I work most weekends at a winery just down the road. With all the rain we’ve been having this year there have been times when my shift has been very easy…after cleaning and stocking up the wine, finding more nooks and crannies to swipe my duster across, walking to the barn to check the bathroom…

Callie our calico cat turned 9 on May 8th. Compared to the 4 year old boys she’s an old lady, and she does spend most of her day sleeping in her comfy nest in the pretty little bedroom chair she adopted the minute it came in the house. So beloved did it become that we…

There is a new book out by Erik Larson that chronicles the war years of Winston Churchill, The Splendid and the Vile. In it Larson shows how Churchill taught the British people ‘the art of being fearless.’ In Churchill’s words, “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” As an optimist I wanted to know…

There was a smell in my bedroom. The weather had been wet, the windows closed, the heat on and I put it down to damp wood, or dusty corners; cat fur or lingering cooking smells; laundry or standing gutter water. Then it turned into an off kind of scent, touching on the acrid. I recognised…

This masking up has become a habit. Fourteen months ago all I could do was complain… “I can’t breathe.” “No-one can see my happy smile.” “My skin feels so dry.” “My lipstick just gets blotted off.” “My glasses keep fogging up.” …were just some of my daily grumblings. A friend of mine in England made…

One of my friends this week said, “When’s Malia due?” “Next Monday, ” I said. “Are you just,’ ho-hum, been there done that’…?” “Oh gosh no!  There isn’t anything that comes even close to having your daughter pregnant.” My truth! Watching her blossom, puts a smile on my face and takes me back 30 some…

How did I become a horse person almost overnight? Here I am researching behaviours, best cleaning methods, bathing pros and cons even innate habits that may or may not be reasons why a horse behaves in a particular way. I’ve just gone horse crazy! My son and his wife own WTTW, a non profit, educational…

We were asked to babysit Sophie Sparrow for the first time ever.  She is 18 months old and goes everywhere with Mum and Dad. “The party this Saturday says ‘no children’ could you come and watch her and put her to bed?” Of course we said, “Of course!” We thought they’d never ask! So off…

At Footlights there’s never a dull moment. We’re always mowing, pulling up thistle, dragging brambles out of trees, identifying birdsong, burning brush, building something be it a porch or a bower, digging beds, or simply putting up a pool for the summer. I was returning from the stable on Wednesday and saw a couple of…

This time of year, beginning on Ash Wednesday and ending on Easter Sunday, is my most favourite season of the liturgical church. Six weeks of spiritual preparation; setting aside time to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice, his life, suffering, death, burial and resurrection. In the shops of course it is secular, with the baskets and the…