A few weeks ago, when my sister wasn’t looking, I liberated these metal garden chairs from my parents’ basement. I remember playing in my grandparents’ yard while my father and grandfather sat in them, under the trees at the end of the grass. There were other dogs then ~~ three huge German Shepherds ~~ Mitzi, Bruno and Seta. My…
3000 B.C. ~~ long before we were using the glorious SUNFLOWER to adorn our dishes and tabletops ~~ ~~ and long before van Gogh and O’Keeffe were inspired by its beauty ~~ van Gogh O’Keeffe ~~ Native Americans in the southwest had domesticated it and were pounding and squeezing its seeds into flour and oil, and using various parts of the plant for…
“A flag may be a flimsy bit of printed gauze, or a beautiful banner of finest silk. Its intrinsic value may be trifling or great, but its real value is beyond price, for it is a precious symbol of all that we and our comrades have worked for and lived for, and died for, a free Nation of free men, true…
When I think of TARTAN I think warm colors and woven woolens. The kind of fabric that can keep you warm in the cold Scottish winters. (And summers.) And like any good New England family, we have a large supply of cozy tartans in the form of scarves, flannel shirts, pjs, robes and certain other men’s undergarments. None of which you…
“If you don’t like the weather in New England, wait and it will change.” This year, in the strangest ways. In August, Hurricane Irene blew through, taking down one of my favorite backyard trees. It was huge with pink spring flowers and deep plum leaves. For days afterward, birds fluttered around the fallen limbs, as confused as I was mournful. …
The thermometer outside the kitchen window is trying hard to touch 50, and that means it is time to visit the cedar closet in the attic to find the summery things I tucked away last fall, when the thought of tweeds and wools seemed so cozy and comforting. Let’s gather my winter bags together to start the great seasonal switch. I can…
Winter has been wicked here. Today, March 2nd, my deck is still covered in a crusty snow. But SPRING is on its way. PLEASE! After a sinus and ear infection that literally knocked me off my feet with dizziness, a wild week of driving around New England in horrible weather seeing my two kids, and a weekend of college…
Welcome to my home. My friends call me Nellie, although I answer to Nellie Belly, Nelle Belle, Miss Brown, Brown Beast, Smelly Nellie, Nellie Belly Burp (because I have been known to…), and most anything sounding like Treat or Ball. My official name is Naughty Miss Nellie Belle, in keeping with my ancestors who include Bad Buster Brown, Good…
Outside my kitchen window is a beautiful maple tree which is the last to turn and lose its leaves. Sometimes the leaves are still on to greet the first snowfall. When they turn this luscious bright red I know it is time to put up the birdfeeders. Woodpeckers, finches, chickadees, cardinals and bluejays visit daily. **** ****…