Saturday Photo: Street Furniture, or Living Outdoors
Didn’t have my camera with me the other night, but Thom, his mother, Grandpa and I made an after-supper visit to a local artisanal ice cream place. It was a…
Mary Soderstrom
Saturday Photo: Cemetery Gates over Time
The gate on the north side of Mount Royal Cemetery are just about finished. The stonework was completed before the snow fell last winter, but it’s been some time for…
Night Hawks in the Night
Not to make too much about it, but when I woke up about 4 a.m. to open the windows after a thunderstorm I lay in bed listening to nighthawks flying…
Saturday Photo: Where are the Nighthawks and the Ducks?
This photo was taken a couple of years ago at a pond in Parc Beaubien, a rather civilized neighborhood park near us. For several years ducks had been nesting at…
Goodreads Results and a Nice Review
In the flurry of activity around here, I forgot to post the Goodreads Giveaway results. The lucky three are: Barry Kazimer of Campbell River, BC, Kelley Burrow of Morenc, MI…
Saturday Photo: Yellow Flowers, Like the Sun
Think I probably posted a similar photo in the past, but at the moment I can’t find it, nor can I remember the name of this marvelously invasive flower that…
Just Hours Left in the River Music Giveaway
Don’t forget to enter the Goodreads Giveaway for River Music. Three copies are available. Enter here.
Saturday Photo: Emerald Ash Borer and the Sixth Extinction
Lots in the news about what climate change and human intervention in the natural world lately: the Pope’s encyclical on the environment is a case in point. I thought of…
Where is the NDP When It Comes to Extrabilling?
What is happening in Quebec under the Couillard Liberals is extremely discouraging. Step by step, under the banner of fiscal rigor, the government is privatizing the supply of all services…
Saturday Photo: Now We’re Deep into Spring
Perhaps because winter closes down so many things, the odors of spring are particularly poignant here. Oh, there are days when people say “it smells like snow” and there are…
Beauty out of Disaster: And the Birds Rained Down
Last night my bookies in Kirkland discussed Jocelyn Saucier’s Il pleuvait des oiseaux—And the Birds Rained Down in English translation by Rhonda Mullins- The story has haunted me all day.This…
Saturday Photo: Columbine Time
The season progresses, and the wisdom of certain gardening decisions becomes more evident. At one point I bought a few columbine plants. They most delightfully have seeded themselves so now,…
Saturday Photo: Bees
Lots of bees in the garden these days of lilacs and bird song. Do hope this means that the bees around here are surviving the plague that seems to be…
The Morning after…
Time to get back to writing and ranting: last night my novel River Music was officially launched. It’s now available at good bookstores, and on line in Kobo and Kindle…
To Each Thing There Is a Season….
And now is the time when people in these climes begin gardening. The average date for the last freeze in Montreal is May 10, it seems. Last week I brought…
Saturday Photo: Mellow Yellow
Went to the garden centre this week, and came home with a few new plants. But nowhere did I find anything as fabulous as the display of dandelions on lawns…
What’s Not to Like: Food, History and Leftish Causes
Breakfast is just over, but as usual I’m thinking about food. Came across this great story about Thunder Bay, its Finnish connection and Labour strife there. The centre is a…
The May Holiday: Journée des Patriotes
This weekend is the unofficial beginning of summer in Canada. In the Rest of Canada it is called Victoria Day, but in Quebec it’s now called la Journée des Patriotes.…
Saturday Photo: Mystery Plant
My friends and family know I love plants, so frequently I receive flowers or houseplants as gifts on special occasions. Last week was Mother’s Day and Elin and Jeanne arrived…