Photographic evidence -- our heroes

Picked E up from Cairns airport today and on the way home we had lunch at Mareeba. It's hot and dry at that end of the Tablelands right now -- lots of fires. At lunch there were three firemen at the table next to us. Suddenly they got a message on their radio, and houses were mentioned. Next minute they were gone... and these coffees and cookies were left behind. Got to love those guys.

And what are you doing for Advent?

I'm sure you can tell by my silence that I'm on another deadline. This has been a really huge writing year for me, trying to balance my commitments to two publishers. I'm hoping to get the balance a little saner next year.

Right now, I'm busy getting two projects finished before I head south for Christmas. I have no idea when I'll get to Christmas cards and shopping.

However, I haven't forgotten Advent and how it is still an important part of the growing excitement in the lead up to Christmas. So far, my favourite Advent calendar  is Jacquie Lawson's and for several years now I've bought copies for the little people in my life as well as some of the not so little. Even though it's an online, fully animated, singing and dancing calendar, it's very traditional, and we all love it. Each day, with a click of the mouse, we discover a delightful surprise. And the calendar can even tell whether it's day or night where you live and the images change to fit the time of day. So clever and charming. I'd urge you to check it out.

I love this cover...

For my next M&B out in December.

My secret singing life...

One of the fun things I've enjoyed this year on the Tablelands is singing. I joined a local a capella group that meets fortnightly on Saturday mornings in Yungaburra. No, I don't have a great voice, but I can (mostly) sing in tune and I used to love singing in choirs when I was young. It's one of the things that's disappeared from my adult life and, prompted by a friend's Christmas card last year, I was reminded that it was something I'd really like to try.
There's something very uplifting about singing with others, and it's an activity totally different from writing, with a new circle of people to meet.

Last weekend, our Allspice singers had a public performance at the Yungaburra Folk Festival. We're a fairly  casual group with sporadic attendances at rehearsals, so we were a bit nervous about whether we'd pull a performance out of the hat. Here are a couple of pre-show shots of Allpice members (above and below) and then our gang in full voice.

Luckily it went rather well -- and as you can see, we enjoyed ourselves.