Short story blog
On Anzac Day, Tuesday 25 April 1944, the citizens of Rockhampton together with service men and women and returnees from both wars came out in their thousands to pay homage to the district’s war fallen. World War II – and the Pacific War – was still raging, and a large contingent of service men and […] Read more…
This story is about my mother, Evelyn, her latter years and the impact dementia had on her and her loved ones. It’s a sequel to two earlier stories, My mother, a young woman (May 6, 2016) and A precious death (February 10, 2017). I’m sharing Evelyn’s experience – and ours – so that others in […] Read more…
My Christmas baking this year has included a special Aussie Christmas treat: Chocolate Slice. I made this sweet slice for two pre-Christmas functions last week and, on each occasion, it was a great hit. So much so, many people asked me for my recipe. If you live in Australia or New Zealand, you’ll know what […] Read more…
This story is a tribute to the late Elizabeth Annie (“Betty”) Anderson, of Rockhampton. Betty died on 25 February 2020, aged 100 years 6 months. I met Betty when I was a child. She was a long-standing family friend. My mother Evelyn and Betty had known each other since their late teens. My husband, Tony, […] Read more…
In my recipe collection, I have an old-fashioned honey pie recipe. It’s the only recipe in my collection attributed to “Thelma Baker”. Every time I make this sweet pie, I think of her and thank God I had the pleasure of knowing her. Why? This dear lady, long deceased, was one of the sweetest people […] Read more…
The Easter lamb cake (in German “Osterlammkuchen”) is one of Germany’s enduring Easter symbols. Baking or purchasing a lamb cake and serving it on Easter Sunday is a tradition many German families have passed down from generation to generation. Up until several years ago, I had never heard of a lamb cake. It was […] Read more…
I never knew my aunt, my mother’s sister. She died long before I was born. There are no photographs of her, so I can only imagine what she looked like. But I do have something that belonged to her. It’s a lock of hair. A carefully preserved lock of hair, fastened with a tiny silk […] Read more…
Do you find it difficult to tell your father that you love him? Do you want to tell him while there is still time? This was my problem, 19 years ago. My father was in his late 70s and terminally ill. I suspected he had only months to live. I wanted to tell him how […] Read more…
In 2011 I had a revelation. It was Saturday 29 January. I knew I would be preoccupied the next day, so I decided to do Sunday’s Bible reading on Saturday evening. The set passage was Psalm 116. As I read the psalm, the following words jumped out at me: “Precious in the sight of the […] Read more…
Willis. It’s not his given name. It’s a name Wei-Chih Lin chose for himself. At University, his English teacher wanted all students to have an English name. Wei-Chih searched the internet and a book of English names for one beginning with “W” because his Chinese name begins with “W”. He found “William”, which means “strong, […] Read more…
On Thursday my husband and I attended a funeral. It was the funeral of Brian Edwin Sara, friend, much-loved brother in the Lord and member of St Andrew’s Anglican Church South Brisbane. The church was packed, as family members, parishioners, friends and representatives of the scouting movement and Brian’s tenpin bowling club gathered to honour […] Read more…
Earlier this year I resolved to find and reconnect with Alwyn and Fay Neuendorf. This is how I went about it. On 16 March 2016, I posted the following message and photograph on my Love in a little black diary Facebook page: “My dear followers, especially those of you who live in PNG. Do you […] Read more…
In 2012, after spending Easter in Germany: Bavaria, my husband Tony and I travelled to Jordan, in the Middle East, where we celebrated Easter for a second time. That year, the Eastern and Orthodox Christian churches, following the Julian calendar, observed Easter one week later than the Western Christian churches. Easter in Jordan: What a […] Read more…
Several years ago, my husband Tony and I had the privilege of celebrating Easter twice: first in Bavaria, Germany, then one week later, in Jordan. This story is about our experience of Easter with our extended family in the southern German state of Bavaria in April 2012. We stayed with them for 11 days. During […] Read more…
Mohamed loves to cook. Last year, he offered to cook Lamb Biryani (a traditional Indian mixed rice dish) for my husband and me. We invited him to prepare it at our home, in our kitchen, so we could observe the process and share the meal with him afterwards. He agreed, and we invited three of […] Read more…
