Lensography of an Internet Bookseller

Books and Education 

These are related to my business professional life in education.

Some explain educational products or tips for using them. Others offer information on book selling and the life of a bookseller.

tomfolio.com -- A Novel New Way to Buy and Sell Books Online

That's one reason that over 100 booksellers getting together to start a cooperative to sell their books on line is such an outlandish idea. Why do that when you can sell books at Amazon, Advanced Book Exchange, Alibris, and many smaller sites su...

Autumn is Back to School Season

For most people, fall is time for colorful trees, bringing in the harvest, and cooler days. I enjoy those things, too, when time permits. But I sell what teachers need to start the school year off right. Many teachers and home schooling parents wait...

Edupress Flip Charts

An item doesn't need a high price to be a quality resource. Several years ago when I got my Edupress dealer catalog, it had a new item in it -- a small chart called Quick Flip Questions for Critical Thinking I decided to try a few of them and liste...

My Top Ten Most Refered to Cookbooks

I married in 1964, which means I've been cooking for almost 50 years. My first real cookbook is the Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook you see in the picture. It's the third printing of the Revised Edition. I got it for a wedding present. It was...

Reading Aloud to All Ages

Many people think that the main reason to read aloud to a child is because he hasn't learned to read yet. They want to share good stories with their children. They hope hearing these stories will make their children want to learn to read for themselv...

My Family Tree and it's Grafts 

I am just beginning to write about my family, bit by bit. There is the family I grew up in, which was formed from the Hart family on one side and the Haynes family, which dates back to the American Revolution, on the other side.

When I married, I joined the Radisavljevic family, which had come here from what was then Yugoslavia. My mother-in-law, who had been Paula Schmidt, was Croatian. My father-in-law, Dragoslav Radisavljevic (aka Charles) was Serbian. They all became American citizens in 1964, the year I married Kosta.

When the children were adopted, we grafted parts of the Gnewuch family into ours, Our children were first the children of Deanna Barnes (Ron's third wife) and Ron Gnewuch. Ron's parents, John and Vivian Gnewuch, had adopted Bob Gnewuch, Ron's son from his first marriage. From the first few months after we got our children, Sarah and Jason Gnewuch, as foster children, there were two yearly visits from Bob, John, and Vivian Gnewuch, in the early summer when the children had their birthdays, and before Christmas. When Bob married Diane, she. too, became part of our extended family, and our children soon had nieces and nephews.

By this time we had our own nephews, my brother, Robert Madison Hart, Jr.'s sons, Robert Madison Hart III (Bobby to us) and Joseph.

As I write this, neither Kosta's parents nor mine are still living. Both of our children have also passed to the next life -- Jason in 1991, when he was 14, and Sarah, in May, 2009, at the age of 36. You will find Sarah and Jason popping up all over my lenses, since they still live in our hearts, as do all our friends and family who have preceded us into eternity.

The Ultimate Monterey County Home School Field Trip

This is the first part of it -- the part in Monterey County, California. When my son Jason was 13 and about to start grade 8, we had a decision to make. The local home school group, which provided monthly social activities and field trips, had sudde...

The 80's Were Our Parenting Years

Our Parenting Years Were Our Best Years Many people get married, plan to have children, have them, and enjoy them. Some of us learned that becoming parents isn't a sure thing. We married in 1964. By 1980, God had not yet blessed us with children. S...

My Dollhouse Full of Memories

My Cousin Edna Knew Me Better Than I Knew Myself She was my father's mother's first cousin, and she was more like a grandmother on my father's side, since his mother lived far away in Oklahoma and I only had two visits with her during my life. It w...

Adoption Song for Sarah, as She Turned 18

Sarah was such a child. She came into our lives as a foster child at the age of nine. She had been sexually abused by her father, and both she and her younger brother Jason (who was five) came to us from separate previous foster homes. We had met Jas...

