family home pragmatic historian projects tips work in progress

Breaking the Keys & Leaving the Mess

Removing the plaster and lath in our dining room continues. I’m doing most of the plaster removal and cleanup while Hubby removes the lath and some of the harder-to-remove plaster. Back in the early 2000s, when we were remodeling other rooms in the house and removing the plaster and lath, I learned one trick that could help remove the plaster more easily: Breaking the keys. That sounds mysterious, like snapping a bunch of skeleton keys…

Continue reading

family process recipe tips

Swedish Meatballs with Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Substitutions

Swedish Meatballs with Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Substitutions From the kitchen of Jan Warner With gluten-free & dairy-free substitutions and additional instructions by Erik & Mary Warner Ingredients 3 pounds ground beef 1 ½ pounds ground veal or lamb 1 ½ pounds ground pork 2 eggs 1 finely chopped onion Crackers or breadcrumbs (use gluten-free bread, like Canyon Bakehouse, or cooked quinoa as gluten-free substitute) Milk (use oat milk or almond milk as dairy-free substitute) Nutmeg to…

Continue reading

design ideas tips

Improving My Office with New Glasses & a Creative Desk Solution

Over the course of the pandemic, when I’ve been working from home or working at the museum with very few visitors drawing me away from the computer, I’ve noticed a significant amount of neck and shoulder tension. My shoulders seem to be spending more time up near my ears because I forget to take breaks from staring at my computer screen. Another issue with my posture was pointed out to me after a Zoom meeting.…

Continue reading

challenge family projects thought fodder tips

Being on Camera

Being on camera is not natural for most people, particularly those of us who grew up without constantly being attached to a phone camera. When I was a kid, film was expensive to process and most rolls came with only 24 shots, so you didn’t want to waste them on goofy or unimportant subjects, like pictures of food or a cat playing with a toy. Also, parents weren’t likely to let their kids “play” with…

Continue reading

observations pragmatic historian preservation tips

The Places We Rarely Clean

We have needed a new kitchen faucet for a few years now. We got some fancy-dancy spray faucet the last time and eventually lost water pressure because the aerator was blocked. We tried cleaning it with vinegar and were unsuccessful. We also attempted to remove the aerator so we could replace it without replacing the entire faucet. We didn’t want to have to throw the faucet in a landfill. Unfortunately, the aerator was not removable…

Continue reading