Yes, remember Dorothy and her adventures in the magical land of Oz? Well, she had it right. There is no place like home. I'm about to have some fun travel adventures, checking out placers like Whistler, Canada and New York, New York. But the other night, here's the view we had off our deck. Now, that's hard to beat!

And how about you? What's great about your home? What do you love about it?

Back when my novel LOVE IN BLOOM came out we were just starting to landscape our new house. We did a funny book trailer with gardening tips (yes, you can still find it on YouTube if you type in my name and the book title) and at the time our garden was more dirt than flowers. Well, that's not the case anymore. My English garden has taken off, the blueberry bushes are thriving and my ground cover is taking over the world. I've heard this is the time table you go by when planting a garden: the first year it's "sleep", the second it's "creep" and the third it's "leap". Three years of waiting to see a garden start to mature - when you're not a patient person that can feel like a loooong time. But, as with most things, it takes time and effort to grow results. Whether it's a relationship, a family, a career, or a savings account - hanging in there for the long haul is the key. Whatever you're busy growing right now, whether it's a garden or an emergency fund or maybe even a writing career, let me just encourage you to hang in there and keep working away. Slow and steady really does win the race!

So, here's the English garden that covers our drain field. To the left of it is my ground cover:strawberries.