Vancouverites awoke one soggy, foggy morning this month to be reminded of another problem that won't go away either — the dislike of many people for neighbours coloured anything other than the approved dirty pinko-grey.

He had grilled in the heat, sweated in the rains, and shivered with fever under the rude thatch roof; […]

For as much as the Downton Abbey alum has capitalized on his leading-man presentability—how suited he is to wearing suits—his best performances play deviously on that quality.

My windowsill pebble trays are, for the most part, dimestore plastic drawer dividers; some have pebbles in them, others not, but all are filled with water and surmounted with rubberized sink racks or plastic egg crating which hold the pots.