Take it outside!

Spring has arrived and it is time to expand our lives outdoors. Sadly, the hardscaping in our exterior spaces need some major work. Every time I step outside, the bottom of the door scrapes across the patio, not clearing the door jam. Even when I try to focus on the garden, all I can see are the pitted and sagging patio stones and gravel "zen" garden. I find it challenging to remain calm in my "zen" garden, when I can't even put a chair on that gravel. Our outdoor space is reduced to half the size because of the gravel. I cringe every time I take it outside.

My dream: unify the space by bricking the whole surface with a nice stone - all the way to the laneway. We could remove the back fence and build a carport with a transparent roof, doubling the backyard when the car is not there.

I went to an open house last summer and saw my dream carport. It shelters the car, when is it there, but keeps the space open and light. It is modern and zen, but doesn't make me clench my teeth. What a dream. Maybe one day....

Around China in 460 Photos

I know... it sounds like a lot of photos, and it is, but when you consider that I was away for 31 days, that's only 14.8 photos per day. To see all these exciting photos of China 2008, visit my Flickr page , or for some tales from the trails, visit my travel journal.

It was nice to escape Toronto in late March when it was still blanketed in snow, to hike around the spring flowers and trees of Hunan & Yunnan. But it was even better to return to Toronto a month later to blue skies and 22C weather. Good thing that I didn't have a stopover in Alberta. They had a huge snowstorm this weekend!