Midsummer days
It is all too soon the middle of July. Where has the year gone? Before we know it , we’ll be discussing the upcoming holidays. Hard to believe when our temperatures here in the Tampa Bay area are hovering in the low to mid 90’s with the humidity to boot.
If you have not taken your summer holiday yet, be prepared for the new restrictions and procedures at the airports. Allow yourself plenty of time and just put your mind to the fact that you will not allow yourself to be rattled. When you are away make sure that someone is looking after your home. It can be a neighbor, a friend or contact your local concierge service. They can assist you with either a person to house sit or someone just to check in on things on a daily or weekly schedule for you. I can’t tell you how many people I have known over the years that have gone away on holiday for a couple of weeks or a month and received a phone call that the water heater failed, the dishwasher pipe broke or the ice maker pipe sprung a leak. A flooded home is not what you want to come home to any time much less after a holiday. If you leave a copy of your insurance information/agent with the person taking care of the place, you will be much better off. Mold can grow quickly when it is warm and dark. Finding the mold later and having it remediated is a task few want to follow.
I have a situation in my own home that we have been dealing with for over 6 months that involved a slow leak from a repair that was not done correctly. Unfortunately, we have had to go to court to get the situation corrected properly. I don’t wish this on anyone. No wonder there are so many attorneys in the US. I shall leave it at that and hopefully by the next time I write, I will be able to say that we have hada positive outcome and are not still waiting around for judgement.
On to some more lively news, as many of you who read my blog on a regular basis may know, I am in my second year of having a butterfly garden. It is truly one of the best mental health activities I ever did for myself. It is amazing to watch the cycle of the butterfly especially the Monarch. I have learned so much. As we are now in to the middle of July the butterflies are starting their 3rd generation, egg, caterpillar,chrysalis,adult butterfly. The butterflies that are born now will live an adult life of only 2-6 weeks. The next generation that will be born in Sept/Oct will live for 6-8 months. Why the difference? The ones born in the fall will be the adults making the migration to Mexico for the winter. Butterflies can not tolerate cold weather so they have to go where it is warm. While in Mexico they will live off the fat in their abdomen and huddle around each other to stay warm. If a butterfly falls away from the huddle it most likely will die as it will be too weak to fly up to rejoin the group. Then once the warm weather starts again in February/March they will begin to awaken and mate thus laying their eggs. Withered and tattered from their hibernation and migration, the adults will die. A whole new generation cycle will begin once again.
My garden is in the direct migratory path of the Monarchs this year. I have had to go to my local nursery numerous times just to get food for those cute little caterpillars. I finally was able to get some seed pods and have started my own nursery of butterfly weed so the Monarchs can lay their eggs under the leaves and start the cycle egg,caterpillar, chrysalis, adult. The caterpillars once they hatch from the egg just eat from morning to night. It is like they have an internal clock that keeps telling them to go, go ,and go again, chomping away at all the butterfly weed vegetation they can get. They will do this for about two weeks until they are about 2 inches in length, then they will crawl away creeping ever so purposefully to find the twig,plant or whatever suits them to shed their skin and make the chrysalis. The chrysalis will be a beautiful jade color with a little thread that looks like gold towards the top. It will stay that way as the pupae generates it’s wings and turns in to a beautiful butterfly. Just before it breaks out of the chrysalis, it will become almost transparent and you will see the butterfly inside. Then in a day or so it will break out and let the blood fill the veins on its wings. The butterfly will stay put for a while as its wings dry and it gains the strength to fly away. It is a beautiful sight to see. I just learned how the scientists and butterfly followers are tagging the butterflies so who knows, next year you may reading about how I tagged butterflies.
Speaking of breaking out, I have to tell you about this physician who is only one of two in the entire state of Florida that is certified and licensed to do work with adult stem cells and T65 to help heal sport’s injuries an make you feel a bit more chipper. Dr. Dennis Lox has an office in Clearwater and in New Port Ritchey. He is on the cutting edge of some fabulous technology that will become almost a standard for medicine 10 years from now. We are lucky to have him in the Tampa Bay area. I will be telling you more about him and his practice as well in the days ahead. Pam Butler of LifeReflections LLC taped a talk by Dr. Lox last week so you will be able to see it on Youtube soon.
