My Cool Home

  Muhammad Ali was laid to rest in my hometown on June 10th.

Tens of thousands lined the city streets for a 19-mile motorcade processional that led from his childhood home on Grand Avenue to Louisville’s Cave Hill Cemetery.

20,000 filled the Yum Center for a memorial service that followed.

Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, Kentucky. Richard Hopkins photo.

Louisville WDRB Sports Journalist Eric Crawford said, “We will never see the likes of this day, or Ali, again.”

Mitch McConnell, the Senate Majority Leader, didn’t show up.  Abraham Lincoln and Muhammad Ali rank as our two most famous Kentuckians. It’s a pity that Senator McConnell a couldn’t make it home to Louisville, but it might have put him in an odd spot. McConnell is a cunning politician. He doesn’t strike me as joyful or playful. Muhammad Ali was joyful and playful to his core.

The Champ had planned his sendoff for nearly ten years. People of different colors, creeds and persuasions gathered to remember The Greatest of All Time. Ali knew what he was doing, but he wasn’t cunning.

This was a joyful day.

Ali often said, “Ain’t I pretty? You ain’t never seen a man prettier than me.”

He was pretty. But he was so much more. Pretty was a starting point.

My meadow is pretty, too. But I can’t look at my meadow without wondering if I’m doing the right thing. I worry too much. How long will it take for birds to start seed bombing the menacing Johnson grass Sorghum halepense into the meadow? This would not be so pretty.

I’ve read recently read that pretty may no longer be good enough for a garden or a meadow like mine. Each should sustain life and benefit the natural world. I think my 2-acre meadow does that, but I’m not ready to give up pretty.

Salvisa, Kentucky meadow on June 20th.

My meadow will soon be full of beautiful colors and textures. The red blooms of the royal catchfly Silene regia and the gray-green foliage of rattlesnake master Eryngium yuccifolium never hog the spotlight. Cut-leaf prairie dock Silphium pinnatifidum will do that! Goldfinches feed on seeds of black-eyed Susan in late winter, and lightning bugs flicker on hot summer nights.

Not all is wholesome. Bush honeysuckles want to gobble up a piece of my goodness. Venus’ looking glass, Triodanis perfoliata, was a pretty newcomer to the meadow this month, and it could become a weedy thug, too. Maybe I shouldn’t trust pretty.

Irish landscape designer Mary Reynolds has gone beyond pretty. She seeks to find a deeper relationship with her garden designs. “I shouldn’t be making any more pretty gardens.”

This is where things get tricky and interesting.

It’s not easy to promote plants and gardening. Otherwise, we would be a nation of gardeners, instead of a nation of gun owners. The NRA is clearly more persuasive than the nursery industry.

Invoking fear sends guns flying off the shelves but doesn’t do much for nursery owners. Start talking too much about the natural world—butterflies and bees—and try telling folks to get over “pretty,” and you will hit a strong headwind. Homeowners get scared. If you’re trying to make a living from horticulture, the chance of selling gobs of plants may fly out the window.

On the other hand, there is Garden and Gun Magazine. Truth told: I own one .22 rifle and three garden hoes.

Silphium pinnatifdum, cut-leaf prairie dock. Shutterstock photo.

Homeowners want pretty.

We need a deeper understanding of the natural world and a global commitment to keep our planet healthy. We want gardeners with hoes in their hands, not assault weapons.

The world needs the inspiration of Muhammad Ali and Mary Reynolds.

Ali lived in the moment. He wasn’t anxious about tomorrow. He made a complicated world seem simple.

Gardening is not simple.

I needed The Champ’s advice.

I wish he could have seen my Salvisa meadow, where there are butterflies floating and stinging bees buzzing.

“Ain’t it pretty?” Ali might have said. I would have nodded in agreement. We were alike in some ways.

We loved life.

We loved people.

We loved pretty.

      The Greatest of All Time and the Meadow originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 22, 2016.

When it comes to relationships and finding The One, How I Met Your Mother is one of the best sitcoms to express your feelings.

As the title says, the show is about one guy’s search for real love in the Big Apple. Apart from Ted’s conquest, the sitcom also shows other aspects of love: marriage dramas, sleeping with one woman after another, and believing in love again after it has failed you one too many times.

Men who are avid fans of the show enjoy the stories because they relate with one of the main characters. You might be one of them.

Are you a Barney, Marshall, or Ted?

Ted: The Hopeless Romantic

If you’re a sucker for romance, dating expert Cupidscronies.com says you need not be ashamed—you’re a Ted Mosby!

