Surprisingly simple — The last part of unpacking from our move involved hanging the artwork we brought. It wasn’t much. From a house filled with artwork, we chose our six favorite pieces. The problem came with attempting to hang the artwork. We replaced one generic ocean print with one of our paintings. But…

Looking good, feeling better — Cats’ claws are self-sharpening. When they scratch, they pull off the outer, dull claw sheath, exposing the needle-sharp claw inside. Which means, they can go from “Your nails are getting long” to “I’m not a pincushion!” in about 5 minutes. I can trim our little cat’s claws — when she…

Or, stuffed mushroom eggs — I was reading the fascinating Hotel St. Francis Cookbook from 1919. People ate some weird stuff in 1919, even in luxury hotels like the St. Francis. I ate there in the 1990s — the menu had changed significantly in the intervening years. Since the cookbook details the breakfast, lunch, and…

It’s probably not the one talking — Sure, if you’re at a meeting called by an important person, they’re going to be at the head of the table. If they’re at an all-hands meeting of your company, they’re going to be the one on stage. But what about the rest of the time? At a cocktail party…

From white water rafting adventure — Anytime you face off against nature, you run the risk of nature winning. That’s part of what adds the thrill and adventure. But smart people try to increase the odds of success. We set out for a fun white water rafting trip. We learned to choose your companions wisely, choose…

My husband’s cautionary tale — In Colorado, we had a Litter Genie next to the cat box to collect used kitty litter. The bag was effectively filled with rocks. My husband tried to recreate this system in the Caribbean using a plastic bag and a lidded trash container. It stunk so badly, the cats stopped…

Like pioneer homesteaders — Our house sits on top of its own cistern. All of our water is supplied by the rain. We had so much rain recently that our swimming pool overflowed, so we knew the cistern was full. So why was no water coming out of any of our faucets? Why were…