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Fixing things, her way
By Debbie Salomon Free Press Staff Writer Kitty Werner is a can-do woman with a variety of done-thats for proof: modeling school attendee, airline reservations agent, globe-trotter, lift-ticket seller, animal rescuer, innkeeper, mother, computer consultant, Ms. Fixit. Now, with a breathless enthusiasm usually spent by middle age, the 54-year- old Waitsfield resident has written and published "The Savvy Woman's Guide to Owning A Home." "Savvy" puts a twist on the wildly successful "dummies" guides to everything from nutrition to finance, popular during the 1990s. However, women who have outgrown gender-specific advice might cringe at Werner's introduction: "I'll lay odds that you grew up in a household maintained by someone else, most likely a male, probably Dad. Otherwise you wouldn't need this book. Weren't we girls just slated for the kitchen? Cooking in it, not building it." Never Werner. As the eldest child of household-repair syndicated columnist Henri de Marne, she became his apprentice, journeywoman and, finally, peer. "Kitty went with me to lumber yards -- she had a keen interest in manual things and an insatiable curiosity," de Marne says. Once, de Marne found his school-age daughter taking apart her wristwatch to see how it worked. Another time, she dismembered and reconstructed a doll. Werner made furniture for her first apartment out of discarded lumber and patched together a carpet from scraps. Werner studied electrical engineering briefly in college but, always restless, quit after a semester. She continued to participate in home renovation and improvements with her husband, Peter Werner, a masonry contractor. The Werners first came to Vermont on their honeymoon in 1974, and they stayed to run a Fayston ski lodge where everything needed fixing. They bought a raised ranch deep in the woods, where both their children were born, and where they still reside with five dogs, a cat and wildlife feeding on the deck. The tall, agile, near-frenetic woman gloried in the women's movement of the 1980s: "Finally, we were loose, like being let out of a pen." When she wasn't consumed by a mechanical or building project, Werner wrote she was following her mother into the League of Vermont Writers and initiating The Dorothy Canfield Fisher Writing Conference, which ran from 1990 to 1997. Her first professional writing assignment was updating and editing "The Official Directory to U.S. Flea Markets." Alone, then through a literary agent, in 1998, Werner proposed a general homeowner's maintenance guide -- hardly a new idea. No takers. Werner shifted to the women's mode, added attitude, tweaked the design. Still no publisher nibbled. Finally, in 1999, "The Savvy Woman's Guide to Owning A Home" was accepted by Oregon publisher Blue Heron. The book appears in its 2001 catalog, but Blue Heron ceased operation before any copies were printed. Werner -- frustrated, angry, determined -- assembled $7,000, incorporated RSB (Rejection Slip Blues) Press and published 3,300 copies herself. Some went directly to a distributor who succeeded in placing them at Barnes & Noble Booksellers and elsewhere; the rest were delivered to Werner on Sept. 11. De Marne helped fact-check but, lacking an editor, Werner's voice strides through: "Don't ever underestimate yourself, or your intelligence. Don't let anyone else do that, either," she writes. Although the book is intended as a reference, it makes a pleasant read for any gender homebody. Werner explains, "Marital status has nothing to do with it, as there are men who can't change a light bulb or identify a hammer." Her own grandfather qualified: His pipe-connecting project resulted in steam rising from the toilet as it flushed. Werner's "savvy" woman is not afraid to ask questions. Judy Phelon, a Waitsfield real estate broker, knows the type. She sees an increase in single women purchasing houses. "They ask more questions because they are novices and this is a big decision," Phelon says. "It's understandable that they are fearful of the unknown, but once you understand, it's easy. You pick up ... (Werner's) book, and it's right there." Like the daunting task of hiring a contractor. Werner says to throw out the highest and lowest bids, then select from the middle. A few contractors, she continues, still patronize women. "If he pats you on the hand and says 'That's OK, we'll take care of it,' without explaining how, find somebody else." Despite strides made elsewhere, Werner finds that some women are overly trusting of, or intimidated by, tradespeople. A good place to gain confidence, she believes, is an old-fashioned hardware store -- if you can find one. The book has Vermont references, but Werner refrains from exploitation despite the obvious cachet: Vermont woman homesteader in hard hat tackles frozen pipes, creosote, ice dams, insects and insurance claims. Purple, not green, borders the cover painting of the Fisk Farm on Isle La Motte by Vermont artist Maurie Harrington. Enough ink is spent on winter situations to make Werner's plain talk tinged with wit a likely stocking stuffer in a year where hearth and home seem especially precious. "There's a tremendous amount of good information in this book," says Margaret Rother of Bridport, who knows Werner from writing groups. Rother sees the guide as helpful for a woman left in charge after a death or divorce. "I hope that the women who need it, read it," she says. Tips for homeowners to keep in mind -- To childproof your home, slither or crawl on the floor at your child's height. You may see access to electric cords or sockets and other dangerous things children can and do swallow or pull. -- Prepare your own disaster survival kit around these basics: water, food, first-aid supplies, clothing, bedding, tools, emergency and special items (medicines, extra eyeglasses). Keep items needed during an evacuation in an easy-to-carry container: backpack, duffel bag, covered trash can. -- When going on vacation, unplug the television, CD player, radio, computer, printer, microwave oven, VCR, cable boxes -- anything that can be zapped by lightning. Turn off electric water heater at the circuit breaker. Turn down water temperature on gas water heater. -- Moving from city to country is the equivalent of moving abroad. How you are accepted into a (rural) community depends on how you behave. If you treat the locals like idiots, you will be treated like an idiot. The food store and the dump are the big hang-outs. -- Rule of thumb when planning additions or remodeling: Add at least 20 percent onto the top of any contract or pricing as a contingency. Think of it as a safety cushion. If you don't use it, think vacation. |