Berries for the holidays
Including real red berries in your outdoor designs is a fantastic way to incorporate a bit of nature and a POP of great colours. Many of the berries that grow on our landscape plants look bright and beautiful against a backdrop of fresh snow. This is all to plan—Mother Nature’s plan. The red berries attract […]
HO HO HO
It’s that time of year again. The last column for this year and Jingle Bells all in the same space! I’m not what you’d call a religious person, but I believe in a good miracle and in Santa Claus. I was a grown-up, non-believer when about twenty years ago I read a marvellous book. How […]
Last chance for 2023
I have to confess; I got caught with my proverbial gardening pants down. With all of this beautiful weather, I delayed a lot of the yard work that I should have been doing and then everything went sideways and now December has actually decided to arrive. If you are like me and didn’t get everything […]
Helping yourself
This is not one of my pseudopsychological journeys, but a glimpse into the end of the world as we know it. Follow me. It all started with self-serve gas stations. Cheap people like me would pound on our gloves, zip up our winter coats, and stand in the screaming wind and blowing snow to save […]
I can see clearly now
I was going to write something about Christmases past, but I was inspired by one of the features on CBS Sunday Morning. It was about Postpartum Depression. It brought back a lot of memories for me. Some of the memories aren’t great. While I was never formally diagnosed with Postpartum Depression (who is?) I know […]
Christmas wish list
Every year around this time my friends and family ask me what I want for Christmas. I always think it’s obvious…things for the garden or about gardening! Somehow that translates into sweaters, socks and board games. So this year I thought I’d help my family out with some great ideas. Dear Santa… Bulbs are always […]
November never disappoints
November never really disappoints me. The weather is always “as expected”, that is to say “the unexpected happens” in November. It’s overcast and rainy one day, then brilliantly warm and sunny the next and perhaps a combination of sunshine, cold temperatures with a bit of a breeze to shake the last of the leaves from […]
Pick a Tree!
If you’re at all like me and choose to have a real tree in your home for the holidays, then NOW is the time to go out and get it. I realize that those homeowners with a faux tree may already have theirs up, but for us ‘traditionalists’, waiting until the cold snap has hit […]
It’s complicated
I always figured when I got older things would become less complicated. In some respects “things” did become easier to handle. I don’t have any debts. I don’t have to get up in the morning and go to work. I’m not worried about driving a Rolls-Can- Hardly—and I’ve driven many of those. Old Age Security […]
My front door for the holidays
I was recently surprised to find out that my new front door has the best return-on-investment of all my home renovations. That puts the front door ahead of the new kitchen, the updated bathroom and my back patio according to Remodeling Magazine, 2022. It makes sense in an odd sort of way. Think of the […]