Month: December 2020

The Frog Fables and Beaver Tales series of satirical Canadian politics books was released when I was…

The Frog Fables and Beaver Tales series of satirical Canadian politics books was released when I was in Highschool… where I found it in the school library and read and fell in love with the irreverent take on the political situation. It was a brilliant way to get young people interested. It certainly had an impact on me.


These books were written by Canadian Journalist Stanley Burke and brilliantly illustrated by eminent political cartoonist, Roy Peterson. As an adult I bought the whole series which I still have somewhere.


I’ll never forget the brilliant image of the dashing Peter Waterhole with a rose between his teeth.


Flash forward to the 21st century where today’s kids are treated to a comic book which pictures today’s Canadian Prime Minister as Captain-Canada-like Superhero? Ouch. Here’s hoping today’s kids are as savvy as Greta Thunberg (and I think they are).

"Frog Fables and Beaver Tales" cover art: a Canadian flag wielding beaver whose tail is positioned over the fuse on a stick of dynamite, while a frog holding a lit match dangles in the foliage above


I just wanted to make a little note to myself about this, because I’m no good at focusing on the…

I just wanted to make a little note to myself about this, because I’m no good at focusing on the positives in my life and I want to be better at that.

So: I’ve been doing an online digital photography course for a couple of months now and today I experimented with the manual settings on my camera for the first time, adjusting the shutter speed and aperture etc. It went really well! I took a load of shots of my dog while she was sleeping on the sofa and, yeah, some came out a bit dark or overexposed but there are a lot I really like too. Which is kind of a big deal for me! I very rarely feel proud of the stuff I create and it’s been a while since I’ve felt any sense of progress/achievement with anything. Maybe I’ll get some photos printed to celebrate!

“As this world becomes increasingly ugly, callous and materialistic, it needs to be reminded that the…”

“As this world becomes increasingly ugly, callous and materialistic, it needs to be reminded that the old fairy stories are rooted in truth, that imagination is of value, that happy endings do, in fact, occur, and that the blue spring mist that makes an ugly street look beautiful is just as real a thing as the street itself.”

- Elizabeth Goudge.