yep, the irish are good for good conversation. and fistfights.

great post! it helps if you keep a couple of bottles of wine handy, anyway. and for a quick meal for a group, i like the simplest cinnamon lamb stew recipe from the kitchn. it's so easy but impress...

lol Motherbear — i totally remember those wood cutouts of the fat lady bending over! my grandma's neighbor had one, and even as a kid i thought it was tacky!

I had great luck with banana peppers in containers this summer. Ditto on the basil. I grew mint too, and when the heat got to be too much for it on my balcony, I took clippings and put them in wate...

Make sure not to leave any brooms, mops or tools outside or on a back porch, where someone could use them to break a window.

How very interesting — and surprising. I've visited Kit Bond's estate in Mexico, Mo. (his hometown, and mine) and the house looks absolutely nothing like this. It's all dark, heavy draperies,...

i always make sure the toilet seat is down. this may sound odd, but i grew up in an area with lots of mosquitos, and upon returning from a family vacation once, we found them living in an open toil...

How odd to see a mention of Boonville, Mo. I grew up in Columbia, Mo ... and now live in Columbia, S.C.!

where are those great silver lamps from? i see them all over the place. i want them!