THE SONGS OF A NIGHTINGAIL

  My 3xs paternal Great Grandmother, Mary Gould Chase My paternal great great Grandmother, Lucy Chase Taylor, Daughter of Mary Gould Chase and wife of my great great Grandfather, Frederick William Taylor, M.D.  Sadly, she died when their daughter, my great Grandmother, Ella, was only 2 years old, so Ella was raised by her Aunt Susan and Uncle Goodlow Taylor, brother to Frederick. My paternal great great Aunt, Susan Taylor by virtue of marriage to my great great Uncle Goodlow Taylor, brother of Frederick William Taylor, M.D. My paternal great Grandmother Ella Chase Taylor Smedley, daughter of Lucy Chase and Frederick Taylor, and wife of my great Grandfather, John Kinsey Smedley. My paternal Grand Aunt Elizabeth Bradley Hayworth, sister to my Grandfather, Frank Herbert Bradley My Grand Aunt Helen Bradley, sister to my Grandfather Frank Bradley My Grand Aunt Mary Ann Bradley, sister to my Grandfather Frank Bradley My paternal Grandmother, Harriet (Hattie) Bell Smedley Bradley....

  First we begin the day with a yummy breakfast of popovers with lots of butter. Then it’s off to the slopes to ski.  My husband’s father is in this group, but I don’t know which fellow he is or where the photo was taken.  He may  actually   be the one taking the picture? Some of us prefer to slide down the hill on a toboggan at Mount Shasta Ski Resort in California's Cascade Range . . .   . . . while others prefer to bomb down a slope on an inner tube at Heavenly Valley Ski Resort, Lake Tahoe, California. Still others would like their doggie to come out and play with them in the snow, but their doggie is smart and stays where it’s warm & cozy only peeking out to say “Hi”. Others of us also stay inside where it’s warm pulling handles on a machine with bells ringing to signal a jackpot in Harrah’s Casino at Stateline (Lake Tahoe), Nevada   I only went outside to showcase my winnings in the snow. J My gazebo in Soulsbyville, Calif. where...

  1959 – My youngest sister playing on our old mustard yellow upright piano  while sitting on a kitchen stool in the laundry room.  Not the greatest place for  a piano to be with all that moisture in the air, but perhaps better than the  garage where it would have been otherwise?  There was no place for it in our  living room. Under all that Grey Poupon colored paint is a beautiful mahogany finish.  My Dad  found this out when he sanded the piano bench down, but sanding down the  piano would have been too much of a job.  Besides, it would still have to be in  the laundry room or garage so probably just as well to leave it mustard yellow .  I’ve mentioned before my Mom wanted to paint it pink to match the laundry  room & stencil daisies in the indents but that never got done either.  Oh well. A friend accompanied me singing for Groveland’s 49er Festival in the   fall of 1983 with my eldest daughter help...

  I used a pair of knitting needles when I took on the role of a sassy granny in a play where I sat in a rocking chair knitting throughout the whole show.  But I was also the heroine who saved the day when I stabbed one of my knitting needles in the villain’s backside! J A crochet needle was used to make this gorgeous bedspread. A friend is very talented at using a needle in the art of cross stitch.  She does amazing work.  It must take tremendous patience which is why I could never do it! An embroidery needle did beautiful work on this tablecloth. Hand quilting takes a fine sharp needle making itty bitty stitches in a neat row.   We don’t do a lot of this anymore, but there are times when darning is needed. To do it properly you need a darning ‘egg’ and special needles with large eyes.   There are other types of needles, of course . . . . . . such as those growing on certain trees. There’s the needle on a speedometer . . .  . . . or the magneti...