Take care of yourself and stay hydrated. Let your body dictate your progress and your tempo. Will be back with you soon with some other exciting news!
Summertime and the storms are a coming
Greetings one and all. Can you believe that SUMMER is here? now I know i have friends in Colorado where they had sleet just two weeks ago. but we have been baking here in Florida. Being on the West Coast of Florida we are also paying very close attention to the fact that hurricane season is now upon us and of course the major story of the last 70 days, the horrific environmental catastrophe in the Gulf with the oil spill that just keeps on giving. I know that we all have our opinions on the handling of the oil spill so will not address that directly here. I just want everyone to be vigilant in what you do and how some of the least expected action can have lasting repercussions.
Now for those who live in the land of Hurricanes, I realize that it has not yet been quite a month. But it doesn’t take long for the tropical storm to turn to a hurricane make a blip on that weather radar and then you are SOL.
There are some necessary protective measures that you should do before you need to do them.. Get your hurricane survival suitcase(s) and backup plan together. Do you have an elderly person living with you that has home health care that needs constant supervision, oxygen, monitoring of different sorts. Check with your doctor, your social worker, your county, your home health service. They can assist you with the paperwork so you can have a plan in place. What shelter or hospital will they need t o go to in an evacuation? Will you or another relative, or caregiver be allowed to accompany then? Remember your animals. Even if you go to a medical shelter or hospital you will not be able to take your pets unless they are a guide dog. Find a temporary home where they can go so your furry children won’t be lost, stranded or perhaps killed due to lack of planing and horrible circumstances.
Make sure you have copies of your insurance information, medical information and identification in a zip lock bag. Also include your medications-30 days supply is great but if it is only a week’s worth that is better than nothing. Include bottled water-gallon size is good, canned goods, perhaps if you have space , your grill with an extra container of propane. That may be the only way you will be able to get hot food for a few days. Don’t forget your toiletries, a couple of changes of clothes, Not to be forgotten-an EXIT PLAN.
Do you know where you are on the evacuation map? Are you in an area of mandatory evacuation? Level 1 or is your number higher say 5 or 6.? Important information to know. Also pick up your hurricane guide at your local market or ACE Hardware store. You can also download them. All the major media networks put one out . If you have seen the weather alert radios they aer an excellent source of information when a storm is coming your direction. It will alert you and tell you what the alert is. You can get those at the local grocery stores now as well as home Depot, Lowes, Target and many other business locations.
Some insurance companies are now offering a preregistration form for use during the hurricane season at no extra charge. With your written permission they can have adjusters to your home site as soon as possible. Sure it take a couple of minutes to fill out the form, but in the event that your home suffers damage, do you want 5 minutes of form filling to be replaced by 5 days of waiting for an adjuster of some sort to show up? Water is the worst damage followed but wind, smoke and fire. I am not going to lecture anyone but say just be prepared and let your family know the plans, where are you goingto meet if you live in the same area, how are you going to communicate? Make sure that your car’s gas tank is filled. Check the oil, air in your tires. You would do this if you were going on a motor trip for vacation just as a safety precaution. Why wouldn’t you do it on a regular basis for your family’s safety and yours as well.You don’t want to wait in line when you could be loading that same care and heading out of dodge. The same for preparing your home. Get the plywood and any other protection that you would need to prevent glass damage to your home. Your favorite orchid plants and hanging plants need to be brought in to the garage or home. Remove items that could become flying weapons through your windows. That includes bird feeders and other such feeders as well. Have a swimming pool? Dump your patio furniture in it, No harm to the furniture or the pool and one less flying object.
If you are going out of town, let a neighbor , friend or hire a service to check on your home while you are away especially should a storm come up while you are gone. We never expect these things to happen but mother nature sometimes has a strange sense of humor and really does get a laugh by throwing you off guard. There are some concierge services and others that will look after your home while you are away for a minimal cost. OH MISS does a house/pool/mail/plant check. Do you know if your lawn service is cutting the grass as they should? What about the pool? Is that where anything green is growing? Peace of mind can be a wonderful thing. If there is no time to get ready-where is the saferoom in your home? Don’t forget to fill the bathtubs and sinks with water. You may not have water service or electrical service when you first get back to your home. So as I go to start taking my own advice with Alex out in the Gulf, I hope that you will as well.
