Pewter Plates with a Royal Feel

EW sent me two scalloped pewter plates, one with a lion and the other portraying a lizard or dragon. Both are pewter, eighty-five percent or so tin with lead and …

How to Date an Ancestor Portrait

MMG crammed many lives into one glorious one as a tennis pro, interior designer, and antiques dealer, and now wants to downsize. She sent me photos of her collections. One …

Danny Meza and Bella Meza

Graphic and tattoo artist Danny Meza and his sister Bella Meza, a beauty and special FX makeup artist, talk about their creative lives during this pandemic. Watch the Video

Pandemic “Home-Work” Part Two

This COVID experience taught us that no one lives forever, and the importance of certain tasks: insurance, heirship decisions, donations. Situations call us to act from our center, and we …

Scottish Chest Tells a Story

My history with Scotland includes meeting my son’s father there. So when DG sent me an old Scottish chest of drawers, the prospect of fruitful research thrilled me. DG grew …

Pandemic “Home-Work” Part One

Two interrelated crises (one social and one biological) challenges the way we deal with our home environments, and how we tend our home and hearths. The recent loss of my …

1930s Refrigerator Market Boom

In the 1930s, the early years of refrigeration, the refrigerator market boomed. Inventors became busy with new ideas for many types of units for the home. A whole slew of …