Vintage Romantic Author
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 …
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 …
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 …
Hope you’re finding a way to flourish during this pandemic. I must admit, I’ve found hunkering down is not very conducive to creativity. It would seem the perfect opportunity for days spent in imagination, but that wasn’t the way it worked for me, anyway. So as stores have begun to open, I felt it my …
Despite all that’s going on in the world, Easter is just around the corner. Family celebrations might be digital this year. In an effort to be as “normal” as possible, I’ll be decorating as I always do. I am nuts about holidays. Ask anybody. From October through April, my house is decorated for one holiday …
Back in the day, I sewed craft items and sold them at boutiques. Probably my favorite patterns were by a company named Patch Press. Their instructions were complete, logical and fun; hand-written in crazy blue script. With Patch Press as my role model, I was inspired to share directions for a craft project I recently imagined.