Writers
Susan Grimsdell
After retiring from audiology some years ago, Susan’s finding life’s pretty good with lots of time to do what she likes. That includes walking, reading, having coffee with friends, and a bit of activism thrown in. Also, day by day doing her best not to worry too much over the many threats to our gorgeous planet.
Read Susan’s Blog
Trevor Plumbly
Meet Trevor. He’s had quite a colourful career, from his early days as a pub manager in Tunbridge Wells he went on to become Dunedin’s leading auctioneer. Trevor is a published author and was something of a TV personality in the 1980s as a regular panellist on a show about antiques.
Read Trevor’s Blog
Emily Smart
Emily is very loud, and has really bad taste in cheesy pop music. When not at work flogging goods to the public via advertising and marketing campaigns, she can be found hiding from her partner and children at the local pub. If you’re easily offended or don’t appreciate the constant use of profanities, then you probably shouldn’t read Emily’s posts. You have been warned!
Read Emily’s Blog
Angela Caldin
Angela has had many roles in her life including: schoolgirl, student, daughter, friend, civil servant, wife, lover, mother, manager, magistrate, landlady, teacher, grandmother, blogger, editor and proofreader.
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The latest
There but for fortune by Angela Caldin
There are so many dreadful images of the death and destruction in Ukraine that it’s possible to become immune to the horror they show. Another bombed apartment block with people’s ruined belongings exposed; another street littered with debris with people picking their way over the wreckage hoping to salvage something, anything; another wounded child helped by strong hands out of the mess that once was their home. There’s one image that has stayed in my mind since I saw it a couple of days ago. It’s the photo of an elderly woman… Read More
Losing the art of reading by Susan Grimsdell
Recent statistics indicate that reading books is a fast-disappearing pastime. It seems that some young people leaving school can barely read at all, let alone read great works of literature. Access to the classics They have trouble grasping the meaning of words and sentences, so to think of them picking a book like Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” or Dickens’ “Great Expectations” off the shelf is laughable. It just doesn’t happen. I remember not long ago a young person won the prize for a critical essay on Harper Lee’s “To Kill a “Mockingbird” and… Read More
I’ll be with you in a tick! By Trevor Plumbly
Wise council I fumbled past 81 last week and decided to look around for amusement instead of reality. If you’re not careful, at that age, there’s far too much to be serious about. Fortunately, it’s local election time down here in Auckland and that’s always good for a few laughs, mainly provided by the wild card candidates. Not protected by party training wheels, they sometimes wobble and get forced to wing it, which brings an element of farce, largely driven by the unlikelihood of them ever getting elected. I found it was… Read More
Food banks and a funeral by Angela Caldin
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks which provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty. It campaigns for change to end the need for food banks in the UK where more than 14 million people are living in poverty – including 4.5 million children. There are more than 1,200 food bank centres in the UK providing a minimum of three days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food to people who have been referred in crisis, as well as support to help people resolve the crises they face. I find… Read More
Passed away by Susan Grimsdell
Death is the word It’s been a difficult week for me. What I mourn is not the death of the queen, but the passing away of the word death. The passing away of placing value on truth and reality, and the replacement of those vital golden values with the dross and fakery of euphemism. I didn’t hear one single person use the word “died”. Nor did I hear one single person explain where she has passed away TO. Considering that a very small percentage of people in the UK and certainly in… Read More
The Writers
We’re four Brits who made the big move from the UK to the other side of the world. We love New Zealand, the English language having a good laugh and the occasional moan. Ah, just read our posts and you’ll get the gist.
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