About ‘Baby’ Yesterday, August 30 th 2024, I posted a short note on social media. It simply said, “Please do not contact me today, my baby cat died in my arms earlier this morning.” My reason for posting that notice publicly is that it was easier and less heartbreaking than writing individual messages to those who know me. What amazed me was the response. Not only from those I intended the message to reach but also the flood of comments from people I don’t know. Many, I am sure, have never responded to any of my previous posts. So, strangers, all with words of condolence and sympathy. I thank you all. Your words of support or comfort mean more than you know. In reply, I think it is only right for me to give you a little background about ‘Baby’. She found us, adopted us. One morning, about three months ago, I stepped out of the house and saw a small cat curled into a doughnut shape. She was in a small space between some flower pots. I lifted her from the damp gro...

I’m jotting this as I travel in a car, it's okay, I’m a passenger, not the driver. I realise many people like to know about the authors whose books they read, so this post is a reveal, a confession... I am a bit of a petrolhead. I'm on the right, wearing sunglasses. Although I do mention cars in several of my books, I do not often go into any intricate descriptions. I like to leave much of the detail in my stories to the reader's imagination. I think this respects the reader, allowing them the freedom to create such subjective images, and for their imaginings to become an integral part of the story. My belief is allowing the reader personal visualisation is what makes books far superior to a film, or a movie, where every detail is spoon-fed to those watching, it leaves nothing, or very little to the imagination. Whereas with a book the author simply suggests many things, it is the reader whose mind interprets and creates the fictitious, fanciful world they find the...

  When the four sisters Bebe, Heather, Laurie, and Mimi agreed to have a representative image of them taken every year, they probably never imagined that forty years down the line the results would be  simply astounding. They began their journey in 1975 because of a random request for a picture. Nicholas Nixon, who was a photographer, asked the sisters to pose for a family photo, from there, it became an annual cherished tradition within this family. Don't take my word for it, take a look at the images yourself,  https://www.worldation.com/stories/40-years-four-sisters-photographed/ 1975

Maria xxx xxx first posted this to Facebook on February 6 th 2020 Short as it may be, I thought it both touching and revealing; so much it has made it here, on Brilliant Blogshare Well, today didn't go as we hoped but it's in the hardest of times we learn the best lessons and feel the most gratitude. Buffy was scheduled to have her teeth cleaned and removed today but Dr. Mac had a gut feeling she needed to look at some lab work before putting her under anaesthesia.  She was right; Buffy showed signs of advanced kidney failure so anaesthesia was not an option and as a family, we decided that the kindest and most loving thing to do would be to let her go before she lost her will to live and stopped eating and drinking. I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving my son out of this decision or not allowing him to be part of the entire process so, I immediately went and picked him up from school.  On the way to the veterinary surgeons, he told me he wante...

NOTE : I wrote this back in 2015, but this year, the 100th memorial year,  I think is a good time to give it another airing. A Legacy from the Great War. (WW1) I was watching a television trailer, regarding a forthcoming documentary, examining the life of those who lived and fought from the trenches. I was struck by the number of film clips taken on the front line. That so many have survived for the past one hundred years is quite amazing, considering the ease of degradation of the materials used. I had not previously considered such an archive of moving images existed, considering movie making was still in its infancy at the time. Seeing these short monochrome ( mostly, although a few colour films were produced ), films of men going about their daily lives on the front line, brought the characters of those captured on cellulose to life in a way I did not think possible. In conjunction with this footage was often clear and exceptional commentary. ...

I had to share this post in full. Read it and you will know why, Paul.                                                                                            Fi rst posted on               https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/07/what-shunryu-suzuki-taught-me-about-time Via  Jim Owens on Jul 16, 2017     533 Shares get elephant's newsletter Shunryū Suzuki , was a master of many things, not the least of which were meditation and calligraphy. His teaching—sometimes simple, sometimes confusing, but always profound—has influenced me greatly. I have also admired the work of other remarkable men and women: the Nobel Peace Prize winning,  Thich Nhất   Hanh , the Trappist monk, T...