I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction in preparation for writing the next book this fall. The title of this post is one of these books (by Mary Roth Walsh - 1977).  Yes, its an old book, but I was after the historical stuff… She chronicles and examines the history of women becoming physicians from […]

While I was putting all those family photo albums back on shelves, I came across my own baby photos.  I can’t have been more than two…  Although my mother reports that my two boys are WAY more active (a nice way to say “They’re nuts. I’m glad I had girls.”), it does look like I […]

early electric washing machine! circa 1910

The first electric washing machine was invented in 1906. It was a vast improvement over the below systems:

Although electric washing machines made the weekly laundry day considerably easier for the woman (less rubbing, pounding, lifting - not to mention less exposure to the caustic soap used then), there were […]

Since I’m moving this weekend, and my Internet connection will be spotty at best, I thought I’d leave you with a guessing game. Take a look at the below image.
What is this a picture of?

What did a nineteenth century family do when they needed more space? Wanted to attach the house to the barn? Or wanted to keep the kitchen separate from the more formal dining room and parlor?
They built an ell. It means exactly what it sounds like – the addition was built at a right angle […]

In Wait for Their Return, my historical character needs appropriate dishes. Some of these dishes are made from redware, a kind of pottery that went into production in America in 1625. Redware was given its name because that was the color the clay turned after firing. The production of redware continued at high levels […]

I ‘met’ Pam (aka Pimp My Mixer Pam) on the Will Write for Wine forums. Its a fun community of writers and readers led by Samantha Graves and Lani Diane Rich. While many of the writers there are (as yet) unpublished (myself included), we’re working hard on changing that. With a […]

Historic Deerfield in Massachusetts has some famous doors. In 1760, a famous wood joiner named Samuel Partridge built a door for the house of Reverend John Williams. Many neighbors then sought to replicate its style. This original door is on display in the Flynt Center of Early New England Life, a museum maintained […]

I was at Sturbridge Village last weekend (detecting a theme?) and there happened to be two costumed interpreters making soap, the old way. In an earlier post, I mentioned that the ashes from all those wood fires were saved for making soap. I had a vague idea of the process, but took the […]

Wait for Their Return incorporates a lot of historical facts from the 1830s. To get the details as accurate as possible, I spent a huge amount of time reading and researching. The library has seen a lot of me this past year.
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I also made several trips to Sturbridge Village in order to […]