Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - April 2026

 

1.   The April/May issue of AARP has a list of novels with older characters. They include The Thursday Murder Club (which is also on Netflix), Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022), The of Golden by Allen Levi (2025), The Midnight Train by Matt Haig, Take Me with You by Steven Rowley, and Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth.

2.   Do you ever have problems with spring flowers like tulips and daffodils flopping over in vases. March/April 2026 Good Housekeeping has a clever solution. Stack two, different height vases inside each other. Fill each vase with cold water and arrange your flowers.

3.   The May issue of Ideal Home has a number of fun ideas. I don't think I ever read this magazine before. I love up cycled projects. Here they have taken plant pots and made them into food covers. We often eat on our covered patio. This idea keeps bugs, and my 3 dogs out of the food I have put on the table. Super easy - choose pots wide enough to cover plates, wash them out, paint outside and inside, slip a rope through drainage hole and tie a big knot on the inside.

4.  Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers to grow in the yard. I have always had blue or purple. I discovered these deep burgundy hydrangeas in the Spring 2026 issue of Magnolia. They are called Centennial Ruby Hydrangeas.  Definitely going to see if my local nursery can get them.

5.  The April/May issue of Reader's Digest has an interesting article about eating more mangoes. I live in Mexico. They practically drop on my head as I walk down the street. They are abundant and juicy. Reader's digest reports that there was a study at the University of California, Davis that found two servings of mangoes a day can help postmenopausal women keep their hearts healthy by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The study included overweight women age 50-70. I love mangoes so that is an easy one for me.

6.  I was a Creative Trainer at Apple and have always been partial to Apple products since I bought my first computer - the Apple II. The biggest complaint non Apple people have is the price point. The Macs have always been more expensive than PCs. Well now Apple has released what it is calling its mean machine for $599 - the Mac Book Neo. 

It has 256GB of storage and is the cheapest MacBook ever. You have a choice of four colors. It has a 13 inch Liquid Retina display.  Apple claims it is still faster for everyday taks than the bestselling PC. You can read about it in the Spring 2026 issue of MacLife. 

7.  One issue I have with American decorating magazines is how neutral the colors always are. Since moving to Mexico I have an all new relationship to color. I like colors saturated. I was pleased to see in this month's Living Etc, that Burgundy is an "in" decorating shade. They have it paired with powder blue. 

Ideal Home's current issue is also featuring Burgundy and gives you 6 suggested colors. 

8.  Woman & Home is another magazine I am learning about for the first time. It's got a bit of everything - fashion, makeup, food, decorating, travel and all kinds of interesting articles. I love magazine features that show an expensive version and a cheaper version of a piece of furniture. Woman & Home has 6 "Splurge and Deal" pages. I would buy this magazine for those pages alone. 

9.  Another new magazine I just discovered on Zinio (the app where you can buy magazines) is Bella Grace: Book of Lists. It's a Stampington & Co magazine and is full of lifts of things that will uplift your life. It is a treasure. Some of my favorites are...

            The Ultimate Slow Summer Bucket List

            Safe Places to Leave Your Heart

            A Quilt on the Couch and Other Comforting Things

            Permission Granted

            Not so Random Acts of Kindness

10. I have been wanting to paint by bedroom. I saw an article in the recent Real Simple magazine called The 12 Best Paint Colors for a Serene Room. Oh but they were boring... beige, grey, cream. Then I came across Salty Dog by Sherwin Williams. I think it is a restful color for my bedroom while still being intense and interesting

Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - June 2024

 I am so very happy to see home design magazines start to use color again. Seems like everything has been cream, white, tan and grey for a long time. 

1.  The June issue of Real Simple asked its readers what the brightest, most colorful thing in their home was. The answers were great. They included a quilt made out of Indian saris, a small turquoise bathroom, book shelf, a mug collection, a retro mini fridge and someone's 6 year old granddaughter.  Most colorful things in my home are my yellow walls and my paintings. What about you? What's the most colorful thing in your home?

2.  In the Summer Escapes issue of Sunset Magazine (June 2024), I read about a small Mexican town that I have never heard of. It's called Todos Santos. They called the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel the crown jewel of this surf pueblo. Looks like a fabulous place to hang out on the beach. Here is the town's website. Here is the link for the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel.

3.  I always find good tips and tricks in the AARP magazine. This month they said you can get red wine out of fabric with white wine. As soon as possible blot white wine on the fabric to dilute the stain. Then use a wet cloth to get out the rest. Don't rub. 

4.  I love cocktail umbrellas. I love them so much that when I first moved to Mexico I put them all over my Christmas tree. This month's Better Homes and Gardens likes them too. They have a list of several cute ones in their article Summer Party Playbook. There are lots of fun options on Amazon. I especially like the cocktail umbrella straws.

