Remember when Rainy River was its own cosy little riding at Queen’s Park? Times, of course, certainly have changed. First it was the former government of Mike Harris, which, in 1999 as an apparent cost-saving measure, decided to mirror provincial ridings with their federal counterparts, thus creating Kenora-Rainy River. It […]
Features
I was standing in line at the bank the other day, clueless to the world around me. I was fidgeting with my wallet and the ever-growing stash of old receipts and slips of paper in the coin purse. Some of those little notes contained chicken scratch ideas for my column […]
In the newspaper business, we always have told our customers that colour sells. Adding just a single colour to an ad increased the potential that it would be read by an increase of 50 percent. Putting something into the full rainbow of colours, almost every reader of a newspaper would […]
Having reached the lofty heights of 39 percent of the popular vote in one election campaign, the Conservative Party of Stephen Harper now has set out to dismantle several of our national institutions. The latest, but certainly not last, institution to be attacked is the CBC. Conservative media outlets, Conservative […]
My eldest daughter just received her Master’s of Education degree from Simon Fraser University, and I was there in the crowd watching as she and throngs of others paraded into the outdoor convocation hall. Family and friends shivered under university-issue blankets while the graduates were piped in, the glorious sound […]
Another open-water fishing season is just about wrapped up for me. I know there’s still plenty of time left to get out on the water a few more times, and I most definitely will, but for the most part I’m pretty much done. I have one more TV segment left […]
When we first moved to Kansas from Canada in 1966, I felt very free. We knew few people, so there were no social obligations. I had no responsibilities except being a young mother. No meetings to attend. No committee obligations. No fundraising cookbooks to edit. No Sunday School class to […]
By Melanie Mathieson
The Gardening Guru
The Gardening Guru
Some say that those who grow plants indoors are not gardeners. Well, I strongly disagree. I started growing houseplants when I was about five years old. I had houseplants long before I ever had my own property, where I could plant flowerbeds and a vegetable garden. I have vast […]
Here we are in the autumn of the year again. And that means, among other things, pumpkins. Pumpkin faces—either real or cardboard—spring up all over the place in late October. Along with witches, goblins, and ghosts, the pumpkin has come to be a symbol of Hallowe’en. The pumpkin that is […]
This is a column I wish I didn’t have to write, and hope I will never have to write again. But sadly, given the events of this past weekend, I have to. On Sunday afternoon, 33-year-old Dan Wheldon, who had won the IndyCar Series championship in 2005 and captured the […]
Well, the Pearl and I made it safely out of North America, across the pond, and into rainy Ireland. There, the clouds parted and, with the exception of the odd shower, we were treated to lots of sunshine, old castles, green fields, and friendly folks. Driving was a bit nerve-wracking, […]
This wind is not very enjoyable and I’m hoping it is gone soon. We spent a good part of the weekend in the bush fencing and the trees were snapping off all around us. It actually was a bit creepy. We were short a roll of wire, unfortunately, otherwise we […]
