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Don’t you just love seeing heavenly beams of sunlight. I started taking photos of them when I was in South Africa recently and have not stopped snapping shots whenever I see them. The beams always remind me of evocative Turner skies or the swirling spiritual skies of El Greco. But I also always think of these wonderful words by Housman...

The official launch of my two novels, Roland and Paperboy, at the lovely Italian restaurant, Baci, in Burnaby, went off without a hitch and was a wonderful, joyous occasion. We had a fabulous group of family and friends come out for the event, which included a celebratory love dance by friends, plus speeches and a book signing.Prosecco flowed freely, and...

We came to St. Petersburg for a few days rest and relaxation after the bustle of the Italy Islands and Lakes Tour, which we think was a big success. Everyone one told me that I should be wary of petty thieves in Russia, especially St. Petersburg. I scoffed a little. I said I had been to Napoli, for goodness sake. If I...

Today I'm delighted to announce the release of my two novels, Paperboy and Roland. Both books are now available in ebook form as well as paperback from Amazon and major book stores. Two novels, Paperboy and Roland, by Steve Whysall, published 2025 I began writing Paperboy when I retired in 2017 and worked intermittently on the manuscript for a couple of...

Chizhik-Pyzhik, where've you been? I’ve been drinking vodka on the Fontanka - Russian folk song When you go on a canal cruise in St. Petersburg, they usually take you down the Fontanka River alongside the Summer Garden.  And they teach you this little rhyme, related to the yellow feathers of the siskin bird that matched the colours of the uniform of the students...

Let me tell you about Sopot. You may not have heard of it.  I didn't know about it before now. Most of my friends have never heard of it either. I wouldn’t have known about it at all had it not been for my brother, Raymond, and my sister-in-law Helena. They come to Sopot often to see Helena's Polish relatives and...

The six wonderful garden projects featured here have inspired and delighted us for years. They are still among the most creative, original, artistic works of landscaping the world has seen. I don't think it's going too far to call them six of the top garden wonders of the world. Let me know if you know other projects worthy of...

We just spent a wonderful week in London showing our granddaughter, Maya, the sights. It was her first time in London, so everything was amazing for her. We started with a ride on the Tube from Russell Square in Bloomsbury to Covent Garden from where we walked into Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery. We went on the London Eye, visited...

Am I still having fun in the garden? Yes, gardening is still a wonderful pastime. And, hard to believe, I am still getting excited about new plant acquisitions and new planting ideas. This week, for instance, I saw for the first time a Tasmanian blueberry vine (Billardiera longiflora) in the garden of a friend on Salt Spring Island. This vine,...

The ANA flight from Vancouver to Tokyo leaves at 3 in the afternoon, which means with the 17 hour time change, you get into the Japanese capital at 6 pm the following day. This is perfect because by the time you get through customs and make the ride into town from Haneda Airport, you have just enough time for a...

We arrived in Rome a couple of days ahead of the start of our Italy-Croatia Tour and checked into the elegant Grand Hotel Palace on the Via Veneto, a street famous for the film La Dolce Vita. This location is ideal with easy access to the Borghese gardens and a short walk down to Piazza Barberini and...

To the sound of Claudio Villa singing Arrivederci Roma, we left the Eternal City in our maroon coloured coach and headed north to Umbria. Villa Lante guide Iza with frescos But first, we stopped on our way to visit the famous garden at Villa Lante in Bagnaia just...

I’ve been thinking about my death a lot this week. I blame it on Antonio Banderas. I read an interview with him in the Guardian about his work on Picasso in which he said, “I don’t want to live like I’m already dead. I’m just going to live it, and if I die, I die.” Antonio’s words stuck in my mind....

In May, 2013, we returned to Rome for another Italian tour, only this time out of Rome and down to the Amalfi Coast and then farther south to Sicily. This turned out to be one of the most fun tours, partly because we ended up with an exceptional guide, Max, a former TV soap star, who was always very...

Twenty years ago, I picked up a book by Penelope Hobhouse and read about a fantastic garden called Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore. I remember looking at the beautiful pictures of this garden, and saying to Loraine, “Wow, how I would love one day to stand there.” Who knew that just a few years later, my dream would come true and...