Spring is here. It’s a welcome time of renewal, rebirth and new beginnings…and green grass and flowers. We had snow last week and more snow on the way this week, but I see signs of spring everyone here on our Vermont hilltop. I love these photos we took last spring in Scotland (Edinburgh and Isle of Skye). I hope you enjoy them. 
Take care, everyone!
Carla… Read More
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Happy Valentine’s Day! Chocolates, jewelry, a candlelit dinner…I love them all, but I have a special place in my heart for flowers. We were in Edinburgh in late May/early June, in time for the famous blue poppies at the Royal Botanic Garden. They’re popular, and for good reason!
The gardens are also well-know for their rhododendrons, many still in bloom when we were there. 
Maybe I’m drawn to flowers on Valentine’s Day because I’m usually on our snowy hilltop in Vermont! It’s beautiful, but I do love the colors of Valentine’s Day, whether o… Read More
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Christmas is fast approaching. Lively, busy days for so many of us!
We just bought our Vermont-grown tree and plan to decorate it on Sunday. Off to Christmas afternoon tea tomorrow at the Inn on Boltwood in Amherst, MA, an annual event with my mother, my youngest sister (I have three sisters!), my daughter and my two young granddaughters.
Be sure to take a moment to enter my holiday contest. (US only). I chose the calendar on a recent trip to Ireland. It features watercolor illustrations of Irish hedgerows and farmland. Aren’t they beautiful?
The winner will also receive signed hardcove… Read More
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Just popping in with a few photos from my “hideaway cottage” on the southwest Irish coast. I’m here with Joe for a few weeks to hike, read by the fire, enjoy the wonderful people and surroundings and write. Rain, wind, sun, whiskey, cows, stone walls, great food, great scenery…and Halloween. We’ll see what comes of all this creative inspiration!
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Exploring country roads is one of my favorite activities on our visits to Ireland. We love seeing the sights–we’ve toured museums, distilleries, historic houses and castles–but there’s nothing quite like taking off down a twisting lane, wondering where it goes and what we’ll see along the way.
Maybe my love of twisting country roads goes back to my rural New England childhood. My folks would pile all seven of us kids into the car and go for a drive, often to the nearby Quabbin Reservoir. It’d be harder to pull off these days with so many people needing se… Read More
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I love to write on getaways to hotels, inns and cottages, but reading? A must, and a special pleasure. I always have a print book with me (as well as my e-reader) on the road, but what fun it is to discover books on my various stays. Bedside Reading pairs luxury hotels with up-and-coming books. Oh, my. How perfect! Rival’s Break is a featured novel this summer, and I couldn’t be more honored and thrilled. Here it is in the gorgeous Mandarin Oriental New York.
Quite a reading spot! Thank you!
When signing at Turn the Page Bookstore in picturesque Boonsboro, MD, authors are invited to sig… Read More
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Whatever time of year, rain or shine, Joe and I have enjoyed our visits to the Cotswolds west of London. Now we need to visit when it snows! Or just go again, anytime. The rolling hills of this beautiful part of the English countryside are crisscrossed with marked trails. I bought a big map–yes, paper–to guide us. We did go astray a few times, but that’s half the fun. Well. Except for that time when I got into nettle. I hadn’t done that since I was a kid and it stung. Our inn was very helpful in providing baking soda, not to mention a terrific gin-and-tonic, and I was back on th… Read More
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Scotland captured my imagination long before I ever traveled there. We went back in June, for two wonderful weeks before the busy-ness of summer set in at home. We had some cool, showery days that would feel good right now!
That’s me below, in the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. The gardens are a fantastic place to walk off an overnight flight across the Atlantic. Joe and I had scones and tea overlooking the gardens. His brother and sister and their spouses arrived the next day and the six of us dived in to our Scotland adventures.
From Edinburgh we drove to Pitlochry, where we did the Lin of … Read More
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Does summer in the city appeal to you? I spent my first summer in Boston after my junior year in college and had a great time. Long walks in the evening, 4th of July fireworks, ice cream shops, harbor dinner cruises (well, one), Beacon Hill window boxes and countless other bonuses of a city summer. We love our hilltop house in Vermont and our excursions to Ireland and Maine, but our July, August and September visits to Boston are special, and not just because our grandchildren live there! Not something I thought much about that first summer in the city…
Some of my books set entirely or partiall… Read More
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Happy summer! We’re in summer mode here on our hilltop. We’re just back from a couple of weeks in beautiful Scotland and long, long June days. We were joined by Joe’s brother and sister and their spouses for a fun get-together. Memorable walks, dinners, laughs and sightseeing. The weather was sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny (Scotland, right?) but we loved every minute. Below are photos of Isle of Skye.
