All Entries in the "Donald McClure" Category
Quest for Sacred Space lures us all
Each of us has within us images of natural or man- made space which lingers in our consciousness held by feelings of respect, admiration and awe. It might be the first view of a mountain, the vastness of the ocean, the potent power of a glacier or the dew on a spider web early on […]
Ghostly images in old photo albums
“Finally after a few months I decided to tackle the two mouldering photo albums inherited from a family estate. Started over a century ago these pages contain over 80 tintypes and pictures presumably of long departed relatives.” The problem left to the decipher is that almost all of the images have no identification scratched anywhere […]
Thoughts of home at Christmas
“Away wi’ Canada’s muddy creeks And Canada’s fields of pine Your land of wheat is a goodly land, But oh, it is not mine The heathy hill, the grassy dale. The daisy spangled lea, the purling burn and craggy linn, auld Scotland’s glens give me. The remoteness and vastness of our land had an almost […]
Yanks have done a good job preserving cultural identity
One of the great joys in visiting New England is to revel in the feeling of unity that preserving the Greek Revival architecture brings to the towns and villages throughout the region. You never have a doubt that you are in New England because street scapes reflect the cosy warmth of New England historical architecture. […]
Great year for zinnias and novelty dahlias
This has been an excellent year for growing zinnias. Because of their proclivity for attracting leaf spot and mildew infections, many gardeners have given up on these stalwart mainstays. However some of the newly developed hybrids have built-in resistance to these diseases . What zinnias bring to the garden are the typical hot zestful colours […]
Crafty crab spider uses a form of magic
A visitor to most County gardens in summer is the crafty and elusive crab spider. Not that I am a particular admirer of this creature, but I am fascinated by its ability to make its living by blending into its surroundings and using a little magic. That bit of trickery centres around this spider’s unique […]
County Gardener’s summer notebook – peonies, butterflys and butternut
No garden is too small to hold a peony Had I but four square feet of soil I would plant a peony in the centre and proceed to worship. Alice Harding I couldn’t say it any better than Alice. She says it all. And now that the peonies have mostly bloomed and blown away for another […]
County Gardener’s 2011 notebook
Wasn’t going to do as much this year planned to cut back and save the wear and tear but when I stood beside the bed something happened to my head there’s room for another Rudbeckia over here — Oh dear! It returns each spring like an old friend, the “first rose” of spring perennials, the […]
Low tech solutions to big time problems
With the growing television-inspired popularity these days of hunting out antique and pop art collectibles, it is always useful to review what might be out there simply to inspire your search and increase your chances of finding some (awesome) treasures. With the Pawn Stars in Las Vegas scarcely able to handle the influx of all […]
Delicate flower of hope and inspiration
“I never saw daffodils so beautiful,” she writes. “They grew among mossy stones…. some rested their heads upon these stones as on a pillow for weariness and the rest tossed and reeled and danced and seemed as if they verily laughed with the wind that blew upon them over the lake, they looked so gay […]