Whispers of the Heart

  • Main
  • The Home
  • Genealogy
  • Tablescapes
  • Tablescape How-To
  • Travel
  • About

Books are Expensive, but...

July 14, 2025 by Beth Wilson in Home

This blog post is long but I am writing it mostly for my children so that when I am gone and they are emptying the house, they will understand why I have the books that I have and why they are special to me.

Books are expensive. I know that but I still buy them from time to time even though over the decades I have gotten rid of many of them. (Used book stores, estate sales, garage sales, and thrift stores are a wonderful resource for inexpensive and sometimes unique books.) Remember, if you like to read but don’t want to own books, your local library has access to an infinite number of books and ebooks for you to enjoy. When I was young, before I had to really study, and I discovered boys, I was a avid reader. I always had my nose in a book and a stack of books waiting to be read. I read most of the children’s books in our small town library. I could walk there by myself because it was just down the street and around the corner. But I was thrilled when my mother and I would travel to the LA area from time to time, and I could use my aunt’s library card to check out books from a much larger library.

My brother was home from college one day and he didn’t approve of me reading Nancy Drew mysteries. He found the current one that I was reading and he threw it up on the roof of our two story house. What he didn’t know was that there was a tree in the back yard next to the house and from time to time I would climb up the tree and sit on the roof. (I had four brothers and I was a bit of a tomboy as they said in those days.) I just climbed up on the roof, retrieved the book, and continued reading. He complained to my mother about it and she just said, “Well, you were the one who threw it up there!” The tree was behind the chimney that is on the right in this photo, right next to the house. You can just see a bit of it.

A photo of the Bishop Library where I spent time picking out books to read while I was growing up in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, the building is still there. There is a bit of additional interest about this library. When I was a freshman in high school, and my future husband was a sophomore, we met there one day, and that was the start of our romance. I was in the children’s section and he walked up to me. He knew me because I had been dating his brother but we had just broken up. We started talking and I told him that I had read many of the books in that section. He started pulling out books to check the card (in those days you signed the card to check out a book) and he kept finding my name on the cards. He was quite impressed. And that was the very beginning of it all…

Among the books that I currently read I will admit to rereading light romance paperback books written by Betty Neels that I read many decades ago that I have downloaded from Amazon. I can finish reading them in a couple of hours or less, pure escapist reading from the current mess the world is in. (Do not turn your nose up, this is no worse than watching all that garbage reality tv that is on now!)

I looked back at the last five ebooks that I downloaded to read on my phone. They were: a contemporary romance written by Kristen Higgins; a non-fiction book called Man with a Hammer about the recent restoration of a mansion in England; a book written by the brilliant Pete Buttigieg called Shortest Way Home, I told my kids that he won’t be President in my lifetime but I pray that he will be in theirs; another contemporary romance by Kay Correll; and a book called The Heirloomist about family heirlooms and the stories that they can tell. The last five hard cover books that I purchased were: A House Restored by Lee McColgan about the restoration of a New England Colonial house; Los Angeles before the Freeways, a book about what Los Angeles looked like before freeways were built; The Magic of German Church records, because I have been working on my husband’s Germany ancestry recently; Second Nature, a Gardener’s Education, said to be a man’s meditation about his relationship to the earth; and a book that won a Pulitzer Prize called Master Slave Husband Wife: an Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom. Obviously my reading interests are not limited to one area.

I have a few small collections of different books. I keep my genealogical research books in my study. I had a much larger collection of them but I weeded them over the past two years because I needed the space for storage for containers for napkin rings and place card holders and those books were really out of date. I did keep a collection of them even though some are really outdated.

I also have my collection of African American genealogy and social history books in my study. This is a subject area that I have spent many many years doing research about and I continue to do research in that subject area. (I have a database of the names of 8,000 slaves who lived in Missouri that I gathered from doing research in the 1980’s and some of that data will be published online by American Ancestors in the next few years as a part of their 10 Million Names project.) I also have a book shelf full of books of quotations and phrases, can’t remember when that collection started although I liked to read poetry as a child sometimes.

I started my librarian career as a Children’s Librarian for a few years and I developed a love for children’s picture books that had beautiful full page illustrations. The children’s book illustrator Susan Jeffers was one of my favorite children’s book illustrators. These kinds of books are never cheap but I have a collection of them that started when I had my own children and I continue to add to it when I see something special that I really love. I especially look for children’s books with illustrations that cover the entire page.

I try to add a new Christmas picture book every Christmas season to my collection and I put them out on display then although some years there is not a new one that I can find that I really like. These children’s books are on the shelves in our guest room.