Ted always believes the best in love. Despite the pitfalls of his past relationships (e.g. cheated on by Karen, left at the altar by Stella), he never gave up. Teddy Westside is no stranger to heartbreak, and neither are you. But just like Ted, you shouldn’t throw in the towel. You’ll find the Mother soon!

Barney: The Player

Do you enjoy playing the field? Barney is your guide in the dating scene.

You’re not a big fan of staying single for too long. While you believe in one true love, you also believe in having a little bit of fun. Just like Barney, you enjoy meeting others and flirting. But you realize you can’t keep playing forever. In the future, you’ll also want to find The One.

Marshall: The Stick-to-One

Marshall is known for his long-term relationship with Lily. He has eyes for no one except his beautiful wife. While Ted and Barney struggle in the dating field, Big Fudge lounges comfortably with the love of his life.

Just like Marshall, you’ve found The One. But that doesn’t mean life is easy. Sometimes, you encounter bumps along the way, but you’re willing to work things out to make the relationship last.

Which How I Met Your Mother character best describes your love life?

The post How You’ll Meet the Mother: Are You Ted, Barney, or Marshall? appeared first on MoisesBarrios.

You're looking inside that house you're planning to buy. The first thing you lay your eyes on is the living room. It looks warm and cozy, but more than this area, you’re more interested to see the kitchen. Homebuyers like you never fail to take a good look at the kitchen and even make it part of the deciding factors before signing the deal. Why the kitchen? 

The Importance of the Kitchen

There are many reasons people give importance to the kitchen. Generally, it's the place where you whip up different food that your family loves. It shouldn't be just any kitchen, though. It should be the kind of space that would inspire you to bake delicious cakes or cook mouthwatering beef stews and other dishes. 

It should also be a kitchen that suits your taste and style. From the cabinet color and style to the lighting systems, one wrong detail in the kitchen and potential buyers may think twice whether to buy the house or not. After all, nobody would want to spend thousands on renovations. 

Serenity Kitchen and Bath says that it's no surprise that Fort Wayne homeowners look for kitchen remodeling services before they put up their house for sale.

Deciding to Rebuild Your Kitchen

With a nice looking kitchen, you get the chance to entertain friends and relatives. An ideal kitchen atmosphere allows you, your family, and your friends to have a relaxed and enjoyable conversation. If you feel you've found the right home, but there's still something wrong with the kitchen, you have to estimate whether it's worth renovating or remodeling. Freshhome.com believes that the kitchen is the heart of the home because it “fuels the bodies, minds and souls of friends and families all over the world.” 

The kitchen is among the most important parts of a house. Whether you're planning to buy or sell a house, it's best to understand why it is so.

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The post Bring Life to Your Home Through Kitchen Remodeling appeared first on Coastscapes.

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Today Dewalt has revealed the Dewalt Flexvolt 120V 12″ cordless miter saw, the first of its kind. It runs on two 60V batteries for 120V of power. Here are a couple videos of the Dewalt Flexvolt cordless miter saw in action, cutting through a 12-inch board with no problem.

This tool can also be plugged in to run on 120V AC power, but otherwise it can run all day on the Flexvolt batteries.

Also introduced on the Flexvolt platform is a cordless table saw, and a few more game changing power tools.

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The Dewalt Flexvolt has arrived! There has been a lot of hype surrounding the release of this battery and it looks like Dewalt has delivered.

The Dewalt Flexvolt 60V battery delivers voltage based on the power needs of the tool it is attached to. Here’s the fun part, it can power six of their new Flexvolt cordless tools including a table saw and 12″ miter saw, but it’s also backwards compatible with their whole line of 20V Max power tools. It’s available in 6.0 Ah and 9.0 Ah configurations which can be run in a series and parallel for 120V of power.

The Dewalt Flexvolt will be available later in 2016.

The four of us in my garden, 2007

Ah, the early days of garden blogging. I started in 2005. Facebook was about a year old; Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest were yet to be born. The reason I started is that I had been forced to sign up with Blogger in order to participate in a class as a guest lecturer ( it made sense at the time). Then I decided that this was the place where I could start an online diary of my gardening efforts, which I had been wanting to document—in a digital format—for some time. The first year of posting on Gardening While Intoxicated was pretty quiet, with a burst of excitement (at least from me) when Garden Walk Buffalo came along. I realized that year-round posting about whatever I was growing or not growing might get boring, and I found some other, related, topics.

