It’s been a while since I shared any remodeling news. That’s because most of the interior work we wanted to do on the new house is done and we’ve been enjoying a respite from projects beyond the ongoing purging and organization of stuff. But an early spring is upon us and a wedding party is [...]
As I shed things I no longer need in anticipation of our move, I’m relishing the signs of rebirth that happen every spring. When I need to take a break from digging into dark corners, bundling up clothes that don’t work for me anymore or books I’ve already read, I make my way to the [...]
Reading this essay about a woman asking for a better table when given a crummy one made me think about a recent failed attempt at being more forceful. Claire was in town from the frigid East and wanted to spend every minute of the weekend out in the sun. So we drove over to Point [...]
A month into house hunting my weeks are taking on a steady rhythm. On Friday we scan the MLS listings and plan what open houses we’ll attend that weekend. Saturday and Sunday afternoons we tour. Monday morning three a.m. I’m wide awake redecorating the most recently seen possibilities. Tuesday middle-of-the-night doubt creeps in. Wednesday morning [...]
Our first home came with a high-ceilinged living room, lots of wavy glass windows and a big empty garden. I spent hours thinking about what to plant in that garden and consulted plant and seed catalogs for inspiration. One catalog was devoted to apples and taught me that you could grow something beyond the five [...]
After reading Jackson Lander’s chilling account of being bit by a black widow spider, I’m cautiously eyeing the fall crop of spider webs around my yard. Though Landers writes that black widows are notoriously shy and likely to stay clear unless threatened, he was still caught unawares when he stepped into a water shoe to [...]
Our nest has been a little less empty this summer because our daughter Sydney came home to roost for ten weeks while she interned in the legal department at Google. On her last week of work we met her for lunch and a tour of the Googleplex in Mountain View. Thought I’d share some of [...]
Forget the flowers in your hair, if you’re coming to San Francisco be sure to bring a sweater. Especially in the summer. Because of the summer fog it’s more than coolish here, it’s downright cold. Which makes this fair-skinned Idaho transplant very happy. I love a rainy winter day the best, but a foggy summer [...]
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” ― Iris Murdoch
Speaking of birthdays. In a few days it will be my middle daughter’s birthday and that means it’s time to go hunting for a rose for Sydney Rose. Her dad picked out the very first birthday rose when she was a baby. ”Bewitched,” a beautiful clear-pink hybrid tea, captured this spellbinding strawberry-blonde daughter perfectly. Every [...]
