outdoors

  • summer fruits and veg.

    It never feels like summer has fully arrived until there are field tomatoes and peaches at the market. The tomatoes are gnarled and bulbous and leaking with ripeness; so ugly they’re beautiful. The peaches…

    August 6, 2013 6 Comments
  • midsummer magic.

    It’s a good time of year, this one we’re in right now. It’s not the midsummer of the summer equinox, but the midsummer that means it’s the beginning of August and fully half the…

    August 1, 2013 16 Comments
  • a watery weekend.

    Another heatwave, another weekend in Connecticut. I haven’t taken as much advantage of slipping away for the weekend since I was in college and homesick. But when you sleep in a tiny loft without…

    July 22, 2013 5 Comments
  • summer buggies.

    I’m paranoid about my woollies. There have been too many winters where I’ve pulled a wool something-or-other out of a closet only to find that it’d been eaten alive in the off-season. Truth is:…

    July 18, 2013 8 Comments
  • pétanque.

    On Sunday we celebrated Bastille Day with a quick walk to Smith Street where gigantic swaths of the street had been turned into sandy pétanque courts. Pétanque, for those of you who might be…

    July 16, 2013 3 Comments
  • peaches, et cetera.

    This morning’s been a study in learning how to take photographs in a very dark apartment and waking up early for peaches. I wanted to get to the farmers’ market in our neighborhood while…

    July 11, 2013 10 Comments
  • pollinators.

    We have family friends that refer to James as Turtle Boy. Seven summers ago when I returned to my hometown after a summer spent working falling in love on Jekyll Island, Georgia, I made an…

    July 9, 2013 18 Comments
  • beach days.

    I love the rhythm to days at the beach. The getting up early because the sun streams in from all directions. The morning walks. The slipping in and out of bathing suits. The way…

    July 8, 2013 22 Comments
  • evening walk, west coast edition.

    I’m spending a few days out in San Francisco getting better acquainted with my new team at Gardenista and Remodelista. So far that’s meant feasting on fava bean risotto and a fruit tart so…

    June 18, 2013 16 Comments
  • adventures in urban gardening.

    Okay, I did ask for permission. But taking over my building’s gardens still feels just a little bit like going rogue. They don’t belong to me, after all.  I’ve been fussing with these two…

    June 11, 2013 11 Comments