Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
The internet, or more precisely Instagram, will probably be my undoing. Posts by influencers and bloggers demonstrate many clever and interesting things. I waste hours looking at posts of the seeming ease of renovating French Chateaus and English manor houses, cake decorating, gardening and countless other worthwhile, but challenging occupations. For unknown reasons, I get […]
Most gardening advisors will tell you to design your hardscape and then your plantings. I usual do this by putting in paths, building structures or walls and then plant around them. My latest garden is developing in the opposite manner. I have placed a few plants to see how they will grow and will then […]
Autumn has been spectacular in New York this year. Contrary to the opinion of many people who speculated the summer drought would leave the trees brown, they have instead displayed a rich palette of yellow, orange and red. The views, framed in the windows looking out of my home, are like impressionist paintings of vibrant […]
Welcome to No. 1 Old Oak Tree Path. The woodland garden is home to an elf, sometimes many elves. The elf’s name is Dobby. Fans of Harry Potter may recognize the name of the character from J. K.Rowling’s novels, where he was a house elf. A few years ago, my lovely goddaughter, Amy, and her […]
Last year, I had my old garage doors replaced. They were wooden and had seen better days. A ground hog had decided to visit one evening and thought it would be a comfortable place for an overnight stay. Unfortunately, his check out time did not coincide with when I would next be opening the garage […]
The most strenuous and difficult projects are often the most rewarding. I know this, but I still agonize over them. I wonder – what if I can’t complete the task or what if it doesn’t turn out the way I expected. Rarely am I satisfied with my work, so the later concern is always topmost […]
The soothsayer in William Shakespeare’s Julius Ceasar ominously warns, “beware the Ides of March.” For me the saying should be, “beware the winds of March.” As long as I can remember, March is always a windy month. This past Monday, March 7, we had a terrific windstorm. I wasn’t home, so I missed the storm. […]
After nearly three years of not getting on a plane and almost no travel, I went to Germany. When you put this into the context that I had some years where I was traveling at least 75% of each year, to not go anywhere was…..a luxury! A luxury I had some trepidation of giving up. […]
My home has a ladies dressing room between the master bedroom and the bathroom. It has a built in vanity, full length mirror, ironing board, storage drawers, shelves and hanging spaces. All the original cabinetry remains intact and I assume the square, clear, plastic handles are also original. It serves little purpose for me, as […]
Even in winter progress has been made on the woodland garden. We have had some slightly warmer and sunnier days this week. I hired a local landscaper, Lynn Warren, to help me with the removal of all the debris I generated over the summer and fall in the woodland garden. I had large piles of […]
