From Calico to Crinoline

Carol Barr Alumbaugh, a former resident of Santa Barbara, CA where she became interested in the history of the early Mission period and the people who lived then. Later when her children got into a derelict old house near the Mission Santa Ynez, in Solvang, CA. the family was astounded to find no electric wiring, no plumbing., no built in cabinets. However, it had marble wash basins in each bedroom, a marble fireplace, over which hung a huge grand mirror about four foot wide and six high surrounded in gold gilt with two huge candle sconces either side. At one time the grand stairs had gone from the great room up to bedrooms. There was one very large brass chandelier which was for oil.(Now festooned with Years of cobwebs and dust) This was a very old house! I later chose this as the focal point of this book. I graduated college in 1947 after two years of Journalism training, but married and raised three sons on a poultry ranch instead. The years since have given me many interesting side tracks. I began the first flower shop in Solvang, and have been a florist there for several years. I have been in sales, I even had a three year stint as an Employment agent, and have done much church volunteering. All of which has given me lots of fodder for my books. So in 1985 I began to write. I enjoyed it so much I have been writing ever since. My second book is a sequel and follows the same people through The Courageous Years, a fiction story based on historical facts centered on Politics, Railroads, Civil war and it's many effects. I now reside in Yakima, WA where I am finishing a third novel about relationships and especially troubled teen problems.