Archive for the ‘Home Improvement’ Category

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Planters, A Good Gift Idea

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

I have all ready been approached by a few close friends and family members about gift ideas for the up and coming, fast approaching Christmas holiday season. It’s wonderful to have the Internet to assist in finding the perfect product or service makes things a whole lot easier for so many of us. I know that I will do the majority of my Christmas gifts online. You can just forget about getting me out in the cold and often wet weather with hundreds of other stressed out consumers bouncing from one store or mall to another. Let me kick back with the TV on and my laptop and let the shopping begin.

Anyway, I anticipated that I would be asked by some folks for ideas and have all ready done some research on some of the things that I have been thinking about. I figure if I find the exact item online and provide them with the link via email it will make this task a much easier one to tackle for everyone concerned. So I really have wanted to find and purchase some outdoor planters. I have been doing a lot of work to the yard each year and figured out that I’d like at least one outddor planter, possibly more as time goes along. So found some awesome buys online at eplanters.com and have bookmarked them for when I’m ready to send them out.

This company not only sells some good quality planters for the outside, but they have indoor planters as well. I have one indoor planter that I have managed to keep a live plant in for over 10 years now. My best friend, as a whim, gave me a small cutting along with the cutest little planter and I’m just tickled that I haven’t killed it yet. I’m not all that good with indoor plants, but outside I’ve been pretty over the last few years and I want to keep on keeping on!

 

Posted in Around Here, Business, Computers and/or Internet, Entertainment/Fun, General Living, Green, Home Improvement, Opinion | Comments Off

Real Life – In Boston

Friday, October 8th, 2010

My mother was born and raised in the Boston area, so I have always had a soft spot in my heart for New England. for a long time, Boston was nothing more than Logan International Airport, where I would switch planes and connect to another airline. But then my best friend got transferred to Cambridge and I learned about real estate in Boston. I learned about life in Boston from the perspective of someone who was going to live there.

The best advice I can share for someone interested in buying a place in Boston is to find a seasoned realtor like one from the Bushari Group Real Estate to help you. A lot of people discount the value of having a good agent to work with. This can be a huge mistake – you risk paying too much for a house, ending up in the wrong neighborhood, or even losing the home of your dreams to another buyer who outbids you because his agent knows how to negotiate and close the deal.

Boston Condos are a great way to break into the market. Condos are great for people with no kids, no pets, and a busy lifestyle that they don’t want to sacrifice for lawn maintenance and household repairs. A lot of condos have great amenities that even homeowners don’t get to enjoy, such as use of a party room, swimming pools, and a downtown location right in the middle of fantastic nightlife or easy commutes.

Posted in Business, General Living, Home Improvement, Travel | Comments Off

Nothing Says Cozy Like a Fireplace

Thursday, October 7th, 2010

The chilly morning and fog across the yard this morning made me think of San Francisco. I have some wonderful memories of a spring vacation to the west coast with a gorgeous scenic drive down the coastal Highway 1, a picnic among the redwoods, stopping at a quaint inn, and my first experience with fireplace gas logs.

We have always had a fireplace in every house I’ve ever lived in, but we always used firewood. I had no idea what gas logs were or how to use them. But this guest room had a view of Monterey Bay, a hot tub, and gas logs in the fireplace.

I was embarrassed to have to call the front desk and ask them to send someone to show me how to use the gas logs in our guest room. But it was worth it! What a lovely evening it was, sitting in rocking chairs watching the sunset over the Bay, with the gas log fireplace crackling and sending out just enough warmth to keep the chill off.

We’ve been discussing the conversion of our wood burning fireplace to gas. I want to buy R. H. Peterson Real Fyre Gas Logs and be able to just turn a little knob on the side of the fireplace to have instant warmth and a cozy atmosphere in my own living room. But first I have to get further educated on the process. Thank goodness I have the internet and can do my own research using the gas log FAQs on the R. H. Peterson gas logs web site.

Posted in General Living, Home Improvement, Memories, Shopping, Travel, Want This | Comments Off

House Numbers

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

Our new mailbox will have our address on it but it occurred to me that our house does not have any numbers on it. In my childhood home, we had our house numbers on an address plaque, mounted on the wall beside our front door. The numbers were illuminated by our front porch light, which we left on most nights until the last person in the household went to bed. Last one to bed was responsible for checking the locks and turning out all the lights.

Most of the houses on our road have address plaques, so I wonder why the former owners never got around to putting up one? I think it adds a nice touch to any house, to have the house numbers proudly displayed by the door.

I think it can also be a safety issue. Not all mailboxes have the numbers clearly visible at the road. If you have an address sign somewhere else on the property, emergency response vehicles will have a better chance at finding your house to help.

Posted in Around Here, General Living, Home Improvement, Memories | Comments Off

Making the Mailbox Permanent

Saturday, October 2nd, 2010

I’ve been working on fixing and upgrading my kitchen and hubby is more interested in doing things outside. He handles all the yard work and keeps the driveway cleared of snow and ice over the winter months.

Right now he is interested in a project at the end of our driveway. He wants to build  a brick enclosure for a new locking mailbox. We’ve had to replace our standard metal mailbox on a wood post twice since we moved here. It seems that every once in a while some juvenile delinquents drive down the road late at night and bash in all the mailboxes, supposedly “for fun.”

At first, we just replaced the mailbox with another one just like it. We did that again, reluctantly, the second time. But this time, hubby is looking at locking mailboxes and encasing the box with bricks to foil those destructive kids. This is getting to be more than just a nuisance.

Although we’ve not had any trouble with people opening our mailbox and taking our mail, it occurred to us that the kids could easily do that while we are away at work or running errands. The only thing we can do to prevent that is to get lockable mailboxes and head them off before they can steal our mail, especially since the holidays are fast approaching and a lot of people are known to send gift cards, checks and money to friends and family at Christmas.

Posted in General Living, Home Improvement, Shopping, Venting | Comments Off

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