Stay tuned for some exciting news about OHMISS and the growing butterfly population right here at home.
Happy Spring!
Spring is in the air and if you live in Florida and or most of the United States, your allergies have already informed you of the season. This year was almost a perfect storm in Florida where we had much colder weather for a lot longer than even close to normal and it appears that all of our pollen laden plants and trees are blooming at once! Yikes. As one who suffers this malady, the only advice I can give is to see your Dr if you have severe symptoms. If you are just on the slightly miserable side, make sure to keep the windows and doors closed. I am hearing screaming now as that is what you want to do. So do I. I love getting fresh air in the house after being shuttered all winter, but that just brings more of the pollen in and ads to our symptoms. Wash the linens frequently, wash yourself and your hair before going to bed and be extra careful about exercising early in the morning or late at night when the pollen in the air can be at its worst.
Not all is bad news, the birds are chirping in the trees, the bird feeders are out and filled. It is such a joy to see all of the different ones as they migrate from the South to our Northern states at this time of year. Some will be staying longer and having families, so be on the lookout as the new chicks start to learn how to fly. We have our pair of ducks that have been making their annual pilgrimmage for the last 10 years at least. You might ask how can we tell that it is the same couple? We can because the female has a malformed left foot so she hobbles as she waddles around. It does not impact her with her swimming or flying that we can tell.
Another wonderful thing is that the butterfly garden is coming in to full bloom. I love to watch as the different butterflies flutter about sipping the nectar and laying their eggs. Soon we will have baby catepillars chopping away at the variety of host plants that we have in our garden. Sometimes it seems like we can’t keep up with their appetites. Once the catepillars have matured, they will start migrating to a place to build their cocoon. Some cocoons are so beautiful, it is a joy to watch. Then in about 10 days to two weeks a new butterfly will emerge and the cycle will begin once again.
This leads me to a butterfly blog that I want to share with you. The address is http://lepcurious.blogspot.com. It is a blog about one of Tampa’s treasures, the Museum of Science and Industry or MOSI. They have their own butterfly garden for everyone to see, just in case they don’t have the space, time or energy to have one at their home. I have to be honest, it is addictive. This is my third year of being a butterfly gardener. They become just like children that you want to protect. Click on their blog and enjoy.
Happy Valentine’s Day,Mardi Gras,& More
First of all Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone! Wow this has been quite a week for us here at OH MISS.! With Gasparilla Parade last weekend, the cold weather-I know our friends up north it has been much much worse. The simple fact is, we live here in sunny Florida and we don’t expect it to get this cold. Most of us are going to have to wait a few more weeks before we will know how much damage has been done to our plants and landscaping.
But to continur on,, we corordinated a beautiful wedding yesterday at the beach. It was absolutely bone chilling cold but beautiful. It was a sunny day and other than the fact that it did not reach 60*, perfect. How could it not be? One of us had our anniversary yesterday and the DJ celebrated his birthday as well. All sorts of reasons to celebrate.
Now along that vein, did you know that besides being St. Valentine’s Day today, it is the start of the Chinese New Year-The Year of the TIger. A chinese custom is for married couples or the elderly to give AngPous (red envelopes) to the younger or unmarried. The envelopes usually contain money. The amount is usually $8.00 as the number 8 is considered a lucky number. They will also wear new clothes that day as to symbolize that they have plenty(or enough to go around) The Tiger is considered to be lucky,vivid,lively,engaging and have incredible bravery. Persons born in the year of the Tiger are said to have these characteristics-courage, vehemence,self-reliance,friendliness,hopefulness,resilience,vanity, and disregard. Happy Year of the Tiger!
Now tomorrow the 15th of February is Clean Monday. This is the Orthodox equivalent to the Christian Ash Wednesday. Clean Monday is the day that the home or living space is thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom, all crumbs and dust are cleaned away.