I love where I live -- in the north part of San Luis Obispo County 

I actually have two home towns here: Paso Robles and Templeton

We bought our property in Templeton just after our son Jason died. We had sealed the deal about three days before he died, and we had walked this property together. It was really purchased with him in mind, since it has almost 14 acres and could support the horse he wanted to have. The house is very small, and we never would have bought it had we known I would turn into a bookseller who needed a lot of storage space. The house has only 1120 square feet, and a really dinky kitchen. The previous owners had a restaurant business and probably only had breakfast at home, thus they didn't need many cupboards or much counter space. Except for the kitchen and bathrooms, you will find book merchandise in every room of the Templeton house, most in boxes waiting to be listed or numbered boxes already listed. In only one bedroom are the three large bookcases full of only our own books.

We also live part time in Paso Robles in a home we inherited from my mother. It is much larger, with a nice big kitchen, a living room, and a family room, as well as three bedrooms and an office. This is where we entertain and relax on weekends, although we still sleep at home where it's quiet and we can hear the owls hooting at night and the occasional howl of a coyote. I work to maintain the gardens at both houses, though we have a gardener to mow the lawns at the Paso house. In Templeton we don't have a lawn. Unfortunately, I'm still using two bedrooms to sort the contents of both our mothers' stuff. My mother-in-law lived in a huge house and every bit of it was full of stuff. Some we kept and brought to Paso Robles. We are using the furniture we brought back, but we still have a lot of things to sort through and give away. It does not help that we are both pack-rats. I also have claimed the office to use for listing used books and storing a lot of them, and the master bedroom is also in use for storage except for the bed. I was hoping to free up two bedrooms before Thanksgiving, but I doubt that it will happen by then. I said that last year, too.

I love writing about the area where I live. Templeton is located between the cities of Paso Robles and Atascadero. We can drive for ten minutes south and be in Atascadaro. We can drive less than a mile east and be in Paso Robles. If we want to go to the county seat in San Luis Obisopo, we drive south for 30 minutes. This is the beginning of what I will write about my area of California's central coast.

Templeton, California

Templeton, California is a small, friendly community where you almost always run into someone you know at the Saturday Farmers Market. We have many vineyards,some small businesses, a few churches, and three public schools with good reputations. We d...

A Spring Afternoon in Paso Robles, California

I spend a good part of my free time at the house I inherited from my mom in the Riverbank Tract in Paso Robles. This is bordered by the Walmart Center on the north side, the Salinas River on the west side, South River Rd on the East, and a drainage d...

Templeton's Historical District in Templeton, CA

Templeton is a small, historic town in San Luis Obispo County, California. It was first settled by native Salinan people. The first Europeans passed though in the late 1760's. Its land was part of what is now known as the San Miguel Mission about 20...

My Journey of Faith 

I was raised in what was then The Bellflower Community Presbyterian Church in Bellflower, California. I am now a member of The Covenant Presbyterian Church in Paso Robles, California. I have had an interesting journey between these two spiritual homes. It will take time and many more lenses to cover it. Here are a few stops along the way.

Note: If you think Making Zjito for Slava should really be in recipes, try making it. I think few people would chose to make this except for religious reasons. It is a ceremonial food.

How I Met the Christian Reformed Church

I am not Dutch, but I was born and raised in Bellflower, California, and much of its population was Dutch. We had four Christian Reformed churches in Bellflower, but until my second year of college I was a member of the Community Presbyterian Church...

Making Zjito for Serbian Slava

  Zjito is one of the two ceremonial foods made by Serbian families when they prepare to celebrate their Slava. It is made of wheat which is cooked and ground. This is mixed with finely ground walnuts, and sugar. In the picture, it's on the...

Slava: A Serbian Orthodox Celebration

In my husband's family, Slava is a bigger holiday than Christmas.  In our family it is celebrated on December 19th every year, since Kosta's family's patron saint is St. Nicholas. Not all families celebrate on the same day. Families...

Dealing with death is never easy 

But when I have to do it, writing helps me get through it.

I'm hoping that others facing the sudden, unexpected death of a loved one through accident or suicide may find some help here. And if you are faced with helping a loved one through a terminal illness, I hope I've given some encouragement and helpful hints to get you through that.

Sarah: The Suicide of Our Adult Child

We learned on Friday afternoon, May 15, 2009 that our daughter Sarah had ended her tormented life. We spent three hours this afternoon talking with her common law husband, and he is devastated. Our daughter was very disturbed when she came to us as...

