Diversions

What’s keeping you sane these days? For me, it’s the simple satisfaction of completion: the lists crossed off, the last piece put in place. In this time of limited distraction and distance I’ve found that seeing things finished is very good for my self. In fact, I just read this week that completing a task…

Acceptance of Rejection

With the year still as shiny as a new penny, I celebrated the first rejection of 2021. Celebratory is not exactly how I felt — this was for an award I would have loved to receive and even dared hope for — but yet, it was a celebration: the work goes on. I have poems…

Here is Poetry

A gorgeous journal arrived to my deep mulberry front door a couple of weeks ago, filled with page after page of poems you want to eat, each one almost more wonderful than the next. I am so pleased to be part of the Crosswinds Poetry Journal: I truly am in great company! Not only that,…

Poetry Day

‘There will be time’ was the theme for Poetry Day Ireland 2020 — today. And as there is a time for everything, today was time for rejection: #25 — hooray! I was hoping to get to 25 by the end of the month but I thought the end of April was 1/4 the way through…

Rejection Expectation

There’s nothing like setting a few goals at the baby-faced start of a new year. Early in 2020 I joined a Facebook group, #Rejection100: basically “complete failures hellbent on collecting and celebrating 100 rejections during 2020”.* Rejections are the pointy thorns in any writer’s life but with gifs and other tools in #Rejection100 we laud…

Postcard from that Voice

The postcard arrived the minute I put charcoal to paper. I didn’t notice the image on the front — probably some gorgeous painting — but I got the message: Don’t do it. Don’t. You can’t. That’s really hard. Stop now before you make a fool of yourself. I didn’t read any further, but I’m guessing there…

Wish You were Here (in colour)

Wishing you some colour for your maybe-grey November! Several shades of green, some strong purple, a shine of red with two of my bests — buttons and china shards — everything your eye can see. And feast your baby blues on these 40 shades. Best wishes, all the girls and Stephen.* *From There’s Always One! patchwork…

Connecting Threads

“We all need somebody to lean on…” ACET staff will be singing that next week, as we always do, at the annual Friends Remembering Friends commemoration in Rialto. And we do: we need folks around us; we need to connect. A small sewing flurry I recently completed was triggered, as I recognised part way through, …

The Stuff of Life

Tapestries, quilts, all varieties of textile art showing gardens and seasons and yes, even dementia: I felt like I was looking at threads of my own life, much of what I’ve written about lately. My annual walk through the exhibits and stalls of the Knitting and Stitching Show resonated with me. Clematis, by Judy Drysdale,…

Thoughts and Prayers: Bunting

Despite Hallmark being used as a bit of a sneer, cards can, in fact, be effective in conveying emotion. “Thoughts and prayers” can be meaningful from the right source. The cards I received in the time after my father’s death did bring comfort: the comfort that comes from knowing you are loved and surrounded by…