I guess this is report day…Firstly, the 1st Annual Cornish Heritage Day here in Clarington on March 4th, went very well. As I said in my opening remarks that afternoon, “When you plan something like this you never know if anyone will come.” Well, 32 people came! Whooppee! We all ate pasties and saffron cake. Had to fill the teapots (2) twice! In the accompanying photo I’m the one way up at the front welcoming everyone.  Ten more people came in shortly after this photo was taken. We called it the 1st Annual in the hope there would be others. Everyone who …

Read more

It’s almost spring… the Home and Garden shows are only a few weeks away. You’ll find “yours truly” at the Oshawa Spring and Garden Show, the Ajax Spring and Garden Show and the Clarington Spring and Garden Show. Oshawa – Tribute Centre – March 2,3 and 4. You’ll find me on the mezzanine level. I will also be presenting an hour long PowerPoint – The Natural Gardener. Don’t miss it. Ajax – Deer Creek Golf and Banquet Centre – March 23, 24, 25 with the same presentation (in case you miss the Oshawa event) Clarington – Garnet Rickard Centre – April …

Read more

Snowing like crazy!  Staying indoors! Sound familiar? I think Canadians across the country are doing the same thing! I’m sitting here thinking about my garden come spring….not such a long way off as you might think.  My garden consists mainly of vegetables.  I have one small corner where I am cultivating a tiny perennial garden, mostly to attract bees to the garden and fruit trees, but the rest of my effort goes into the production of food. I’m fortunate to have been gardening for so many years, but some of you don’t have that experience. To help you out I …

Read more

Just trying to catch up here…a new project has just come into focus…Cornish Heritage Day in Clarington. Yes, if you are descended from Cornish folk, or you have emigrated from Cornwall yourself, then this is going to be a great event to attend! March 5th, in Cornwall, UK, is St. Piran’s Day (St. Piran being the patron saint of Cornwall, and tinners). So, to celebrate Cornwall and all its people, the Cornish flag will be raised on the town staff on March 5th where it will fly proudly all day. One of the reasons is this…. in the early years of the …

Read more

So much for monthly posts!!!  But then I guess Christmas and New Years got in the way – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!! In my last post I said I’d tell you about the second 150th Anniversary book I wrote, Clarington’s Home Children. It came about in an odd set of circumstances… I had an e-mail one day from a local lady who said she’d realized this part of our local history had not been looked at, and she thought I might be just the person to do it. Of course, I knew about the Home Children, but …

Read more

Well, I’m back at the keyboard to tell you about the next book I wrote. It took me about 2 years to research this book, which is titled, Identifying Heritage Apples Across Ontario. Wow! That’s a little different from what you normally do, I hear people say, when they hear about the book. Well, not really – it’s still history. Only this time it’s part of our agricultural heritage, and Ontario was founded on agricultural pursuits, and in many parts of the province, agriculture is still the main employer and main source of income for many folks. Have you ever …

Read more

My name is Sher Leetooze and I live at Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. I write history books for a living. This is Day #1 of my blog. Where do I start? I had thought of starting with the book I published in 2014, WW1 Nursing Sisters of Old Durham County, and telling you something about how that book came to be, and what I’ve managed to do with the information since the book was published. And the more I think about it, the more I think that’s exactly what I’ll do. It was early in 2013, the previous book, Churches of …

Read more