Dr Janet Gunning
@jangunning.bsky.social
British-Kiwi. Full-time carer. Used to work with manuscripts and rare books. Learning to write fiction for children in my spare time. Love my garden. She/her.
Wassailing to bless orchards, it’s usually in weeks around 12th night.
January 11, 2026 at 1:17 PM
Wassailing to bless orchards, it’s usually in weeks around 12th night.
And to all of you 🎄
December 25, 2025 at 7:40 PM
And to all of you 🎄
Loved the book. And your presentation at the Leaf conference. 😊
December 5, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Loved the book. And your presentation at the Leaf conference. 😊
Shout out for ‘The Things We Leave Behind’ by @clarefurniss.bsky.social - brilliantly thought provoking and disturbing.
December 5, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Shout out for ‘The Things We Leave Behind’ by @clarefurniss.bsky.social - brilliantly thought provoking and disturbing.
Yes - so many battles. I struggled to finish Anna Karenina - she was just so annoying. It’s funny which books we connect with isn’t it - I’ve tried & failed to read Middlemarch multiple times, and can’t read Dickens, though I’ll happily watch TV adaptations.
December 3, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Yes - so many battles. I struggled to finish Anna Karenina - she was just so annoying. It’s funny which books we connect with isn’t it - I’ve tried & failed to read Middlemarch multiple times, and can’t read Dickens, though I’ll happily watch TV adaptations.
I love a long novel - I’ve read War and Peace twice. Favourites of mine are Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now, Gaskell’s North and South, and Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
December 3, 2025 at 7:40 AM
I love a long novel - I’ve read War and Peace twice. Favourites of mine are Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now, Gaskell’s North and South, and Thackeray’s Vanity Fair.
I was given the Reader’s Digest edition of David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’ to accompany the TV series for my birthday when I was about 7. I struggled to read the text, but spent hours & hours looking at that book.
September 28, 2025 at 8:29 AM
I was given the Reader’s Digest edition of David Attenborough’s ‘Life on Earth’ to accompany the TV series for my birthday when I was about 7. I struggled to read the text, but spent hours & hours looking at that book.
App on my phone says Koelreuteria paniculata - Goldenrain tree.
September 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
App on my phone says Koelreuteria paniculata - Goldenrain tree.
I just asked my 21 year old for their favourite childhood comfort read and without hesitation they said Rooftoppers.
September 12, 2025 at 7:59 AM
I just asked my 21 year old for their favourite childhood comfort read and without hesitation they said Rooftoppers.
One of the great classics of NZ literature - and I think I’m right in saying, it remains the most translated work by any New Zealand writer.
September 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
One of the great classics of NZ literature - and I think I’m right in saying, it remains the most translated work by any New Zealand writer.
Kevin van Whye ‘Date me Bryson Keller’ and Mason Deaver ‘I wish you all the best’ are both good.
If she enjoys Jane Austen she might enjoy Georgette Heyer? Arabella, The Grand Sophie, Frederica are some of my favourites.
If she enjoys Jane Austen she might enjoy Georgette Heyer? Arabella, The Grand Sophie, Frederica are some of my favourites.
August 31, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Kevin van Whye ‘Date me Bryson Keller’ and Mason Deaver ‘I wish you all the best’ are both good.
If she enjoys Jane Austen she might enjoy Georgette Heyer? Arabella, The Grand Sophie, Frederica are some of my favourites.
If she enjoys Jane Austen she might enjoy Georgette Heyer? Arabella, The Grand Sophie, Frederica are some of my favourites.
We were there too - wasn’t it wonderful. It’s my husband’s absolute favourite, but I’d never heard the whole symphony before and it was brilliant.
Last night we were at my favourite, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was so beautiful it made me cry.
Last night we were at my favourite, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was so beautiful it made me cry.
August 23, 2025 at 10:19 PM
We were there too - wasn’t it wonderful. It’s my husband’s absolute favourite, but I’d never heard the whole symphony before and it was brilliant.
Last night we were at my favourite, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was so beautiful it made me cry.
Last night we were at my favourite, Gorecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which was so beautiful it made me cry.
Done - hope it helps!
We are a family of dual citizens (my children are entitled to 3 different passports, and my immediate extended family includes 5 nationalities) so I sympathise hugely with your situation.
We are a family of dual citizens (my children are entitled to 3 different passports, and my immediate extended family includes 5 nationalities) so I sympathise hugely with your situation.
August 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Done - hope it helps!
We are a family of dual citizens (my children are entitled to 3 different passports, and my immediate extended family includes 5 nationalities) so I sympathise hugely with your situation.
We are a family of dual citizens (my children are entitled to 3 different passports, and my immediate extended family includes 5 nationalities) so I sympathise hugely with your situation.
Yes agree - that lovely frothy whiteness.
August 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Yes agree - that lovely frothy whiteness.
Northumberland is gorgeous - beaches, wildlife, hill walks, heritage sites. And very few people.
August 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Northumberland is gorgeous - beaches, wildlife, hill walks, heritage sites. And very few people.
Those lovely delicate little flowers are definitely not a hawthorn - I think it’s a myrtle.
August 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Those lovely delicate little flowers are definitely not a hawthorn - I think it’s a myrtle.
Yes I think the carving has been identified as 14th century, but it’s possible these might be later additions to an earlier font.
August 5, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Yes I think the carving has been identified as 14th century, but it’s possible these might be later additions to an earlier font.