Slipper orchids for your home

Surround yourself with the beloved blooms

There is something about orchids that has enthralled the human race for over 150 years. The words "mysterious... captivating... beautiful..." are just a few of the adjectives most often used in describing orchids. Of the more than 20, 000 different orchid . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

SOLUTIONS: Prevent your meringue from shrinking

QUESTION: I very much enjoy your column in the Free Press and hope you can help me with this. How do you keep meringue from shrinking? I have tried adding cream of tartar (about half-teaspoon per pie) but it has . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

CONNIE OLIVER: Spring into a cheerful new colour scheme

Spring will be here soon. The sun is higher in the sky and the days are longer. As you look around your sunny home, you may find it could use an infusion of spring colours to make it more cheery. . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Grey-water recovery saves cash

Quick, someone take a shower -- I need to flush the toilet! It's not actually like that at Kristina Rudnitski's home in the Ottawa neighbourhood of Alta Vista, but when she and her husband, Christopher Cooper, had their new home designed . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Care for your yard in a greener fashion

WE'RE mired in winter at the moment, but before you can say "spring runoff" we'll be manicuring our yards to within an inch of their lives. Can we care for our properties in a greener fashion? "For sure, " says Mary-Anne . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

The man behind the R factor

Engineer pioneered energy-efficient buildings

A $25 investment in 1963 for extra-fat insulation batts was the smartest decision Harold Orr has ever made. Almost five decades ago, the man behind Canada's respected R-2000 program hired a Saskatoon contractor to build a modest 1, 100-square-foot bungalow for . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Twin peaks (and dips)

Identical homes compare energy-saving measures

It looks like a scene from the movie Pleasantville dropped in the middle of Ottawa's National Research Council campus. There are two family homes, complete with lawns and driveways. But no one lives here -- these are labs. Built by Minto almost . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Black trim a feature of Georgian style

DEAR LEANNE: We are renovating our historical home and have decided to start with the kitchen. We would like to borrow some of the design elements from the Georgian style -- such as the black-and-white colour theme -- but want . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Let's all replace NIMBY with harmony

Early in the first act of the musical Avenue Q, the characters sing a song entitled Everyone's a Little Bit Racist that essentially states that no matter how honourable our intentions, we all harbour some form of preconceived prejudice that . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18

Code green

Building requirements toughened to be more energy-efficient

Changes to provincial building codes to improve energy efficiency mean other programs that currently exceed its standards -- such as Energy Star and R-2000 -- will now get much tougher, too. The aim? Slash consumption and save on energy costs. The greening . . .

Posted: 2012-02-18