Kate Collins's Blog, page 52
October 10, 2018
Feline Outdoor Shelter Time
by Karen Rose Smith
As you plan your fall holiday decorations, remember your outside feline visitors. Cold weather is harsh on outside cats. You don't have to spend a lot of money to provide strays the things we take for granted--shelter and warmth. A bale or two of straw can be used to shield already protected areas on your property from cold winter winds. Plastic bins can be converted into cat shelters. My husband and I try to give our outside visitors options. Below are several of the shelters we provide. Hopefully our outside visitors will choose one or two.
A shelter in an island garden protected by a weeping spruce.
We have a patio sunroom that we keep open throughout the year. For winter, we put a shelter with a heated bed inside in one area, a heated pad in another.
ExtremeWeatherHeatPad
In addition, I lay thermal heat pads on the furniture in the sunroom.
The shelters we provide closest to the house also have low wattage heat pads inside. Among them are an igloo and cedar shelters. If you'd like to consider making a shelter yourself from a cooler, here is a link.
DIY Shelter
FerralVillaShelter
Ally Cat Allies has pages of prebuilt and DIY shelters to examine, many with instructions.
AlleyCatAlliesShelters
One caution about multi-cat shelters. Feral and stray cats don't usually like to share. So if you have more than one visitor, be sure to offer more than one safe spot. And sometimes a stray would prefer to have the whole property to himself or herself!
My husband just picked up this year's straw bales.We use straw bales as buffers and protection for the shelters against the elements. Since the flowers are gone and plants don't provide much cover, the bales are also useful on the patio to break the wind.
Straw is the preferred bedding if the shelter doesn't have a heat pad. Hay, used as animal feed, gets soggy. Straw is sturdier than hay, usually a golden color. Moisture rolls off of it rather than sinking in. Towels and carpet become damp and mildew. Cats can nest in straw and it keeps them warm with their body heat.
Also important in winter are heated water bowls. We notice the strays drink more water in winter than summer because it's harder to find a water supply. Here is one option we use but many kinds and brands are available. Heated Bowl
Keeping these stray fur babies safe is a challenge. Hopefully they'll take advantage of our hospitality.
As you plan your fall holiday decorations, remember your outside feline visitors. Cold weather is harsh on outside cats. You don't have to spend a lot of money to provide strays the things we take for granted--shelter and warmth. A bale or two of straw can be used to shield already protected areas on your property from cold winter winds. Plastic bins can be converted into cat shelters. My husband and I try to give our outside visitors options. Below are several of the shelters we provide. Hopefully our outside visitors will choose one or two.
A shelter in an island garden protected by a weeping spruce.
We have a patio sunroom that we keep open throughout the year. For winter, we put a shelter with a heated bed inside in one area, a heated pad in another. ExtremeWeatherHeatPad
In addition, I lay thermal heat pads on the furniture in the sunroom.
The shelters we provide closest to the house also have low wattage heat pads inside. Among them are an igloo and cedar shelters. If you'd like to consider making a shelter yourself from a cooler, here is a link.
DIY Shelter
FerralVillaShelter
Ally Cat Allies has pages of prebuilt and DIY shelters to examine, many with instructions.
AlleyCatAlliesShelters
One caution about multi-cat shelters. Feral and stray cats don't usually like to share. So if you have more than one visitor, be sure to offer more than one safe spot. And sometimes a stray would prefer to have the whole property to himself or herself!
My husband just picked up this year's straw bales.We use straw bales as buffers and protection for the shelters against the elements. Since the flowers are gone and plants don't provide much cover, the bales are also useful on the patio to break the wind. Straw is the preferred bedding if the shelter doesn't have a heat pad. Hay, used as animal feed, gets soggy. Straw is sturdier than hay, usually a golden color. Moisture rolls off of it rather than sinking in. Towels and carpet become damp and mildew. Cats can nest in straw and it keeps them warm with their body heat.
