As we visited Aunt Fran in the time of her final illness, she wanted to pass on some items to us that had meaning for her or that we might enjoy. She gave me this cast iron skillet which had been her mother’s, my grandma Mildred. I have used it a few times but am […]
I meet with my boss every Friday morning and we often talk about wool sweaters: finding them second-hand, deciding if we can wear as is or use for a project, felting, and combining into new “Franken-sweaters” (her term). We talk about wool at least half as much as we talk about project management! Her latest […]
Jim has been using his time before sleep to listen to audiobooks in the last year. Usually this took place after we had watched some random bits of Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation on Pluto TV and I had “signed off” for the night. But recently he suggested that we re-allocate the […]
Our Grandma Benoit was born Edith Maude Giasson on November 2, 1914 near Aroma Park, Illinois. Her father Frank was of French-Canadien ancestry, like her future husband, and her mother, Josephine Posing, was of Luxemburger ancestry. She had three older sisters—Hazel, Millie and Irene—and two younger brothers, Franklin and George.
During my visit to Fort Collins, Colorado in September, my Aunt Pam and I had lunch at one of our favorite places, the Silver Grill. Afterwards we decided to check out the shop next door, Walnut Creek FOCO. It turned out to be everything we love—a mix of vintage and locally-made art, clothing, jewelry, and […]
Simon is now 15 and has taken up a hobby dear to my heart, used record shopping. He has a lot of music interests but I’d say he’s most focused on the late 60s and the 70s. He also plans to catalog our family’s collection, which includes not only my own Neil Young and John […]
Originally published May 23, 2008 I can rarely pass up an unusual purse. This one has been crafted of some kind of wool pompoms and black wire and totally rocks, quite obviously! This is my latest fabulous find at My Sister’s Closet—the consignment store in Edgebrook that, of my favorite secondhand stores that haven’t closed, […]
About half of the books I’ve read and the TV shows I’ve watched in the past decade could be described as cozy historical series mysteries. It’s comforting to revisit familiar characters over and over. Often inserted into the chapters are descriptions of clothing ensembles and shoes, jewelry and guns inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
Originally published Nov 11, 2008 Jim and Toni and I went to the 2nd play in our subscription series at Illinois Theatre Center this week—”The Subject Was Roses.” Great acting in a family drama about the blame game. ITC is a unique small suburban Equity theater that has been in their town for 30+ years, headed […]
My first job after college was as a Stagebill theater program editor and between drafts I had some down time for my own projects. I discovered girls mystery collectors’ forums and online auctions and decided to make my own website about Nancy Drew and other girls’ mysteries. So I looked at the source code of […]