Susan and me in Chicago, 2009

2006 was the year garden bloggers seemed to start really noting each other. There was a Gardenweb section called Garden Voices, which dragged in all the feeds; you could easily scroll through and read what people all over the place were saying about their gardens and—sometimes—gardening in general. It was the latter than interested me more; in fact, I got into trouble by casually commenting that most people were just “showing off their gardens” (and I added “which is cool,” but everybody forgot that part). This is when I started reading the blogs of the Garden Rant founders, who always had interesting things to say—Michele in Sign of the Shovel referring to peonies as “drunks at the rail,” Susan in Tacoma Gardener relating her sod removal efforts, Amy in Dirt talking about chickens, which was kind of a new thing in city gardens then. The three founded Garden Rant in June, 2006, I wrote my first guest post in September, and I was invited to join the group at the end of the year.

A panel we did at the IGC conference, 2010

We all got together for the first time in 2007 at Garden Walk Buffalo and continued to meet at a few conferences and Flings (mainly Susan and me); we even gave a panel once.

This Buffalo front garden was the subject of several posts when it came under attack by the city.

And the funny thing is it’s all still there. Michele hasn’t been blogging for Rant for years now, but you can still read all her Rant posts as well as her Sign of the Shovel posts. Amy’s archives go back to 2003, and you can still find everything from Susan. I’ve been having a blast reading the old Garden Rant posts and reposting them. We ranted plenty about bogus home remedies, big chem, big boxes, gardeners getting harassed by the man, and a lot more; we even helped save a Buffalo friend’s front garden.

It’s true that now there isn’t as much ranting going on, but I still prefer the ranting. And when I find something  worth ranting about, I promise you, you’ll see it here. In the meantime, I have been absorbing the wisdom of our new fellow bloggers Allen Bush, Evelyn Haddon, and Thomas Christopher, who have way more horticultural expertise than I’ll ever have, and look forward to meeting them some day.

Thanks for the memories! originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 21, 2016.

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Summer months often bring out large, exterior home improvement projects to the forefront of a homeowner’s to-do list. We’d argue that there’s hardly a project larger than replacing a residential roof. While standard materials vary somewhat depending on the region, a great non-conventional material to consider would be metal roofing.

One of the leaders in metal roofing products is American Building Components (ABC). Founded in 1908 and headquartered in Nicholasville, Ky., ABC is committed to manufacturing quality metal roofing, siding, and light gauge products for agricultural, residential, commercial, and post-frame applications. ABC has built a strong reputation around premium metal building solutions that customers have relied on for over a century.

It’s easy to see metal roofing as an option for agricultural and commercial purposes, but using metal roofing and siding can be a very striking, modern option for nearly every style of home—for example, using corrugated steel sheets as fencing. Changing up your materials can certainly add remarkable curb appeal while also providing for energy efficiency and long-term durability for the home and it’s occupants. The flexibility of metal lends itself to a myriad of uses and styles of implementation, meaning the options are pretty close to endless as you decide the best way to integrate metal roofing into your home’s current design aesthetic.

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Here are some reasons why you should consider metal roofing:

Strength Against Elements Metal is widely known as a resilient material and a strong match for extreme weather conditions. Supported by third-party testing, metal roofing and wall panels offer fire and wind resistance and prevent air and water leakage capable of withstanding up to 140 mph winds. It’s safe to say that metal roofing panels are strong contributors to durable, weather-tight building envelopes, especially for areas that are subjected to extreme weather conditions on the regular.

Green Features American Building Components’ metal roofing panels are made of 25-35% recyclable materials, as well as being virtually 100% recyclable by the end of its life cycle. ABC’s metal roofing systems are coated with infrared reflective Cool Roof finishes, therefore reflecting much of the sun’s infrared radiation and keeping the roof surface temperature lower than uncoated or traditional roofing materials — that means significant energy savings, including notable reductions in HVAC costs.

Aside from their composition, metal panels are strong hosts for other energy-efficient, and even energy producing, building materials. ABC’s metal panels can be used with any type of insulation system and are able to support very thick insulation, maximizing a building’s performance. Additionally, metal roofs are ideal surfaces for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, which can be installed on a metal roof penetration-free, resulting in high performance with minimal risk.

Longevity and Savings Metal roofing can last up to 60 years, meaning the investment to switch to metal roofing now may mean the end of re-roofing your home as long as you live in it, if not longer. As well, the government has renewed the federal tax credits for ENERGY STAR® certified metal roof products on primary residences (10% of cost up to a $500 credit), which means in addition to saving 40% on energy costs, a certified metal roof will put cash back in your wallet.

When you combine savings, style, versatility, and energy efficiency, it’s hard not to consider metal roofing panels for your next roofing project. For more information (including styles, colors, and usages) and pricing, visit abcmetalroofing.com.

