Behind the Scenes

Where the Story Continues

For many years, I wrote here about life on a small coastal island in Nova Scotia — raising four children, living with the rhythms of the Northumberland Strait, and slowly building a life connected to this place. What began as a family retreat on Pictou Island became something much larger. Over time, that quiet experiment in island living grew into what is now Kirribilli EcoRetreat. Along the way, the writing evolved too. The stories expanded beyond island life into reflections on resilience, motherhood, leadership, belonging, and the ways life reshapes us through both challenge and change. Those writings now form the foundation of my upcoming memoir, Islands Within Us, and an ongoing collection of essays exploring what it means to return to ourselves, our values, and the places that sustain us. Because of that growth, the writing has moved to a new home.

Islands Within

I now publish on Substack through a publication called Islands Within.

It offers a quieter reading experience than traditional social media — no algorithms, no endless scrolling, and no pressure to keep up. Just thoughtful essays delivered directly to your inbox, ready to be read when you have the space for them.

There, I write about:

life on a small island in the Northumberland Strait

raising a family close to nature

the quiet exhaustion many women carry

leadership rooted in trust rather than control

resilience, recovery, and rebuilding after difficult seasons
the deeper stories behind Kirribilli EcoRetreat

Many of the ideas that shape our retreats begin in these essays.