This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to the winner, #10, Wendy Copley of the wonderful Wendolonia! Last Sunday, I caught up with Kate Payne as she came west to promote her brand spankin’ new and beautiful book, [amazon_link id=”0062014706″ target=”_blank” ]The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining, and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency —…
Does it feel like summer where you are? June started out weirdly cold and rainy in Northern California, while we were basking in warm Alaskan temps. I am raising an eyebrow in the direction of our wonky climate changes. The day before we got home — the only day when there was no one here…
Okay, so it’s not an official national holiday. Banks and government offices are open. But if the New York Bird Club had succeeded in its efforts, this would be a day to formally honor the heroism and dedication of our friend, the pigeon. Here’s an excerpt from the club’s 2009 letter to President Obama: We…
For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver. ~Martin Luther Our cabin in Alaska sits at the base of a ridge overlooking a vast stretch of taiga. We always say that we are “going down to…
Shae is in Alaska for another week, so she asked me — Spike, the guest-blogging porcupine — to handle her monthly veggie challenge post. If you remember, she is working her way through the vegetable alphabet to see if she can get herself to like vegetables better and eat them more often. This month she…
Hey! Hello. Remember me — Spike, the porcupine? Shae has gone off to Alaska again. She’ll be back the second week in June and she asked me to watch over her blog while she’s away, like last time. I said yes, even though I wished she hadn’t waited until the last minute to ask me….
May in the garden means things are getting bloomy. Back in February (seems like just yesterday), I seeded a couple of beds with native wildflowers to reduce soil depletion. So far it seems to be working. The lupine likes it. The wildflowers have meant surprises for me, because I didn’t know exactly what was in…
One of the first things I did when I moved out of my parents’ home and into a place of my own was buy a few house plants. None of those plants survived for long, except one — a very hardy Kentia palm that accompanied me to every successive apartment and house for twenty-five years,…
One of many nice things about spring around here is that Meyer lemons and strawberries share part of the season. We can still pick Meyers when the first local berries are arriving in the markets. If you want to make a preserve that’s solidly spring, Meyer Lemon-Strawberry Marmalade definitely qualifies. This is one of the…
I’m not in the habit of committing copyright violations, but I had to post this picture I snapped of my favorite postcard. The photograph was taken by Martine Franck in Nepal in 1996. To me, it says everything about life. Surprising intersections of being. Humor. Acceptance. Pigeons. Things haven’t been going according to plan around…
It’s month four of my personal veggie challenge, in which I am learning to appreciate vegetables by getting better acquainted with least one of them every month. Somehow my challenge guidelines morphed into an alphabet thing, so here’s what we’ve had so far: A is for Artichoke (Artichoke Soup) B is for Bok Choy (Soba…
It takes about twenty minutes to make nasturtium pesto, including the picking. Get some tender nasturtium leaves and get going!