Do you ever come across a singer and find that their voice really ‘fits’ you?
When I was writing my ‘ideal man’ list a couple of decades ago, amongst my top-five requirements was a man who would sing to me. Never imagined that the Universe would send me a professional singer! Music is such an important part of my well-being, and I choose my music carefully.
My life has been blessed with another singer, too, who touches my heart; that of my dear friend, the Irish singer/songwriter, Mandy Bingham. I met Mandy in 2003, long before she became a singer. We were ‘just’ mums of young kids.
You may have read her article about finding creativity as a songwriter/singer in issue 2 of Starflower Living magazine (go here to download your free copy). http://www.starflowerpress.com/living/index.shtml
There is something about Mandy’s voice that reminds me of Alison Krauss: there’s a purity, and an almost angelic essence, that just brings tears to my eyes. And that’s just the sound of it, never mind the actual lyrics. I’ve been so taken with her work that I wrote some of her songs and lyrics into my first novel Mosaic, and my second novel, Bluey’s Café.
Mandy travelled over from Ireland when I launched my novel, and together with her husband Graham, they sang for us at Wordsworth Bookshop.
Imagine my joy when they sang at our Vow Renewal ceremony just over a week ago. What an honour! And as for her daughter, Lola, well all I can is: watch out! That young lady is blessed with those singing genes, too.
Graham and Mandy Bingham performing at our Vow Renewal ceremony, April 18.
The EP (known as volume one) is an eclectic mix. I was thrilled to see The Chicken Song included. This song has a special place in my heart. It is the all-time ‘feel-good’ song. Turn Out the Light is stunning, and gives me goose bumps. So beautiful and moving. If This Is Love breaks my heart, and I doubt there is a person who can’t relate to it in some way. Calm Before the Storm stops you in your tracks. Oblivion introduced me to a different style than I’m used to with Mandy, and I appreciated the variety.
There are six tracks on the EP. If you’re new to Mandy’s music, do get yourself a copy. Friendship aside, I rate this as five stars. I am so thrilled to have her album in my collection.
You can hear quite a few of her songs on Sound Cloud, too. I love the grassroots feel of a living-room recording just as much as the professionally recorded versions. Regardless of the recording, what comes through loud and clear is Mandy’s immense talent. She can not be replicated and that’s the highest praise I can give her.
My experience of listening to Mandy is that her lyrics are honest, and her vocals divine. To say her music is addictive is an understatement. Regardless of how many times I’ve listened to a particular track, I am always deeply moved by the sincerity and depth of meaning ~ something that can only be achieved with life experience. That she has only been singing for about two years is nothing short of a miracle. Where was that voice hiding for so long? She is certainly making up for lost time with a prolific output of quality, first-class music. My favourite songs are: Only a Matter of Time; Turn out The Light; Good Girl Blues; The Chicken Song; Not Your Business. In fairness though, I absolutely adore all of her work. She’s an incredibly talented artist.
I must also mention Mandy’s husband, Graham, who is genuinely one of the nicest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. He sings harmonies, and also plays lap steel guitar and acoustic guitar. And he makes dinner when Mandy is too busy writing new songs! Was I allowed to mention that?
My Bucket List includes seeing Mandy Bingham sing at the iconic Bluebird Café in Nashville. I have no doubt in the world that I’ll be ticking that particular item off my list before too long.
Why not sign up to Mandy’s mailing list? She’s bound to be in your area some time in the future, and I promise you this: you will not be disappointed.
As a writer, it’s way too easy to stay snugged up behind one’s keyboard or play with pen and paper under the plum trees.
I’d like to meet my readers, and I hope you’ll come and see me this Summer on my UK Author Tour.
I’ll be travelling in the north of the UK during July, and in the south during August. Dates/venues to be confirmed. You can sign up to my mailing list to be kept informed.