Also important in winter are heated water bowls. We notice the strays drink more water in winter than summer because it's harder to find a water supply. Here is one option we use but many kinds and brands are available. Heated Bowl
Keeping these stray fur babies safe is a challenge. Hopefully they'll take advantage of our hospitality.
The gang’s all here!
Hi, Duffy Brown here.This weekend I’m going Knoxville for a weekend of fun with readers. This is the best part of being a writer...meeting and chatting with readers.And it will be a blast!! Friday night is Two Dames Mystery Party where all ninety...yes ninety...readers join in the fun of a roaring twenties mystery party.
Get your Tommy guns and fedoras out of the attic. Dust off your pearls and boas. It’s time for...
Bootleg, Babes and Bodies.
Two Dames Speakeasy is having a Grand Opening celebration
and the eight families are coming together to meet the newcomers in town causing a lot of trouble. With gangsters, hit men, crooked politicians, jazz singers, rumrunners, saloonkeepers, cigarette girls, flappers, pimps and prostitutes and even a priest or two things are bound to get deadly with families trying to take over each other’s territory. Who of the eight suspects will knock who off first? Who will be the last man or woman standing?
There are nine families and ten characters to a family like 1Sweet-stuff Biscotti2Cookie-the-Cutie Biscotti: 3Bambina-the-Blade Biscotti: 4Darla-the-Daring Biscotti: 5Cocoa Biscotti:6Valentine-the-heart Biscotti: 7Babyface Biscotti: 8Delia-the-delicious Biscotti: There are eight suspects and the families must hunt them down in different locations in the hotel to gather clues. Everyone is in costume with boas, long pearls, fringe dresses, fedoras and sequins everywhere. I cannot wait to get the pics! There are trophies for the winners and a pizza dinner to celebrate the whodunit it.
Next week I’ll post pics and tell you about the second half of this fun weekend…a mystery boat ride on a paddle wheeler. We do this mystery weekend with readers every year and travel all over doing to meet and have fun with readers we chat with all year long on Facebook emails etc. We’ve been to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky and this year Tennessee! 
Next week I’ll tell you where Two Dames will hold their 2019 Two Dames Mystery Weekend so you can plan on joining in the fun. Here are some pics from other mystery weekends we’ve put on.Come join the fun!!
October 8, 2018
Old Kitty Friends Still Here
by Maggie SeftonI wish I had a photo of kitty cat Zoey, but my friend Diane didn't have any. So----I'll just add a photo of my dear Blue Tick Coon Hound dog Max----who yearned to "play" with the kitties. :)
I'm back in hometown of Northern Virginia and will head out soon today to have lunch with my old childhood friend, Diane. She and her sister Nancy and I grew up together across the street from each other in Arlington, Virginia, the older non-fancy section of Arlington. :) Diane just emailed me with the absorbing details of how her sweet older cat, Zoey, is deteriorating rapidly. Zoey is a sweet old kitty cat and loves a couple of pats, but that's all. :) She'll get annoyed if you pat her too much. When she was younger she'd jump up in my lap and sleep. Naturally I stayed put in that situation. The things we do for our animal friends.
Diane has been racing around Northern VA trying to get prescriptions filled and find fluid injectors so the pills can be crushed and put in fluid so it will be easier for Zoey to swallow them. Zoey is nearly 17 years old and (like my kitties in the past) loves to split her day between inside the house and outside in the yard. Zoey had stopped eating entirely so this was a serious situation. One of the pills was an appetite enhancer. Diane finally found an injector that would work and she and husband Les crushed the pills, added water, and were able to inject that liquid into Zoey's mouth. And Zoey kept it down. Plus, Zoey immediately went over to her bowl and ate the tiny bit of food there. Thank goodness! So----fingers crossed that Zoey continues to improve.
