Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

(re-run) Saturdays are best when they are busy.  I like to have things to do.  So yesterday was fun from morning to night.  I spent most of the day in overly-metered Walnut Creek.  The town of walnut orchards has turned into a buzzing destination for shoppers.  It boasts a Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus (Needless Mark-up), Tiffany,… Continue reading Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

Even Carmel Gets Weeds

This morning was my Monday thrift store day in Carmel. It’s always Day Two of my trip to Monterey County, and it’s always first thing in the morning, before Highway One gets jammed with tourists heading to Point Lobos and Big Sur. The thrift stores are not in Carmel by the Sea. That part of… Continue reading Even Carmel Gets Weeds

Roughing It in Paradise

Every two weeks I head down to Monterey to water my plants and visit my little beach house.  With 60 mph winds last weekend that toppled a decades-old tree next to my yard, I figured I’d have a hundred or so pine cones to clean up in my other front yard under an 100-year-old pine… Continue reading Roughing It in Paradise

What to Do instead of Going Online

It’s amazing once a person takes the internet out of the daily equation, just how much she can get done. And how she doesn’t miss it all that much. And how she has time to write about not missing it. As technology goes, I could take it or leave it. I still shop at real… Continue reading What to Do instead of Going Online

The Thrift Store Angel

I pulled into the donation line and saw the racks and racks of bagged clothing and rolling containers of all the other stuff. It had been a good day for donations at Saver’s Thrift store. When it was my turn, I got out of the car to open up the back of my SUV. “Wow!”… Continue reading The Thrift Store Angel

Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

(re-run) Saturdays are best when they are busy.  I like to have things to do.  So yesterday was fun from morning to night.  I spent most of the day in overly-metered Walnut Creek.  The town of walnut orchards has turned into a buzzing destination for shoppers.  It boasts a Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus (Needless Mark-up), Tiffany,… Continue reading Lovely Rita, Meter Maid

When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog

I invited my friend to my beach house, and she asked to bring her twelve-pound rescue dog. I was hesitant to answer. I wondered how it would work out with my two bigger dogs. Pepper, a mellow lab mix, would be fine. The wild card was Daisy, the twenty-pound Jack Russell terrier. Daisy is a… Continue reading When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog

Shop Till You Drop

(re-run) We had already hit two thrift stores and were heading for a third. Then I remembered that Vicky wanted to go to the ones in Carmel. I turned onto Forest Avenue and took the winding highway 68 through the Monterey pines. It would lead to the new roundabout that would send the traffic north… Continue reading Shop Till You Drop

R is for Retro

Everything old is new again.  Jumpsuits from the 70’s and 80’s are back.  I know this because we are singing a Captain and Tennille song in my jazz group, and solid-colored jumpsuits are the suggested attire. I went online to see if Macy’s had any. They have a whole department of them! Ponchos were cool… Continue reading R is for Retro