Hammocks Create a Stress Free Zone
January 29, 2005
Stress is all around us, from the office to the front yard and everywhere in between. Homeowners are buying hammocks and porch swings to create that stress free zone they need to unwind after a busy day. All hammocks and porch swings are not created equal. A hammock can come with a stand for easy set up anywhere such as at poolside or by a lake; or others are hung between trees or from a ceiling. You will have to decide what type and style you want as there are so many sizes and types available. You might also want a chair style that can be hung from the ceiling. There are different sizes available in these as well. These are especially nice if you live in an apartment or townhouse. A hammock and swing are great sources of leisure for any backyard or porch. Combine a quality hammock with all of your other patio furniture and create a getaway in your very own backyard that rivals any trip to the islands. Hammock stands can be placed anywhere in your backyard to create the perfect oasis setting.
Some basic things to consider before buying a hammock, hammock stands, or porch swings are?
? Size
? Construction quality
? General styling
? Care
? materials
Some hammocks are washable, but you want to make sure that you tie the two ends together first before putting it in the washing machine. You also want to enclose it in a pillowcase before washing and use a mild detergent. Keeping the hammock properly dry is a consideration because you do not want it to mildew. If your hammock does not have removable spreader bars, your only option for cleaning is to place it on the driveway and hose it down. Again, allow enough time in the sun for proper drying.
Hammock accessories are a key source for creating that perfect stress free zone. Hammock stands, hammock pillows, outdoor swing cushions, and patio swing, are just a few of the options that are available. The pillows come in various shapes and sizes for your style of hammock. You will want to consider the type of element protection that is afforded the hammock. You will want a pillow that is good for indoor and outdoor use. The goal of the pillow is to keep your head from resting on the bar. You might also want added comforted by purchasing a hammock pad. This will increase your hours of enjoyment. A hammock blanket is lightweight and is great for cool evenings by the lake. Add in the misters and cup holders, and you will never want to leave your backyard. Take a deep breath, and let your cares melt away. Go outside on the porch and swing along in the breeze. Spend time in a hammock with a hammock stands, or porch swing, add a little music, and a cold glass of lemonade and you have everything you need to stay in the zone.
Bev Hlavka is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying outdoor kitchens, hammocks, picnic tables and more. Her many articles can be found at http://www.patio-furniture-4u.com. She gives information and tips at http://www.patio-furniture-4u.com/Hammocks.htm to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.
Mineral Baths: Smart Bathing Versus Hard Bathing
January 29, 2005
“There is a power of choice-
what we do today with our time,
information and habits reflects our tomorrow”
Did you swim in a sea or an ocean ? You could not forget these beautiful sensations of energy and revitalization after sea mineral bathing. Can you restore these feelings at your spa? Purchase mineral salts , dissolve a desired (?) amount in warm water and relax as if you were swimming in a sea?No undiscovered information? You can ask : what is a desired amount- a cup, two cups, 1 kg (2.2 pounds) or more? I would answer : “You should add at least 1 kg (2.2 pounds) per bath “. Let me specify why.
The salinity (salt concentration) of sea water is at least 3%. It means that 3 kg ( 6.6 pounds) of mineral salts should be added to a bath to simulate sea bathing. The primary principle of a bath is to disperse botanicals in the water matrix. Then these botanicals can be available for skin absorption.But regular salt formula hardly provides these benefits because of the skin’s low absorption rate for minerals , dissolving mechanism and the body’s salinity.
The mechanism of dissolving of ANY regular mineral salts in the water is the following: crystals of salts are dissociated to many ions and these ions are covered by water molecules. These hydrated ions in water have a decreased level of energy and activity for proper absorption and assimilation through the skin.
I have been searching and studying for many years a lot of clinical studies of efficiency of mineral salt treatments. Results differ, efficiency differs, methods differ, salt types differ. But ONE common figure I did find is that for therapeutic treatment purposes scientists use at least 1 kg (2.2 lbs) of ANY regular mineral salts.
The minimum figure of 1(one) kg is originated from the fact that our body salinity (healthy blood plasma) is about 0.9% (salt equivalent of 900 g or 2 pounds per bath).
So, at least 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of REGULAR salts is required to support proper mineral absorption and assimilation through the skin to nourish and re-mineralize the skin and the body with deficient micro- and macro-elements. And water therapy professionals know this figure very well. More often medical spas, clinics and health resorts can use for therapeutic purposes 2 kg (4.4 pounds) , 4 kg (8.8 pounds) or more salts per bath!
For relaxing, balancing and other wellness purposes a less amount of mineral salts can be used. But you should understand that the main effect of 250-500 grams (one -two cups of ANY regular salts) per bath is more a skin’s stimulating effect than a real nourishing effect.
