I’m sharing my latest reads: a surprise favourite set in Porto, the wildly entertaining Mad Mabel, some gripping crime and thoughtful nonfiction, plus what I’m currently reading—and an invitation to join our monthly WOYBS linkup.

Exploring this week’s Sunday Stills prompt, I wander through memories of steps and stairs: the few steps up to our verandah, an elegant Paris hotel staircase, sacred stairs in Portugal, and endless stone steps in Nepal. Along the way, I reflect on pacing myself, savouring detours, and trusting the journey without necessarily seeing the whole staircase.

In this month’s Tell Us About linkup, I’m reflecting on a season of birthdays: Mum’s 88th in Paris, beachside party fun, Ninja play, a treetop party, friends hitting 40, 50 and 80, my own December birthday, and a secret 70th surprise for the Mathematician.

After my big trip I felt oddly unmoored, so I stepped back from social media and stumbled on a Donna Ashworth poem I’d saved. I share it here, along with how it helped me remember that I am brave, loved, and enough—and maybe you are too.

Explore the beauty of what doesn’t last: double rainbows, coffee-foam creatures, funhouse-style mirror reflections, beach footprints swept away by the tide, and fireworks fading into the dark. As your temporary Sunday Stills host, I explain how to join this week’s “Ephemeral” Sunday Stills photo challenge and share your own creative take.

Joining this week’s Sunday Stills, I was intrigued by the challenge to capture “ephemeral.” I turned to my archives for images of skies and rainbows, many taken from our verandah. As I revisited those fleeting scenes, I found myself noticing how quickly beauty can come and go.