An early Mother’s Day visit to our Number One Dot and her partner O – on the first fine day this spring – took us in search of waterfalls on the Niagara Escarpment. The couple had newly moved to Hamilton, with over 100 waterfalls within its boundaries. This was news to Mr TG and I […]
Christmas at Dundurn Castle
Over the next few evenings this weekend, you can share a close-to-Dickens-y Christmas celebration at an historic site just around the corner in Hamilton. It’s at Dundurn Castle, a national historic site you might not even know about. I didn’t till recently. We Canadians tend to be wimps about our own history. Just as with […]
Double Vision: Canada’s landscape in fabric
Double Vision exhibits the unique perspectives of twin sisters Debbie Richards (left), a quilter, and artist Diane Stewart Admiring Diane Stewart’s work from afar, you’d never guess her medium: minuscule fabric swatches, applied painstakingly to canvas, sometimes augmented by embroidery stitches. Three years ago, she and her twin Debbie Richards, a talented quilter, had an […]
Oshawa Peony Festival: For peonies envy
With 300 varieties and cultivars, the Oshawa Botanical Garden is the home of the Peony Festival If you, like Sarah and I, have a bad case of peonies envy, you’ll want to know that June 11 & 12 is the kickoff for the Oshawa Peony Festival. Peonies, like poppies, tend to come and go in […]
Garden Daytrips: Garden Walk Buffalo
For Toronto garden lovers, the biggest open garden tour in North America is only a two-hour drive (and a wee wait at the border) away. In 2010, that means the chance to see more than 350 open gardens in one weekend. And admission is completely free! It’s Garden Walk Buffalo, always held on the […]
Thanksgiving for Thanksgiving
This Thanksgiving Weekend is a time to give thanks for all our blessings – like the wonderful family weekend Sarah’s family and mine spent together two years ago at her little house in the country near Marmora. Here are some outdoorsy images of that autumnal time.
Daytrips: St. Jacob’s Farmers’ Market
On Sunday, while in Waterloo, we went a few clicks further north to visit St. Jacob’s. I was in dire need of fresh-picked apples, and hoped we’d have time to visit the farmers’ market. The huge market in St. Jacob’s is open on Thursdays and Saturdays all through the year. Sundays are much smaller, but […]
Garden Daytrips: Virginia’s Garden
Another garden gem in the Bruce Peninsula, at the northern tip of Dyers Bay, is Virginia’s Garden. It’s nestled in a slightly sloping pocket between the road and the towering limestone cliffs behind – a unparalleled backdrop of rock cliffs and towering trees. Gravel paths guide you through the garden, Virginia Dolliver’s labour of love […]
Garden Daytrips: Stratford by any other name
Shakespeare has been the attraction for my past visits to Stratford, Ontario. Sure, I’ve long been a fan of the swan-dotted park along the Avon River. Yet, I’d never thought of the town as a place to go just to see gardens. What a pleasant surprise. Between Brian Bedford’s not-to-be-missed Lady Bracknell in The Importance […]
City mice visit Country Gardener
On Wednesday, Sarah and I were thrilled to enjoy a Tweetup in the Ancaster garden of Country Gardener blogger and garden author Yvonne Cunnington, joined by Hamilton Tweeter Tricia of @ycswid. It was just a few days after Yvonne hosted a garden tour, so every inch was pristine. However, my sense is that “pristine” is […]
Garden Daytrips: Larkwhistle (Bruce Peninsula)
I had a chance/excuse to go to Dyer’s Bay in the Bruce Peninsula to visit a garden Mecca: Larkwhistle Garden. As I was dropping my son at a friend’s cottage in Georgian Bay anyway, I thought, Dyer’s Bay is only a 3 hour drive from the cottage — it was a temptation I couldn’t resist! […]