| In
This Issue |
| ·
The
Big Energy Hole in Your House
· Procrastinate
Home Projects No More
· Mistakes
Homebuyers Make
· Having
an Organized Kitchen
·
The
Low Down on Prepayment Penalties
·
Preparing
Your Garden for Winter
·
Turkey
Leftover Recipes
·
Seasonal
Suggestion
·Past Issues: October,
September,
August,
July,
|
|
Monthly
Quote |
“An
optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.
“
Irv Kupcinet, journalist, (1912 – 2003)
|
| Tip
Of The Month |
You may think that your evergreens
will “weather” the winter just fine since they retain
their color throughout the season. However, like other plants
and trees, evergreens need winterizing. Here are some tips to
help your evergreens withstand the cold:
• Autumn watering. In winter, narrow and broadleaf
evergreens lose water through their leaves and cannot replace
it because the soil may be frozen. In mid to late fall, make
sure the soil is watered well. You can even water in mid-winter
if the temperature is above freezing.
• Preventing breakage. Evergreens can suffer breakage
from the weight of snow or ice. Prevent this by fastening
heavy twine at the base of the tree and winding it up to the
top and back down again, in a reverse spiral. Be sure to remove
the twine before growing season.
• Protecting young plants. Use burlap screen stretched
around three stakes to protect young or vulnerable plants,
especially those located in south, west and windy exposure
areas. Wrap most of the plant, but leave the top exposed so
the plant still gets sunlight.
(Source: Gardening All-in-One for Dummies,
the National Gardening Association, Wiley Publishing, Inc.,
2003)
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Info
Procrastinate
Home Projects No More
 A
recent MSN.com article shared an old piece of wisdom from St. Francis
of Assisi: “Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s
possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Believe
it or not, following this advice may help you tick off items on your
to-do list. The article recommends organizing your to-do list into a
set of three lists that you constantly keep up-to-date: what’s
necessary, what’s possible and a wish list.
What’s
Necessary
This list
should be composed of items that are of top priority. Funnily enough,
these are also items that should take under an hour: fix leaky faucet,
hang pictures, tighten loose cabinet knobs, caulk around bathtub, put
new slipcover on couch. Although items on this list can vary in number,
you should aim to keep this list as short as possible. Many items on
this list (such as leaky or loose items) can get worse if left alone,
costing you more time and money. Keep in mind that fix-it items on this
list won’t go away!
What’s
Possible
The “What’s
Possible” list should include items that take more time or money
than the “What’s Necessary” list, but should not be
extravagant (extravagancy is reserved for the “Wish List!”).
These can be home improvement projects that might take a day or two
and that you want to accomplish in the near future. This list might
include organizing closets or basements, installing a ceiling fan, purchasing
and assembling furniture or priming and painting a room. Items on this
list are usually more involved, and may require planning, researching
or purchasing new tools or products. Try checking out a home improvement
TV show or book for tips, especially if you have not tried these tasks
before.
Wish
List
As you
might have guessed, items on this list are projects you want to do “some
day.” These can be projects that are expensive (such as a remodeled
kitchen or bathroom) or take more time (like new landscaping). Don’t
get discouraged by items on your wish list: even though you may never
get to these projects, you can accomplish items on your other lists
or you can finish pieces of your wish list projects. In fact, breaking
down items on your wish list can make them more realistic. For instance,
if you want to makeover your bedroom, think about the possible components
of this wish: buying new furniture, replacing light fixtures, painting,
buying new bedding, organizing dressers or chests of drawers. Pieces
of this wish list are easy to accomplish or inexpensive. By breaking
down your wishes, you will soon have several small “What’s
Possible” projects instead of one huge, impossible wish!
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