Stressed, Exhausted, or Calm? Check out your Mood
What’s Your Mood? “I often felt blue when my children were younger and my husband and I were beginning our careers. Hormones could have also played a role in my emotional roller-coaster rides. I thought then too that a kick to our household finances and help from a...
You as a Superhero: Wordless Wednesday
If I were a superhero, I’d be known as Typo Man [Woman], the writer of wrongs What would your Super "name" be? Your special power, large or small? Stressed? Exhausted? Calm? Check this out May 17, 2023!
What Happened When I Tidied Up My Studio
Oh, my word! What a royal mess my writing studio had become. My space looked a fright at the end of March, just before my memoir launch party April 1. On that day friends and family would descend on our home to inspect my second memoir. They'd head for the refreshment...
Purple Balloon Announces Launch
https://youtu.be/H3lIVaUqzYk Launch Day! Find new book online through Amazon, IndieBound, Barnes & Noble or your favorite bookstore: Check out the "My Books" tab on this website. Or click HERE! Thank you! Blurb: Expect to laugh and cry and experience many...
My Fair Lady Advises Mennonite Daughter
Remember Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison facing off in the movie My Fair Lady, the famous adaption of George Bernard Shaw’s stage play Pygmalion? Spunky girl, Eliza Doolittle, the living, breathing language experiment of Henry Higgins, screams in exasperation when her...
A Ring of Shining Faces
What have you heard about ring lights? How are these lights used? Why are ring lights so popular? What are the benefits of using one? According to Mr. Google, dentists first used the ring “flash” light in 1952 for dental photography. Dental clinics now use new...
Patric, Grandma Fannie, and the Irish Washerwoman say, “Wash Your Dirty Laundry!”
Patric Richardson entertains in a book about LAUNDRY, with info both whimsical and informative. Patric finds joy in a common chore because he knows some tricks of the trade. He admits to being a little weird and eccentric: Asked for the book Dress for Success...
Magic in a Colorful Swirl
https://youtu.be/O4XD7rVJiOE Pre-Order My Checkered Life: A Marriage Memoir HERE Thank You!
Do You Nap? Nine Notes about Napping
Do you ever nap? Do you take a morning or afternoon snooze? I can easily summon an image of Grandma Fannie Longenecker flopping down in a lounge chair with her feet elevated usually after her noon meal. When her feet, laced up in black heels had a...
Tenth Blogiversary Celebration with Antique Lamp and Clock
Guess who is celebrating a 10th blogiversary this month? Two bloggers I happily follow have bragging rights to 10-years' blogging. They are faithful commenters on my blog too. Drum roll please for. . . Marie Washington who blogs about writing and life at El Space:...
Colleen and I Make Valentine Cookies
Colleen and I are longtime friends. Really long time. We met in March 1969 at a church here in Jacksonville, Florida. My friend Collie is a quilt-maker, who obviously likes bright colors. Her specialty is touch quilts with textures both calming and vibrant. ...
How’s That Marriage Memoir Coming Along?
My press-proof copy of My Checkered Life arrived January 31, 2023. It was thrilling to open the package. https://youtu.be/UL9VfS3pn5I I found some errors in the press proof, so I submitted a revised version. If all proceeds as I hope, my print book will...
Singing from The Golden Song Book at Rheems School
Once upon a time, I attended Rheems School, a two-room school with a bell on top, accommodating eight grades of students. It was a charming little school set in the middle of the quaint village of Rheems, Pennsylvania, in mid-twentieth century. My aunt,...
Twins Raid Refrigerator: Wordless Wednesday
Brewing Tea, Recycling Specs, and Feeling Happy
At Christmas, I got a special gift from my sister Jean: Mennotea, a present guaranteed to warm my heart and recall my Mennonite childhood. Grandma Longenecker's mint tea in china cups and Mother's gallon jugs of summertime tea instantly came to mind. Intrigued...
Old Farmer’s Almanac and Carolyn’s Word Gift
Did you notice? Even before 2023 rolled around, ads for weight loss appeared on TV. Many made resolutions for the new year even before the ball dropped in Times Square. Maybe you did too. New Year’s resolutions are certainly not a new thing. Even in the early 1900s,...
See, Hear, and Taste: Marian’s Memoir 2
Hear Ye, Hear Ye! In December 2022, I recorded a podcast with interviewer Dr. Katherine Hutchinson-Hayes, author, speaker, podcaster, and much more, including serving as an elementary school principal and publishing devotionals for women. She also has coordinated...
Serving Stone Soup at Christmas
Stone Soup is a European folk story in which hungry strangers convince the people of a town to each share a small amount of their food in order to make a meal that everyone enjoys. The tale serves to illustrate the value of sharing. In varying traditions, the stone...