Farewell 2025 and welcome to a brand new year

Well as we come to the end of 2025 and wake up to the morning of a brand new year I just want to wish all my friends and family a joyful 2026.

The time between Christmas and New Year is notorious for slowing down, even coming to a halt. Not libraries and therefore not my life. I am gearing up for an extra busy school holiday period, spending quality time with the kids and my wonderful wife, and (hopefully) taking a dip in the pool.

Happy 2026 to you all! Thank you for reading and taking an interest in my life. Hopefully, I find the time to post more often and keep you in the loop.

So this is Christmas

What a strange time of year this is for many of us. I have my amazing childhood memories and fond moments of when our kids were young. Lately though I have needed to dig deep and find the magic around me. I am so truly grateful for my beautiful, incredible wife, and my kids (all grown up now) and of course our amazing friends and family.

Pondering for a moment I get this feeling wash over me, remembering the good times and the not so great...

So here is a poem that I think captures me right now as I write this Christmas morning...

So this is Christmas

Christmas morning
Silent house
Everything quiet
Quiet as a mouse
I sit alone with my thoughts
Those thoughts in my head
When I should probably still be sleeping
Safe and snug in my bed
Instead I am thinking
Of times that long have past
My own fleeting childhood
My children's young innocents
Vanished so fast
I think of those whom we love
Gone before we were ready
And those far away
Wishing they were back
Back beside us already
So many feelings
This day brings to mind
And all of it is Christmas
Knowing that, please be kind
Please think of all those
Who are struggling now
And find some way simple
That you can help them somehow

Wishing you all a safe Christmas and may you find joy in the moment, in the nemories, and hopefully both...

I am Squirrel

It seems as we come to the end of another year where I have hardly ever shared, that I'm becoming a bit reflective. Recently on the Academy of the Heart and Mind website I published a poem titled I am a Lamb. Well only just this morning I had another moment of self-clarity, when I realised that when it comes to self-promotion and marketing of my achievements, I am very much a squirrel.

By this I am referring to a very poor habit of mine of gathering up my successes, buying as many books as I can that I have stories and poetry published in, and then burying them in a bookshelf, pulling them out on occasion to nibble at the corners and bask in former glory. I am a hoarder and (much to my wife's despair) have always been a hoarder. It has only just come to my attention now that I am hoarding success.

I do not know what to do with this, and I wonder just how many other squirrels are out there. Let me know in the comments below, unless you are a hoarder of personal discoveries, in which case I will totally understand if you choose to keep that knowledge buried.

It is always fun when Markus visits

The man is infectious… There is no other word for it… A love of people and a love of plants has combined to create the great Markus Hamence.

We have been blessed with his presence, his knowledge, and his crazy (cheeky) spirit about seven or eight times now and I am proud to say we were one of the first libraries to host a Botanic Designer event.

Large crowds or more intimate, Markus just has a way with people, able to connect and communicate his passion for all things plants or design or whatever it is that has him excited… You just can’t help but be excited about it too…

Thanks Markus for yet another great visit… Looking forward to seeing you again in July…

Hoppy Easter everyone

What a wet and wild Easter we have had, way down in the aussie south anyway. A family trip to the beach has been marred at least a little bit by some wet and wild weather.

How good is the crash of the ocean lulling you to sleep though. It is one of my favourite sounds.

Even at the seaside Easter Bunny has found my kids. Sadly, Mister 19 has decided he is too cool for an egg hunt. He was more than happy for dad to hunt those chocolate googies though. Not one to miss out!

And speaking of not missing out, out home away from home is equipped with a fully functioning oven... Soooooo... Lamb roast for Easter Sunday lunch was still a go... Yummy yummy...

To top it all off the Crook family found us. Great food... Great company... Great memories...

Hoppy Easter everybunny!!!

Tim

Pizza Time

Friends and family (the best of friends) gathered at the new Casa de Law for a fun and filling pizza night. Chef Damo introduced us to some amazing flavour combinations. So much fun... We simply must do it again real soon...

Family Movie Night - Casa de Law reviews Moana 2 (Disney+)

There is nothing like a good old fashioned family movie night. All five of us gathered in the main lounge in front of the big screen. Most of us have a bucket of popcorn, as long as it wasn't burnt (Nen!) and somehow we've selected a film we all want to watch. So dim the lights... Press play... The Law family are about to review... MOANA 2... Now it has been a while since the five of us (finally) watched the original MOANA movie and enjoyed it so much. Our youngest was at just the right age (even had a MOANA themed birthday party) and our eldest was still young enough to want to hangout. It was therefore a surprise when MOANA 2 came out and everyone wanted to know what happens next. As a joke our eldest wants to watch the upcoming MINECRAFT movie with his mates for his almost twentieth, but I got the sense he guineinely wanted to watch this one with us. That was until... We all remembered that most (all) Disney films are musicals... The first bars of the first song gave this away pretty quickly... And quickly I was reminded of the catchy tunes and powerful pieces that featured throughout MOANA, FROZEN, even THE JUNGLE BOOK... Great tracks... This seemed missing from MOANA 2... We were groaning as a family everytime a character paused, signalling yet another musical number... The songs just seemed to be there... Nothing stood out as amazing, catchy, memorable... They just were... Also, the whole idea of island life and the use of character development there was good, but, the other main characters (especially the villians) were a lot like the songs... Just there... I'm hopeful that we will see something special when MOANA 3 is finally complete, and believe me there will be a MOANA 3. The scene in the credits which we thankfully waited for, sets up an idea that has peaked my curiosity... I'm praying that Disney is able to (next time) exceed my expectations... For family fun and epic adventure I give MOANA 2 a solid three out of five stars...