Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson – Book Review

Ernest Pettigrew is a retired, widowed army Major living in the small rural English village of Edgecombe St Mary. He leads a quiet, respectable, and predictable life with a small circle of friends and a slightly distant relationship with his only son, Roger, who is upwardly mobile and ever on the lookout for ways of advancing himself. A chance meeting with the village shopkeeper, Mrs Jasmina Ali, just moments after hearing of his younger brother Bertie’s death, turns the Major’s life upside down. The pair discover they have much in …

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A display of colourful knitted and crocheted flowers is displayed hanging in a window. The flowers are gathered together in discs the same size as a bicycle wheel. Bicycle wheels are also hung amongst the discs.

Colourful blooms brighten a Melbourne winter

The “Winter Garden Project” is the latest brainchild of textile artist Lynn Berry OAM (of “5000 Poppies” fame).
Lynn has curated thousands of hand-crafted yarn blooms submitted by crafters all around Australia (and beyond) into sixty-three colourful motifs mounted onto recycled bicycle wheels. They were on display in the Fracture Gallery, Federation Square, Melbourne from late July to late August 2019 – the gloomiest months of winter – and provided the city with a much-needed injection of colour and happiness.

Where love comes to life … on a cold winter’s night.

It’s getting late on a cold winter’s afternoon. The sun is dipping below the hills and the temperature is plummeting – another frosty night. People are heading home to turn on the heating, crank up the electric blanket and prepare a hearty, hot meal. Then they will lock their doors and go to bed without a second thought as to whether they will be safe through the night. But imagine there’s no home to go …