We have had built-in shelving built on the walls in our living room, family room, my study, and the guest room because we needed the space. In the living room, I have a shelf of gardening books and many of them are about Southern California gardening in the hopes that I will become a successful gardener. I do refer to them from time to time but my garden is mostly hardy geraniums, day lilies, and succulents that I can’t kill.

In the living room we have two sets of books for children that were in the house when I was growing up and I think one of the sets was in the house that my mother grew up in because it was published in 1921. I did read some of chapters in the books when I was young. I have kept them for sentimental reasons and because I love the way the vintage bindings on these books look together on the shelf.

I think my parents purchased this set for us because it was published in the 1930’s or 1940’s and my oldest brother was born in the early 1940’s.

Because I have been a collector of many things over the years, in the living room, I have a small reference library for information about them although most of the books are outdated now.

When I was in college taking classes for my B. A. Degree in Art History I developed an interest in architectural history, especially the history of residential buildings. I had always loved old houses and I really wanted to get a Master’s in Architectural History. Instead, I attended U.C.L.A. for a Master’s Degree in Library Science (more jobs were available in that field). One of the requirements for the Master’s Degree was a Master’s project, either a paper or a bibliography. I picked the bibliography and my chosen subject was Southern California Residential Architecture from 1850-1950. I had the most wonderful time for several months traveling around Southern California visiting libraries and archives looking for unusual books and periodical articles to add to my bibliography. As a result of that interest, I have collected books about architecture from time to time. I also developed an interest in social history and local history as a result of that project and also my interest in genealogy, and I have collected books in that subject area as well.

I have always loved the art of Norman Rockwell and for many years I collected books about him and his art including one called Willie was Different that was signed by him and his wife that my mother bought for me. As you can see here, other book subjects migrate into my subject collections, especially those that have not been looked at for a long long time. Because I was an Art History major, over the years I have owned many many art books and I still have several of them although I sold a lot of them many years ago.

My book collections in the family room are more varied, more architecture subjects, and some photographical essays as well. There tends to be a mixture of different books on the shelves in this room.

I like to support women authors when I can so I have small collections of those books. My son’s book The Richest Man in Babylon is also on this shelf although it should be on the shelf above this. Don’t I sound like a librarian organizing books!

Susan Branch is a wonderful artist and illustrator and her books are enchanting and so much fun to read. She hand writes all the letters and words as well as doing all the art work. In the photo before this one are four of her books and I really enjoy reading them. She lived on Martha’s Vineyard for many many years but she now lives in Central California near the coast.

This is the shelf for family members who have written books. My oldest brother is an author and I have copies of all of his books here. They are available on Amazon as is my son’s book that I mentioned above. My other son has an essay in the Proud to Be: Writings by American Warriors book on this shelf as well.

I have an interest in books written by people who love and write about special places old and new.

For many years our family room was decorated in red, white, and blue. We have moved beyond that but I still collect patriotic books for children that are well illustrated. Good ones are hard to find but I have several now.

We call them coffee table books and for good reason. A large coffee table with two shelves is the perfect spot to stack many large books. I have always insisted on having coffee tables with two shelves for that reason. This cheap second hand coffee table, purchased several years ago, was supposed to be a temporary place holder until we could find one that I really wanted. HA! My husband has used that trick before. I could tell you about our old cheap bedroom set purchased out of someone’s garage that my husband promised me would be replaced within six months. Thirty plus years later I finally got my solid wood Arts and Crafts style bedroom set… Anyway, back to the books, these are just a few of the books on this coffee table and there are others on the coffee table in the living room. They take up so much space but I love them and from time to time, another one sneaks in.

These aren’t all the books that we have, but some good examples. It wouldn’t be a home for me without my books.

This blog post was featured at The Cottage Market, https://thecottagemarket.com/ Please visit this blog, you will enjoy it!

July 14, 2025 /Beth Wilson
Home
2 Comments

Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas

December 15, 2021 by Beth Wilson in Home

This is our Family Tree in the living room. It has all different kinds of ornaments on it that I have gathered over the past almost 50 years. Every one has a special meaning for me and a story about why I added it to my ornament collection. The tree tells our family story in some ways.

This is the Santa Tree in the family room. It only has Santa ornaments on it, again gathered over 50 years.

This is the newest tree, Elves and Reindeer, that was added this year because I was running out of space on the Family Tree. On the bottom there are a few tin village ornaments too.

I have a soft spot for this Gingerbread and Candy Tree in our guest room. It is a fun tree to decorate.

