So you’ve just skidded into town, you won’t be there long, and you want to see your friends, but you don’t have time to “entertain.” Yes you do. At least that’s what I told myself as I boarded the red-eye in LAX headed back to New York, landing on Election Day. “Come on over and… Continue reading 10 (Non-Partisan) Party Tips for the Time-Pressed
Grace & Wit
The Good Effects of Goofing Off (But Beware of Zombies)
I was tooling back to the ranch from lunch with girlfriends in Los Olivos the other day and thought while I was goofing off I may as well stop in at my friend Jefferson Woeste’s shop J. Woeste, which is a great place to goof off, and there is always something there to make you… Continue reading The Good Effects of Goofing Off (But Beware of Zombies)
Big Bad Sandy No Match for the Good Guys
This photo was going around Facebook and on the news, in case you missed. If you know the photographer’s name, please send so I can credit him or her.* In our 24-7 news cycle, we may become inured to images of soldiers in hardship (or worse), and then a photo like this lands and stops… Continue reading Big Bad Sandy No Match for the Good Guys
Joyful, Joyful – Wedding at Rancho La Zaca!
Well ladies and gentlemen, here we are. I’ve gone and married my Cowboy, (His Grace, for new readers) and I reckon that makes me Miz Grace? It definitely makes me happy. Apart from losing the marriage license the day before the wedding and driving a million hours to the nearest clerk’s office in Santa Maria… Continue reading Joyful, Joyful – Wedding at Rancho La Zaca!
My Wife-in-Law and Woods Lake
How beautiful is this? It’s Woods Lake in Colorado, and this picture came to me from another Frances along with an invitation to come up there and paint sometime. She won’t have to ask twice. Now Frances is Frances the First, who also happens to be His Grace’s first wife. (For new readers His Grace… Continue reading My Wife-in-Law and Woods Lake
Buck House Goes Pink
A friend, reader and fellow breast cancer rodeo contestant sent me this photo and I wanted to share it with you in case you haven’t seen it, in a nod to Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I’ve always heard the queen had a sense of humor. Lest there be any doubt that thing she did with… Continue reading Buck House Goes Pink
Thankful for the Harvest
We’re having a good harvest this year in the Santa Ynez Valley, and a good one from our small Oak Savanna Vineyard here at Rancho La Zaca. Last year a late frost spelled disaster. So we will toast this year to the heat and sunshine that makes these babies ripen. I will not bring up… Continue reading Thankful for the Harvest
Lessons From House Party of Painters
The nicest notes came last week from a group of gals from North Carolina who came to Rancho La Zaca to visit and to paint. I had long wanted to organize a workshop here for my awesome Aunt Gray and her painting buddies. And by dern we finally got around to it. Had a wonderful time,… Continue reading Lessons From House Party of Painters
A Memoir-Cookbook You Must Have
Well I felt like a proud big sister all weekend about my buddy Alex Hitz making a big splash in The Wall by Golly Street Journal. Many of you probably fall upon the the paper’s Saturday Off Duty section like a teenager would Elvis’s room key–I do anyway–now that poor Elvis has left the building.… Continue reading A Memoir-Cookbook You Must Have
No Man is Crushed by Misfortune,Unless…
Why this quote spoke to me, I’m not quite sure. Maybe it’s all the political campaign talk and meanness. But wouldn’t this statement make for good dinner conversation? With your children or your friends. What does “deceived by prosperity” mean? That money equals happiness? It does not, of course, but it does calm the nerves.… Continue reading No Man is Crushed by Misfortune,Unless…
Southern Episcopalians
Seeing how it’s Sunday, and in case you missed this t-shirt, or if you have no idea what this t-shirt means or why it is funny, you’ve come to the right place. We are traveling, so I missed church this morning. I had a Mexican omelette instead. It was close to a religious experience but not… Continue reading Southern Episcopalians
Always Do Right
“Always do right. This will gratify some and astonish the rest,” said Mark Twain, who needs no embellishment, and certainly not from me. If anybody has anything to add to this, though, we’d all be happy to hear it. Perhaps it is the arrival of four beautiful, strong, smart, wonderful young girls and their kin… Continue reading Always Do Right