(This post was originally published on 2022 – we think you will enjoy it again!) Today Broadmead is an upper-class treed neighbourhood of fine homes and manicured lawns – but of course it wasn’t always that way. Broadmead’s history comprises a varied mix of hard work, horses, religion, burial grounds, famous battles, brewers, and war […]
A Pint of Guinness with Emily Carr in Broadmead Read More »
From Small Hamlet to Provincial Capital Today I would like to talk about the history of Victoria, British Columbia, my home town, which is featured in my novel Providence (Book One in the McBride Chronicles), recently released by Hancock House Publishers in Vancouver. On March 13, 1843, James Douglas (a Chief Factor with the Hudson’s
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Val’s Book Reviews Following the Telegraph Trail: A Trek of a Lifetime by Irene J. Huntley Victoria: FriesenPress, 2021 $14.99 / 9781039110441 Irene J. Huntley has written a worthy little book — Following the Telegraph Trail — which documents the adventurous trek taken by her father, Don Huntley, and his friend, Gunnar Nillson, in 1956,
South to British Columbia Read More »
(This post was originally published in February 2022) February is the month when thousands of people around the world will send or receive sentimental or humorous greetings cards from their sweethearts, friends or family members. So, let’s take a step back in time and examine the history of this unique ‘giving-of-cards’ tradition which apparently all
A HISTORY OF VALENTINE’S DAY! Read More »
Last weekend, the Chinese community celebrated the lunar Chinese New Year, which this year heralded in the “Year of the Rabbit.” The rabbit is the fourth animal in the zodiac sequence of twelve and is seen as the luckiest. People born in the year of rabbit are believed to be vigilant, witty, quick-minded and ingenious.
Tonight is the last night of the old year and will be observed as the oldest of all holiday celebrations, first celebrated in Babylon about 4,000 years ago. At that time, however, the New Year began after the vernal equinox which was the first day of spring. It seems more logical to begin a new
It’s not JUST New Year’s Eve! Read More »
A Christmas Eve Miracle At least once in everyone’s life we need a miracle. The story of the one that happened over 180 years ago on a cold, crisp Christmas Eve in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, has been told many times before but, in today’s world of unrest and uncertainty, it still bears repeating. It
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Val’s Book Reviews Fortune Knox Once: More Musings from the Edge Victoria: Heritage House, 2022 $22.95 / 9781772034172 We all need a little Knox humour in our lives these days and Jack Knox has delivered just that once again in his latest book Fortune Knox Once (More Musings from The Edge). Jack Knox is a
The mixture we all need Read More »
Val’s Book Reviews Between a Rock and a Hard Place: A Dutch Policeman Fighting the Nazi Occupation by Johanna Van Zanten Las Vegas: Histria Books (Addison & Highsmith Publishers), 2021 $29.99 / 9781592111022 I always enjoy books set in World War Two, especially those that tell stories of lesser known aspects of the war. Such
I am just coming out on the other side of a bout with Covid and am feeling very grateful! Two years ago after we had been in lockdown for a while, I wrote a blog about the things I was learning about isolating in a “bubble” and the strange new world to which we all
Coming out of COVID Read More »
