Downsizing isn't so bad, if one can still have a room of one's own..
'A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction'
-V.W.
Cheers!

Your home is just lovely. My daughter and her husband live in Chestnut Hill and are house hunting...wouldn't that be fun! I hope you are well, we think of you often. Warm regards, Susan Dampeer from Saint Mary's

Well it is a little bit of a commute from Ohio - too bad! The rooms look lovely and I'm so happy to see all those bookshelves - I'm amazed at how few bookshelves I see in houses these days.
As my husband teases me - it's not a house if there isn't a bookshelf in every room! :-)

I see the spice rack. WANT ONE JUST LIKE IT! It looks like a beautiful house, I know it must be very hard to leave.

We have the same kitchen set! I'll bring the tea.
I was at the SCBWI conference and loved your talk. I mean, really loved it. I am 75, related to your stories . . .am just starting on this journey!
Told my granddaughters that I had heard you and Irene, who is in love with Goonie Bird Greene, went home and wrote a letter that I am supposed to send to you.
Will you open attachments?
Should I send snail?
She wrote it first thing this morning and can't wait to hear what we should do.
By the way, my "Grandma Statis" is at an all time high!
Katy

Thanks, Katy: Yes, you can send it to me as an attachment by going to my blog - www.loislowry.com - and clicking on "Email me" .... I try to answer those every day.

OH. THAT SPICE RACK!
I keep my spices in a drawer, alphabetized (more or less). We write all the names on the lids. This sometimes requires masking tape labels. I wish the spice company that makes the spices in little green jars would go back to green lids, instead of black.

(I think this is too long to post as a blog comment, but I'm sending it anyway.)
Today was a beautiful day in the Boston area, so I convinced my mother-in-law to look at some properties in Cambridge because she was thinking of moving there (from Belmont). We had some time to kill between condo open houses, so I talked her into looking at a house that was a little over her price range. (I think it's always a good idea to look at things you can't afford.)
The house was beautiful - we admired the sunny location, the cozy (and tidy!) study off the dining room, the unique spice rack (!) in the kitchen, the furniture and general decor .... My mother-in-law loved the master bedroom, and admired some photographs in the bedroom that were taken in Maine, as well as the painting over the bed. And then we looked in the basement, with an exceptionally neat sewing area, and a secluded guest room which my mother-in-law thought would be perfect for the grandchildren ...
And then I noticed an award with Lois Lowry's name on it. And then I noticed that next to it, there was a whole bookcase there devoted to your books, multiple copies, as well as audio versions. I had read most of them - I read the Anastasia Krupnik books aloud to my kids when they were younger, I read the young adult books in my mother-son book group, and of course The Giver is part of the middle school English curriculum in my town (Lexington). Even now, I'm currently reading both Autumn Street and Number the Stars in their French translations, because I'm trying to teach myself French. And it dawned on me that you must live here (which surprised me - for some reason, I thought you lived in Maine), and I felt excited, and honored, and also a little embarrassed that I was invading your privacy.
But I also felt very happy, because it was wonderful to first admire a house, and appreciate the taste of whoever lived in it ... and then discover that it belonged to someone I already admired!
After I came home, a little googling brought me to your blog posting in which you lamented the loss of your spice rack ... and I laughed out loud, because I had noticed it, and I remembered thinking what a practical design it was for a spice rack. I completely understand why you would miss it.
So - I never write authors or celebrities - but I wanted to say good luck selling the house. I love your house, and I can see how it must break your heart to sell it after all these years. But hopefully you'll love your new home just as much, and you can always have another spice rack built in.

Not too long at all, Linda, and a treat to hear from you! I love anyone who loves my spice rack!
I do have a house in Maine...a lovely old farm...it is where I spend summers. Best of both worlds. (Spice rack: not as good in maine. View: better)