When we first moved into our home, the backyard was a disaster. Weeds five feet tall, an awkward flowerbed, half dead plants, etc. It isn’t a huge yard, but it was such a mess that we never used it or enjoyed being out there. Living in Las Vegas, we can use the patio almost year round. This year we finally decided to do something about it. We kept the existing patio cover and concrete floor, but hired a landscaper to …

{Image via Author’s Personal Collection}

This time last year I was writing about how we had moved from London to Somerset to live in the countryside. How we had bought our first car and rented a sweet little country cottage. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but a whole 12 months have passed by and spring is on it’s way once again. Coupled with, once again, being on the search for a new car and a new (rented) house. Add to …

Winter in Somerset is beautiful. We are in the South-West of England so we have a more temperate climate than, say, Scotland, or the East coast of England. Palm trees grow down here. The sun seems to shine the most gorgeous shade of amber and the light is very bright but warm. The skies are very blue by day and filled with the most brightest of twinkliest stars by night.

We have been to local late night shopping evenings (the purpose …

Our first year in Somerset marches on. It does not hang around for me to savour summer but pushes relentlessly on. September. October. Autumn. It is as if a page has flipped; the light is undertoned with amber in the sunshine and a strangely peaceful steely grey when it is not. Leaves are falling, the rain is no longer the laughing rain of a summer storm but more forceful. A taste of what is to come. The fronts scud off …

As Summer wraps up, my mind turns to cooking on the grill. What recipes should I try to squeeze in before the leaves fall to the ground and it’s too cold to go grill something up in the yard? Since I have been a Big City dweller for the entirety of my adult life, this is the first time that I have had access to cooking on a grill. What a Summer it has been!! And while I am still …

Since we last saw my urban garden, I had herbs and veggies coming in nicely. Since then, my plants have been growing like wildfire! It tickles me to no end to see all the green out there. So much so, in fact, that I expanded the garden with the help of my mom, who I like to call “The Plant Whisperer.” My mom oversaw the planting of loads of flowers and helped put together a few new pots. As the …

It all started with this image of an outdoor patio from this month’s Southern Living magazine:

Doesn’t this porch look like the perfect place to settle in with a cool drink on a warm summer day?  I love love love the mirror and other accessories you normally only see inside homes!  It got me thinking on how I could make my porch and backyard more inviting, and more like a place I’d like to “live” in.

Maybe you don’t have a patio like this?  You …

After the fantastic advice you all gave me on urban gardening, I thought it only fair to report back on my progress. I’ve devoted one side of our patio to my slightly-greener-than-before thumb, and have had a ball trotting out there to snip fresh herbs while I’m cooking. Here’s how it looks from afar:

What you see here in the inedible category are four types of dahlias, a gardenia bush, and two decorative shrubs (I cannot wait to start smelling gardenias …

Just in case you were sitting at your computer this morning saying “Hm, I wonder what kind of flowers grow on a volcano.” Here’s your answer. Nicaragua is this amazing lush gardening heaven. Everyone (even those living in metal shacks) has some sort of flower or tree growing in their patio. As a result, I have dozens of images of the various plants. I only know the name of two blooms. If you know the others, please leave it in the …

Suddenly, the countryside has come alive with blossom. I took these in our garden last weekend after a rather rainy day where we drove over the moors and down to the beach before retiring to home for tea, biscuits and a relaxing evening spent reading and blogging and sitting cosily in the kitchen with my husband.

The verges and hedges are full of greeness, wild flowers and new shoots. The whole place has been carpeted with soft green verdent grass. Birds …