This is the snow people and snowflakes tree in the Main Bedroom. We grew up where it would snow in the winter once in a while and our cabin has lots of snow right now.

This is the Reading Tree in my study. All the ornaments are related to libraries and reading. During my Librarian career it was always up in my office every holiday season.

Whatever your interests may be there are often ornaments to tell that story. A quick google search will help you find them.

My son has put together a video showing all our trees as well as our other Christmas Decorations. Turn on your sound and you can see it here: Christmas Jinkies, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unVL148fIfM

December 15, 2021 /Beth Wilson
The Home
Home
3 Comments
2019.04.13 (2).jpg

Spring in my Southern California Garden

April 25, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Home

Time to take a walk around my Spring garden. I am not sure what planting zone we live in but we are about 1 1/2 miles from the Pacific Ocean as the crow flies, it never gets too hot or too cold here. My garden is a bit wild and wooly right now. I got behind last year with radiation and I need to catch up now. The weeding has gotten behind but we will take care of that. Spring came a bit late this year with the cooler weather, rain, and my late pruning but plants are finally blooming. Snaildon guards the front garden. I found him at a local nursery a few years ago but Hubby wasn’t enamoured with him as much as I was. (For one thing he is about 3 feet tall and weights about 500 pounds! He is solid concrete.) I visited him off and on for a year or so continuing to tell Hubby that we needed him. One day after I had given up, Hubby went to the nursery to pick up some flowers for me and came back and told me that Snaildon was on sale and he had bought him! It took a bit of work to get him moved into place but I love him! And every child who comes near climbs on. I just love the expression on his face! He is surrounded by two of my regal geraniums and in the background purple Osteospermum and Bird of Paradise. You can also see the bottom of my bougainvillea that I will talk about later.

2019.06.07k.jpg

This is my Pinkerbell regal geranium that I bought last year, I think it was at Armstrong Garden Center. It was such an unusual color and it is doing very well. I love regal geraniums (look at the spiky leaves), ivy geraniums (grow like ivy) and scented geraniums, but not zonal geraniums (fuzzy scalloped leaves). The zonal geraniums can get budworm caterpillars that will eat the new flower buds. I finally gave up buying them several years ago because the caterpillars were having a feast on them.

2019.06.24.7 (2).jpg

These are mostly ivy geraniums. I buy them in different colors and they can make quite a show. I found the white metal stands at an antique mall many years ago. Hubby has repainted and repaired them more than once. Full disclosure, this photo was taken last June but the geraniums look about the same today. You can see my purple agapanthus (or Lady of the Nile) blooming in the background. (It wouldn’t be blooming this early yet.)

IMG_0479 (2).JPG

This is one of only three zonal geraniums that I have. I have kept this one because of the unique variegated pink color of the blossoms. I can’t remember where I bought it several years ago. It was either at Armstrong’s or online. I have bought geranium plants and daylilies online in the past with great results.

2020.04.25b.jpg

This is one of my scented geraniums, they tend to have smaller blooms and they can get huge if they like where they are planted. I am going to have to prune this one way back this fall. You can see my agapanthus buds in the background, they will flower later. There’s a white regal geranium in the back left too.

2020.04.25a.jpg

These geranium blossoms have almost a neon pink color to them. This is an example of how a geranium can just take off and grow into a bush! I will need to prune it back in the fall for sure.

2020.04.25f.jpg

There are five different colors of geranium in this photo. In the foreground you can see the buds from one of my daylilies.

2020.04.25e.jpg

There are three or four different colors of regal geraniums in this photo. You can never have too many regal geraniums!

18.03.06a (2).jpg

This purple Osteospermum grew from a small 4” pot. It can take over an entire garden area if it is happy where you plant it. When it gets too large I yank it out and it often comes back again. If you deadhead it, it continues to flower for quite some time.

2020.04.25c.jpg

Found a friend on the milkweed while I was taking photos today. This monarch caterpillar is the first one I have seen this season. I am losing them to pests I’m afraid.

2019.05.03.jpg

I love double impatiens, they look like small roses but they like shade. The nursery sells out quickly so I have learned to start watching for them early in the season. I bought the basket online somewhere a few years ago.

2020.02.06b.jpg

One of my irises that I bought. I didn’t like the color at first but it is growing on me. I like to plant perennials that come back every year and bloom all season. I love irises and daffodils but they last such a short time.

2019.06.07i.jpg

Another happy geranium.

IMG_0486 (3).JPG

Love these colors! They are all just a bit different from each other.

