Our “Piano Bar”

Have you ever felt like Rip Van Winkle, suddenly waking up and realizing that changes have taken place while you were sleeping or simply not focusing on a particular thing—perhaps a thing that you grew up with, something ineffably lovely—and now that “something” has vanished? Although my husband and I are certainly not “bar flies”, we recall [...]

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My Classic Look: vintage, time-worn, and rich in stories of life!

I’ve always celebrated vintage, old, torn, tattered, rusted, and falling apart in home furnishings.  To me, the timeworn look represents high end elegance due to that priceless mystique of memories and stories.  In the case of inherited treasures, we sentimentalists frequently think of the people who formerly enjoyed the object in hand.  And when we decorate with stuff culled from a rummage sale, antique shop, [...]

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Anyone for tea?

As decades fly by, we realize how much customs and traditions change over the years.  Just perusing a Bridal Gift Registry at most any store causes me to reflect!  Today many brides (not all—I’m doing generalities today) select sumptuous and elaborate cookware, outdoor grills, and over the top kitchen gadgets.  Years ago most brides I that I [...]

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Potato Chips and Fascinators–the scarf diva strikes again!

I foresee a day coming when people will turn around and walk the other way when they see me approaching—for fear that I’ll corner them and start telling them about the Potato Chip Scarf.  They’ll say, “Yikes!  Here she comes, charging inexorably toward us with Potato Chips wound around her neck.” Oh well, at the risk of [...]

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Seasons Past, Seasons Present

An unseasonably warm spell with lots of sunshine inspires visions of spring.  Certainly we will have more winter.  We could have the blizzard of the century anytime in the next two months, and perhaps even in April.  But today we have 56 minutes more daylight than we had at the December solstice.  The sun is [...]

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Wisconsin Late Autumn

Our patio is no longer our “living room”, unless we bundle snugly and clutch a mug of hot coffee.  The dried leaves are poignant reminders of the sunny green months, now stashed away in memory, like potatoes and carrots in a root cellar—waiting to be unearthed for winter nourishment. This glimpse of garden glory was [...]

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Vintage Oaks . . . and reflections on vintage living

The maples and sumacs have shed their glory.  That riotous circus of color is over for another year, and the muted shades of the oak leaves remain.  The maples and sumacs catapulted me into action.  Now those subdued autumn oaks quiet my soul, as a prelude to the season of rest. Oak leaves are the last to turn, and the last to fall.  Some will cling tenaciously to their [...]

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Farewell to Summer . . .

Now we’ve had a light frost in our county so these warm, euphoric October days constitute the beginning of Indian summer—and what is more lovely?  Springtime and summer are as lovely, but what is so poignantly beautiful as Indian summer?  Mums in an array of analogous shades offer color dominance—while lemon thyme, lavender, mint, sage, garlic chives, sweet basil, and [...]

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Serendipity!

The gift of finding unexpected treasure in unexpected places—that’s serendipity.  Since I customarily do find some treasure on most every rummaging foray, I tend to think of garage sales not as serendipity but rather simply pleasant business as usual.  But yesterday’s excursion yielded far more than the considerable haul pictured above.  I’ll remember that day as truly serendipitous! The garage [...]

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Praise God for the “normal” things . . .

. . . waking in the morning to the sound of much-needed rain, sharing a breakfast at our local “good old boy” restaurant, stopping at the library and leaving with 2 heavy sacks of books, celebrating the progression of summertime in our gardens, sitting in ”our row” in church with 10 great grandchildren—ages 6 and under, gently stepping back in time [...]

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