Horticulturists know a lot about “branding.” Somehow a plant called Aurinia Saxatilis doesn’t have the same “fly off the shelf” quality as Basket of Gold does. Nor does “madwort,” an earlier name, which was fortunately changed. Even though the plant was believed to cure forms of mental illness, it deserved a better name. Basket of […]
Again I have to thank the crazy people I interact with (with whom I interact) on FB for this post. Fiona Ellis, knitwear designer extraordinaire, posted this note about a curio that can be purchased at Restoration Hardware. They are German Carnival noses and they have been reduced, in price that is, not size, from
In five days time we will be flying to Italy for a fortnight. (I’ve said that before.) We spent Sunday looking for a new jacket for my husband. Nothing worked, so we have decided that the old one, frayed cuffs and all, will be OK, after all who spends a lot of time looking at
I like finding unusual “things” to write about or photograph. The other day after dropping my daughter off at the park to coach a soccer group, I noticed that the skating arena had just cleaned off their ice after the hockey season and dumped it at the side of the parking lot. It made for
Mountain Equipment Co-op (M.E.C.) is a great place. The company was started in Vancouver as a retail outlet for outward bound gear and equipment. There are now 16 locations across Canada. It’s a sustainable business, structured as a co-op, with an appeal to people of all ages. I just love going there. My daughter decided
A friend of mine came over for dinner last night. Brenda had been in Italy last November visiting a friend of hers who is a writer. She spent half her time in Rome and the other half touring Umbria, where her friend has a second residence (with an olive grove), and Florence. We spent a
We are all familiar with the positive adjectives that Real Estate people use to make homes appealing. “Cozy” bungalow means small and cramped. “Original” architect’s concept means needs a lot of work and “unique” features means that there are some weird configurations in the home, that may have to be changed to make it suit
I’ve been a little down lately. Not sure why. I shouldn’t really be because there are so many positive “things” on the horizon. The warmer weather is here; we’re going on holiday; “things” are generally good. Maybe that’s it. Everything is going very smoothly, so I wonder when the axe is going to fall. I
Today is “Buy A Musical Instrument Day.” I am not sure why we need a day for this. In my house it probably should be “Find A Musical Instrument Day.” My daughter has two guitars. My son inherited our old keyboard with a non-functioning key or two. I have preserved my grandfather’s harmonica all these
Every year we plant Marigolds in the garden. They are bright showy flowers and if the aphids don’t get them in the first week or so, they will bloom until the frost. It suddenly occurred to me that I knew nothing about Marigolds, except that they are annuals here in Canada and are often used
