Category Archives: Uncategorized

42 and laughing!

I’m 42! Forty two! XLII! Twee en veertig! Quarante et deux! Thank you, thank you, thank you all you lovelies, for the cards, presents, texts, calls and posts for my birthday. One tiny confession: some of the texts got deleted … Continue reading

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Sorry, Stephanie

I’m back! Himalayan washing, blinkingly early mornings and the treadmill of resumed after-school activities mean the Easter break is a fond, distant memory after only three days. I love being reunited with my words (I never write when the children … Continue reading

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Keeping things in proportion at the Salvos

QueenBee’s favourite place is the Salvos – Australia-speak for the Salvation Army charity shop. I love it too, for many reasons. One is that it willingly receives the majority of my soul-purging chuck-out sessions and many dispossessed profit from that. … Continue reading

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I gotta feeling…

… today’s gonna be a good, good day. Sometimes Melbourne just hands you a perfect autumn day. Crisp sunlight slowly melts the garden’s overnight dew drench. Magpies and corellas serenade the duck-egg sky. On a day like today the hamster … Continue reading

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Tinky didn’t come

Tinky the House Elf may not have come, but someone else is coming. My mother. Tonight. (♩♪♫♬ dun dun DAH! ♩♪♫♬) Her advent, even more so than that of the cleaners on Tuesday, has spurred a massive tidying spree, especially since … Continue reading

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I want a Tinky

Dear JK Rowling I whole-heartedly adore your work. Every word of it. At the end of a full and full-on first term, I’m dragging myself along – on my lips, cos my limbs are too tired – towards the holidays, … Continue reading

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We’re all trying to make a living here

This is going to come as a shock to some, but I actually do work. The fact that my earnings are pitiful (for now!) is immaterial. I want erased permanently those mental pictures of me: Laughing over cappuccinos in smart … Continue reading

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Fairy-Tale Romance – with Mum watching

Last year, Gothic Pre-teen fell in love. It was very Danielle Steele. We were camping (yeah, I know – ‘nother story) on a golden beach, the Antipodean sun was setting, the atmosphere of bonhomie was almost tangible … and then … Continue reading

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Blinded by Dollar Signs

A page of my son’s handwriting looks as though a Wookie exploded on a snowfield. Despite brilliance in many areas, Rory’s weak point has always been when he has a pencil in one hand. Now, I was a teacher once. … Continue reading

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The Horror! The Horror!

There is no escaping it: Fat Molly is obese. It’s a fact as certain as the moon draws water and as tomorrow always dawns. (See photographic evidence on public FaceBook page: Vicky Gemmell – wordwringers.) Before you point accusatory fingers … Continue reading

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