Life Style & Travel

UNITED STATES—With all the talk about replacing warm season vegetables and bedding plants with their cool season counterparts this time of year, we should also address the irony of summer squash and winter squash. Their designations suggest that they too grow in specific seasons; summer and winter. Duh. It would make sense that summer squash would be replaced by...

LOS ANGELES—The economy is slowly improving and so is the real estate market which means good news for families looking for a new home to call their own. As more head into the market, the greater the need to learn about the ins and outs of home financing. As you explore the landscape of mortgage financing, it’s important to know...

UNITED STATES—Roses are not for the meek. They are too demanding, too sensitive, too thorny, and without their flowers, they are not even very attractive. They have no business in a low-maintenance landscape, or in a landscape maintained by mow, blow and go gardeners. Those who want to grow rose plants for their flowers should be ready to give...

UNITED STATES—There may not be a good time to talk about it this year. The late warmth really put a damper on some of the autumn foliar color. Some trees are dropping their leaves as soon as they start to turn color, leaving only fading green leaves in their canopies. Only the most reliable trees for autumn color, sweetgum,...

UNITED STATES—They are certainly not much to look at now. They are even less interesting once buried out of sight in the garden. The big and colorful pictures on the boxes that they arrive in are probably a bit more spectacular than the flowers expected early next spring will actually be. Nonetheless, it will be amazing to see such...

UNITED STATES—Where winters are cooler, the deteriorating stems of flowers that bloomed last year either got pruned away already or got knocked down by the weather, and are now rotting on the ground. Around here, where the weather is milder, and some flowers only recently finished blooming, used up flower stalks still stand in stasis. Most but not necessarily...

UNITED STATES—I used to be jealous of opinions because I was around people who were so fluent in opinions. I took it as a sign of their intelligence. They knew French fries were only good when eaten warm, or I should change my 666 phone prefix because the diabolical connotations may prevent some people from calling me. These things...

UNITED STATES—While I’m not a bona fide “foodie,” Portuguese comida made you pay attention. We joined an REI hiking trip traveling along the Rota Vicentina – the breathtakingly beautiful fisherman’s trail along the Iberian coastline.  Along with that adventure came great food in the small fishing villages we stayed in after our  a 5 plus hours on the trail. The Portuguese...

UNITED STATES—Wildlife belongs in the wild. Many of us appreciate it there and get pictures of it to share with others as if it is rare and unusual. Deer, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, gophers and so many other residents of the wild are not so appealing in-home gardens. They all need to eat. None are tactful about it. Some eat...

UNITED STATES—The cauliflower is a big and bulky vegetable that is not easy to eat.  The first question most people ask when purchasing cauliflower is just how do you cut up the veggie?  Notably only the head of cauliflower (the white portion) is eaten, the other part is discarded.  My tip is cut away as much as possible off...