When you think of cosmetic dental treatment, you probably picture bright white teeth and beautifully-aligned smiles. You might think that such treatment, popular among celebrities and reality television stars, is beyond your reach – but in fact, more adults than ever before are seeking out and finding the benefits to be gained from cosmetic dentistry.

What’s more, in many cases there are also additional health benefits to such treatment.

Let’s take cosmetic orthodontics as an example. Whilst many people think that “orthodontics” has to equate metal braces, and is only meant for children and teenagers, there are in fact a number of discreet adult orthodontic options available.

The additional health benefits of adult orthodontic treatment are also being increasingly recognised. These include straighter teeth being easier to keep clean, because there are fewer gaps in which food particles can stick and bacteria can build up, and in the case of adults who have problems with their bite, the reduction of such problems as jaw pain and headaches.

Cosmetic restorative procedures, such as cosmetic crowns, can give your teeth additional strength so that you can bite and chew food properly, whilst replacing your teeth with a dental bridge, cosmetic denture or even dental implants all enable you to enjoy a healthy diet, and to be confident in your smile, which provides a serious boost for the self-esteem.

So, if your interest in cosmetic dentistry has been sparked by your favourite film star, or by a friend who has had treatment, what should you look out for to ensure that you get the best possible results?

The first thing to look for is good reviews. Your friend’s recommendation is an excellent place to start, but if you are looking on your own, look out for personal reviews such as those on the website of Garden View Dental Care in Buckinghamshire. You could also ask to speak to patients who have had the same treatment as you.

Look for an experienced dentist who has been offering cosmetic treatments for a number of years. Also, check that your practice is registered and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, and read their latest report for additional information. 

The post How to Get the Best Out of Cosmetic Dentistry appeared first on MoisesBarrios.

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You may think with summer in full swing, seasonal allergies went out the door with the rains and flowers of spring. Oh no, dear friends, allergies are still alive and well and kicking the literal snot out of sinuses both near and far.

The people over at Honeywell compiled this handy little infographic illustrating the top 10 allergens in America, as compiled by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America, and we thought you might want to take a gander.

As a person who’s undergone extensive medical interventions to alleviate extreme sinusitis and environmental allergies, this list only has a couple of surprising allergen sources (cockroaches?!). It bears keeping in mind, however, whether you’re working outside or inside on your latest projects to be cognizant of what all you may be stirring up alongside the expected messes that come with DIY. For example, tearing up carpet may bring a host of gross upon you, depending on the location of the carpet and what all lived upon the carpet before its removal. Even simple tasks like cutting grass can have some serious ramifications for someone with severe plant- and pollen-based allergies. Add to the mix the heat of summer and things like humidity and smog and things can actually get pretty scary pretty quickly.

We think this is a great guide to keep handy to remind yourself how to keep your home and yard as allergen-free as possible, whether you’re building from scratch, moving into your next project or new home, or just need a good deep cleaning. Later this week we’ll be reviewing the brand-new Honeywell Smart Bluetooth True HEPA Air Purifier unit, which touts a designation to fight the most severe indoor allergens from the #1 brand recommended by allergists, and letting you know how it’s performed during some of the highest allergen count days of the summer thus far.

DEAR TIM: My wife has instructed me that I no longer can put off the deck project. I got the confidence to do all the work above ground, but I’m worried about the deck foundation. What do I need to know about deck pier forms so my deck posts don’t sink into the ground and my deck falls to the ground? I see round and square pieces of concrete under the posts at other decks I look at. It that all you do, just place a precast concrete disc under the post and be done with it? Help me so I don’t disappoint my wife. Eric B., Long Island, NY

DEAR ERIC: It’s an overused statement, but it’s so very true: Happy wife, happy life. Let’s work together to get this deck done so you don’t have to spend time in the dog house folding laundry forever.

Think of your deck as you would any structure. Perhaps you’ve seen houses next to the coast where you live that resemble tables. The houses sit up above the ground on large wooden or concrete posts so the storm surge flows under the houses. These support columns are not really any different than your deck posts. They all transfer the load of the structures to the soil below.

Decks need foundations just like a house, detached garage or skyscraper. The concrete deck piers support the concentrated loads that you find at each deck post. Imagine how much weight is pushing down on the few deck posts you’ll have! By the time the deck is complete and you have lots of people, furniture, snow, etc. on it, the load at each post can exceed several thousand pounds. Properly designed and constructed deck piers ensure the deck doesn’t sink or get uplifted by wind!

This is an ingenious deck pier form that assembles with no tools and comes complete with pre-cut and pre-bent reinforcing steel! Photo Credit: Tristan Carter

The concrete you see at the surface under the deck posts you’ve been spying at other homes should continue deep down into the soil. The depth the concrete extends is a factor of the frost line in the area and the bearing capacity of the soil. What’s more, there’s a good chance that deep in the ground the concrete is wider than what you see at the top to help spread out the load across more square inches of soil.

