Have you ever been stared down by two large dark chocolaty-brown deer eyes?  The other day a couple of deer decided to saunter through our backyard up to our kitchen bay window.  They probably were determined to check out the bright flowers on my plants on the window ledge to see if they could snatch some tasty petals to snack on.  Did they understand...

All of a sudden, Gary and I heard a huge, unexpected bang and immediately we were showered in darkness. We were just finishing our supper one night early in January.  We couldn’t even see the shock on each other’s faces. I scrambled around to find some flashlights and Gary managed to make it to the front door to look outside.  He realized that the blackout was just...

Recently I rediscovered in our archives a Kindergarten songbook that Gary had received from his Sunday School at Forward Baptist Church, Toronto.  He was probably 4 years old – today he is celebrating his 78th birthday.  I’m not sure why we have kept it; but somehow now it seems too old to hit the trash can.  Don’t you find that the books you want to get rid of you...

Truth and Reconciliation Day, September 30, has been set aside each year to honour indigenous “children who never came home and survivors” over generations throughout Canada.  Many like to wear orange shirts on this day which symbolizes the “stripping away of culture, freedom and self-esteem.“  Gord Downie, leader of the well-known Tragically Hip band, issued a call...

“She died peacefully.” came the early announcement of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing over my car radio on Sept 8 (our eldest daughter’s birthday) as I headed out that afternoon to do some shopping.  I mentioned the news to three cashiers at different stores and was intrigued with their similar responses. They were grateful to hear about what just had happened since...

We had babies!  Small baby brown wrens, that is.  Earlier this summer a couple of wrens moved into the birdhouse we purchased last spring which is hanging from the corner of our barn at the back of our yard. We knew they were around by their loud, vibrant, complex songs.  Soon we realized that the female was in there laying eggs, one per day – usually five or six in...

Don’t you hate it when you suddenly make a misstep?  You feel so dumb.  Our kitchen in our heritage home has been renovated this past month.  The floor was raised up three inches which was badly in need of levelling. There had been a small ramp up to the living-room from the kitchen.  Out of habit Gary and I often find ourselves stepping up high from one room to the...