Vintage Romantic Author
Bullocks is an iconic name in department store luxury shopping. The more mainstream original Bullocks location opened downtown Los Angeles in 1907. The elegant, art deco masterpiece, Bullocks Wilshire, opened in 1929 and was the jewel in the crown of the Bullocks chain. I don’t have any memory of visiting Bullocks Wilshire. Bullocks Westwood was …
Welcome to our coastal cruise! My husband Carl and I hadn’t cruised since before Covid. Things have changed, a few for the better. Many for the worse. For the good or bad, here we go! We chose to take the flyaway from Van Nuys to LAX. Because we had an international flight to Vancouver, we …
Let’s start with something good on the cruise ship—the showers. They now have a hand-held shower that is perfectly positioned. The hot water comes on quick. We’re learning what’s good to eat in the buffet and what is not. We shared our breakfast table with some lovely Canadian people who are staying in Los Angeles …
This was supposed to be a relaxing sea day. Well, we had to forget that. First order of business was showing up at 7 a.m. to stand in a line and get tickets for our face-to-face immigration interview. That information is listed in the GOOD TO KNOW section. Our original plan was to sleep in, …
I woke up as we were about to go under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was still foggy, but we could see! This is the only building remaining from the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition, The Palace of Fine Arts. We were scheduled for an architectural tour of San Francisco on a previous coastal cruise, but …
Today’s feature event was a shore excursion to Muir Woods and then back to Sausalito. Our guide, usually a tour bus driver, knew a lot of history. He could answer questions although he was a little snarky. Maybe that comes from having to be quiet when he drives. Muir Woods smelled so good, the way …
This was yet another early morning. Tender tickets were available at 7 a.m. No matter how management framed their ridiculous tickets from today and San Francisco, I was not impressed. We ate a late breakfast while watching the shoreline as the ship approached shallow Avalon Harbor, thus the need for tenders. Once they started calling …
What could possibly be interesting about getting off a ship at the end of a cruise? How about an excursion? Although we were the only natives on the bus, we really enjoyed touring Los Angeles. Taking a tour turned out to be pretty fun and different and it didn’t seem like the end of our …
I’ve tried an experiment. I ask people what their favorite season is. Then I ask if their birthday falls in that season. Remarkably, it almost always does. That’s true for me too. I absolutely adore fall. The colors, the cooler weather, orange everything. Fall fabrics make me drool. Well, not really but you get the …
When my daughter was in 4th grade California history class, her teacher arranged a field trip to Olvera Street. A stay-at-home mom, I volunteered to help out. It was a beautiful spring day. Our docent was an energetic young lady, extremely knowledgeable. She guided us through the Avila Adobe, L.A.’s oldest home, and the historic …
I am crazy about flowers. I’m pretty sure I can find some everywhere I look at home. From pink-flowered wallpaper in the living room to my stash of floral-printed fabric, it’s kind of a theme in my life. Our world seems pretty dark and ugly, much more so than at any other time I can …
I was surprised to find I’ve never done a St. Patrick’s Day blog. So let’s share a wee bit ‘o history and decorations. St. Patrick was born in Roman Britain, kidnapped by Irish pirates and sold into slavery at age 16. He was forced to tend sheep for his master Milchu, an Irish pagan Druid …
Do you remember the 1989 miniseries, Lonesome Dove? It was immensely popular at the time, drawing over 26 million viewers. Nominated for 18 Emmys, it won 7. My son became interested in the Lonesome Dove series of books after watching a recent western series called The English, an extremely dark tale where virtually everyone turned …
Well, I can wish, can’t I? Here she is, the last of my arch-enemies for 2023. They say mosquitoes are especially bad in So Cal this year because of Hurricane Hillary. I don’t know if that’s true or not. Every year is a bad mosquito year for me. I’m like a mosquito magnet. I’m starting …
Since our plane didn’t leave until later in the day, Ken and Carol drove us around a beautiful neighborhood before we stopped at—ta-da-da-da—a quilt shop. It was fabulous. Marietta’s was so close and had the best reviews of any quilt shops around—and there were a lot in the Greenville area. Marietta’s had a decent amount …
First stop in our action-packed day: Campbell’s Covered Bridge. This is the last remaining covered bridge in South Carolina. Really beautiful spot. Look at all that granite. The bridge has been closed for maintenance and painting. It looks like new. But not underneath. There’s water and green everywhere you look! Here’s a shot of Beaverdam …
We headed off to Abbeville, a tiny town off the beaten path. With Wendy and two of her children, we enjoyed a fabulous lunch at Indigenous Underground, a new hotspot recommended by local resident Brady who joined us for the day. I ordered southern eggs Benedict: biscuits and pepper gravy with pork and eggs. Oh …
Just when I thought we couldn’t do anything more challenging, we headed off to Caesar’s Head State Park. First, we did an easy loop. I’m not a car person, but this beauty was parked near the trail head. We were on a granite ledge in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The incredible view is North Carolina. …
