first half of January 2026

January is the best month, hands down. Christmas is over, but there are still plenty of treats around. The skies are grey and easy on the eyes. Leafless trees mean the birds are easy to spot. Cooler temperatures mean tea, blankies, candles and deep sleep every night. I love it all. I wish it was like this all year.

There was some minor, annoying excitement last week when Anna came out of work to a completely flat tire. After CAA put on her spare, we swapped cars so she could drive without worry to work the next day and surprise! Our car had an aggressively leaky tire, too. Sigh. Both vehicles have now been to the garage for new tires and other repairs (why are brake pads seemingly made of tissue paper?) so it was time for the dishwasher to break down two days ago.

I’ve been…

baking sheet-pan banana pancakes

knitting another hooded scarf

making yogurt

reading Dorie’s Anytime Cakes by Dorie Greenspan, Flora Nouveaux by Carla Wingett and A Mind to Murder by PD James

watching The Marlow Murder Club and Unforgotten, season 6

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birds, family, I've been

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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