Home and Garden
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Low gas prices help the housing recoveryFeb 06, 2015 11:01 pm - Falling gasoline prices is welcome news for most families. It not only generates more spending money, but also has a positive effect on our housing recovery. At this wr...
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Interest rates differ between main home and a rentalFeb 06, 2015 11:00 pm - Q. I am downsizing by purchasing a smaller home that will be my primary residence. Because I do not have my existing house on the market, the lender I approached to fina...
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Foreclosure differs from repossession of a carFeb 06, 2015 11:00 pm - Q. The recent letter from the person whose home was foreclosed on in 2008 and then, when it sold at auction for more than the mortgage owed, asked if he/she could "recou...
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Old House New House Show draws home remodelers and even a panda bearFeb 06, 2015 12:00 am - Hundreds of people and one panda bear were on hand Sunday at The Old House New House Home Show at Pheasant Run Resort in St. Charles. For more than 30 years the show ha...
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Seed catalogs offer a mailbox full of promisesFeb 06, 2015 12:00 am - The seed catalogs now filling the mailbox and piling up on the desk catch us at a time of optimism. At the start of the year we tend to forgive the last one's disappoint...
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Figural napkin rings were a Victorian innovationFeb 05, 2015 5:00 am - Q. Enclosed is a photo of a silver napkin ring that I bought while traveling through West Virginia. The hen is attached to the side of the ring. Marked on the bottom are...
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Coral bells get ringing endorsementsFeb 05, 2015 5:00 am - When the late great plantsman Christopher Lloyd wrote a book a generation ago devoted entirely to foliage plants, he made no reference to a perennial named heuchera, or ...
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When the catalogs are stacked as high as last summer's cornFeb 02, 2015 5:01 am - The rollout of the seed catalogs started early this year. High Mowing, the first horse out of the gate, arrived just before Thanksgiving, well before any enthusiasm for ...
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Hunt is on for the best oak trees in Barrington areaFeb 02, 2015 12:00 am - Residents have one month to enter their favorite oak tree in the Barrington Area Conservation Trust's fifth annual Great Oaks of Barrington contest. The contest celebrat...
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Colorful blooms inspire gardeners during monochrome monthsFeb 01, 2015 5:00 am - You might find a new plant more exciting than the L.A. Dreamin' hydrangea this spring, but for many gardeners it's hard to top a shrub that blooms both blue and pink wit...