Recently we joined about 100 other people on a Jane's Walk in Dartmouth to look at the ongoing project to rehouse Sawmill River. The "river" has been flowing through a large diameter pipe since the early 1970s, taking the outflow from Sullivan's Pond down to Dartmouth Cove. After 45 years, the pipe was collapsing and… Read More

It was sad to get up the other morning and learn that the Knightsbridge apartment building on Inglis Street was on fire. I don't know anything about the fire or the fate of the unfortunate residents who have lost their homes, but I do have a few thoughts about the building, because in the 80s… Read More

We visited Washington, DC last week for a little “get to know you tour.” When you travel to a foreign land, it's fun to play games of "what's same and different from home." In a future blog I'll show some of that, but right now I'd like to muse upon a building we saw that immediately… Read More

Do you hear a word or a phrase and think “I should remember that, it might come in handy.” Me too! But I have the attention span of a gnat, so unless I scribble down the bons mots they vanish. My work surface gets littered with little pieces of paper, and eventually I’ll do some… Read More

Last week I got an email from the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia to say they were "thrilled to let (me) know that a very exciting announcement has been made today - one that will pave the way for a bold reimagining of what the Province’s premier art destination will become." At last the stars had aligned… Read More

Do you have a fondness for wallpaper? Most people have lost that wallpaper feeling but as we say in these parts, it's worth a notice. Just consider some fine examples from the town of Pictou, that I guess date from the first half of the last century. Perhaps a little too David Lynch for you?… Read More

The last post took you inside this big, old house on Inglis Street, where we lived in the 1980s. I mentioned it had been one of a pair, but that the mirror image burned and the Resolutes Club occupied the site. Now I can tell that story in more visual detail. After my post, Sharon… Read More

Do you have a favourite house? The one you go out of your way to walk by because it's an essential element of your rich fantasy life. I've heard that a big, old house on Inglis Street in Halifax excites the imagination of many people in this way. Now I can offer them and you… Read More

The last blog introduced old stone walls of Halifax that were mortared together. This post features my favourite wall: dry laid stone, what you get by just piling rocks with a little care and attention. The peninsula of Halifax and surrounding mainland were once criss-crossed by stone walls. In this 1801 illustration you can see… Read More

Do you like stone walls as much as I do? I think you might, so we are in for a treat, searching out and acknowledging some of the old walls of Halifax. I've been noticing walls around town for the last 40 years, and there are enough examples for two blogs. This one is about the… Read More