Friday 17 April 2020

Reflections

During these strange days some of us are getting a bit of time to reflect on life, what's important and maybe how we might change when we return to a new normal way of life.
Simple pleasures like a coffee in the sunshine suddenly seem really special.


Each day in the garden there's some new shoot sprouting or a new bud about to burst, or a bird, bee or butterfly visiting.


And indoors I'm enjoying spending a bit more time baking, trying new recipes and enjoying the results (the mincemeat cake is particularly good!)


I haven't had much time for writing or reading, but hopefully that will change soon. And today through the post I received a copy of an anthology which features one of my poems. 


'Reflections 3' is the third anthology produced by the Lagan Navigation Trust following last year's annual storymaking festival. I'm delighted that my work has featured in all three anthologies, and that I was a prize winner in the last two years of this festival. I'm looking forward to spending some time in the garden over the weekend, reading the stories and poems in this collection while I enjoy a coffee and some home baking- bliss!


Saturday 4 April 2020

Strange days

We're living in very strange times. In difficult days we usually turn to our friends for support and while we can telephone them, we can't meet up with them presently. What's making this period of social distancing more manageable is social media and technology. We can at least keep in touch and have virtual meet ups. I'm used to this in work and with family and friends but not so much with my writing groups. I had one of these virtual meetings during the week with some writing pals, another one today and a further one is planned next week.
Today was the morning we should have been back in Coney Island, and we were, virtually. Thanks to technology and a willingness to 'keep calm and carry on' we had a virtual meet up.


With the wonders of technology we were able to catch up on each others' writing news, drink coffee and still get a glimpse of the Coney shore thanks to Maddie. And of course there was baking, although I could only share the chocolate queen cakes virtually. Technology hasn't advanced so much yet that we can taste cake virtually - maybe that's still to come



But believe me they were VERY good!