In the Garden: Look What Happened to My Front Yard Over the Weekend

San Francisco Bay Area rock garden with geranium and blue-eyed grass tucked alongside moss rocks. Photo by BF Newhall

Going crazy in my front yard — geraniums, blue-eyed grass (a California native) and the moss rock, at lower right. Photos by BF Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

I wasn’t looking. I was at the computer all weekend with my back to the world. When I finally took a bleary look out the window on Monday morning, I saw a front yard crazy with life –  poppies, [Read more...]

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On the Shores of Lake Michigan — Eagle Top, a Wild Place Tamed

An August sunset over Lake Michigan from a beach near Pentwater, MI. Photo by BF Newhall

A summer sunset over Lake Michigan not too far from Eagle Top. Photo by BF Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Somebody owns Eagle Top. They bought it ten years ago and built a cottage on it. I didn’t think it was possible to buy, sell or own Eagle Top. I thought Eagle Top belonged to itself. But [Read more...]

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The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries — Am I Too Old for Splashy Earrings?

A woman wearing a purple V-necked jersey gown with rhinestone embellishment. Photo by BF Newhall

This gown needs earrings. Big, blingy, look-at-me  earrings. Photos by BF Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The long dress I was planning to wear to my son’s wedding needed earrings. Not [Read more...]

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My Killer Shoes — Brought Down to Size by Those Four-and-a-Half-Inch Heels

Silver satin  1/2 inch high shoes with clear stone pave straps at Nordstrom $129.95. Photo by BF Newhall.

The Killer Shoes: Silver satin with with 4 1/2-inch heels and a funky zipper up the back. By Glint, at Nordstrom, $129.95. Photo by BF Newhall

By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jon picked out his wedding attire in a half hour. I’ve devoted several all-day shopping trips to my wedding outfit and I’m still not done.

Jon feels sorry for me. All that shopping. So many trips to the mall. So many trips [Read more...]

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A Dad, a Mom and an 8-Year-Old With a Bashed Lip

Eight-year-old boy with fat lip and Giants T-shirt, smiling. BF Newhall photo.

The Walrus Boy got his picture taken a week or so after being bashed in the lip by a hard ball that was hit off a T. BF Newhall photo.

Here’s a story about my husband, my son and an errant baseball. I wrote it when Peter was eight — and I was a mom who worried a lot.

By Barbara Falconer Newhall, The Oakland Tribune, May 14, 1989

It’s all their fault. They don’t do their share of the housework. They edge us out of the good jobs. They don’t talk about their feelings, and when we talk about ours they don’t listen. They are insensitive. They are selfish. [Read more...]

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