...

My first 20 minutes spent cleaning out my top bedside drawer to find my watercolours - thanks Janice for the nudge. Then made my first attempt at creative journalling using my Europe travel diary from 2015 - room for improvement!

Albert Einstein once said, "The only thing you absolutely need to know, is the location of the library". I wholeheartedly agree - not surprisingly I guess given I'm a Librarian. As a New Zealand Book Awards judge I've spent the last 3 months totally immersed in children's books so I was more than ready recently to lose myself in some adult reading. Coincidentally our local library had an inspiring display this week titled….Walk With Me…There was an ec...

2015 was my year! I was turning 55, and in the last 5 years I'd nearly lost my right leg and acquired enough pins and plates to set off the metal detectors at the airport. I continued my acquisitions trend by gaining a tumour ( not malignant it turns out) , a thyroid problem, an enlarged heart with a nice little tear in it & an assortment of other health problems that decided to tag along for the ride. With my beloved partner beside me I faced every ...