iHomeTips.com

Home renovation apps an attractive proposition
Article from Sydney Morning Herald:

I’M NEVER more inspired to tackle a home improvement project than after watching a TV show in which an attractive expert rejuvenates a living room in a day, for less than $ 200.

Then I realise all I need to complete the project is $ 200. And that attractive expert to help. Gratis.

These attractive experts do not yet live in one’s mobile device, but apps are doing an increasingly good job at taking their place – even offering step-by-step video instruction. And some of them actually are free.

That includes the first on my list of best apps for home improvement aspirants, Houzz (free on Apple). At its core, Houzz is a glorious design gallery featuring more than 260,000 high-resolution photos. It is also one of the rare non-gaming apps with an average iTunes rating of five stars, after thousands of reviews,…………………continues on Sydney Morning Herald
>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Friday Rant: When Home Renovation Spend Makes Sense, But Maybe Not Cents
Article from Spend Matters:

The past four years or so have made many people far more frugal consumers. And the housing market is a strong case in point. It wasn’t too long ago that individuals and couples would shop for a home and simply buy what they liked and qualified for without giving a thought to devaluation. But before we start waxing nostalgic for that recent history, let’s also acknowledge that people are famously fickle — or at least differentially selective — when it comes to perceived future value.

One of the reasons that the existant housing market has been slow to recover is that no one knows if their sector of interest has yet hit bottom. This results in that favorite tool of house valuation, local comparative recent selling prices or ‘comps’, effectively driving down prices one house at a time. So here’s just one irony: The same individual or couple who’s afraid to buy a house, typically doesn’t hesitate to buy a new car, knowing full well it will lose at least 10% of it’s value at the moment of purchase. This selective analytic behavior becomes even more difficult to grasp when looking at home improvement decisions.

Now I’m not advocating building a…………………continues on Spend Matters
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Gardening Calendar, updated Jan. 19
Article from TCPalm:

NEW LISTINGS

DATED EVENTS

Kids After School Gardening: Heathcote Botanical Gardens, 210 Savannah Rd., Fort Pierce, 4:30 pm, Jan. 19, 26, Feb. 2, 9, 16, 23, Mar 1. Ages 2+. $ 5-$ 10. Register: 772-4-644-672; heathcotebotanicalgardens.org.

Heathcote Botanical Gardens: Permaculture in practice workshop. Heathcote Botanical Gardens, 210 Savannah Rd., Fort Pierce, 9 am, Jan. 21. Ages 18+. $ 45-$ 50. Register: 772-464-4672; heathcotebotanicalgardens.org.An Introduction to Butterfly Gardening: With Suzanne Valencia. North Indian River County Library, 1001 Sebastian Blvd., Sebastian, 7:30 pm, Jan. 24. 772-202-0501; fssr.org.Your Florida Yard Lecture Series: Good Bug, Bad Bug. Robert Morgade Library, Stuart, 2:30-4:30 pm, Jan. 24. Hoke Library, Jensen Beach, 2:30-4:30 pm, Jan. 25. 772-288-5654; martin.ifas.ufl.edu.

St. Lucie West Garden Club: Project for Palms Nursing Home. PGA Country Club, Port St. Lucie, Country Club Dr., St. Lucie West, 9 am, Jan. 26. 772-343-7229.

St. Lucie West Garden Club: Field trip to Botanical Gardens in Naples. TBA, Feb. 4. 772-343-7229.

Gardenfest: Plant sale, speakers, youth activities, a food court. Nature’s Fines…………………continues on TCPalm
>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Gardening show offers something for everyone
Article from nwitimes.com:

The ground may be frozen, but gardeners from around the area are already planning ahead for warmer weather.

The 9th Annual Gardening Show, sponsored by Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, will be held on Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Porter County Exposition Center.

The show features presentations by gardening experts, a seed and bulb exchange, a photography contest and about 100 vendors. There is also going to be a children’s area and a photography contest, said Marilyn Dyson, the show chairman.

The show began nine years ago as a small seed and bulb exchange, and grew over the years. Four years ago it got too big for its previous home at a school and moved to the exposition center, Dyson said.

The seed and bulb exchange remains a highlight of the show.

Every person will be given tickets for the seed and bulb exchange upon entering, Dyson said. People are also encouraged to bring clean, dry seeds to trade.

“They should be labeled with planting instructions,” she said. “We’ll also have seeds from master gardeners and from local nurseries.”

The seeds and bulbs available typically range from common seeds like…………………continues on nwitimes.com
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Local Corporation Completes Home Renovation
Article from WCTV:

A Tallahassee woman enters her renovated home for the first time Wednesday.

The Bethel Community Development Corporation did $ 40,000 worth of improvements on Mattie Mann’s house. She needed major changes to her home to bring it up to code and to pay her high utility bills.

