This photo makes me smile. I found it in a collection of internet photos. No credit. No explanation. But TEAPOTS filled with flowers decorating a handrail made me stop flipping through the photos and wonder. Who planted these? Who thought to do that with teapots? Now, that’s a person I’d like to know. Talk about making the world a little better. Talk about making a little part of your environment greener. Better than better, flower...

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I did the hard way. Set up a photo stand and copied the old family photos via film using my old Nikon 100. THEN I scanned them, one by one, one by one. If you’ve ever tried to tackle the task of copying old family photos, you know why most don’t. It’s too hard, too iffy, and too time consuming. You could grow old yourself in the process. So where are your old photos? Does this look familiar? Enter ShoeBox–the same I-Phone...

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If someone in your family hasn’t reminded you of  The Great Depression lately, you haven’t been listening. I have an quilt that my mother found among some old things and gave to me. From the fabrics, I already know it was made in the 1930s, when everything, including fabric, was precious. From the workmanship, I know it was hastily made. Not all the pieces match. It’s a common pattern, thirty star blocks, predominantly yellow in...

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Writing for the Denver Post, a friend, Claire Walter, gathered some wonderful stories about keepsakes and how they keep us healthy. Check out the article; there are medical studies that indicate that keepsakes aren’t just kitsch. Because they mean something (have a story attached), they help us stay balanced, in-touch-with-our-past, and healthy. As an example, Walter lets Hollis Brooks tell the story of her lamp: “There is a pretty...

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