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The Kovels – Antiques and collecting

With its rings of holly branches, this majolica platter carries the spirit of Christmas. And with its $7,735 sale price at Strawser Auction Group, it’s certainly something to celebrate! But a closer look shows its symbols are a little different from the decorations most of us may be used to. The birds around the rim are robins; not something you often see on American Christmas decorations, but very popular in the United Kingdom. Robins are often seen there in the winter because they migrate there from Scandinavia and Continental Europe. Then there are the portrait medallions of a ...

To Your Good Health

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband and I booked a cruise for March with stops in Singapore; Vietnam; Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; and Japan. We are healthy 67 year-old Nevada residents with no medical problems. I’ve checked with my personal physician, our travel agent, and several websites, including the Centers for Disease Control and local health care agency websites, for required vaccinations/immunizations. The recommended list is very long. However, I haven’t seen anything that is required. My doctor said we should be fine since we will be staying on a cruise ship with only ...

Dear Annie

Dear Annie: I have been married for more than 24 years, and we have three wonderful daughters. My husband has always been a wonderful father and an OK husband. However, he has always treatedme with a lot of disrespect, and over the years, I always brushed it off because he was such a great dad to my daughters and because he provided everything for me. But as we all get older, he is treating our youngest daughter in the same way as he has treated me. This is upsetting her every day, and I have told him numerous times to stop, and he just continues to do this. I am ready to leave ...

To Your Good Health

DEAR DR. ROACH: Am I a doomed man? When I was 25, I survived a battle with testicular cancer. The good news is that 45 years later, after two kids and three grandkids, I’m in good health. The only medicine I take is gabapentin for peripheral neuropathy that was caused by the chemotherapy drugs I received during the cancer treatment. One or more of these drugs caused neuropathy in my feet. A neurologist prescribed 800 mg three times a day, and I took this for about 15 years. As I got older, it became 800 mg four times a day for the past 20 years. As I talk to people, they seem ...

The Kovels – Antiques and collecting

Sometimes, people like to think of the past as a steady, stable time where tradition ruled the day. Ironically, learning about antiques can prove that notion wrong; and some of the best lessons can come from 19th-century furniture. Technological advances made complicated furniture designs more accessible, and the growing nouveau riche meant more customers in need of furniture, often with more extravagant tastes. The Merklen Brothers of New York, active between the 1880s and 1900, were among the furniture makers taking advantage of new tools and catering to new tastes. Unusual ...

Dear Annie

Dear Annie: I have mobility issues and use a walker, so I’m mostly confined to my home. My son helps by taking me to the beauty salon and occasionally to the bank or pharmacy, but I spend most of my time at home. Today, two ladies showed up at my door unexpectedly. I hadn’t been up long and wasn’t dressed for visitors, and my house was far from presentable. There were Christmas boxes scattered everywhere, and I had just dropped a coffee cup, leaving broken pieces all over the kitchen floor. Needless to say, I wasn’t in a state to entertain anyone. When they rang the doorbell, ...