Lynn's Comments: When I did the Aunt Fiona series, I received a number of letters from readers who asked me how I knew one of their relatives so intimately. You can make stuff up, but the truth is, you don't have to!
Monthly Archives: July 2020
Thursday July 2, 2020
Friday July 3, 2020
Lynn's Comments: Here, I go into my own family history to reveal the diner/pool hall that my wonderful, eccentric aunt Margaret owned. Oakview Lunch and Billiards was a landmark on the road to Wasaga Beach in Northern Ontario. One summer, I took the bus north to help her for a week or two.
Saturday July 4, 2020
Lynn's Comments: Working in Aunt Margaret's pool hall was a crazy experience—one I'll never forget!
Sunday July 5, 2020
Monday July 6, 2020
Lynn's Comments: Aunt Margaret's assortment of regular customers would arrive every day. It was a social hub. These regulars would spend their time playing pool or sitting in the coffee shop. It was my job to make and serve them breakfast or burgers and fries. If they ever took a good look at the griddle we used, they might not have swallowed their lunch.
Tuesday July 7, 2020
Wednesday July 8, 2020
Lynn's Comments: This is true. Most of the kids on the Manitoba farms could drive the farm machinery just as well as any adult by the time they were 15.
Thursday July 9, 2020
Friday July 10, 2020
Saturday July 11, 2020
Sunday July 12, 2020
Monday July 13, 2020
Tuesday July 14, 2020
Wednesday July 15, 2020
Thursday July 16, 2020
Friday July 17, 2020
Lynn's Comments: My brother-in-law (the farmer) said, "Never name anything you’re gonna eat." His pigs and miniature horses were safe, but the cow…well, she was never named.
Saturday July 18, 2020
Lynn's Comments: In Manitoba, you stop looking for hills and other landmarks and start looking at the sky. At night, the stars go on forever, and during the day, you can see a storm coming from far in the distance—for miles and miles!
Sunday July 19, 2020
Lynn's Comments: When we re-ran strips that included April in her car seat, I had to redraw the panels to show the baby in the backseat in a rear-facing car seat in order to comply with new regulations.
Monday July 20, 2020
Tuesday July 21, 2020
Lynn's Comments: Harrison’s Pond was a small "bog" in front of our friend Doug Harrison's house. Every spring, when we heard the frogs singing in that pond, we knew the frost was gone and summer was on its way.
Wednesday July 22, 2020
Lynn's Comments: There were leeches in Harrison's pond. This we discovered after a frog hunting expedition. Leeches are strange creatures and super interesting to look at…unless they are stuck to your legs.
Thursday July 23, 2020
Friday July 24, 2020
Lynn's Comments: From time to time, our whole family would go to the family farm in Manitoba to work and to visit...but mostly to work! One summer, I was asked to paint the wooden grain bins that were on the edge of the property. I was handed a paint sprayer, some red paint and a few rags.
Saturday July 25, 2020
Lynn's Comments: I hadn't used a sprayer before. With a strong wind whipping across the fields, the paint landed on me covering my face, my clothes and my hands with red paint. To get the paint off I used gasoline. One of my worst moments in time was sitting in the bathtub covered in gasoline, which burned like crazy, and hollering because there was no hot water. In fact, there was no water at all. Stories about the farm could fill a whole series of graphic novels!
Sunday July 26, 2020
Monday July 27, 2020
Lynn's Comments: I got the idea to have the pig wear nylons from a movie in which Gene Wilder is flirting with a sheep that is provocatively wearing fish nets.
Tuesday July 28, 2020
Lynn's Comments: All the people in this story really exist. It was fun to put their names in the paper!
Wednesday July 29, 2020
Thursday July 30, 2020
Friday July 31, 2020
Lynn's Comments: It was really fun coming up with the different names for these pigs.