Island Life Archives - Page 10 of 12

My Storage War

November 19, 2014 By JPMcLean 13 Comments

My Storage War: Fall is the season for burrowing in. We pull out the winter woollies and move the summer clothes to storage. Warm flannelette replaces crisp cotton, stew replaces salad, and the deck furniture gets scrubbed and put into storage.

By put into storage, I mean I stuff it into our crawl space, which is four feet high, give or take a pinch, but it’s warm and dry. Did I mention the height? Maybe when I was younger my noggin was tougher and the occasional head bang didn’t hurt so much. My back was probably stronger too – more flexible.

This year I managed to get half the furniture stored before I bonked my head. My auto response was a spasm-inducing spine-lurch and enough four-letter words to clear the air in the crawl space. That’s when I made the executive decision that this would be the last year I played this contortionist game.

Four-car garage on Denman Island — **Four-car Garage**

Off I went in search of a solution

I should have known better. It’s not that we don’t have alternative storage space it’s that none of it’s available. Hard to believe considering the four-bay garage, the two-bay tractor shed, the RV shelter, the boat shed, the beach shed, the wood shed, the pump house and the outhouse.

How is it possible we have NO free storage space? Even if I scratch the outhouse, wood shed and pump house from the list, we still have nine bays worth of space. NINE! Canadian Tire should be so lucky! When did we collect enough stuff to fill nine bays with no room left over for the deck furniture?

It boggles my mind, but there’s nothing to be done for it: I’m not doing the crawl-space limbo one more time. So this afternoon I pulled out a measuring tape to figure out how big a shed we’d need to house the deck furniture.

Number ten, here we come! I can’t believe it. If we ever decide to go into the shed business, we won’t have to build the samples. Oh wait…I think we’re already there.

I’m happy to offer a storage-friendly digital version of Secret Sky. Get your copy for Kindle with one click right here. And if ebooks or Amazon aren’t your preference, more options are available on the Bookstore tab.

In Praise of Indie Bookstores

April 24, 2014 By JPMcLean Leave a Comment

Indie bookstores rock! Here’s a sight dear to my heart and one I never imagined I’d see: All three of my books on the shelf at Abraxas Books, an indie bookstore here on Denman Island. I took this photo after the third book came out and must confess to popping into Abraxas Books far too often just to sigh and smile at the sight of them perched there.

I’m fortunate to live in a community so well served by a supportive bookstore and wanted to give them a well-earned shout out. Juan Barker is one of the owners and he has not only provided me with much needed guidance when I was new to the business, but he continues to go out of his way to promote local writers.

Juan Barker

That’s him behind the counter in this photo taken at one of the book signings he organized.

And it’s not just Juan who makes you feel welcome. All of the partners and staff at Abraxas Books are knowledgeable and user-friendly. If you can’t find the book you’re looking for on the shelves at Abraxas, they’ll order it in for you . . . at a competitive price! That’s saying something in these days of mega stores and on-line retailers.

Buy local means something at Abraxas Books

They not only support local and indie authors, they also carry a selection of pottery, paintings and other crafts made by local artists. We really are quite a creative bunch here on Denman Island. (Likely has something to do with the winter rains that keep us indoors and the ferries that stymie our escape!)

So if you find yourself on Denman Island, turn left at the top of the ferry hill. You’ll find Abraxas Books at 1071 Northwest Road. Juan, Leslie, Corinne or Shaun will be happy to serve you.

Abraxas by phone: 250.335.2731 ~ Abraxas by Email: abraxas9@telus.net

Look who else thinks that Abraxas Books rocks! Here’s a five-star review I found on Yelp, written by a customer from Seattle! And if you’d like to support this indie writer, check out the buy direct from author links on her Bookstore tab.

Spring Fever Melt-down

February 24, 2014 By JPMcLean 9 Comments

Each year around this time, I suffer Spring Fever melt-down. It starts when the snowdrops and aconites break through the cold winter soil to show their bright, sunny faces, and quickly ramps up with the return of the robins.

The fever hit hard last week and drew me outside in shirtsleeves to turn soil, yank weeds and cut down a sea of dead stalks that should have been composted months ago. When the fever’s in full stride, it’s easy to push away thoughts of unwritten chapters and hunker down over a garden fork.

With fresh dirt under my fingernails, I felt a renewed commitment to get my neglected gardens back in shape, but that first day’s work had my back reminding me to take it easy.

The weather cooled, my fever subsided and a few days later I’m in town with a friend, running errands. She suggests a stop at the nursery.

Why not, I think? I’ll just have a wee look-see.

But the moment I walk through the doors, the fever sets in. I inhale the heady scent of forced blooms and my pupils dilate. A garden centre in February is like a crack house to the bloom-starved, flower-addicted gardener.

I wander wide-eyed up and down the aisles touching lush foliage and cooing. Before I know it, I’ve gathered an armful of the little darlings and I make a break for the till.

Later on, safely home, I set my drugs…err…flowers out on the lawn to admire, and contemplate where I’ll plant them. They’ll be fine left outside, I reason, after all, the crocuses are already blooming.

I should know by now that a trip to the garden centre this early in the year never ends well.

For now, the hot flash of spring fever is under control, snuffed out under a blanket of winter snow. But it’ll be back. It always comes back!

If you’re snowed in today, why not curl up with a good book and escape the cold. You can order Secret Sky for Kindle with one simple click here. Go on…your adventure awaits. And if ebooks aren’t your preference, click on the Bookstore tab, or the covers below for more options.

Dishing up Frustration

January 19, 2014 By JPMcLean 2 Comments

Moments ago I signed out of Twitter in a fit of frustration. Not with Twitter—with our Internet connection, which is dishing up frustration. I couldn’t open a link to save my life. As much as I love living on a small island, it has its drawbacks.

We live in one of those rare pockets of civilization not serviced by high-speed land lines. Satellite service is the next best thing, and the dish is usually sufficient, but every once in a while…urghhh!

Just a few days ago, the adjacent neighbours and I had a discussion about how far we’d all come since the dial-up days. Remember that? The phone line was tied up all the time and it took all night to download your email. Large attachments were a nightmare and forget about streaming anything.

I don’t know how it happened, but sometime between dial-up and the dish, access to the Internet became indispensable. Like appliances and power tools, it’s become a time-saving device that makes short work of chores. Especially research—remember card catalogues? I miss those about as much as I miss dial-up.

There are talented artisans who eschew modern technologies and still manage to create masterpieces; sadly, I’m not one of them. I’m not that writer who could turn out a book on an old Underwood or even a Selectric. Without my word processor, I’d be a tree’s worst nightmare.

My apologies for whining and moaning about our Internet service. I’m just venting. I couldn’t manage with it and I wouldn’t trade our worst day of service here for better service elsewhere. So I’ll shut up now and go see if the dish is behaving yet.