isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

Recent Blog Posts

about

Isobel Cunningham has published short fiction and poetry. Her book, Northern Compass is available on Amazon. She was born in Wales but Montreal is her adopted home. She speaks French, Modern Greek ( it’s a fun story) and a little Spanish…oh, English too, of course. She welcomes comments on her blog and looks forward to chatting with you over cyber-space.

Category: Blogging 101

  • A Cord of Wood

          Yesterday they delivered the wood and we stacked it in the woodshed. Yesterday was Sunday but today is turning out to be the day of rest.  Some may be wondering what a cord of wood is and how it got that name.  I wondered too.  Turns out the cord was the string wound…

  • Absent and Present

      It has been one month since I took a year’s  leave of absence from giving tours as a volunteer guide at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.  Do I miss it?  Do I miss walking into the Museum and feeling in a way that it is “mine”?  Do I miss looking for my friends…

  • Country Collage

    I admit to a startled pause when I noticed this posting on a  notice board in rural Ontario.  Juxtaposed with an ad for a community pancake breakfast, it had something of a macabre flavour. City girl, I thought, get a grip.

  • A Pair of Red Repairs

    The letters we receive are far between and few. From cousins old and cranky or high school friends we knew. The mail boxes grew shabby. One even lost its lid to gale-force winds, a wild raccoon, perhaps a smart-ass kid. The hardware store had boxes, the cheap and nasty kind. Or fancy and luxurious, Oh,…

  • Ending is Better than Mending

    or is it? In George Orwell’s dystopian novel the slogan that heads today’s blog is a fundamental tenant of society.  It is an absolute ” value” of consumer society to create in the masses (and make no mistake, you and I are part of that class) an unquenchable desire for new objects. This desire is…

  • Lemonade stands and Fireflies

    I guess it must really be summer. I drank my first glass of homemade lemonade bought from young entrepreneurs.  They sold classic and pink varieties for one dollar a glass.  The price seemed a little steep to me but we were buying charm as well.  The group of youngsters had quite a good marketing strategy. …

  • Moving Day Madness in Montreal

          A recent study informs us that over 60% of the residents of Montreal are tenents.  They are a restless lot too.  It seems that Montrealers are quite ready to pack up their stuff and try to find that perfect apartment.  If only the place could be a little cheaper, a little bigger,…

  • It changes. It stays the same

    It has been a long time since I went for a walk in the Town of Mount Royal.  TMR as we call it here in Montreal is an independent municipality completely surrounded by the rest of the city.  It was founded in 1912 as a sort of ideal garden suburb.  It is home to about…

  • Country Mice attend an opening

        The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts recently hosted a party for the opening of an exclusive exhibition of wedding dresses (make that wedding attire) designed by John Pail Gaultier.  I had a ball guiding his big show a few years ago so I was dying to see what had been whipped up for the “Love…

  • Irony on Sunday

    I watched with interest the speech given by Donald Trump this morning as he began his tour of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Rome.  I am no political scholar but I have followed with alarm the rise of (must I?) President….Trump and his extraordinary behavior during the early months of his administration.  Before we get into…