You’ve caught me in the middle of a big move. After living in England for the last ten years, we’re moving back to the United States. Although I’m still as American as, well, apple pie, I’ve now got a whole new outlook on things like, well, pie. (Hint: Don’t order it for dessert.) Sometimes I […] Read more…
Happy Boxing Day!
After telling everyone how much I love Boxing Day, it would be a shame if I don’t post photos of our annual Boxing Day walk. We decided to walk around Denham, along the Grand Union Canal, and then through the footpaths in the woods until we reached the picturesque village, where we could stop at […] Read more…
A Room of One’s Own: Visiting Virginia Woolf’s Home in Sussex
When I learned that Virginia Woolf’s home, Monk’s House, was not that far from here (about 80 miles) and was open to the public (it’s a National Trust property) I wondered how I’d not known that before. I’m pretty much a National Trust junkie, and I particularly love seeing the smaller NT properties, especially ones […] Read more…
The Living Chair Museum in High Wycombe
ProTip: It’s best to do research BEFORE you write your book. But in my case, almost a year after I handed in final edits to my editor, I discovered the perfect research location right in, well, almost my back yard (keeping in mind that in England, we don’t do “yards”). Yesterday a friend and I […] Read more…
Lavender Fields Forever
I know, you probably think all I do is go around looking at flowers. You’d be half right: I do spent a inordinate amount of time in spring and summer just looking at flowers. I blame English gardeners, starting with Capability Brown. There really is something special about the hither-thither-ness, the riot of color and […] Read more…
Rodmarton Manor, an Arts & Crafts Manor House in the Cotswolds
When I was researching Arts & Crafts furniture for Temptation, I came across the website for Rodmarton Manor in Gloucestershire, near Tetbury. It’s a home built in the early 20th century by a follower of William Morris, who really established the Arts & Crafts movement in England toward the end of the 19th century. Here’s […] Read more…
Take Your Dog To Work Day
Today is Take Your Dog To Work Day (actually, it might be Take Your Pet To Work Day) so I took my dog to work. Then we enjoyed a break outside: How was your Summer Solstice? Read more…
May: England at its most gorgeous
May is my favorite month, because that’s when England is bursting with blooms everywhere. All my favorites come out: bluebells, wisteria, laburnum, and rhododendrons. But this year they were all late, due to our extra cold spring. The bluebells were fantastic, despite their late arrival. Even my dog got in on the bluebell action: Not […] Read more…
Visiting Jane Austen
“Mary Jane and I have been wet through once already today, we set off in the Donkey Carriage for Farringdon…but were obliged to turn back before we got there, but not soon enough to avoid a Pelter all the way home.” —Jane Austen, letter to James Edward Austen, 9 July 1816. Yesterday when I drove […] Read more…
Devon: Possibly the greenest county on Earth
Last weekend we made a long-anticipated trip to Devon. I can honestly say I’ve never seen such vivid green in my life, not even in Ireland. Maybe it’s the sheep—is their poop magical? Does it make the grass glow? Here are a few more pics: Read more…