Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
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beyondmyfence.bsky.social
Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
@beyondmyfence.bsky.social
10 followers 19 following 5 posts
Books, writing...& other odds & ends - from a Northern Irish viewpoint.
Photographs: @samhanna1791.bsky.social.
Books: https://beyond-my-fence.blogspot.com

"Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
Dylan Thomas.
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beyondmyfence.bsky.social
Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna) @beyondmyfence.bsky.social · 1d
New beginnings...and a new account.
My photography account is still in place but will just be used for photographs.
This account will mainly be about books and writing, so I hope I'll have some conversations with like-minded people 🙂
Longer posts on my blog: beyond-my-fence.blogspot.com
#books
A close-up photo of snowdrops, with the flowers closest to the camera in focus while those in the background are blurred.
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
0ffkilter.bsky.social
Last nights sunset was an
absolute blinder.
Taken from the top wall of Cardinia Reservoir which supplies water to most of the South Eastern region of Victoria.
Wishing everyone a wonderful weekend wherever you might be.
#BlueSkyArtShow #Photo #Landscape
#Australia #Photography
#PhotographersUnited
Last nights sunset was an blinder. Taken from the top wall of Cardinia Reservoir which supplies water to most of the South Eastern region of Victoria. Wishing everyone an absolutely wonderful weekend. The sunset lit up the entire region in shade of gold it was spectacular to see. #BlueSkyArtShow #Photo #Landscape #BlueSky #Australia #Photography #PhotographersUnited #Artist #Photographer
February 7, 2026 at 5:42 AM
beyondmyfence.bsky.social
New beginnings...and a new account.
My photography account is still in place but will just be used for photographs.
This account will mainly be about books and writing, so I hope I'll have some conversations with like-minded people 🙂
Longer posts on my blog: beyond-my-fence.blogspot.com
#books
A close-up photo of snowdrops, with the flowers closest to the camera in focus while those in the background are blurred.
February 5, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
samhanna1791.bsky.social
I've been busy, so it took almost 2 wks to read "The Raptures" by @jancarsonwrites.bsky.social. which is no reflection on the book, just my time management.

This is a story from rural Northern Ireland where schoolchildren begin to die mysteriously...
More in Alt text.
Brought up near a village like the one described in the novel, I feel that I know these people - so perhaps I'm a little biased in my assessment of the book. My youth may have been 30 years earlier, but little changed in the Northern Irish countryside between 1963 and 1993. Even now, 30 years after the setting of the book, many ingrained attitudes haven't changed - change comes slowly to stubborn Ulster Protestants. The novel is set in Ballylack, a village populated only by Protestants - apart from the family who run the Chinese takeaway. Ballylack could be any one of many such villages in Northern Ireland. It's my familiarity with this setting, which makes me biased in assessing the book, so I'd love to hear from a reader who isn't Irish so, if you haven't read "The Raptures", please read it and let me know what you think! I now plan to read Jan Carson's other books.
January 25, 2026 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
drippingwithwords.bsky.social
i think sometimes i do just want to be the girl.. left alone..
keep going.. but differently..
i think you have to know yourself so damn hard..
and when to rise up.. not stay hidden..
life's breaking down walls.. into glitter on glass.
knowing when to let go.. and how to carry on..
-dww
February 3, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
samhanna1791.bsky.social
#BlueBrewBooks
After several busy weeks , I finished reading "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" by Roddy Doyle.
A story told by a ten year old boy, and set in 1960's North #Dublin #Ireland.
It's a wonderful read - and I highly recommend it.
More information in Alt text.
The cover of "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" by Roddy Doyle shows a young boy about to let himself drop down from a wall. He's still holding on with one hand. The novel is written from the point of view of a 10 year old boy - Paddy Clarke. It doesn't follow the usual rules of a novel, as there are no chapters. It's Paddy's thoughts and, as with any 10 year old, his thoughts jump from one thing to another very quickly. Set in the 1960's, the book describes a lost world where children roam freely around the area where they live, constantly getting into mischief. The early part of the book focuses on the fun but then real life begins to intrude. I won't say anything more as I don't want to spoil the story for any potential reader. Highly recommended!
January 11, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
0ffkilter.bsky.social
Written for today’s #vss365 the prompt being #pain
I don’t usually title pieces letting others interpret what they feel.
But this one’s written for those who have ever known someone struggling with any kind of memory loss.
#Australia #poet #poem #writer #Artist #BlueSky #WritingCommunity
#words
l am the lone reminder Of all you've ever been Ibring you gifts a lightness Blinding the loss Along with all your pain And I shall hold you as you grieve I am the lone reminder Of all you've ever seen The slate wiped clean A stone worn smooth A life's memories shall echo then recede Forever bouncing backwards Come watch them as the leave lam a hearts thief swallowing nostalgia Stealing a life's moments Any or all Especially the ones that brought you shame So take my hand I'll hold close forever more Come sit a while As I gently sing life’s refrain. . *Written for today’s #vss365 the prompt being #pain I don’t usually title pieces as I let others interpret how ever they wish but this one’s written specifically for those who have known or know anyone whose struggling with age related memory loss. #Australia #poet #poem #writer #WritingCommunity #BlueSky #EastCoastKin #words #Story #Artist
February 3, 2026 at 7:29 AM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
sdcushing.bsky.social
#TheCampfire

