DEAR HELOISE: Regarding funeral flowers, I was a funeral director for over 40 years and can tell you that nursing homes and hospitals do not want any flowers that even remotely look like they came from a funeral (for obvious reasons). I did not have the time or vehicle to transport them elsewhere after the ceremony. To hire someone would have been an added expense.

I would always suggest donations in lieu of this as an alternative.

— Barbara Ann Condon, Formerly of Condon Funeral Home,

in Kearny, New Jersey

DEAR HELOISE: A reader suggested turning off your main house water supply before going on vacation. This is only if you have forced air heating. If your furnace is a water based-boiler system (hot water baseboards, radiators, etc.), it automatically feeds water from your main supply

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