Green walls are fashionable but many climates are not suited for them. If it’s hot and dry and sunny, you may be limited to stonecrop and succulents. I’ve never lived where they’ve been really practical. When I arrived in the … Continue reading
In preparation for a brutal heat wave about to descend on Oregon, I am sitting in semi-darkness, fans whirring, upstairs AC units working at light speed. The garden and the dogs are watered, shorts I have not worn in years … Continue reading
We have a deer fence on our property, which encloses the house, the front lawn and garden (and part of the pond), the back lawn and garden, and what I like to call the “back forty.” The back forty is … Continue reading
Our back garden path, currently. Nine percent. I just checked the level on our propane tank, and it’s down to nine percent. Just a few days ago, when I started this essay, it was eleven percent. Eek! Propane powers our … Continue reading
Now that we’re fully vaccinated, we’ve been slowly easing our toes back into the stream of Socializing With Other People. It’s been weird! And great! And weird! Last Friday night, we had a couple over for dinner. They are some … Continue reading
Right outside the front door of our house–well, across a little stretch of lawn, fifteen or twenty feet maybe–we have a pond. It was one of the many things we fell in love with when we first saw the house. … Continue reading
(Picture from here.) Spring in New England is a shambling walk to summer. Warm days stumble into light snow, fall over into rain reminiscent of November, stagger back upright into warm sun. Rinse. Repeat. It doesn’t stop the flowers. … Continue reading
We committed social gathering yesterday. 6 people, four fully vaccinated, 2 partially, all of a generation fully cognizant of the risks and generally sensible people, but with the frustration, grief and monotony of the past 14 months getting the better … Continue reading
Oh look, another glossy magazine article about lovely Orcas Island! You’d think the island would be used to this sort of thing by now, but this innocuous, perfectly decent little article has occasioned a great ruckus on at least two … Continue reading
It isn’t literally true that now that spring is making its presence known, my husband has left me for the garden–it just seems that way sometimes. Actually, I jest: I thoroughly approve of his efforts out there. If I wasn’t … Continue reading
