December is upon us, the spirit is in the air, and you have an itch to try the whole wreath-making thing again. Except...you've never really nailed the art of wreath making. 'Spindly' and 'amateurish' are words that figure prominently in the memories you haven't already blocked, followed by 'lop-sided,' and 'award for participation.' Perhaps you'd [...]
December is a month of transition in the temperate gardener’s mind. I look at it like a well-deserved break and savor every second. It is a resting month in the Mid-Atlantic garden, which is certainly convenient as it is not a resting month in any other part of our lives. The holiday season – frantic [...]
The New Year is beckoning, and the human condition being what it is, the decorations that made your home festive and exciting a few short days ago can feel cluttered and cloying today. However, if you have begun eyeing up ornaments and frippery for boxes and trashbins, may I urge you to pause when your [...]
December. Joy, Mirth, and seventeen other one word slogans on cotton dishtowels. Are you ready? We are sent out to achieve the impossible this month. In the midst of lives already conducted at 75 mph, and without any real vacation time, we are asked to do the following ten tasks with a smile [...]
Well, by the level of chaos around here I can only assume it's Christmas week. She's totally behind and muttering to herself a lot. I'm getting a lot of bones this week, and not just scavenged deer carcass ones either. I guess it's easier to pull a steak out of the freezer and hand it [...]
Whether we have fully accepted it or not, the holiday season officially kicks off the day after Thanksgiving. You may reject the idea of Big Box lines at 2am for unnecessary gadgets and must-have technology (I do), but – completely against your will – you may also find yourself getting just a little excited at [...]
Christmas is upon us this week, I have recently added another birthday notch to my leather belt, and now we stand upon the brink of another long, cold winter. Of the three statements, the first is the only one to bring me any joy, not least of all because my Christmas shopping is done and [...]
Up until last year, I'd never put together a holiday gift guide for readers. Truly useful gifts rarely go out of fashion. Then I was asked by a friend if I had some suggestions for gifts for her gardening mother, and surprisingly I did. In fact I could easily think of quite a [...]
