Outdoors

1. Spruce up all around the house. Keep lawn and shrubbery trimmed and free of bicycles and other clutter. Keep the garden beds weeded and mulched.

2. Put a flowering pot on the front step and keep it watered and trimmed.

3. Fill potholes in your driveway and tidy up walkways.

4. Clean off your outdoor furniture; remove any rust (or toss out the rusted item).

5. Clear out the garage of everything but cars. If yours has become a two-car attic, throw out the excess.

6. Straighten gutters, the TV antennae, the fence--and others things that sag.

7. Fix doorbells, tighten loose door knobs, oil squeaking hinges, and repair broken windows and shutters.