International demand for Canadian maple syrup surges amid U.S. trade war | CBC News A quintessential Canadian product is finding its way to more store shelves and breakfast tables around the world. Canadian maple syrup exports are trending upward, generating $844.2 million in 2025, up 17.2 per cent over the previous year, according to Statistics... Continue Reading →
During a cuddle with our newborn grandson yesterday, I said to the assembled entourage that we should watch an episode of Call the Midwife together. Why not, I thought, as our daughter and partner did benefit from the services and friendship of a local midwife. So why not check in with one of BBC’s most... Continue Reading →
All Saints Cathedral, Halifax NS [This is a living document. Additional images and stories will be included as they are received.] Anglican activist and ecological animator extraordinaire, The Rev. Marian Lucas Jeffries (Team Leader of the Environment Network of the Diocese of Nova Scotia/Prince Edward Island) sent a note to her clergy colleagues asking: “What... Continue Reading →
[KJG] During her 2006-2015 term as Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori stated that ignoring or denying climate change is a moral failing and a "sinful" rejection of God's creation. The howls of protest at the time remain legendary. As a trained scientist herself, she knew the effects of climate change on... Continue Reading →
That's the message from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, marking 1 September as both the start of the Orthodox ecclesiastical year and the Day of Prayer for the Protection of the Natural Environment, an observance the Ecumenical Patriarchate established in 1989 and which now brings Christian communities together worldwide: "a symbol and practical promotion of the unity... Continue Reading →
I have written so much recently about the Bald Range wildfire which forced the evacuation of our little town of Summerland on Friday night, August 7, 2026. A search on my blogsite will bring up many different perspectives of our amazing story. Additionally, I photographed from a number of unique angles a gathering in our... Continue Reading →
by Jim Hodgson - Reposted from Unwrapping Development More than 42 years after my first visit to Haiti, I can’t disagree with that assessment. It was offered June 16 by UN secretary general António Guterres near the end of his one-day visit to Port-au-Prince. The visit came 40 years after the fall of the Duvalier family dictatorship;... Continue Reading →
From The Guardian daily newsletter, Monday, Aug 31, 2026 - Hettie O’Brien, FIRST EDITION Over the weekend, rescue workers in Nepal and Tibet raced to find people who are still trapped in villages affected by catastrophic flash floods. As of this morning, the death toll stands at 903, and more than 4,000 people are missing.... Continue Reading →
A Poem on Hope It is hard to have hope. It is harder as you grow old, for hope must not depend on feeling good and there’s the dream of loneliness at absolute midnight. You also have withdrawn belief in the present reality of the future, which surely will surprise us, and hope is harder... Continue Reading →
Chef Ned Bell (left) and Farmer Thomas Tumbach started the Summerland Sauce Project to turn veggies into help - Photo: Summerland Sauce Project Casey Richardson - Aug 29, 2026 / From Castanet A project that bought crops from Okanagan farmers impacted by the Bald Range wildfire and turned them into seasonal sauces and preserves raised... Continue Reading →
Take Note - Reflections on life, music, politics, retirement and more by Ken Gray 