Family Car

There is a saying that the difference between the English and the Americans is that to an American, a hundred years is a long time ago, and to an Englishman, a hundred miles is a great distance. Apt - and in a fair way to be true. …

When Getting There Was Glorious

Once there was a time - and that time is long out of memory for anyone alive in the United States today - when traveling on land was an arduous, uncomfortable business, and dependent upon muscle-power, either one's own muscles or those of draft …

When all you have in your yard is dandelions . . .

Then it's time to make dandelion wine. When my Granny Jessie passed on, in the early 1990's, one of the things that came to me was a little square wooden box full of recipe …

A Disquisition Upon Jello

Now if I had once thought that the garlic snails at the yearly NIOSA street food event were dubious eats, I had not had a chance to grok the full horror of the guacamole bird - it's the third one down. click here ... Finished …

Adventures in Old Lamps

I can't remember when I discovered that it wasn't very hard to re-wire table lamps, or replace plugs and swap out one-way sockets for three-way, so that an ordinary lamp would become reading lamp. Stripping half an inch of insulation off the ends of the …

Possum Kingdom!

Although my Texas back yard is tiny, a veritable scrap, a pocket-handkerchief of a back yard, it somehow feels much larger, because it backs on a green-belt, and is alive with birds; not much out of the ordinary, though; the usual brown sparrows and wrens, great flashy …

Deep In the Heart

There are reasons for not particularly enjoying residency in Texas; beginning with the brutal summer heat, and working down through the serious lack of good mountains, distance from the seacoast, the brutal summer heat, highway interchanges that look like the planners just threw a plate …

Happy New Year!

When the mid-nite bell rings tonight...
Let it signify new and better things for you,
let it signify a realization of all things you wish for,
Let it signify a year of courage and believes,
Wishing you a very...very prosperous 2010.

May God bless you …

Eternal Turkey Strong to Save

It was automatic, the family ritual for disposing of the post-Thanksgiving left-over turkey – and all the other dishes. On the day after, warmed-up everything. On the day after that, hot turkey sandwiches. On the day after that – when the stuffing, mashed potatoes …

By Julia Hayden

Come all Ye Faithful

As of last weekend, we couldn’t put it off any longer. It was well past time to haul the tubs of ornaments out of the garage, and put up the Christmas tree. My own ornament collection is vast and eccentric. I’ve …