No I don't have kitties along with my doggies anymore----used to years ago. But my silly Blue Tick Coon Hound Max would never have given that kitty cat one minute of peace. No matter if kitty cat would shred his nose raw, Max would still be pestering her. Every day of his life Max would love to run outside with my sweet Katy dog (14 years old now) and scamper up the woodpile stacked between the fence and the storage shed in the far corner of the yard. From that vantage point, Max could see into the yard behind us and watch the cat in their backyard.
He wouldn't bark. He saved his barking for the yappy barky dog in one of the yards alongside my house. No, no. . .Max would simply stare yearningly (is that a word??) at the kitty cat stretched out on the neighbor's patio deck. He was probably thinking---"Oh, please, come over here. I want to chase you around. Please, please!" I kept telling Max that cats were waaaaaay too smart to come over and visit him. But he kept staring at them anyway.
Yes, I do miss Max. Katy is doing well, going outside and visiting with all the dogs in the yards surrounding my house. Katy ignores yappy dog and visits with boxer mix Ginger on one side and pure bred Boxer Jesse on the other side. And, she gets to visit with all her old doggie friends at the "doggie ranch" whenever I go traveling----and that's been every month this late Summer and Fall. Tammie, owner of the "doggie ranch" only keeps dogs she knows and who know each other. She has a steady regular clientele, so Katy is always happy to go visit her other doggie buddies. And----call me sentimental or silly, but I sense that Max "spirit" is with Katy somehow. I can't explain it, I just feel it. Like I said----go ahead and call me silly. :)
October 7, 2018
I'M NO MARTHA STEWART, BUT I HAVE A FRIEND WHO IS!
By Mary Kennedy
Okay, true confession time. I'm no Martha Stewart. My cupboards are sheer chaos, my jewelry is a tangled mess, my linen closet is not to be believed. One of my friends brags that she could "throw a cocktail party in her garage." Well, I say, good for her! I can't compete. I wouldn't even try.
I have another friend who is helping me with home organization. She seems to know a million helpful tricks and I thought I'd share a few with you. You may have already heard of some of them, but there could be a few new gems in the mix. Here goes.
Jewelry Do your chains and pendant look like this? Hopelessly tangled? Like metal strands of spaghetti all woven together?
They don't have to! A simple trick is to thread a gold chain through a drinking straw, leave the ends out and then fasten the chain. It will stay neatly in place, no more mess!
Flower arrangements. Flower arranging isn't something I normally do, but my friend makes beautiful ones from flowers in her garden. Her arrangements always look so professional. A simple trick. When you have flowers with stems that are too short for the arrangement, you can make them taller by simply inserting them into the top of a straw and then bury the straw at the base of the vase.
Cooking range. How to clean it!
This was torture to clean until I discovered that all I had to do was mix Dawn dish washing detergent with a little baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Leave on for 3 minutes and the gunk comes off! I'd be using some pricey professional stuff that didn't work as well.
Steaming veggies quickly. I bought a little microwavable steamer that steams broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc, in 2 or 3 minutes. It's big enough for one or two servings. No more fresh veggies going bad in the bottom drawer of your fridge! Here's the one I bought. Just click on the link. I love it and use it just about every night.
Freezing fresh garden herbs. What do you do with the end-of-the-season parsley and basil from the garden?
Well, ideally, you could make big pots of soup and freeze the soup in quart containers for winter. But here's an alternative.
But some little plastic ice cube trays, you know, the old fashioned kind. You can buy plastic ones for a dollar.
Now, add some fresh herbs to each space, top with water and freeze. When you want to add fresh herbs to soups, sauces and stews, just pop out a cube or two and throw it in the pot!
One of my friends freezes her herbs in olive oil, she makes a lot of Italian sauces and this works well for her. I usually stick to water, but I may try one tray of olive oil.
Organizing cupboards and pantries. Again, my friend swears by "bins." They don't have to be expensive. You can buy them at Dollar Store or order them from Home Goods, or pick them up at yard sales. And buy a label maker. It will make a huge difference and my goal this month is to tackle the messy linen closet. You can buy clear ones for your pantry, too.
