Here are the pictures of my friend Peter’s house, which we’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks. Our work has included clearing out the rooms of personal items, repainting several rooms, bringing in additional furniture and art that would highlight the features of the house, and landscaping the exterior to create a clean…
Author: lenleatherwood
I am a native Texan who has lived for the past 30 years in Southern California. I am a published author of both short memoir and fiction, a two-time Pushcart nominee, a nationally award-winning writing coach, an editor, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Texas. In addition, I am the mother of three grown daughters of whom I am extremely proud, a grandmother of four darling children and the wife of a man I still love after 44 years.
Honey-Sweetened Pineapple Upside-Down Cake
This is a great recipe that is tried and true. I made it the other day and the cake was scarfed up in no time. You can substitute sugar for the 1 1/3 cups of mild honey, but keep the 2/3 cup of honey at the beginning of the directions for sure. Delicious. Let me…
Car Wreck in Downtown LA
I am very grateful that my daughter Elizabeth is alive and well today after being involved in an auto accident yesterday in downtown LA. A young woman came out of a side street (with a stop sign) as Liz was driving down the road and wham! That was it. Luckily, the young woman is okay,…
My Father’s Words
These are things my dad used to say: 1) “That old dog won’t hunt.” This meant that excuse won’t work; that plan isn’t any good; that behavior isn’t what it should be, etc. 2) “Hasta La Stinko” This was accompanied by a smile and a wave to a bunch of teenagers who seemed to constantly…
Driving through Hollywood Tonight
Here are a few pictures of Hollywood tonight. This is the strip on Hollywood Blvd. where they have the Academy Awards every year. Here we go: Just before Hollywood and Highland, the Epicenter. Hollywood and Highland: Shops and Restaurants Right across from the Dolby Theater. This is the El Capitan Theater, which is beautifully restored…
A Child’s View of My Life Today
What would the child I once was think about the adult I have become? I think she would be happy with much of my life. She would love the orange grove, and my children, their partners, and Luna, plus she would think Ray is funny. She would be pleased that I write and that I am…
My Most Embarrassing Halloween
Several years back, my husband Ray mentioned to me that we were invited to a Halloween party that was being hosted by one of his clients, J. J lives in a gated community off of Sunset and Ray’s company designed and maintained the landscaping for her large glass and teak home. Anyway, I was happy…
Ready for the Realtor
Peter’s house is staged and we are meeting with the realtor in the morning. We still have some finish work to do in reference to clearing out boxes in the storage room and garage, but all the cleaning, painting, landscaping, and decorating are finished and the house looks warm, open and inviting. Ray just moaned…
Today’s Efforts
The interior painting is finished at Peter’s house! The “completion” prize goes to Ray Beaty who went up there today and finished up all the painstaking touch-up work. I, on the other hand, was home making spaghetti sauce with ground turkey along with pineapple upside down cake. This was done with the aid of baby…
Day Two of Painting
You know all those positive words I was using to describe the Zen of painting just a couple of days ago? Well, let’s just say those words don’t apply when there are beams across the ceiling that are faux-aged and, therefore, covered in a brown color. I painted and repainted and re-repainted those beams all…
20 Minutes a Day 