You know you are having a bad day when the tractor that is meant to pull you out of the brook runs into trouble en route to the scene. Something on the tractor’s winch pulled loose but Jacques Gosselin, a man who can do almost everything, indoors and out, fixed it in a minute using a rock he…
This is a bumper year for mushrooms. On a short stretch of path in the woods, I spotted six different types. I didn’t pick any or examine them carefully, and without noting the specifics of their gills and stalks, I can’t identify them with certainty. Mushroom identification is tricky in the best of cases, and without being…
Today is Thanksgiving day in Canada, and there is much to be thankful for. In the garden, colours are bright. Even when the flowers have faded, I’m thankful for work that’s been done. At the Aqueduct the catmint ( Nepeta racemosa ‘Walker’s Low’) has been cut back, making the bed look more like a…
At this time of year, when the startling reds and golds of a Quebec autumn are long gone, the woods around Glen Villa are grey and colourless. At least they appear that way at first glance. But a closer look reveals all sorts of surprises. This year, thanks to the unseasonably warm…
A technical note: It is no longer necessary to register in order to comment on a post. So please do! In the meantime, don’t be scared, join me for a walk in the woods… If you go down in the woods today,you’re sure of a big surprise. I went down in the woods — and was…
Glen Villa is about the land and the people who have lived on it, me and my family and the generations that preceded us. It’s about the emotions that plants and objects arranged artfully can evoke in those who take the time to really look at what is around them. It’s about the land beyond…