Are you aware that you should test the auto-reverse function on your garage door monthly?  Check the balance yearly.  And familiarize yourself with the door’s release system in case of emergency or power failure.  Sometimes I forget these things so I am reminding everyone.  Talk to you soon.

Okay — Blogs are supposed to be interactive but no one responds.  Do we need to find something more interesting?  Here is a little tidbit.  On April 27th, all McDonald’s in MN will be giving away a seedling pine tree.  First come first serve.  It is the Minnesota Forestry’s way of helping to continue the growth of trees in our state.  Currently through their efforts, there are more trees growing in Minnesota than there were 50 years ago.  Keep up the good work!!!

Orange in the garden year long is bright, sunny and cheery.  Use flowers like sea buckthorn, bittersweet, hollies and some roses.  Also use terra-cotta pots, copper birdbaths/trellises, and brick on paths and walls.  Happy planting!  Spring is just a breath away! 

A pet peeve for many men (and some women) is the holes left in the walls from hanging pictures.  Hennen’s has a solution and they work great.  Heavy Duty Wall Hangers sell for $1.95/pair and each one will support up to 150 pounds.  The best part?  They DO NOT need to be in a stud (and you do not want to hit a stud) and they leave a hole about the size of pencil lead.  No tools are required.  I use them all over my house. 

Do you have a room that you just can’t easily fit sheetrock into? Maybe the room is upstairs and the stairs take a funny angle. Maybe it’s a weird ceiling. I don’t know. Well, actually I do know. I just had this problem. It was an upstairs room in which only 4′x4′ pieces of sheetrock could make it up the stairway. We could have got them in through an upstairs window, but that would’ve required carrying an 8′x4′ piece up a ladder (NOT easy) or using a boom lift (lumber yard said the cable lines were in the way). So it was down to the 4′x4′ sheets, right? Wrong. Better idea. Tongue and groove pine boards. Inexpensive and they look great. This small den area with 45 degree walls suddenly has more character then any room in the house. In the end, it will have taken about the same amount of time and if the wood is found on sale it can be very similarly priced.