TheSunNews.com: Coasting

From the Belle Tower | There’s mulch to learn about gardening

Sun, 20 May 2012 14:23 EDT

For 22 years, Duh and I have lived in the same house. The house is about 90 years old and so is the grass and stuff around it.

You could ask why we would feel the need to interfere with 90 years of successful landscaping inertia. Except for occasional pruning and weekly grass-cutting we did nothing. But like that virus in the movie “Contagion” where everyone got gray skin and puked themselves to death, everyone gets bit by the landscape bug sooner or later. Yeah, it’s just like that.

Oh, how we used to chuckle at suburban friends. “The Sod People” we called them. Hahaha. We would go to parties and hear them prattling on about aerating their sod with golf shoes and whatnot. We couldn’t relate so we would excuse ourselves to get more guacamole wondering how anybody could care that much about St. Augustine vs. Bahai. Both sounded religious to us.

The Romance Reader | ‘Crystal Gardens’

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:37 EDT

Jayne Ann Krentz, using her historical writing pseudonym of Amanda Quick, brings readers a new series with an old theme.

Remaining in her paranormal, psychical world, Quick introduces a new set of heroines in the first of her “Ladies of Lantern Street” series. These ladies are private investigators disguised as ladies companions. Primarily, they expose fortune hunters before young women become ensnared in their marital plots.

Evangeline’s recent case becomes a bit more dangerous than usual, and her employers send her to the country to recover. However, her relaxing days are interrupted when an intruder awakens her one night, intent on killing her.

Beautiful hanging baskets start with smart planting

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:41 EDT

For such sweet-looking things, hanging baskets can be demanding divas.

Restricted to small pots and hung in the drying air, their plants often require far more attention to maintain their looks than flowers planted in the ground.

But Pete Kern and Pamela Crawford believe gorgeous baskets are within anyone’s reach, if you start with smart planting.

Window safety and dishwasher wisdom

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:34 EDT

I miss a lot of “special” weeks in this job, and the most recent victim was National Window Safety Week. While I doubt that the result was anything like the defenestration of Prague (the one in 1618, not 1419), I would be remiss if I did not mention at least a few safety tips provided to me by the folks at Marvin Windows:

• Keep windows closed and locked when not in use.

• If you open windows for ventilation, choose windows not easily reached by children.

1920s housekeeping a full-time job, and then some

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:48 EDT

The housekeeper of the 1920s had it made.

No longer did she need to polish her stove regularly with black graphite. Treatments with special cleansing oil were all that were needed to keep her modern stove rust-free.

Her new refrigerator had a seamless lining, freeing her from the daily chore of scrubbing the icebox with boiling water so food wouldn’t accumulate in the seams.

Spruce up for summer | Check out these 5 summer getaways

Wed, 02 May 2012 08:56 EDT

Looking for summer vacation ideas? Here are five vacation ideasto consider:

Morgan Bay Resort, St. Lucia

For a holiday that includes spectacular reefs, a lush rainforest and the world’s only drive-in volcanic crater, visit this tropical gem where steep coastlines give way to a turquoise seascape. The all-inclusive, beachfront Morgan Bay Resort is offering a St. Lucia Dream Deal. Expect water sports, including water skiing, sailing, snorkeling and jet boating as well as tennis, entertainment, and comprehensive kids and teen club activities. Meals and drinks are included in the per person price of $119 per adult and $50 for children per night. Ask about other promotions that include airfare credits of up to $1,000. Book before May 30 for stays through the end of the year.

Car Talk | Nice to reward helpful mechanic

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:32 EDT

Dear Tom and Ray: When your auto mechanic offers to help sell your ‘97 Subaru, what percentage of the sale is appropriate to give him as a thank you? If I ask him, I think he will decline, because he sees it as a favor to my husband, who recently passed away and who was a longtime customer of his. – Mary

Ray: Well, you have to be careful that he didn’t handle it like my brother does. I once heard him telling a customer: “That fully restored ‘66 Mustang convertible is junk – I’ll take it off your hands for 500 bucks.”

Tom: It had a scratch on the door!

Book review | ‘The Cove’

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:33 EDT

Setting a story in Appalachia during the dark days of World War I promises a certain gloominess to the tale. And while Ron Rash delivers that in “The Cove,” he also spins a moving tale of the hardships faced by two siblings as they fight for their existence in the hills of Appalachia.