I’ve installed all sorts of deck pier forms in my career as you might imagine. Going back decades it was not unusual to dig a large 2-foot by 2-foot hole and pour about 6 or 8 inches of concrete in the bottom of the hole. This concrete was a small spread footing.

The next day we’d then lay concrete block on top of the hardened concrete. The hollow cores of the block would be then filled with more concrete. A steel anchor bolt would then be inserted in the wet concrete. This anchor bolt would hold down a metal connector used to fasten the wood deck posts to the new concrete pier.

Many years ago inventors tried to make all this easier. Round concrete forms that look like giant paper towel roll cores were sold to contractors. You can still buy these thick paper tubes. This was set on a similar concrete footer in the ground and acted as a handy form for wet concrete. You no longer had to lay concrete block.

The issue with using one of these giant tubes is that you had to figure out how to brace it so it wouldn’t move as you poured concrete. It’s not as easy as you might think to do this. Then you had to figure out how to get reinforcing steel into the tube in the right position.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a new invention that makes installing deck piers as easy as working with snap-together plastic building blocks children play with. This ingenious deck pier form snaps together in less than a minute with no tools. But wait, it gets better.

The plastic form comes with internal slots and rings that support pieces of precut steel reinforcing bars that come with the form. In years past, you had to get long bars of steel and then struggle to cut them. At least two pieces of the steel need to bent to connect the vertical concrete pier to the wider concrete that forms the footing for the pier. It’s not as easy to bend this reinforcing steel as you might think.

There are other types of plastic deck pier forms you can buy, but the ones I prefer are the easiest I’ve ever used in my forty years of building. All you need to do is carefully place the form at the correct depth so you meet the local building codes for frost protection and soil bearing capacity. Once you have the form in place and it’s level, then you carefully backfill the dirt around the form before you pour the concrete.

What I love about this product is how much time and effort it saves. Everything you need, except for the concrete, is shipped to your home. You don’t have to drive to different places to get all the steel, forms, bracing, etc. Using the form I use, you just dig the hole to the correct depth, place the form, carefully backfill so as not to move the form and start mixing concrete! It doesn’t get any easier than that.

Be sure the anchor bolt you install in the wet concrete is hot dipped galvanized. You don’t want the bolt that holds the deck post connector to the pier to rust out over time. Take your time and double check all measurements to ensure you have your deck piers in the correct location. The margin for error is usually less than 2 inches in any given direction!

Column 1149

Summer is in full swing here in New Hampshire. Today the temperature is going to kiss up against 90 F. Fortunately, the humidity is not too bad with the dew points in the mid 50's.

I've been crazy busy here as this week I just started to build a deck that should have been put on my home 15 years ago.

What I'm doing is adding a deck that's 24 feet wide and projects out from my existing deck 16 feet. The picture above shows how far I got in just the past four days. The deck will eventually be as wide as the long beam that's mortised into the top of the wood 6 x 6s.

The three joists you see are there to stabilize the beam so it doesn't fall over in the wind.

On Wednesday, I was getting dirty. Look below at the photo of me down in a hole getting one of the Form Footer pier forms set exactly where it needs to be. I saw this invention for pouring piers a few years back at one of the shows I attended. It's simply ingenious.

Using this form, which requires NO TOOLS to assemble, you're ready to pour concrete in just minutes after it's set in the hole.

One of the best qualities of this form is it comes with the reinforcing steel already cut to length and bent! But wait, there's more!

The inside of the form has slots and rings that put the steel exactly where it needs to be to provide the most strength. You don't have to try to figure out HOW to suspend the steel so it's surrounded by concrete.

The way I install these forms is to get them exactly where I want them in the hole and then I carefully backfill around them so the dirt supports the form side to side. With the dirt filled all the way to the top of the grade, you can the tip a wheelbarrow right over the top and fill it up with fresh concrete.

CLICK HERE to see a video I taped several years ago when I used the same forms to build my 16 x 24 shed. Boy, I seem to like rectangles that size!

Thursday, I poured the concrete and set the anchor bolts. Friday, I mortised in the ledger board for the new deck into the wood support posts of my existing deck. Yesterday my son helped me put up the three 6 x 6 posts, the beam and the three joists you see in the photo above.

You need to have the new ledger board in place, in my opinion, before you go about calculating the height of the new deck posts and beam.

With the ledger board in place you then simply calculate the distance from the bottom of the ledger board to the top of each pier.

