Wednesday 10th September 2026 Serafina arrived at the Mindfulness Meeting this evening carrying a newspaper and wearing a look of smug satisfaction. “What did I tell you?” she announced. Sensing that this wasn’t a question, I looked at the newspaper and saw a picture of Chris Hipkins alongside another picture of a cat being held … Continue reading Just Getting Warmed Up
About twenty-five years ago, while working in direct marketing, I wrote a piece imagining what modern technology might eventually do to Postman Pat and the residents of Greendale. I found it again recently and decided it was time to revisit them. Unfortunately, the intervening quarter-century has not been kind to Pat. Read Whatever Happened to … Continue reading Whatever Happened to Postman Pat?
Tuesday 11th August 2026 Tonight’s Mindfulness Meeting was a complete fiasco. I blame Winston, who triggered the Emergency Meeting this morning by setting off the Emergency Meow Alert in the agreed way (three crisp meows at dawn or dusk). We were halfway through a Speaking Paw session on Remaining Calm in Troubled Times when Winston … Continue reading A Matter of National Importance
One morning earlier this year, I was woken in the usual way – by a ginger cat who had decided it was high time I woke up and gave him some attention. It was while he had successfully achieved his aim that a thought seemed to appear from nowhere. I wonder if I could make … Continue reading I Wonder If I Could Make a Podcast?
One life. Many chapters. Beneath the stars of Matariki. This short story imagines an old cat reflecting on a lifetime of love, loss, belonging and change beneath the winter sky over Diamond Harbour. * * * * * * * * * Before dawn, the harbour barely breathes. I sit on the seat at the … Continue reading Nine Stars, Nine Lives
This personal essay was published by The Spinoff in April 2026. It explores my experience navigating financial relief with Inland Revenue, and the gap between how systems are designed to work and how they can feel in practice — particularly when illness, bureaucracy and financial uncertainty collide. At its heart, it is about dignity, discretion, … Continue reading The Cost of Proving You’re Poor Enough
There comes a point in every cat’s life when he must ask himself a very important question: Is writing a diary enough… or should it be heard? Weasley, it seems, has reached that point. What began as a few observations — shared here, and occasionally on the Diamond Harbour Facebook page — gradually turned into … Continue reading Weasley’s Podcast — Now You Can Hear It
This post follows on from Navigating the Maze – a complicated chain of medical appointments that eventually led to cataract surgery. With the date finally confirmed for my cataract surgery, the saga was almost over. I contacted my daughter to make sure she was able to drive me to have the cataract surgery done. When … Continue reading Cataract Surgery (at last)
This post follows on from an earlier post about a chain of medical appointments that followed the discovery of a cataract and retinal tear Link: A Superfluity of Appointments By this point I had already had one laser procedure on my right eye and was waiting to hear about the cataract in my left. I … Continue reading Navigating the Maze
Wednesday 21st January 2026 I hadn’t planned to raise the Stewart Island situation at the Mindfulness Meeting, but that’s often how the most important matters arise. Someone asks an innocent question, and suddenly you realise that nobody else in the room has the courage — or frankly the intelligence — to address what is right … Continue reading This is Not an Invasion
