Next house for Hamilton Spectator

Love the paint

This is a rare glimpse inside the Buffalo State Pschiatric Hospital-built in the 1800's and closed since the 1990's. It was open as part of a Preservation Buffalo conference. It is a fabulous HH Richardson building-now stabilized and awaiting a new use.

The Buffalo Psychiatric Hospital open for a tour this week. It has been closed for over 20 years, and is being preserved and restored.

One of my favorite houses belongs to Jane and Grant Hill. It is full of love and cherished items collected over many years. My story on their 1856 home was in the October 6th edition of the Hamilton Spectator. The link is below.

http://www.thespec.com/living/home/article/604410--finding-magic-in-the-everyday

The Hill's living room with tin ware and glass collections.

Cloches, industrial lightbulbs, and wire art in the Hill home.

Future home decor features for the Hamilton Spectator

A 1950's house in Hamilton with a view of the city and a view into the woods. This story will be in October 20th Hamilton Spectator.

I like painting objects in my basement

Hamilton Harbour showing the limited palette of autumn.

Outdoor flowers coming indoors. Hope my brother likes this better than the philodendron.

I painted this using Brushes on iPad. You have to love anemones.

Tender plants moving indoors

Brought my philodendron inside today after a summer outside. Sad. It's a wonderful plant though, transforms a boring room.

These are tug boats on Hamilton Harbour. I painted them on the iPad using the Brushes app. If you want to see a master use this app, visit the David Hockney Flowers exhibition opening next week at the ROM in Toronto.

Tug boats on Hamilton Harbour. Painted with Brushes.

Modern, uncluttered kitchen in the home of the couple who own interLight on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton. My story was in the Hamilton Spectator yesterday, but can be viewed online.

Sleek, modern kitchen, but sized sensibly for people who like to cook, but don't want to take too many steps.

I was road testing this SLK350 and drove to Turkey Point. The Union Hotel in nearby Normandale looks like an excellent B and B to book. Turkey Point was enchanting.

Mercedes Benz SLK350 in front of the Union Hotel, Normandale Ontario

Great scenes in Hamilton Ontario. On the beach.

This dog has no idea it is Labour Day. We should emulate him.

World Tour cycling race coming up in Quebec City September 9th.

Thomas Voeckler chatting during UCI race in Quebec City last year. He'll be back to race this year on September 9th. It's a great event through the streets of the city. I am writing a piece for the Toronto Star Travel Section.

Hamilton Harbour this morning. One of the best views in the city.

I will be on AM640 Planes Trains and Automobiles with Arlene Bynon-talking about Wales. We will start with Anglesey-a hot spot after the official visit of William and Kate shortly after their marriage announcement. Here are some useful links. visitwales.com The place for all things Welsh www.seasalt.co.uk www.cleifioguchaf.co.uk A lovely country house to stay in Anglesey-fantastic food cooked by keen chef. www.plasdinas.co.uk/ Another manor house to stay in-was a retreat for Anthony Armstrong-Jones and Princess Margaret. www.rarebits.co.uk Looking for unusual and wonderful places to stay visit Rarebits.co.uk

I was checking out the plants that will be for sale at the RBG Auxiliary plant sale May 5 and 7. The cold weather is a good thing right now-it slows down growth in the greenhouse. My story will be in next Thursday's Hamilton Spectator. For more on the sale rbg.com

Sales were hot at the Fur and Feather Fanciers event at Rockton Fairgrounds.

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Location:Is it supposed to be this cold in April? Can't leave the fireplace.

I will be on Planes, Trains and Automobiles on AM640 with Arlene Bynon today. Talking about trips I'd like to take this summer..or sometime in my life. A drive along the New Brunswick Coastal Route along the Bay of Fundy, a trip through Newfoundland including a visit to the Artist studios on Fogo Island, and a driving thrip through the Canadian Badlands. Here are the websites with more information.tourismnewbrunswick.ca/FundyCoastalDrive.aspx.www.newfoundlandlabrador.com./www.fogoisland.net.http://www.artscorpfogoisland.ca/www.canadianbadlands.org

My article on garden style in Philadelphia is on the Toronto Star website today and will be in the print edition tomorrow. http://www.yourhome.ca/homes/outdoorliving/gardeningandlandscaping/article/...

Working on my next home story for the Hamilton Spectator Go section. Mid-century modern and loving it.

I will be profiling more Hamilton homes in future editions of the Hamilton Spectator.

Coming up in the Hamilton Spectator-cool modern in Hamilton.

Also in a future edition of the Hamilton Spectator-Mid-Century Modern in Dundas.

Bryan Prince retired, bookworms salute him.

Prince peeking through the bookshelves.  Standing room only at the retirement of Bryan Prince-at least from his excellent bookstore. It will carry on in very capable hands. I will miss him darting out of his backroom office.

Photos from Philadelphia, from Longwood Gardens and Terrain at Styers-a lifestyle garden store.