Hope these tips help, if you have any tips you'd like to share, I'd love to have them!! Maybe there is hope for me, after all.
Mary Kennedy
Okay, true confession time. I'm no Martha Stewart. My cupboards are sheer chaos, my jewelry is a tangled mess, my linen closet is not to be believed. One of my friends brags that she could "throw a cocktail party in her garage." Well, I say, good for her! I can't compete. I wouldn't even try.
I have another friend who is helping me with home organization. She seems to know a million helpful tricks and I thought I'd share a few with you. You may have already heard of some of them, but there could be a few new gems in the mix. Here goes.
Jewelry Do your chains and pendant look like this? Hopelessly tangled? Like metal strands of spaghetti all woven together?
They don't have to! A simple trick is to thread a gold chain through a drinking straw, leave the ends out and then fasten the chain. It will stay neatly in place, no more mess!
Flower arrangements. Flower arranging isn't something I normally do, but my friend makes beautiful ones from flowers in her garden. Her arrangements always look so professional. A simple trick. When you have flowers with stems that are too short for the arrangement, you can make them taller by simply inserting them into the top of a straw and then bury the straw at the base of the vase.
Cooking range. How to clean it!
This was torture to clean until I discovered that all I had to do was mix Dawn dish washing detergent with a little baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Leave on for 3 minutes and the gunk comes off! I'd be using some pricey professional stuff that didn't work as well.
Steaming veggies quickly. I bought a little microwavable steamer that steams broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc, in 2 or 3 minutes. It's big enough for one or two servings. No more fresh veggies going bad in the bottom drawer of your fridge! Here's the one I bought. Just click on the link. I love it and use it just about every night.
Freezing fresh garden herbs. What do you do with the end-of-the-season parsley and basil from the garden?
Well, ideally, you could make big pots of soup and freeze the soup in quart containers for winter. But here's an alternative.
But some little plastic ice cube trays, you know, the old fashioned kind. You can buy plastic ones for a dollar.
Now, add some fresh herbs to each space, top with water and freeze. When you want to add fresh herbs to soups, sauces and stews, just pop out a cube or two and throw it in the pot!
One of my friends freezes her herbs in olive oil, she makes a lot of Italian sauces and this works well for her. I usually stick to water, but I may try one tray of olive oil.
Organizing cupboards and pantries. Again, my friend swears by "bins." They don't have to be expensive. You can buy them at Dollar Store or order them from Home Goods, or pick them up at yard sales. And buy a label maker. It will make a huge difference and my goal this month is to tackle the messy linen closet. You can buy clear ones for your pantry, too.
Hope these tips help, if you have any tips you'd like to share, I'd love to have them!! Maybe there is hope for me, after all.
Mary Kennedy
October 5, 2018
It's beginning to look a lot like ...
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
The seasons have changed. The weather is getting dreary (and gloomy--which is saying something). I've already got the SAD light out and using it in the mornings. That can only mean one thing.
TIME TO BREAK OUT THE CHRISTMAS TUNES.
Unfortunately, Mr. L doesn't believe that last sentence. To him, October is October. Time to think about Halloween, and maybe start considering the Thanksgiving menu. But Christmas? Nah!
Well, he's probably right. But I ran errands the other day and in EVERY store I went to, all the Christmas stuff was out. Okay, I had to walk past the Halloween candy to get to it, but there it was. Slippers up the wazoo. Do you EVER see banks of slippers out at any other time of year? It's like people only buy slippers at Christmas. (That's the only time I've ever received a pair.)
And don't forget the decorations. Faux holly. Faux poinsettias. Sparkly pinecones. Santa figurines. You name it, the stores have got it.
