Posts under ‘Family’

Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

‘Tis the season for giving, for celebrating with family, for passing around all manner of good feelings. And since ‘tis the season, in Iowa, for digging out from an ice storm, I’ll take any warmth I can get! But recently, my cousin Katherine passed along a truly warm and wonderful honor in my direction: The [...]

Our family Thanksgiving menu is a little bit of a moving target. Turkey? Check. Stuffing? Check. Cranberry sauce? Check. But sometimes the sweet potatoes show up roasted, sometimes mashed, sometimes in a pie. Some years, mashed potatoes make an appearance, other years, we save them for another meal. This year, steamed broccoli made the menu. [...]

One of the things that surprised me when I moved to Iowa — and oh, there were plenty of things that surprised me — was how many apple orchards there are around here. My parents live in Adams County, Pennsylvania, home to apple orchards that dot the landscape as you drive down country roads, and [...]

Every time I visit my parents, there’s a little pile of things to read on my bed when I arrive—a conglomeration of programs from my mother’s concerts, news clippings, and other things my parents think I should read or see. (I can hear my Dad right now…”Things your mother thinks you should read or see!) [...]

Down at the southern tip of Florida, where they have to grow tomatoes in the spring and the fall because the summer is so freaking hot, my cousin Katherine started a blog this year: GFCF Mommy. GFCF stands for Gluten-Free, Casein-Free, a dietary lifestyle her family has adopted to help meet the nutritional needs of [...]

My parents are visiting right now from Pennsylvania, and as I juggle work and playing hostess and the rest of my life, it’s not leaving much room for blogging. But I have a story that deserves telling…and I can’t give it the writing time tonight that it’s due. So…here’s a taste of what’s to come: [...]

This is one of the roses from my parents’ garden, and I took the photo two weeks ago when I was visiting them. Happy Father’s Day, Dad! Gardeners, plant and nature lovers can join in Green Thumb Sunday every week. Visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Although I planted a number of herbs from seed this year, when Steve’s Mom and I went on our flower-buying expedition, I couldn’t help but pick up a couple of additional herb seedlings. I bought a rosemary plant, because I cannot go a summer without rosemary, and, at Mary Beth’s suggestion, picked up a Texas [...]

There is a noxious weed that lives in my garden, popping up with its tree-like leaves and thick stem, and, worst of all, its brutally-deep root system. So, while Steve’s Mom was visiting for his graduation and for Mother’s Day, we did what any self-respecting pair of women would do. We pulled weeds. “See?” I [...]