Merry Christmas!
Can you believe it’s almost 2024? It hit me just a few days ago that we’re just on the cusp of a new year. I wish everyone a holiday full of blessings and connections and another year of wonderful surprises.…
Category Home & Garden
Read MoreMerry Christmas!
Autumn Chill & Trees
Autumn has descended and the leaves have been turning for weeks now. The rainy season is picking up and temperatures are dropping. It’s in the 50s now. Chilly and crisp, and when the sun is out it’s strikingly beautiful. I…
Recipe: Herb, Cheddar & Pecan Scones (w/Scone Goddess mix)
A friend introduced me to The Scone Goddess, a small business located in Maine that creates a variety of scone mixes. Now, I am a bit of a scone snob, so the fact that I swear by this mix is…
Rosa Rugosa & Sedum Cuttings
I added cuttings to my makeshift plant nursery today, specifically a white rugosa rose and autumn joy sedum. Autumn is a great time of year to take cuttings, allowing their root systems to develop over the winter in preparation for…
Potting Up Volunteers
Plants that pop up in the garden from seemingly nowhere are referred to as volunteers. These may arise from seeds cast off by plants in the garden, from seeds consumed by animals that survive their digestive system, from squirrels burying…
Recipe: Bolognese Sauce
This hearty meat sauce is a recipe that started as a simple bolognese recipe with store bought marinara sauce then evolved from various sources. I learned the idea of adding chili flakes for a bit of heat from a dear…
Bereavement & Optimism
In the last 38 hours my cat of 17 years passed away. Although his life was nearing closure, Nicholas was in excellent health and I had hoped for another year or two with him. I suspect he caught something after…
Late Summer Bouquet
I gathered up some late summer blooms for a bouquet, including panicle hydrangeas, butterfly bush, a climbing rose and some ornamental oregano.
Hydrangea Cuttings
In early May, I trimmed some of my oakleaf and bigleaf hydrangeas to shape them. I knew I’d be sacrificing blooms on the bigleaf hydrangeas, but I wanted them to fill out more and decided it was worth it. Then…
Recipe: Beef Stroganoff
Beef Stroganoff is a savory comfort food I recall from childhood. Traditionally a Russian dish, It’s a hardy meal that is particularly enjoyable on cool or rainy days when you want something to warm you up. I usually prepare it…