When you add those two dimensions together you get the exact height each 6 x 6 post should be.

The top of the support 6 x 6s is where the top of the new beam will be. If you want the deck level, then the top of the beam needs to be at the same elevation in space as the bottom of the ledger board. Keep in mind the deck joists are supported by the ledger board using metal joist hangers.

I'm using all top-of-the-line Simpson Strong-Tie joist hangers, hot dipped Simpson Strong-Tie nails and structural screws to assemble all the deck components.

This week I'll be retrofitting my deck so it's connected properly to my house. The IDIOT BUILDER - NOT ME - who build my house just nailed my deck ledger board to the house.

Fortunately, Simpson Strong-Tie has come up with ingenious structural screws and a special bracket to connect my existing deck to the house so it doesn't pull away or fail under a massive snow load. I'm strengthening it so it meets the 100 pounds per square foot standard.

I'll be taping a few videos for sure about the ingenious Simpson retrofit screws and brackets. If your deck is lag bolted to your house, you need to do what I'm doing.

Why?

Because you have NO CLUE if the lag bolts were overtightened, if they're the right size and if they even bolt into the RIGHT components of your home!

Stain Solver Sale

We just finished making another TEN TONS of Stain Solver. Watch for a sale announcement on Tuesday.

If you're a new subscriber, Kathy and I own Stain Solver. It's a Certified organic oxygen bleach that cleans just about anything water washable.

CLICK HERE to see a boatload of Before and After photos sent in by customers just like you.

FAIR WARNING: There is a true LIMITED SUPPLY of the bigger sizes. If you want the BEST PRICE per pound, then you want to invest in an 18 or 50-pound size.

Toilet Install SECRET

You may not be aware, but I've been a master plumber for about 35 years. I was licensed in Hamilton County and Cincinnati, OH for years and years.

Since there was no reciprocity between OH and NH, I lost my license when I moved. But they can't take away my knowledge, right?

Here's my question: Do you know the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of installing a toilet so there are no problems in the future?

Lets' see if you do.... CLICK HERE to find out what it is.

That's enough for Fathers Day. BTW, happy belated Mothers Day to all you moms out there!!

I'll be back on Tuesday with your Stain Solver SALE promo code. I'll make it a funny one.

Tim Carter Founder - http://ift.tt/1lVihJI

Do It Right, Not Over!

It’s true that you should enjoy the present, but you should also prepare for the future. The things and habits you have today will determine what your future will be like.

If you’re focused on living high and spending like there’s no tomorrow then, tomorrow you won’t have anything to spend. If, instead, you focus on investing for your wealth, then in the future you’d be enjoying the fruits of your labor.

Start Today

They say “don’t put off for tomorrow what you can do today.” Begin by determining how much you can spend per month on investing. Keep your investment money in a separate savings account and wait until it accumulates to a point where in you can start investing. Don’t dip into that account until you’re ready to invest; otherwise, you might use it up without meaning to.

Study While You’re Saving

While you’re waiting for the investment account to accumulate, spend the time looking into whatever investment product you’re interested in. Take note that some investments take significantly more time to get educated on, but the results are worth it. Learning about how to make money in real estate or stocks require significant study time but once you get it right, you can get more out of your investment and with fewer risks.

Stay Protected

Asset protection strategies must be put in place before you actually start acquiring assets. Right here in California, McCullough & Sparks advises that it’s best to consult with an attorney who specializes in asset protection. Society can be highly litigious so it is best to make yourself as small a target as possible from legal thieves and other people out to profit from your own hard work.

Start Small

Begin with small deals and work your way up. If it’s stocks, start by buying small lots until you’re ready to buy more. By starting small, you can minimize losses due to your learning curve, and as you learn from your mistakes you can eventually start putting more money in.

Remember, it all begins once you decide to begin.

The post Your Financial Future Depends on Your Actions Today appeared first on MoisesBarrios.

There is a reason why people love rustic homes. Unique features found only in old homes tend to make them bestsellers in the ever-profitable real estate market.

Although modern homes are popular among young professionals and young families, old homes sell just as well as their newer counterparts. In some neighborhood, older houses are the trend. This is not surprising given the fact that old homes have this homely and classy appeal.

Popular old homes have a rustic appeal. Unless you live in a heritage home, the authentic rustic exterior is hard to find, but they can be quite easy to duplicate. Making minor additions or renovations can give you the old country appeal. One place to start your much-needed rustic home facelift is with your door.

More than an Entryway

Your front door pretty much “greets” visitors and neighbors as they approach your abode. If you want to give a warm old country welcome, adding rustic-looking front doors, like Krosswood Knotty Alder doors, is a good start. These doors were designed to match modern homes, but they can also give old homes a more rustic feel.

