DEAR HELOISE: I’ve enjoyed and learned from your column for years. If you’re like me, tying a neck tie can be frustrating. When I get a tie with a knot that has the style and length I like, I’ll take it off by loosening it just enough to get it off my neck and over my head. Then I hang it ...

The signal is probably the single most valuable weapon available to the defense, but, like any other weapon, there is a proper time and place for its use. Take this case where a signal proved useless, partly because of a good play by declarer and partly because one defender could not obey the ...

Few things feel better than a long hike in the woods, exhausting yourself as you soak in the fresh air and tranquility. Then, back to camp, where you chip away at those health benefits with packaged hot dogs slapped into a white-bread bun with a slice of plasticky processed cheese food. It ...

In just a few weeks, Aug. 7-8, the state’s original wine festival, Vintage Ohio, www.VisitVintageOhio.com, will open at Lake Farmpark in Kirtland, near Cleveland. There are lots of new features in its 31st year, but the stars of this and all other wine events are always the wineries on ...

I can’t believe it’s already time to pen another column. These weeks fly by much faster than I like. Today was Monday and of course laundry day around here. Daughters Verena, Loretta (and children) and Lovina (and 10-month-old Brooklyn) came over, and I made grilled cheese with homemade ...