We live in a two-up, two-down with very steep stairs. The carpet is tatty and has already resulted in guests slipping down. Could you suggest any good coverings for stairs? Ideally easy to clean but not too hard, and especially no sharp corners as we walk barefoot in the house.

HAS there ever been a habit so quintessentially British as drinking tea? The inhabitants of these islands are famous for their love of it, which makes it rather ironic that it was not originally a British habit at all. Tea, like so much else, originated in China about 5,000 years ago when, legend ha

But a maths professor has finally proved what a nation of tea drinkers has been dying to know...how to pour a cuppa from a pot without the tea dripping from the spout.

Q: I recall these Hessian soldier fireplace andirons being in our west Toronto home since the early 1950s. Dad (who has since passed away) told me they were purchased at the famous Henry Pellatt/Casa Loma estate sale and auction in 1924. I've viewed the auction catalogue at the Toronto Archives and

TEAPOT they may be, but these pieces of china are unlikely to come anywhere near a humble teabag.