I’ve been taking a harder look at how much garbage we create. I won’t go into my embarrassment about London’s lack of a green bin program again. They say it might be coming. But beyond recycling everything we can (can! see what I did there?) it’s also about reducing the demand for single-use stuff. …
For a few years, alternating them with my then-husband, I went to Country Music Fan Fair in Nashville as a working journalist. It was always held during the hottest week of the summer, roughly 105F in the shade. I got to interview country’s up-and-coming stars while freelancing for the now defunct Country Wave Magazine. …
We had one expectation for this long weekend: free time. It included some friend time, some “we” time, and some time to do a few little things around the house. I had hoped to put wood protector on the deck but it was too hot out. (Yay!) Derek finished a project that – let’s face it – was more important to me than it was to him. …
Our maternal Grandma was always a bit of a mystery to us. She was deeply religious, we never saw her wear pants, and I don’t think she had a lot of fun in her life. …
This letter arrived in the mail last week. It was a wonderful surprise. …
Only Londoners of a certain vintage will remember the Hiney Winery! It was a fictional locale, part of CKSL morning show lore, located in lovely Arva, just outside London. Rich and Norm referred to it regularly as if it was a real place. …
Today is my Mom’s birthday. We celebrated last weekend, knowing that this weekend was packed and we couldn’t get away. We delivered the hall tree Derek made for her condo, we had cake and sang, poorly, in our family’s traditional way. Derek sings with confidence, my brother murmurs and I tend to alter the words into something that makes sense only to me. It’s chaos in every key! …
There’s something to be said for keeping one’s mind off the thing that’s being a bother when all you’re doing is repeating the same information on a loop. It’s alluring to keep going over it in your head, again and again. But I’ve found that distracting myself can be just as healing. Instead of running repeat laps on the same mental track, when I come back to the issue or the thing, it’s like driving a car with a fresh set of tires. …
Life is hard. Stuff happens that’s out of your control. People move, leave, die. You have to take your cat to the vet and not come back home with him. (Us, on Monday) But people also do amazing things for others with no other motivation than it’s the right thing to do, and it feels good. …
It’s such a kick to see my book in the hands of so many people on social media. …
It’s part of the deal. Pets don’t live long enough and we know that going in. Adopting a senior cat likely meant even less time and maybe that’s why most people don’t want to do it. You know it in your head but no one tells your heart. …
Saturday was hotter in London, Ontario than it was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai, that over-populated, but-it’s-a-dry-heat, desert playground, where 40C+ is the norm. Where millions of people hustle through the world’s tenth-busiest airport on their way to spend their wealth at luxury stores while the sun beats down with a relentless burn. No wonder we didn’t want to go outside. …
A newish London news source called The London Beat talked to Derek about his career, and it bubbled over a bit into mine. …
What you’re about to read isn’t typical of this blog. I’m angry and I’m sad. You’ve been warned. …
A great joy in my life is being a Grandma without ever having children. Wait, that didn’t come out right. It’s not that I am joyful that I didn’t have children. But I got grandkids anyway. …
If this post makes you a little uncomfortable, that’s part of the reason I’m writing it. It’s evidence of a problem that needs fixing for girls of the present and future. …
Thanks to our pal Bruce Barker, we got a trial start on a weekly subscription of Good Food. It’s a meal prep service that delivers all of the ingredients you need to make wonderful meals. Only olive oil, salt and pepper aren’t included. …
When I moved into the house almost ten years ago, I ordered a large wardrobe from Ikea. It helped solve the lack-of-closet-space issue that many houses of this era have. If our home was a person, it would be getting its pension and planning its shopping trips for senior’s days. …