"Ivy tells the story of a brave young woman who was awarded a special war commendation in signals during World War II in the Women's Arny Corp. She disarmed a German officer pointing a pistol in her face, survived strafing by a German bomber as she walked along a farm path as a Land Girl and lived in a garage with a dirt floor and cold water tap after migrating to Australia, She raised three young children after her husband dropped dead aged 39. Ivy read adult books at 3 years old and spoke fluent French at 7, She was engaged to one of the Great Escapers who was murdered in the snow near Stalag Luft 3. She made Australia her home and despite many setbacks, came to love the country dearly."
"The author is in court with a murderer, she is invited to drink tea from a urine filled pot, she covers theatre and cinema reviews as a London reporter, she works amid opulent carpets and heavy old typewriters with former criminals below in the printing works. She rides a Honda 90 motor bike across the Engiish fens on her way to cover stories in March, birthplace of the fabled March hare, She writes stories about a drunken turnip planter, a man named Jack Spratt, another man who didn't travel as far as his own bees. She writes about being bitten by a totters horse and of a local crazy woman who used to shout up at the newspapers weed ridden gutters. She lived in a house of many young women in Chalk Farm London and as a young wife on a Royal Airforce base in Cambridgeshire. Story telling runs deep within in her and as a young Australian in England she certainly got that opportunity."
"It's Not Your Fault delves into what can only be described as communication nightmares as a patient of the medical system. This true accounts show how fragile the trust between medical practitioner and patient can be and how it can be psychologically compromised bringing about negative effects. For example the author was already half way through her first pregnancy when a well known and respected obstetrician/gynaecologist began treating her for infertility and the possibility of a dangerously big tumour, That large lump turned out to be a baby,"
"Ask The Agent is an amusing look at some aspects of selling a house including when the wrong house is put up for sale,, when the back of a bus is one way to see a dream home, when a kitchen leaks badly before an Open For Inspection and when a young couple render their house with mud, poo and glue."
"Mirrors is a look at the panopoly of mirrors we confront in our modern daily life - for better or worse. Ongoing self reflections are unavoidable and come in all forms from the expected to the unexpected. They catch us unawares, they catch us self-reflecting and they catch us trying to cover up our faces with makeup and sometimes trying to disguise our mood, As far back as the fifth century BC Greeks were looking in hand mirrors as portrayed on ancient pots. This story uncovers some of our journeys with mirrors."
"Walking Towards Gold tells the story of the author's pioneer colonist forebears who arrived in newly formed Adelaide , South Australia from Portsmouth, in June 1838 and how thirteen years later three of them walked 580 miles from Adelaide to the Victorian goldfields pushing a wheelbarrow.. There are intrepid accounts and interesting descriptions of early Adelaide and life on the Victorian goldfields. This is part of the Downer family's story."
"Two near death experiences in one lifetime both involving loud, unexpected bangs. The author survived both a car collision and a plane catching fire and recounts the events with dramatic sound effects and clear recall. This is a true and compelling account."
"Roadworks and train station overhauls are confusing this author who has driven into oncoming traffic, avoided a kangaroo crossing a new roadwork barrier, got lost and couldn't find her train station carpark and who believes her amygdala must be growing as she negotiates new roundabouts, traffic lights, new road hazards and witches hats. Follow her journey....."
"This story tells the frustrating but sometimes humorous journey of the author's interactions with the virtual world where she combats chat bots, racks her withering brain for passwords, almost has a hissyfit at the supermarket checkout, accidentally buys online goods she doesn't want and gets all scrambled regarding pins, passwords and cyber theft. She used to have a childhood toffee stall to raise money for Freedom From Hunger. Now emails remind her to help save the world, the planet, combat animal cruelty and the climate crisis. Some days it takes nerves to turn on her social devices."
"Spiders sometimes create terror, admiration and fascination and in this account spiders are heroes and victims. They induce one arachnophobe to pull over in blind panic as one of their members crawls out from behind his car pedals while he is driving at speed along a country road. Another toys with a spider, bouncing it up and down on its web as if it were a yoyo. Spiders create strong reactions in many of us. This story takes us nto their web of life."
"The author has a bad bout of insomnia and tries all sorts of ways to overcome it through a varying list of remedies. She knows that kangaroos are grazing on dewy grass just over the road and that she has a blanket of brilliant stars above her house but these comforting images do nothing to take her into sleepy oblivion. In this humourous account she recalls her miserable journey."
"Who's at the door tells the story of two dogs crashing through a beach wedding, of their rumbunctious play on the sand, of another family dog knocking over a Christmas tree and eating all the chocolate decorations, of a guinea pig wearing sunglasses, of a rabbit wearing dolls clothing sitting in a pram and a Mexican wlalking fish blowing bubbles in a book case.. Not to mention a child and goldfish in the same outdoor bath."
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