I have never really decorated the house for the seasons, but this is my first time at it. I've got a few bunches of orange and yellow silk flowers in vases, a few faux leaves on a tray with a couple of faux pumpkins, some gourds, and a sheef of dried corn. Limited and sedate. But I'm thinking already thinking about Christmas. I've got over 200 Christmas figurines that live in a china cabinet, but this year I think I'm going to scatter a few around the house.
And Snow Village! Since we actually bought
furniture for our living room about a decade ago, Snow Village got retired. I have about 20 pieces of it and we had a rather elaborate set-up for a while. Maybe I'll haul a few pieces of that out. I've got the cutest little log cabins and a mirror pond and even The Jingle Bell Houseboat.
But really, Christmas to me is the tunes.
For now, I'll just have to play them before Mr. L gets up -- or resort to the dreaded earphones.
Mind you, we have an unwritten rule in our house. Holiday tunes CAN be played in November, but none with vocals until Thanksgiving. So what's the harm in a little background holiday cheer?
How soon do you start thinking about the holidays?
The seasons have changed. The weather is getting dreary (and gloomy--which is saying something). I've already got the SAD light out and using it in the mornings. That can only mean one thing.
TIME TO BREAK OUT THE CHRISTMAS TUNES.
Unfortunately, Mr. L doesn't believe that last sentence. To him, October is October. Time to think about Halloween, and maybe start considering the Thanksgiving menu. But Christmas? Nah!
Well, he's probably right. But I ran errands the other day and in EVERY store I went to, all the Christmas stuff was out. Okay, I had to walk past the Halloween candy to get to it, but there it was. Slippers up the wazoo. Do you EVER see banks of slippers out at any other time of year? It's like people only buy slippers at Christmas. (That's the only time I've ever received a pair.)And don't forget the decorations. Faux holly. Faux poinsettias. Sparkly pinecones. Santa figurines. You name it, the stores have got it.
I have never really decorated the house for the seasons, but this is my first time at it. I've got a few bunches of orange and yellow silk flowers in vases, a few faux leaves on a tray with a couple of faux pumpkins, some gourds, and a sheef of dried corn. Limited and sedate. But I'm thinking already thinking about Christmas. I've got over 200 Christmas figurines that live in a china cabinet, but this year I think I'm going to scatter a few around the house.And Snow Village! Since we actually bought
furniture for our living room about a decade ago, Snow Village got retired. I have about 20 pieces of it and we had a rather elaborate set-up for a while. Maybe I'll haul a few pieces of that out. I've got the cutest little log cabins and a mirror pond and even The Jingle Bell Houseboat.But really, Christmas to me is the tunes.
For now, I'll just have to play them before Mr. L gets up -- or resort to the dreaded earphones.
Mind you, we have an unwritten rule in our house. Holiday tunes CAN be played in November, but none with vocals until Thanksgiving. So what's the harm in a little background holiday cheer?How soon do you start thinking about the holidays?
October 4, 2018
Revisiting Baler and Dottie
by Karen Rose Smith
In August I posted a blog that related our experiences pet sitting for friends who had just rescued a kitten. They were about to leave on a vacation that had been in the workings for a year. They already had an older cat who was used to being alone whenever they were away. A family member stopped in to check on him and refresh his water and food. But I was wary of leaving a kitten for an extended period, even though she had the company of her older brother. So I volunteered to drive the thirty-five minutes to spend time with their felines on the days when the family member wasn't able to stop by. My husband and I looked at it as a stay-cation and we really enjoyed spending time away from home in the company of some adorable felines. We stopped on the way to pick up lunch and stopped on the way home for a hand-dipped ice cream cone.
Our friends left again last weekend for a week with their children and grandchildren. Of course, we agreed to stop in and stay-cation with Dottie and Baler again. My friend had been sending pictures and videos over the past several weeks. I watched Dottie grow and witnessed the beautiful kinship she has developed with her brother. I was anxious to watch it in person. And the felines didn't disappoint me. Their camaraderie touched me and I found myself wishing that everyone everywhere could find the same playfulness and respect for each other. It is the simple things, the trust, the unconditional love that make our lives meaningful.
