Spring Preening Pruning: If you haven’t pruned your plants yet, early spring April is your last chance for a hard prune. Light shaping is fine until early fall, but now’s the time to trim down the bushes that have lost their shape, or need new growth to bloom this year. For blooming plants, you want…
Start with art. If you are going to jazz up a room, start with a focal point. A canvas, print or photograph in a central location is a good place to begin. If your favorite piece has been hanging in the same spot for a while, consider swapping it with something from another location or…
Now is the perfect time of year to splurge on some new houseplants. I’ve been a long-time fan of succulents and oncidium orchids since they thrive on neglect, but I wanted to share my new plant obsessions. Monstera plants were popular in the 50’s and 80’s, and they are back in vogue again since their…
Success on the outside starts with success on the inside, so on your journey to warm and cozy might I suggest one of the oldest cocktails, the Hot Toddy. Heralded in the early 19th century as a cure for the common cold, a Toddy or whiskey punch, is a nice way to stay warm on…
A never-fail hot drink for the whole family is homemade hot chocolate. It takes about five more minutes than instant, and it’s so worth it. Inside Outside Hot Chocolate 4 cups whole or 2% milk ¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ¼ cup sugar ½ cup bittersweet or semi-sweet chips or chopped bar ½ teaspoon pure…
I try to have a theme for holiday gifting, and since we are all spending a lot of time at home, this year I focused on things that would make that time more enjoyable. Here are a few presents I’m giving this year… Charcuterie boards are a fun way to have a portable picnic, perfect…
The cooking season begins for me late fall when the days are shorter and that extra warmth in the kitchen is a comforting plus. It’s also the time to keep an eye out for regional oysters. I love raw oysters in the shell, adore a good oyster roast, but my favorite is a well fried…
The Victorians had a romantically interesting view of cemeteries and designed them to be more park or museum than burial ground. The living would picnic and play on the grounds among the headstones, and the dead would communicate through symbols on the elaborately carved monuments. Fortunately, one of the best examples of a Victorian cemetery…
I approach gardening the same way I approached sending my kids to summer camp. “Have a great time Sweetie, I hope the weather is great and I’ll see you in a few weeks!” That approach didn’t work so well this August. Not with the campers (you can barely see the scar), but with my window…
On my trips down to the Northern Neck, I’ve started stopping at my favorite produce stand every time I pass with the intent to buy whatever’s in season that week. Generally, it’s a pretty straight forward engagement. See asparagus. Buy asparagus, cook said asparagus, and marvel at how tasty they are compared to their distant…
