There was always a laid-back air at the Tír na nÓg community gardens. Working collectively, growing fruit and vegetables organically, and sharing the produce equally, its members, youthful in the 1960s, were continuing their dreams in later years. Some evenings, blues-inflected guitar music would drift across the plots. On hot afternoons, a few folk mightContinue reading “Lost in the allotment garden”
Category Archives: Ageing and old age
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 12: The Advent of New Ways of Being
Whilst Andrew nurses a bad cold, Anne-Marie and Caitlin are Christmas shopping, and Michael is discovering a new-found enthusiasm for things culinary. Meanwhile the art robbers are awaiting sentence following their guilty plea and DC Harris makes arrangements for the safe return of the stolen goods. On the night of the Winter Solstice, The MaxwellContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 12: The Advent of New Ways of Being”
The unreliable narrator: a Christmas mystery story
In writing not one, but two previous Christmas mysteries, I have come to be regarded as something of an ‘unreliable narrator’. One who misleads and beguiles the reader in order to gain advantage. Apparently, it’s a trope much loved by writers, but I have to say it’s not one I care for. After all, I’mContinue reading “The unreliable narrator: a Christmas mystery story”
Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 10: The Fall
The arrival of Autumn sees all our main characters engaged in enjoyable tasks and projects – picking apples, stacking firewood, making a woodland labyrinth, singing in a choir. Anne-Marie even makes a surprisingly successful Sunday visit to her mother. Andrew is also waiting to hear about the outcome of his phone call from the WigtownContinue reading “Epiphanies and Robberies Chapter 10: The Fall”
Tony Bonning: stories, music and journeys
I first encountered Tony Bonning early one Saturday morning, years back, at the Moniave Folk Festival. He had a children’s session coming up and meanwhile was in the middle of the village entertaining the slowly surfacing festival goers with his own lovely mixture of songs, wry remarks and curious diversions. Over the years he hasContinue reading “Tony Bonning: stories, music and journeys”
Ageing and illness in a turbulent world
For nearly all of my 77 years on this earth, I have lived in the Dumfriesshire parish of Kirkmahoe. Not easy to find on a map, it’s a delightful place of rolling green pastures that slope down to the banks of the River Nith, just as it nears the end of its watery journey andContinue reading “Ageing and illness in a turbulent world”
Quotidian 