User Profile

Andy Lawrence

The mulberry whelk: a berry cute sea snail with a tangled taxonomic history

Today, I’m bringing you an unassuming, juicy little sea snail that is very common on the rock shelves and pools of the Illawarra coastline. The mulberry whelk, Tenguella marginalba. This little whelk is appropriately named for the shell’s black...

Andy Lawrence

14 hours ago

Parenting

The masks we wear: are they false, or are they us?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the different masks we wear. We like to think of ourselves as ‘whole’ people who walk around being our authentic, whole selves all the time, or at least we aspire to. But really, I think we have different...

Andy Lawrence

March 2025

Science & Nature

My delightful discovery of a local little-legged lizard: the three-toed skink

Last week, I came across a special little critter in my garden in Berkeley. I was digging a new garden bed for native plants along my back fence. The fence happens to share its boundary with a reserve, meaning we do come across interesting creatures...

Andy Lawrence

February 2025

Parenting

The tragic short life and sudden death of Ducky the chicken

Early in the New Year, I ordered some fertile chicken eggs to hatch in my small incubator. I often do this to replace old laying hens or inject new breeds or genetics into my flock. It also provides my children a beautiful opportunity to learn how...

Andy Lawrence

February 2025

Parenting

Cancelled plans and an oddly placed bandaid: The perils of dating your spouse in early parenthood

The task of trying to connect with your spouse in early parenthood takes dedication, patience and a great big dollop of humour. At a time when attempting to drink a glass of water feels like an olympic sport, it can feel utterly impossible to direct...

Andy Lawrence

December 2024

Parenting

Do we even like each other anymore? Dating my husband and fighting for our spark in early parenthood

A little over a year ago, my husband and I were attempting to reconnect after wading through an ocean of mutual resentment, imagined slights and increasingly exasperating circular arguments after the birth of our second baby. So much of our life had...

Andy Lawrence

November 2024

Science & Nature

Handsome huntsmans: the misunderstood, family-oriented spiders who make ideal housemates

Spring is peaking, summer is coming, and this week in Wollongong, the humidity is stifling. Though the wet, warm air may make us humans a little crabby, other creatures revel in it, breed and thrive in it. An arthropod’s biggest fear is as...

Andy Lawrence

November 2024

Parenting

My love-hate (mostly hate) relationship with Halloween, a seasonally inappropriate celebration

I am one of those self-righteous Halloween grinches who has, throughout my adult life, staunchly rejected the celebration of the festival in October. Since becoming parents, the tawdry skeletons and environmentally hazardous fake spiderwebs have...

Andy Lawrence

November 2024

Parenting

I don’t clean my house anymore

It’s a well known fact that parents with three or more children are the most laid back people on earth. Their kids could be setting fire to the curtains and they’ll respond with a shrug and an eye roll. Even as a mum of two, I’ve come to...

Andy Lawrence

September 2024

Science & Nature

The cart-rut shell: a common local you’ve definitely seen before

This week’s muse is a mollusc whose shell you’ve undoubtedly encountered if you’ve ever walked a beach anywhere on the south coastline of Australia. It’s an off-white shell around six centimetres, but can grow to double that and can live for...

Andy Lawrence

September 2024

Parenting

Growing with our gardens: how caring for children and plants teaches us the art of surrender

I have always loved gardening. I grew up on ten acres in the Blue Mountains, where I plotted out little gardens of ill-fated eggplants, eaten by insects before they could fruit. I didn’t even like eggplants, but I loved the process of sowing...

Andy Lawrence

September 2024

Science & Nature

Mythbusting Mozzies: When not to swat & why Jurassic Park got it wrong

In a time of rampant political and ideological polarity, I see it as my duty to our society to invite nuance and complexity to the table. The entomological table at least. “What is the purpose of mosquitoes?” “Can’t we just invent...

Andy Lawrence

September 2024

Parenting

Mother Nature makes the best coparent

I have been parenting for four years now and if there’s one lesson that I come back to time and again, it’s this: Mother Nature makes the best coparent. My kids love going to the park, but in general, I am not so fond of park play-time. I...

Andy Lawrence

August 2024

Science & Nature

Meet the Molluscs with Butterfly Armour and Girdles

During your strolls in the sands of the Illawarra’s beaches, have you ever come across a small butterfly shell? Two chitinous wings flaring, the colours and striations giving the illusion of a moth fallen in flight to rest at the water’s edge. The...

Andy Lawrence

August 2024