Columnists

Connected and disconnected

Posted: Aug 7, 2025 at 9:39 am   /   Columnists

First of all, most types of dementia are not hereditary. While having a family member with dementia, particularly a first-degree relative like a parent or sibling, does increase your risk of developing the condition, it doesn’t guarantee you will get it. So, if Mom or Dad or Grandma or Grandpa had some form of dementia, […]

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Good to the last drop?

Posted: Jul 30, 2025 at 9:22 am   /   Columnists

I was recently asked at a speaking event why I’ve been so vocal about not liking grass in the yard. The reason I’m not a fan of grass is not the plant, but the homeowners that care for it. Grass requires more time, money and resources than anything else we can have in our outdoor […]

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Bottle sizes

Posted: Jul 30, 2025 at 9:20 am   /   Columnists

The standard wine bottle size is 750ml or about five 5oz glasses. It wasn’t always this way. But thanks to Napoleon and his quest for standardization and taxation, the 750ml bottle size became a way to simplify trade and calculations. The main trading partner of wine with France at the time was England, and the […]

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Losing control

Posted: Jul 30, 2025 at 9:17 am   /   Columnists

If you read any of the letters pages in our two County newspapers, you will see a trend. Not a happy trend. There’s lots to fight about, and lots to fight against. Though the passion is there in the writing, most of us are entering an endless cycle: Repeating the same arguments over and over. […]

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Hybrid grapes

Posted: Jul 24, 2025 at 9:46 am   /   Columnists

The grape species that is used to produce most of the wine you consume is called vitis vinifera. The grapes originate from Europe and include most of the varieties you already know: chardoanny, sauvignon blanc, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, etc. These species of vines don’t much care for cold weather. At minus 25 degrees celsius, they […]

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Cheers!

Posted: Jul 24, 2025 at 9:42 am   /   Columnists

Half-past July and finally the rain is falling on the day after my birthday. Today, Sunday the 20th of July, I am one day older and officially an old person. I know I’m old because recently I looked at an empty cardboard box and seriously wondered if it was good enough to keep because “you […]

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Mowing

Posted: Jul 24, 2025 at 9:41 am   /   Columnists

For the last few articles I’ve been trying to help you grow a better lawn. In this last piece, I am wrapping it up with mowing. Growing a good lawn means nothing if you don’t know how to care for it. When cutting your grass, there are a few things to know. First, we generally […]

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Labracadabra-dor and Newfoundland

Posted: Jul 17, 2025 at 12:39 pm   /   Columnists

What if? What if the entire, thinking world stopped reacting to what DJT says or does? What if we just stopped listening to him ramble on incoherently? What if the big corporations and the governments around the globe simply tuned him out? Would he go away? Speaking of going away and tuning out. LOML and […]

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Wines of Ontario

Posted: Jul 17, 2025 at 12:37 pm   /   Columnists

There are three main regions where grapes are grown to produce wines in Ontario: Lake Erie North Shore, Niagara Peninsula and Prince Edward County. Each is different and within each appellation there are countless variations on a theme. For example, The north shore of Lake Erie is much further south than the others and has […]

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Careful what you watch for

Posted: Jul 17, 2025 at 12:33 pm   /   Columnists

There seems to be a lot of negativity out there. But not for me. I’m kind of an optimist, and find the good in the middle of bad. For example, when I blew a tire, which pulled me off the road, I was thankful I didn’t roll into the ditch. While changing the tire, it […]

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