In New Orleans the Mardi Gras season that has been going on for a couple of weeks now,since the day of Epiphany or Three Kings Day is coming to a close. Most know only of the ending of the season with the parade and Fat Tuesday. Another custom that is held throughout this time is the custom of the King’s Cake. This is a cake that is made witha plastic baby inside and sometimes coins. The person that receives the piece of cake with the baby is supposed to hold the feast the following year. Fat Tuesday is when all the world is a stage and their is music and dancing , reveleryabounds as does the food and drink in a sense preparing for the time of Lent that will begin on Wednesday or Ash Wednesday. This is a time that Christians often give up something that is very meaningful to them-usually in the food category such as chocolate, chips, meat, something in that ilk in keeping withthe preparation for Easter Sunday. This year Easter Sunday will be the same for both Orthodox churches and Christian churches.
Ash Wednesday is this upcoming Wednesday the 17th and begins the preparation for Easter Sunday.
Oh and if you are wondering where the origin of the heart shaped box came from for the chocolates that are given at Valentine’s Day, you can thank Mr. Cadbury who in the mid 1800’s put his chocolates in a heart shaped box. Another factoid that even centuries before the cocoa beans were considered to be aphrodisiac
Again Happy Valentine’s Day, Fat Tuesday, and Chinese New Year!
Holiday Ideas
The sales are gong on it seems every day now. The best prices of the season they shout out. Do you dare to wait until the 23rd or the 24th if that is the case? If and it is a big IF, if you want a specific product or item for the shopping list you may just be better off getting it. If you wait until the 23rd or the 24th, it may not be available or available in the size, color or specifics that you want. Now if you are a gambler and like rolling the dice, you can do what a friend of mine said today-only 16 more days until I go Christmas Shopping! Now granted some of the excitement of the season is going out in the crowds in the last day or so before the holiday to soak up all the ambiance. You can soak up ambiance and get a cup of cocoa, you don’t have to shop. Now if you do find a bargain of a lifetime on those days-go for it. It might be on sale on the 26th for even more off the “original” price but it is a chance that you take.
Let’s say that shopping in the mall or on Main Street is not your thing, you can find so much on the Internet these days. In fact search around and don’t just go to one site. You may just find some bargains out there that you weren’t expecting. There may be limited quantities and watch out for the shipping. The shipping sometimes is more than the article you are purchasing and if you by any stretch of the imagination must return it-yikes it could even be worse. So do your homework. The stores are open 24hours and you can shop from the comfort of your pajamas. Don’t be afraid to look at other sites for your items. You can comparison shop online just as you can in the mall.
Don’t be afraid to go green with your holiday gift giving. Get something that can be planted outside after the season is over or maybe it is a plant that can stay inside with the right light and watering schedule. Do you know that when you have a live green plant in your home it helps produce oxygen? Yep, the plants absorb the CO2 that we exhale and produce O2. Another hint, take your own bag for your purchases!
If you put up a live evergreen tree or even wreaths , after the first of the year, find out where your local area is doing recycling of the trees. They were chop the trees so that they make a fragrant mulch to use in landscaping.
Now let’s say you are a lucky one and received a new flat screen TV 1080p or a new laptop computer, desk computer or even a cell phone. Dont just throw those items away. Your local recycling company will most likely have an electronics recycle day. You can take all your used electronic to the recyle and not pollute the landfills with mercury and other harmful chemicals that are in those screens and monitors. If you received a new phone there are several agencies that would absolutely love to have your old one. Cell Phones for Soldiers,telephones for abused women, men , too. Check out the local agencies including Salvation Army, Goodwill, The Spring, and others. The extra ink cartridges can be recycled as well. Your local Petsmart has mailers for you to use that are postage paid. HP has a recycle your computer program. You can get more information on their website or at your local Starbucks cafe. Speaking of Starbucks, do you know that you can get their used coffee grounds for use in your garden or compost pile? You don’t even have to drink coffee. These are free for the asking.
In the midst of all this, you find yourself unable to get out or have the time to shop like you would enjoy, you can hire a concierge to do it for you. Personal Shopping can be a blessing at this time of year. They can even get your packages gift wrapped either with your own color scheme of paper and ribbon, or have the shops wrap it. Perfect packages in very little time. Now that is a good thing.
The 12th is the first night of Hanukkah. It starts seven days of religious services and gift giving for our Jewish Friends. If you don’t check back until after the 12th-Happy Hanukkah.
