The clock ticking. The birds singing and the sun shining after rain. Still cold for November and there’s a frog living under the porch. Its mournful bonk bonk comes on with the lights. I looked after the kids on Monday, one of those rainy Mondays so resorting to the TV ... READ MORE

Cars pass like whips and the rain is steady and heavy as cattle. Green surrounds us and the trains pass shaking and rattling. We’ve had so much rain lately you begin to think you live in the subtropics. Just had some young neighbours rifling through the lolly basket for Halloween ... READ MORE

A bright early spring sun, the sea spread like a blanket before us, though the icy wind reminded us it was not yet summer. And yet people were looking out to sea with urgency and pointing. We had come to see the blue pool at Bermagui, but the freezing wind ... READ MORE

I’ve been going to an indoor play centre with our eldest grandchildren, Alfie and Hazel and our daughter Eileen. These places are great on a howling winter day like the ones we’ve had this year. I’ve noticed that the children seem to play alongside others rather than with them. The ... READ MORE