It was all made possible through the City of Tallahassee’s owner occupied rehab program administered by the Economic and Community Development Department.

The Bethel Community Development was contracted by the City Of Tallahassee Housing department to provide the rehabilitation.

continues on WCTV
>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Foreign made home decoration products flooding domestic market
Article from VietNamNet Bridge:

VietNamNet Bridge – Home decoration products have been available everywhere these days, from traditional markets, supermarkets to “pavement markets.” However, most of them are imports.

Foreign made products dominating the market

“Most of the home decoration products are imported from foreign countries, especially from China. Therefore, the characteristics of Vietnamese culture blur,” Tran Viet Tien, Director of Gia Long Arts Company, noted.

In HCM City, the streets of Hau Giang, Hai Thuong Lan Ong, Hai Ba Trung and Binh Tay market area have become colorful with li xi envelops (the envelops where people put money inside to give to children as presents on the New Year days), 12-animal paintings, red Tet parallel sentences and home decoration things.

The products prove to have better designs than that of the previous years. Especially, the image of dragon appears on everything, because 2…………………continues on VietNamNet Bridge
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Hundreds of thousands were enthralled by the luminous voice of John Ames in Gilead, Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel. Home is an entirely independent, deeply affecting novel that takes place concurrently in the same locale, this time in the household of Reverend Robert Boughton, Ames’s closest friend. Glory Boughton, aged thirty-eight, has returned to Gilead to care for her dying father. Soon her brother, Jack—the prodigal son of the family, gone for twenty years—co

List Price: $ 25.00

Price: $ 5.93

Fire ravages Romeoville landscaping business, no one hurt
Article from Chicago Tribune:

>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Gardening year: review and plan
Article from Telegraph.co.uk:

>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Aging buildings in Sidon undergo renovation
Article from The Daily Star:

SIDON, Lebanon: The collapse of an apartment building in Beirut over the weekend is renewing worries of aging buildings in Sidon’s historic neighborhoods, many of which have serious structural problems and could collapse at any moment. But unlike the building in Beirut’s Ashrafieh district, residents of many of these buildings recently left their homes, following the collapse of several old buildings in the southern coastal city’s neighborhoods of Zweitini, Dahr al-Mir and Haret al-Yahoud. None of the recent collapses resulted in casualties.

Hajjeh Mariam, who left her small home in the Kanan neighborhood two years ago, currently resides with her brother. “We do not want to sleep [in destruction] as we don’t want to have nightmares,” she said.

Mariam is waiting for her home to be renovated in the old city where many buildings are being repaired in a way that preserves their historic facade. Local and international civil society organizations are spearheading the renovation initiative there.

Last week, the stairs of a three-story residential building near Omari Mosque in the city’s old downtown also partially c…………………continues on The Daily Star
>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Deck The House Winners: ‘We All Won’
Article from Patch.com:

The Powell family, appropriately of Candy Cane Court in Davis, California won Patch’s holiday Deck the House contest, but since the $ 100,000 prize will go to the city school district, Kristy Powell says that the entire community won.

“We all won,” she told Davis Patch. “There are a lot of needs at the schools. This is not going to fix it all, but it will help. This is a blessing.”

Powell is an elementary school teacher who entered her home in the contest over the holidays and was selected as one of the top 24 finalists in late December. She took the lead when moment voting opened up, reports Davis Patch.

But she didn’t stop there. Powell’s kids and their friends printed out flyers to distribute downtown.

Powell told Davis Patch that the lights have come down, but the congratulations are still coming, even from second-place winners, the Felixes. The two families have become friends through the contest, Patch.com
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

This is the most interesting, comprehensive, and practical educator resource available today for working with families. Designed for students in community colleges and four-year programs and teachers/administrators who work with children of all ages. HOME, SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS is a core course in an Early Childhood Education curriculum. Sometimes called Child, Family, and Community, the course includes coverage of: children’s learning and behavior viewpoints, and how they are affected

List Price: $ 124.95

Price: $ 44.27

Neighborhood group seeks renovation of homes
Article from Hannibal.net:

The Central Park Neighborhood Association combined a chili cookoff with an informal meeting on Jan. 7 at Trinity Episcopal Church, where the members discussed some local regulations with Lou Barta, their Third Ward councilman.
Among items of discussion were conditions of some downtown buildings and how the city regulations affect their renovation or use.
Bob Yapp noted that “as the downtown is improved, it creates a larger tax base and benefits the city.” The group discussed whether renovation or demolition are the best options for some buildings.
Barta heard some reports of negative conditions in apartments used for independent living. He was told they are owned by owners of state-licensed group homes, which are under the jurisdiction of state regulations.
However, the independent living apartments are not under state rules, so anything that needs to be addressed should be reported to the Hannibal building inspector’s office, Barta told the association members. He recommended that any reports – which may be made anonymously – also be provided to the city manager and the city council member in whose ward the property is located.
“The city is reactive, n…………………continues on Hannibal.net
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

.

