Chuck had looked forward to bringing his nephew Mac into his plumbing business, but now he was starting to think it wasn’t going to work. Chuck and Mac didn’t seem to speak the same language. “You need to embrace technology, get rid of all the handwritten paper, and move to the cloud,” Mac told his … Continue reading Location, Location, Location

When Bunny and Markham Gilder sent their youngest child to college, they gave the house a long-overdue interior design makeover. Out with the tattered furniture stained by years of kids and dogs. In with an eclectic chrome-and-glass collection befitting the lobby of a boutique hotel.  “What’s your favorite thing in here?” Bunny asked her husband … Continue reading Fuming in the Living Room

The Solution to Buttercup Mystery: The Fountain Head-Scratcher is directly below. SPOILER ALERT. While Jake was unwittingly on the right path when he said, “That sucks,” it was actually gravity rather than suction that was emptying the fountain pond and making the lower ground soggy by the spigot. There are some fixes, including adding a … Continue reading Solved! The Fountain Head-Scratcher

At the height of summer, Ellen and Jake Howard's water bill almost doubled. Between irrigating the garden in the lower backyard and refilling the fountain pond up on the front patio, the Howards were starting to talk about moving to a condo. A single outdoor water spigot on the side wall of the house served … Continue reading The Fountain Head-Scratcher

In case you’re still wondering what happened in this week’s “Refrigerator Riddle,” here’s the answer, based on true kitchen events. Sue knew the food was safe as soon as she saw the tub of broth with a dime still on top. If the electricity had been out for too long, the broth would have thawed and the … Continue reading Solved! A Refrigerator Riddle

Newlyweds Sue and John Stockton entered the kitchen on New Years Day to make black-eye pea chili and stewed greens for supper with neighbors from down the street. Both Sue and John honored the January 1 tradition of eating black-eye peas for good luck and greens for wealth, but John’s family took the superstition a … Continue reading A Refrigerator Riddle

In case you’re still wondering what happened in this week’s “Miniature Mystery,” here’s the answer, based on true living room events. The officer was correct. No crime took place in the Herends’ living room. If indeed there had been a robbery, the smart watch and headphones would most likely be gone. Instead of criminals breaking … Continue reading Solved! A Miniature Mystery

A few days after Christmas, Jane and Bob Herend drove their grown children to the airport, stripped the stockings and fir garlands from the fireplace mantel, and declared the holidays complete.  Apart from a few presents to be returned or exchanged, including a smart watch and pair of noise-canceling headphones in a tidy pile beside … Continue reading A Miniature Mystery