Even with the recent rain and cool temperatures, yard sales flourish. On any given weekend from May to August, signs will be all over town for yard sales or garage sales. If you are looking for a hard-to-find item, when you spot a yard sale sign, pull over. You just might find it at a bargain price...

We have a mouse in the garage and we might have to learn to live with it. On Wednesday, I was loading the clothes washer when the little creature scampered across the floor. To be honest, yes, it scared me half-silly. The rodent couldn’t have been two inches long and more than likely weighed under 29 grams, yet I still jumped. There was something about the way it scampered across the floor.....

Somewhere in the midst of my winter blues, I decided to provide a hospitable place for birds to eat. So, I fashioned some empty milk jugs into bird feeders. Custom-built bird feeders are more for the person filling them with seed than for the birds they are feeding...

It was last week that I was standing in a familiar grocery store looking for a package of Pecan Sandies when it hit me. An overwhelming odor of mold or fuel oil, but at industrial strength. Then through my teary eyes, I saw her. As my sister would say “all dressed up as a party favor”. ...

These past winter months, I noticed unusual bits and pieces in my daily life. My knees and sometimes my elbows ache. Some mornings, my shoulder blade feels like it is on fire. I told my husband one morning and he said simply, “Oh, it’s probably arthritis.”...

It is that time of year again, and are the people in Greene County getting ready for planting gardens? Race Day? Spring cleaning? Heck NO, we’re getting ready for the Easter Bunny. What April would be complete without an Easter egg hunt? A word to the wise: go prepared. One year, I took my nephew and forgot to take a container. The poor little guy had to hunt eggs and stick them in his pockets...

Don’t put away those snow shovels, heavy coats and gloves just yet. Better double check that bag of salt for the sidewalk, too. Mother Nature has done her best, teasing us that spring is right around the corner. The daffodils have jumped up out of the long-silent lawn. Within a few days, the tulips should pop up to say hello. Yet you can bet there is plenty of snow, ice and below-freezing temperatures waiting to grab our attention...

I put vinegar in my chili. I don’t really know why. My older sister did it, so I just followed suit. I don’t remember my father passing the vinegar, so I can’t help but think it came from my mother’s side of the family, the Midland crowd...

Did you hear about the lady leaving Pizza Hut with one large pizza and two small children? She put the pizza on the roof of her car to take care of her children and then promptly drove away. Fortunately, passing motorists were able to stop her. “Hey lady, your pizza is on top of your car.”...

When I was a child, I thought my Aunt Julie talked funny. True, she was speaking English, yet she invented certain words. I was certain that these words were hers alone because I never heard anyone else in my family use them. I never heard them at school, at the playground, not even at church...

Collections are an odd thing. Some people call it memorabilia, while others call it a hobby. A few admit openly, “I collect this stuff.” My friend Jan has every romance paperback book she has ever read. More than a few paperbacks date back to the 1970’s. Her husband Bob has a room filled with Coca-Cola merchandise. He travels the state, checking flea markets for that certain item he can find at the right price...

It looks like cold weather and snow might stick around for a while. It is wintertime. Yes, we have snow and ice. After all, this is Indiana. If you want warmer weather day after day, visit Hawaii. Weather is the topic at the shopping malls, restaurants, even grocery stores. You can’t go anywhere where the weather isn’t the center of conversation. True, I am as guilty as anyone else...

My nephew got a new dog. Half the fun of getting a new animal is naming it. We have spent hours, even days, trying to think up the perfect name. We have asked around town for advice and have yet to find one Fido or Rover. Living on the north side of town is an Irish setter with the name of “Major.” He was given the name when the owner noticed the dog’s eyes resembled that of her late uncle who served as a Major in the army...

Until last Wednesday, I had not needed to get reacquainted with my snow shovel. Usually, we start having some winter experiences with slick streets, yucky parking lots and snow-covered driveways. We checked to make sure we didn’t need anything of importance in our house. We then settled in to watch television and updates about the approaching winter weather. I felt very comfortable that night that neither of us had anything on our calendars until the weekend...

Did you hear about the lady leaving Pizza Hut with one large pizza and two small children. She put the pizza on the roof of her car to take care of her children and then promptly drove away. Fortunately, passing motorists were able to stop her. “Hey lady, your pizza is on top of your car!”...

It was last week that I was standing in a familiar grocery store looking for a package of Pecan Sandies, when it hit me. An overwhelming odor of mold or fuel oil, but at industrial strength. Then, through my teary eyes, I saw her, as my brother would say, “All dressed up as a party favor”...

Whenever I live through a week like last week, I can’t help but wonder what is in store for the rest of the year. My husband was off work for the week between Christmas and New Years. We opted to stay at home for the week to get things done around the house. I haven’t worked so hard in months...

You have seen the Indiana personalized license plates around town for some time. Personalized plates were created to show your personal creativity while traveling Hoosier highways. You can state your profession on your vanity plate. ‘SHAMPOO’ can been seen in town, driven around by a hairdresser. ...

My nephew was helping me search the attic for a particular box. Naturally, he did more looking around than being of any actual help. He came over with a book of what he called ‘funny-looking postage stamps’. They were not postage stamps, but trading stamps, I told him...

Now that Christmas is drawing near, eventually the time will come when the in-laws come for a visit. I have a few suggestions on how to make the visit memorable. It might make a difference if they return next year. Think of the decorations. When decorating your house, think more, more and more. A house can never be over-decorated. Decorations should dominate the field of vision at all times. Explain to them how you have been so busy decorating and celebrating for Christmas...