Sold!

Five hundred dollars! Cash. Yay. And just in time for Christmas. Oh, but wait. I’m home alone — all dressed up and… (Ah, well, there’s always my little secret stash box where I can squirrel it away and lay in wait for the floodgates to open when we can get back to full-on retail therapy.) … Continue reading →

Workshop is Open!

It all started with a Waterford crystal salt shaker. The silver top broke off and the shaker was rendered unusable. Hey, I paid good money for that precious hand-cut crystal! I bought it in Ireland when I used to fly through Shannon on a regular basis. All of us TIA flight attendants did — on … Continue reading →

Menorahs on Parade

Donna, my wise-cracking Jewish friend from Queens and I pulled into the parking lot of the Santa Cruz Veterans Hall to meet our group for the first annual Menorah Parade. There was a guy with a long fuzzy beard standing in front of the building. I rolled down the passenger window of Donna’s shiny red … Continue reading →

What Happened to the Hubbard?

People wanna know! I just left you hanging and now Christmas is coming. Who cares about a big ole blue squash at this point? Well, a good number of you do. My long-time friend, Victoria, asked me about it just this morning. We don’t talk often but when we do it’s as if we’re picking … Continue reading →

Hubba Hubbard!

I found the Hubbard! The last time was in 2016 and I look every year. I happened to be walking by the vegetable stand near my home when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw it —larger than life, larger than the turkey I plan to cook. I hauled it home and stared at … Continue reading →

Essential Ingredient

If it’s October, it’s time to make plum pudding. I learned how to make this traditional English Christmas treat in a cooking class in 1977 and I have made it every year since. If I do the math correctly, this is my forty-third year. I can still hear the voice of the cooking instructor, a … Continue reading →

Where’s the Camel?

With all that manure around here, there has to be a camel somewhere! Or was that a pony? Remember that story? Here it is which I lifted from fellow blogger, Judy Minz, who, to quote from her blog post was, “Stolen shamelessly from some random website with the assumption that retelling a joke is as fairuse as … Continue reading →

Camel Dung Mover!

I can now officially add Camel Dung Mover to my resumé. I thought she was kidding at first, but then again, it was my long-time crazy friend, Loud Cathy, doing the asking…anything is possible. She is a force to be reckoned with. After a barrage of serious health issues, she was diminished to a mere … Continue reading →

Back to the Brook!

Shadowbrook, the world-famous Shadowbrook restaurant in Capitola, California has opened its doors after a false start several weeks ago. Upon entering, I immediately looked to the right of the hostess stand to see if my favorite barstool was available. Ever since Rob, the bartender, started the tradition, I order a pre-dinner Grey Goose martini up, … Continue reading →

Why Knot?

Floozies forever! One of my most cherished friends, a British lady, said I dressed like a tart. It struck me so funny I told it to a lifelong friend who dresses in a similar, age-inappropriate fashion, and she laughed and exclaimed, “Floozies forever!” and we toasted to that. So, there I was visiting my two … Continue reading →