As we bid farewell to another year, many of us are beginning to set new intentions and embrace the promise of a fresh start. New Year’s resolutions are a popular tradition, but they often fade away as the year progresses. So this new year, I invite you to switch up the usual “workout x amount...

My mandarin orange tree and spider plants enjoyed a longer vacation than I did, having spent the entire summer outdoors on the back deck. But the party ended late last month when frost threatened. So I gave them a thorough hose drenching — leaves and all — to remove any would-be hitchhikers and poured a...