Archives for “Fun & Games”
Just when we think we couldn’t possibly see any more reality shows, more pop up every season. And some of them have lasted for years. Because I sometimes wonder about really weird and often pointless things, I recently googled the most-watched reality shows. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see Judge Judy on the list. [...]
Now that I’ve met my latest deadline (PHEW) I’m coming up for air. During my free time this week I’ve addressed all those pesky little life details I let get away from me. I’ve attempted to clean house, organize tax papers, cleaned the inside of my car and scaled Mt. Laundry. I’ve also put some [...]
With several deadlines looming (and panic setting in) I’ve been immersed in the 1800s all month. Thanks to my ongoing series of books set during this fascinating century, I’ve been jumping around the various decades during my research. I’ve come across some fascinating information, discoveries really, about the “good old days.” So, what were the [...]
Did you know that the longest continually running county fair began in Watertown in New York’s Jefferson County and has been ongoing for 193 years! Watertown is also known as the birthplace of the Five and Dime and the safety pin of all things. What was once a way to bring the community together with livestock [...]
So, I was at Bunco on Sunday, my once-a-month dose of social activity and one of my favorite days of the month because I get to spend time with my mom, mom-in-law and the best bunco bunch around. There’s lots of laughter, dice rolling, and quite a bit of teasing the local rooomance [...]
While on vacation recently, my husband and I spent a morning visiting the Arizona Cowboy Shooters Association in action. Every second Saturday, enthusiasts of period weapons, dedicated to preserving and promoting the sport of Cowboy Action Shooting gather together to talk history, weapons and shooting. The Single Action Shooting Society–SASS–is for folks who “…share a [...]
I’m a huge tennis fan, and this weekend the finals of the last Grand Slam tournament of 2011 will be going on in New York at the US Open. I’m always amazed at the athleticism and power of the top contenders, but I wonder how they would fare if someone turned back the clock 120 years [...]
“Oh, it’s fair time, fair time, fair time. The excitement is all over town . . .” Fairs have been around for a long time. They date as far back as the days of Rome. So it stands to reason that the American colonies would want to continue the tradition of showing off livestock, agricultural [...]
My dining has recently been converted into a billiard room…so of course I had to look into the history of billiard halls. I’ve never read much about billiard tables in western novels, and while I know their popularity in Europe goes back for centuries, I figured this particular form of recreation had to be around [...]
Once again I was trying to come up with some activity or thing the children in my current WIP could use to amuse themselves. One idea I thought of was paper dolls. But how common were they in 1894? So off I went to do some research. And here is a summary of what [...]
I was recently crafting a scene where I needed to find a pastime for a large group of children. Unfortunately, not just any pastime would do. This group was stranded, along with my heroine, in an old abandoned farmhouse waiting out a storm. My heroine wanted to keep their minds off of the storm so was trying [...]