Home
Lucas Reed is a Cleveland advertising executive who returns to his southern hometown to deal with the sudden death of his estrange…

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

January Gardening Tips: Plant Now For Spring & Summer Treats
Article from Patch.com:

In the Southern California garden, January is the month of opportunity. We average about 3 inches of rain in January, leaving lots of opportunity to go out and play in the garden. Now is the time to plant everything from barefoot trees to plum and apple trees to cool-weather flowers such as snapdragons.

Here is your handy set of January gardening tips primarily from Agromin, a Southern California manufacturer of earth-friendly soil products made from organic material collected locally.

Plant Dormant Trees: January is the perfect month to plant dormant trees. Plants that go dormant in winter (stop growing and lose leaves) include most deciduous trees such as maples, poplars, ashes, birches and oaks. Your local nursery should have a variety of these, plus bare root rose, vine and fruit trees, including apricot, plum, apple, pear and peach. Add organic compost planting mix to existing soil when planting so the soil is the right consistency to receive nutrients and water. Stay away from planting citrus and avocado trees if frost is a concern.

Prune Dormant Trees: Prune dead, diseased l…………………continues on Patch.com
>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Gardening basics: Grafting is easier than it seems and produces just the fruit …
Article from OregonLive.com:

When I first tried grafting a ‘Fuji’ apple tree nearly 20 years ago, I was a bit skeptical. It just looked like a skill better left to the pros. However, the process was pretty easy and actually quite fun. What I soon learned was that the process got even easier and faster with every new graft. But the real reward comes at harvest time as you gather the fruits from a tree that you grafted yourself.

Grafting is a process of surgically connecting a bud or shoot from one plant onto the roots or trunk of another plant. If all goes well, the two parts eventually unite to form a single grafted plant. Not only is it a low-cost way of propagating your own fruit trees, but it is also a way of customizing a plant by using a rootstock that may make the tree more disease-resistant or better suited to your environment, give good anchorage in windy areas, o…………………continues on OregonLive.com
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Gardening Basics For Dummies®, Mini Edition
Your green-thumb guide to planning, planting, and cultivating a gardenWith some basic knowledge, the right tools, and a little wor…

Hen House renovation
Article from FOX Toledo Online:
Updated: Friday, 13 Jan 2012, 12:27 AM EST
Published : Friday, 13 Jan 2012, 12:27 AM EST

>>> Read the full article from the source

.
This Old House® Goes Coastal in First-Ever Rhode Island Renovation
Article from Sacramento Bee:

NEW YORK, Jan. 12, 2012 – /PRNewswire/ — Everybody loves the idea of beachfront property, but proximity to the ocean can bring its share of construction challenges. Tune in as experts from the Emmy® Award-winning television series This Old House head to the Ocean State to transform a weathered Cape into a weatherproof masterpiece in the series’ first-ever renovation on open water – The Barrington Project.

To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please visit: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/54022-this-old-house-goes-costal-barrington-project

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120112/MM33432 )

Located 10 miles southeast of Providence, the 1925 modified Cape overlooks Barrington Beach, boasting spectacular views of Narragansett Bay. The original 1500 sqft. home was not as ideal as the views, however, with cramped spaces, outdated features, and a lack of modern amenities. Yet, with the hel…………………continues on Sacramento Bee
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Home, School, and Community Relations
This practical book is an indispensable guide for home-school-community collaborations. It meets the needs of current and practici…

Gardening program taking applications
Article from Amarillo.com:

Get Spotted®

>>> Read the full article from the source

.
Promotion of Gardening by Michelle Obama
Article from 1st Choice Leisure Buildings:

US first lady Michelle Obama gave hints and tips on gardening on an broad casted episode of Sesame Street. Mrs Obama has shown herself to be a keen gardener since moving into the White House, installing a vegetable patch and working on campaigns to reduce childhood obesity through healthy eating and setting a good example.According to the BBC, Michelle taught children how to grow cucumbers and lettuces, among other vegetables.

“All these seeds need to grow are sun, soil and water,” she said in the episode. “If you eat these healthy foods, you�re going to grow up to be big and strong like me.” On a number of occasions, Michelle has been seen donning a pair of gloves and taking part in community garden projects.

However, even when gardening she has shown that she has a keen eye…………………continues on 1st Choice Leisure Buildings
>>> Read the full article from the source

.

Community surprises veteran with home renovation
Article from 9NEWS.com:

>>> Read the full article from the source

.
City council wants someone to call Dogwood house “home”
Article from Gazette.Net: Maryland Community News Online:

Redirect Notice

…………………continues on Gazette.Net: Maryland Community News Online
>>> Read the full article from the source

.