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Sallys Diaries, Issaquah, WA (2025)

01/12/2025

Well, we finally got all 4 episodes devoted to the diaries of Scottish ship surgeon, Dr. Alexander Watson, up on our podcast, diarydiscoveries; most of which took place in the late 1800s. We not only shared all about his life, but I also put the entire transcript of his diaries on my other website, sallysdiariesprivatecollection. Both sites include some wonderful original photos. In part 4 of Dr. Dunlop’s Scotland he sails to Iceland in 1888 and his entries are simply amazing. Here’s a brief excerpt of the many entries you’ll hear and read about……
“July 5th, 1888. Still coasting. We reached the North Cape at 10 AM and Eymundsson took 2 or 3 photographs of it. Passed within the Arctic Circle. No one could think, however, that we were in the Arctic regions. The air is excessively clear and still, the water smooth as glass, and the sun is shining brilliantly. The only sound comes from the ship with now, and then the almost silent splash of a duck…..One can see great distances, indeed and when standing well offshore, you may see 50 miles. How lovely the shore looks bounded by immensely high irregular rocks, some springing up in clusters of peaks and pinnacles. The snow is lying all over in patches and is perfectly dazzling in the sunlight. Just a beam is a waterfall coming down about 200 feet into the water. So all appears to my eye, but how to the captains? He listens gravely whilst I dwell on the grandeur of the landscape, the warmth amidst the snow, the uncanny stillness of earth and air and sea, and at the conclusion merely remarks, “But I fear it is all too still, there must be ice ahead.” Alas too true. Very shortly we begin to encounter blocks of ice that floated silently a stern at first in solitary pale green masses with pure white caps and ever thickening groups until at about 12 o’clock the engines had to be stopped. The captain went to the masthead and had a look around, but could find no path ahead… and so it was. I went up to the main top to have a better view and indeed it was magnificent. Ice everywhere and to the eye not a pathway extending more than a quarter of a mile anywhere.”

12/18/2024

Well, I haven’t been real good about posting diaries here. Will try to do better in 2025. I did however, post several miscellaneous diary entries that had to do with Christmas and the New Year from different authors and different eras on my Sally’s diaries private collection webpage. Here’s a sample of one of those entries written on New Year’s 1945 by a World War II nurse….
“January 1945. Another night, the air alert caught us at a dance. My es**rt had two helmets, fortunately. We sat on his veranda to watch the blacked out scene below. I took off the white slippers and put on a pair of his field boots in case we’d have to dive for a cave. We didn’t, I’m glad to say, it would’ve been full of bones. But the excitement went on for a long time, for hours. We sat and sat, “sweating out” the time while people back at the place of the dance were rolling up in blankets on the floor, to get some sleep under their helmets since they could not return to their posts. You simply don’t move under such circumstances, no matter how long you must wait. The nurses and I got home late, but not too late. You can probably understand why, to us now, the lovely moon no longer means beauty and peace. Brilliantly lighted land and ocean, it is a matter of apprehension. Going through the dimly lighted tents, I couldn’t lose the remembrance that people at home during the holidays were wondering about each man, that at home each one has his own place, perhaps a room to himself and certainly a desk and dresser rather than a tiny pile of belongings on the coral dust beneath his narrow hospital bed.”

11/04/2024

Toilers of the Sea.
I just posted part two of John’s 1927 grief diary on my Sally’s diaries private collection website. It represents his entries for February and I titled it “Toilers of the Sea”, which is a book John is reading by Victor Hugo. Here is a sample entry…
“12:00 Midnight. February 2nd, 1927.
I am grieving my heart away, it will stop someday. If I were not such a coward, I would have been dead now. If God holds any grieving against me, I can never enter his kingdom, for I am powerless to prevent it. I could plunge into a life that would cause me to forget my sweetheart, as the world calls it, but I do not want to forget, if that is what I should do, then I am doing wrong and I know not what to do. In “Toilers of the Sea”, Hugo says, “Virtue conducts not to happiness nor crime to retribution; conscience has one logic, fate another and neither coincide.” That is true. It seems what I do matters little, and yet for her, I live still in hopes, and her hand seems to guide me; it is unseen, it is beyond my comprehension. The world would say, “He is a fool and crazy.” I do not know. Ilya toyed skuisya. 12:20 a.m.”