Autumn: Clutter to Cash for the Holidays
Autumn has been officially with us now for a week. For those of us that live in Florida, it doesn’t quite feel that way with our daytime temperatures reaching the high 80’s and low 90’s. It is a reminder though that before we know it the onslaught of various holiday activities will be upon us. It is also a time when our landscaping needs some special attention to prepare it for the winter months ahead.
Let us start out with the landscaping and fall gardening. It is now a good time to plant some fresh tomato plants and your winter vegetables such as broccoli and cabbage. It is also a good time to freshen up the color with some annuals in your yard. Having splashes of color in your landscape is like adding the “wow” to your outfit. It sparks it up and just makes you feel better when you see it. It is also a good time to get the yard ready for the slower growing season. You should fertilize it to keep it healthy. This is like giving a multiple vitamin to your yard. The yard needs nutrients on which to thrive. It is better to spend a little fertilizing now than re sodding later. If you want more information on master gardening, there are classes held at all full service public libraries, Just log in to your county website and go to libraries. There you will find the library closest to you and a calendar of events. You can also go to your local nursery where they will be knowledgeable about the plants, flowers and vegetables that are best for your locale, Just a difference of a couple of miles can make a difference in the best plants for you.
This is also a good time to clean out your closets. What didn’t you wear this summer? What have your children grown out of if they were in one of those growth spurts. If the clothing is in excellent shape , you may want to take it to a local consignment store. There you will find that most will set a price and share it 50/50 with you. Now before you rush out to spend the latest cash bonanza remember that what you paid is not what someone else will pay in consignment. But you say I paid $400 for the outfit and I am only going to end up with $50? Yes that could be so. But remember this is something that you aren’t wearing for whatever reason and don’t think that you will any time in the near future. Besides it is taking up precious closet pace. So just think of it as fashion karma. You are clearing out space for something new and you are helping someone else have a fashion experience that they would not have been able to afford otherwise.
If the clothing , shoes, purses belts etc are not quite of the caliber for a consignment store, consider giving it to a thrift store of the charity of your choice or if you don’t have a particular charity in mind the Salvation Army or Goodwill Thrift store. These items can be a little more worn but should be clean and not torn. Whereas you may not receive cash to put in your pocket for these items, you will get a receipt for a tax deduction when you file your taxes as well as helping someone else have clothes to wear. The thrift stores will most likely accept small appliances,books,furniture that is in good condition, and various other household items. Some will even come to your home to pick these items
The last phase in the cycle are those items that are all but worn out, ripped and torn, have holes in them, missing pieces, cords, etc. These items should be tossed. For the small appliances and even larger items check with your local waste management office as they usually have a fall cleanup day for each area on which they will pick up items that are not normally in your trash can. For that day only which is usually a Saturday, all you have to do is get the items to curbside. If your specific area does not have such a day, you can call the waste management office and schedule a larger item pick up day.
If you need help trying to determine what items go where and quite frankly it is often an overwhelming experience, it is a good time to call in a professional organizer. They can assist with the sorting in a non emotional way. The professional organizers with OH MISS will actually take your things to the charity of your choice and get the receipt for you.
If you want to get your money in a more direct way and clear out your clutter, have a garage sale. A garage sale takes time and planning. You need the time to gather, then price, advertise, setup and have helpers on your sale day. Again this is an area where a professional organizer and someone who is knowledgeable in garage sales can really be of benefit to your bottom line. The professional organizer can assist you in clearing out the clutter and determine the garage sale worthiness and a garage sale professional can assist you in getting the most for your items. As the adage goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. There are some items that are very popular at garage sales and the professional garage sale shoppers will be out on the hunt early in the day. There are ways to advertise your garage sale to get the word out to the most people as well. Another idea is to get several of your neighbors together to do a garage sale on the same day. This will attract more visitors to your sale. OH MISS has garage sale specialists and helpers on staff to help you make the most from your garage sale.
As a special anyone that mentions this article when calling OH MISS for an appointment will receive 10% off the fee. See there you have made more money and not even put up a sign. Call 813-636-9700 and set up your appointment today. This offer is good through October 30,2009, after that our elves will be racing to help set up their homes for the holidays.
Now that you have cleaned out your closets,cupboards and shelves, you will be able to enjoy the upcoming holidays much more.