Living Here

Your dog has escaped from your backyard. You need to borrow a ladder. You're worried about a suspicious character who keeps showing up on your cul-de-sac.

Necessity brought change to the landscaping of UC Davis. It also meant opportunity for the UC Davis Arboretum.

Sacramento Bee readers share their gardening adventures.

Last summer, I noticed the telltale signs of mites on my eggplant and squash. Can mites be eradicated using non-pesticidal means? If not, what are the best anti-mite products available?

DEAR HELOISE: My home is an older home, and anything that had been in any closet has an "old" smell. I want to put boxes of baking soda in each closet to help control odors. Should I place the soda boxes on the top shelf or on the floor?

Special events - The Folsom History Museum presents an exhibit on textile construction, 18th century to present. Displays show the history of yarn production, weaving and knitting.

This colorful event features hundreds of African violets, including many rare and unusual varieties. Self-watering pots for sale, too.

The Sacramento Bee hosts a network of high-quality news providers and bloggers in the Sacramento region. Here is a sampling of the best of the current Home & Garden blogs.

This is one part in a weekly series featuring the UC Davis Arboretum Durable Delights, 30 can't-fail, easy-care plants well-adapted to our region.

Resetting the alarm clock is easy; body clocks take a little longer.

Dancing – ballroom dancing in particular – could be the key to aging with energy and resilience, according to health experts. And courtesy of 16 seasons' worth of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," ballroom dancing is enjoying a boom in popularity.

TODAY - "Five Tools for Weight Loss Success," with certified weight and wellness coach Pamela Perkins. 6-7 p.m. 3412 Folsom Blvd., Sacramento. Free

I remember the infant-feeding days well, very well. I recall blueberry-smothered faces, tiny hands squishing puréed squash through clenched little fists, and generally, a feeling that my growing babies loved mealtime.

Jane's worsening migraine headaches over several months brought her to the doctor's office.

NAPA – When you stop at the security gate at Palmaz Vineyards and look into the distance, you're able to take in all kinds of things – the gentle slopes of Mount George, a private road that winds along a field of grapes, the expansive sky of the Napa Valley.

One invention transformed the course of Southern cooking.

Calling all former members of the Sacramento Home Winemakers Club: An important anniversary celebration is coming up, and the group would like to see you and your wines.

The Sacramento Bee hosts a network of high- quality news providers and bloggers in the Sacramento region. Here is a sampling of the best of the current food and dining blogs.

Learn how to bake impeccable breads in this class taught by Gail Von Huene, the founder of Steel Magnolia Kitchen

Rome is eternal. Tuscany's terrific. But there's lots more to Italy. And every region has its own trademark wines.

When I informed my husband that I was going to make pork with a rhubarb sauce, he dismissed the idea out of hand. He does not like sweet in his savory.

I am looking for a cut-out cookie recipe that was first published in The Bee's food section in either 1990 or 1994 for the Super Bowl in which the San Francisco 49ers were playing. The cookies were in the shape of football helmets and decorated with the 49ers logo. The icing had maple flavoring in it.

If they follow their usual timetable, federal and state agricultural officials any day now will release their annual calculation of vineyard acreage in California.

Making granola bars is easier than making cookies. There's no butter and sugar to cream, so there's no need for a mixer or bringing butter and eggs to room temperature.

We have two cats, and I need some suggestions on how to get them to leave the houseplants alone.

As the veterinarian on "Good Morning America," I'm always hearing about and looking at pictures of other people's pets. I truly enjoy hearing about the love people share with their companion animals.

DEAR KELLY: I'm a junior in high school and my boyfriend is in college. He's about three hours away so its not so far that we never see each other. The problem is that everyone seems to want us to break up because they think that I should date people in high school and he should date people where he lives.

Though he seems the coolest cucumber in the patch, actor Tom Riley is numbingly nervous. His legs quiver under the table, his mouth is dry, sweat is creeping down the back of his neck.

Athol Fugard's slowly simmering 1982 drama "Master Harold … and the boys" encapsulates the tragic complexities of apartheid-era South Africa in one dismal rainy afternoon. The fine new production of the classic at the Sacramento Theatre Company's Pollock Stage benefits from a strong trio ensemble and careful, sensitive staging from director Buddy Butler.

The Sierra foothills seem an unlikely place to find a surf legend. But an "Endless Summer" vibe fills the Rescue workshops of Floyd Smith.