CREATIVE NON-FICTION AND FEATURES

Blowsy gardens, houses with a story to tell, wholesome food, travel with a purpose, alternative medicine, adoption, fertility and family life are just some of the subjects I love to write about. Amongst other places, in the pieces below you will go whale watching, horse racing and wine-tasting in South Australia, and drop in for tea and cake at the Royal Manx Agricultural Show.



THE ART OF THE GARDEN DIARY

In the midst of busy lives, keeping a diary may seem fiddly and time-consuming. Yet the more hectic the life, the more sense it makes to establish a garden journal or scrapbook. (The Art of the Garden Diary was published in SA Life magazine)

The Art of the Garden Diary



NOT CUTTING THE MUSTARD

This piece on the vanishing art of home cooking appeared in the October 2007 issue of Manx Tails.

Not Cutting The Mustard



ZEN AND THE ART OF BACKYARD BEEKEEPING

Beekeepers exude an enviable serenity; in conversation they are affable and calm. But is this composure - which they appear to possess in abundance - innate, or has it developed as a consequence of handling large numbers of bees without being badly stung? In short, is there a beekeeping temperament?

After spending time with members of South Australia's Amateur Beekeepers' Society, I was as keen to keep bees as I was to understand the Zen mindset. (Zen & The Art of Backyard Beekeeping was published in SA Life magazine, February 2007)

Zen and the Art of Backyard BeeKeeping



FROM HERE TO CLARE

Perhaps the most recognisable Australian wine label around the world is Jacob's Creek, and I've often wondered, while pouring a glass of their excellent Riesling, whether the creek named on that classic black and white label really exists. This southern summer, on a trip through the wine country, I was finally able to satisfy my curiosity. ( From Here To Clare was published in Manx Life)

From Here To Clare



ENCOUNTERS WITH WHALES

Whale watching is a unique opportunity for a close-up look at the world's largest mammal in its natural habitat. The beauty of South Australia is that you can manage it from the comfort and safety of some of the world's finest beaches.

Encounters With Whales was published in SA Life and Manx Tails.

Encounters With Whales



A DAY AT THE RACES

From the very earliest days, South Australia's country race meetings have been important events on the rural calendar, social gatherings in which everyone plays a part, from horses and trainers to the toddlers picking up discarded betting tickets while judges puzzle over which of their lovely mothers will win the Fashions-in-the Field.

A Day At The Races was published in SA Life Magazine.

A Day At The Races



THE CELTIC CINDERELLA

In recent times, a fairy godmother – in the shape of the European Union – has waved a magic wand and revitalised the Irish economy with the result that Dublin’s elegant 18th century houses, which once seemed in a state of terminal decay, have been rescued and restored to their former beauty. Each city street has enough history in it to keep you busy for a month, but the greatest pleasures to be found in Dublin are some of the simplest to access, those aspects of life the city has always excelled at - a hot towel shave in an old fashioned barber’s shop, or a perfectly poured glass of Guinness enjoyed in any one of the handful of public houses which have resisted change and are loved all the more ardently for that.

The Celtic Cinderella was published in The Advertiser Review on 24th November 2007.

The Celtic Cinderella