A rustic appeal is not only popular in residential properties. Commercial buildings that boast art-deco exterior or a turn-of-the-century facade tend to fare better in the market too. Be it a residential or a commercial property, rustic doors can make any building more attractive to potential buyers.

It goes without saying that dramatic front doors make dramatic homes, and dramatic homes that have a unique feature to them tend to sell faster in the real estate market.

Other classic details in a home that potential homeowners look for include oak wood flooring, a brick fireplace, or a granite island kitchen countertop. Many homes that have these features tend to sell well in the market.

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Buying a house was probably on top of your priority list. Now that you are married, it is time to tick that item off. Start with identifying potential sources of that much-needed cash for the down payment or any related expenses. Here are some useful hints:

Personal or Joint Savings

Let us assume that you have personal savings accounts or a joint bank account. These would come in handy when you are shopping for homes for sale in your preferred location. Decide how much you want to shell out or contribute, but do not forget to spare some amount for other important expenses in the future.

Family/Peer-to-Peer Loan

When your budget is tight and it seems your finances might fall short, your loved ones may provide additional funds. After all, that is what families are for, right? Peer-to-peer lenders are also a good option. Go find the most generous and understanding individual in your circle.

Personal Loan

A personal or credit loan is likewise a good source of cash for your dream house. Many couples who are planning to buy their first home in New Zealand prefer this option. Some creditors offer online services to make the loan application process easier for borrowers. Browse the Internet or talk to a financial consultant to find the right loan product and provider in NZ.

Government Subsidy

In case you do not know, there is a government subsidy for first homebuyers in New Zealand. If you or your partner has been contributing a minimum amount to your KiwiSaver account for at least three years, you are eligible for the Homestart KiwiSaver subsidy. You can get up to $20,000 worth of grant money from the government. According to Housing New Zealand, very few Kiwis are using the grant. Make sure you are not one of them.

Isn’t it great to start a family in a new house? Start gathering your finances and all the help you can get today.

The post Buying a Home After Marriage: What are Your Financial Options? appeared first on MoisesBarrios.

I’m a late-bloomer. Back in 2006 when Amy and Michele invited me to join them in the venture that became GardenRant, my resume as a writer amounted to some pieces in a college anti-war newsletter, two articles for a local dance magazine (edited by a friend), and then a long stretch until I volunteered to write my garden club’s newsletter. The sheer tedium of that task caused me to leap at the chance to start a personal garden blog in 2005, where my very first rant got the attention of my future partners.

Teaming up with professional writers like Amy and Michele was exciting for me but mostly, I was nervous about being exposed as a nonwriter, so nervous that I suggested we not have an archive of our posts, so that my subpar ones would only be seen briefly. That idea was quickly overruled.

Soon after we launched 10 years ago this week, GardenRant started getting noticed. Its very name attracted attention in the traditionally anodyne world of garden-writing. Then there’s our Manifesto, the brash tagline “Uprooting the Gardening World” and post category “Shut up and Dig!” Yes, we were having fun.

GardenRant got noticed enough that a few publishers actually asked me about writing a book, which requests I always declined due to my teeny, eeny attention span, much better suited to blog posts.

(Aside to garden-book authors: You amaze me. You inspire me, though not to – god forbid – write a whole book.)

Second Career

Coincidentally, my employer in my first career went out of business the very month that GardenRant launched, so I was emboldened by this new venture to attempt a second career in gardening, somehow – by ramping up my part-time garden-coaching business, and exploring income potential from garden writing. Did we think GardenRant would ever pay our mortgages? Not really, as there were no examples of that anywhere. (At least among American gardenbloggers. Can’t speak for the Brits.) Good thing we didn’t count on it because after 10 years our earnings just cover expenses plus modest year-end bonuses.

Blogging for businesses does pay, though, and it’s thanks to GardenRant that I got hired as an online writer by three independent garden centers. And I managed to write a few magazine articles, though I never sought out the assignments. Though not as daunting as book-writing, I’m still intimidated by print, with its editors to please and no chance to amend and correct after publication.

Still, I did support myself through coaching and writing until I retired a year ago (defined by taking Social Security and no longer working for money), but just barely and thanks to living very cheaply.

Unpaid Activism

Much more fun than writing for pay is writing for causes, and GardenRant has helped launch and promote several that are near and dear to me: Lawn Reform, DC Gardens and Good Gardening Videos.

Friends

It’s become cliche to claim to have made new friends via blogging, but in the gardening world that’s no BS. We started Flinging in 2007, when we gathered in the hotbed of gardenblogging that is Austin, and next month I’ll be attending my 8th Fling, in Minneapolis.

