With job security down and gas prices up, it seems more people than ever are opting for a staycation – finding fun and relaxation at home. If you have even a little money to spend on your summer entertainment, why not spend it sprucing up your own yard to make your staycation even more enjoyable?

With the right plants and conservation practices, you can easily create an inviting place for birds, nature, and your family with minimal cost and effort. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) and the Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) offer a free Backyard Conservation booklet that showcases simple backyard conservation practices. These include simple ideas for terracing, tree planting, composting, mulching, wildlife habitat, wetlands, ponds and water conservation.

If you have a larger yard and time to work in it, designing a garden is a natural way to escape for awhile. It’s always best to work with what you have, so depending on the native plants and existing landscaping in your yard, you may choose to plant a woodland landscape, a butterfly garden or a xeriscape garden. All of these garden types are generally easy to plant and maintain and are likely to use plants already existing in your yard.

Patios offer similar benefits to decks, but are made of stone, brick, patio pavers or concrete. If you decide to add a box garden or planters to your patio, plan to locate them in areas that receive consistent sunlight. A small fountain can also add a peaceful feel to your patio or deck and obscure noises from neighbors in an urban area.

As for me, I’m off to spend some time relaxing and watching birds in my backyard!  While I’m there, post a comment about how you escape to your own backyard!

I’ve been reading a bit more about the best Irish pubs in America since it’s getting so close to St. Patrick’s Day! I‘ve read about a lot of really great-sounding pubs this week and I‘m sure all of them will be having special events for St. Patty‘s Day!

This year, Kell’s Irish Pub in Portland, Oregon is putting on a 4-day Irish Festival in honor of St. Patty’s Day. Kell’s is going all out with music, dancers, and traditional Irish food. Kell’s regular pub menu features a taste of Ireland, including Shepherd’s pie, fish and chips and Guinness.

If you happen to be in Atlanta, Georgia over St. Patrick’s Day, be sure to check out the St. Patty’s Day block party at Limerick Junction. For Irishmen at heart, this Irish pub offers year-round Irish charm with a selection of beer and lager, “pub grub” and Irish entertainment.

Cat’s Eye Pub in Baltimore, Maryland, is another truly authentic Irish pub in America. Located in the historical Fell’s Point area of Baltimore, this pub’s been sharing the luck of the Irish with Irishmen of all nationalities for more than 30 years. From the sounds of it Cat’s Eye is the best party in Baltimore whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day or not.

And, leave it to the Irish to create a true neighborhood pub smack in the middle of a coastal tourist town. The Poet and the Patriot opened in Santa Cruz, CA in 1982 and has been spreading Irish cheer ever since. Owner Chris Matthews makes an effort to educate his customers about the history of his beloved Ireland while pouring glasses of Guinness, Murphy’s and Smithwick.

I know I can’t visit all these pubs this St. Patty’s Day, but it sure would be fun to try. If you manage to pop into one of these or another great Irish pub this St. Patty’s Day, post a comment and let me know where you went and what you thought of it.

Since St. Patty’s Day is this month I thought I’d get together a list of some of the best pubs in America so we can all celebrate!

When thinking about the Irish in America, what better place to start out than Boston, with a pub on every corner and a leprechaun on its basketball team’s logo? It’s certainly hard to choose, but I’ve been told the best of the best in Boston is Doyle’s Café on Washington street. Doyle’s has hosted local Irish politicians for more than a century.

New York City is another bastion of Irish heritage. In a city the size of New York it may take more than one pub. Stop in at Paddy Reilly’s Music on the weekend for some Celtic rock and a pint of Guinness. If you’re looking to celebrate amidst a bit of history, check out McSorley’s Old Ale House, which just celebrated it’s 155^th birthday. New York City hosts annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl, so if you’re in the city for St. Patty’s day be sure to check it out!

In Chicago, where everyone is Irish on March 17, Emmitt’s Irish Pub and Eatery is the place to see and be seen. Featured in movies including ‘Backdraft’, ‘Uncle Buck’, ‘Ocean’s 11’ and ‘Ocean’s 12.’ Emmitt’s has overcome it’s location’s sordid past to become the most popular Irish pub in the windy city.

And Irish pubs aren’t a commodity limited to the East Coast. The Dubliner in San Francisco is a good old fashioned pub with friendly barkeeps and good Irish coffee and ale. It’s also one of the few places in the Bay Area that sells the West Coast’s Irish newspaper the Irish Herald.

Down south at McGuire’s Irish Pub in Pensacola, Florida, Irishmen of all nationalities sign dollar bills and pin them to the ceiling in tribute to Molly, the waitress who pinned her first $1 tip to the back of the bar. McGuire’s is housed in an old firehouse and boasts a turn of the century New York City aura.

I’ve also been checking out St. Patrick’s Day events across the nation so I‘ll have somewhere to wear all that green. Every pub in the world, of course, will be celebrating with Irish music, dancing and beer and most large cities are having parades.

Here in Denver, Colorado, we’ll kick off the holiday the Saturday before with the biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade west of the Mississippi with more than 200 floats and 10,000 marchers. The parade features floats, marchers, step-dancers, bands and bagpipes.

Wonder which U.S. city has the largest parade in the nation? It’s New York City, where the city’s Irish population shows it’s pride by marching up 5^th Street clan by clan. Every year the archbishop of New York reviews the all-marcher parade from the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The New York City St. Patrick’s Day parade has been around since Irishmen living in New York organized it in 1762 – fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence was signed! Of course, with New York City’s huge Irish population, one parade just isn’t enough – more than 15 boroughs, including Queens and Brooklyn, host their own parades.

If St. Patty‘s Day ever catches me in the deep south I‘ll head to New Orleans, Louisiana – the city that has a parade for everything. The Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Committee expects this year‘s St. Patrick‘s Day Parade to be the largest it’s ever had. In New Orleans, parade participants start with a special Mass, then march up Magazine street dressed in formal attire. What could be better than well-dressed Irishmen for a St. Patty’s Day bash?

Though the parades are the public display of Irish spirit in the U.S., the parades are just the beginning. It all ends in a pub full of Irishmen and lovers of all things Irish wearing and honoring Ireland’s patron saint with drink and song.