And to think I learned this all from two felines! Well, actually two...plus our five inside...and our two outside cats.
In August I posted a blog that related our experiences pet sitting for friends who had just rescued a kitten. They were about to leave on a vacation that had been in the workings for a year. They already had an older cat who was used to being alone whenever they were away. A family member stopped in to check on him and refresh his water and food. But I was wary of leaving a kitten for an extended period, even though she had the company of her older brother. So I volunteered to drive the thirty-five minutes to spend time with their felines on the days when the family member wasn't able to stop by. My husband and I looked at it as a stay-cation and we really enjoyed spending time away from home in the company of some adorable felines. We stopped on the way to pick up lunch and stopped on the way home for a hand-dipped ice cream cone.
Our friends left again last weekend for a week with their children and grandchildren. Of course, we agreed to stop in and stay-cation with Dottie and Baler again. My friend had been sending pictures and videos over the past several weeks. I watched Dottie grow and witnessed the beautiful kinship she has developed with her brother. I was anxious to watch it in person. And the felines didn't disappoint me. Their camaraderie touched me and I found myself wishing that everyone everywhere could find the same playfulness and respect for each other. It is the simple things, the trust, the unconditional love that make our lives meaningful.
And to think I learned this all from two felines! Well, actually two...plus our five inside...and our two outside cats.
October 3, 2018
The Name’s The Thing
Hi, everyone, Duffy Brown here.
Yesterday was National Name Your Car Day. So my question to you today is does your car have a name?
Many of you most likely remember Herbie the Love Bug, Lightning McQueen from Cars, Kit from Knight Rider, General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard and Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit. These are just some of the famous car names that are known by millions of people.
So maybe if your car doesn’t have a name pick one. Money Pit? Old Reliable? Gas Hog? Ride of my Dreams?
I have Sherlock 1 and Sherlock 2. I don’t really think of my cars that way. I have a Toyota RAV 4 and call him Work Horse. That car gets me everywhere. It has 4-wheel drive and has gotten me out of some pretty rotten places when I’m stupid enough to drive where I shouldn’t.
My other car is Cupcake. Not on her license plate but the VW Beetle convertible is my car of pure indulgence. I’ve wanted a convertible for fifty years and thought it was now or never as I sure don’t have fifty years left in this old body.
Funny how I think of my SUV as a him and the Beetle as a her but I do.
And what about other things you rely on? Do you name them? Maybe your washer and dryer? The vacuum? Your lawnmower? Your house? In England so many of the houses are named as they are on Mackinac Island.
In my Consignment Shop series the house where Reagan lives and has her consignment shop is Cherry House since there’s a big old cherry tree in the front yard. My daughter just ran into a pie shop that’s called For and twenty Blackbirds. Don’t you love it!
So tell me some neat names you’ve given things or names you’ve run across and I just might use it in Wedding Day and Foul Play.
Hugs, Duffy
Yesterday was National Name Your Car Day. So my question to you today is does your car have a name?
Many of you most likely remember Herbie the Love Bug, Lightning McQueen from Cars, Kit from Knight Rider, General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard and Bandit from Smokey and the Bandit. These are just some of the famous car names that are known by millions of people.
So maybe if your car doesn’t have a name pick one. Money Pit? Old Reliable? Gas Hog? Ride of my Dreams?
I have Sherlock 1 and Sherlock 2. I don’t really think of my cars that way. I have a Toyota RAV 4 and call him Work Horse. That car gets me everywhere. It has 4-wheel drive and has gotten me out of some pretty rotten places when I’m stupid enough to drive where I shouldn’t.
My other car is Cupcake. Not on her license plate but the VW Beetle convertible is my car of pure indulgence. I’ve wanted a convertible for fifty years and thought it was now or never as I sure don’t have fifty years left in this old body. Funny how I think of my SUV as a him and the Beetle as a her but I do.