So we gardenbloggers are friends in every way, including in person, thanks to our shared passions – gardening and writing.

And in writing for this blog I’ve gotten to know all sorts of people in the plant world. I brazenly approach people for interviews and have never been turned down.

Partners

So I’ve changed, but so has GardenRant over the years. Our long-time foursome (Elizabeth joined us soon after launch) lost founders Amy and Michele due to career and life changes but we found new partners and and terrific writers in Allen, Evelyn and Thomas, none of whom are primarily ranters.

So our dirty secret is out: at the Rant we do more raving than ranting because one does run out of things to rant about in the gardening world. (Though rest assured, if Scotts MiracleGro starts killing something else, we’ll cover it.)

So GardenRant has become a blog that’s more diverse in its topics and in its line-up of writers, and it’s become a more positive and for me, a happier place than ever.

Thanks for the Decade!

To readers and GardenRant partners, past or present, thanks for making this a blog that’s not just fun to be a part of but a blog that aspires to and occasionally manages to have some impact. Here’s to 10 more!

How 10 Years of GardenRanting Changed my Life originally appeared on Garden Rant on June 17, 2016.

No matter the season, there is no reason to steer away from spending quality time with family and friends or doing things you've always wanted to do. While extremely strenuous activities are not recommended for those with certain health conditions, this doesn't mean you can't be there to take part in the fun, in some other capacity.

While it is hard for a person who has gotten accustomed to an extremely relaxed lifestyle to pick up an active one so easily, it is harder for people in their golden years to pick up a new hobby or participate in an activity without feeling the pains and aches that may come with certain physical movements. Still, a great deal of retirees have succeeded in pursuing new hobbies and new interests with ease.

So, you might be wondering– how do they do it?

Simple, they trust in what they can do. Physical disabilities or health issues may discourage you from pursuing new activities, new hobbies, or trying new things, but pursuing a new activity can be a healing process. Exposing your body to a new hobby or a new activity may be just what you need to return to normal living. For many people, pushing their bodies is their form of rehabilitation. Make it yours, too.

How Medical Alert Monitoring Saves Lives

It is important to have a strong support system throughout the whole process. That being said, it helps to have a trusty medical alert monitoring system  such as on developed by AvantGuard Monitoring Centers that will allow you to live indepedently. You can explore new hobbies on your own but still have easy and quick access to help should you need it. Whether your new hobby involves fishing, swimming, gardening, or any other physical activity, medical alert devices will make it possible for you to expose yourself to new environments without ever doubting the possibility of getting help.

One click of a button can save your life. Medical alert monitoring systems were designed to make it easy for people with disabilities or limited movement to seek help should they need assistance. When the emergency button is pressed, family members, as well as security personnel, are alerted immediately.

It goes without saying that this monitoring device is the companion you need, in sickness and in health.

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The post Never Miss Out on the Good Stuff with Medical Alert Monitoring Systems appeared first on Coastscapes.

Every lawyer relies on them for the law-related tasks: from gathering facts to investigating cases, researching pertinent legal regulations and laws to organizing documents, as well as gathering and arranging evidence to supporting lawyers in preparation for trials. These are just some of the things that paralegals do.

With so many functions and responsibilities, it should no longer come as a surprise that paralegals make good money. And because the success of lawyers also depends on the skills and talents of their paralegals, there are plenty of job opportunities for the latter, explains Legalstudies.com.

How “good” is the money paralegals make?

According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, the May 2015 average yearly compensation of paralegals amounted to $48,810. The more experienced ones get the higher earnings, with them averaging $79,010. Of course, newcomers in the industry make less (annual median income of $30,670), but the more experience they gain, the greater their chances of having a significant increase in their pay.

The first step to becoming a paralegal

Anyone who has an associate’s degree in paralegal studies can become a paralegal. The same goes true for those who have a bachelor’s degree and a paralegal studies certification.

In other words, before you can apply for a paralegal position in a law firm, in the federal or local government, or in the finance and insurance industry, you first need to complete one of the several ways to becoming a paralegal. You can either enroll in a paralegal studies associate’s degree or, when you already have a bachelor’s degree, complete the necessary paralegal courses.

The online education advantage

As the leader in online education, the United States produces some of the world’s best professionals through the provision of web-based courses and programs. And with the availability of paralegal courses online, you can choose classes that best fit your schedule, a benefit that will come in very handy and convenient when you live a busy lifestyle.

The post All Lawyers Need a Paralegal, and You Can Become that Person appeared first on MoisesBarrios.