My Love of History

Homesteaders were hoodwinked by an unscrupulous Canadian government that lied about the life awaiting them in the so-called land of promise, resulting in untold hardship and heartbreak.

Homesteaders survived that first ghastly winter in shacks made of lumber, logs or even earth. Flora, the heroine in my new historical novel, was one of them.

We recently spent two weeks in the beating heart of Mexico City, where thousands of people were once sacrificed to the Aztec gods and blood gushed down the streets very close to the location of our hotel. It was both gruesome and fascinating.

They say every picture tells a story. Among the thousands of photographs stored in my albums and on my computer, some of them are very dear to my heart. Here is the story behind the photo, for ten of my favourite historical pictures.

It was a great thrill to travel back to the farm, to see my beloved family, my childhood farmhouse, AND my new farmland. Earlier this year I purchased some land and rented it to my brother Rob Florence, who owns the family farm east of North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Here I am, outstanding in my new field.

The royal family and I go back a long way, since I’ve been fascinated with them since my earliest memory. Here’s a personal history of my lifelong association with this unique clan.

My thrifting life took an uptick recently, when I found this lovely Early’s Witney Point trading blanket at my favourite thrift shop in Parksville, on Vancouver Island.   My Trading Blanket It happened like this: I spotted the bright red blanket across the floor at SOS (short for Society of Organized Services) in Parksville, and […]

Dear Friends: My mother’s estate has wrapped up and her house has been sold, so I’m disposing of her furniture and possessions, which carry many family memories. And that means dragging home no fewer than 25 cardboard cartons filled with photographs, letters, china, books, and keepsakes. In a box of old knitting patterns, I found […]

Dear Friends: Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In my novel Wildwood, my Irish heroine Mary Margaret receives this Belleek shamrock tea set from her grandmother as a wedding gift when she emigrates to northern Alberta in 1923. Later, my contemporary heroine Molly finds the tea set and other vintage items in the old farmhouse kitchen — many of which came from my […]

Welcome to your very first Letters From Windermere, an old-fashioned letter from my house to yours, a collection of news, notes, and nostalgia where I chat about History, Writing, and Books. From 2013 to 2018, I wrote more than 100 wartime stories, and you can find them all under the category called Lest We Forget. […]