I’m not certain, but I am pretty sure that IKEA is Swedish for ‘You’re about to spend a whole lot of money!’ Even when I think my wife is going to slip out of there with just one or two little items I find myself making 12 trips out to the truck to bring the ‘last’ of it in. Our latest trip to IKEA proved to be no different. It really is my mom and dad’s fault. For Christmas, they bought us a dishwasher. Our dishwasher had been on the fritz for awhile and we were going to replace it when we redid the kitchen. You see, besides the faulty dishwasher; the sink leaked, the cabinet bases were falling in and the old particle board countertop was flaking pretty bad. Despite the checkout shock that accompanies most IKEA trips, we were able to score a major bargain on a new countertop using an inexpensive Ikea butcher block top. [Read more...]
Cheap but Stylish Butcher Block Countertops From IKEA
Leaky Toilet Anyone? How To Change the Flapper Valve
Recently, I filled you guys in on a few ways to save water around the house. Many were quick and simple tips and repairs that anyone could make. However, an eagle-eyed reader noted a blinding omission on my part, a leaky toilet. Ironically, at the time I had a leaky toilet. How I forgot to add that to my list escapes me, but I’ve forgotten much more obvious things in my life (just ask my wife). Anyway, I finally got around to fixing that leaky toilet, much to happiness of my oft-reminding wife, and thought you would be interested in my tale of the throne. [Read more...]
Vertical Herb Gardens – For the Horizontally Challenged Gardner
Photo Credit: Designsquish.com
Winter gardening is a fading memory, and it’s a great time to start planning gardening strategies for spring and summer. I love gardening and truth be told, I also really like to eat. So it kind of works out. Because I live on a small plot of land, I am always looking for different ways to grow and save space. I have talked about raised bed and trellis gardening, barrel gardening, and even water bottle gardening. Along with these space saving concepts is another great one, vertical gardening. While this is a similar concept to trellis gardening, these vertical gardening boxes are mounted on walls or stood upright. There is a frame which can be made up of many different materials which holds soil and can grow shallow rooted plants. [Read more...]
3 Ways to Keep Your Plants Warm in Early Spring
Mea culpa, mea culpa. If you read and followed my recommendation on starting cole crops early, I apologize. This rather odd winter made for tough growing and possibly some bad timing, depending on what part of the country you’re in. I know that all my first round of starts died as did the seeds I directly seeded on a day that was over 50°F (average for time). Shortly after that beautiful day we had a hard freeze and the high wasn’t much more than 30°F. This was followed by a week of warm weather and then winter storm Virgil and two inches or more of snow. It has not been a good year for starting plants early. Given mother nature’s fickle nature this Spring, I thought it would be important to share with you three ways to keep you plants warm in what I hope will be the last of these tumultuous spring days. [Read more...]
3 Cole Crops You Should Have in the Ground Right Now
Gardening now?! Amarillo was recently hammered with snow, and spring seems far off for many parts of the US. However, if you’re in zone 7 or south, time’s a wastin’! If you can, the time is right to get working on those garden beds and starting seeds for transplant. And, now that it’s March, you should definitely have some cole crops seeded out in your garden. If you’re wondering what cole crops are you’re not alone. Cole crops are leafy green veggies that like cool weather. These include broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage and other brassicas. Right now is an ideal time to have lettuce, broccoli, and spinach seeded out. Ready for more details? [Read more...]
Radarcarve – No Relation to that Golden Earring Song
Perhaps it is a little outdated but does anyone remember that Golden Earring song Radar Love? You know “I’ve been drivin’ all night, my hand’s wet on the wheel. There’s a voice in my head that drives my heel. It’s my baby callin’, says I need you here. And it’s a half past four and I’m shiftin’ gear…Don’t need no phone at all. We’ve got a thing called Radar Love.” It’s a great song, you gotta love the Dutch! Regardless of whether you remember that song (or like it), this article has nothing to do with it. Instead, we’re here to talk about Radarcarve. If you’re a woodworker you might want to keep reading, and we promise note to quote any more lyrics. [Read more...]
5 Sweet DIY Valentine’s Day Gifts
Well, it’s almost time for that major obligatory holiday many of us end up celebrating, whether we like it or not; Valentine’s Day. I don’t mean to sound disconnected or disheartened but I just think if we were to celebrate the holiday a little truer to historical events, well, it would be a bit darker than chocolates and heart shaped antacids. With that said, here are five pretty awesome yet manageable DIY gifts you can still manage to do without spending half your paycheck and a full day waiting in line at the Hallmark Store. [Read more...]
Disaster Prep Basics – How and Why You Need to Turn Off Your Electricity
For some of us around the country, mega-storm Sandy is thankfully a distant memory. And while my family and I escaped the brunt of it, many people were not so lucky. It was the topic of conversation during Thanksgiving Dinner at my wife’s family home in New Jersey. Luckily for them, they too were on the alee side of the storm and only got hit with lots of rain and mild flooding. But not all the family got off so easy. [Read more...]
Mountain Laurel Handrails
I’m not even sure where to even begin with this; I am completely awestruck by these handrails. For most of us schlubbs, we are surrounded by your average everyday balusters. Perhaps you’re a little more artsy-fartsy and your balusters have some kind of turned detail to it, or you forwent the traditional balusters altogether and used cable or conduit or fishing line (hope you used high test). Could any of these alternatives even begin to compare to what the folks over at Mountain Laurel Handrails are doing? I don’t think so! [Read more...]
Disaster Prep Basics – Water, Water Everywhere but Not a Drop to Drink
In this continuing series on disaster prep I wanted to talk to you today about an important topic for everyone, WATER. Sure, you might not be thinking about a bottle of Evian when there’s a foot of water in your front yard, but you will be thinking about water very soon in any disaster situation. I just want you to keep the Rule of Three in your mind; it’s something that I was taught in a outdoor survival class a few years ago. The rule is simple: You can last three weeks without food, three days without water and three minutes without air. Oh yeah, and in a pinch you can recycle your urine (you know, drink it) three times before it becomes too concentrated to be ‘healthy’. Just let that stew for a minute before reading on. Sure, it’s sterile, but is that a bridge you want to cross? [Read more...]