Being There for a Dying Loved One

I had the opportunity and privilege of sitting beside my mother while she died at home of cancer. She had opted at the age of 89 to leave her newly discovered cancer untreated and receive hospice care so she could die comfortably in her own home. At...

How to Deal with Mortuaries

When it does, someone has to start thinking about doing business with a mortuary. Maybe that someone is you. Chances are if this is the first time you have played the part of next of kin -- the one who has to make the arrangements -- you're a bit con...

Why does the suicide of a loved one take us by surprise?

Our friend Rich, who had come West to our town a few years back, had come into our lives in 1992, when he was sent out by a plumber we had called. Gradually he became a close friend over the years. Toward the end of his life, he was in a lot of pain...

I love sharing my recipes. 

Most are quick and easy to go with my busy life.

Most of what I share here are my everyday recipes -- what we eat when I realize that I must serve lunch fast after a morning of constant work and many interruptions. We eat our big meal after my husband comes home from his swimming at the gym about 3 PM. We don't really eat dinner. Some of these dishes can be on the table in less than 45 minutes. Others require a little more time when you have it and can be reheated for another meal when time is short.

Barb's Cheese and Chard Squares

This is one of our favorite autumn and winter dishes for whenever it's cool enough to use the oven in comfort. It's fast and easy, as are most of my favorite recipes. Assembly takes little time once the chard is cleaned and ready to go. You...

Stove-Top Broccoli and Sausage Pasta

It's one of my old standby recipes when time is short or the day is hot. I usually buy a large package of Polish or other Smoked Sausage and keep it in the freezer. When I have fresh broccoli to use, I can have this on the table in about 45 minutes...

Barb's Favorite Black Bean Soup

It's both nutritious and delicious. Serves four as a meal. Prepare in about 45 minutes, including cooking time.. I adapted this recipe from one found in Reader's Digest Great Recipes for Good Health. and I like it better because of the added nutrie...

Barb's Favorite Spanish Rice Casserole

I love it, too, because it's easy to make. This Spanish rice recipe makes four or five main dish servings. You will need a large skillet,a saucepan of at least two -quarts, with cover, and a 2-quart casserole. You will want to grease the casserole o...

Barb's Easy Stove-top Beans

It's easy and flexible. This is, like most of the recipes I use day in an day out, not always the same. It took me a long time to realize that many recipes are just jumping off places. The ingredients that remain pretty constant are listed here: 4...

 

Making Serbian Musaka with Potatoes

You may know musaka as moussaka, but Serbs spell it musaka. We serve this as one of the dishes in our Slava meal. Because we enjoy it so much, and because it's healthy , we also eat it at other times. I have made the low-fat version here. You c...

Barb's Favorite Tuna Casserole

This is my very favorite tuna casserole recipe. It has been adapted from several different ones I have used as I've played with ingredients. The original recipe called for frozen peas and carrots and we were both very happy with it, as were our c...

Some of my favorite salad recipes 

Most are quick and easy.

Although I enjoy a good green salad as much as anyone else, especially with a pasta dish, sometimes it just doesn't go with the meal or I happen to be out of greens. These are some of the other salads we really enjoy.

Carrot-Raisin Salad Recipe

Sometimes a green salad just doesn't go with a meal. Today I made Barb's Cheese and Chard Squares.  I  thought  they needed a carrot and raisin salad to set them off, so I decided to invent one that might be better than most I...

Making Creamy Cucumber Salad

During the late summer, I usually have the few ingredients needed. You will need cucumbers -- one large long green one or two or three lemon cucumbers, for each two people. You will also need plain yogurt, some fresh garlic, and some onion soup mix...

Serbian Tomato Salad

When you've got the ingredients you'll have it done in 15 minutes. As I write this, the daytime temperatures outside are in the triple digits and it doesn't cool off much under the seventies at night. That means it's so hot without air conditioning...

Festive Broccoli Salad for Thanksgiving

It's colorful and tasty, and it's also very easy to make. I have adapted this recipe from one I tried at Trader Joe's a few years ago, and I've we've been enjoying it ever since. Some ingredients can only be found packaged at Tra...

Getting involved as a citizen of the community and country. 

