A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about awesome tiny gardens. I found the miniature works of art, especially the pothole gardens, to be a delightful way to make a person stop in their tracks and take notice of their surroundings. I also feel that it’s the right thing to contact someone about their photos before posting in a blog, which is how I met the pothole gardener himself, Steve.

I’m happy to announce that Steve now has a book! You can read more about it at The Little Book of Little Gardens.

I can’t give a review yet, but as soon as I have my copy in hand I’ll share the love on these cute little gardens. Check it out!

It’s not often that something outside the realm of fast food appeals to the masses. Even less likely that it’s something like wine. But everyone likes to feel good, and a whole lot of people like to feel good via drinking, so here we go!

I first went to the Cupcake Vinyard site to see if they had any insight as to why they create wines that are so popular with the ladies. Well, they certainly do have a site that is feminine – birds, sunflowers, a cupcake and a piece of chocolate next to their line of wines. Wow. OK, I like it.

Cupcake wines are described as having qualities that will please the masses. For example, “a playful, crowd-pleasing style”, and “(Americans) would like a wine to be more generous than a European would. They want something that’s a bit easier to access, a bit easier to understand”.

From this article on popular wines, “Everything Cupcake is selling is on fire,” said Curtis Mann, director of client insights for SIG, a Chicago-based market research firm. “They are growing faster than practically anything I’ve ever seen.”

Are these attributes I want from a wine? For the most part, certainly if I’m entertaining. But I appreciate the subtle difference that I get from trying different wines, and in the past few years have come to enjoy wine pairings with dry whites and nuanced reds.

But the cupcake line is certainly drinkable, and I wouldn’t turn down a glass if offered!

I heard a knock on the door soon after giving birth to my son. I was disheveled and almost didn’t come to greet whoever was there, but I was so glad I answered! It was my neighbor from across the street, the one that’s my age and always in her front yard gardening. “Would you like it if I brought you some food Saturday night?”

YES!

Offering food to a new mom is the best present you can give. It doesn’t matter whether it’s her first baby, if she normally eats in the fanciest of restaurants, or makes everything from scratch. I found out my neighbor across the street is an amazing cook and baker.

The main item of interest was a salad with heirloom tomatoes, leeks, boiled eggs, cannellini beans, yellow peppers, and shaved parmesan over lettuce. I even got a little shaker of homemade dressing to go over it all. The flatbread was still warm from being cooked on her grill, and the dessert was a flat-out drool inducing chocolate cream pie.

I’m gloating a little about this meal that I got almost 3 months ago, but I have a much more noble intention with this post. I want to reach out to everyone that knows someone that just had a baby. Ask the Mom if she’d like you to drop off dinner. Ask if there are any dietary restrictions or allergies, but aside from that I swear she’ll have a rosy smile on her face at the prospect of food without worry or fuss. Do it!

Finally, I’d like to introduce my son, Zane Marcus Sawicki. Born July 23, 2012 :-)

By the time you have a pre-school aged child on your hands, it’s likely that you’ve read through a few books numerous times. Enough times to have some books memorized, or to despise others for being complete devoid of any interest.

In the past few months I also realized how much I want to start imparting a bit of my own wisdom and subjects on my daughter. Nothing too pushy or controversial. Just beautiful little facts or subjects that strike an emotional point in my heart.

So with Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature, I got a thick book with gorgeous illustrations and lovingly worded descriptions about aspects of every season. It’s divided into four main sections (spring, summer, fall, and winter), which allows the reader to focus on the vignettes individually as desired. “Spiderlings”, “Blossoms”, “Pond Dipping”, and “Lizards” are just some examples of the titles inside each season.

Outside Your Window: A First Book of Nature

My backyard in Seattle is long and narrow. I may not live in Brooklyn anymore, but having a row-house style property is possibly the closest thing I’ll ever get to linking my Pacific Northwest garden experiences with the urban living of NYC. :)

Because my neighbors are so close, with one that does her dishes right above the lilacs to the south and a giant garage to the north, I often think about screening and privacy. Enter the book, Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat.

The book has a number of ideas on how to screen your property from prying eyes, hide unsightly but necessary things like garbage and recycling bins, and how to select appropriate fencing. The author talks about the benefits of deciduous trees – privacy and shade in the summer, sun in the winter.

There are also a number of plant lists associated with problems of gaining enough privacy, although I personally would want to have a little snapshot of each plant next to the name because I don’t have a huge index of plants associated with names in my head (yet!). Landscaping for Privacy is a book, but its concept could easily translate into a blog dedicated just to this topic. I’d love to see more before/after photos of problems with solutions!

Landscaping for Privacy: Innovative Ways to Turn Your Outdoor Space into a Peaceful Retreat