That is why the only recommendation for REGULAR mineral salt bathing can be :”The more salts the better”.
The more salts are added the better?. Nothing can be changed?.Hmm.
The more salts are added the better? Hard bathing?
No new ideas?
This old dogma can be doubted and new approaches, scientific ideas and technology are discovered to create a NEW generation of bath products for Smart Bathing!
Oleg Moskvine, held the Senior Scientist position of the R&D department of Technofit cosmetic manufacturing company.
Oleg has the good expertise in hydrotherapy (balneology, water therapy) treatments with water, mineral salts and mud applications.
Web-site: http://www.tonusworld.com
The Most Innovative New Approach for ADHD, a Natural Remedy
January 29, 2005
What’s new and effective in the treatment of Attention problems? A powerful intervention that is clinically tested with computerized testing, not merely parent reports, has been available to the public since 1997, but is little known.
It is an over the counter product that contains specific Amino Acid combinations, Essential Fatty Acids, Phospholipid complexes, and Homeopathic Medicines. This product works. And the manufacturer is so certian that it will work for your family that they offer a One Year Money Back Guarantee. This is the finest Natural Solution to attention problems available!
ATTEND helped 80% of the subjects in the clinical trails to be more focused, to get their work done, and to think more clearly, as reported by the parents. Computerized CPT tests (using the TOVA test) showed that 70% of children and teens using ATTEND had better attention spans and focus to a task, were less impulsive (had more self-control), were more consistent in performance, processed information faster, and actually had faster reaction times after just 30 days of using ATTEND.
VAXA’s Neuro-Scientists used cutting edge research with amino acid combinations, added Essential Fatty Acids and lipid complexes, reconfigured the homeopathic medicines, and added precursors to specific neurotransmitters. As a result of their work, ATTEND is improving the lives of children and adults who have problems with attention, learning, or impulse control as a natural remedy for adhd.
The detailed Attend ingredients list is available at the ADHD Information Library, as are the data from the study, and a comparison of ATTEND’s effective to stimulant medications and to EEG Biofeedback training.
Douglas Cowan, Psy.D., is a family therapist who has been working with ADHD children and their families since 1986. He is the clinical director of the ADHD Information Library’s family of seven web sites, including http://www.newideas.net, helping over 350,000 parents and teachers learn more about ADHD each year. Dr. Cowan also serves on the Medical Advisory Board of VAXA International of Tampa, FL., is President of the Board of Directors for KAXL 88.3 FM in central California, and is President of NewIdeas.net Incorporated.
Wildflower Seeds - Ten Reasons Why You Should Plant…
January 29, 2005
Native wildflowers are those that were growing naturally in the landscape before the first settlers arrived from Europe. Ever since that time more and more plants have been introduced from around the world with very mixed results. Although many of the imports are now prized garden specimens, others are regarded as invasive weeds whose cultivation is actively discouraged eg Japanese Knotweed. The benefits of growing wildflowers are many, but here are just a few:
Since wildflowers grow naturally in the landscape they will thrive in similar soil types and situations in your garden.
Because they are growing in their natural habitat, wildflowers will require less water and fertilizer than other plants.
Equally wildflowers have a natural resistance to pests and diseases and so will reduce the need for sprays and pesticides.
Many wildflowers are attractive to bees and butterflies and so will encourage these colorful insects to visit.
Songbirds are also attracted by the seeds and berries produced by the plants.
A wildflower planting can produce a dense groundcover that will encourage frogs and toads who will eat slugs but not harm your plants themselves.
On a more practical level, give up part of your lawn, sow wildflower seeds and save yourself the effort of mowing.
Read about the folklore of wildflowers and discover a whole new world of traditional uses of plants as food, as tisanes, potpourris and more.
Many wildflowers have in the past been used as medicines and a number of modern drugs are based on plant extracts.
To bring this short list to a close, just consider that when all around you land is being developed for houses, shops, factories and roads, your area of wildflower planting can be a contribution to the preservation of the natural environment.
Hugh Harris-Evans is the owner of The Garden Supplies Advisor where you will find further articles, gardening tips and product reviews.
Learning Interior Design
January 29, 2005
Learning interior design can be a simple or complicated task depending on a wide variety of factors including exposure, ability, creativity, and willingness to learn. This article is dedicated to explaining the basic elements that interior design is based upon so that you will have the ability to go out and research these elements on your own in order to advance you ability and perspective of the interior design world.
Lets begin with a few suggestions of where to properly conduct your research. A good beginning point for all of those interior design newbies would be television shows dedicated to the subject, books, magazines, other interior design professionals, ect.
