Tag Archives: The Occupied Garden

Dahl interrupted

Some of you will remember our Roald Dahl mission, in which we set out to read all of his kids’ stories in a more-or-less row, including the autobiographies. We loved Boy, which revealed the dramatic highs and lows of Dahl’s … Continue reading

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Gnomes, hunters and a sleepy kleintje

N’s opa — my father — visited recently, and after he’d spent a week with us and gone again, she asked for a Dutch book given to her a few years ago by my uncle. Now, the “oom” and the … Continue reading

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Things runnin’ wild an’ catchin’ hold of each other

Right now my daughter and I are reading The Secret Garden, and I’m sure I’m enjoying it as much as she is. It’s a big, hardcover copy, with gorgeous illustrations by Inga Moore – which means the book swells to … Continue reading

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Open here and start

I recently rediscovered a pile of old stories and drawings I’d made when I was about the age my daughter is now. She, too, loves to make “books,” and whenever we end up in a conversation with someone about the … Continue reading

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The rhubarb patch and other places in other times

When I was little, we had a huge rhubarb patch in our backyard. My mother made rhubarb crumbles and pies and jams, mixed with strawberries to sweeten the sour taste, but we would also eat the long stems raw, fresh … Continue reading

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Mourning kings and angels

This regal picture was snapped several years ago. Happily, my daughter seems to be moving out of the princess phase. I like to think it’s because she listened when I told her that princesses were overrated — she says “over-aided,” … Continue reading

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Writing by hand (and the origin of tickling)

Still reading about Charles Darwin, this time Annie’s Box, a lovely family memoir written by his great-great-grandson, Randal Keynes. Annie of the title was Darwin’s daughter, who died at the age of ten. This book has loads of personal detail … Continue reading

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On memoir: "As if I were a dead man in another world…."

For a mish-mash of reasons, lately I’ve been reading Charles Darwin’s Autobiographies, which he never intended for public view, but rather for his family. It’s a slim little book, full of asides that give wonderful insight into his character — … Continue reading

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Needle and thread: the need to connect

My grandmother’s gloves are coming to me in the mail. They’ve spent some time at Honest Ed’s, “the world’s first true bargain store,” a fixture in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood since 1948. The shop seems a strange place for the elegant … Continue reading

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Strength, tenacity, and the stranger you know

Last night we did a talk about The Occupied Garden. Our middle sister, Heidi, came along with us. A lot of people say she looks strikingly like Oma in this particular picture. Had she lived, Oma would have celebrated her … Continue reading

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