Blogs

This house used to be owned by American missionaries who called it the ‘Mission House.’ Each of the carpeted bedrooms were set up as dormitories with bunkbeds so that the house could hold up to forty people. Often these were young people coming for short mission trips from the States – leading children’s holiday clubs, church services and mission events. It was a house full of noise and busyness as well as times of worship and teaching. Since we bought the house, it has been

Are you creative? I wonder how you respond to that question. What if I was to ask, are you are a painter or a writer or some other form of artist? We are reluctant to own those names even when we have had a book published or held an art exhibition. Human nature seems to minimise our accomplishments and the goal posts keep moving in our minds, with ever increasing self-expectations, despite our ongoing progress. When we do anything artistically, whether it is writing, drawing,

A while ago I spilt some white paint on the grey concrete of the courtyard, which at the time I was quite annoyed about. However, until that point, I had never really considered the concrete floor of this small, enclosed outdoor space. I had created a herb garden in the planters that border the space and had originally thought of having chairs there. But over time I had realised that it is often too hot to sit in that area, though it is a good star gazing spot at night. I the

They say that 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' and I think that is true in some ways. I don't think I love my children any more or any less than I used to, but I think I am more aware of valuing our time together, now that we live so far apart. When we all lived together in the UK, I tended to take family life for granted and I was just focusing on the busyness of the moment. There were times when we paused to be grateful for each other, cherishing a shared memory or lau

Often these blogs are about progress on the house, visitors or other interesting events; describing the things that are more unusual to the regular routines of life. So, this month I thought I’d focus on the more everyday – the things that I have got used to, but are perhaps a little different to life in the UK. Let’s start with the routine upkeep of my car. As in the UK, we pay car tax annually, but here this coincides with the MOT which is done by the police rather than a c

Last month I had my first trip to a neighbouring country and visited Trinidad. It was just for a weekend, but it was long enough for me to see a little of this large island, which is just off Venezuela. I went to a conference on the Saturday, but I had the Friday to explore the capital, Port of Spain. In some ways it felt like I was back in the UK with busy motorways, large industrial estates, high-rise buildings and affluent shopping malls. It has been a while since I have b

There’s something about weaving patterns which I find very satisfying whether it’s a woven basket, a weaving pattern of wool or a Celtic pattern like the one above. There is a rhythm and a flow of the undulating threads that captures my gaze and holds my attention. I enjoy following the consistent patterns of the over and under rhythm, providing a reassuring unbroken trail of predictability. This symmetrical style has been used in Celtic traditions to represent the eternal ci

Last month my daughter, Hayley, was able to come and stay for a whole month - long Summer holidays are one of the perks of being a...

Although the closest beach is Bathway, I usually prefer to go for a walk to the quieter beach of Levera. I am often the only person...

I wonder how many of you remember the Wombles, the children’s TV programme in the 1970’s? Their theme song has stayed with me, and they...

Occasionally people ask me if there are any deadly animals in Grenada such as venomous snakes or spiders. So, the good news is that there...

Do you find that your emotions go up and down? Mine certainly do. There is a natural ebb and flow of emotions that we all experience...

A while ago I looked out to sea from my balcony and noticed the white sails of a few sailing boats on the horizon. It was unusual to see...

Last month I had some special visitors to my home in Grenada. Tina and Peter are some of my closest friends from the UK and we were often...

This month's blog is written by Karen and Clive who came back for a second visit. I'm so grateful to them for the work they did and it...

I don't know about you but I enjoy marking the New Year – not because I enjoy staying up late or partying but because I appreciate the...

Over the last month, we have had heavy rain and wild winds which have caused nationwide flooding and some landslides. The flooding was so...

Recently Connie and her son, Reuben, came to stay. They helped me to apply wood preserve on plywood that was then labeled, cut and stored...

In March of this year, I bought a very healthy aloe vera plant that already had a few young shoots growing around the mother plant (in...

I have recently returned from a trip back to the UK – my first time back since I moved here, eighteen months ago. It was interesting to...