Confession: I gave up. I threw in the towel. I put down my pen and walked away. I got discouraged and quit. ‘Who cares anyway?’ I thought. ‘So what if I don’t write? What is my voice among the cacophony of others?’ I stopped using my voice and not just here on my blog. After…
Interruption or Opportunity?
Life changes. In a moment. Unpredictably. Here we are in the midst of a pandemic trying to figure out how to be and how to live through this uncertain time. On New Year’s Eve this wasn’t the 2020 we imagined. In this part of the world we are fortunate so far to have very few…
Lay Down, Be Free
Last Saturday afternoon I took myself to the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in town. I feel things should happen during my weekend afternoon free time – it’s rare after all, and treasured, when I lose some of them to work. I’m dying to get out and about. The winter is long. Cabin fever is real. I’m…
Tale of a Home
Everyone is tidying up. It feels like it. Maybe it is more accurate to say many people are watching ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ on Netflix. I read her book a while ago about decluttering and being tidy (The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up). I pulled out all the clothes I own, the clothes ‘sparking…
In Winter’s Grip?
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, C S Lewis I can’t help but think…
Everything’s Not Lost
I lost the gemstone out of my engagement ring. Watching television the night before I turned my rings round and round on my finger. I knew the stone was there then. Yet as I walked into the kitchen the next day, a Saturday lunch time, after a whole morning at Kids Club, I looked down…
Motherin’ Blues
Summer was odd. All of my children were working. My youngest, my baby, worked away at camp coming home only at weekends. It was the first school summer vacation that I did not have to try and fill with fun stuff. On my days off no one came to me and said, ‘Mummy, what are…
More than Watchmen for the Morning
Last Friday my alarm woke me as usual, I reached for the snooze button and responded on its second sound. It was a work day so I had to get moving. As I ate breakfast I read a Psalm. I’d got to Psalm 130. “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O…
Glimpses of Glory
When four walls seem to be closing in on me I like to get out and get away. I used to love running for this reason, now it’s cycling. In a few minutes I’m outside the city limits, catching my breath, looking for a view across the river. ‘What do you miss most about England?’…
A Bit of Froth and Frivolity
Think of this post as the froth on top of a cappuccino. Later on in the week I may get to some decent coffee, but for now it’s bubbles. If I don’t get the words down quickly I’ll talk myself out of another post – this has happened a lot in the last couple of…
Rivers, Floods and Inexhaustible Water
We’re thankful to live near water. We lived by the English Channel on the south coast of the UK, here we live by the Saint John River. Right now many people in Fredericton are clearing up after some record-breaking spring floods. The river breaks its banks to some extent every year when temperatures rise and…
No Dishwasher, More Relationship
This isn’t really a ‘Taste It Tuesday’, more of an ‘In-the-kitchen Tuesday’. A little thought for the day. For almost a year we have been without a dishwasher. It’s inconvenient. It means it takes longer to clear up after baking and meals. It’s a chore. Instead of rushing to replace the dishwasher when it broke…
Emma's English Kitchen 