There is a medication shortage in Canada, specifically for drugs for children. Canada’s copyright laws do not make licensing economically desirable. Isn’t that ridiculous? Pharmaceutical companies won’t develop or produce here in Canada because it is too expensive. Instead of the government mandating companies to remain domestically and penalizing them for exiting, Canada let it happen. Spineless Canada said, “Duh, ok, we’ll rely on other countries to produce the drugs for us.” And, when a pandemic happened, and vaccinations were developed, Canada was at the bottom of the delivery list. Sure, Canada doesn’t have the population as most countries, and we might have more than 80% vaccinated, but that doesn’t solve the problem when we have to rely on other...
I regret buying this cheap-ass turtleneck! Before I get out of bed, I think about what I will wear that day. Before I decide what I’m going to wear, I check the weather report. In Canada, you never know what to prepare; it could be 20C one day and a day later -20C. For shit, that’s forty degrees to manage. I need a selection of clothing pieces for every 20 degrees. That makes 2 - 3 distinct wardrobes over the course of the year. And, many choices for coats and hand-knit accessories! This morning, the mobile says sunshine and -3C. I’m preparing my cotton turtleneck over my Ptarmigan Pullover, boyfriend-knit scarf, hat, and Diana’s fingerless gloves. I’ll walk about 5...
What is it about hair that we are fixated on it? From Samson to Fabio to Mahsa Amini. Do you remember when Cher’s hair went down to her knees? My mother keeps clips of her babies’ hair with tidy, pretty ribbons. In the Victorian age, a method of mourning and respect was to create an art piece of the dead person’s hair. I do not know why human hair, not on one’s head, revolts me. Allow me to remind you, reader, I am speaking of hair not attached to the owner revolts me. I can’t stand cleaning my shower filter or brush. I get annoyed when there is a piece of hair between my skin and my t-shirt. Perhaps we...
When my sister Diana @dianatwiss texted me a photo of the fibre she was spinning I replied, "the colour looks like the lipstick I got you for your birthday!"I’m delighted and touched by the time and care it took her to make my first published pattern. It took me months to produce it, and though it took her days to knit, it took us 99% more.
They were as tall as I was at about five years old, but they had been here since the dinosaurs. The fractals blocked the sun and revealed a brighter green. The soil was dark, and the stems grew straight from the ground like a miniature forest. The fragrance was earthy and sweet and green. I felt I was under a sea of ferns, quiet and comforting. We had asked for it to part a path, and there it was. We walked through the sea often, daily even, to get to the other side. We spent our summers on an island where the sea of ferns was. The island was in the middle of Lake Apsey. It was named Island B....
