Saturday, June 17, 2006



In 1986, when we moved to our present house on Athlone Street, I thought Rosemary had finally made a mistake. Rosemary never makes mistakes. Thanks to her perceptive talents and pioneering spirit we moved to Vancouver in our light blue WV Beetle with our two daughters in 1975. But this time I did not see how were were going to pay our $3200 a month mortgage. For about three years Rosemary gave me an allowance and she handled the money (as she always has). Within a couple of months I knew that if we not only had to pay the mortgage but also pay Harry Nomura, the neighbourhood Japanese gardener, things would not work out. Rosemary decided we would do the work on the lare garden of our corner lot. We learned quickly. Our garden has been featured in Better Homes and Gardens and this past May in Canadian Gardening . We have opened the garden for countless plant societies and this is the second time it is going to be opened (today and Sunday) for the City/VanDusen Tour. With this garden that began as Rosemary's, and through some gentle coaxing, I have learned a new activity which I have come to love. We share it. I have often said that it is strange how so many people escape the city, take a ferry, relax on an island and then battle ferry traffic to come back to the city. All Rosemary and I have to do is open the kitchen door and walk down to our garden. She's smart and I love her.