Lighthearted rants and reflections on baby boomer lifestyle, fashion, current events, and more . . . .
Do childproof caps sometimes defeat you or is it just me? It’s one thing to not understand how to operate all our electronic devices but when childproof tops become insurmountable we could have a problem. It happened to me this week when I tried to clean my toilet. I’ve had this problem before and usually manage to eventually figure things out but not this time….
Have you ever dreamed of buying an old farmhouse in France and spending your summers there? Many people have done just that but no one describes the experience as wonderfully and with as much humour as Mark Greenside in his book I’ll Never Be French (no matter what I do. The book was published in 2008 and written when French currency was in francs but…
Tick, tock. Time is flying by and I still haven’t summoned up the mental and physical energy required to purge my belongings. It’s not as if I expect to die next week (fingers crossed!) but who knows? During the pandemic, many conscientious boomers used the downtime to clean out their basements, closets, garages, and various hidey-holes of unused ‘valuables’ and ephemera. Sadly, I was not…
Memoirs by women who have overcome adversity always rise to the top of my “To Read” list. I’ve just finished reading two books by very different women from different generations who share a common challenge. Both Laura Chinn and Vicki Laveau-Harvie rose above being raised by difficult or indifferent parents to become successful women in spite of their lack of parenting—one American, one Canadian, one…
Several years ago when I was visiting my parents I noticed an expensive jar of imported British marmalade on their kitchen table for breakfast. This is significant because they were both raised in The Depression and like their entire generation were exceptionally frugal in their spending habits. When I commented on the expensive marmalade my dad replied with an edge of defiance “We like it!”. End of discussion.
Now that I’m in my seventies, I too am finding I’m entitled to buy whatever kind of food item I want, without much regard for the cost. That doesn’t mean I now do all my grocery shopping at Whole Foods; I’m not that reckless.
When an author has captured four spots on the current New York Times ten best-sellers’ list, then I figure it’s about time I read one of her books. Colleen Hoover must be a good writer to achieve this incredible accomplishment. Right? The problem for me is her genre. While I do enjoy a good suspense novel from time to time, I am not a fan…