More on Philadelphia

Just finished an interview with Arlene Bynon on Planes Train and Automobiles on Philadelphia. I ranked it 8 out of 10 for cities to visit. More information at visitphilly.com
 Here's my article from the Hamilton Spectator:

Hot Horticulture

  It’s time for hot, horizontal, horticulture. That’s my headline for spring after a trend safari to Philadelphia. Burned in my brain is the sizzling colour of a hibiscus called Erin Rachel. Combine neon orange and lipstick pink in a flower as big as a muskmelon and you have a starburst of excitement. Erin Rachel was at Longwood Gardens, on the outskirts of Philadelphia in Kennett Square.
  Their conservatories are breathtaking. Popsicle orange clivia’s popped up throughout the gardens, there to make blue flowers like cineraria look even bluer. Pansies, daffodils, and red-hot pokers added their unabashed vibrancy, and a gorgeous freckled kohleria tumbled out of pots beneath perfect tree ferns.
  In contrast to the heavy breathing tropicals, The Silver Garden at Longwood unfolds like a wide-angle painting of the desert. Low growing succulents form a horizontal river of blue, broken by the pencil points of Mexican Fence Post cactus. The room breathes cool, even though it is populated by hot desert plants.
  The scale of Longwood, a former Du Pont estate, is monumental, but still a thoughtful resource for gardeners. And now nearby, the recently opened Terrain at Styers makes for a one-two punch for those of us crazy about horticulture and ways to display it. The décor store/nursery/café-11 acres in all- is one stop shopping for gardeners. Pots, paintings, plants, books, lights, hardware-they carry everything to turn your home into a spread from a high-end British gardening magazine. In fact if you’re looking for a gift for Kate and Prince William-look no further. Bell jars were hot there, terrariums, weathered wood shelves, and stylish ways to display anything green. They even carried cool garden themed cots for getting horizontal.
  Styers was a family run nursery turned in to a home and garden lifestyle destination by Urban Outfitters-and that kind of blend is a trend-making horticulture hot. In Hamilton you can see the same theory working at Terra, Connon Nursery and Garden Gallery.
  The Philadelphia Flower Show attracted flocks of gardeners to the city centre while I was there.  Though it is a theatrical extravaganza, it is still very much about plants.  Not far from the elaborate Paris themed displays were the orderly and dignified horticultural competitions. A place where Mrs. Dorrance Hamilton, known as Dodo, the heir to the Campbell Soup fortune, often wins the blue ribbons. This year her 18 year-old myrtle topiary won a top prize.
    Philadelphia is a gardener’s paradise, and a visit there is a marvelous jump-start to our season. We are on the brink of spring now. Canada Blooms is up and running, the blackbirds are back. And my brain is brimming with ideas for the hot, horizontal, horticulture.
 
 
 
 

Painting my basement with iPad Brushes app.

A modern kitchen in a Victorian house in Hamilton. Open shelves, stainless steel counters, a fridge covered in outdoor vinyl with image of the Mona Lisa. Under shelf lighting warms up walls and illuminates cooking tasks. Design by David Johnson, find more in my article in the Hamilton Spectator online, in the Go section.

Creative living in Hamilton-that's my feature in the Go section of the Hamilton Spectator today. Hamilton has a fantastic stock of Victorian homes. Here's one that is a showcase for art.

I am writing about Philadelphia and gardens in this Thursday's Go section of the Hamilton Spectator.

Via Train at station, tracks in snow, seat inside train.








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Location:Ottawa

I love trains. My dad worked for Pullman in Chicago. This is my home made train, after I had a drink.





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Location:Ottawa

My self portrait on Via train.


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Location:Ottawa

Ever present hydro towers from Via train window..


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Location:Ottawa

Just painted some quick paintings from window of Via train on way to Ottawa.


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Location:Ottawa

I am writing about upcoming garden shows for the Hamilton Spectator, and have an article about this beautiful Hamilton garden in this month's Gardenmaking magazine.

Public Art in Hamilton needs spring cleaning.

These doors have to go. They have been on display too long, and from the beginning were never interesting. Note the one on James Street South with a blanket of cigarette butts around it. C'mon Hamilton this is not Public Art. This is embarrassing.

Update

I read today that the witch hazel is in bloom on The High Line in NYC. So, usually before the end of February the red- wing blackbirds are back here. That's the best sound of impending spring.


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Location:Hamilton ON

Going to Hamilton Farmer's Market today. I keep going back and I don't like it any better.

The beauty of the things we throw away. Brilliantly depicted in the Diane Landry show at the Art Gallery of Hamilton. It's inventive, magical, thought provoking. It is full of kinetic energy, light and sound. Perfect for our times. It's a must see, and on the way to this recycled world you will be drawn into the Matisse Jazz exhibit, timeless and exploding with colour.

I am writing about plants that will survive in an office, in today's Go section of the Hamilton Spectator.

I'm writing about the Pam velodrome in Hamilton on OpenFile Hamilton today.

Finished a story on plants that will survive in an office for this Thursday's Go section of the Hamilton Spectator.

Working on following stories:velodrome, plants for the office, and travel article