That's what we call it when you have to spend more, or are inconvenienced, in this time of pandemic than in the "before times." High-in-demand rubbing alcohol at $7.99 a bottle instead of $1.88, shopping at a smaller, more expensive grocery store to avoid the exposure at the crowded superstore, service charges to cancel our…

The covid stay-at-home routine is just that – routine. Same old same old. I try to shake it up a bit by walking a different route every morning and carefully planning the occasional errand outing. But today, out of the blue, the US Air Force injected some excitement into this sleepy little Canadian hillside beach…

That's how long we've been home from Bali and adapted our lives to the new vocabulary: we’re maintaining our bubble, physical distancing, masking up, washing, sanitizing, and all the rest. How well it's working is evidenced, not only by the fact that we appear to remain covid-free, but we are free of any traces of…

In addition to the gulls, of course, which C has named Poopy, Crappy and Splat, the streaky evidence of which can be seen on the roof. I had chosen more innocuous names, but agreed to go with his, as long as Crappy's original one was changed. I'll leave that to your imagination. That's Splat, discovering…

The Laura Nyro version of Up On The Roof was my favourite song in the early 1970's. It represented an island of calm in a time of turmoil in my teenage life. Currently there's a lot going on up on the roof of the condo building across the street. We've been watching a family of…

It's amazing how much you can get done around the house when you have the time and nowhere to go. One major project was located literally around the house. We live on a small hillside lot above the beach. In keeping with our retirement plan, there is no lawn. We have a tiny front garden…

That’s what my 4 yr old grandson calls it. And he’s also very good at using his “hamitizer.” Here in BC we seriously followed our orders from the medical health officer. We strictly maintained our bubble of two, saving ourselves for the phase two allowable contact with six people, in anticipation of the visit from…

Do you know the first verse to Over the Rainbow? The song doesn't start with the word "Somewhere" as generally heard in popular versions. Here are the lyrics: “When all the world is a hopeless jumbleAnd the raindrops tumble all aroundHeaven opens a magic lane When all the clouds darken up the skywayThere's a rainbow…

i’m happy to report that the real estate closing was accomplished on June 1, two weeks early. Thanks to our determined niece, the place was sorted and packed up in two days. It was so frustrating not being there, but probably a good thing because I would have kept far more stuff. If there were…

While isolated, life continues busily around us. We didn't think it possible, but we managed to sell our beloved family vacation home of 29 years. What a whirlwind. We received a solid offer subject to inspection. I think this was the first inspection of any of the seven units in the building, age 43, at…