February 28th, 2011Waiting for the Sears catalog

When I was very young, two events marked the official beginning of the holiday season in my mind.  The first was the Macys Thanksgiving Parade which featured Santas initial public appearance of the season and the second was the arrival of the Sears Christmas Catalog.  I would spend countless hours flipping through the pages while I made my wish list.  As I got older and my priorities changed, I looked forward to the Sears tool catalog showing up in the mailbox. Id like to say that as I matured I no longer made wish lists, but unfortunately that wasnt the case.  The catalog always seemed to be full of tools I just had to have for working on my motorcycles and cars.

Sears Maytown?

People waited for another type of Sears catalog from 1908 until 1940.  Its pages contained possibilities for achieving the American dream.  The Sears Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans listed house kits of all shapes and sizes and had drawings of each one.  The kits had a guarantee of arriving with all the parts needed to build the home in the picture. There were even ins

Read full post…

Have you thought about remodeling your home? Have you often wondered what the best home improvement projects will be the best investment for you and your family? How do you know if the money you are willing to invest in improving your home is going to be worth it? If these questions have ever crossed your mind and you are looking to improve your home but dont know where to start or what the best home improvement projects will be, here is a list of some of the best home improvement investments.

1.   Remodeling your kitchen may seem like a tedious task and at first, sounds like a large investment. While this may be true if deciding to remodel the entire kitchen, doing smaller remodeling projects to your kitchen may also prove to be just as worth it as remodeling the entire kitchen. I

Read full post…

Like everyone else these days, I’m on the lookout for home improvement projects that can change the most while costing the least. My search includes quick and affordable projects that take only a matter of days to complete and add value to your home.  If your bathroom looks fine except for a dingy, scratched or discolored tub or tub/shower combination, installing a bathtub liner can spiff up the room in quick order.

Today’s bathtub liners are manufactured in wide range of colors, take only one or two days (total) to install, and the durable acrylic used in the product resists chipping and staining. There’s no need to tear anything apart in your bathroom and, aside from disrupting your bath schedule a few days, they don’t interfere with your bathroom use. That means you won’t have to rip out the toilet, flooring or tile to lay the new liner over your existing tub—all without needing new grout. You can chan

Read full post…

February 24th, 2011Get ready for an alien invasion

Theyre coming.  Theyre already among us in the Mid-Atlantic.  They may be on their way to your old house.

I grew up in the country.  Bugs have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My policy has always beenif they dont bother me, I wont bother them.  I will have to admit Im not terribly fond of spiders and getting a face full of gnats on a hot summer day isnt much fun.

I was more curious than anything else when I saw a new arrival on the scene last fall.  At first there were just a few of them in my old house and then their numbers seemed to increase.  I wasnt sure what they were or where they were coming from, but they seemed to be in just about every room.  These insects were a drab brown and moved very slowly, but could also fly a short distance.  They didnt bite or sting or do any damage at all that I could see.  They just crawled. It got to a point that it wasnt unusual to find one crawling across my keyboard or up my arm while I was typing.

I mentioned it to my parents and discovered that their old house had been invaded, too.  Experts now estimate that homes in about 28 states have been invaded by this alien intruder and from what Ive readit could become even worse this spring.  The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is native to Asia.  It was first discovered in this country near Allentown, Pa. around 2001.  The

Read full post…

It just snowed here in Maryland, but I’m already thinking about spring and getting my yard back into shape. The time to apply weed & feed is almost here so I’m running an old post with a few updates.

Yesterday was a good day. I took a day off work to relax and knock off a few things from my ever growing to-do list. One of those items was to spread weed & feed on my lawn. I missed the window to spread preemergent crabgrass preventer (even though Fred wrote a great post about it). I’m fortunate that I don’t have a ton of crabgrass to head off. However, I have plenty of dandelions. Here are some details about weed & feed and how to use it effectively.

What is Weed & Feed?

Weed & feed is designed to strengthen existing grass and kill off weeds at the same time.  It improves your lawn’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, and it’s composed of several parts. Weed & feed

Read full post…