If you have an independent bookshop or café in your area, and would be interested in asking the owners to host me for a reading, then please get in touch. The bookshop will receive 30% of all book sales on the day. I’ll provide them with promotional material. email: veronikarobinson (at) Hotmail (dot) com
The tour coincides with the launch of my third novel, Sisters of the Silver Moon. I’ll be talking about my journey as a writer, and reading from all three of my novels, and will also have my non-fiction books with me for those who’d like to buy signed copies.
I will travel to Ireland, Scotland and throughout England. Hope to see you on my travels! ~ Veronika
Last Saturday, my beloved and I celebrated our twenty years together with a Vow Renewal ceremony. To share this beautiful expression of love with our dearest friends has been one of the highlights of our lives. To be held in the heart of a community sharing their love is priceless.
Here are a few pics from the day, followed by the vows we shared during our ceremony.
Veronika and Paul Robinson. We still do! 20th anniversary, vow renewal ceremony. Glassonby, Cumbria.
With our celebrant, Nicola Mccanny. Gotta love that gorgeous Irish accent!
So blessed to call Irish singer/songwriter Mandy Bingham my FRIEND. She sang like an angel during our ceremony, accompanied by her fab husband Graham and awesome daughter, Lola. What a family!
Sprinkled with rose bud confetti
Our ceremony, as seen through my friend Kate Brundrett’s eyes.
me and eliza
My Bethany
Richard House, exhausted from eating too much. Bless!
My crown of ranunculus shaped into a heart.
My Vows to Paul: I am so grateful that we are gathered here with our friends and family, on this amazing day, to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of our first kiss. Ours is a lifelong journey, and today is but a moment. Twenty years ago, our separate lives become one in the course of one evening.
Paul, loving you is so easy. It always has been. You’re so kind, caring and funny. You’ve never, not once, been unkind to me. My welfare and well-being is always uppermost in your words and your actions. I have always felt nothing less that supremely well loved by you.
Husbands are often considered to be providers. You provide me with emotional honesty and are never scared to show me your feelings. You provide me with a marriage that is sacred, beautiful, safe and deeply loving.
You provide me with daily humour, and hugs and kisses. You provide me with companionship, even if it’s one in the morning and I can’t sleep. In my life before you, the men I dated told me that I made them ‘think too much’. You’ve never accused me of that. Thank you.
For the past twenty years I have wondered what on earth I have done to deserve you and your quiet, steady and reliable love. I know nothing I’ve done in this lifetime warrants the huge blessing you are to me. You have made my life, and every day, together, we continue to create a marriage that I treasure. All these years later, and I still pinch myself and wonder ‘why me’?
My only complaint is that you didn’t come into my life until I was 27 years old! That was a long time to wait. In our next life, get a move on!
I still marvel at how quickly we settled into each other’s hearts. We didn’t know each other, yet to me it was like we’d always known each other. It was so easy, and so right and comfortable. Instantly, I knew there was no other place in this world that I wanted to be other than in your arms for as long as the Universe would give me. That we’ve been blessed to share all these years is no small miracle.
I love that my heart still skips a beat when I see you walk into the room, and how I melt like a teenage girl when you smile at me.
I often joke that I had to kiss a lot of toads before I met my Prince Charming. And it’s true. But maybe that’s why I knew you were different from all the other boys.
With you, I felt at home. I knew you would always be gentle with my heart. For two decades you have loved, nurtured and tended me.
You have loved me in sickness and health, and I sure have spent a lot of time in bed racked with back pain. You were there throughout it all, loving me, caring for me even when there wasn’t really anything you could do to ease my pain and discomfort. Thank you. Thank you for never turning your back on me.
Being your wife has liberated me, and healed me in ways that no other healing modality on the planet could have done. Your depth of compassion, wisdom, understanding and love have been golden keys which have changed my life.
Thank you for always supporting my dreams. Not once have you ever been jealous of my achievements, but instead always cheer me on.