As you can see, this isn’t last week, or the week before. This is 1968 Minnesota, where snowstorms are the norm.

This story started out as a memory of snow. It turned out to be, as so much of my life was, about two sisters.

Go to ALT for more
Here we stand, with our fifteen year difference. Me, totally, awkward in bell bottoms, cat eye glasses, and of course, a floral parka. At this age, I would have just started dancing. She appears confident as always, just visiting from her master’s degree studies in Hawaii. That fifteen year gap made me, in some ways, an only child. And although I never admitted it until she passed, it made her sort of a mother figure for me. She would be the one who walked me through that first horrifying flow of blood. Who explained things to me I could never ask my mother. It wasn’t obvious until I graduated from college, married, and my sister began to settle into her position at the World Bank, just how much of an influence she would be. I moved to NYC for a time, and when my marriage failed there, it was to my sister’s basement apartment in DC that I flew. After being mugged in New York, she was my safe haven. She then pointed me to a place there that presented dance, where I would soon become an interim executive director. It was Gloria (what a perfect name, right?) who first saw that opportunity, not me. When I moved to California with a new love and a new job, we became distant for a time, weekly calls becoming increasingly sporadic. But when I got sick and had to we leave work, it was Gloria who paid off my Miata and put me up for a year in her summer house on the Chesapeake Bay. (You’d think from earlier stories I’ve written here, I had a pretty independent life. I thought so too.) You might remember from an earlier story posted here a rug hooking of two ballerinas playing with tiny mice. That was Gloria too. When my sister died from metastatic breast cancer at 63, I thought surely my life was over as well. But she left me a legacy. I cannot say I used it wisely, and I cannot say I have ever fully recovered. But I am still here. I am still her sister. I am still grateful. And we are still making angels in the snow.
February 3, 2026 at 3:46 PM
Reposted by Beyond my Fence (Sam Hanna)
samhanna1791.bsky.social
#BlueBrewBooks
I've finished "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby so is it worth reading?
Although you might run out of patience with the narrator, Rob, it's a good read.
An accurate description of a man who hasn't really grown up and can't hold a relationship together because of his self obsession.
An image of the cover of "High Fidelity", a novel by the English writer Nick Hornby.
December 7, 2025 at 3:25 PM
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samhanna1791.bsky.social
#BlueBrewBooks
I've just finished "Let's Twist Again" by Leo Cullen.
A novel largely based on the author's own childhood and youth. It follows young Larry through his mother's death, his father's remarriage, and subsequently his stepmother death. A story of loss which is full of life.
Recommended!
The cover of a book called "Let's Twist Again" by Leo Cullen. It shows a young boy in jeans and t-shirt, wearing a cape, a WildWest style hat and an eye mask...a child playing cowboys.
November 23, 2025 at 3:37 PM
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samhanna1791.bsky.social
Hi Susan!
For #BlueBrewBooks I'm rereading books I bought years ago. I've just finished this one - "Cocaine Nights" by J G Ballard.
Set in the expat communities of Southern Spain, it begins promisingly but, for me, it became more farcical as it came closer to it's abrupt and too predictable end.
The cover of "Cocaine Nights", a novel by J G Ballard.
November 9, 2025 at 2:35 PM