This week, I was fortunate to spend a perfect fall day exploring the town of Westport.  On Massachusetts’s South Coast;  Westport is a little over an hour from Boston, but maintains a peaceful feel somewhere between a seaside and farming community.  After a visit

My other stop while exploring Westport this week, was to the Westport Rivers Winery.  (I have a hard time driving by a winery without visiting!)   Westport Rivers Winery tasting room and art gallery A $10 tasting fee allowed me to sample a wide range of their wines; from spa

The nights are getting a bit chilly and the sun seems to be setting much too early; yep it’s fall in New England.  That doesn’t mean you have to head indoors, though;  with a few considerations there’s still plenty of time left in the season to enjoy your o

I just got back from a great conference in Atlanta for writers, designers and generally anyone in the garden industry that wants to use blogs and social media more effectively in their business.  It was a great opportunity to meet some people who are real leaders and taste-makers

As promised in my last post on the French Alps, in this post I’m excited to share some photos from the second part of my summer vacation.  A visit to Lake Como in Italy offered an amazing opportunity to enjoy local scenery, food, wine and of course, some gorgeous gardens! A

This summer I was fortunate to head to Europe for vacation and spent a fantastic week exploring the French Alps and the Lakes District of Italy (more on the latter in the next post). La Grave, a small town in France, served as my home base for a few days of hiking in the Alps.  W

Earlier this summer I wrapped up a really fun design project.  The owner of this beautiful Victorian home in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston wanted to create a back yard for entertaining.   The starting point was a back yard that was uninspiring and featured a large

I’ve gotten interested in home beer brewing in the past few months.  Some time ago I was driving home and happened to pass a sign for a craft distillery here in Boston called Grandten.  I checked out their website and had just missed a speaking engagemen

For New Englanders, the summer often means trips to Cape Cod to enjoy its beautiful beaches and towns.  From Boston, the fast ferry gets you to Provincetown in just 90 minutes, a great way to beat the weekend traffic. I went for a quick trip about a week ago, and couldn’t h

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a post for Open Air Life.  After a very busy spring season I finally got a chance to get away for a few days.  I always love exploring wine country, and had thought about heading to California or Oregon for vacation, but w