Lynda Sez

A few days ago, I noticed a nest on the ground on the little island in the middle of our backyard pond. Two days later, I saw that the nest had been disturbed and no sign of the eggs remained. I suspected a fox or a raccoon had found them. Then, this morning, the nest [...]

Thanks to the magic of text messaging, I was able to wish Claire a happy day today, and hear back from her that she just enjoyed a lovely dinner at the Singapore Zoo and is about to go on their night safari. I can imagine that will particularly please her, as she was so thrilled [...]

It wasn’t looking good for a white Christmas yesterday, with everything dripping wet and patches of grass showing on the back lawn. This morning it was postcard pretty again with flurries dusting down. Why is this important? It’s very hard to face the dismal green and brown of a popular holiday supposedly all about families [...]

I made time to do Christmas cards this year, not as many as I could, but way more than last year when we were still digging out essentials from moving boxes. I like the old-fashioned feel of the process, though I confess my address list is neatly digitized and set up to keep track of [...]

Today was family reunion day and what a great party! We had almost 40 people from various parts of the UK and Canada (five of us from Canada) convening on the hotel near Farnham about midday. Lots of hugs and chatter, greetings and introductions, covered the milling around time before lunch. then we sat down [...]

I dedicate this Father’s Day to my children’s grandfather Francesco Chiotti. He was a lovely man, kind, generous and very much a family man. I don’t know nearly enough about him and I have not attempted to fill in any details through my genealogy research, mostly because it means delving into French and Italian records. [...]

My dear Auntie Marg died on Friday. She was a second mom to me when I was very young, presiding over the stable home we moved into while my own mother struggled to work and care for us as a single parent in an adopted country. It was a time of turbulence and loss and [...]

Claire called this morning from Coolangatta with an update on her travels. Tomorrow is her last day at Corrumbin and she will be back in Sydney by Sunday. Then it’s off again in a couple of weeks with her friend visiting from Canada to see Melbourne and a few other places. She’ll take time in [...]

I finally heard from the birthday girl this evening. Claire called from Brisbane to tell me about her brief but career-affirming experience on a capsicum farm in Stanthorpe, a considerable distance southwest of Brisbane. She drove up from Sydney in one long trip a couple of days ago, to check into a hostel overseen by [...]

My computer tells me it’s minus 8 degrees outside and I have no reason to doubt it. I just chatted with my daughter on the other side of the world where it was a sunny 27. She showed me (via webcam) the luscious bromeliads in the garden she was calling from. In return, I showed [...]