I haven’t had a lot of success growing vegetables but I haven’t tried very hard, either. Watering in the summer is not something I’ve managed to organize. Even though the vegetable patch is only about 12 feet by 8 feet (and that includes the raspberries), I would have to take 2 minutes to unravel the hose to…
Two events in the news this week had an odd coincidence in my history: Neil Armstrong died. He was the first man on the moon, having commanded the Apollo 11 spacecraft that landed on the moon July 20, 1969. A terrible explosion occured at the Amuay oil refinery near Punto Fijo, Venezuela. The short story…
It’s perhaps my favourite time of year – sunny late summer. Today I spent a few hours in the garden, cleaning, pruning and weeding. In fact I was already thinking about various activities coming up in the fall, and realizing that I have to start the fall clean-up now. I was also thinking about how I…
Last week we held a 90th birthday party for my mother. Just family, but I have never entertained 20 people at my house before. My 3 siblings came from Toronto and Halifax, along with 10 of our 12 children (Mom’s grandchildren), plus a few spouses and significant others, the first great-grandchild, and 2 dogs. The…
From the local library, as usual. This book, subtitled “Life, death, and hope in a Mumbai undercity” is nonfiction but it reads much like a novel. That is a complement, although I had to go internet surfing to satisfy myself that I could trust the author, Katherine Boo. I recommend it. It was unusual and compelling. For…
Some years ago (31, to be exact) we bought our first sofa together. I remember that it was difficult to reach agreement (which has not changed one bit in the 31 ensuing years) and we ended up paying somewhat more than we expected. However, I thought at the time that it was a well-made well-designed…
I am not usually very interested in photo blogs, even though I respect the art, admire many photos and enjoy my own snapshots. Let’s face it – there are millions of great photos to look at. Today 101 Books has a link to a very clever blog Underground New York Public Library blog. Go have a…
A few years ago I wanted to go walking in England with my sister-in-law, but we didn’t quite know where to start planning without committing ourselves to some formal tour arrangement. Coincidentally I saw an article in our local newspaper about an “open garden day” planned in our town – this is where 10 households would volunteer to open…
Seeing Clarely 