For her birthday, my brother gave our Mom a flat-screen TV. Unfortunately, it didn’t work with her old TV stand and the size of stand she wanted wasn’t easily found unless you had an unlimited budget. Derek said, no worries Ma, we’ll make you one! …
Apparently, Martha Stewart turned pasta on its noodle a couple of years ago but I missed it. Thanks to a food blogger’s recent Twitter post, I’ve learned the recipe and I’m sharing it here in case you missed it too. …
Months ago, my sister-in-law Carolyn shared a post on my Facebook page about a Pinterest project. Someone had taken an old, wooden dresser and turned it into a bench. Carolyn had an old dresser that had been in the family for decades. It used to belong to our husbands’ maternal Grandma and it had seen better days. Carolyn suggested, half-joking I’m sure, that hubby and I take this on. We leapt at the chance! Once we ascertained that the dresser was indeed made of solid wood, we got to work, and kept at it when we had time. …
Every year, we talk about building a new deck. Every year we decide it’s too expensive or not a priority and we put it off. This year we decided to heck with it and got it done, bigger and better than we ever imagined, because of a lot of good luck. …
One day you’re saying a new deck can wait. The next day, you’re working out a drawing with the contractor and watching the old deck come down. …
Perhaps you’ve done this too — you’re watching one of the many house-flipping shows on TV and say, “I should do that.” …
Flipped Out – Toronto Sun “Let’s Renovate” articleRead More »
Barns, cottages and sheds full of treasures are hiding throughout rural Ontario and the hosts of Backroad Bounty are itching to find them and pick through the treasures within. …
Show Probes Treasures Lurking Across Rural Ontario – articleRead More »
No, not the one I live in. Many months ago, we joined with brother Rob and another partner in a house-flipping adventure. We bought a wreck of a place in Welland, ON and through the magic of money and back-breaking labour, turned it into a home for two families and an income property for someone to buy. …
It’s no secret that Spice the wonder cat, as he’s known around here, is the king of our castle. We adore him. He’s 14 now and at times he’s still as curious and playful as a kitten. …
On my first trip to Nashville many years ago, I picked up a few unusual trinkets as souvenirs. My Lynn Anderson pill box fell apart long ago but my City of Nashville keychain tape measure is still going strong. You wouldn’t believe how many times that little thing has come in handy while I’m shopping. …
House Proud – Adhesive Measuring Tape Proves a Must-HaveRead More »
I’m not saying I’m happy that hubby is temporarily jobless but, boy oh boy, he’s getting a lot done around the house! …
Over many years and several houses, I’ve painted dozens of rooms and a hundred pieces of furniture. It drove my husband crazy when I wouldn’t properly prepare the space for inevitable splatters and spills. And then there’s cleanup, which is even worse than getting ready. There’s no putting lipstick on this pig. Painting stinks and I have plenty of reader input to show I’m not alone. …
A colleague is taking a night course in beer tasting and he came to work the morning after a recent class with a new understanding of his girlfriend. Having spent the evening trying to distinguish between flavours with the slightest differences, he finally got how she could spend hours poring over paint chips, when to him, they all looked pretty much alike. Beer, like paint, is made with different undertones and finishes. But only one of them looks appropriate on your wall. …
House Proud: Beautiful Blues to Reign as Colour of the YearRead More »
It was one of those things. On Sunday morning, I had merely turned away from the sink after tying up my hair in a ponytail and my iPhone leapt from my hand and into the (mercifully clean) toilet bowl. …
My work has brought me a lot of cool things from concert tickets, to clothes, to opportunities to meet special people. And last week, my position as columnist for Sun Media brought me a happy box of stuff that could only appeal to someone like me. …
The first time I saw a commercial for 1980s invention, The Clapper, I nearly fell off the couch laughing. The device enabled the sharp sound of clapping one’s hands to turn a switch on or off. The clappers in the commercial were used mostly on lamps. Unfortunately, The Clapper could also be triggered by a dog’s bark or a cough but it was an early attempt at hands-free technology. …
House Proud – Touchless Technology Enters the HomeRead More »
The light in our main bathroom drove me a little bit crazy. You’d flick the switch and the light flicked on and off and on and off like a weak strobe light until finally lighting up. It also made a noise like a pinball machine with every flicker. …
Derek had the shell of an old radio. We have a couple of intact ones upstairs but this one was in no shape for a prominent display area. It was missing chunks of veneer, the speaker cloth – not to mention a speaker – and a piece of one corner of the footing was broken off in a jagged mess. …