‘Old House’ Lures Viewers Into The Web

Fans of the PBS home show “This Old House” can now hop on their computers and find more info.

The series has a home page on the Time Warner Pathfinder Web site. Among the items on the home page are an open forum for discussing homebuilding issues with the show’s hosts Steve Thomas and Norm Abram, a trivia quiz, and a bulletin board for interacting with other “This Old House” viewers.

You can find the page at http://pathfinder.com/TOH/

Shutting down for winter: For information about winterizing gas barbecue grills and grill safety contact the National Propane Gas Association at (800) 4LP-GAS2 or send your questions via e-mail at npga@genie.geis.com.

Butterflies and more: If bugs are your passion - and they do have their fans - then there’s a national organization whose members share your interest.

The Xerces Society is a conservation group devoted to protection of invertebrates, including butterflies. The group has a magazine and publishes related books. Retired people and students can join for $15, otherwise the annual dues are $25. For more information about this butterfly/bug-loving group: The Xerces Society, 4828 Southeast Hawthorne Blvd., Portland, OR 97215; or call (503) 232-6639.

Thinking spring: We are sure Harris Seeds is not alone in introducing a new line of vegetable and flower seeds for spring planting, but we’ll pass along the toll-free number anyway. Call (800) 514-4441 to get a 1996 Home Gardening Catalog. We’ll include the phone numbers of other leading garden catalogs as they cross our desks.

Cleaning up: The combination of kids, Halloween makeup, candy, pumpkin-carving and candle wax can be hard on your carpets.

The Carpet and Rug Institute offers the following tips for taking care of Halloween-related accidents:

Act quickly and remove pumpkin seed and goo from the carpet.

Mix one teaspoon of liquid dishwashing detergent per cup of lukewarm water and blot - don’t scrub - the area.

Carefully rinse well with water. If that doesn’t work, mix two tablespoons of household ammonia per cup of water and blot again. Then rinse.

If that doesn’t work, call the Carpet and Rug Institute at (800) 882-8846. , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo