Brian Northgrave
There are many reasons for collecting fountain pens.
One, is the aesthetics. Pens can be beautiful in several ways, including the design of the different elements - nib, feeder, the shape of the barrel and cap, as well as the colours and patterns on cap and barrel.
John Lang
Eventually we all do it. The time will come when with gladness or misgivings we decide to relocate to a smaller abode. Most of us have relocated, some of us many times. While claiming no expertise in any aspect of this process, my recent experience might provide answers for those who expect to go through it. Looking back at my recent experience, it is the downsizing factor that differentiated this relocation.
Back in the late 1970’s a project called Conservation House in Saskatchewan highlighted the use of air tightness and “heat recycling” to manage energy consumption. It was one of the first demonstration projects of its kind in North America and achieved a benchmark of 85% less energy required than a standard home for heating and cooling. At the time, the research behind its success did not manage to influence Canadian building codes. Instead it made its way to Germany, where “Passive Houses” were designed and built beginning in the 1990s. While Passive House construction is increasingly being used in the private housing market today, the application of its principles to publicly-funded housing has been less common.
Jean Cottam
CITY TO SPRAY WILD PARSNIP THIS SUMMER
Regarding “City to spray wild parsnip this summer” by Emma Jackson, which item appeared in the Kanata Kourier-Standard on May 8, 2015, I am concerned that the City plans to spray herbicides in suburban areas this summer, but this seems unavoidable. Wild parsnip is a newly-classified noxious weed, found mainly in ditches and fields, alongside more than 200 kilometres of rural roads as well as pathways, in parks and woodlots. It may cause painful blisters as well as long-term skin discolouration. It cannot be killed by a lawnmower.
Heather Perrault
55 MACKEY ST.
The Edwards House, 55 MacKay, though not the oldest house in the neighbourhood, is one of the more impressive residences in the historic neighbourhood of New Edinburgh. This property, well over a hundred years old, is a beautifully crafted home that is truly awe-inspiring.
Richard Belliveau
John McLeod
This house was the first house designed by architect W.E. Noffke in the Glebe (1912), and his first Spanish Colonial Revival house. This type of house, with stucco walls and red tile roof, became a Noffke trademark. It is remarkable that designs more suitable for California or the Mediterranean would be taken up in our northern climate, and would actually perform very well.
Roderick Bell
A HART MASSEY HOUSE IN ROCKCLIFFE
This article is the third in a series on “interesting houses in Ottawa”. The writer Roderick Bell, the owner and occupant of this house, is a retired Canadian Diplomat. He tells his story below:
“Falling in love with a House "
Real estate agents frequently tell prospective clients that a cardinal rule for the buyer is not to fall in love with one house and close their eyes and minds to other possibilities.
Jack Derksen
ORGANIC FARMING – THE DOWNSIDE
Blue plastic tarp tents spread under giant trees of natural windrows, smoke from outdoor cooking fires, kids playing simple games in the mud beside a dirt road, women washing clothes and dishes with water drawn from blue plastic barrels, men rinsing off after a hard day hoeing weeds in 90 degree plus heat, mosquitoes everywhere—this is the hidden face of large scale organic farming.
Brian Northgrave
EXERCISE FOR THE WEAK-WILLED
I am clearly among the weak-willed. Almost every time I put on my exercise clothes, my mind comes up with any number of excuses why I shouldn’t have to exercise, at least for that day.But because, over the years, I have usually been able to combat those urges and keep at it, I may be able to offer advice that would be useful to my fellow weak-willed.
Tony Advokaat
I am old enough to remember when the world’s population was only about 2 billion and thinking that my own country was already over-crowded at about 8 million. 50 years later the Netherlands has about 16 million people and the world’s population is almost 7 billion, and set to grow to 9 billion, give or take a few hundred millions, within the lifetime of my children.