10/26/2024

Dedicated to all of those who have lost a loved one or anyone who knows someone who is going through the darkness that grief brings upon us.
I am sharing one of my all-time favorite diaries on my new website at Sally’s Diaries Private Collecrion. It is a grief diary written by a 32-year-old man, John, in 1927. He lost his precious wife in the midst of her pregnancy with their first child. It is the diary that helped me get through my grief when I lost my husband back in 2008. I’ve always said this about John’s writing, it is as deep, raw, and honest as any diary I’ve ever read. And if that wasn’t enough, he writes like F. Scott Fitzgerald. Here’s one of my favorite entries…..
January 15, 1927. I used to think my cup of contentment would be full to overflowing when I had my sweetheart, a little car and a baby all our own. I was happy with her and life was sweet for us both. When we got the little car, it was an added joy and then we planned so much. For her it was always a tiny, red haired daughter and for me I had no choice only that I wanted the little one to be a pride to her mother’s heart. Now I have only the little car and each Sunday it carries me to her grave. May God speed the day when I shall not have to leave that spot. As I came home this evening an aeroplane passed overhead, and I had a longing to be in it as I have always had. Tonight I wished I had a powerful plane, could point its nose heavenward and lock the control, then drop the key to earth. Foolishness! For it, it would only be su***de. Tomorrow is Sunday and I am anxious for it to come.”

10/24/2024

My two girls! ❤️
So about 20 years ago, possibly more, I found this incredible old box that held a vintage diary. I fell in love with the picture on the front showing a 1920’s woman holding a feathered pen and sitting at her desk. Since then she’s been my logo for my business, Sally’s Diaries. About a month ago a person contacted me and said they had another box with the same girl on it. I’ve been searching and searching for others like her and now, thanks to him, I have another one and look at the difference in the colors. I was so excited and and I can’t thank this person enough. Now the two girls are together.
We’ve been working hard on our next podcast which should be out in a couple days… going finally. It’s going to be a three part series and it’s all about a Scottish surgeon and hisadventures during the 1880s and 1890s. Stay tuned.

10/12/2024

My kids have a wonderful business where they your own photos of your pets and turn them into works of art. They make wonderful Christmas gifts so check out their Instagram if you’re looking for a real special gift for someone or just for yourself.
P.S. more diary post soon. I hope I’ve been so busy with the podcast and trying to catalogue my group that I haven’t had time to post on here so I promise to do so soon.

09/19/2024

“November 3rd, 1949. There are still concentration camps as worse as the N***s had. If you speak frankly what you think, you disappear overnight. No one will even hear of you again whether you go to a camp or to Siberia and don’t survive it.”
I’ve just posted a group of WW2 era letters on my Sally’s diaries private collection website(which you can access in the links above if on Instagram.)
Immediately following Germany’s surrender, German artist Uscha Ebinghaus would write to a dear friend in America and share her own unique post war story. She not only used her heartfelt words to tell the story but included beautiful hand painted watercolor illustrations on nearly every page. At the end of the 1940s, when these letters begin, Uscha and her husband Gunter were living in Bad Wildungen Germany, the US zone. Gunter was also an artist and had been a P.O.W. In Marseille. As the letters progress, they are living just 180 miles from the Soviet occupation zone in East Germany. The woman she’s writing to is Anne Barr, wife of Colonel Thomas Barr. Both couples lived in the same apartment building in Germany during the war and that’s how they met. When the Barr’s headed back to America, Uscha and Anne kept up a correspondence.
The contents within the pages of these letters is absolutely amazing and gives you a first-hand look at what life was like in postwar Germany.

09/03/2024

Finally!! I’ve been wanting to start another webpage that features some of the diaries in my private collection, written up in their entirety. So for those of you have been asking where you can read full stories from diaries that I’ve been sharing here, this is the place. It’s a longer web name than usual, but I’ve decided to call it, Sally’s Diaries Private Collection. You can view it by clicking into the link I’ve provided above in my bio. I’ve only got one diary up right now, but I have many more I will be sharing in the near future.
This initial diary was written by Clara, a 51-year-old widow traveling to Germany in 1892 (and back again in 1894) to spend time with her son Howard, who was a famous composer. He was studying abroad under a man by the name of Professor Boise, who had a daughter named Anabel, who was an accomplished vocalist. Clara‘s life while in Germany were days spent lounging in hammocks while Howard would read aloud to his mother and Anabel and nights spent in the parlor listening to Howard play his music while Anabel sang beside him. Clara and Anabel became very close during these summer months and Howard and Anabel would soon marry and move to America to be with Clara. But tragedy would befall them all, a terrible tragedy, one that I’m sure haunted Clara until the day she died.
And you read all about it at my new website ,
sallysdiariesprivatecollection.com

