Homes

After years of envisioning it, Vancouver writer Kim Pemberton found her retirement home in Shawnigan Lake

Debbie Travis >E3

Dear Reena: Quite a while ago, you addressed the problem of black streaks on Corelle dinner plates. I remember that you had to put the plates in hot or boiling water but I don't remember what else you put into the water to take away the stains.

I've seen several articles with tips on how to pack for a trip. The following tips, from Erica Duecy, deputy editor at Fodor's, are so reasonable, even an over-packer like me can use them. Here are a few highlights.

It's no grand mansion - this century-old home has housed middle-class families in comfort and unpretentious style

Smaller subdivisions and even smaller building lots are bringing people closer together - sometimes with humorous and exasperating results.

There's nothing quite so effective as rising early to water the garden for viewing a concentration of wildlife. There's the usual young buck at his daily morning (and evening) station by the fence, nibbling grass and clover.

Artists Bruce Ketterer and Kathleen McPhail have fashioned a new home that looks like it stepped out of another century

Bylaw-enforcement officers get stuck in the middle of escalating complaints

Condo complex residents pitch in with tasks, eliminate a lot of fees