Another resource that you have an unlimited exposure to that doesn’t cost you anything but time and focus are your eyes. Your eyes are wonderful tools for learning interior design and successful application of it. They are such terrific tools because eyes are the ears of the interior design symphony. They possess the ability to look upon any element of design and transmit information to your brain concerning the colors indicated in the design, textures, layout, and whether or not the overall effect is pleasing.
If you can master the ability of viewing a particular setting or scenario and delving from it the key elements of its visual success, you are enormous steps forward in your journey of learning interior design.
Find an example of a design setting that is pleasant or pleasing to you. This can be located in a book, magazine, or even in real-life. Close your eyes. Now open them. What do you look at first? The first item that your eyes focused upon is considered to be your focal point.
In television discussions or magazine articles it is sometimes wrongfully alluded to that there is one appointed (by the designer, of course!) focal point. This is simply untrue. For every person that views the room, that person offers a unique perspective.
One person might gaze intently at the fireplace due to the warmth and secure nature of that design element. Another might focus upon the sofa. Yet another person might elevate towards the remote control (ha!).
The point is, is that the focal point of a room is the area of the room that demands your attention upon arrival in it and generally you base your placement of activities that take place in that room on the location the that focal point. This is the reason why so much strategic planning is normally based on the focal points of a room when designing the creative outlay of the room. This is why your fundamental understanding of the focal points of a room is dramatically instrumental in learning interior design.
It is true that certain architectural elements of a room demand more attention then others. I think that this is one of the reasons that many people misunderstand the concept of focal points. Throughout your journey of learning interior design, you will come to understand the importance of balancing the understanding of architecture focal points, and living ones.
Certain people are naturally going to elevate towards different activities and objects in a room. This is why a basic understanding of both the human element and the architectural one are a keystone to successful interior design.
Once you have a basic to medium understanding of focal points and placement of items in and around those places, the other key feature of learning interior design is visual representation of objects.
Color, texture, and shape are the fundamentals in this category. When you view an object, the way that the light is reflected off of it onto your eyes is commonly known as color. Texture is the way that the object ‘feels’ to you visually. Shape is the basic makeup of the object reflected visually. The correct combination of these characteristics results in a visually harmonious atmosphere.
Let’s imagine a few terms you hear when associated with design. ‘Gaudy’ always pops into mind. A space with bold color representation, an overkill interjection of texture, and the overuse of modern or untraditional shape forms are all factors that would encompass that title.
‘Simple’ would generally refer to the use of light, neutral color schemes in combination with small interjections of light texture and straight lined shapes. Simple, in my opinion is the basic ingredient to a successful recipe of design. Begin simply and build to your comfort level of complexity. This will not be an area that will flow naturally with you when you begin learning interior design. It will more then likely become an understanding that you will develop over time and exposure to different aspects of design.
To wind things up, the road to learning interior design is filled with information and visual perspectives that will open both your eyes and your mind to an entirely different world. Observation is the key to better understanding this world. Open your eyes and begin the adventure!
——————————————————————————–
Rosemary Leake is an Independent Consultant with Southern Living at Home. Inspired by Southern Living magazine, our exclusive home décor line brings warmth and style to every room of your home! Visit Rosemary’s Interior Design website for more articles and resources - http://www.interiordesignprofits.com. Also get your FREE Mini-Report “A Complete Guide To Interior Design.”
——————————————————————————–
How to Host Thankgiving Dinner and Enjoy it Anyway
January 29, 2005
You’ve been nominated; or perhaps your family has issued a decree; or perhaps it’s simply your turn. No matter what the reason, you’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year. This need not be a burden. In fact is can be a pleasure, given the right planning and organization.
I’ve found that the key to an almost effortless-looking dinner is thinking backward. Start your Thanksgiving planning by visualizing yourself, surrounded by family and friends at the dinner table, then work backward to determine how you got there. Ask yourself which foods took the least amount of preparation, which took the most. Write these things down in a list.
Now refine the list-but only slightly. Which dishes can be prepared the day (or evening) before? Which dishes need to be prepared that day? Which dishes need to be prepared within an hour of dinner?
At this point, you should have at least a vague idea of your plan of attack. So now it’s time to refine the list further. In fact, it’s time to begin to create a schedule. If you expect to serve dinner at 2:00 p.m., for example, and the turkey will take three hours to roast, then half hour to rest before carving, it needs to be in the oven at 10:15 a.m.
