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Cute celebrity couple Emily Blunt and John Krasinski have reportedly bought a lush home in the LA hills.

Kylie Minogue is rumoured to be taking up residence in a palatial Coogee pad fit for a pop princess.

Kate and Prince William have begun renovations on their country retreat, the magnificent 10-bedroom Anmer Hall on the Queen’s Sandringham Estate and the neighbours aren’t happy. “Garish” red roof tiles replacing the weathered tiles of the 1800s mansion have been described as “vulgar” by locals, who say the royal renovations are taking away from the […]

In this post-GFC world, the art of frugal living is making a comeback. Ingrid Pyne meets a remarkable woman who has transformed her life and proved that Grandma was right. Rhonda Hetzel is far too down-to-earth to call it an epiphany as such, but in 2003, she came to a life-changing realisation. Her high-paying job, […]

This is the season for jam makers. Even better, it’s the season when gardeners with laden trees give baskets full of fruit to jam enthusiasts — and the jam makers say “thank you” by giving the gardeners a jar or two of their best conserves. Homemade jam is rich in fruit and fragrant because it’s […]

Hoarding, cross-dressing, and a thing for lacy knickers … Stars’ domestic workers come clean about their famous employers’ scandalous secrets. Behind the closed doors of Brangelina’s ritzy chateau, Hollywood’s golden couple secretly live like hobos. “It’s actually pretty disgusting,” a source close to their hired help reveals. “There are always pizza boxes everywhere, food left […]

Sometimes you come across a plant that you’ve ignored for years, and realise it’s so absolutely perfect that you don’t know why you haven’t planted hundreds of them years ago. I had one of those moments two years ago, when I looked at a friend’s nerines. I’d never even thought of growing any before – […]

You see them in every gardening magazine – page after page of autumn glories, trees in every shade of red, orange, purple, gold and yellow. But sadly in Australia you need ‘two jumpers and a pair of long Johns’ winters to really get great autumn foliage – and even then, the chances are that your […]

I hated cabbage till the day I discovered they didn’t have to be boiled. Boiled cabbage looks like wet washing — and smells a lot worse. But stir—fried cabbage, with garlic and olive oil and a touch of soya sauce, is wonderful or, better still, broccoli or brocollini with olive oil and lemon juice, steamed […]

This is not a reason to pull out your paving, or not all of it. (I have paving around the house too – it’s also a great way to see the snakes before they see us.) Instead, try cooling your paving down so you gain all the great advantages of paving, minus the heat. Plant […]