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Baby Don’t Go
A strange phenomenon occurs when the summer is just about to depart. Like an expectant mother who, although weighted and unwieldy, suddenly throws herself into frenetic nesting, I try to fit in every…
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Wish You Were Here
I like to take a little something home with me each time I go to the beach. Sometimes I find a pretty piece of sea glass or a perfect creamy white shell. These…
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A Morning Letter…
…or email can set the tone for the day. Here, Mother has run out to the mail box in her sweet little nightgown (needlepoint Alencon lace forming enchanting triangles in primrose pink) and…
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Spring’s Blithe Spirit
Pussy willows are such a welcome harbinger of spring. Soft as kittens’ ears but built on sturdy stalks, they are the essence of the season’s changeableness. They used to be plentiful when I was a girl but…
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April, Come She Will
A dear friend sent me the most beautiful CD of clear lilting music. She listens to it during facials and bought two copies, one for me. Track two is particularly lovely – it’s music…
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Cape Town
When I buy something online, I always like to read the reviews first. They can tip you off to mistakes waiting to happen. But most reviews I find, are quite positive. Best of all, some…
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Starry, Starry Night
A few years ago for a time, I was bullied at work. The day I returned from Christmas vacation that year, my boss asked me to meet her in the conference room. I…
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Just Beyond the Page
This is Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s painting, A Young Girl Reading, 1770. The reader is enraptured with her book but her mind is soaring with vivid imaginings born on the pages. I see her as a lass…
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On the Tenth Day of a Feminine Christmas
For those of us who work full-time, crafting Christmas is a challenge. I find that things are not so Christmas-friendly at the office anymore. I recall wonderful Christmas parties held right inside the workplace years…
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On the Ninth Day of a Feminine Christmas
I have never been able to wrap well. It’s the corners that do me in – I always have too much overhang. My sister and mother’s Christmas gifts are so gorgeous with little touches…
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On the Third Day of a Feminine Christmas
This is a print that appeared in a short-lived French fashion magazine called La Gazette du Bon Ton (translated, The Journal of Good Style). The periodical covered the latest developments in beauty and…
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On the Second Day of a Feminine Christmas
This little charmer drew me right in. I love the little lady of the house decorating her modest tabletop tree, her fancy heels and bracelets. Her rosy cheeks. How sweet her pretty little tree and gifts. …
