It’s been a busy year. . . 2019 has been the year I finally got to do two island writing residencies I’d been planning for some time – to Sointula on Malcolm Island (part of Vancouver Island) and to Limnisa in Greece. This was where, after a break from writing for a while to care for my folks, I finally finished my novel for children. I also got the chance to research my next children’s novel and to start writing my next book for adults.
Read MoreFor many years, I’d been regaling my nieces and nephews (the niecephews) with stories from my travels and about the wildlife I’ve been lucky to have encountered along the way. By far their favourite though are always the dolphins, who we regularly scan the seas for at home too. So it was, that I decided to take the niecephews to see the resident pod of bottlenose dolphins in the Shannon Estuary in West Clare. They LOVED it! And their Auntie had a ball too - so many beautiful dolphins swimming in all directions around our boat..
Read MoreWhen my sister went to live in Australia earlier this year, I knew I would have to go visit, stopping off at Ningaloo Reef en route to cross off my number one Bucket List entry - photographing whale sharks underwater. But of course, visiting wild animals in their natural habitat, is never entirely straightforward. They rarely have the good grace to live right beside an international airport, with direct flights from Ireland and a range of low-cost, high quality hotels nearby. This expedition was no different . . . Still, I was on a mission – there were whale sharks to be swum with, and this lady was not for turning.
Read MoreFor years, I made a calendar of family photographs. The first one was in 2008, and I made it especially for my grandmother, making copies for my folks and my uncle. Sadly, my grandmother died suddenly the very morning the calendar arrived by post - she never got to see it. I’ve long wished I’d sent it just one day earlier - I know she would have been amazed at the new technology that made it possible to personalise a calendar with family photographs.
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