According the National Calendar Day website, every year the third Friday in June is National Flip-Flop Day.Let’s break out our best pairs to celebrate. Flip-Flops are named for the flapping sound and motion the minimalist sandals make as a person walks in them. Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary notes 1600 as the first known year of use

Turn your weekend sit-on-the-patio time into an upscale happy hour with these surprisingly simple herb-infused cocktail ideas. Infusing isn’t confusing Infusing liquids with herbs sounds complicated but it is as easy as making tea. To “infuse” an herb means to steep its flavor into a liquid such as water or spirits. The resulting liquid can

Floral fragrances wafting through the warm air is one of the best parts of summer. Sunny days bring spectacular blooms and sublime scents. But what about the nighttime? Some of these light-colored, night-blooming plants emit sweet aromas to go in with your full moon cocktails or your star-gazing on lazy summer evenings on the patio.

Don’t say goodbye to the season just yet. Late summer can be the best time to get outside. American culture seems to treat Labor Day as the official end of summer. It isn’t, really, as the Summer season ends at sunset on Sept. 20. While it’s common to treat the beginning of the school semester

Having a great outdoor space gives you more opportunities to spend time with family and friends. A themed party on the patio can vanquish our work-a-day blues and turn an unassuming weeknight into a fun-filled event. Wine-tasting parties are especially popular to have outdoors. There’s nothing like a summer night combined with a beautifully chilled

One of the major stumbling blocks to spending more time outdoors is the dreaded mosquito and the itchy bite it leaves behind. Thankfully in our region these little pests don’t usually come with big problems like they do on other continents. Still, when we are plagued by bugs we tend to spend less time outside.

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson This Saturday, June 25, 2016, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is encouraging all of us to slow down and reconnect with Mother Nature by camping out. Here’s some information from the NWF’s website: http://www.nwf.org/Great-American-Campout.aspx “National Wildlife Federation’s Great American Campout is also part

June 20th at sundown begins the new season. June 21 is the first full day of summer (September 20th will be the last). Many hot days await us in the coming months. Since we’re usually indoors through most winter and spring weeks, we want to maximize our time outside. When temperatures soar into the 80-90

As fall inches closer, and the days shorten, our focus on our yard or garden may wane, but now is not the time to ignore your yard. The end of summer and early autumn bring the need of yard prep, to ready your outdoor spaces for the coming harsh weather of winter. Take some time

‘Tis the season to be outside! Summer has officially begun, and by now you’ve probably broken out the furniture and cleaned off the patio pavers. Over the years, landscape design has come to include patios that are a true extension of the home. Cooking outside on the grill has evolved into full outdoor kitchen installations;