About Me
My name is Vivian and I am a retired professional trombone player, and amateur gardener, who loves to write, and who rediscovered the joys of knitting after twenty years, in 2014. I was born and have lived most of my life in Montreal, Canada. I come by my interest in gardening from my mother, who was an avid gardener and admirer of plants. Despite spending most of her adult life in apartment complexes, she always found a way to garden; whether it was through community gardening, or sneaking in a garden plot behind her building, (including a compost bin!) or taking care of a friend’s country garden plot. It was her favourite way to relax. She knew, as I do, that spending time with nature, even when your little oasis is surrounded by buildings, roads and cars, is time spent without counting it. The beings all around you are ignorant of the passage of time as we know it, and that blissful ignorance is contagious. She also taught me to knit. Embracing these acts of creativity has given me a share of tranquility.
Since 2013, when I started this iteration of my blog, my interests have changed, as have I. I now write about anything that comes to mind. Lately ), I’ve been writing more about how we’re managing through the pandemic, my struggles with insomnia, my goals for my retirement, and my thoughts about society and the world. In fact, whatever inspires me that day. This is an eclectic blog, and I hope you’ll enjoy it along with me! I also have a knitting podcast on Youtube called The Guilty Knitter, where you’ll find most of my knitting-related content. It is in hiatus now, since my interests have been drawn elsewhere, but the episodes are still there.
Aside from loving plants and knitting, I also love my family; my husband, David, a madly talented and obsessed musician, and my two children, Erica and Travis, whose existence means I’ll always have something to knit, if ever I run out of projects for myself (unlikely!).
I dedicate this site to the memory of my mother, Alison Lee.
I love to hear from you!