James, Take Me Away If you live in Richmond, one of the great natural resources is the James River. I’ve always loved the James, but I was surprised that more than one third of all Virgininas rely on the James for drinking water, business, and recreation. It’s also one of the longest rivers in America…
The Yolks on You My favorite time of the day is when I get home, pour a glass of wine, and let my chickens run loose in the yard. Poultry in motion. How did this city-slicker turned chicken-wrangler get her start you ask? Well stranger, pull up a straw bale, let me pour you a…
Getting Snippy If you want more blooms and thicker foliage this summer, now is the time to break out the pruning shears and get whacking. March, with some exceptions, is the best time to prune summer and fall blooming specimens, and shape trees and shrubs. There are two basic pruning cuts, a heading cut and…
Get a Move On Ever get some advice, and while helpful, your internal dialog is snarking; “Easy for you to say Buddy, you should try it yourself sometime.” Or when someone, let’s hypothetically say a real estate agent, suggests your closets should be thinned down to about 25% of what’s currently jammed in there, you’re…
Eat Your Heart Out With Valentine’s Day coming up, nothing says love like a gift of good meat. (Ok perv, get that thought out of your head, this is a family newsletter.) I’m talking about a fine cut of grass fed Angus Beef grown on a farm in the lovely Shenandoah Valley. My friend Libby…
Teen Angst Have you seen all the retractions and apologies from the meteorologists who predicted a warm winter with little snow a few months ago? Yeah, funny thing, me neither. I love my old house, but when it dips into the teens my boiler has to work overtime just to keep the house in the…
Hearts Inquire As we coast into my least favorite month, I’m a little hard pressed to point out any creative bright spots in February. Oh look! There’s a holiday in the middle of the month where couples can stress over their miserable attempts at communicating their love accurately and succinctly on one day, and singles…
For The Time Being The big news in Richmond has been the discovery of a time capsule, two actually, as the Robert E. Lee pedestal was being dismantled. Based on historical documentation a capsule was rumored to be in the northeast corner of the pedestal, but after weeks of searching in that area, nothing was…
Home Is Where The Smart Is Smart home technology started in the 1980’s, and it’s used to increase the comfort, security, and energy efficiency of a home. Things have evolved over the years, and I’m often asked by clients what makes a smart house a smart house. Adding a Ring doorbell or a learning thermostat…
Savin’ Some Simoleons I have mixed emotions about January this year. Normally it feels like a big period at the end of the sentence of the last chapter of Holidays Gone Haywire, a novel you pick up in November and can’t put it down until the day after New Years. When it’s over you can’t…