We stayed with old friends, Ken and Carol, who moved to South Carolina about a year ago. They have a lovely, brand-new home. The upstairs guest room is huge, so we settled in. Our touring group met up about 10:30. We shouldn’t have been surprised when this turned out to be another physically challenging day. …
I was kind of sad to leave our room. We developed a routine that was comfortable and entertaining. But check-out we did. We stowed our gear with the porter and took a short walk to the National Museum of the American Indian. Hardly anyone was there, although there were tons of busses of schoolchildren parked …
The Air and Space Museum is undergoing extensive renovation and was completely closed from spring to fall of 2022. We had entry tickets for 11. They only let people in on the hour, but I must admit, that’s a good strategy. It doesn’t seem crowded and we got right up to see exhibits. First came …
No, we didn’t fly to Rome. This is the fountain in front of the Library of Congress, our meeting place for an all-day tour. We managed to avoid the steep hill beside the Capitol building but Siri was playing with us and took us a block out of our way for no reason. Maybe she …
We set off for the National Archives and saw the founding documents: Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights. No pictures were allowed in the building, but here’s what the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom looks like: There was little else to see or do there. We walked through an exhibit about how …
It was a gloomy day, no sun at all. We decided to try the Air and Space Museum. We’ve been going by the horrendous lines a block from our hotel, not knowing what they were. The museum has been undergoing remodeling and was completely closed for a time. Only about a third of it is …
I’ve decided all this walking is like boot camp for old people. I may be flunking. But we started with a taxi ride today. As you can see by the license on this very patriotic bus, D.C. residents want more representation. We’re staying in a business district—FEMA is right next door; the Department of Education …
Hoards of 8th Graders had descended on Washington DC for tours. Nowhere was this so obvious as at Mount Vernon. They were just beginning to clear out as we arrived. We had 50 minutes to eat lunch and peruse the gift shop before our tour. I like the Images of America books so I found …
I have a good sense of direction, so my first order of business on day two was getting myself straightened out. It helped to know my suspicion the hotel faced north was accurate. I presented myself to the front desk to try to make sense of the map they provided. Admitting their map was less …
My husband, Carl, and I took our first real vacation since before Covid. I thought I’d document the highlights of our trip and hopefully encourage you to add something to your bucket list. America seems to be on the way to normalcy. Over 42 million travelers took off on Memorial Day weekend, the most-traveled holiday …
Since this decade began, almost all my adventures have been day trips. I’ve gotten awfully used to staying home. I guess it’s no wonder the thought of spending the night away causes some apprehension. There really is no place like home. Recent improvements upstairs and down provide eye candy. I have plenty to keep me …
Some holiday traditions last, others don’t. Since Mother’s Day is coming up, let’s take a look at its history and its ties to carnations, a tradition that didn’t stand the test of time. I came across a newspaper article from 1914 about the first Mother’s Day—well, the first Mother’s Day celebrated as a national holiday. …
There are times when celebrating the seasons with decorations is more an obligation than a joy. Not so this Easter. Sparser than trimmings in other seasons of the year, I had a good time putting them up. We’ve undertaken two ginormous home improvement projects in 2023. First, it was installing new quartz countertops and tile …
My mom was never a fountain of information. I once asked her what it was like to live during World War II. Her reply, “Just like any other time.” Hmmm. But I guess I can relate to her answer. I was a teenager in the 60s. That was a wild decade. The Cold War was …
Literally, the moment I finished wrapping my last present, The Hallelujah Chorus started playing from my music list! I actually enjoyed wrapping this year—no gift bags, all boxes with coordinated red and white paper and ribbons. It was the fact I was ready for Christmas with that last gift that made the music so appropriate. …
Who is Dudley, you might ask. It’s not a name you hear much anymore. I don’t know if this is a common problem with crafters, but I tend to start projects and abandon them. Such is the case with Dudley Butterball. One of the truly nice things about home renovation is that everything gets cleaned …
This beautiful pine tree grew over our backyard wall. As you can see, it’s a whopper. We weren’t very happy when the neighbors planted it. You see, the first pine tree they planted in this same spot fell over in a storm. We were a bit appalled when they simply planted another. There were things …
What Does It Take to Write a Book? By Barbara Bush Forletta What does it take? In my case, it took over 10 years from the idea to the completion of Unlocking the Writing Process; Inspiring Lessons and Stories to Get You Started. During my teaching career I developed lessons to help students become interested …
My family was not very “into” Halloween. When I would ask my mom about my costume, her yearly response was, “Go in the bin and find something to wear.” The bins were wooden window seats under the den windows with tops that flipped open. My toys were in one bin, old clothes and keepsakes occupied …