5.  I saw this photo in the summer issue of Magnolia. It wasn't an article but an advertisement for Target's Hearth and Hand dishes. However what caught my eye was the color of the outdoor table and chair. I remember years ago when my friend painted her backyard fence that shade of green. It works so well in a garden, blending with plants and flowers. I think it works well with outdoor furniture as well. I see some furniture painting in my future.

6.  For many many years, every Christmas I would order chocolate dipped cherries from a little candy store in Los Gatos, CA. Cherries are readily available in Mexico where I live now. The Magnolia magazine has a couple of cherry recipes, including one that is cherries double dipped and frozen. First you dip the pitted cherries in melted white chocolate. You freeze them and then dip them in dark chocolate. Yumm.

7.  Zoomer magazine features little rechargeable lamps and said they are "popping up at all our favorite restaurants." Two friends gave me one for my birthday a couple of years ago. And boy do I love it. Where I live the electricity frequently goes out when it is windy or rains. I leave my little lamp plugged into the USB connection on my computer. When the lights go out I just unplug them it and carry it room to room with me. Amazon has a bunch of them to choose from.

8.  The June 24th  First For Women Magazine has an article called "10 Brilliant Uses for Paper Bags." I don't have stacks of paper bags any more as I tend to bring my recyclable tote bags. However there are some clever ideas. My favorite was to cut them to the size of picture frames, hang bag cutouts on the wall. When you have your photo wall arrangement decided, tap nails through each bag. Perfect placement. Since I don't have paper bags, I think any kind of paper or newspaper would work. Just cut to size for each photo, piece of art.

9.  Anyone who has a dog probably knows this. Good Housekeeping features "Summer Feel Good Secrets" in their latest issue. They report on how a study published in the journal Psychogeriatrics found that "holding, stroking, walking, talking to and playing with dogs" improves depression by a whopping 50%. It even helps those with dementia. My life would be a lot less joyful without Micky and Benny.

10.  Oh I adore this tiled fireplace. I saw it also in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping. The tiles are zellige tiles from Emery and Cie.

The Optimism of Planting a Tree

 

There is something so optimistic and life affirming about planting a tree. Trees give off the oxygen we need to breathe. They reduce erosion, pollution and flooding, The provide homes for wildlife. They give us shade, fruit and beauty. 

California, the Amazon and so many other locations have lost so many trees to fires and corporate greed. I recently started researching planting trees - the how to, the where and the who with. This is what I have discovered...

The How

The Where

The website Tree-Nation says that the tropical zones of the world need trees the most because of deforestation and climate change. You can choose one of their projects and donate or gift trees.

Click here to find out more about Tree Nation

Fast Company Magazine has an interesting article about replanting the over 4 million acres that have burning in California in 2020. They examine a new approach to planting trees to reduce the risk of their burning again.

Click here to read the article

The Who With

Consider helping the Arbor Day Foundation initiative - Time For Trees. Their goal is to plan 100 million trees in communities and forests around the world by 2022. You can support their efforts by becoming a member, donating and receiving updates.

Click here to find out more about Time For Trees

A Virtual Garden Tour

 

A walk in a garden always helps to lift my spirits. Not so easy to travel to some of the world's best public gardens these days. More and more gardens are offering virtual tours. Here is one from Claude Monet's garden at Giverny.

Hope in Action

 

I recently read someplace (I don't remember the source) about a woman who decided to plant a shrub, vine, tree or flower every time Trump does something that irritates her.

I am going to be very busy in my garden.

Ten of The Most Beautiful Gardens In the World

So are you wanting to buy a ticket to someplace wonderful once you can leave your house and get on an airplane? Well here is my list of ten of the world's most gorgeous public gardens. I could have listed many many more (and actually did mention an 11th because I could not leave it out.) But this will get us started on our wish list. 

Cynthia

Click to see the list... with links to the gardens websites. Many are closed now but have virtual tours.

In The Garden by S. Timothy Glasscock

There is no place on earth like a garden. The smell of humus, the feel of the soil in your hands, the way the tiny plants bend toward the light—all this and more bring my heart out of hibernation when I am in the garden.

I started growing a garden specifically for tomatoes. I am a hopeless tomato addict. I love them raw, on a sandwich, in a salad, cooked in stews and soups, sliced thin and served with a vinaigrette. There is just no wrong way to eat a good tomato. But my favorite way to eat a tomato is on a tomato sandwich. No frills, white bread (forgive me), mayo, sliced tomatoes, salt and pepper. Oh, JOY! You can add a piece of good cheese if you need to gild the lily, but the foregoing is all you really need for true perfection.

Click to continue Tim's story