We are here today because of the promises we made a long time ago. They have kept us true and faithful, kind and loving. Honouring the depth of our commitment is a daily joy for me, one for which I always give thanks. One of my great joys is when I wake up each the morning and you’re there, beside me, smiling at me.
So today, before our friends and family, I promise to continue being grateful for your presence in my life.
I promise to cherish our relationship and hold it sacred. You are my best friend: loyal, true, consistent, irreplaceable.
I promise to treat you with respect, kindness, fairness, compassion and love.
I will care and love you in sickness and in health.
It is an honour to grow older with you. Such a privilege.
I would love to think that in ten years we would once again gather with friends and family to celebrate and renew our love. If it doesn’t happen, then I know it will be because those White Wings of Death have indeed scattered our days…but I will also know that our deep and abiding love will indeed live on in the memory of God. And the rich depth of love you have provided me with, day after day, will nourish and nurture me till the end of my days. Don’t ever be in any doubt about that.
I promise to support you in exploring and expressing your creativity, and vow to honour you as you live your vision of a happy and healthy life.
I will endeavour to be your lover, friend and a companion whose presence you enjoy day after day. I hope to inspire you just as you inspire me.
I will give you the time and space and solitude necessary for you to live a healthy and holistic life.
Today, I reaffirm my love and devotion to you, and to this beautiful marriage we have created. I know I am so blessed, and I can promise you, I never take what we have for granted. I treasure every single day that we spend together, whether it’s lying in each other’s arms in bed by candlelight or the way you make me laugh a dozen times a day. I love just hanging out with you, chatting, laughing, playing or even spending time in companionable silence.
Every day, you manage to hug or kiss me at the most random moments, whether it’s in the privacy of our home or in the checkout at Sainsburys. You light up my heart in so many ways.
I treasure the love letters you’ve written me.
I can feel your love in the way you touch me, and in your smile.
Thank you for loving, respecting and honouring me as your wife, as a mother, and as a woman. There isn’t anything in the world as valuable as the love you give me.
With you, there is certainty, clarity and consistency. I can not even comprehend my life without you.
Paul, you are everything to me.
I know how much you love me. That certainty carries me through every day. I feel safe with you. I don’t need to hide. I can be raw and vulnerable and I know you’ll never make fun of my weaknesses. That level of intimacy is at the heart of any healthy marriage. Thank you for giving that to me.
I love you. I adore you. I am grateful for you.
A gorgeous shawl made for me by Fleur Parker.
Paul’s vows to me. Bless him, he used the letters of my name! This is a template. He added things as he went along.
V – I’m VERY much in love with you. It didn’t take long for that to happen. In part it was your Vitality. And my love has deepened over the years, and I promise that it will even more… as I mature.
E – You’ve always given me a huge amount of ENCOURAGEMENT. You’ve always believed in me, appreciated me. You’ve laughed at my jokes, usually. And I like to think that I’ve encouraged and supported you. And I’ll be doing that for the rest of my days. And I’ll continue to look out for you, as you look out for me.
The altar
R – REMEMBERING …memories. So many good ones. A lot of challenges, but we’ve always stood shoulder to shoulder. From the start I felt we fitted well tog. We see the world through similar-but-different lenses. And we complement each other, like a left eye and a right eye.
O – I know it’s not common knowledge, but I’m a bit OLDER than you. You, Bethany and Eliza have helped keep me young at heart. And as I enter my second childhood, I’ll return the favour – and keep you young at heart.
N – You’ve NURTURED me enormously in the time we’ve been together. And I want to do the same for you, to help you achieve all that you want to in your life.
I – Before we met, when I was 46, I’d taken the first tentative steps along the attachment-parenting path, and everything that goes with it. I even read The Continuum Concept before you! But it was you who INTRODUCED me to all these concepts. And I want to grow with you further along the path we’re on, wherever it takes us.
K – I KNOW that I can’t and couldn’t imagine myself with anyone else. And I’ll say the same thing when we renew our vows in 20 years time.
