nova scotia
One Extraordinary Woman (with good taste in hats)
This is Thelma. We met a couple of weeks ago. She was looking for a hat for her friend in British Columbia who is going through chemo. She came by my studio and together we came up with this… Word on the street is that her friend was delighted. But back to Thelma. When she…
Read MoreFifty Years
I had big plans for my fiftieth birthday. I was going to get in the car and drive an hour an a half to Wolfville and take a lone adventure to Gaspereau Valley Fibers. I have been thinking about how I used to be so adventurous. I was the twenty year old that just left…
Read MoreAlways Trust a Politician in a Good Hat
I try so hard to not mix hats and politics, but when a wonderful Nova Scotia politician goes out of her way to support a local hatter there’s nothing left to do, but talk about the two things together in one place. This is Lisa Roberts. She is the NDP MLA for Halifax/Needham. Lucky Halifax/Needham…
Read MoreTime Out for Gratitude
Some chores, like washing dishes, bring out the nihilistic, end of days, depressive side of me. While other chores, like hanging laundry, fill me with peace and gratitude. So, as it is Canadian Thanksgiving, I thought I’d hang the laundry. And wouldn’t you know it, a wave of thoughts bright and beautiful blew in with…
Read MoreMen Say The Darndest Things
Today I have been the most easy going spouse imaginable. Tony came into the kitchen and suggested I might be putting too many nuts in the salad….He turned off the corn that was cooking for 30 seconds because he thought it would overcook and even asked me what’s for supper tomorrow before we had finished…
Read MoreA Hat To Grow a Garden
There is often an idea in my head for years before it actually materializes. This is as true for hat making as it is for folding laundry or sorting through piles of paper. Being an avid, albeit a negligent, gardener, I have been wanting, forever, to create a hat with special gardening status. I can…
Read MoreAll this and I didn’t leave the house
O.K. fine, I do leave the house once a week to go to the Farmers’ Market and I also walk my dog, but my life revolves around my home and that’s the way I love it. I know it’s not a life for everyone, but being by myself in my little studio with the occasional…
Read MoreTake This Hat to Ascot at Your Own Risk
My adventures in sewing wheat straw continue. Wheat straw is seriously rustic. Sewing with it has caused me to recall the breathing techniques that were taught to me in birthing class, many moons ago. (didn’t work then either) Tony has several times closed my studio door to put a physical barrier between himself and the…
Read MoreDoes This Hat Make Me Look Old?
Last week I set up my wares at Lady Luck Boutique in the Hydrostone Market in Halifax. Gloria walked into the shop looking like the text book definition of elegance. She tried this hat on and asked, “Does this hat make me look old?” We all agreed that it looked beautiful on her and she…
Read MoreHow do I Bore Thee? Let Me Count the Ways.
I might have a wee tendency towards obsessiveness. It’s a bit of a pattern in my life. Something will grip me and I can think of or do nothing else. The predominant symptom of this state of mind is that I become incredibly boring. Well, not to myself. To myself I’m perfectly fascinating, but anyone…
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