08/22/2024

Meet Ernest William Beckett, 2nd Baron Grimthorpe (1856-1917). I just purchased 8 vintage diaries of his and what an interesting, to say the least, life he led. Beckett was an aristocratic dilettante who, despite squandering much of his inherited wealth and being kicked out of the family business, lead an extravagant lifestyle. The diaries give you a detailed look into Beckett’s early life, travels and opinions, as well as his two journeys to the far east. He eventually would build a home in Ravello Italy, which is now known as the Villa Cimbrone Hotel.
His personal life was quite extraordinary. He first married Lucy Tracy Lee in 1883. She was a wealthy American Heiress who was related to J.P. Morgan. She died in 1891 giving birth to Ernest 3rd child. He then had a relationship with Alice Keppel, who was a mistress of King Edward VII and Beckett is believed to have fathered a child of Keppel’s. That child’s name was Violet Trefusis and she was a well-known poet who had an affair with Vita Sackville West, a well-known author. Ernest also fathered a son, Lancelot Ernest Cecil, in 1895 by the Johannesburg socialite, Jose Brink Dale Lace, who was married to the mining magnet John Lace. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. These diaries represent those extraordinary years.

08/07/2024

Diary Discoveries podcast. Episode #53. A 1792 Diary about a most remarkable abolitionist. Her death, his grief, and The Testonites.
Haven’t posted in a while because we’ve been so busy either traveling to Ghost Towns or trying to get this latest episode out (and of course, reading other peoples diaries). But we did it. The amazing story in episode is from one of the oldest diaries in my collection, 1792. It’s the story of a gifted, influential woman by the name of Margaret Middleton, who behind the scenes was instrumental in the abolishment of slavery in England. The diary was written by her husband, Charles Middleton, who used his influence and friendships for the anti-slavery cause but sadly during it all lost his dear wife, the love of his life. He grieves for her and writes of his loss, his deep emotions and his prayers to God to “shorten my sorrow.” He was a man of great faith as was his wife. Together with other noble men and women of faith, they formed a group known as the Testonites. Their main concern was the abolishment of slavery. With amazing Grace and many years of effort, they were victorious.
The reason it took us so long to put up this latest episode is because his writing in the diary is one of the toughest I’ve ever had to read. I had to transcribe it all before we began. Although I rarely post photos of myself, the last photo shows me listening to the final cut which Jeff worked so hard on with his editing. It was really a profound experience for both of us and we learned so much. Hope we can share a little bit of what we learned in this episode.

07/04/2024

Sitting out here in the sunshine on this Fourth of July reading a diary from 1792, written just 16 years after our Independence. It’s the oldest diary in my collection and it will be the centerpoint of our next episode for our Diary Discoveries podcast. It’s all about grief. The author was Sir Charles Middleton and his wife had just passed away. The Middleton’s were a very historical couple who were one of the driving forces behind William Wilberforce, who was one of the leaders in the movement to abolish the slave trade. I remember sharing this diary when I was in Vienna for my TED talk which is the typed up entry I’m showing here. So from England, 232 years ago, to America, to Vienna and back to America again and now on the deck of a home in Washington state on this 4th of July, 2024. May the stories of those gone before us live on in our hearts and may we learn from their experiences and honor their legacy. Happy 4th everyone.

06/19/2024

Diary Discoveries Podcast Episode 52:
I was at an antique paper show about 12 years ago and came upon these two calendar pages from 1946. Five sailors had signed it as their “last will” when they left their ship the USS Mission Bay at the end of the war. I actually found these World War II veterans, and in this episode we share what they wrote, the history behind the early pinups and give you some background on the sailors themselves.

06/11/2024

My mind has been full lately with this whole AI thing when it comes to writing books, writing one’s story, writing in a diary. The first thing I want to say (and I say this not only because I’ve written in my own diary since I was 10 years old but also because I’ve had the privilege of reading other peoples diaries from the past for almost 40 years now)… don’t let anyone or “anything” tell you how to write. Your words, your thoughts, your feelings, and the way you put it all down on paper is perfect, it really is. It’s you, and you alone know what to write from your heart and there’s no right or wrong way on how you do it. I’ve read thousands of diaries written by people from all walks of life and different eras and none of them used AI and their stories are AMAZING, every single one of them. I’m not saying I’m an expert at how you should write, I don’t pretend to be, but I trust the voices from the past, and their voices through their own words are an inspiration for my soul and help me to realize that everyone has a unique story, told in their own unique way. So believe in yourself, because no one will ever know you as much as much as you know yourself.
“June 25, 1953. I sat on the back steps last night and told myself that 100 years from now I won’t even be here and it was hard to believe. I think I identified myself with the night, listening to the sounds, feeling the beauty of it, so in a way I suppose I will live on. The spirit of me existed here on this paper, someone else will catch the melody, and thus man goes on and on and on…. Bertha King, Corvallis, Oregon..”

