About five years ago my eldest son developed a keen interest in mushrooms, and suddenly our front yard and garden were littered with stacks of logs he had inoculated with various strains of edible … [Read more...]

Last time I picked up a prescription, the poor pharmacist put his hands to his forehead and wailed, “This used to be a quiet little town!” But progress has come to my little rural community since the … [Read more...]

Last month, as my kids gathered at the dinner table using FaceTime to celebrate my youngest daughter’s 24th birthday, I heard them all agree there was no point trying to buy a house because the planet … [Read more...]

I was just reading a piece in the New York Times about how people have been fleeing the city in droves this past year to find freedom from the pandemic. The same thing is happening in our … [Read more...]

Out here on the Ninth Concession, burglars are at work every week among the “view” properties along the top of the hill to the west. Break-ins and car thefts are so common that police no longer visit … [Read more...]

The chief purpose of a country property is to be looked after. I knew this as a young man, long before I bought my own place. When I was a student, my friends often invited me to join them for a … [Read more...]

In the first few days after the order to shelter in place, our two sons returned home and prepared to ride out the pandemic with us. Our new normal included regular sit-down family meals with the two … [Read more...]

Every time there’s a divorce in the neighbourhood, I get more chickens. Anyone who owns a pickup truck knows that whenever a friend is going through a transition, they always ask you to help them … [Read more...]