Polly Bannister

Add some fun to your family’s winter with these tips for how to build an ice rink in your own backyard from New Hampshire dad Paul Bannister.

Pretty leaves make lasting autumn memories. Follow our easy tips for preserving leaves, and then enjoy the colorful result for years to come.

It is 17 degrees outside, with a north wind snapping at anything that moves. The windchill makes it feel like zero. No worry. Here, the kids belly up to 2-foot waves, whip down an 80-foot waterslide, and dash under cascading falls. No, we are not at Disney World or in Maui — we are tucked […]

Want to plan the perfect fall picnic? We’ll tell you where to buy the basket, fill it, and find the best views before and after your picnic. Also, see the willow basket from Simon Pearce that Yankee says is a “season must-have.” Best Fall Picnic Locations Picnic in Litchfield, CT Watch Tina Puckett weave bittersweet, […]

You’re bound to find treasure when you hunt along the Connecticut Antiques Trail. Antiques hunter Polly Bannister describes her own experience. The broad, mile-long Main Street of Woodbury, Connecticut, is lined with remarkable historic homes built since the town’s settlement in 1673, each more beautifully restored than the next. It seems that nearly every house […]

To look at Casey and Garret Roberts’ home, you’d think it was part of the coastline. Their Rhode Island house sits so close to the oceanfront that their backyard should be considered the sea. The driveway is “paved” with glistening white clamshells, and their garden has plants designed in the shapes of nautical knots. In […]

The May basket — let’s bring back a small gesture of caring and celebration of this season,” says Jayne Ward, who has enjoyed a lifelong career in the antiques and gift business. This, her third shop, Homeward Designs’ Cottage Style, in Rindge, New Hampshire (603-899-9545), is co-owned with her daughter, Melissa Ward Messer, formerly a […]

Riding the rails is as thrilling today as it was way back when. Here are Yankee’s picks for New England’s best passenger trips (check Web sites for seasonal schedules): 1. After a 36-year absence, passenger rail service has returned to Maine. Amtrak’s Downeaster connects Boston and Portland along a 114-mile rail corridor. 800-872-7245; amtrakdowneaster.com 2. […]

My advice about visiting Sandwich is “go early and often.” And by “early” I don’t mean in the season, though that works, too. I mean early, like dawn. There’s no better way to begin your day than by watching the sunrise turning Cape Cod Bay a dusty rose. The beach is best accessed by a […]

Block Island is an 11-square-mile, pork-chop-shaped landmass off the coast of Rhode Island. It may not sound like much, but it’s the biggest summer destination in America’s smallest state. A few years back, The Nature Conservancy deemed the island “one of the last 12 great places in the Western Hemisphere.” And for good reason: Dramatic […]

Who among us hasn’t made a New Year’s resolution to lose that holiday flab? Well, here’s Yankee‘s secret workout weapon: the Concept2 Model D Indoor Rower. Rowing is the ultimate fitness routine: It works all the major muscle groups, it’s low-impact, and it combines strength training with cardiovascular conditioning. And the bottom line? It’s a […]

Gretchen and her daughters, Megan and Phoebe, and their families celebrate Christmas Eve together. True to the artist’s sensibility, decorations are unfussy. The handmade ceramic tree, is a gift from a friend; the snow globe, vase, and reindeer come from Gretchen’s favorite local gift shop, Simple Pleasures. A few antique ornaments on an ironstone plate […]