Latest News, Blog and Editorial

Who was St Patrick? ☘️

Back in the 5th century, a young teenager Maewyn Succat lived on the west coast of Britain, maybe in Wales or Scotland. He was born to a wealthy family who had been Christian for at least three generations. His father was Calpurnius, a Roman cavalry officer and Christian deacon but Maewyn himself wasn’t a [more…]

Subscriber Sweepstake 25

Congratulations to the latest winners in our Lovatts Subscriber Sweepstake!

These lucky subscribers have shared in over $1000 worth of prizes!

Apple iPad 32GB Wi-Fi [7th Gen] – Roslyn Vickers, Northmead NSW
DeLonghi Icona Capitals 4 Slice Toaster – Geoffrey Leech, Reynella SA
Baccarat Bamboo Spice Rack – Ann Downing, Three Springs WA
Seed and Sprout Shopping Bag – [more…]

How ‘crafty’ has changed over the years

“Facts can be turned into art if one is artful enough” – Paul Simon

I wouldn’t have thought that carpenters, stonemasons or other craftsman had a predilection for cunning strategies or slyness. Yet both artful and crafty, with their sly implications, used to mean talented and skilful. Now they are more often used to describe [more…]

6 Inspiring Australian Women You Should Know About

Strong women have always had a powerful impact on history, and yet it’s only in recent years that we’re seeing the proper credit and recognition they rightly deserve for their contributions. Not only that, but through a concerted effort to increase the gender imbalance in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering & maths), we are [more…]

Why do we have leap years?

Good news this month for anyone whose birthday falls on 29th February – this is a Leap Year so you can celebrate your birthday on the correct day instead of 28th Feb or 1st March. Or maybe you don’t mind not having a birthday, because you claim to be only a quarter of your [more…]

‘Head over heels’ and other phrases about love

This month it’s St Valentine’s Day once again, and so much has been written about romantic love, in stories, poetry and song, that you might think there is nothing left to say. But it seems that we never tire of the romantic dream, which after all makes the world go round. Love will never [more…]

10 fascinating words in Japanese

The English vocabulary is famous for having so many descriptive terms, but every language has words that are hard to translate into English and yet would be an interesting addition.

The Japanese language reflects the way Japanese people have a great respect for nature and the changing seasons.

Komorebi means ‘the sunlight that filters through [more…]

The two meanings of second

Have you ever wondered if there’s a connection between the two meanings of second? It means both ‘a sixtieth of a minute’ and ‘coming after the first’. Also, the two meanings of minute, ‘a sixtieth of an hour’ and ‘very small’. Well the fact is, they ARE connected.

When the hour was divided into sixty [more…]

Phrases from the movies

There’s no doubt that many expressions we use in everyday life come straight from the silver screen or from television.

To be stepforded is to be secretly replaced with a submissive robot. It comes from the film The Stepford Wives, in which all the wives in town are turned into compliant and submissive women [more…]