I’ve been meaning to write a post about our upcoming trip to Mexico, but it’s been a busy time and I’ve not been feeling very well— more on that later. After feeling stressed (see this post for details) about the trip at first, I’ve calmed down and I’m feeling pretty excited. Yes, still nervous about...
Last night was our first night sleeping in our new little Alto trailer. (Apparently everyone names their trailers…not sure that’s really our thing, but any suggestions welcome!) We drove out to see some friends who live in the country towards Ottawa and they let us park it in their yard and feed off their electricity...
Back in February or so, Dave was so sick of winter here in Montreal, that he decided to book us a place to spend some of winter ‘23. He went ahead and booked an Airbnb (with no possibility of cancellation, which, having booked so far ahead, might not have been the best idea, but hey!)...
I recently came across this picture I took in 2011 from the millennium bridge in London looking towards St. Paul’s Cathedral. It immediately brought me back to that morning and that miserable week. It was August 20th, the day after my Dad had died thousands of miles away, in Vancouver, Canada. My Dad got...
This started out as a gardening blog many years ago, back when Apple had a platform for creating blogs. It was super simple and I loved it, but eventually they stopped supporting it altogether so I had to find another way to continue my blog, so I got a WordPress account and after much trial...
On my daily walks I find it comforting to move through the world as part of that demimonde of people who are free for some reason at 10 a.m. on a Thursday. These people are walking dogs, drinking coffee outside coffee shops, chatting on park benches with friends, power-walking (while no doubt listening to NPR...
I’m finding Proust fascinating, but I can only read about 10-20 pages at a time before my brain gets tired. I’m really enjoying the little ritual I started of reading Swann’s Way in the mornings with my coffee. I have my phone’s dictionary open plus a notebook at my side to jot down notes,...
I’m almost at the finish line of my Penguono sweater by Stephen West. It’s been quite an adventure and I’m happy with it. I don’t think this pattern would suit everyone, with its crazy colours, but it was a very enjoyable project. I was happy I was making a dent (albeit a small one) in...
“…our social personality is a creation of the thoughts of other people.” Discuss. I’ve been delving into Swann’s Way, the first book of In Search of Lost Time, by Marcel Proust and I read that phrase on page 23. It made me pause, partly because I’ve definitely heard it quoted before, but also because it...
I’ve been thinking a lot about getting back into reading, for real. See, here’s the thing. I adored reading as a child and adolescent; it was a wonderful escape, worlds to explore without leaving my couch, and it was the best therapy. However, now that there’s the easy internet, I tend to spend my “waste”...