Labour Day is a Favourite

Labour Day is a favourite of many holiday revelers.  It feels like the last chance to enjoy summer.  It marks big changes for many people whether you are starting grade one or college.  And it can be hot or chilly. 1970 The weekend has held many memories for me.  On...

Taking on a New Challenge

I love taking on a new challenge.  It’s one of my super powers.  Completing, following through and clean up of tasks are not my strengths, but that’s for another story. Today, I want to talk about that sense of excitement when you start a new grade at...

Round Water

The Round Water These stories are not mine to tell, They belong to old men. Men who were once strong, and handsome And who kept their cigarette packs rolled up in their T-shirt sleeves. Men who water-skied, And drank whiskey, And knew how to dance, Slow. They spent...

Meet Ollie – An August Delight

As most kids do, I looked forward to the summer months of my childhood.  The days of freedom, that grew into seasons spent in tobacco, bean or cucumber fields, still hold special memories for me.  Some of the best were centred around my cousins who along with their...

Monarch Butterflies & Milkweed

It’s that time for Monarch Butterflies and milkweed. This week, and I’m sure I’m not alone, I was struck by the coolness of the early mornings and one afternoon, the sky looked like a November storm.  Of course, this happens every summer but yet we...

Keeping Time with Nature

Manfred and I like to sit on our back porch. Morning, noon and night if we can.  We are fortunate that a few metres from the porch, our backyard descends into a large gully.  The creek, at the bottom has cut a wide wedge over the centuries as water has wound its way...

Barn Quilts Tell Our Stories

“What are those designs on barns?” That’s how the conversation usually starts when tourists travel through our rural area and notice the “Barn Quilts”.  And it is a talk we love to have. We have been involved in the Barn Quilt movement...

My Poor Heather

Scottish Heather Calluna vulgaris is one of those carefree plants that creates early Spring and Fall beauty. You can imagine the growing conditions this lovely little plant likes by it original home territory – The Scottish Moors.  In our area of southwestern...

Awakening in the Garden

The new growth of daffodils peaking out of the soil and the fledgling flowers of the Helleborus unfurling towards the sky are such clichés that I bear much pain to write about them.  But while they are overused seasonal metaphors there can be no denying that their...