I love the brown bread that's served at almost every pub and restaurant in Ireland. It's dense and coarse and full of whole grain flavor. I've tried several different recipes to recreate the taste but … [Read more...]

I’ve been reading a wonderful year-long devotional, but the editors left out a devotion for February 29. Today is Leap Day, so I didn’t have a devotion to read. I decided to grab my copy of Sarah … [Read more...]

My husband didn’t want to see The Descendants last weekend. “I’ve heard it’s depressing,” he said.  The topic, a family’s preparation for a mother/wife’s death isn’t a happy story, for sure, but the … [Read more...]

I love the spicy hot tea that some people call Russian Tea, but I don't like recipes that include using Tang as one of the ingredients. Here's a delicious recipe that uses real fruit juices instead of … [Read more...]

During this month of gift giving, I’ve been thinking about the gifts my husband and I have given our four children. The top three popped into my head without much thinking.The gift of knowledge—From … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago I worked at the polls for a municiple election. The mayor of my hometown ran for another term against a newcomer to the area as well as to politics. It was a pretty quiet day. The … [Read more...]

We are remembering my mother-in-law, Patricia Smith Dougherty, this week. In the van on the way back to Pittsburgh last weekend for the funeral, we told Grandma stories. Here’s mine. One … [Read more...]

I enjoy crocheting. My grandmother taught me when I was in elementary school. After ignoring this art form for several years (decades, really), I started again and introduced my daughters to it. … [Read more...]

I successfully completely my second 5k in a little over 35 minutes--slower than my first 5k, but I still met my goal of running the whole course. Yea. I'd really like to end my running career on this … [Read more...]

I'm scheduled to run my second 5k on Saturday, October 15. I ran my first one last June and accomplished my goal of running the entire course--no stopping to catch my breath as some people I refuse to … [Read more...]