December 2025

Every year I swear next December will be different. Shopping, making, wrapping, baking, cooking, cleaning – I’ll start all of it earlier and cruise into Christmas Day serenely on top of everything. Ha.

I do get a little more organized with every passing year, it’s true. The Christmas Binder™ of plans, lists, recipes and games helps a lot. Not having a whole month of Christmas concerts, class parties, Secret Santas and so on for three kids on top of all the other stuff helps even more. 

And yet, by December 24 every year, I want to lie down and sleep for a week. After a few festive days of breaking up animal fights, endless dishwasher loads and non-stop eating, everyone gathers their loot and goes home and it takes a week to clean up again. I like Christmas, I do, but I like not-Christmas more.

Two of my guests, Nadja and Simon:

This guest was not allowed indoors:

Before the pressure got to be too much, there were walks with Anna and Evie.

May 2026 be kind to us all. 

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animals, birds, family, Nova Scotia, walks

my favourite reads of December 2025

The Allingham Case-book by Margery Allingham (1969)

A collection of short stories, some featuring Albert Campion.

Funny, clever, really enjoyable.

Cover Her Face by PD James (1962)

A devious housemaid is strangled in her bed and Dalgleish discovers she had a lot of enemies.

The first PD James I’ve ever read and I liked it a lot.

Do Admit! by Mimi Pond (2025)

A biography of the infamous Mitford sisters in graphic novel form.

I find graphic novels like this a bit hard to read when there are lines of text all over the page in every direction, but the Mitford sisters are so fascinating I persevered.

Night at the Vulcan by Ngaio Marsh (1951)

Young actress Martyn Tarne stumbles into a job as a dresser in a play with a cast that has complicated feelings about each other. When the star actor dies, some of the cast and crew are happy for her to take the blame.

A bit slow-moving and too focused on how sweet and charming Martyn is, but it was still pretty good.

Police at the Funeral by Margery Allingham (1931)

The fiancée of an old friend of Campion’s is the personal companion to a spiky elderly lady, who lives with her strange and unlikeable adult children and nephews, one of whom has disappeared. Campion goes to investigate.

Not my favourite Allingham, but her B-list books are still better than a lot of other authors’ A-list ones, if you ask me.

Remarkable Diaries (2020)

A large, beautifully illustrated book on diaries through the centuries, with a good range of subjects. It inspired me to hunt down a few so I can read more.

The Yellow Dog by Georges Simenon (1931)

Maigret is brought in to investigate when a would-be assassin seems to be targeting a group of influential men in a small town. 

Simenon is economical – no wasting time on extraneous conversation or character-building or much description of any sort. I like it.

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the second half of November 2025

Without doubt, this is the best time of year for walking. Even when we’re being watched by fearsome predators.

I lose my mind a bit, stopping to take pictures of everything as if I’ve never seen snow before.

Other than gaping at precipitation, I’ve spent way too much time online shopping for Christmas presents, which never fails to be both stressful and infuriating. Far more enjoyable has been the time I’ve spent knitting top-secret Christmas presents, which can be revealed here in January if I can remember to take photos before doling them out.

I’ve been watching Annika (it’s okay) and reading a bunch of good books, including Do Admit!, The Allingham Case-book, How to Be a (Bad) Birdwatcher and Cover Her Face. 

Sadly, my uncle Cecil died at the end of the month. He was a good guy and I’ll miss him.

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my favourite reads of November 2025

Art Work by Sally Mann (2025)

Part memoir and part advice to young photographers and artists of all kinds.

I wasn’t familiar with Sally Mann or her work before stumbling across this book, but I found her really funny and interesting and wise. 

Catching the Big Fish by David Lynch (2006)

Short pieces on film-making, transcendental meditation, reminiscences and his philosophies on life. 

I didn’t like it as much as Sally Mann’s Art Work, but I enjoyed his perspective. It’s just a book, of course, but I get the feeling he was a pretty decent, thoughtful kind of guy.

Every Salad Ever by Greta Podleski (2025)

I’ve always avoided those Looneyspoons cookbooks because the cartoons and overwhelming punniness are definitely not my thing, but this is cartoon-free and minimally punny and the recipes are very do-able in terms of time, effort and ordinary ingredients. I also like that the author wanted to keep it Canadian and off of Amazon. Gotta love a person with principles.

Leonard and Hungry Paul by Rónán Hession (2019)

Follows two quiet, gentle bachelors through some ordinary ups-and-downs of life. 

I kept waiting for terrible characters to come along and hurt them, but this is a world populated by mostly good and kind people. It’s a nice, ordinary story about nice, ordinary people.

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham (1931)

Albert Campion helps the Gyrth family save an ancient chalice, a family heirloom, from thieves contracted to steal it for a wealthy buyer.

Very entertaining. I’m starting to think Margery Allingham might be my favourite author from The Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

A huge thanks to the Edmonton Public Library for sending a copy all the way to NS.

