Hello, friends. This summer, our 50?-year-old kitchen finally, completely, unequivocally broke beyond any reasonable repair. We decided to renovate it and hey let's divide a bedroom in two so the kids can have their own rooms and while we're at it we should really rectify the plumbing in the bathroom and you know, we may as well turn the stairs around and bring them up to code while we're at it. … [Read more...]
Pok pok
Hello, friends. A couple of days ago, my friend K sent me a link to these amazing images from The Illustrated Book of Poultry (1870) and they got me thinking. Have I ever told you about the time I killed a chicken? A few years ago, Nick gave me a copy of Storey's Guide to Raising Poultry, by Glenn Drowns, for Mother's Day. To my mind, this is a waaaaaay better present than a charm bracelet … [Read more...]
The Book for People
Hello, friends. In June, my son received this book as a gift (not from us!). I rolled my eyes (when he wasn't looking) and thought, Oh, come on, Scholastic - you can do SO MUCH BETTER. I was tempted to incinerate it with my laser eyes but decided, instead, to wait and see what happened. For most of the summer, it sat on the shelf. A couple of weeks ago, he began to read it. After a while, he … [Read more...]
Wisdom (not mine)
Hello, friends. This week, I want to share with you three of the best online articles I've recently read. The first is "On White Fragility", by André-Norton-award-winning novelist Justine Larbalestier. "I keep seeing white authors getting hung up on whether white people are allowed to write from points of view not our own. Spoiler: we're allowed. No one is stopping us. Will doing so make YA … [Read more...]
The old man is snoring
Hello, friends. IT'S RAINING! This summer, Kingston is experiencing its most severe drought since 1888, and I am so grateful to see the recent rains. Yesterday, a series of coincidences led us to the lakeside cottage of a friend-of-a-friend. It was incredibly beautiful to drink wine, eat gazpacho, and watch the kids swim (briefly!) in a cold, grey lake. Here's the view from the … [Read more...]
Welcome, spring
Hello, friends. It's early spring in eastern Ontario. This means that everything - everything! - is brown, there's salt and grit all over the sidewalks and roads, and the weather is still mostly wintry. If T. S. Eliot had lived here, he would absolutely, positively have declared that March, not April, is the cruellest month. Despite this, we had a lovely, lazy long weekend. Dinner with … [Read more...]