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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
  • WRITING & READING
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

House and Garden

The Trouble With Poinsettias

April 5, 2026 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

poinsettias

The trouble with poinsettias is — they don’t know that Christmas is over and it’s time to make an exit.  Read more.

Where to Throw a Throw Pillow? On the Bedroom Floor, of Course

December 6, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

bed-styled-with-pillows

Where to throw those fancy decorator throw pillows? At my house, if you’re getting into bed, you throw them on the floor.  Read more.

Can This Garden Be Saved? My California Natives Are Looking Bleak

November 15, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Monardella-macrantha-Marian-Sampson-Red-Monardella

Could this garden be saved? My California natives were looking bleak. A trip to the local native plant nurseries was in order.  Read more.

It’s True. My New Bathroom Is . . . Beautiful

October 11, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

It's True. My New Bathroom Is Beautiful pratt-and-larsen-tile-niche

It’s true. My new bathroom is beautiful. I’ve been taking a lot of showers in there lately, so I should know.  Read more.

A Bathroom and a Book — I Finished Both This Week

October 10, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

A Bathroom and a Book -- I Finished Both This Week

Big news. Two huge projects finished the same week. A bathroom remodel and a book manuscript. Whew!  Read more.

The Great Big Medicine Cabinet of My Dreams

June 21, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

36-x36-medicine-cabinet

The great big medicine cabinet of my dreams has arrived — with its fifteen linear feet of shelving.  Read more.

I’m Opting for a No-Bathtub House. Here’s Why

June 14, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

no-bathtub-house tubz-tub-showroom

It was time to get real. I was 83 years old. Could my creaky knees get me into a bathtub? Could they get me out? I’m going to like my new, no-bathtub house.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Scaling the Mighty Willis Tower — With My Acrophilic Husband

View of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago from the Willis Tower, Chicago. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The 108-story Willis Tower is my husband’s kind of place. I first noticed Jon’s acrophilia early in our romance, when we took a trip to Europe. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

Jon Newhall takes a class in Thai cooking in Bangkok and shows off his dish. Photo by Jon Newhall

Confessions of a So-So Wife: The Night I Forgot to Make Dinner

Windmills against the sky, Altamont Pass, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: Build a Wind Farm — Wreck Lake Michigan

Outdoor portrait of Jennifer Fulwiler, author of "Something Other than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It"

Atheist to Catholic–Two Brainy Women Get Religion

Turn of the 2oth century men and women on vacation struggling to climb the steep sandy slope of Eagle Top on Lake Michigan.

A Dune on Lake Michigan: We Couldn’t Climb Eagle Top — So We Paid Homage From Afar

MORE DON'T MISS!

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