Recently ruminating about the commonality of all my books and blogs, I realized they’re about homemaking. In books, it’s making a new home or fitting into someone else’s. In blogs, it’s about the little ways I make my own home. I was reading an article about homemakers of today and the abuse they get from …
Don’t miss the beginnings of our trip to be found here: Part One and Part Two Pretty much my whole life, I have tootled right by the minute town of Harmony, just south of Cambria. We decided to stop and take a look this trip. It’s definitely a tiny place. This is the pottery, where …
Don’t miss part one of our adventure here: Part One. Ragged Point is an outpost about 30 minutes north of Cambria. They have rooms, but we’ve never stayed. We always visit their very fine restaurant for lunch. It was here we really understood how few tourists were out. This is the first time we didn’t …
We’ve made a habit of meeting up with friends in Cambria through the years. In fact, we journeyed there during the first summer of Covid. We found plenty to do and dined in the street and parking lots. But state parks were closed then and we were anxious to tour Hearst Castle. Once parks opened, …
The delights of home improvement simply cannot be fully enjoyed until the project is finished. And if you’re the type who doesn’t actually finish, it can, indeed, be a nightmare. I always find it exciting to start a project and especially enjoy any shopping involved. We decided to put the same vinyl plank in our …
I guess I am. I’ve always been willing to experiment and challenge common knowledge. This hasn’t always been a wise thing to do. For instance, not long after we moved into our first house, it seemed strange to me that I could put all manner of vegetable parts down the garbage disposal, so why not …
Before socialists, communists, anarchists, labor activitists and leftists took May 1 to commemorate their struggles, it was widely celebrated by the masses. In some regions, it was considered a public holiday that included dancing, singing and yum—cake. In an attempt to bring back the traditional May Day, if only on a small scale, I gathered …
Road trips have been all too rare lately, but my friend Betty and I took off for Carpinteria, a small beach town south of Santa Barbara. If I were rich, I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a quaint little 1900s-era house blocks from the Pacific in Carpinteria. In my imagination, there would be nightly walks along …
Long before Dr. Spock’s attempt to document the “correct” way to raise psychologically healthy children, many authors published medical science of the day for use by housewives. Knowing I was interested in times past, my mom brought me Wife and Mother or Information for Every Woman from my aunt’s yard sale. Published in 1886, the …
I remember the good old days when it was easy to find a nearby, quirky, fun store. Collectibles have become passe. People aren’t decorating their homes for holidays as they once did. All my eccentric little stores have fallen by the wayside. Even Barbara Cheatley’s went out of business last year. It seems antique stores …
Have you kept a New Year’s resolution? I don’t believe I ever have. That’s probably a good reason to avoid them. Yet, there’s something undeniably hopeful about New Year’s. In the dead of winter, it’s a moment of renewal. A time to pause and reflect. A time to contemplate the future. History often shocks me. …
What inspires you? What makes you want to get off the sofa or abandon electronics? To be honest, the older I get, the better the sofa looks. And yet, I have my moments. There’s nothing like a trip to the quilt show or store to inspire sewing. The fabric junkie in me gets a little …
Let’s take another trip down the 126, my favorite route. It wasn’t about antiques or history this time, though. First stop was Cracker Barrel in Camarillo. It never ceases to amaze me, how cool, even wintery it can be at the beach when we are sizzling 40 miles away. After a great breakfast, I managed …
Well, I did promise a blog about antique finds. I just didn’t know how long it was going to take to write it! So here goes. It’s summer and what says summer better than a sunflower? This one’s a volunteer in the front yard. It doesn’t exactly fit where it grew but what a stunner! …
Since gardening is considered essential, a trip to the nursery was a treat in 2020 here in Los Angeles County. I was astounded the first time we visited because there was not a single seed packet available. I inquired if they were about to restock and was told everyone on earth had taken up gardening …
I decided to wander through the internet in an attempt to understand current secular Easter traditions. I’ve always wondered how bunnies and eggs became part of that day. Wow, what controversy! I discovered Eostre (pronounced E-O-ster), the Germanic Goddess of Spring. In theory, her name evolved into the Christian festival of Easter even though Easter …
We’ve been on lockdown here in Southern California for some time. As I mentioned previously, I haven’t been feeling particularly creative. That hasn’t changed. But it’s time to put that mood aside and do a new blog—FINALLY! What to write about? We’ve hardly been anywhere although we do see family and we had almost normal …
It wouldn’t be fall without Halloween, at least not at our home. A small band of trick-or-treaters will launch their quest for sweet confections from our house. How big a haul there will be remains to be seen. We’ll attempt to provide an alternate activity sure to stuff the candy coffers and provide a bit …