HO HO Help
Our children, and their children, live between one half hour and three hours away from us. Our First World problem is, as parents, we would love to have them even closer, but some days they are close enough. In this community we see how lovely it is to have family very near. Many of our […]
Ode to a great friend
Recently I lost a great friend and, dare I say, a mentor: Gord Parks. Yeah, I know I’m not the only one who enjoyed his company and thoughts he had gathered through his many years in our County community. That’s what happens when you break the traditional barrier of our life on earth. I didn’t […]
Holiday stress
I, for one, can’t believe how quickly 2024 has passed. Didn’t I just complain about taking all of the lawn furniture out of the barn for warm weather gatherings, and not too long ago didn’t I whine about putting it all back? The same goes for the behemoth of a holiday tree. I feel as […]
Fall to-do list
This has been one of the nicest autumns we’ve had in a while, but it’s official—winter is coming. Mother Nature has been giving us all of the signs, so its time to start getting the gardens ready for bed (pun intended!) When it comes to getting the outside ready for winter, here is my personal […]
Beaujolais Nouveau
Thursday November 21 marks the official release of Beaujolais Nouveau this year. It happens annually on the third Thursday of November. This tradition in the Beaujolais region of France dates back to the 1800s, and though Nouveau wines are made all over the world, in Beaujolais the third Thursday of November became popularized by the […]
Hydrangea confusion
Since I’ve started hosting a small radio call-in show for gardeners looking for help with their outdoor spaces, the phone lines have been jammed from the moment the show starts until the final credits. The radio show has taught me a few things, including that no matter how much is on the Internet, people still […]
Statistically speaking
Don’t you just love statistics!? I, for one, am always impressed with something along the line of “The number of doughnuts sold on World Doughnut Day would fill thirty-five Olympic-sized swimming pools.” Imagine, if you can, someone measures the volume of the average doughnut, then finds out how many were consumed on Doughnut Day and […]
Recalls
We have pretty much figured out that we make stuff, find out it might be a huge mistake, and try to fix it. Personally, since I’m a do-it-yourself guy, this is part of every project I’ve ever done. Everything looks great, until you find you’ve left a ground wire close to a live wire on […]
Tea and cookie time
It’s Sunday. It’s November 3rd, and if you aren’t concerned about the outcome of the USA Presidential Election, you should be. Whatever the outcome, we’ve got a huge pile of problems in this old world. If the USA has decided to elect a deranged, Putin-loving, hatred-towardswomen spewing, psychopath as their President, then we’re in for […]
Plant importing
For the last few years I’ve been buying heirloom plant seeds from all over the world to increase my personal inventory of rare plants and vegetables. I’ve always assumed that if they could be shipped to me, then it must be okay with whatever inspection agency that Canada has in place. I was surprised to […]