Seeking joy: Winter 2026

kunanyi Hobart Tasmnia

I think everyone has that one season where they have to look a little harder to find joy. For me, that season is winter. Short, dark days – yuck. Cold, wet weather – yuck. Layers of clothes on again and off again every time you need to walk the dog around the block – yuck. No stone fruits or locally grown berries at the grocery store – yuck, yuck yuck.

But after thirteen years living in Lutruwita/Tasmania, one thing I have learned is that there’s no point fighting the winter. All you can do is lean into it, be patient, and take pleasure where you can.

(Three decades living in Scotland before I moved here was good training indeed.)

This season’s blog post reflects that attitude, I think. There are no exciting or adventurous joys in this list – it’s more of a survival guide – but perhaps that is the whole point of this writing exercise. To look harder, and to appreciate ever-smaller and simpler things.

We made it, friends. Another winter done. And now onwards, to glorious, generous, beautiful spring.

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DorkyDog, five years on


We have had our wee DorkyDog now for over five years, but I realised recently that I haven’t written about her since we were going through all the drama and stress of her total hip replacement – all the way back in 2022.

Ironically, I’m now making time to write about her just as we are staring down the barrel at another potential surgery. Poor girl has been in clear discomfort every evening for the last month or so, and after some x-rays and conversations with the vet it looks likely she’ll need the other hip replacing too – but there may also be a knee issue we need to sort out first.

I’m very grateful that we ignored all the folk who told us not to bother getting pet insurance. Even if we didn’t make any more claims for the next ten years, I reckon we would still come out ahead.

But needless to say, DorkyDog – or Luna Bear, as we know her – is far more than the sum of her sore and stiff joints. Although that overwhelming first year of puppydom, surgery included, was a real shock to our quiet household, I don’t think any of us were prepared for quite how deeply she would embed herself in the family, and how fiercely we would come to love her.

(I have paused my writing at this point to walk into the room off my office, where she is stretched out napping in a sunny spot on the bed. Just to give her a little kiss on the head.) Continue reading

Autumn 2026: (A few more than) 10 good things

view of kunanyi in autumn

I’ve been having an internal debate about whether to give myself a few days grace before writing this end-of-autumn blog post. Last week was a really frustrating one on multiple levels – we were all ready for it to be over before we’d even made it to Tuesday lunchtime – and I worried my grumpiness might be too tricky to hide.

But the whole reason for starting these quarterly posts was to focus on the positives and put the daily frustrations in perspective. And so, on we go, with a celebration of what John Keats called the ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’.

We have certainly had a season of mists here, with a Bridgewater Jerry thundering down the River Derwent on a good number of mornings. We’ve also had beautifully warm and bright t-shirt days, howling gales, torrential rain, snow on kunanyi, and that sweet, soft, perfect light that defines autumn in Lutruwita/Tasmania.

I’m looking at the notes app on my phone, where I jot down things that have sparked joy, and I have quite a few more than 10 this time round. I’ll include them all, because only a very silly goose would rank their joys and drop the bottom ones off the list.

But I will also try and keep my descriptions shorter, so we’re not here all day. You’re generous readers, but I know that I push my luck with the 2000 word posts that pop up every so often.

Enough preamble.

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Summer 2025-2026: 10 Good Things

A blue sky on a sunny day with lots of pretty white clouds

I’m really enjoying this newly established tradition of a seasonal blog post celebrating some of the joyful things that have happened over the previous three months.

Goodness knows the world is throwing enough distressing and difficult news at us all – not just seasonally, but on a near-daily basis at the moment – so actively taking a little bit of time to look at the brighter side of life feels like a really important way of resisting the descent into doom.

Summer always seems to arrive quite late in Lutruwita/Tasmania. December and even January were still a bit miserable weather-wise, and it’s only now that schools are back (of course) that we’ve had a really consistent run of warmer, brighter days.

However, summer officially ends and autumn officially begins today, so without further ado here are my moments of joy from Summer 2025-2026.

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A Summer Holiday in Aotearoa New Zealand

Image of an artwork in Christchurch Art Gallery with the text Maori Sovereignty Never Ceded to the Crown

There comes a moment towards the end of every holiday when, no matter how much fun you’re still having, it becomes clear that it’s time for you to go home.

Mine came on our final evening at Millbrook – a beautiful and slightly swanky golf resort where we spent the last three nights of our recent trip to Aotearoa New Zealand. Walking back from dinner in the evening sun, toenails twinkling red, linen trousers rippling in the gentlest of breezes, stomach full of delicious food… I was feeling relaxed. Perhaps a little too relaxed.

Thinking we were alone, I stopped on the path back to our suite, turned to my family, and bust out a spectacular, head-banging, full-body rendition of the drum solo from Phil Collins ‘In the Air Tonight’.

But it turns out we weren’t alone at all, and the group of elderly women coming towards us on the path were not, in fact, a very enthusiastic audience. I think it may have taken them a moment to recover.

“Oh my God,” I heard my husband and son muttering behind me. “Definitely time to go home.” Continue reading