Why 10:15, and not 10:30? My start time factors in the three and one half hours, plus approximately fifteen minutes to get the bird carved and arranged on a serving platter after it has rested. And don’t forget that it will take approximately fifteen minutes to pre-heat your oven too. Your schedule should reflect all of those variables.
By now, your list-or maybe lists-has grown substantially, as you refine the necessary tasks to get to that wonderful image of yourself sitting among family and friends at the dinner table. The next step in the process is to begin to identify the tasks involved in preparing the ingredients for the dishes that will make up your Thanksgiving menu; the prep work.
It’s lovely to watch the chefs on Food TV blithely talking about adding a cup of chopped onions to a sauté pan-as they grab a cup of chopped onions that’s been placed within easy reach on their counter. Of course, they have the benefit of having four sous chefs backstage who keep them supplied with the chopped, minced, pureed, or marinated ingredients they’ll need to create a smooth-running half hour television show. You can do the same. (although you can’t count on having the four sous chefs backstage).
As part of your master schedule, allow plenty of time for prep work. This will guarantee smooth cooking when the time comes. You do not want to be hunting for a clove of garlic in a refrigerator stuffed with food for twenty, while you have a pan of hot oil on the stove waiting for you.
This is also the time to think about how many of the recipes on your menu will require the same ingredients. If for example, you have two dishes on your menu that each require a cup of onions, be sure to chop two cups of onions, and have them on hand, pre-measured and ready to go when the time comes to cook.
Think about which ingredients could be prepped, perhaps the night before too. Carrots, celery, and onion, for example, can be chopped within twenty four hours of the meal, and stored, pre-measured, in zip-lock plastic bags in the refrigerator. This step alone could save up to a half hour on Thanksgiving Day. Try to think of other ingredients that could be prepped early as well.
Another activity that should be part of your to-do list before Thanksgiving is checking to see that your oven is properly calibrated. If you don’t already own one, get an inexpensive oven thermometer and test to see that the temperature that you set on your thermostat is indeed the same one recorded on your thermometer.
In addition, it would be wise-again, if you don’t already have one-to get an instant read meat thermometer. Knowing that you’ve cooked your turkey to an internal temperature of 165 F. will give you a great deal of confidence, and allow you to focus on the myriad last-minute details of getting the meal on the dining room table.
One last thought about prep work that will help the entire Thanksgiving experience flow more smoothly: give yourself a break when you’ve finished chopping vegetables, measuring ingredients, and generally assuring yourself that you have the situation in hand. Relax; perhaps have a cup of coffee before you begin the actual cooking. This break serves two purposes: it gives you a chance to reflect on your work so far, and to reassure yourself that you are indeed prepared for the next step. And it helps you to mentally shift gears and move from the role of prep cook to the role of chef.
Of course, at some time before Thanksgiving, you’ll need to shop for ingredients. I’ve not spoken about shopping, because I feel that there are too many variables to be able to talk about it in full generality. Issues like your menu, proximity to a mega store or a specialized deli perhaps, your work schedule, etc. make it difficult to talk about in universal terms. Suffice it to say that if you’ve set a menu and created a schedule, they will tell you what you need, and when.
So now that you have your menu, done your shopping and prep work, what to do on Thanksgiving morning? First: trust no one. People are rarely more giving of themselves than at Thanksgiving, so offers of assistance in the kitchen may be profuse and generous. Be wary. You may delegate a close friend or relative to keep an eye on the creamed spinach, but don’t be surprised if the Macy’s parade, or the NFL game draws your well-meaning helper away from the stove before the spinach is done.
It’s okay. You’ve factored that into your schedule, and you can pick up the slack. When I say that you shouldn’t trust anyone, I mean that-as I’ve written elsewhere-90% of cooking is being there. And Thanksgiving is a tough time to be standing at the stove for anyone, let alone one of your guests.
Finally, at times like Thanksgiving, I’m reminded of a piece of advice I once got from a doctor friend: In case of an emergency, the first thing to do is take your own pulse. This is to say that things may not go entirely as planned. But don’t panic. Trustworthy or not, you will have help available. An emergency in the kitchen is guaranteed to draw the most hardened NFL fan away from the game to lend a hand. Just stick to your schedule, as best you can, and everything will be fine.
Take the time to plan your Thanksgiving meal thoroughly, and well ahead of time, and you’ll reap huge rewards at the dinner table in the form of compliments, possibly applause, and happy, thankful diners. And as you dry the last of the pots and pans that served so well in preparing your feast, you can enjoy the satisfaction that comes from a job well done, and the knowledge that next year, it will be someone else’s turn.
Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: “La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents,” and “Almost Italian: Recipes from America’s Little Italys.” He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com For comments or questions, e-mail at info@skiplombardi.com
