After a couple of years of chat, and 11 months of planning etc. our renovations are complete. New floors, countertops, more cabinets and paint in the kitchen. New walk in…
No message today because I’m calling for the election. But if you have a chance to get out, do. The light and the trees are wonderful. October’s bright blue weather,…
There isn’t a whole lot of sunlight in our backyard because the maple tree two doors to the south shades everything most of the day. But that hasn’t stopped a…
I’m far from being a religious person, but I think it’s important to occasionally stop and consider what we have in this life. That’s particularly true in this Plague Year,…
Usually when I have a new book come out we have a little launch party at an independent book store. Last year just about now we were preparing for one…
The golden rod has been blooming around here for several weeks. In fact, in some places it’s actually well past its prime, and is looking a little faded. But this…
It may sound like an oxymoron, but concrete in North America frequently contains up to 6 per cent air. Why, is something I talk about in Concrete: From Ancient Origins…
If you wait long enough, that is. Cosmos are wonderful flowers that reseed themselves and change sunny places to corners of cosmic delight. I’ve never had much luck with them…
Well, it rained a lot here in August, so obviously these folks were on the case. The umbrella stayed there for a couple of weeks, during the worst of the…
One of the up-sides of this Plague Year is the way people and cities are rethinking public spaces. Around here a number of neighborhoods have widened sidewalks by allowing terraces…
The work is far from done, alas! Fifty-seven years ago I was there, having hitched a ride with a friend with parishioners from a church in Indianapolis. We had been…
Here you have the remains of a badminton court on which a generation or two of nuns played on summer afternoons. Part of the convent’s grounds was sold to a…
The part of Montreal where we live was designed more than 100 years ago as a garden suburb, sort of. Today it is home to a mixed population that includes…
Had an interesting conversation this week with one of my Hassidic neighbours about life, death, and Covid 19. She lost a brother, 62, to the disease early on in the…
In this difficult time I’ve been on the look out for things that make one smile. That’s whey I was delighted when a friend brought over sunflowers last weekend: everytime…
Because we all need a little whimsy these days, here’s what I found in an alley not far from me. Couldn’t do much carpentry on this saw horse, but kudos…
The photo was taken last summer in front of a house that was being renovated. Probably built in the early 1900s, it obviously had a lot of details that were…
Everybody was getting a little squirrely this spring, as we tried to out dance Covid 19 by staying at home. It helped some that March, April and the first of…
It must be the sun, and maybe the cool, wet spring, but even though it rained very little in May and June the roses here have been spectacular. The ones…
We are half way through the week of summer’s first holidays around here. Quebec’s Fête nationale was last Wednesday and next Wednesday will be Canada Day. Such a strange time!…
