England

Laura FrantzEngland, Inspiration, Memoir, Uncategorized

England in June is especially beautiful! More on social media if you follow me there! Tea at Chatsworth was elegance personified. Opulent surroundings is an understatement! My favorite site is the Oxford Botanical Gardens, circa 1621! Bath was charming, clean, & so historic! My honeymooning hero & heroine go to Bath in The Indigo Heiress releasing next January. Cover reveals coming …

Sea Pines & the island

Laura FrantzBooks, Inspiration, Memoir, Travel, Uncategorized

  So, I’m in a place I’ve always longed to see & now that I’m here I can’t help but think of A Heart Adrift! All this sea & sun & sand remind me of Captain Lennox aboard ship & then Esmée waiting for him in her chocolate shop along the waterfront. I’m here with my aunts {& cousins} who’ve been …

What’s new in 2022

Laura FrantzAuthors, History, Inspiration, Memoir, Travel, Uncategorized

Friends, 2022 began with a bang! The release of A Heart Adrift in January was a wonderful way to start a new year. Here’s a look at what’s happening in my world this spring & I’d appreciate your prayers. I really depend on them. So much happens when we pray, both seen & unseen. With the pandemic nearing an end, …

Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022

Laura FrantzBooks, History in the Making, Memoir, Uncategorized

It’s always interesting to look back on the past year in pictures. A brief snapshot of your life in a few significant frames. These are my Top 9 photos from my Instagram account based on the number of likes. I hide likes for my posts as I’m not a numbers person so they mean little to me. I do have …

Ginger

Laura Frantzfaith, Memoir, Uncategorized

 Today I woke up and my first thought was, “I don’t want to live in a world without Ginger.” I don’t usually post something like this in my journal here but amid a pandemic that has suddenly turned personal, I can’t help but write in the hope it might help someone else whose heart is broken. Yesterday my dear friend …

Best Bread Recipe

Laura FrantzHome, Inspiration, Memoir, My Kentucky Kitchen, Recipes

My Kentucky kitchen has become My Quarantine Kitchen instead! Some of you have asked for my bread recipe and I’m pleased to share. It’s been a favorite of ours for many years, especially now when we’re at home so much. The recipe is said to be from the mother of the founder of Williams Sonoma, the cooking retailer. No bread …

1918~1919

Laura FrantzHistory, History in the Making, Memoir, Uncategorized

My grandmother was a girl of eight when the Spanish flu struck in 1918-19. She was one of eight children born to a poor family in rural southwest Virginia. These old photos are from that time period, showing her on the left in a family portrait and then again a little older wearing a hat. Her dress looks clean if …

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday…

Laura FrantzHome, Inspiration, Memoir, My Kentucky Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized

I have rich memories of Kentucky Thanksgivings at my granny’s house. She’d cook for days beforehand, hardly taking her apron off till she went to bed. One magical happening was going onto the back porch and opening what she called the back closet. There, on many shelves where it was cool and fragrant, rested all the holiday dishes waiting to …

Banana Pudding

Laura FrantzHome, Memoir, My Kentucky Cabin, My Kentucky Kitchen, Recipes, Uncategorized

Ingredients 1 (12-oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed, or equal amount sweetened whipped cream 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk 1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened 2 cups milk 1 (5-oz) box instant French vanilla pudding mix 6 to 8 bananas, sliced 2 bags chessmen cookies or vanilla wafers Directions Line the bottom of a 13x9x2-inch dish with 1 bag …

Summertime

Laura FrantzGarden, Inspiration, Memoir, Uncategorized

Colorful clothespins. Line-dried sheets. Warm porch planks. Cold Coke. Strings of party lights. Red geraniums. A barrel of blooming lavender. New potatoes and peas. Garden to table. Birdsong mornings. Warm wind. Open windows. Cherry tomatoes. Wildflowers. Wild blackberries right outside your door. Good books. The Good Book. Sunsets. Letter writing. Long walks. Creek music. Children’s voices carrying through the trees. …