Two directions
This is not a story about how the boy band One Direction doubled its number and went on tour. This is way more serious than that, though that might be cool. I read a lot, and a lot of readers write a lot. I have the kind of brain that likes to make sense of […]
Neighbourly
It’s the Merry Month of May! The Two-Four Weekend is just around the corner. The “Warm Weather Invasion” starts soon. When LOML and I first arrived in the County, all I ever wanted to do was go “home” to Toronto. I didn’t feel as if I belonged in the County. I sure as heck didn’t […]
How do we know what we know?
Answer is: we don’t. That’s it for this week’s column. Thanks for reading. Sorry. Corey just informed me that he can’t run a three-sentence column. So I guess I need to elaborate. First: There’s lots of things to know. There are scientists and astronomists and economists and consultants and a huge load of people who […]
The outdoor kitchen
What was once something we dreamed about while flipping through the home-design magazines from southern California has finally become a reality in Canada—and homeowners are embracing it like never before! Outdoor kitchens and appliances are no longer just for those living in warmer climates. We now have all of the ingredients for making our own […]
Tune out, walk away
I’ve thought this many times, “It’s time to get offline and jump back into real life.” And, within moments of being offline I feel more relaxed. I start to think creatively again. I feel a bit smug and self-righteous. I feel more energized, as if all of the stops had been pulled. On the other […]
Democracy— where art thou?
The world of who should run what is in turmoil. Companies buy out companies, then more companies, until there’s two companies left that supply our food, services, and even the planes we fly on vacation, some of which fall from the sky, because shareholder profits outweighed proper engineering. Then we have the government, which pretends […]
Size matters
Planning a reno in the backyard this spring? Do you know how big you need to go when creating useable space? Most DIY’ers get it wrong when planning their own backyards, especially when it comes to calculating the useable space they really need. So, how big should the deck or patio be? It comes down […]
A cookie and a cuppa
I figure in our fifty-five years of marriage I’ve probably prepared about sixty thousand meals. It’s just a rough guess. I could never know for sure and I did factor in the possible number of restaurant meals, family meals I didn’t prepare, take-away meals and skipped meals (not too many of those, let me tell […]
Great Fences
Back in my early days of design school, we were asked as a class to define the Canadian backyard. What should have been a fairly easy task ended up being a discussion on the idea that there really isn’t a definition of our national backyard that worked for everyone. That said, we all agreed that […]
Temperature of wine
Imagine for a moment that it’s the August long weekend. The humidity is 100 per cent and you’re driving behind someone travelling 60 in an 80 zone. The air conditioning is not working. And you’re late for work. Imagine the same stretch of highway, Thanksgiving weekend when the leaves have changed colours and you’re running […]