IMG_0475 (2).JPG

And another regal geranium, the hanging planter came from an antique mall in Missouri a couple years ago. We brought it back in the car much to Hubby’s chagrin because it isn’t small! We enjoy the neighbor’s bougainvillea on the wall too.

2020.04.25h.jpg

I planted this bougainvillea about 15 years ago at the front corner of our wood fence. It was in the shade a bit so I was afraid it wouldn’t do much. I was hoping that it would grow enough to catch the sun at the top of the fence. It sat there for three years doing nothing and then took off. I learned later that they sulk a bit when planted sometimes. I wanted it to grow down the fence completely so I could see it from the kitchen window. Last year the neighbor wanted to replace the wood fence with this white vinyl one and we shared the cost after they promised me that the bougainvillea would carefully be taken down and then put back up. It is doing fine.

2020.04.25j.jpg

It has reached the kitchen window and moved on down toward the back yard. The neighbor is getting ready to prune their pine tree a bit, it is coming our way and it is blocking the sun for the bougainvillea a bit more than it should. I will have more blossoms when there is more sun.

IMG_0489 (2).JPG

The coleus started a bit late but it is beginning to grow now.

June 2012 042.JPG

I have a few early daylilies blooming, I really love their unique color combinations.

June 2012 044.JPG

Another daylily, I wish they bloomed longer!

2020.04.25i.jpg

Time to do some work in the garden!

April 25, 2020 /Beth Wilson
Home
14 Comments
IMG_0494 (2).JPG

In My Mother's Kitchen

April 19, 2020 by Beth Wilson in Home

After my mother died and we went through her house I brought home a few bits and pieces from her kitchen that reminded me of our kitchen while I was growing up. She had moved from a house to a retirement community and she had a small kitchen there so there were only a few things left from those years. I remember this meat grinder. She made the most wonderful ground roast beef sandwiches in the 50’s and 60’s, probably with Miracle Whip and sweet pickle relish and maybe something else. I wish I had that recipe, I can still remember them. With five children including four growing boys, to save money my parents bought part of a cow every year and froze the meat in a deep freezer on the enclosed back porch. Mom would send me out there to get meat for dinner. I remember there would always be several wrapped meat packages waiting to be thawed and used.

IMG_0503 (2).JPG

I saved some of her recipes in her handwriting, I wish I had saved more. I remember these, I need to make them again sometime.

slottedSpoon.jpg

My memories of this large slotted spoon go way back. I can see Mom at the stove stirring things with it and straining various foods. I love using it.

IMG_0499.JPG

This pie plate is another constant childhood memory. It is just marked USA on the bottom. My mother loved to make pies and pumpkin was a favorite, many memories of pumpkin pie and other pies in this dish at holiday dinners.

IMG_0495 (2).JPG

This serving bowl was in constant use at dinner time. For holiday dinners it often held some kind of Ambrosia salad, one of Mom’s favorites. It was made by Fostoria in the American pattern, the pattern was made between 1915 and 1982. This bowl was a wedding present to my mother in 1938.

IMG_0496 (2).JPG

It’s difficult to see all the frosted fruit on the outside of this bowl. I don’t remember it being used for food, I think she put flowers in it sometimes. It may have been a 1938 wedding present as well.

IMG_0497 (2).JPG

This is a large shallow bowl or tray. Every Easter it held plastic green grass and Easter eggs. It must be over 60 years old now.

IMG_0498 (2).JPG

Someone online recently helped me identify this large frosted shallow bowl. I had wondered about it for years. I think it was a wedding present to my mother in 1938. I am showing the bottom because the design is on the bottom. It isn’t marked so it was probably made in the United States using molds from Verlys in France. The pattern was created in France in 1935 and was called,  “Les Canards Sauvage”, (Wild Ducks). It has also been identified as kingfishers and koi. I remember Mom floating flowers in it sometimes and also a vague memory of some kind of floating dessert.

IMG_0505 (2).JPG

In my mother’s recipe file were a few recipes from her mother, my Nana. She would have been cooking after she was married in 1909 and in the 1920’s and 1930’s. She had a large family to cook for. I always wanted to try this one!

IMG_0504 (2).JPG

This is another recipe from my Nana, it took over 15 hours to make this one!

Mother1956-5 (2).JPG

A photo of my mother in 1956, she was 40. We were living in Elsinore at the time and there were lots of pepper trees. Every time I see pepper trees, they remind me of Elsinore. I love having bits and pieces from my mother’s kitchen.



April 19, 2020 /Beth Wilson
Home
35 Comments
  • Newer
  • Older