To those of you who celebrate it, Happy American Thanksgiving. I celebrate it aware of the great historical and continuing problems it often subsumes in a tide of compulsory consumption, but also aware, and in great gratitude, for the chance to spend time with people I love, enjoying good food and what is one of [...]
As I was remarking to someone the other day, the wonderful thing about old houses — and mine is almost 200 years old — is that they are old and solid and you know full well that they’ve been through pretty much every kind of thing that a house can go through and have come [...]
I am not, for better or worse, a born entrepreneur. Or even an entrepreneuse. Which is why I want to talk about the fact that lately I have been craving for someone to open a shop that does not, so far as I am aware, exist, namely, a very carefully curated and assembled shop for [...]
All the best cookery is more than the sum of its parts. Pie is no exception. This pie has a total of 10 ingredients. 11 if you count water, which traditionally doesn’t get counted in recipe-writing. Your pie could have even fewer, potentially, and still be glorious. Pie crust should not scare you. If you [...]
Tomorrow is my Belovedary’s birthday, and our 15th anniversary. So I had my dear wonderful brilliant talented gorgeous (and, gentlemen, single!) friend Elizabeth Tamny turn into amazing calligraphy-art a little love poem I wrote for my Belovedary a few years back. It’s so gorgeous I couldn’t wait an extra day to give it to the [...]
Since Mrs. Calabash’s death, our younger cat, Fez, has become extremely demanding about attention. When Callie was alive, Fez bullied Callie for affection multiple times a day. There was a great deal of forcible ear-washing, back-of-neck washing, and snuggling. She’s an odd little cat, this spotty little creature, one who will come and [...]
One of the ways I have been staving off cabin fever during this abominable heat wave has been by engaging in acts of Urban Femme Renewal. This is a category in which I put all the various self-care and beauty rituals that I am usually too busy to do on anything like a regular basis, [...]
Back to the housekeeping posts. I know, I know, but this morning was the time I had this week to do my own housekeeping. And yes, I got it all done, except for the laundry, by 10 am, so I figure I’m more or less qualified to run my mouth about how to get it [...]
Perhaps the most immediately useful thing I ever learned about household cleaning is that messes are of two basic types. One is the kind you can reasonably let sit until a convenient time. The other is the kind you really do need to clean up now. This is not about decor, or even about organization. [...]
A few more items on yesterday’s theme occurred to me last night, as I was falling asleep, and so now that I am not asleep I present them to you thus. The Basic Methods of Cleaning Things: There are really only so many ways you can remove dirt from things. In rough outline, they are [...]