Well, I have done it. I have painted the gray wall of my patio terracotta. This wall supports the area where I do my planting for summer and is visible from my office. I have decorated it with artificial yellow flowers that hang over the terracotta wall and brighten my view. Why didn't I think of this, years ago? It has made such a difference to me to look out at color and not a gray wall. And, I am relishing the fact that this week and weekend will be summer weather. It's hard to believe this time of year. Celia Miles, author and colleague, whom I travel with and I are going to Boone for a talk this month and then on to Seven Lakes, near Greensboro, NC for another talk. We are glad for good weather for our trip.

A friend of mine brought this to my attention and I thought some of you might be interested. She has been ordering her bras for the last 17 years from Decent Exposures in Seattle. Twenty years ago, Pat Marcus started her own cottage industry making incredibly comfortable bras to fit any size or shape woman. You measure yourself according to their instructions, and back the bras come, ready to wear. If the bra still needs tweaking, you send it back and ask them to "take two inches off the strap and go an inch deeper under the arm". Today, Pat employs 8-9 women who sew each bra to any woman's satisfaction. Just click on this site for further information: Decent Exposures And be sure to look at their testimonials!

The historical novel that I have been working on forever, it seems to me, is finished and sent on to my agent in New York. Of course, it will be at least a year or more until Jacob's Bride will be in bookstores. The novel is set on St.Thomas in the then Danish West Indies in the years 1862-1868. A young girl of 17 travels from Europe to the island to marry a man she does not know. It is her story, but also the story of a devastating hurricane, earthquake, and tidal wave that left the island and people's live and businesses in ruins. Prior to the devastation, the US Secretary of State had negotiated and contracted to purchase the islands of St. Thomas and St. John from Denmark. Imagine the islanders' shock and disappointment when, after these natural disasters, as they waited for aide from the US, they learned that Congress did not approve the treaty. This is an amazing true story of lives turned topsy-turvy, of courage, survival and love.

My holiday wish for you is good health. Some of us will be with family for the holidays, some of us with friends or acquaintances, and some of us are alone. If you get the Hallmark or Lifetime channels on TV, do watch at nine p.m. each evening, the many wonderful happy, uplifting movies they offer at this time of year. I am especially fond of The Santa Clause with Tim Allen. I love their presentation of the North Pole. I am one of those people who believe in magic and miracles and still love fairy tales.

I wish each and every one of you a lovely, peaceful holiday season.