I love stone steps, especially when they climb through the woods to a waterfall. Along with lighthouse stairs, the curving stairs on the hike to the Cascades near Blacksburg, Virginia, are among my favorite stairways. They are made with stone from the mountain. They are mossy and organic. They look like they belong. These stone steps … Continue reading Streamside stairs
From the street, everything about our landscape was blocky. When we moved in, the front of our house was all straight lines and rectangles: driveway perpendicular to the street, stairs perpendicular to the driveway, flower beds parallel to the house. Right angles, hard lines. When we lived in Maryland, we rented a small house that felt … Continue reading Soft shaping
Our daughter is out of town on a field trip, our son is at school, my husband is at the office, and I am home, alone with the cats, on my lunch break. I sat in the quiet house, at the wooden table, and looked out the sliding glass doors while I ate chick pea salad … Continue reading Lunch break
In Durham, North Carolina, there is a dreamy ice cream establishment called The Parlour. Within 5 seconds of looking at the menu, I stopped at the fifth item and ordered. “One scoop of Salted Butter Caramel in a sugar cone, please.” I swooped my tongue across the smooth caramel cream and knew I had made the … Continue reading Ice cream strategy
For those of you following the ongoing saga of our attempts at killing grass (1, 2, 3), we’ve gotten the flower bed cardboarded and mulched. Before: After: Now it’s time to work on the herb plot. Continue reading Flower bed finished
My phone dinged Thursday when I was out of town for work. It was a text from my husband. Did you hear about Prince? I did. I had. A colleague from Minneapolis had gotten the news when we were exploring the Duke Gardens. An appropriate place to receive that kind of news, given the cover art of Purple … Continue reading Purple Rain
Butterfly Mind 