Winter critters and colours

I am a very lucky person. Me and my guy live from fall to spring surrounded not only by our wonderful family but also an honest-to-goodness winter wonderland. Winter here in Fernie, B.C., can be long, very cold, and at times overwhelmingly snowy but it sure is pretty. The Elk River and the Lizard Range…

Days of wines and roses

Having gained an hour of daylight, I feel like the rapid descent into complete winter gloom has slowed somewhat. At least when the cocktail hour arrives I won’t be groping around in the dark for a light switch in order to find the cork screw. For now. But I have to admit that increasingly dark…

Ashes to ashes to tomatoes

Composting is a great way to recycle nutrients back into the soil but for a breathtakingly efficient rotation from plant to soil and back to plants again, use wood ash. Since the ash is what’s left of burned plant material, it naturally contains many of the essential nutrients that were first provided by the soil. Burning wood loses nitrogen…

Down a garden path, the suspension of disbelief

Cornelia Konrads freezes fantastical moments. I’ve never seen one of her works in real life but even photos of them inspire the suspension of disbelief. She’s created site specific installations and objects for public and private spaces all over the world, including her native Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Sweden, Italy, the U.S.A., Taiwan, South…