A – ASTROLOGY It’s in the stars, the planets, the asteroids. We’ll always be together.
Beautiful Celtic Cross from my gorgeous Irish friend Siobhan. Can’t believe she travelled all the way over here for our ceremony.
If your name had a D in it, I’d promise to continue washing nearly all the dishes. I’m getting quite good at it.
And if it had a W, I’d promise to get even better at hanging out the washing – even though I’m already Olympic standard.
Today is an anniversary of the heart. Twenty years ago today, the man who would become my husband and the father of my children, kissed me for the first time. We moved in together the next day. #loveatfirstsight #soulmates
This Saturday we will gather with friends and family to renew our vows.
https://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.png00Veronika Sophia Robinsonhttps://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.pngVeronika Sophia Robinson2015-04-16 09:26:032015-04-16 09:26:03Grow the Love
For as long as I can remember, I have loved flowers. I grew up in sub-tropical Queensland where we were blessed with such gorgeous and exotic flora, such as frangipani and hibiscus. One of my favourite flower memories is of the freesias growing in our courtyard. As soon as I stepped out of the door, the warm sunshine would bring the exquisite scent wafting to my little button nose.
Another memory is of the cosmos growing wild along the roadsides.
I would suck the ends of that red honeysuckle for that perfect sweet mouthful of divine nectar.
When Bethany was born, I had red roses in my bedroom. When I laboured with Eliza, the bedroom was filled with agapanthus.
I am a woman who has to have flowers in the house. I thrive on their colour, simplicity, beauty, and that living, vibrant energy of nature inside the home.
I wrote in my journal the other day that I should have been a florist, such is my love of flowers. And it’s funny how the Universe loves to listen to us!
The other week I asked people on my Facebook page (Veronika Sophia Robinson author) to share with me their favourite novels. One of them was called The Language of Flowers. Needless to say the title had me straight away. The theme of it is that anyone can grow into something beautiful.
I’ve almost finished reading it, and have been mesmerised by the Victorian language of flowers. It has inspired some of the flowers I’m choosing for our Vow Renewal ceremony in less than two weeks, but also something else: In talking with the florist about my needs for our ceremony, I came to learn that she runs courses. That’s going on my to-do list! But I also decided to do a florist’s course. I don’t have any great career aspirations to open a flower shop (not yet!) but I’m sure it will be something I love, and I have no doubt it will find its way into my novels. Well, actually, I know it will. Sisters of the Silver Moon was written as a stand-alone book, and then I realised it could have a sequel based on another novel idea I had ages ago. And then, this morning, I realised that it could spill over into a trilogy ~ all because of the flowers filling my life. It fits in perfectly with one of the characters.
So, to my Vow Renewal ceremony flowers. I find it fascinating that I was naturally drawn to flowers with positive meanings.
My flower crown is to be created from purple ranunculus. I chose them for their look and colour to match my dress, but apparently the Victorians took them to mean: I am radiant with charms.
I hope I’m radiant on the day!
My favourite flowers are freesias: lasting love.
Cosmos (not in season, but used on our invitations): joy in love and life.
https://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.png00Veronika Sophia Robinsonhttps://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.pngVeronika Sophia Robinson2015-04-05 10:40:492015-04-05 10:40:49The Language of Flowers
The Sun is coming over the hills as I write ~ the light of a beautiful new day. There is something so beautiful about sunrise, and its message of life and hope and possibility. Three white-tailed rabbits are playing in the frosty field outside my writing room. My heart feels light and happy.
Three years ago, at sunrise, I received the phone call from my sister, Ramona, that you’d been killed in a car accident. Oh how I cried. I’d never experienced such heart-wrenching grief in my whole life. I thought my body would fall apart from the pain which seared through me.
I have had a lot of time to reflect on your death, but also on your life and especially the gifts having you as a father brought me. As you know, I spent a lot of my life being angry that you worked overseas for most of my childhood. I just wanted a dad who was at home. That’s all any child wants.
