Requiem for a Flower
Thanks to the many emails I received about the unidentified plant, I know now that it is (or shall we say, was) an amaryllis. …
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Old Friends
The co-author of one of my most enduring friendships came by today and it got me thinking about what treasures good friends are. …
Home Improvement
You may be aware that I write a bi-weekly column for the Toronto Sun called House Proud. It runs in the New Homes and Condos section and it’s about anything and everything to do with owning a home. It’s also one of my favourite freelance jobs because I’m all about a comfortable home – not showy or even necessarily with the latest and greatest things. But an oasis and a nest that reflects the people who live in it. …
House Proud – Winter Prep
During a torrential rainstorm, I ventured outside to investigate the cause of our overflowing rain gutter. I discovered that a very small but mighty tree had sprouted up and was creating a blockage that sent a waterfall over the side of the house, where it was making a small lake on the lawn. …
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The Day To Day
People ask me, they say, what do you do with your days now that you’re no longer on the radio? Let me tell you! They’re chock-a-block with this and that and the other! …
Sweet and Sour
Maybe it’s time we just tossed away all of this artificial crap we’re eating and if we need to satisfy a sweet tooth, we eat something sweet, containing good old fashioned sugar. Because trying to get around the realities of nature sometimes just isn’t worth it. …
Return to the Snowbelt
In the winter of 1983-84, I moved from Prince George BC to London ON. I drove a VW Rabbit diesel with Puff the lizard in a carrier beside me. It was an unconventional trip to be sure. I vividly recall being threatened with bodily harm after stopping at a small town bar in search of a coffee near last call on a Saturday night.  Apparently firing up the coffeemaker was holding up the beer pouring and time was running out, making some thirsty locals very unhappy. …
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Review: Here’s The Story by Maureen McCormick
Like millions of other children of the 1970’s, I loved the Brady Bunch. My brother and I had our biggest fights over the TV when Brady reruns were pitted against repeats of Star Trek. So my Mom made us trade afternoons. Therefore I am as well acquainted with tribbles as I am with Tiger. Captain Kirk may have commanded some of my attention but Greg Brady had my heart. …
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It’s A Guy Thing
Added to my list for a trip to Home Depot was a “piano hinge”. No problem. I know what a hinge is so a piano hinge must not be hard to find. Right? It shouldn’t be, since that what every guy calls it. But it’s some sort of underground conspiracy that I’ve unwittingly tapped into. Read on. …
This is Not a Paid Advertisement!
Hey decor-diva sisters and brothers, here’s a tip from a savvy shopper. …
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Toronto Driving, Experienced By An Outsider
I chose to look at my morning commute into Toronto yesterday as an experiment. My Xtrail was in a petri dish and I was a scientist, observing the effect on it after mixing thousands of vehicles, impatient drivers and driving rain. Any other perspective would have made me blow a personal gasket. …
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How The Other Half Lives
Today the reporter becomes the reportee. …
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Lest We Look Like We Forget
I don’t suppose today is the day to crab about the lapel poppy, so I’ll just say it needs a redesign. …
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A Lesson In Patience
This morning I arrived at a four-way stop with a van at the stop to my left. …
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House Proud: Kids Are Decorators Too – Nov. 7, 2008
When I was a little kid, I was all about the colour purple. Sure, now they’re showing purple as the hot hue for fall fashions, but there was a long time, perhaps decades, when purple wasn’t so cool. Back in the day, my babysitter Kathy was a Donny Osmond fan (to put it mildly); Donny loved purple, which begat Kathy’s puppy love for purple, which in turn begat mine. …
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Real Women Gathering
My affiliation with Real Women Magazine is something I’m very proud of.  Real Women was started from scratch just a few years ago by Shelly Wilson, a brilliant, energetic pro with an entrepreneurial spirit. As the mag. has grown, it’s spread from London to KW and beyond and through subsciptions booked online, it’s now province wide. The website, www.realwomencanada.com, shows where it wants to go – nationwide. I’ve been the “She Said” in the “He Said She Said” advice column for many months now and I’m also contributing major feature articles to several ’09 issues. …
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