Laurel is a young woman of some beauty, marred by a prominent birthmark that leaves the superstitious people of her rural community convinced she’s a witch. Her brother, Hank, is home from the war but minus a hand he lost in battle. Yet he’s engaged to be married and works hard as a farmer to prove himself worthy to his intended’s father.

Part of what makes Hank’s job harder is where he and Laurel live – in the cove, deep in the shadow of a cliff on land that neighboring folks believe is cursed. Before the war, they shunned the brother and sister, crossing the street to avoid them and sometimes spitting in their paths or peppering them with eggs. Now with Hank back from the war, they focus their cruelty on Laurel alone.

Seed mixes help small wildflower gardens

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 12:56 EDT

Planting wildflowers is an easy way to enhance a yard, particularly with mixed-flower meadows and border gardens.

Nowadays, planting a small wildflower garden, or large meadow, is relatively simple, thanks to ready-made wildflower seed mixes like the new line from Pennington Seed Inc.

Each mix is designed around the needs of specific planting environments, with general purpose, regional and specialized varieties available. There are special mixes for northeast, southern and Texas gardens, as well as mixes that focus on hummingbird and butterfly gardens.

Men are fans, too, of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:34 EDT

They’re young and old, doctors and churchgoers, gay and straight – and those are just the MEN who have devoured oh-so-naughty “Fifty Shades of Grey,” an erotic trilogy that has earned millions of women fans in a matter of weeks.

Reading on iPads and Kindles or hurriedly picking up the books in stores, some didn’t know about the romance part, thinking the surprise best-seller by newcomer E L James would be more “American Psycho” than steamy Harlequin.

Others knew exactly what they were getting into, buying into the buzz since the venerable imprint Knopf took on publishing rights, shoring up a story that began as “Twilight” fan fiction and putting it out in handy trade paperback on April 3.

Celia Rivenbark | Love, no matter how you slice it

Thu, 10 May 2012 12:56 EDT

As our 23rd wedding anniversary approached, my beloved “Duh-hubby” thoughtfully asked what gift I’d like to receive for such a special occasion. No, I’m kidding. Actually, I informed him a couple of weeks ago that our anniversary was approaching and “You need to be thinking about what you’re going to get me.”

“Right back at you,” he said, looking up from the “Sports Illustrated” where he was trimming his toenails into the centerfold. And now I can never look at Mariano Rivera in quite the same way again. Anywho, Duh said he wanted a basketball and I resisted the urge to ask if he would also like some cowboy boots and a G.I. Joe. A basketball. OK. Duh is kind, patient, caring and all the rest of that 1st Corinthians stuff that they say at weddings but he actually lives it so, yes, he totally gets a basketball.

When we finally got back to the important business of what I wanted for an anniversary present, my answer was quick and certain.

Myrtle Beach mom shares lessons learned as a mother and a child

Sat, 12 May 2012 22:35 EDT

This Mother’s Day, we asked readers and Features Editor Caroline Evans to share their stories as we celebrate the lessons mothers and children have learned from each other.

I learned all sorts of practical lessons from my mother.

How to properly plant and care for flowers; how to drive a car with a manual transmission (with special lessons on starting from a stop on an incline); how to change a diaper; how to tell if my dad was cheating at board games; how to do the laundry; how to break up with a high school boyfriend ... the list goes on.

Our readers speak | Of moms and memories

Sat, 12 May 2012 22:32 EDT

Readers shared memories of their mothers, lessons learned from their mothers or stories they wanted to share about their mothers. Here are some of them.

Lessons learned from my kids

Seniors finding alternatives to retirement

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 09:51 EDT

A former CEO enrolled in clown school. A corporate communications executive started a photography business. A high school science teacher became an outdoors guide. And a lifelong accountant wanted to work at Disneyworld.

“He loved the atmosphere, it was lighthearted, it wasn’t counting numbers day after day,” said career coach Linda Miller, who worked with all four. When she asked the accountant what sort of job he’d like at Disneyworld “he said, ‘You know what? I really don’t care.’ ”

Call it a second phase, an encore, a reinvention. Just don’t call it retirement. More people are entering their mid-60s — stuck, perhaps, with dismayingly skimpy savings accounts, but blessed with sound health and many years ahead of them — and deciding that retirement doesn’t top their agenda.

More Mother’s Day memories from readers

Sat, 12 May 2012 21:49 EDT

The Little Free Library surprise

My mother, Lynda Glass, is 86 years old and she and my dad are fulltime residents of Ocean Isle Beach.

