Month: June 2020

I’m writing for Candide, a new website and app for U.S. gardeners

Nancy

June 30, 2020

Candide, a website and social sharing app for gardeners, recently launched in the U.S., after first growing its user base in South Africa and the U.K. Now that U.S. gardeners have access, I’m happy to announce that I’m writing articles for the website and sharing more-personal gardening photos and posts via the app, which is kind of like Instagram for gardeners.

You can find a few of my gardening articles there now, with more to come.

And if you join the free app, you can find me there too, under the imaginative username PamPenick. If you’ve ever thought it would be fun to have a gardening blog but haven’t bothered with setting one up, or if you share plant pics all the time on IG or FB, boring your non-gardening friends and family, Candide is for you.

Check Candide out, both the website’s gardening articles and the social-sharing app. I’ll see you there!

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30 Easy 4th of July Crafts and Decorations

Nancy

Come Independence Day, everything looks better with stars and stripes. Give your home the star-spangled treatment with these simple 4th of July crafts. We have ideas that will keep kids occupied, as well as some more advanced projects for adults that when completed, can double as your patriotic decor. Get your hot glue gun and your crafting scissors ready, because you’re going to want to try these crafts out for yourself.

Whether you’re an old pro at crafting, or you’re just looking for something to keep everyone busy until the fireworks, there’s something for all ages on this list — including a DIY picnic blanket that you’re going to want to use all summer. When you’re done crafting, be sure to check out more of our favorite summer DIY ideas.

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Kitchen Organization Questions, Answered By an Expert

Nancy

Mise en place—”things in place.” It’s the first thing any student at culinary school learns, the first thing any rookie cook learns on the line at a restaurant. You have to keep your things in place, your workspace clean, your tools and ingredients organized. But there are so many moving parts: dinner plates and wine glasses, cereal bowls and flatware, spices and pantry items, serving dishes and roasting pans, utensils and baking supplies. Where should you even start?

To put you on the path to organized bliss, IKEA Interior Design Specialist Charlene Tea answered pressing questions you shared about kitchen storage on @goodhousekeeping. The best part? Her tips and product suggestions below are applicable for every kitchen, no matter how big or small, and whether you rent or own.

1. How can you best make use of lower cabinet organization? What are the strategies to use for under the sink, pots and pans, or countertop appliances?

Interior organization is all about inserts. For lower cabinets, Tea suggests using UTRUSTA partition wires to keep items like baking sheets and lids in check, and pull-out wire baskets for pots, pans, and small appliances.

“No more digging through your cabinets to

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Deer noshing on my dianella

Nancy

June 26, 2020

Getting into my car last week, I was surprised to see a doe walking steadily toward me, ambling down the driveway like she owned the place. Did she have a fawn stashed nearby, I wondered? (I saw twin fawns in the garden soon after, so maybe.)

I gave her space and watched quietly, and she moseyed onto the path toward the back gate.

She checked to make sure I was watching…

…and then started munching my variegated flax lily (Dianella tasmanica ‘Variegata’). The nerve! I’d noticed that my dianella were getting browsed over the past months, but seeing it happen was a bridge too far. So I stepped out from the car and clapped my hands at her. “Hey,” I yelled.

She just gave me a look that plainly said, “This is my garden. What’s your deal, lady?”

So I left her to it. I guess there’s plenty of dianella to go around. For now. She or her buddies already polished off the native river fern that used to grow over here.

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