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This blizzard that has gone on for too long
Jan 2, 2021
I have thought a few times about writing our kids and Brent’s parents to tell them how great their father and son has turned out to be in a pandemic. I think I haven’t done it mostly because I don’t want the generation above me or below me to think I’m such a wreck that …
The night I wore an apron and almost killed my neighbour, who is quite nice.
Nov 21, 2020
Around this time last year, give or take a week or two, I made the Sparkling Cranberry Cake with White Chocolate Icing, which was the cover cake of the Nov/Dec 2019 Canadian Living magazine. It was a flashy yet elegant snowy white, studded throughout with fresh tangy cranberries and covered in a layer of coarse …
The night I wore an apron and almost killed my neighbour, who is quite nice. Read More »
My pie lifter
Nov 6, 2020
I brought a pie lifter home with me from Nova Scotia this fall. I also brought six piles of kindling wood tied together with twine, a stained glass window from a pub in Tatamagouche that my dad made, four bottles of pickled carrots I canned with my sister, and a fistful of pussy willows. But …
These old dog days
Oct 12, 2020
It occurred to me today, right after Brent said, “Does Dewey have his hearing aids in?” (and we laughed) that we do not treat our dog as our baby, like some dog owners do, but instead more like an old man who lives with us. An elderly companion with whom we share our home and …
Good-bye to my pumpkin pie
Oct 10, 2020
Yesterday, I ate mostly just pumpkin pie. In the morning, we bought the giant pumpkin pie Costco sells — the huge one — even while I knew our Thanksgiving dinner plans were pretty much done with. We arrived home, I snapped the plastic dome off the pie, cut a slice and stood at the kitchen …
Me and my bookcases
Aug 18, 2020
After a long wander through the bookcase-less desert, we now have two, standing like beauties on either side of our big front window. This makes me so happy. We did the clever thing of purchasing IKEA bookcases and having someone smart and handy add crown-molding on the top so they look a little bit fancy, …
The little big thing that made all the difference
Aug 5, 2020
Today I hauled out of hiding my first computer, which was one of the first laptops. It is the Toshiba Satellite T1850C. It weighs pounds. Somewhere around 1995 my father-in-law showed up with it in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan.
Long aimless drives are back
Jul 14, 2020
The other night we drove through Lakefield, a beautiful, small town in the Kawartha Highlands. We had just wolfed down "Halifax-style" donairs from Ken's Pizza and Wings, which we had driven past in nearby Peterborough.
Bellyaching
Jul 3, 2020
The other day while driving on a back highway, Thomas and I passed a turn-off to what I suppose was a farm, marked at the bottom of the gravel lane with a white homemade sign listing what they had for sale. And that was Pies, Peas, Lettuce and Tarts, and in that order.
A prayer for minister’s wives
Jun 6, 2020
At the very beginning of the pandemic, when someone picked the world upside down and shook it until the coins fell out of her pocket, I wrote a prayer for pastor's wives and recorded it as part of Christianity Today's "Prayer Amid Pandemic" podcast series.
As we re-open our hearts
Jun 5, 2020
When we open our cottage every year, after its long hibernation, it takes us a little time to bring order and beauty back into our special spot.
What I learned about recording an audio book
May 22, 2020
On the day before I flew to Chicago I spent some time arranging outfits on my bed for Holly to inspect and approve (or not). I wanted to look professional, yet warm, be comfortable, but not too casual.
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