Dear Heloise: Using a sealed bin helps to keep mice out, but it doesn’t always work. The smell of birdseed can get through plastic, and mice are persistent. What finally did the trick for me was putting a lavender room freshener inside the bin, tucked in a corner away from the seed bag. ...

Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of 12 weekly stories focusing on America’s 250th birthday, as told through the lens of our communities and the role many of the places we call home played in shaping the nation before, during and after the Revolutionary War. This week we begin ...

“Come on Pearl, come on Kitty, if you feel inclined, down around the bend in the water, bring your fishin' line,” – Gordon Lightfoot In the evenings now, if I travel along the county road, the deer are gathering in any place where there’s bare ground. The surrounding landscape remains ...

Dear Heloise: I read your column in the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Jim R., in Houston, wrote about people who are eating produce that they haven’t purchased. But there is another view on this issue. Purchas- ing grapes, for example, without tast- ing them, often leads to sour ...

Dear Annie: My husband retired eight months ago, and ever since then, our home has felt less like a place to relax and more like a company he has decided to manage. After years of leaving early, coming home late and barely noticing whether the bath towels matched, he is suddenly very interested ...

Dear Heloise: I spent hours crocheting edges on my guest towels, but visitors never used them. They noticed the towels, hesitated, and dried their hands elsewhere. To solve this, I wrote a short poem and placed it in clear view: “You are a guest, and we’re happy you’re here. These towels ...