My Mother would cringe to hear these words "I bought another book". But, I did. This one is about DIY (do it yourself) home repair, geared to women. It's called 'Dare to Repair'. So, do you?

I have. I've fixed a toilet, removed a broken light bulb, and figured out the fuses enough to replace them at least once. There is a lot I still want to learn. But, since I learn from experience it's a slow process. You learn as something breaks or runs down, hence the whole repair gimmick.

Home repair is something we all should work on. Not just for saving money on hiring professionals but because so much of this is simple stuff really. You can do it. Best of all you feel so great having done it yourself.

Of course, it's not just for women. Men are expected to be home and car repair gurus. As if they were born that way somehow. Just as women are (or were) expected to know how to sew on buttons, hem pants and cook a dinner for 8, with perfect table settings.

Anyway, the book has a website. I'm going to poke around there tonight. Dare to Repair Check the Home Repair channel at BackWash to find more websites.

My best advice is 'don't be afraid to blow things up'. Eventually you will get that stain out of the carpet, the water will dry up and your hair will grow back. But, nothing beats the triumph of knowing you did it yourself!

PS - Read the instructions, be an informed home repair geek.

This newsletter is late cause I have several great ideas but no time to write them. Do you read the home and garden type magazines? I do. If only to look at what can be done by someone with more space, money and time than I have. It's like the whole Martha Stewart thing. It all looks so good. You know, even if you can't do all of that yourself it's great fun to see someone else doing it all. She really is fun to watch.

Anyway, some of my best ideas are from the home and garden magazines. I just need more time online to write them all and get them posted here. After all, I don't have a direct link into my brain. If I did you would probably run screaming wondering what the heck THAT ungodly mess was.

Well, until next time, when I will have something more unique and informative to send you...

Happy Gardening, enjoy the Summer Solstice.

One of the most frustrating things in the entire world is to have tons of great ideas, inspiration and creativity but not enough cash. Tomorrow is pay day but the cheque is going to be miniscule, pathetically small. Our hours have been cut back by more than half at the store. So, though there are so many things I want to do, I can only pick and choose the cheapest and balance my cash against keeping gas in the car.

The other sad thing is that I will be moving again. That means that here we are at the start of garden season and I can't really plant anything. Nothing that I expect to see again or even see in bloom in some cases. I look at the seed catalogues and have to hold back the whines, the sighs and... no, I don't cry. I'm a grown up woman after all.

But, it's hard to look forward to garden season knowing I can't fully take part. I remember having an apartment garden and feeling the same way. Although I dragged all the houseplants outside on the balcony and stuck up 4 window boxes, it really wasn't enough. There was so much more I wanted to do. Perennials for instance. My favourite flowers are all perennials. In the apartment the best perennials I could manage were houseplants that really didn't get much in the way of flowers.

However, one year my cactus bloomed! That was a huge surprise. I thought it was a parasite and almost picked the little flower bud off. I'm not sure what stopped me, but I'm glad something did. After a few years with more blooms each year I moved again and the cactus died. It just didn't like the new place I guess. Ever since I have watched to find the same kind of cactus again. But, though I see one now and then it's rare that they look all that healthy, worth the 10$ they usually stick on their tags. I don't want to buy some half dead/ diseased looking cactus. Not even worth asking for a discount on them cause I know how sensitive they are. Once they start to slid off the deep end they don't seem to bounce back.

Anyway, I think tomorrow, my one big expenditure will be a new cactus. If I find one. I miss having that cactus around. I originally bought it when I was 16 and I was in my 20's when it first bloomed. I can't believe I was that patient.

Are you worried about mosquitos this year? Here, in Ontario mosquito netting for patio furniture and decks is selling out as soon as it gets into the store. Some people have even reserved it before the truck ever leaves the depot. It's scary. Although you can get rid of standing water around your property you can't do much about the guy next door or the little natural pond in the ravine a few blocks over. But, if all you can do is control your own area you're doing all you can do. As Martha would say - it's a good thing.

Here is an article I found through one of the free content lists. I like citronella, I'm not sure how effective it is but it smells lovely. I've always thought the plant was from the geranium family but that's not mentioned in the article, possibly I'm wrong. Nah!!!

Citronella - What is it

We're all concerned about mosquito bites & West Nile this year. Citronella is the best known organic insect repellent. It is used in sprays, soaps, candles and other mosquito repellent products. So what is it?

Citronella is a tall, blue-green, lemon-scented perennial grass which grows to 1 or 1.5 meters tall. The leaves are used to make citronella oil. When the grass is 2.5 - 3 months old it is cut about 5 cm above the leaf sheath. The leaves are left to wilt in the sun. It can then be harvested again after about 1.5 months. Fresh, partly dried or wholly dried grass is steam distilled to remove the essential oil. The oil is yellow-brown and has the powerful lemony aroma we are all familiar with. Citronella oil is used a lot for commercially produced perfumes and soaps. It is also mixed with other vegetable oils to produce massage oils.

Citronella is native to southeast Asia. It is grown commercially in Sri Lanka, India, Burma, and Indonesia. The leaves have been used for their fragrance and medicinal value for centuries. Besides being an effective insect repellent it has been used for rheumatism, colds, headaches, lower back pain, migraines, fevers, pain, sprains, muscular aches, intestinal parasites, digestive problems, menstrual problems, stomach complaints, an after childbirth wash, to speed healing, fatigue, depression, household germicide/antiseptic, repelling cats, excessive perspiration, conditioning oily skin & hair, and to increase mental alertness.

Don't put pure citronella oil directly on your skin (it needs to be mixed with something). Don't used when pregnant. It has also been known to increase the heart rate of some people. Citronella oil should be used externally only - if ingested seek medical help.

Do citronella candles & soaps really work? Some say you'd have to have a lot of candles to create enough scent to keep the mosquitoes away. My feeling is - it won't hurt and even if it doesn't keep them all away it should cut them down. Use decorative candles that look great so their only purpose isn't repelling mosquitoes. I've used a mosquito repellent soap in the summer for years and I believe it helps. My daughter still gets lots of bites but she is one of those people that has always been covered with mosquito bites (must taste or smell good to mosquitoes!). She doesn't think the soap works. So give it a try - it if works great, if it doesn't keep the mosquitoes away you're still clean & a little lemony scented

Wendy Kennedy owns and operates www.CanadianCountryGifts.com which carries a wonderful selection of country products including citronella candles & handmade mosquito repellent soaps.

Sign up for her free biweekly newsletter by sending an email to ccg-request@newsletter.cndcountrygifts.com with `sub' as the subject.

Good evening, at least that's what it is right now. I'm here tonight to talk about web fever. You may wonder how that is possibly home and garden related and think 'she's really stretching it this time' or 'she's finally lost it' but no, charming reader. I'm very likely to be taking on yet another website. HerGardenWeb http://www.hergardenweb.com/ My own rambunctious, carelessly spelled version of HGTV.

What can you do with a woman who just can't stop taking on websites? I'd try to stop myself but the more I try the more I keep talking myself into doing it.

Anyway, this is your fair warning, keep your dandelions, your fabric scraps and your wood chips close on hand, you might need them. Sooner or later I'll find something for you to do with all those things.

Plus, if any of you have garden sites this would be a good time to email me about link exchanges or other great promotion ideas.

Back to your seedlings and good night,

Me and AOL (the other web monopoly).