• Homeschooling

    A Closet Office

    Spring cleaning time has begun. Thanks to my 16-year-old daughter my kitchen now shines. I want you to know, that girl’s a keeper! My project for Saturday was to help my 13-year-old daughter organize her bedroom. I called a family meeting to brainstorm the best way to set up her tiny bedroom (only 10′ x 10′) to help her keep…

  • Adventures

    A Rainy Sunday Afternoon

    I love long, quiet Sundays at home. Today it is raining. A lovely, slow spring rain. We are warm and comfortable, and each of us has something relaxing to do. I am grateful for my family, my home, and a day of rest each week. *** Some of my friends have started new blogs. Help me encourage them by stopping…

  • Adventures

    How Not to Decorate

    Disclaimer: I’m not a decorating snob. I promise! I don’t have a degree in interior design, nor is my home professionally decorated. Now that we are clear on that, I just have to show you the decor of the vacation home in Florida where we stayed a few weeks ago. The first thing I noticed were the Disney posters on…

  • Lifestyle

    Making Sour Dough Bread

    Last fall I discovered a new magazine that I just love! Now, understand, I’m really not much of a magazine reader. Almost always I’d rather read a book. But the gentle picture on the cover of MaryJane’s Farm caught my eye on the magazine rack one evening when Lyle and I were enjoying a “coffee date” at Borders. I picked…

  • Heritage

    Happy Anniversary!

    My parents have been married 44 years today. I don’t have a picture from 1965 on my computer, so I’ll share this one from 1985. It was my own wedding day… and it startles me to realize that I’m within a few months of being as old as my mother was when I got married! How could 23 years have…

  • Literary Pursuits

    The Workbasket – April 1952

    Here we are in 1952 with plenty of handy “Ideas for the Bazaar, the Home, Gifts, Sparetime Money Makers, with Many Articles, Easily Made and Inexpensive, that find a Ready Sale.” How’s that for a tag line? And with plenty of capital letters, too!                             The first…

  • Lifestyle

    Vintage Tins

    I am fascinated with tiny tins. I love that Altoids mints come in little tins. Other than that, I can’t really think of anything else that comes in a small tin these days, can you? Years ago lots of things came in tins. Now it’s mostly paper or cardboard boxes, or even just plastic wrappers. I wonder if there was…

  • Literary Pursuits

    The Workbasket – January 1952

    It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Workbasket post… and I still have quite a few I haven’t share with you yet. I know you’re just so excited about that, aren’t you? This one is from January 1952, and as you can see, the cover was torn off. For some reason, this issue seemed to have more than its share…

  • Heritage

    Sweet 16

    Has it really been 16 years since I first held her in my arms that snowy January evening? It seemed we had waited so long… we had been married 7 years. That was a long time? Then tell me how 16 years could possibly have gone by so fast? When I was about 16 I discovered this poem that stuck…