Linked Stitches

November 2020 The long nights are back. Ice is forming on the brook. We’ve had snow, and expect more tonight. The brown, white and black world comes round again.   Three seasons have passed since New Brunswick declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus and we went into lockdown. Since then, I’ve had Read More …

Twigs and Fire

Here’s how it was for us. I can’t remember how I first heard about the virus. It was, somehow, a vague worry that got stronger day by day, but Peter and I had to go to a funeral in Maine at the end of February, and so we continued on to Connecticut. During the first Read More …

We Made Crowns

  In these grey November days, I want to start this newsletter by remembering the summer just past. Those early, generous flowers, dandelions: we made crowns, loved the burst of colour and the tender green, after our fierce winter.   Foxes raised kits under one of our barns.One morning, when they thought no one was looking, Read More …

Blue Snow and Transformations

March 2015 Hello from New Brunswick, where we’ve had an unprecedented amount of snow! We make the best of it, with expeditions into the trackless wilds.   ~ I’d like to keep you abreast of our family’s artistic endeavours. My son, Jake, and my husband, Peter, collaborated on a cast bronze and glass reliquary called Read More …

A Hundred Silver Stars

September 2014   Welcome to my newsletter. That pile of drafts I’m staring at has now culminated in a new novel, A Measure of Light, the story of a 17th century woman named Mary Dyer. She is a real but mysterious person, who went from London to the wilds of the New World and met Anne Read More …

A Flickering Dream

October 2013 A year has rolled by since I last wrote. I remember it as a flickering dream – places, people, feelings. ~ Last fall, Peter and I went to Canmore for the unveiling of one of his public commissions, “Touchstone”.   ~ Then, back in New Brunswick, the days grew shorter, the snow fell, Read More …

A Shadow on My Heart

September, 2012 Like so many other people my age, this year was overshadowed by change. My father, 91, was diagnosed with Alzheimers and had to go into a nursing home. As well, elderly and not-so elderly relatives, neighbours and friends passed away. Three days ago, the heart of our town, beloved old buildings on Broad Read More …

Coyotes Hunting Mice

Autumn 2011 A year has passed since my last newsletter. So here are some pictures to make a sketch of the past months.   For me, the year begins with Solstice. On this darkest day, we have an evening feast with our neighbours, each family serving a different course. Ours was dessert, a matter of Read More …

The Blue Evening Falls Swiftly

December 2010 When I last wrote, we were poised at the edge of summer. Now, the fields are covered with early snow and I’ve just come in from a ski. The kitchen smells of fir boughs – they’re piled on the floor shedding ice and needles, waiting to be made into wreaths. Smoke rises from Read More …