Debating Health Care Reform

My Eye-Witness Report Tonight I attended my first ever town hall meeting with our Congressmen, Kevin McCarthy (R). He represents the North County of San Luis Obispo County and Bakersfield, in California. There must have been at least 2,000 people...

Tea Party Tax Protests in San Luis Obispo County, California

There's nothing like a cause I believe in to lure me away from my computer screen and into the real world. I see what the elected officials in Washington, D.C. are doing to make my life and the lives of those around me more difficult on a daily basis...

Sometimes life hands you a set-back. 

I seem to have gotten my share. I'm hoping my experiences might help someone else going through something similar, or help someone visualize something that's never happened to them.

Our Fight Against Termites: Not a Commercial

Most of the lenses on termites on Squidoo are from the point of view of the termite control people. Mine is about how termite damage affects the homeowner and what you can expect if you have to repair the damage termites have done to your house. We h...

My Tomatoes Were Hit by a late Frost in April

When it warms up in April here on the California Central Coast, gardeners often throw conventional wisdom out the window. Surely when you're in the midst of an April heat wave the frost season is over. April 24 seems an arbitrary last frost date...

The Paso Robles Earthquake, December 22, 2003

Earthquakes come without warning.They strike when they are the farthest thing from your mind. I am going to tell you about the day the earth shook up my little piece of ground in Templeton, California. Paso Robles got more publicity, but where I live...

Shopping with Barb 

I'm not into shopping the way some people are. I do it from necessity, but I don't really enjoy it. A store is the last place I want to be if I can help it. So most of my shopping lenses I did because of a Rocket Moms assignment or a challenge. When I do shop for anything but food, I do most of it on line or through mail order catalogs.

Gifts for Gardners

What kind of gift will make the face of a retired gardener light up? If your grandmother  likes to grow roses or vegetables you may wonder what kind of gift she would really use and love. Women over 65 probably have all the cologne and decorati...

My Dollhouse Full of Memories

My Cousin Edna Knew Me Better Than I Knew Myself She was my father's mother's first cousin, and she was more like a grandmother on my father's side, since his mother lived far away in Oklahoma and I only had two visits with her during my life. It w...

Quizzes 

This first quiz will be pretty easy to pass if you've read the rest of this and enough of the lenses.

Quiz: How Well Do You Know Barb R? (aka BarbRad, barbsbooks)

I won't ask anyone if they can spell my last name without looking, and I didn't even ask if you know what my last name means in Serbian. (The answer is "working all the time.") If you want to cheat a bit, you might find some answers...

I was really excited when I become a RocketMom 

Now I'd like to introduce some of the RocketMoms who have helped me most.

Since I'm only allowed to list five lenses here, I have not been able to include everyone who has helped me learn my way around. I'm not even sure all the people who helped me are RocketMoms. I've tried to link to the lenses that will best introduce them. All of these are wonderful people who give a lot of themselves to serving others.

Who The Heck Is bdkz?

Who is bdkz? That's a tough question to answer but here's a start! I'm a Giant Squid Organizer, Head RocketMom and a Squid Angel. I have created over 400 lenses, been "Lens of the Day" twice and have had 15 of my lens in the Top 100. I have also sna...

The Many Hats of BevsPaper

Hi, I'm Bev Owens also known as BevsPaper when writing here on Squidoo. Our assignment this week at Rocket Moms was to write an "About Me" page to give a little insight of who exactly we are. I wear many hats, actually. I'm a Wife,...

Evelyn Saenz: Lensography of a Teacher

My passion is teaching and finding ways to teach children in fun, hands-on, creative ways. The unit studies I make on Squidoo reflect my view that learning should be integrated and no skills should be taught in isolation. I believe that each topic s...

clouda9 - A Lensmaster Giving Back

~ About people and making connections! ~ A place to be creative! ~ A platform to write about your passions! ~ One of the best social networks! ~ An excellent site to learn, share and give back! ~ My favorite place to be on the Internet, besides Tagfoo...

My Best-Ever Recipes Collection

Collected over the last twenty years, my best-ever recipes are from various sources and include recipes for special occasions and for everyday meals. You'll find some extraordinary baking ideas, like carrot cake and banana bread, and some holiday...