The Peepshow by Kate Summerscale (2024)

The fascinating and enraging story of the horrific murders committed by Reg Christie in London in the 1950s, as well as the effects that covering the story had on journalists and journalism.

Excellent, compelling reading, just like all Kate Summerscale’s books.

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first half of November 2025

Woohoo, it’s cosy season: flannel shirts, woollen shawls and socks, hot cocoa, beeswax candles and long, dark evenings. I miss these sensory comforts so much during the summer.

Anna, Evie and I have been walking quite a bit while the weather is perfect:

I’ve been reading The Allingham Case-Book and Sorrow and Bliss, watching Dalgleish and Walking with Dinosaurs, knitting a hooded scarf thing (we’ll see), and baking brownies (oh yes), yogurt poppy seed cake (meh) and pear cake (okay, but I’ll make improvements next time).

And watching birdies, of course:

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birds, family, walks

October 2025 in photos

Ah, October. And with it, the return of my will to live. I get an energy surge every year once autumn really hits and a desire to DO. ALL. THE. THINGS. I can’t even begin to express how glad I am summer is over for another year.

One thing I’ve spent a lot of time doing is downloading and sifting through the thousands of photos I’ve taken since June, some of which I’d like to share here. I really need to develop a better system for this because letting them pile up until it’s a completely overwhelming week-long project isn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. Lesson learned.

After a Thanksgiving lunch at Anna’s, we all went out to pick apples in her small orchard, much to the annoyance of this beauty:

A starling also had something to say about all the dumb people cluttering up the yard:

Now that it isn’t too hot and sunny to leave the house occasionally, we have started a weekly supper get-together at Anna’s. I bring the food and Anna supplies the view:

The neighbours want to know what’s going on:

At home, I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time admiring cloudy skies and celebrating every drop of rain, after a summer of practically no rain at all. Stormy sky + red leaves = perfection.

On one of our after-lunch walks last week, Foster and I passed a field with hundreds of Canada Geese, all seated and facing north, as if they were at a drive-in. You can almost see them in this poor cellphone photo:

I guess they like to watch the skies, too.

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birds, family, garden, Nova Scotia

my favourite reads of October 2025

A Man’s Head by Georges Simenon (1931)

Maigret suspects that a man found guilty of a double murder didn’t do it and sets out to discover who did.

Quick-moving and enjoyable. There is a strange quality to all the Maigrets I’ve read so far and I can’t quite put my finger on what it is. A vagueness, maybe? There are definitely moments when I’m not entirely clear on what is happening. Maybe it’s Simenon’s style or maybe it’s the style of French books from the thirties. I am far from an expert.

Mystery Mile by Margery Allingham (1930)

An American judge is pursued across the Atlantic by a ruthless gang that has already killed four of his employees. (“Four murders in his house within a month? That ought to be stopped. He’s been told about it, I suppose?”) The judge’s adult children hire Albert Campion to help protect their father and expose the gang’s leadership.

Good plotting + fun twists + splashes of humour = very entertaining.

Swing, Brother, Swing by Ngaio Marsh (1949)

An obnoxious and widely despised band member is murdered during a performance by their guest drummer, the eccentric and unpredictable Lord Pastern. But did Lord Pastern really do it?

I liked this one a lot. Lady Pastern is hilarious.

Time Anxiety by Chris Guillebeau (2025)

Useful advice on how to live a happier life.

A quick, but valuable read.

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my favourite reads of September 2025

The Collected Short Fiction of Ngaio Marsh (1969)

Contains essays on Alleyn and Troy as well as the short stories “Death on the Air”, “I Can Find My Way Out”, “The Little Copplestone Mystery”, “The Hand in the Sand”, “The Cupid Mirror”, “A Fool About Money”, “Morepork”, and a telescript of “Evil Liver”.

I prefer her novels, but overall I liked it.

The Crime at Black Dudley by Margery Allingham (1929)

A weekend house party in the country turns into a trap and the guests are held hostage by a gang of criminals.

Suspenseful, good pacing, clever plotting – I really liked it.

Dear Writer by Maggie Smith (2025)

Advice mainly geared toward poets, but lots of value for any writer.

Maggie Smith has a friendly, easygoing and encouraging way of writing that makes you feel not only that you could write, but that you should.

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh (1945)

The body of Florence Rubrick, a brash politician in wartime New Zealand, is found stuffed in a bale of wool sent for processing by the sheep farm she shares with a bunch of dubious characters. Alleyn, in New Zealand on official spy-hunting business, is brought in to investigate.

Enjoyable.

The Little Nugget by PG Wodehouse (1913)

The rich, estranged parents of a horrible child, nicknamed The Little Nugget, are engaged in an ongoing war over the boy, with each side using spies and kidnappers to steal him away from the other.

Not quite as joke-packed as many Wodehouses, but there are still many very funny passages. 

Your To-Die-For Life by Karen Salmansohn (2025)

Essentially memento mori and therefore live accordingly, but it has lots of good advice and was a quick, pleasant read.

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