Jane Macdougall

Uh oh. We’ve got another endangered species to add to the growing list. Yet again, we’re on the cusp of losing one of nature’s most precious creatures. What’s worse? This particular loss appears to be… Read More »GREATLY MISSED

You took French in school, right? We all did. Le stylo de ma tante est sur la table. Flocons de cornflakes. And, for most of us, that’s about where it ended. Given the instruction we… Read More »PARLEZ-VOUS

I’d never given it any thought. I’ve seen it hundreds of times but never questioned what it meant. Just as a barber’s shop is indicated by a helix of red and blue stripes on a… Read More »SNAKES ALIVE!

They’re everywhere. Simply everywhere. The scourge of the greenskeeper and the lord of the lawn’s lament, they resist all attempts at eradication. They arrived in North America as invited guests but, today, are probably one… Read More »JUST DANDY

It was a second wedding for them both.  The bride, a mother of two and a woman in her late 50s, wanted all the bells and whistles.  The groom, a father of three and a… Read More »I DO TIMES TWO

The big, burly men carried small, anxious dogs. Sounds like a line from an old typing drill book, but it’s not. These days, it’s a scene from every pet owners’ playbook. If you don’t want… Read More »INVASIVE SPECIES

I’m going to tell you about my grandfather’s dogs. In doing so, you’re going to learn something, perhaps a great deal, about my granddad. A visit from ‘the old man’ was imminent. Timelines were uncertain.… Read More »WHEN THE GUEST REQUIRES A WATER BOWL

If you want to sleep well, steer clear of brushes with greatness. The risk is a hideous reacquaintance with adolescent insecurities but the upside is you might be reminded that we all put on our… Read More »ENCOUNTERS WITH FAMOUS PEOPLE

It starts innocently enough. The impulse to fix something that’s broken is hardwired into humans. Especially humans at a cocktail party. Casually mention a leaking hose bibb and the room will empty as everyone goes… Read More »CROWDSOURCED DIY

We all went to Europe with the same person. That person was Aurthur Frommer. Starting in 1957 with his classic travel book, Europe on $5 a Day, Arthur Frommer changed the way we travelled. In… Read More »EUROPE ON FUN DOLLARS A DAY