91原创

Around mid-month I was immersed in the reshaping of some vegetable plots as the sun shone brilliantly and emitted enough warmth to draw clouds of steam from the soil. I felt delight, and suspicion.

Dear Helen: I鈥檝e long admired Fremontia plants that I鈥檝e seen in bloom, and I鈥檝e noticed that you have written about this shrub. Friends have warned me against acquiring one because they are difficult plants. Do you agree? L.S.

My son and I do minimal gift-giving at Christmas. I give almost exclusively edible treats and vitamins. Chris usually comes up with something simple but wonderfully thoughtful, like a box of LED light bulbs to replace old bulbs in all my fixtures.

A serpentine driveway stretching more than a kilometre and a half descends a gentle slope to the lakeshore. Its destination is a rustic home built decades ago from cedar logs harvested and hewn on site.

Dear Tony: Our strata council entered into a contract to change all of our lighting in common areas to LEDs to increase light levels and reduce the cost of electricity.

Dear Helen: About ten days ago I noticed flowering primrose plants on shelving beside the entrance to the supermarket in my small town. Surely it鈥檚 too early to plant them outdoors. Are they sold this month as house plants? R.A.

Every autumn, I drop into my local bookstore to choose the calendars that will hold reminders and guide my daily living through the coming year. The 鈥渕aster鈥� calendar, a desk agenda production, resides by the phone on a kitchen counter.

If architecture is a barometer of culture, how can homes that housed families more than 100 years ago be best adapted to suit modern families? That was the challenge facing Johanne Hemond and her husband, Adrian Hill, who instantly fell in love with

Dear Tony: With so many people at home now, we have an increasing number of noise-related complaints.

Dear Helen: I have a sweetheart rose that is awkwardly located next to my front steps. It blooms well in early summer, but it grows rapidly to cover the steps unless I keep cutting it back.