And with flowers from the farmers’ market…

Fiddleheads, lilacs, and now rhubarb.

I'm only waiting to get my bike back from the shop, but I still feel like Pee Wee, Exhibit B...WITHOUT MY BIKE! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoJr...

Very much looking forward to a day of reading. The author proceeds for Tell Others will be donated to @peninternational.bsky.social and @pencanada.bsky.social.

Got electronics and small appliances that need #tlc? Bring them to be repaired at Karma Co-op on Sat., May 23 from 12-3pm. Event created in collaboration w/ RepairCafe Toronto. Everyone Is welcome, registration on-site. More info here: www.karmacoop.org/events-calen... #repaircafe

I‘ve mended this lovely wool blanket.

Back from @karmacooptoronto.bsky.social with seedlings! Looking forward to working in my garden this weekend!

My first attempt at knitting mittens

We are hosting a screening of the classic Kids In The Hall film Brain Candy followed by a Q&A at The Paradise on Bloor June 28th! Tickets are PWYC at the door, click through to reserve a seat! www.westendphoenix.com/events/brain...

A warming spring welcome to bumblebees & humans in the neighbourhood! 🐝🏃‍♀️ Prairie Smoke aka old man's whiskers aka three-flowered avens in the planter outside our store, starting to flower! Rest for a spell in our outdoors area & maybe grab a drink. We've got Alchemy Pickle Company kombucha on tap🍻

Back from Inspirations Studio—the Spring Market is this weekend! Inspirationsstudio.org

A colourful fall throw

I also made a scarf with the leftovers (and some olive wool).

A lap blanket for chilly spring and summer nights. Finally used up this yarn!

For more than a decade, the RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award has recognized excellence in emerging, yet-to-be published Canadian writers. This spring, several alumni of the award are celebrating new books, recognition from their peers, or their growing careers: pencanada.ca/news-and-boo...

"Free exploration of library shelves – the unruliness and personal nature of that exploration – is the essence of childhood reading...To read is to experience imaginative freedom, beyond the prescriptions of your parents and with it a soupçon of risk and shock." More from Sam Leith: buff.ly/yfGyjtU

JUST ANNOUNCED: Maggie Helwig wins 2026 #ShaughnessyCohen Prize for Political Writing! Helwig's book, Encampment, “succeeds where much of political handwringing and wishful thinking around housing and poverty consistently fail.” More on this year's winner at writerstrust.com/ShaughnessyCohen

A parlour palm in my parlour.

Happening tomorrow — launch event for the PEN International Case List, the world’s longest-running record of attacks on free expression faced by #writers around the globe. 📅 Thursday April 23 🕐 9 a.m. atlantic / 8 a.m. eastern / 5 a.m. pacific 📍 Zoom 🎟️ Free: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/voices-fre...

Three weeks left to submit for our RBC/PEN Canada New Voices Award. Unpublished writers are encouraged to submit any genre of writing, including creative nonfiction, journalism, plays, short stories, and poetry collections. Deadline: Thursday May 7, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

A cartoon by Ken Levine.

Out today - four new titles in our Essential John Berger series! This week only - buy any of the new titles from the Essential John Berger series and save 30% on all books in the series.

I need to weave in the ends, but I’m happy with this little throw I made for my desk chair.

Issue 72 features fiction from Jowita Bydlowska, Lynne Sargent, and Cassidy Menard: ex-puritan.ca/issue-72-win...

Tomorrow marks Equal Pay Day in Ontario. This year, @equalpaycoalition.bsky.social is highlighting child care & care workers — the backbone of our communities. Care work is essential, yet still undervalued and underpaid. Show your support! 📍Toronto rally, Pillars of Justice 🗓 April 14, 12:15 PM

Spring flowers from the farmers’ market

Andrea D., Bob B., & Paul DeCampo @pauldecampo.bsky.social will lead Jane's Walks @janeswalk.bsky.social on Sun., May 3, at 11am & 1:30pm from Jane Jacobs's erstwhile home. Learn how our co-op's activities build on Jane's vision of community-driven neighbourhoods🏡 www.karmacoop.org/events-calen...

We're looking for new board members 📣 In particular, we are looking for those from Atlantic Canada, as well as those with a background in fundraising or events (residing anywhere in #Canada). The deadline to express interest in Monday April 13, 2026. Learn more: pencanada.ca/news/call-fo...

We want you to make a nomination for the Ken Filkow Prize, which recognizes those who have advanced free expression in Canada. Learn more: pencanada.ca/defend-expre...

Saxe's motion for a report on ways for city hall to support food co-ops like Karma CARRIES 23-1.

Councillor Saxe moves for a report on ways the city can support non-profit food cooperatives like Karma Co-op. "Everyone who can should sign up for Karma Co-op. It's a great organization!" she adds.

Spring tea time: quiche and green tea opera cake from Chef on the Run Cafe.

Bookmarks by me

Spring reading from Ben McNally Books: Who’s Afraid of Gender by Judith Butler The Paris Express by Emma Donoghue The Universal Baseball Association by Robert Coover

Through the 'Ed Broadbent Digital Archive' project led by Luke Savage and Frances Abele, his legacy can help Canadians understand today's world and its crises. Find archive research: broadbentinstitute.c...

Attention #writers!! The deadline for our annual Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest has been extended to April 7, 2026 at 11:59 P.M. EST! Share your passion with us and submit your personal essay: tnq.ca/contests/ #writersofbluesky #writingcommunity #writingcontest

Just reading the review in @nybooks.com: www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Paul McCartney, Beatlemania and Photography || Rarely seen photographs by McCartney on view now at the AGO. See them on your next visit. tinyurl.com/4zup4xce The Beatles with clay portrait busts by David Wynne, 1964 © 1964 Paul McCartney under exclusive license to MPL Archive LLP

I was fortunate to see Atkins' cyanotypes when they were exhibited at the New York Public Library: www.nypl.org/events/exhib...

Who is on the frontlines of free expression? Starting today, you can submit a nomination of anyone whose work has advanced freedom of expression in Canada. This may include authors, concerned citizens, journalists, librarians, professors, public servants, scientists, whistleblowers, and others.

Reworking something into something else.

Any attempt of any government to curtail public scrutiny of the political process should be rejected. globalnews.ca/news/1172951...

Karma Co-op 💚 gardeners 1) Indoor seed starting? seeds ready now for sale at Karma. + a free, helpful FAQ - docs.google.com/document/d/1... 2) Plant seedlings in spring? Place your seedling pre-orders now - docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... - & pickup at Karma! Seeds & Seedlings from Urban Harvest.

IF YOU HAVE MANY DESIRES YOUR LIFE WILL BE INTERESTING

We spoke with CBC about the city's plans to keep expanding Bike Share and adding more e-bikes to the fleet. Bike Share's success is a true good news story, and a leading indicator of our untapped potential as a cycling city. www.cbc.ca/player/play/...

I Photoshop Paddington into a movie, TV show, or pop culture until I forget: Day 1807

To be read...

Stamping my books brings a special kind of joy.

Knitting a scarf with “robin” and “dusty robin” yarn—getting ready for spring birding!

"For Poirot, it will be a quiet Christmas with my radio perhaps, a book, and a box of exquisite Belgian chocolates."