Senior Life | Woman, 79, wins her category in Boston Marathon

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 19:21 EDT

Despite record heat, Santa Cruz, Calif., City Councilwoman Katherine Beiers won her category in the 116th running of the Boston Marathon.

“It was killer,” Beiers, 79, said by phone after the race, just as she was grabbing her traditional post-race beer and dinner at a lobster joint. “It was so hot.”

Beiers finished the race in 5 hours 29 minutes and 58 seconds, a time that bested two other women in her category of female runners 75-79. The other women, 75 and 76, finished in 6:45 and 5:43, respectively. Beiers was to have a third competitor in her age group but the woman did not run the race.

The Romance Reader | ‘The Doctor’s Not-So-Little Secret’

Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:56 EDT

This Harlequin Special Edition does an admirable job of portraying a young woman’s emotional torment when confronted with the young girl she gave up for adoption.

Author Cindy Kirk does a good job exploring and explaining Kate’s feelings as she wrestles with the ethical dilemmas she faces when that young girl, and the girl’s widower father, become friends.

That alone can make this a worthy read — which is a good thing, since the romance between Kate and Joel isn’t totally riveting.

Mother’s Day | How much love can one thin dime buy?

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:03 EDT

My story begins several days before Mother’s Day in 1962. My mother was at home in Moon Township, Penn., caring for the rest of the family and very sad because my brother and I were away in foreign countries serving our country.

I was in Seoul, South Korea, at my duty station with the 181 Signal Corps. Mother’s Day was closing in and I was really in a bad way because I had absolutely no money to get my mother a gift. It did not seem right for the woman who taught us right from wrong, nursed us back to health when we were sick, and worked as a waitress for years to help my father make ends meet not be recognized on her day.

My heart was sick that I could not show that recognition to her as I had all the years before. She was the finest parent that any kid could ever want, making sure her family was taken care of even before herself. Oh, she would say that it was all right if we could not do anything for her. Her only joy was that we were hers to care for.

Car Talk | Near-death experience due to dealer negligence

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:21 EDT

Dear Tom and Ray: I never would have imagined that my automotive life would be interesting enough to merit communicating with you guys, but 20 or so years after first discovering you, I think I have an experience worth sharing. Actually, it’s my wife’s experience, but she has no idea who you guys are, so I get to do the honors.

My wife drives a 2003 VW Passat GLX 4Motion Wagon with more than 47,000 miles on it. She took it to a local dealer for service last May after smoke began billowing from the right side of the car and sweet-smelling liquid was dripping out. The dealer replaced the heater core and coolant bottle, and all was well … until the next warm day, when my wife noted that her air conditioning (which had worked prior to the heater-core replacement) would not blow cold air. The dealer admitted that they had not properly shoved some hose in some opening, and fixed it at no charge.

A few days later, while my wife was chauffeuring her elderly mother around, her steering completely failed. This happened as she was changing lanes, so when the steering failed, she was pointing directly into oncoming traffic. She managed to stop the car before colliding with any of the oncoming cars as she crossed the center line. When the police arrived and interviewed the parties, they noted a threaded bolt, about 1 1/2 inches long, lying on the driver’s floor mat. Everybody was OK, but my wife was very shaken, and she refuses to drive her car ever again. The car ultimately was towed to the dealer, and we have a rental (paid for by the dealer) sitting in our garage. The dealer called this week and acknowledged that they were negligent and did not tighten down a bolt in the clockspring to VW specs. They swear it’s fixed. Should we believe them? – Robert

Mistflower attracts hundreds of butterflies

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:49 EDT

The palm-leaf mistflower is bringing in so many butterflies it is hard to get the visitors inside at the National Butterfly Center. The visitors get out of the car and then have a speechless look as they sit and stare at hundreds of butterflies that seem perched or are swirling about every blooming flower stalk.

I have been hesitant writing about this plant because it takes some searching to find it. When I saw the Missouri Botanical Garden website bragging on it I decided it was time to tout the virtues of this incredible plant. Perhaps doing so will help get it distributed more widely throughout the trade.

The palm-leaf mistflower is native to Texas, New Mexico and Arizona and is cold hardy through zone 7. Elsewhere treat it as an annual and perhaps even a re-seeding annual. It is amazing for the length of bloom time and its ability to attract butterflies. Known botanically as Conolinium greggii, you’ll find this plant among the easiest to grow perennials in the garden. You’ll also notice that it brings that welcome color of blue that everyone searches for to use as a flower border.