05/28/2024

“The life of every man (and woman) is a diary….” This entire group belonged to a woman by the name of Mary Amanda Gehringer. They span the years of her life from 1925-1961. She lived in Pennsylvania and for 43 years worked for a Dr. Guth. I can only imagine the stories she has to tell. When I went to look up the doctor, there was a newspaper article from 1930 titled, “Boy badly hurt, tells local authorities, father hurled bomb at him. District attorney to investigate” And that’s just one of the hundreds of cases that Mary and Dr. Guth were involved in. But one of the most fascinating things I found was written in the beginning of one of Mary’s diaries. I had never heard this amazing quote. “The life of every man is a diary which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.”
That quote really got to me, so I had to look it up and go figure, it is a quote from James M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan.

05/06/2024

Part One!!!

05/05/2024

It’s been a while since I posted. I was looking through old photos of when I moved from Oregon to Washington. These are the tubs of vintage diaries I brought with me from my collection. I guess one of the reasons I don’t post as often as I’d like is because I’m trying to get through all of them. Doing a lot of cataloging and of course, the podcast. We’ve been so busy getting ready for a 50th episode of our podcast. Hopefully it’ll be out in a few days. This one’s going to take two parts because of the crazy journey it took us on. I can say with this one particular family starting back in the 1840s all the way up to the 1920s, there were two husbands, one lover, three children with three different fathers, countless affairs, a scandalous divorce, a child born out of wedlock, one murder and more. And it all started with Mary. In fact, in 1866 in a Nashville newspaper, this is how they described Mary right after the murder happened….”She resides in a splendid mansion in the northern part of the city, she is rich, highly accomplished, and although past 40, is one of the most beautiful and engaging women that has moved in Nashville society during the past six months. Had she been as prudent as she is fascinating, the bloody co**se of Charlie Bent would not be lying yonder on Union Street, nor would his devoted wife and two sweet babes, be weeping in utter desolation”…..More to come…

04/10/2024

“This all in the desert at 1 AM!”
I’m reading an original 1938 US travel diary. Our authors, husband, wife, and three month old baby, just left the Grand Canyon and happened upon Las Vegas that night. Oh how times have changed…..
“July 3rd, 1938. After leaving St. George, we went over a small mountain range as darkness overtook us, showing very jagged peaks on the horizon. We drove in turns, two hours each. The road was windy for the first hour or two then straight and mostly flat and very good surface. We got to Las Vegas at 11:30 our time. We’re surprised to find such a gaily lit up town, very many service stations, restaurants, etc. But learned the town depends on tourist trade, and Boulder, Dam, and for gambling, which is “open” in Nevada. After this, we passed many frequent roadside service stations and all night cafés. Even a barber at 1:30 AM and found cafés open and ready to serve coffee on the spot. This all in the desert at 1 AM! The amount of traffic surprised us, very many cars trucks and busy both ways and said to be heavier in the daytime. So many cars parked on the roadside for sleeping.”

04/03/2024

“Girl In Every Town”
The year is 1919 and I want to read from a newspaper article from the Cincinnati Enquirer that has everything to do with these letters I found in this beautiful vintage tin. I am going to be leaving the last names out just for now, because it’s the subject of our next podcast, episode, #50, which will be out in about three weeks on Diary Discoveries. Here’s the newspaper quote…
“1919. Mary _____was granted a divorce from Charles____, a salesman, yesterday. She charged her husband associated with other women in nearly every town he made on his business trips through the east and south. Mary brought to court many letters which, she said, had been received by her husband. It was alleged by Mary that a woman she did not know, called her recently, and suggested she obtain a divorce. She said the woman told her “This way three of us are miserable. If you get a divorce, two of us can be happy.”…… 17 letters said to have been written to Charles by other women, were introduced in evidence. One signed “Flo”addressed him as “Dearest Charlie” and sent him “oceans of love”. The writer said she would meet him in Memphis, Tennessee. A letter from Rochester, New York, signed “Emma May” spoke of him entering the army. This letter said “No one knows how I felt because I had no one to give, but now while it is not my own flesh and blood, you are all I love, dearest and best, so I have given all I have to give” and one stated, “you’re always worth the price.”
The article is much longer and believe me this is one incredible story that was highly publicized in the newspapers. And then as I was researching this family, I found a book titled, “Murder and Mayhem in Nashville” by Brian Allison and was shocked what I found inside. It was all about a murder that took place in 1866, having to do with Charles’ mother. It seems she was having an affair with a married man. Charles stepbrother found out and killed the man. This is one crazy stories where truth is stranger than fiction.

Sallys Diaries

01/12/2025

12/18/2024

11/04/2024

10/26/2024

10/24/2024

10/12/2024

09/19/2024

09/03/2024

08/22/2024

08/07/2024

07/04/2024

06/19/2024

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