Seeking help from a one-man broom squad
The Salmonella colonies on my kitchen counter could kill me - assuming the sight of cat litter scattered on the carpet doesn't do me in first. If I'm lucky, fungi that vaguely resemble oyster mushrooms won't sprout on the bathroom floor, the way they did in one of my old apartments.
Like many people these days, I don't have much free time, and when I do, scrubbing floors on hands and knees isn't my top priority.
Life is sweet for Vermont's pollinators, but their party days may be numbered
About half a mile down the road from Shelburne Orchards, in a clearing bordered by sumacs and white birches, James Gabriel and Ian Hagan hold their breath. It's a sleepy Wednesday afternoon in late April, and these beekeepers have driven up from
Keeping Burlington's housing up to code
There are no sirens, no flashing lights, no crackling police radio in Timothy Ahonen's run-down maroon Chevy pickup. But as the code enforcement officer cruises the streets of Burlington's Old North End one Thursday afternoon in April, he's looking for people breaking the law.
Ahonen, a former Burlington cop, notices a broken chair lying on the lawn in front of a multi-family apartment building.
A new breed of real-estate pros focuses on first impressions
Got a house on the market? Then maybe it's time to box up all those Barbie dolls cluttering the den. Or maybe you should consider moving some furniture and artwork into that cavernous living room, which looks and sounds like a bowling alley and feels just as cozy. Oh, and about that, um, "aromatic" Airedale? You might consider investing in a professional carpet cleaning - or at least a new air freshener.
For Winooski sculptor Leslie Fry, home is where the art is
It's springtime, and Leslie Fry's garden is abloom -- with human-like sculptures that, artistically speaking, have one foot in the botanical world and another in ancient architecture. Or medieval culture, or the animal kingdom. It's an eclectic mix, part fantasy and part metaphor. Fry's works create a sort of mythical surrealism, where human-looking skin, bone and sinew meld with leaves, roots, tree limbs and animal features.
The Shelburne Museum "Modernizes" with a funky furniture show
Think Shelburne Museum, and you're probably picturing folk art and Americana tchotchkes displayed in traditional New England architectural settings.
Think again. "Homey and Hip," a small but satisfying show of iconic pieces of Modernist furniture design, upends notions of what to expect from a visit to the venerable Shelburne.
Charlie Krumholz turns over Burlington's soil
Charlie Krumholz has a new toy: a 2-ton trailer with a hydraulic lift. On a recent Saturday it's filled with 3 yards of rich, black topsoil he's hauled from Burlington's Intervale Compost Facility to the Medical Center Community Garden. Turning onto the lawn from Colchester Avenue, he stops at one corner of the garden -- still just an L-shaped mound of dirt this early in the season.
Getting into the spirit of house cleaning
by GRETCHEN GILES
(4.30.03)
Waitsfield writer Kitty Werner sure knows her way around a toolbox. From the ripe age of 7, she tells us in The Savvy Woman's Guide to Owning a Home, she was "handy" -- helping dad with construction projects and taking things apart to see how they worked. But as the title of her 2002 book implies, most girls still grow up thinking competence in the kitchen meant making dinner, not fixing the garbage disposal.
A "savvy" Vermonter nails down home maintenance hgints
(5.7.03)
Waitsfield writer Kitty Werner sure knows her way around a toolbox. From the ripe age of 7, she tells us in The Savvy Woman's Guide to Owning a Home, she was "handy" -- helping dad with construction projects and taking things apart to see how they worked. But as the title of her 2002 book implies, most girls still grow up thinking competence in the kitchen meant making dinner, not fixing the garbage disposal.
Eight good reasons to check out Burlington's intervale -- again
(5.7.03)
A rumbling front-loader dutifully turns a dark, rich row of compost on a chilly April morning down in the Intervale. Clouds of white steam billow from the decomposing earth, momentarily scattering the gulls that warm themselves on the fecund mounds. From the muddy road nearby, the squawking flock looks like it's enjoying a leisurely steam bath.
