The Telegram

Weekends are always busy, especially in the spring. Last weekend was a perfect gardening weekend - the light rain helped soften the soil so the goutweed came out a little more easily. I made my way to my favourite garden centre and I was not ...

I miss a lot of things about the farm: the quiet, the openness, the smells and the fact that things happened, as Grandma always said, "in due time." Regardless of when we thought it was time to tap the maple trees, cut the hay or harvest ...

Here in Atlantic Canada, if we could rename our seasons after the seven dwarfs, spring would be Bashful – shy and approaching with trepidation. As the daylight hours grow, we become impatient: gardeners worry about frost, golfers are sick of ...

May snow is never welcome, even by me - and I love snow. There comes a time when you need to move on and put away your boots. Here in Atlantic Canada, we don't often get through the month without some of the white stuff. Other than to complain ...

It’s never a good idea to stare directly into the sun, especially on a clear day. However, some days, you can still see the sun, but it’s delicately veiled by a thin layer of cloud. That was the case on Sunday, April 26. Thin, wispy ...

Both my grandmothers left this Earth for a better place quite some time ago. I think about them a lot, but even more so lately. I have many fond memories of time spent with Grandma, but the most precious of all took place before most kids were ...

Grandma was never surprised when it snowed after the spring equinox.  She was always quick to remind us that there would be three more snows after the first day of spring. Lo and behold, after I moved to Atlantic Canada, I learned that ...

One week ago today, it was Ash Wednesday.  In my daily column, I talked about Grandma and how she would take note of the wind direction on Ash Wednesday.  On the first day of Lent, she could be overheard saying: “Wherever the wind ...

Well, this is it: the first day of the most difficult 40 days in the calendar year – at least for me. Lent starts today.  In Lent, many Christians commit to fasting, as well as giving up certain luxuries to replicate the ...

Last week I was at the fabric store picking up some tartan for my Bay City Rollers outfit (they’re coming to town – a girl has to be prepared) when a lady approached to thank me for writing my book. The woman holding a bolt of cheery ...