Love
For all the last minute lovers of beautiful quotes (like me), here are some of my favorites that may come in handy: “When I saw you I fell in love,…
Keep Reading
Drawing straws
Cheese Straws that is. Over the holidays, I whipped up batches of these for nibbles until dinner was ready to be served…the perfect nosh for friends while they hung out…
Keep Reading
A Country House Winter
Back in December, Jennifer Bissell for the Fairfield County Business Journal interviewed me. We had a great phone meeting that covered a wide range of topics, and resulted in a…
Keep Reading
Foodie Friday: Hash browns for Conor
My son Conor is turning into a foodie; he truly savors the meals at his weekend part-time gig at our hometown eatery – My Place. When he’s not up to…
Keep Reading
Flower power
Spring has sprung at Connecticut Country House! The halls have been un-decked, and the trees dragged out to the big composting ditch down in the back 40. The rooms are…
Keep Reading
Foodie Friday: Building the perfect Chicken Fajitas
It’s cold and snowy outside and all I can think about is what to make for dinner. One of my very favorite meals is a well-stocked Chicken Fajita. You can…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
Portraits: A re-imagined Christmas tale
Two important things I like to keep in mind: Follow your passion, and follow your friends on Facebook. I met my friend Mark on Facebook earlier this year through our…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading
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 –…
Keep Reading
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…
Keep Reading