Last weekend we were in beautiful Boston. We stayed at a lovely home in Cambridge, walking distance from Harvard Square. The first thing that struck me was the beautiful garden in the back of the house. The house itself was utterly charming, clean, with appealing accents. The kitchen was very functional, overlooking the garden -- a perfect spot for tea in the mornings. Though the neighborhood was very quiet and private, there was banging and thumping next door early on Saturday and Sunday morning. The hostess made us very welcome and, very generously, offered us the use of groceries in her kitchen.
However, she spent an inordinate amount of time in her basement office while we were there, even coming in very early on Saturday morning and startling my son who was asleep in the basement.