October 22, 2019 I call my 86-year-old mother every day. It’s as much for Mum as for me but Marion likes to make out I’m doing it purely...

October 12, 2019 When I lived in Paris, my apartment building had a small two-person elevator that had been installed inside the old...

September 30, 2019 There are two types of people: those who apologise when they cause inconvenience to others and those who don’t. Within...

When I arrived Athens, a taxi driver called Stavros drove me to the Plaka from the airport. I told him I’d been to Skyros and he...

September 19, 2019 Last night a group of us (six women) walked down to a small pebble beach here in Atsitsa. When we turned off our...

September 14, 2019 I called my mother this morning to tell her about last night’s visit to Skyros village and today’s boat trip. It will...

September 7, 2019 I arrived in Athens 25 hours after leaving my house, without sleep and still wearing the same clothes. I’d quite like...

August 31, 2019 For the past week or so, two male blackbirds have been fighting in my mother’s garden. It’s almost springtime in New...

August 28, 2019 My father was once woken up in the middle of the night by a vivid dream in which my mother was pressing half a peach...

August 7, 2019 Today I drove over the Harbour Bridge (and drove back via the scary undersea Sydney Harbour Tunnel). Pleased with myself,...

July 28, 2019 See these pegs. They’ve been arranged from left to right according to age and, as it happens, functionality and durability....

July 12, 2019 I just called my mother in New Zealand to tell her that on Sunday the Australians will apparently be supporting the NZ team...

July 1, 2019 I was hurrying along my street this morning when I saw two men outside a house with an enormous tree. I stopped to say how...

June 24, 2019 Sydney rain is formidable. We don’t get anything for weeks, months perhaps, and then it hammers down, running like rivers...

June 7, 2019 My mother reminded me today that she has appeared on local television twice. The first time was in a TV commercial for a...

June 1, 2019 A couple of nights ago I cooked a Japanesey meal for my mother and niece. I went to town and created several dishes. Mum ate...

May 12, 2019 Today I drove over the ANZAC Bridge and Sydney Harbour Bridge to the northern beaches with my pal Louise.It was a glorious...

It’s Mother’s Day here in Australasia. I called Mum in New Zealand this morning. No answer. This worried me because a couple of days ago,...

May 9, 2019 I keep thinking about a man I saw in a supermarket on Sunday. He was with his partner and while they casually chatted and she...

I picked up my car yesterday and drove it home like a boss. I don’t own a garage so I have to park on the street behind my house....