When jeweler Cathy Calhoun returned to the site of her old job, she found a gem: a building ripe for renovation. She has taken the quirky former bank, where she worked as a teller in the 1970s, and turned it into a home that blends history and modern luxury. The heart of the place is the vaults. Really, how many other people can boast vaults—ones that still had valuables inside?

Tomorrow’s the biggest picnic day of the year—and you have nothing patriotic to jazz up your Fourth of July table. Not to worry. Chris Nease can help you dazzle your guests. Not the pricey, impossibly obscure-materials kind of help. The quick, dollar-store kind of help. Nease, a Chester wife and mother of two, can take a few sheets of paper, some twine, a couple of pillar candles, plain white cups and a shower caddy and turn it into a party table worthy of an upscale home magazine.

Area residents reuse, repair, recycle stuff instead of buying new. “We’ve gotten in our society to think about everything as disposable: furniture, automobile, clothing,“ says writer Wanda Urbanska, creator of the PBS television show “Simple Living.“

LONDON The house has everything an Agatha Christie fan could want—except a body in the library. The stuccoed Georgian villa where the writer spent her vacations is open to the public after a $7.8 million restoration. Visitors can see the bedroom where Christie slept, the dining room where she entertained, and the drawing room where she thrilled friends with readings from her latest whodunit.

Iam a second-generation home schooler. I was taught at home in the 1970s and early 1980s; now I write, teach college students how to write, and educate my four children at home. Three of them, anyway. The oldest one, age 17, is essentially educating himself. He spends his school-day day mornings working largely on his own: reading his American history, writing an essay, problem-solving his way through his advanced algebra, finishing off Emma Bovary or Moby Dick, working on his own original writing, taking long walks between subjects to clear his head.

Q:We had two pieces of trim replaced on our front door because of rot at the bottom of one. (The other was changed so they would match). One new piece has an 8-inch section that exudes sap (I’m guessing) that is a brownish color, coming through the Kilz primer I applied. I called the place where the carpenter purchased the wood, and they didn’t think that was a defect.

Folks who lose power after a storm or from another outage are left with a lingering problem: refrigerator odor. The smell from spoiled foods can remain after the food has been removed and the electricity restored. A good cleaning and some odor-removal methods might solve the problem. Start by cleaning the refrigerator compartment thoroughly. Anne Field, an emeritus extension specialist with Michigan State University Extension, suggests this method: Unplug the appliance, remove all food and removable interior parts, and wash the interior with a solution of 1 to 2 tablespoons of baking soda in 1 quart of warm water. Rinse and wipe dry.