For years, we’ve had a vague plan to add a catio to our deck, an enclosure where our cats can hang out, enjoy the fresh air, climb and play in safety. We’re finally making that happen. Initially the idea was that we would carry the… Read More
All posts filed under “house and home”
Get your Ghoul on

The Return of Cowboy Tom
Nobody expected to see Cowboy Tom and his old nag riding down from his mountain cabin for the cattle drive. “He’s just too damned old to wrangle,” that’s what they all said. Tom fooled them all. “I reckon I got one more drive in me.”… Read More
Fishin’
Our lumberjack whirligig suffered the ravages of winter and is down for repair. Fortunately, we have a back-up. I gave the fisherman a tune-up today to get him working well and installed him up front on the pole.
Power back on
Toronto Hydro reconnected our power tonight just before 10:00 PM. Good thing we have a woodstove in the room above the garage, which kept us toasty during the outage. Meanwhile, my car decided to crap out this evening. I changed and was about to head… Read More
What’s old is new again
Over the years we have accumulated a few different whirligigs, including a sentry, a carousel, a wood chopper and a fisherman. We periodically rotate these on the pole we have set in the front garden. The reason we rotate the whirligigs is because they require… Read More
A little re-decorating
We’ve been doing a little re-decorating here on Twenty Seventh Street. To start with the kitchen is now a new calm and soothing colour – crazy-assed pink. It really makes the cupboard mosaics pop! Those who know our place know the dining room and living… Read More
An elaborate woodpecker feeder
When I hung the wire cage from the crane, my intention was that it hold a poem (preferably a waterproof one). In the meantime, I’d like to encourage the local downy woodpecker to visit again, so I loaded the cage up with suet. The last… Read More
A door that works
We finally had our patio door replaced today. The old one was in bad shape and to open or close it, we had to really lean into it and drag it along the track. I tried and failed to find a compatible set of new… Read More
Failed attempt to buy a patio door…
The sliding patio door leading to our deck out back needs to be replaced, so I’ve been shopping around trying to figure out what to get. The first thing I discovered is that the price range for these things is huge, with installed prices ranging… Read More