DIY Life

I love watching street performers. In the summer, my favorite days are spent wandering the shops on Granville Island in Vancouver and watching buskers. Our children have loads of fun and enjoy the entertainment too. There is something about their exceptionally odd talents and their fearless performance style that I find appealing. I probably like it so much because it is so far from anything I could ever pull off. Or so I thought until now.

How to make money busking (street performing) teaches exactly that. You'll learn what separates the good shows from the great shows or what might leave passers by to mistake you for a beggar rather than busker. You'll learn why it's not a good idea to set up next to a pretty girl and why seeding your hat with tips works so well. Play to the children and their parents will follow. Plan a good show with a clear beginning, middle and end to draw and keep a crowd.

Do your research, track your success and sell merchandise. If you think of yourself as a professional and treat your show that way, others will too, and you'll be more successful for it. There are loads of great tips. Even if you're not really considering abandoning your job for busking, maybe you'll take a challenge and try it just once.

A few weeks ago I was sitting at the pub with some girlfriends. We were all commiserating about how hard it is to keep up with day to day things. It occurred to me during this conversation that I was the only one at the table who cleans my own house. I am a DIY house cleaner as I think most people are. It is not a job I enjoy and not one I even do particularly well, so I'm always looking for tips on how to be more efficient.

Ahhh, the joys of summer. It's my favorite time of the year, and I hate to see it go, now that Autumn is in full swing. One of my favorite parts of summer is mowing the lawn. In my household, I've declared it as my summer job. My husband mows around our little trees, and also does the hard parts of the lawn, but I do the rest. We just bought a brand new, self-propelled lawnmower for me this past spring, and I would much rather be mowing the lawn right now than sitting in the house watching all the leaves fall off the trees.

Before you put your mower away for the last time this year, there are a few things you need to do to ensure that it will start for you next Spring. It's necessary to perform winterizing maintenance, otherwise you'll be tugging and pulling on the starter, and will end up wondering why your wonderful lawnmower is giving you such a problem. All you'll need is about an hour of your time, so join me after the break to learn about getting your lawnmower ready for winter.