Hey Calamity, I'm Canadian too! Slow, I think I would have to go check out a place called Electric Cowboy. You have far more get up and go than I do. You are so lucky to have found a handyman who will work in "bits and pieces" they are almost impossible to find here - doing good work at a fair price, in small "bits and pieces". We have HUGE bits and pieces coming, I found a great guy to do our whole renovation. We tried to have a yard sale this weekend. We had GREAT STUFF, but nobody came. The weather was "cold" at 55 degrees!! All that work to set everything up, then I had to pack it all into the van (I was determined to get it in there at one load) and we took it to the thrift store. Hubby spent the weekend dismantling an entire metal kitchen set from the 40's in which every element had been painted on several times. The patience that man displayed. I'd have been bored out of my TREE! But every plastic, chrome or bakelite piece had to be removed for stripping and powder coating or re-chroming. They did not tell us this until we got it all the way out to the coaters!! So back home again to take it all apart. I think I would have rather gone country dancing, lol :) GGG

Since January, 11 homes in my immediate area listed, most of them listed towards the end of Feb. including mine. All are now showing as either pending or closed except one, which was the most expensive one at about 25% higher than the average of the others. There was a decent amount of activity. I think you also need some good luck. We had unseasonably mild weather for a couple weeks there and the sun was out and people were looking. Now it is all gray and sloppy wet. Even though we had a lot of activity people are still looking for value. I think your home needs to show people immediately what the value proposition is. Our agent was very experienced. He says "people are looking for a house that looks just like everyone else's house. They are not looking for 'unique.' They want something like their friends have." Since ours is more modern than most people are looking for we had to get a little lucky, which we did. But we also offered clean, newly updated, and more square footage than you would find on other homes for the money. Good luck!

Hey John, Good to know !!!! I thought it was a winter hardy one.. along with Wonderful.. Well you saved me again!!! I will see if I can buy another Russian from our Local nursery( that is if they have any in the fall). I did go to the farmer's market to pick up a Persimmon for My friend.... who grow a lot of Indian vegetables and Are getting into growing fruits... I get a lot of Tips for indian veggies from them as they have farms in India. They are the ones who provide me the seed for my veggies :-) The farmer's Market guy has a pomegranate, but is not Russian. Not sure what cultivar it is. He does not know either.. I am guessing Wonderful as that is what seems popular.

Well, that's not our problem, for sure. Our Florida vacation guest room has an unfortunate limitation that prevents virtually all abuse -- it's just over 7' deep by 7' wide, with a pocket door, 2 small closets separated by built-in drawers to the right of the door and a single bed to the left, window straight ahead with a little side table below it. For obvious reasons it's used by easy-going singles who aren't claustrophobic, but it's nice and comfy and works very well. Notably (aside from a second single bed, writing table, and reading chair of course), it holds almost everything that article recommends. Extra pillows and blankets of varying softnesses and thicknesses, bath linens, small space heater, fan, are all ready in closets that are otherwise empty for guest use. An adjustable reading light is mounted on a wall so the little side table remains clear, and decor is simple and serene. The drawers are topped by a mirror, and their top holds a couple of welcoming things, including chargers plugged in and ready in a basket. Most of the other useful items mentioned in the article, including toiletries and meds, are waiting in the drawer(s). No TV so far, though I would like to add one, and flowers stay outside, but otherwise... Once the business of switching out the weird jello-wobbly bed that came with the place for a good one with soft, smooth linens was attended to, the rest of the comfort was/is easy and inexpensive.