And what about other things you rely on? Do you name them? Maybe your washer and dryer? The vacuum? Your lawnmower? Your house? In England so many of the houses are named as they are on Mackinac Island.
In my Consignment Shop series the house where Reagan lives and has her consignment shop is Cherry House since there’s a big old cherry tree in the front yard. My daughter just ran into a pie shop that’s called For and twenty Blackbirds. Don’t you love it!
So tell me some neat names you’ve given things or names you’ve run across and I just might use it in Wedding Day and Foul Play.
Hugs, Duffy
October 1, 2018
Latest Kelly Flynn Mystery
by Maggie SeftonNew Kelly Flynn mystery—#16 in the series---DYEING UP LOOSE ENDS, Released July 3, 2018
Kelly and Steve’s son, Jack, is now a lively four-year old preschooler. Jack keeps his mom on her toes and drinking all the coffee she can handle at Pete’s Porch Café. Kelly’s friendly waitress Julie is hoping to become an accountant. She makes sure she keeps Kelly caffeinated and up-to-date on her career progress.
Kelly splits her time between Pete’s and Lambspun, where her fellow knitters love hearing all about Jack’s latest exploits. They’ve also been taking a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about crimes that Kelly had a hand in solving over the years. But the Lambspun crew is horrified when a very present-day murder occurs in their midst---and Julie is the victim.
With her sleuthing instincts on full alert, Kelly starts asking questions. The well-liked waitress may have had enemies no one knew about, or she could have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Kelly and her friends at Lambspun soon learn that the answers are knottier and more shocking than they ever dreamed.
DYEING UP LOOSE ENDS from Berkley Prime Crime.
September 30, 2018
COULD A VINTAGE POSTCARD INSPIRE A BOOK? MAYBE!
By Mary Kennedy
One of my friends collects vintage postcards, and I must admit, I'm fascinated by her hobby. I didn't know much about vintage postcards--I've always found them interesting and I've come across the occasional one that I loved. Anything with a cat or Paris is a sure winner for me!
.And then I started wondering, could a vintage postcard inspire me to write a book? Not as far-fetched as it may seem. I love time travel books, ever since I read Time and Again by Jack Finney. And let's face it, as a writer, everything is material.
In Finney's book, the main character goes in and out of present day and "old" New York. He never knows where he's going to end up on any given day. He looks out his window in the early morning hours and glances at the lamp posts on the street below to see if he's in the present or back in 1882 New York City. When I look at vintage postcards I find myself fantasizing about writing an historical novel, or maybe a time travel book.
I think vintage New York postcards are my favorite, but I also love old timey Florida postcards, the kind that show orange groves and touches of "old Florida" with stucco houses in pastel colors and beachfront hotels.
Some are a little kitschy but that's okay and just adds to the charm.
I asked my friend for some tips, in case I decide to start collecting them. First of all, decide what you'd like to concentrate on. A geographical locale? A topic? A certain time period?
Next, you may wonder how to date a vintage postcard. Well, if there's no postmark date, the easiest thing may be to observe the clothing worn by people in the scene. If the women depicted are wearing one piece bathing suits and have bouffant hair-dos, you can probably be assured that the postcard is from the 1960's. Here's one from Ft. Lauderdale. It looks like something straight out of the "Where the Boys Are" movie.
This card is from Rockaway Beach, New York, around the turn of the century. Check out the bathing costumes. I wonder how the women even managed to swim with all that material wrapped around them!
Sometimes architectural details help. Remember all the cabanas you used to see on Florida beaches?
And the cars are a giveaway in this card from the 60's.
You can also determine the age by the postal rate. The cost to send a postcard in 1963, for example, was just four cents! Another thing to keep in mind is that it wasn't until the late 1800's that photos were allowed on postcards. And if you find a vintage postcard with a white border, it was probably from the 1915-1930 period of time.
Collecting vintage postcards is a fun hobby (even if it never leads to a book deal) and I think I may take it up. How about you? What do you collect?
