I decided the other day to clean our long-suffering garbage disposal drain. That may or may not have been a decision made after becoming a bit stir-crazy during our ice-in. Or perhaps it was the sink’s slow draining while we had the taps running to prevent pipe freeze. Anyway. Several months ago I found a […]
Ideas
Save the Berries!!
We’re in the midst of a late-summer berry bonanza in North Texas. Raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries are all available, sweet and juicy, and at prices too good to let pass. But berries are notoriously tough to keep fresh when they are this, well, fresh. Unless you know a little trick: Vinegar. I stumbled across this tip on […]
Life in Miniature
Parklets are fun. Usually I only see them on PARK(ing) Day in Dallas. So it was a nice surprise to see this one that’s popped up outside a cafe near my downtown train stop:
Fixing a Running Problem
This isn’t about running form or sore feet or chafing. No, this is about another running problem: Rust stains. Sometimes you’re given bum safety pins to attach the race bib to your shirt. Unfortunately, you don’t know that you have bum safety pins until after you remove the pins and find that your massive amounts […]
Inexpensive Spruce-Up…and Testing Martha Stewart
I had cruddy mismatched carpet tile samples in my laundry room (aka the air lock…currently one of our most-hated spaces in the Hayley House). It was time for them to go. After months of looking, I finally found a rug that would work (I needed a difficult size: 2.5’x4′) on clearance at Target. Yay! I […]
Help – Agave/Syrup/Sap Spillled!
This story begins at the intersection of thoughtfulness, warm weather and false advertising. During my pantry purge, I found not one – but two – bottles of agave nectar. Why I had two bottles, I’ll never know. But the great irony of the agave was that we quickly discovered after buying one bottle that agave wasn’t […]
Two Pinterest Tips Worth Trying
The test subject: The guest shower that’s been a bit grody since we moved into the Hayley house nearly four years ago. Test one: Vinegar cleans hard water off of shower heads. Like I said, our guest shower has been a bit grody. This isn’t technically dirt, but it is an abundance of hard water […]
Oven Baked Bacon: This One’s for You, Mom
When my family was here a few weeks ago, I made bacon for breakfast. Real, less-than-healthy-but-tasty pork bacon. Now I usually purchase turkey bacon – have for years. So why did I make pork bacon? Because a couple of cute young’ins specifically asked for it. You might as well give me the Best Aunt in […]
Removing Silver Tarnish: How Pinterest Sometimes Sort-of Lies
I saw a pin on Pinterest many months ago that I knew I had to try out: A how-to on removing tarnish from your silver all at once. Here’s the how-to photo: And the instructions: De-tarnish ALL your silver ALL at once… line your sink with aluminum foil, add 1/2 c table salt, 1/2 c. […]
Clean Your Washing Machine (Please, Shannah, Do It!)
Since I (accidentally) showed you my disgusting washing machine yesterday: I thought I’d better show you how to clean a washing machine. First, fill the wash tub with hot water. Add 3-4 cups bleach. Allow the machine to agitate for 1 minute, then let it sit for an hour. Those black specks in the photo? […]