So Easily Distracted

DIY Drawer Knife Storage Block

This is definitely one of the quickest and easiest DIY projects we’ve done that provided almost instant gratification. We now no longer have to fumble through a drawer filled with knives looking for a tiny paring knife. Each knife stays in its assigned spot and there’s no more risk of accidentally getting cut. After measuring … Continue Reading

How To Easily Clean The Glass Within An Oven Door

This should get filed under “Why do they let people who don’t clean appliances designappliances?”. You probably have an oven like ours, which has two panes of glass in the door. The vents at the top front of the oven door are there to allow heat/steam to escape, but they also allow any food drippings … Continue Reading

How To Easily Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

How To Easily Clean A Stainless Steel Sink

Routine tasks need to be relatively easy if I have to do them “routinely”. That said, I’m not going to degrease the sink with vinegar, halved lemons, hydrogen peroxide, etc. Nor am I going to hand polish it with flour, baking soda, or stainless steel polish. That would take forever and requires too much elbow … Continue Reading

The Battle To Get Rid Of Creeping Charlie

Creeping charlie isn’t our nickname for a creepy neighbor. It’s a lawn weed that can quickly take over your yard. It is also referred to ground ivy because of its vine-like spreading tendency. It has bright green scalloped leaves and pretty little purple flowers in spring. Creeping charlie (Glechoma hederacea) likes moist, shady areasbut, once … Continue Reading

Pruning and Propagating Nandina (Heavenly Bamboo)

Pruning and Propagating Nandina (Heavenly Bamboo)

We transplanted Nandina to camouflage 80 feet of chain link fence along our neighbor’s property. The dense layers of delicate leaves and clusters of deep red berries are beautiful year round and are prefect for hiding the fence. There are some considerations to keep in mind when growing Nandina, which include invasiveness and toxicity. While … Continue Reading

Converting Full Window Screens To Half Screens

Over the past decade, we have gradually replaced most of the windows in our home. Half sized window screens weren’t available yet when we installed the first batch of windows. The second set of installed windows had half screens, and the second I washed these windows for the first time I immediately wanted to convert … Continue Reading

Saving And Storing Seeds

Saving And Storing Seeds

Saving seeds from your backyard, flower beds and garden not only saves you money, but it is the best way to grow exactly what you want and what you know grows well on your property. There are certain colors of flowers that I love that aren’t always available at our local nursery each year. And … Continue Reading

Ingenious Ways To Recycle Gift And Credit Cards

If you happen to have a bunch of old credit cards, rewards cards, or used gift cards lying around, there are plenty of useful ways to recycle them. This is also a great way to make use of all those credit cards the companies keep sending you in the mail. Gift Bag Hook Organizers Emergency … Continue Reading

Pasta Drying Racks To Buy Or Make DIY

There are a lot of choices available for pasta drying racks, including high end models, budget friendly, several DIY options and, in a pinch, repurposing items you already have. Which option you choose will depend on your budget, storage needs, and materials preference. Kitchenaide Pasta Rack Attachment The Kitchenaide Pasta Drying Rack runs about $31. … Continue Reading

Controlling Black Scale On Olive Trees

Controlling Black Scale On Olive Trees

While checking on plants in our greenhouse, our small potted olive tree appeared to be dying. With Spring only a few weeks away, it should have been sprouting new growth. Instead, its leaves were dirty and/or turning brown. There were also a lot of ants traveling along its branches. And on closer inspection, there were … Continue Reading

Pruning Pepper Plants

If you spend a fewminutes doing a Google Scholar search for “pruning peppers”, you will quickly see that researchers found that pruning peppers (in a commercial setting) does not necessarily increase yield. A healthy pepper should be bushy with lots of branches and foilage.But what if your pepper is tall, lanky and just looks underwhelming? … Continue Reading