I use a Hoover.  My grandpa was a longtime Hoover vacuum salesman and Hoover shop owner (they had lots of home appliances, actually).  So, it pretty much doesn’t matter what bells and whistles and pretty colors I see in the vacuum cleaner aisle.  If there is a Hoover in that aisle, I will naturally assume [...]

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I read this online article.  Color me wary.
 

Clean Your House In 19 Minutes

By Real Simple  With a plan of attack, you can maintain a sparkling house in just 19 minutes a day
Kitchen, 4 1/2 minutes daily
Always start with the sink. A sparkling sink becomes your kitchen’s benchmark for hygiene and tidiness, inspiring you to load [...]

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October is pumpkins and spice, rustling leaves, brilliant carrots and abundant gourds and squash.  It is wool socks, leather shoes and a new pair of dark blue Levi’s.  October is tricks and treats, turtlenecks, Sunday suppers and chimnea fires.  It’s roasted seeds and amber and gold with browns and greens.  It’s spicy, cool mornings and indigo-dark [...]

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Hey, it’s good to be back home again
Sometimes this old house feels like a long-lost friend
Hey, it’s good to be back home again…
-John Denver
The best way to travel Kansas?  From 34,000 feet!  Home again.   It’s good to be back.
Love and Kisses to my parents-missed you today for leisurely coffee…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF:  There is no place [...]

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I am visiting the parents where they retired 4 months ago in Springfield, MO.
Springfield is…interesting.   I have never seen so many junk stores, resale shops and on-going home rummage sales in my life.   This could be an antiquer’s haven - or perhaps just the biggest pile of junk in the heartland!
They also have [...]

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I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck yesterday.   I’ve been, as they say, around the block a few times and here are a  some things I know:

If it is going to rain only one day this week-it will be the day they throw the Penny Saver in the driveway.
You spend a lot [...]

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“The convivial table is where it all begins,” I once read  with immediate agreement  and wish I could remember where and to whom it should be attributed.   Naturally I liked the word “convivial” because it denotes lively feasting and banqueting with loved ones, being in good company with lots of good food for all.
I [...]

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Gavin (5)  is in Kindergarten now.   He seems rather appalled at the lack of snacks and refreshments offered by his new teacher, as when he pre-schooled with me, each completed assignment signified it was time for a break and snack!   He also knows here, even if I put “special toys” away [...]

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I am receiving this as a sign: this one floppy sunflower is fixed my direction.   The others continue heliotroping  vigorously  or fixing themselves toward my neighbor’s deck (the east), but this one, scraggly and wind-tossed, looks me straight in the eye, and makes itself shine upon me.
The world has  gone mad, but the sun [...]

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Just as the sun was bursting over the profile of the house across the backyard at a little past 7, I glanced through the backdoor and a happy Dahlia said to me, “Good Morning, Jeanie.”   I smiled happily.   “Good morning, Dahlia.   You’re looking well.”
What a lovely, lovely way to start the day.

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