When my little boy learned to sew

  It gives me a great sense of accomplishment to be able to thread my sewing machine. Seeing as I only use it a few times a year, it’s a miracle I remember how to snake the thread along the correct path, around the hook, behind the thing-a-ma-jig and finally through the needle.   I…

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The nursery isn’t my gift

Once they grow up, we long to hold a little baby again, or do we? I just wanted to hold a baby. I wanted to snuggle my face into its chubby neck and smell baby powder and lotion. My two boys are giant teenagers and in no way resemble anything I could hold or rock…

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Art on a Limb

Art on a Limb is here! All the creative installations of our yarn bombing project are ready to view in beautiful Downtown Fairhope.   43 teams knit, wove, quilted, crocheted and needlepointed their tree-art and gave our artsy town one of its’ regular doses of funky charm. Need to go to TCB Coastal Bank? A two…

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Show a little kindness

For the past few weeks, a story has been making the national rounds about Florida State University’s Wide-Receiver, Travis Rudolph, who visited a local middle school and in an act of kindness, sat with a student named Bo, who was all alone at the lunch table. There weren’t just a few empty seats around him,…

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Don’t rush the Spiced Pumpkin Latte!

A first-world issue has been bothering me, and it began when I saw a display for Spiced Pumpkin Lattes — in the middle of August. Retailers have sensed our weakness for all things autumnal and know everyone in America is addicted to, and will purchase, anything that smells or tastes like Farmer Brown’s harvest.  …

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A Norman Rockwell kind of morning

The year my son started Kindergarten, I would set the alarm for 5:45am and get completely dressed with full make-up and hair done with big hot rollers. I would dress in the outfit I’d carefully chosen the night before, then wake the precious lamb and prepare whole-wheat, made-from-scratch pancakes, shaped like teddy bears, with a…

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Hats off at the table

This story can be found in the book, The Majorettes are Back in Town Bless her heart, my long time friend, Fancy Faye is out there in the dating world again. The stunning beauty is smart and successful, but totally out of luck when it comes to love. She’s rather picky, which can be a…

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If only Buddy Ray had only known cursive

Tara used her most carefully constructed cursive handwriting to express her sentiments of deep love and devotion to her beau, Buddy Ray O’Hara, but alas, the young lad didn’t know how to read cursive handwriting, so he thought it was another garbled note from his aging granny and tossed it in the garbage. Unaware of…

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Annie Sloan made me do it

One of my first stories for the newspaper was about how I would never, ever, ever give in and paint my grandmother’s china cabinet, even though Annie Sloan paint was all the rage. Well, guess what? I caved in, so here’s the updated story. Have you given in to the trend? It was the early 1960’s…

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The Gulf Shores & Orange Beach project

Several weeks ago I told you I was working on a big project with a deadline. I’m happy to say I’ve completed the assignment and enjoyed every minute of it. My task was to write the copy for the 2017 Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Convention and Visitor’s Official Vacation Guide.   At around 100…

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