Dome Chronicles

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Congratulations Garry Leeson!

Author: June 10, 2021

The Grapevine‘s own Garry Leeson is the 2021 winner of the Margaret and John Savage First Book Award Published by Nevermore Press, The Dome Chronicles (as readers of Leeson’s longtime Grapevine series know) begins in 1972: “a boxcar left Toronto with a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple and pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain in Harmony, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. Armed with an irrepressible sense of humour, they were back-to-the-landers. Over the next forty…
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The Stone Chronicles

Author: May 15, 2021

Garry Leeson We could have replaced the dome we lost in a fire with a conventional framed wooden building or maybe a log home; the latter would have been the most practical, we had countless acres of suitable timber, but no, that would have been too easy. Andrea, who was raised in Montreal and the Laurentians, had fond memories of the traditional iconic stone houses that abounded in the older sections of Quebec and was determined that we replicate one here in Nova Scotia. What she was suggesting would be a veritable fieldstone mini-mansion. I don’t know what I was…
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Santa’s Early Arrival

Author: December 10, 2020

Context: In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and catastrophe, they persevered, unwittingly…
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Dome Chronicles

The Dome Chronicles: Shelter in Place

Author: May 29, 2020

The Dome Chronicles: Shelter in PlaceGarry Leeson It was day forty of our isolation, but I wasn’t complaining. Unlike many other people, I have lots to keep me busy here on South Mountain: chores at the barn and heaps of firewood to process. Tilly, our border collie/sheltie cross, had spent the better part of the day on top of our pile of oak logs barking incessantly and trying to dig her way down to something concealed near the top. My first thought was that a squirrel had scampered in ahead of her and was busy teasing her. Tilly and the…
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The Dome Chronicles: Mush

Author: March 21, 2020

The Dome Chronicles: MushGarry Leeson In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and…
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Dome Chronicles

They Built a Dome: The Dome Chronicles Book Launches December 14

Author: December 13, 2019

They Built a Dome: The Dome Chronicles Book Launches December 14Emily Leeson (with Zoe D’Amato) “Can you hear that?!” My mother was yelling into her phone. “Hear what?” I whispered back, lowering the volume on my receiver. I was in class, but I have a policy of always picking up when family calls…well, when my parents call, that is. They have a habit of getting into some sticky situations — like when Dad got stuck down the well, or when they crashed the wagon into the woodpile (everybody including the horses ended up upside — down, but ultimately fine). “I…
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The Dome Chronicles: Skunked

Author: July 18, 2019

The Dome Chronicles: Skunked By Garry Leeson In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire,…
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The Dome Chronicles: Percy’s Pickup

Author: June 17, 2019

In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and catastrophe, they persevered, unwittingly sowing…
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The Dome Chronicles: Apple Pie Time

Author: October 4, 2018

In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph and catastrophe, they persevered, unwittingly sowing…
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The Dome Chronicles: Mr. Hill’s Opus

Author: September 26, 2018

The Dome Chronicles By Garry Leeson In 1972, a boxcar from Toronto containing a menagerie of farm animals and an eager young couple pulled into the station platform in Kingston, Nova Scotia. They were bound for a deserted hundred-acre farm on the South Mountain, determined to preserve the foundations of farmsteads past while constructing a geodesic dome. They were pioneers of the future, armed with respect for tradition and an irrepressible sense of humour. They didn’t call themselves farmers. They were back-to-the-landers. Farming was industry and their calling was sustainability. Over the next forty years, through flood and fire, triumph…
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