Wildflowers are now making an appearance: bloodroot, wild ginger, woodland phlox, dutchman’s breeches, and trout lilies. Spring has sprung! Last weekend forecasts predicted a day of rain, so I dedicated a few days to clearing perennial beds. After I clean beds each spring, I scratch organic fertilizer into soil and mulch. I like to do [...]

5 Things to do Before Putting Your Home on the Market 1. Have a pre-sale home inspection. Be proactive by arranging for a pre-sale home inspection. An inspector will be able to give you a good indication of the trouble areas that will stand out to potential buyers, and you’ll be able to make repairs [...]

Name of Product: GE Profile™ Freestanding Dual Fuel Ranges Units: About 28,000 Manufacturer: GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky. Hazard: The wiring in the rear of the range can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. Description: This recall involves GE Profile 30″ Freestanding Duel Fuel ranges. The ranges were sold in [...]

My mind has been wandering lately. Spring fever? Yeah. Concern over the plants in the Giant Garden? Yeah. Wanting to hang out on my new deck? Oh yeah! Spending time on the deck has become this new event at my house. We’ve never had one and we are enjoying the heck out of it. My [...]

I just got back from a trip to Las Vegas.  I left excited to finally see the west and returned an exhausted husk of a woman.  Sin City rises from the dust like some sort of decadent Oz, a mecca for the self-indulgent.  To a slightly introverted Southern country girl, Las Vegas is overwhelming – [...]

  Time had come to dig up my now dead grass rectangle.  My efforts must have looked pathetic from the third floor of my townhome where my son spotted my struggles and felt sorry for me, coming outside to take over.  Not that I couldn’t have done it all myself mind you (I am woman [...]

  An early spring snowstorm smothered flower beds with 3 inches of heavy, wet snow yesterday. I grabbed the camera to capture the beauty of Scilla sibirica snuggled in a bed of oak leaves covered with a blanket of snow. I grow two scilla species: blue or Siberian squill (Scilla sibirica) and white or early [...]

The funny thing is I thought I could do this by myself.  I am an independent woman, not afraid to try new things.  But then, my little peat pot pellet-babies started to peek out from under their warm dirt beds, and I started to panic.  If I didn’t do something soon they might grow too [...]

  Most of the snow melted last week, and I’ve been scouring planting beds searching for signs of life. A few iris shoots are poking through leaf litter, but that’s about it. Typically snowdrops unfurl the first flower in my garden, but they’re still missing in action. One sign of spring I spotted made me [...]

My husband and I are empty nesters who bought a 1981 ranch.  We purposefully looked for a house with good bones that we could update.  Who could blame me for wanting to use some of the beautiful products I get to see everyday in my job?   We have lots of stories about each room [...]