• DIY Day

    DIY Day: Roasting Coffee At Home

    I recently researched home coffee roasting for a character in my newest book (the sequel to A House in the Woods, in case you’re wondering), and, yes, it’s a thing!

    From HomeGrounds

    How To Roast Green Coffee Beans At Home

    What’s better than learning how to roast coffee beans? It’s a rhetorical question because for us, nothing beats learning how to roast coffee beans at home.

    Understanding the roasting process broadens your appreciation for the art and the science that goes into pouring the perfect cup of coffee. Home roasting also ensures that your coffee is as fresh as possible, and the roast is as light or dark as you prefer.

    Home Grounds is a strong advocate for home roasting – we love it! We’ve seen countless people intending to try it just once, only to become home-roasting addicts. It’s a passion for lifelong learning with never-ending surprises and satisfaction. Enjoy the best tasting coffee in your home by following our simple guide. We cover the various methods, their pros and cons, and explore which one is best for you.

    CONTINUE READING AT HOME GROUNDS

  • DIY Day

    DIY Day: Vinegar and Dawn for Stubborn Bathtub Cleaning

    Welcome to DIY Day at LGBTSr, a weekly feature about doing things ourselves – in the home, outside, wherever a project needs completing.

    We have a well at our house in the New Jersey woods, and that means water with a lot of minerals in it. This can make keeping a clean bathtub a challenge: iron and other minerals quickly stain the porcelain. While I’ve learned to live with the realities of a house in the country, there are plenty of ways to make cleaning easier, whether it’s in a rural home or a city apartment.

    Today I’m sharing a video from Jubara’s Cleaning Motivation YouTube channel on using vinegar and Dawn dish washing liquid to get stubborn stains out of a bathtub. It’s also good for the shower walls and the chrome.

    From Jubara

    Hot vinegar and Dawn dish soap – a miracle diy bathroom cleaner? How to get the yellow out of a bathtub.

    For some more cleaning motivation check out my other playlist.

     

  • DIY Day

    DIY Day: Changing a Home Light Switch

    Welcome to DIY Day at LGBTSr, a weekly feature about doing things ourselves – in the home, outside, wherever a project needs completing. My husband Frank and I moved to our rural home in New Jersey five years ago, after commuting back and forth to our apartment in New York City for ten years. The apartment is gone, and I’ve had to learn to take care of a home without the help of a building super! We call experts when it’s needed (plumber, electrician, landscaper), but there are a lot of little things a house demands of you that you can do yourself.

    I’ll also be including other DIY projects in the coming weeks and months: crafts, gardening, starting microbusinesses (eBay here I come!), as I embrace my own retirement from full-time work and dive into life with a lot more free time. I recently had to replace a switch in our bathroom, so this was my first choice for DIY Day. Be sure the electricity to any switch or circuit is off before you try fixing it! And if you’re not confident, ask for help.