My childhood home in Freestone, Darling Downs, Australia
But I understand now. I understand your need to earn large sums of money, and I understand your ambition and desire to succeed and be confident in this material world. I really get it now. I also see the bigger picture, too.
Your death has taught me a lot. I’ve changed in so many ways, though they’d be imperceptible to most people. Standing next to your lifeless body as you lay in the coffin was a defining moment in my life. You see, in many ways, I was quite like you. I wanted the success. I wanted the wealth. I wanted the luxurious houses. I wanted the adventure of foreign travel.
Freestone, Australia
I held your cold and lifeless hand and thanked you with a depth of gratitude I’d never known. I thanked you for the incredible childhood I was able to have because of your life. How many kids get to grow up on a 700-acre horse stud? I had this because of YOU. The strictness of being raised by my German parents was outweighed by the freedom I had on that land. Living as a child of Nature gave me the best possible training ground for life. Far more than any school education ever could have. Thank you for that.
As I stood, weeping, and holding your hand, a light bulb went on inside my head. I’d always understood the wisdom of ‘you can’t take it with you when you go’, but now I REALLY understood it. All that ambition, all that work, all the money ~ and for what? None of that was going with you. What was the point of any of it? I stood there feeling an impotence of incredible magnitude. I wanted to petition the gods! It was wrong. So wrong.
Often a person’s life is judged by their successes, and those achievements of yours were certainly mentioned as we gathered to say our farewell to you. But for me, your life is measured in other ways. Ways that are meaningful to me. Like how you taught me to ride a bike. That image of the day I rode without training wheels, with you there clapping me on, is as vivid as the sunrise before me. As is the day you taught me to swim, granted it wasn’t a conventional way! Not at all. You told me to climb on the high diving board and that if I jumped you’d catch me. I jumped. Oh God it was a long way down. I still remember it all, in slow motion. I remember it because you swam away. I jumped in the deep end and you didn’t catch me! Crap! Needless to say I am a confident swimmer!
I remember how you tried so hard to make me laugh when Mum was in hospital having Ramona. I really missed her, but you went out of your way to be a clown and eat raw lemons and pull funny faces. I can’t see a lemon without thinking of you.
Mum and Ramona
I also learnt from you the harsh reality that Santa is NOT real. I peeped through the window to see you putting out the presents. I was horrified. It took me over three decades to come to terms with that betrayal and to forgive you. Silly, I know…
Dad, you taught me that we each make our own music. That we walk to our own drum beat.
You didn’t believe in God. You believed in yourself. I believe in both, and that has shaped me enormously. Thank you.
You didn’t teach me to ride a horse, but a bit like swimming, I just got on with it. I learnt to hold on for dear life. You taught me that I could do anything if I wanted to.
Seeing you in the coffin has deflated my ambitions and desire for success. For some people, it might have had the opposite effect. For me, it has taught me something else. Something far more valuable. I’ve learnt to slow down. I’ve realised, finally, nothing is worth stressing over. There are no important deadlines or other man-made rules of success to follow. My only true goal now is to live a life of pleasure and fun. If you had known how it would all end ~ that a teenage kid would end up ploughing into your car on a rainy morning three years ago ~ I bet you’d be giving me the same advice: slow down, and have fun.
And dad, that’s what I’m doing. My life is filled with all the things that bring me joy: music, gardening, sunshine (not Aussie style, though), family, friendships, laughter, Nature and making good food. I love you, dad. I always have, and I always will. You might not have acknowledged the spiritual realm while you were alive, but I feel your presence more strongly than ever. I know you’re nearby.
https://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.png00Veronika Sophia Robinsonhttps://veronikarobinson.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Updated-logo-colour.pngVeronika Sophia Robinson2015-03-22 07:38:402015-03-22 07:38:40A letter to my father
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