On the domestic front, renovations are pretty much done (and our bathroom…
Rubber Trees: A Tale of 2 Henrys
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Blog
Fasting for Renewal, Caterpillars & Renovation Update
Right now in Singapore we’re in a ‘fasting’ period leading up to two big festivals…
Cover Ups & Breakthroughs–
Breakthroughs of the brick and mortar sort, I mean–it’s renovation time here! Sorry in advance, but this is going to be a dusty, grimy, messy and unfinished post…
Foods For Thought
It’s been a tough couple of weeks here. The meniscus in my left knee got torn in a fall and some very effective antibiotics wiped out my gut bacteria meaning lots of loo visits… which the knee wasn’t very happy about…
Dragons Dragons Everywhere–
Happy Year of the Dragon, everyone!
Singapore welcomed the Year of the Dragon last Saturday with a mix of tradition and technology, in a 10 minute show…
Writing and Other Progress
First, let me show off a little. This was supposed to be my December project, but I’ve only just finished it–handing it over tonight to family visiting from the UK…
Rooting Canals amidst Life and Death
I was going to make this a poor-me post after learning I need a root canal on one of my molars–and possibly more than one. ‘But why? Why me? I brush, I floss, I take calcium supplements…
Interactions & Intersections (both auld & odd)
I was going to write about all my 2024 goals (category 1: health/ category 2: writing/ category 3: life–yes I over plan but doing this helps me decide what’s…
Writing Standing Up–
I know it’s bad for people to sit too long but I’m also very aware I’m not staying on the computer long enough to get in all the writing I want to. So in this year’s ‘lets prepare for a good 2024 end of year office clean up’ I tried to figure out how to solve both issues…
Happy December Down Time!
Warning: hotchpotch ahead! I’m happily nursing a minor infection, meaning I’ve been skipping yoga, pilates and the final round of proofs (not due till 15th Dec) with a clear conscience…
Word by Word and Step by Step
Warning: I’m still on antibiotics, painkillers and self-injected blood thinners so I’m just going to write a happy post today. (I thought of warning you this post might not make too much sense–but that would suggest…
Happy Deepavali!
May the lights of Deepavali dispel all darkness in your life! We went to visit the Deepavali Festival Village over the weekend, thinking it wouldn’t yet be as crowded as it’s going to be next week. But a great many people seemed to have the same idea!…
Writing Mysteries While Gaza Burns?
The skies are peaceful here in Singapore right now, but we’re well aware that’s far from the case elsewhere in the world…
NaNoWriteWithNoLimitsMo is Coming Again Soon!
Have you signed up for NaNoWriMo? I just did! What–writing 50,000 words in 30 days doesn’t sound like fun to you? It is…
A Morning In My Life (or: Noticing Transitions)
See the green shoots? This is the transition I’m happiest about right now–those little green spikes are signs there may be a transition from death to life for my bonsai citrus!
Orchids, Nero Wolfe and Can You Name This Tree?
I’m still settling back into daily life and writing, and looking longingly at Nero Wolfe’s routine: Breakfast, Orchids (9am to 11am), Work (11am till Lunch, then till 4pm), Orchids (4pm to 6pm)…
Pinking about Singapore’s National Day and Legally Blonde
Happy 58th Birthday, Singapore! I was going to write about how, in order to plough through the current draft of the current book, I missed all this year’s…
A Wedding in the Family
We celebrated a wedding in the family last weekend–my brother’s sweet, smart, beautiful daughter is off to start married life in Edinburgh. This was my first time visiting the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church, which is one of Singapore’s oldest Presbyterian churches…
Arrest & Hope
I was going to write about the Tour de France and Yoga (I’m nowhere near where I would like to be, but at least I’m back on the mat), trying to finish a rough draft of the next book before Bouchercon…
Writing Craft from Ballet Chickens
The Tour de France is on right now–on in real life (1st to 23 July) and on the TV now as I’m writing this. That’s only relevant because here we’re playing ‘Tour de Park Natura’ at our place over the next 3 weeks….
Popiah Lessons
We had popiah for lunch at Coronation Plaza; the first time in a long time for both Coronation Plaza and popiah. Coronation Plaza used to be a regular haunt when I was growing up…