Hidden treasures found among trash
DEAR HELOISE: I read your column on finding money when cleaning a deceased relative’s home. I’d like to add another place to look.
I was the executor for my aunt’s will. She hoarded everything. Going through bushels of old mail to put in garbage bags, i just happened to notice an envelope marked "proxy statement."
Many years before, her insurance company changed from a mutual to a public company and had issued stock to its members. As the company prospered, so did the stock. That envelope turned out to represent $42,000, almost half of her total estate. She never knew she had it.
— Steven F., Via email DEAR HELOISE: Hummingbirds arrive here in central North Carolina in early April. To prepare for them, we replace the colorless or gray domes over some of the songbird feeders in our yard with red domes. The bright red color of the domes helps attract migrating hummers to our yard, which, except for a few azaleas, has no red flowers in bloom at this time of year.
Your readers might be interested to know that we have had migrating hummingbirds come to our feeder as late in the year as November, so we don’t remove our feeders until december. They have to make a long journey in the spring and fall, and they need good sources of fresh nectar all along the way!
We enjoy reading your hints and helps in the Statesville Record & Landmark. Keep up the good work, Heloise!
—Nancy, via email DEAR HELOISE: After an overnight at a hotel and a day of driving ahead, I wanted to take along an orange from the breakfast offerings. But I realized it would be hard to drive (alone) and peel an orange. So before I left the hotel, I took a plastic cup, peeled and sectioned the orange and then had an easy snack to reach for as I drove along. It was a timesaver and a safety precaution. I enjoy your column.
— Elizabeth, Staunton, Virginia
DEAR HELOISE: In the Houston Chronicle, someone wrote about rabbits in their garden. We had a wonderful garden, and we planted leaf lettuce all along the borders FOR the bunnies! They never bothered anything else.
—Jane Smith DEAR HELOISE: A few hints:
1. At Halloween I place a dollar bill in an envelope for each child with "Happy Halloween" on it.
2. For grilled cheese sandwiches, I make toast and add a cheese slice then microwave it for 10 seconds.
3. To stop static when using plumber’s tape, I coat threads with petroleum jelly.