Living and gardening in an older Hudson Valley home
Autumn leaves take the spotlight in the Hudson Valley this time of year. Miraculous displays of red, yellow, gold and brown provided stunning vistas in all directions and surprises of color around every bend and corner. It was truly a gorgeous season. Rains in the past week have caused most of the leaves to fall, […]
Spring cleaning in the yard can produce dramatic results, as demonstrated by my last big project on the property. Before and after photos render such an interesting, and for me, satisfying look back. Along the south western edge of the property is part of the old Catalpa Road that had not been uncovered in many […]
Sometimes, simply by sitting the soul collects wisdom. -Zen Proverb This past weekend, we built another rustic garden bench. Building benches is fun, especially with the challenge of using found materials. The bench is sited to give our delightful neighbors a place to sit and see their home across the garden. Principally, the bench is […]
The Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi, beauty in imperfection, is an appropriate design parameter for the woodland garden. Using tree branches and tree trunks is a great way to build rustic features. Over President’s Day weekend, Andrew and I built a bridge and an arbor using a combination of wood from Home Depot and wood gathered […]
Everyone’s house is special. It is often the embodiment of their style, their preferences and is above all their refuge. There are bigger, grander and more interesting houses, still I find my house charming in an old, elegant way. My house sits in the middle of 5.67 manicured acres. It is like living in the […]
The closing for the purchase of the house happened in the first week of May in 2018. I was in Sao Paulo working, so the attorney went to the closing for me. I longed to be there, but that was impossible. A week after closing I was sitting in my office in Sao Paulo and […]
