home improvements

soaking up spring and our may/june magazine
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soaking up spring and our may/june magazine

MFCH MAGAZINE MAY/JUNE
Cover photo by Frederic Ducout

May is one of the busiest moments in my year. The garden needs attention, our MFCH Tours pick up speed and social life here gets busy again after the quieter winter.

My favorite time of the day is when I can finally sit and relax and flip through the MFCH Magazine. The May/June issue is a particular favorite of mine because it is full of beautiful homes and gardens around France in the springtime. Putting our magazine together every two months is rather like making a large, colorful cocktail. We always try to include the

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BBB CONSUMER TIPS: How to make your next home improvement project a success | Local News
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BBB CONSUMER TIPS: How to make your next home improvement project a success | Local News

Do-it-yourself is an attractive way to save money on home improvement projects. Home centers stay busy each spring with people looking to improve their homes and yards.

Whether you are remodeling your home, making needed repairs, or sprucing things up to put your house on the market, the following tips will help make your next home improvement project a success.

• Come up with a budget and stick to it. Home improvement projects can get expensive fast. If you don’t want to break the bank, create a realistic budget to figure out how much you can spend ahead of time.

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How to Create a Beautiful Mother’s Day Table Setting
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How to Create a Beautiful Mother’s Day Table Setting

Do you wonder how to create a magic filled beautiful setting that is easy to do but looks effortless? One that is perfect for a special occasion or an any day occasion? All things flower filled are my favorites when it comes to entertaining and setting a pretty table- and with Mother’s Day just around the corner-perfect for a lovely Sunday brunch with mom too.

How to Create a Mother’s Day Table Setting

How to Create a Beautiful Mother’s Day Table Setting

I have to be honest. I cannot believe it is already May. And already the first week in May with Mother’s Day just a few days away.

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Nine tips for managing a French home renovation project yourself
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Nine tips for managing a French home renovation project yourself

The building market is starting to settle down after the post-lockdown boom, labor shortages and price inflation combined to make “getting the builders in” easier said than done.

As a result of frustrations dealing directly with builders, a new service industry has grown – project managers for small home improvement projects.

However, by drawing up checklists similar to the ones they use, you can make the task less formidable and still go it alone.

Here are some pointers:

1. Fix your aims and your budget

Builders complain that some homeowners ask for estimates with no real idea of ​​what they

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jeanne mckay watercolors and a giveaway
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jeanne mckay watercolors and a giveaway

Since the beginning of my blogging days, I’ve been fortunate to meet and make friends with some very talented and generous people. I was lucky to start blogging at a time when readers could sign up to follow their preferred blogs and before the days of the big newsletter blasts. There was more of an intimacy to the process, and the blogs were read differently, as our audience popped around to visit each of their favorite blogs each day. This is one of the big things about blogging, the way that it draws people together.

Jeanne McKay

Between women bloggers there has

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Tornado in Cole kills 3; damage reported in Shawnee and across Oklahoma
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Tornado in Cole kills 3; damage reported in Shawnee and across Oklahoma

A cluster of severe storms that moved across central Oklahoma Wednesday evening produced tornadoes that damaged homes and businesses in Cole and Shawnee and left tens of thousands of residents without power.

As the sun rose Thursday, videos posted by storm chasers on Twitter showed under-construction homes near Cole that had been heavily damaged the night before.

more: See what tornadoes in Cole, Shawnee and other storms look like across Oklahoma

Rolling Storm Damage Reports: Tornado, Large Hail, High Wind in the Past 24 Hours

Damages, deaths, injuries caused by the storm are still being evaluated

Emergency responders and people

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Loan program helping Lethbridge residents afford home improvement projects – Lethbridge
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Loan program helping Lethbridge residents afford home improvement projects – Lethbridge

Lethbridge has become the ninth community in Alberta to launch a program helping residents pay for energy efficient and renewable energy upgrades to their homes.

Loan program helping Lethbridge residents afford home improvement projects – Lethbridge

The Clean Energy Improvement Program through Alberta Municipalities helps to eliminate the upfront cost of installing items like new windows, doors, solar panels, lighting fixtures and more to residential properties by offering low-interest financing through the city.

Residents can pay off the loan for the span of up to 20 years — depending on the project — which is added to property tax payments. The cost of the improvement must be between $3,000 and $50,000

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growing daffodils in my garden
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growing daffodils in my garden

growing daffodils in my garden

At this time of year, when I share pictures of the daffodils in my garden, in flowers all over the lawn, I always receive emails asking about how it works. So here are a few tips, sharing what I have learned over the years.

growing daffodils in my garden

Why did I plant them in the lawn?

When we first moved to this house, the garden was pretty simple, and the only beds contained nothing but daffodils and snowdrops. I let them bloom our first spring here and then dug them all up and replanted them in the lawn. The snowdrops are planted beneath the

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