Joyful and playful

Each and every year, as soon as we haul down the boxes of tree trimmings from the attic, I feel like a little kid – I can’t wait to dig…

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A Country House Christmas back-story

The Holiday issue of our e-magazine is now on-line. It’s a beautiful issue filled with tons of imagery, stories, keeper recipes, and “Holly Jolly” decorating tips. The “Holly Jolly” part…

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A taste of Nantucket

I was digging for a new Cranberry Sauce recipe, and what better place to find what I was looking for but from the Cranberry capital of the world, Nantucket. This…

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The instant mood setter

Daylight savings time seems to be the catalyst for a whole new mindset when it comes to entertaining, and candlelight becomes my secret weapon to styling the house for any…

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My yellow wood

The Road Not Taken  Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as…

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Halloween: a behind the scenes

I love Halloween photo shoots, especially when it involves children. I started with the best children’s photographer I know, Duanne Simon. And to capture Duanne’s and the team’s efforts (the…

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She’s the real deal

The first time I set foot on Pumpkin Hill Farm, I immediately felt like I had arrived at a gracious Litchfield County country estate. I loved being greeted by the…

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Our very newest baby

What would October be without Halloween – an autumnal celebration loved by children and adults alike? Clearly, we needed to take this fun-filled day and feature it in a very…

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Autumn is now officially here!

The leaves may be falling all around Connecticut Country House, but until we launched our new Autumn issue of our on-line lifestyle magazine today, for me, autumn had not officially…

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Last of the roses

You know the old saying, “When life gives you lemons…make lemonade”. Well, you can also say, “When your rose garden give you a few measly blooms…make a nose gay”! Late…

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End of summer salsa

If you’ve planted tomato plants this year, we’re probably in the same boat…lots and lots of tomatoes ready for the picking, or in my case, falling off the vine and…

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A labor of love

For over 20 years now, Murph’s been getting up at daybreak and driving to Main Street to set up front row seats for our town’s annual Labor Day Parade. This…

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Take a hike

This past week I’ve felt like I’ve been under house arrest – I’ve been on my laptop fighting writer’s block from exhaustion and typing away on content for the upcoming…

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Summer smoothies

There’s something about a smoothie that makes it the perfect summer weekend treat. So technically, we started our weekend yesterday morning when it was dark and rainy. No amount of…

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Blueberry breakfast

Blueberries are ripe for the pickin’ here in Connecticut. And picking them by hand – well, let’s just say there’s nothing like it. I don’t know what I like best…making…

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Meet NoraMurphyCountryHouse.com

She’s here! My brand new baby online magazine! Her name is NoraMurphyCountryHouse.com. She weighs in at 11 up-close and informative stories, 24 Nora’s Notes – full of DIY details, over…

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A summer salute

Happy summer! It feels good to be back. We’ve been working 24/7 (quite literally) on our new website, and with fingers and toes crossed, we’ll be introducing it to you…

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My latest love affair

This weekend I declared the Peony to be my favorite flower.  Now, this here declaration is a big deal because I have so many favorites (lilies, roses, orchids, sunflowers –…

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My gardening guru

“A garden is a grand teacher.  It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust.” – Gertrude Jekyll, British gardener (1843-1932) When…

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We are Newtown

Good morning.  It was 6 months ago today on a Friday morning, here in Newtown, 20 children and 6 of their teachers lost their lives.  Quite innocently they went to…

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One take

Murph was really on his game this weekend – concocting probably the very best, most awesome batch of Corn and Crabmeat Chowder he has ever made – ever. One taste…

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Living without boundaries

Oh, go for it – show a little floor!  At least for the summer.  That’s what I do. Rolling up my rugs and showing a lot of bare floor during…

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Simple beauty

Each week, here at Connecticut Country House – something’s in bloom. (Love it and so in my element.) This week, the back path to the house (which happens to be…

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