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Family Time, by Diane Chase

Blacklegged ticks are deer ticks

Numerous warnings are being issued now we are in tick season. Sure, right off the heels of black-fly season, let’s toss another plague into the mix. Unfortunately, ticks can actually spread disease anytime the weather is above freezing. It isn’t as common, so let’s focus more on keeping ...

Outdoor cats

Let’s be clear: I like animals. I’m just allergic to cats, so my children’s love of felines has had to be supplemented with cat-sitting gigs and visiting with pets; I can’t have them at my house. As amusing as cats can be, the allergic reaction isn’t worth it to me. Recently, ...

Passwords and paper shredding

It’s graduation season and we have been making the rounds honoring parents and students for such a monumental achievement. It can be an exciting and frightening time. New adventures are starting, and we hope our children are ready. Since I am not a perfect parent, I am here to share my ...

Limiting ingredients

I was looking online for a cookie recipe because I was too lazy to walk to the end of the kitchen for the recipe book. As I scrolled through countless variations, one common thread was to list the number of ingredients in the recipe. I understand searching for a recipe that eliminates an ...

End of school decluttering

My parents saved everything. I genuinely feel this isn’t an exaggeration. When I sold my mother’s house, I found bank statements from the 1950s tucked around bonds and birth certificates. It was overwhelming to go through all the envelopes, trying to figure out what was necessary versus ...

The Tetanus Shot House

Whether working outside, with hand tools or fixing up a house, there is a rite of passage: the emergency room trip for an updated tetanus shot. We live in an area where our yard is filled with buried treasure, if you consider treasure to be rusty nails, old septic systems and wire fencing. ...