Mary Kennedy
One of my friends collects vintage postcards, and I must admit, I'm fascinated by her hobby. I didn't know much about vintage postcards--I've always found them interesting and I've come across the occasional one that I loved. Anything with a cat or Paris is a sure winner for me!
.And then I started wondering, could a vintage postcard inspire me to write a book? Not as far-fetched as it may seem. I love time travel books, ever since I read Time and Again by Jack Finney. And let's face it, as a writer, everything is material.
In Finney's book, the main character goes in and out of present day and "old" New York. He never knows where he's going to end up on any given day. He looks out his window in the early morning hours and glances at the lamp posts on the street below to see if he's in the present or back in 1882 New York City. When I look at vintage postcards I find myself fantasizing about writing an historical novel, or maybe a time travel book.
I think vintage New York postcards are my favorite, but I also love old timey Florida postcards, the kind that show orange groves and touches of "old Florida" with stucco houses in pastel colors and beachfront hotels.
Some are a little kitschy but that's okay and just adds to the charm.
I asked my friend for some tips, in case I decide to start collecting them. First of all, decide what you'd like to concentrate on. A geographical locale? A topic? A certain time period?
Next, you may wonder how to date a vintage postcard. Well, if there's no postmark date, the easiest thing may be to observe the clothing worn by people in the scene. If the women depicted are wearing one piece bathing suits and have bouffant hair-dos, you can probably be assured that the postcard is from the 1960's. Here's one from Ft. Lauderdale. It looks like something straight out of the "Where the Boys Are" movie.
This card is from Rockaway Beach, New York, around the turn of the century. Check out the bathing costumes. I wonder how the women even managed to swim with all that material wrapped around them!
Sometimes architectural details help. Remember all the cabanas you used to see on Florida beaches?
And the cars are a giveaway in this card from the 60's.
You can also determine the age by the postal rate. The cost to send a postcard in 1963, for example, was just four cents! Another thing to keep in mind is that it wasn't until the late 1800's that photos were allowed on postcards. And if you find a vintage postcard with a white border, it was probably from the 1915-1930 period of time.
Collecting vintage postcards is a fun hobby (even if it never leads to a book deal) and I think I may take it up. How about you? What do you collect?
Mary Kennedy
September 28, 2018
Just a snippet!
by Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett
Yesterday, the readers on my Facebook Group voted:
Should I post snippets from my upcoming books: Yes or No.
There were strong feelings both sides. YES--and a lot enthusistic yeses, and some ... "I don't want to know a thing about the book until it's time to read it."
Well, there were more yesses than nos. I think the "no" crowd might think I'm going to post scenes. Nope. Just snappy lines of narrative like....
Friend with benefits? That wasn’t how Tricia thought of her relationship with Marshall Cambridge. Okay, they were friends, and they did sometimes have the occasional sleepover, but that didn’t mean…
Good grief, Tricia realized. She and Marshall were friends with benefits!*
So, what do you think about snippets? Yay or Nay?
*This snippit is from my upcoming (Booktown #13) A KILLER EDITION, which will be available in July of 2019.
Yesterday, the readers on my Facebook Group voted:Should I post snippets from my upcoming books: Yes or No.
There were strong feelings both sides. YES--and a lot enthusistic yeses, and some ... "I don't want to know a thing about the book until it's time to read it."
Well, there were more yesses than nos. I think the "no" crowd might think I'm going to post scenes. Nope. Just snappy lines of narrative like....
Friend with benefits? That wasn’t how Tricia thought of her relationship with Marshall Cambridge. Okay, they were friends, and they did sometimes have the occasional sleepover, but that didn’t mean… Good grief, Tricia realized. She and Marshall were friends with benefits!*
So, what do you think about snippets? Yay or Nay?
*This snippit is from my upcoming (Booktown #13) A KILLER EDITION, which will be available in July of 2019.
