HELOISE: Use old garden hose to tie trees

Dear Heloise: I faithfully read your column, and I like the nifty photo of you in the paper. Your smile lights up the page! I also checked out your Web site — neato!

A couple of hints I’ve learned: When staking and tying trees and bushes, you can cut old garden hose into short lengths, thread 1/4-inch yellow truck rope through them and put the hose length around the tree to protect the bark.

Here is an old woodworker’s trick when a screw has stripped its threads in wood. Drill out a larger hole, depending on the size of the screw (1/8 inch, 3/16 inch, 1/4 inch, etc.) and insert a hardwood dowel with a drop of glue, cutting off the dowel flush with the surface, and, bammo, you can drill the hole anywhere!

Heloise, I’ve learned lots since reading your column; take care, and all the best!

Bill from Rosamond, Calif.

Bill, Thanks for the kind words and your two good hints! Readers, visit my Web site, www.Heloise.com, for more money-saving hints.

Heloise

Dear Heloise: In reply to the reader who kept two sets of makeup, one for home and one for travel: When I put on makeup the morning we leave for a trip, I use my travel makeup. That way, I’m sure I didn’t forget anything.

Wanda in California

Dear Heloise: If anyone hates going to the grocery store, it is me. I have always been a list maker, but I found myself wandering around from one section to the next. I’ve started drawing a line from top to bottom and side to side through my grocery list to make four sections. Each corner of the list is a section of the store. When I enter the store, I can fold the list on the lines and look only at the section I’m in.

It really didn’t take long for me to train my family of four as to which section was which (in the beginning, I labeled them). This simple idea has cut my time in the store in half!

Beth Hill, Hickory, N.C.

Dear Heloise: When you are unpacking something (box, toys, appliances), slide off (do not cut) the sturdy nylon/plastic bands used to make the boxes tamperproof. These intact loops make great extenders for hanging baskets. The stiffness allows you to slip the loop on the overhead hook. Then you can hang the plant lower, where you want it.

Rose Morgan from Florida and Ohio

Dear Heloise: Your reader warned us about women who put their purses on public bathroom floors, then on the kitchen table. I found a way around this years ago. If I can’t hang it on the door (also dangerous due to thieves reaching over and nabbing it), I use the protective seat cover or some tissue on the floor before setting it down.

E.B., Auburn, Calif.

King Features Syndicate