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MASTERING THE HOUSE useful tips for homeowners
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Tim Paino Owner/Inspector Heartland HouseMaster
Battling the Landscaping
There is nothing like a beautifully landscaped yard to make our homes exterior appearance look better. The battle begins when landscaping starts to overtake our homes.
It is a problem when trees and shrubs start touching the outer envelope of our home. Many times, the problem really starts with the original positioning of the plant. We purchase young, small plants because of the cost, ease of transporting, and planting. These small plants just do not look right positioned far away from the house or each other, so we end up planting them too close to both the home and each other. After a few short years they are not only crowding each other, but they are rubbing the siding on our home.
Maybe this is a little extreme but, this is a picture from a recent home inspection where the home’s roof was cut away to allow the tree to continue to grow, literally through the roof. Here are a few issues we want to avoid.
1. Limbs rubbing the shingles: As the wind moves the limbs across the roof it wears the shingles, shortening their life, leading to leaks, and advancing the need for a roof replacement.
2. Landscaping against the siding: The friction against siding can cause damage, but the more likely harm is holding moisture. The reduced air movement prevents the moisture on the homes exterior from drying bringing possible mildew, wood decay and in cold weather issues with freezing.
3. Path for insect: Plants are the perfect shelter for insect with both food and water in vast supply. When those plants encounter our home, a path is created to invite those insects to walk right over and into our space.
4. Blocking Air Conditioners: The outside compressor unit to our homes air conditioner needs to have room to breathe. Many times, we desire to hide the equipment with landscaping, but we must keep it far enough away from all sides to allow for proper air flow through the unit.
5. Roots: When large trees are planted too close to sidewalks, driveways, and foundations they have the strength to move anything in their way. Concrete heaves and foundations crack. Climbing plants, allowed to grow on a home’s exterior, have roots that cut their way into wood or mortar causing damage. Here are a few quick tips. Know your plants. If possible, before you purchase a plant know how large it is going to grow and position it in your landscaping knowing it is going to grow.
Next, know when to trim. Different type plants should be trimmed at different times of the year to perform and look their best.
And lastly, do not skip trimmings. When a plant gets overgrown it is difficult to ever return it to a manageable size. Use your bonsai skills and keep your plantings at their desired size. Build a trellis for those climbing plants and keep them off the house. Allow 12 to 18 inches between your home’s exterior and your landscaping. It will still look beautiful from the street and your home will breathe easier. ______________________________________________
What Are You Reading?
In this age of social media, the pages of a book can still provide a sanctuary, an education, and an inspiration. Let us know what books are on your reading list and why you do or do not recommend them. You can leave your comments on our Facebook page, or send them to betty@TheRepublicanNewspaper.com.
There is no Frigate like a Book To take us Lands away Nor any Coursers like a Page Of prancing Poetry – This Traverse may the poorest take Without oppress of Toll – How frugal is the Chariot That bears the Human Soul –
Emily Dickinson
Summer is a time for traveling - what books will you be reading to take you on a journey to somewhere new and foreign or to an old familar place from your past?
Send us what’s on your summer reading list or what you pick up by chance and are swept into another world and new adventures.
A recomendation: Thinking in Pictures: My Life With Autism by Temple Grandin. A professor in animal behavior, she gives a glimpse of the inner world of those who “think differently” yet have much in common with those who think of themselves as “normal.”
Trigonometry or Track: What Else School Should Teach You
By Krishna Lathish
Nearly two years later, I couldn’t tell you how a normal distribution represents data or the way a nuclear power plant produces energy. However, I can still feel how cold it was the October of my first ever competition as a speech and debate competitor. I came in 5th in my division; as I watched the other, more capable speakers accept their ribbons with good-natured promises of being champion next meet, the need to strive for better fastened itself to me much more permanently than the finer points of the Byzantine Empire.
Many parents and students alike have the view that if you simply focus on maintaining the best grades in the hardest classes possible, you can check “well rounded education” off your to-do list. It’s certainly not an unfounded belief – we go to school to learn before anything else, so why not direct all your efforts towards the concrete, hard skills? The U.S. Bureau of Labor reported that unemployed high schoolers from 2011-2015 spent 15.4 hours of their day on sleep or education; with only 8.6 hours left to make use of in the years leading up to graduation, the choice between working on classes that may yield college credits or building a mock business presentation may seem clear.
But as someone who is now turning the corner on my home stretch of the first 12 years of education, my biggest regret is that I wasn’t more involved. I’m glad I strove for the best grades I could maintain, but in retrospect, I can admit that I used that as a scapegoat when justifying why I didn’t put myself out there more. During the school year, you’re simply too busy with homework to explore seemingly superfluous clubs, and after a tough 10 months, not being industrious with 60 days of summer break feels well deserved.
My sophomore year of high school was the first time I tried wading into the world of school clubs; I’m lucky to have only lost out on a year of my high school experience, but as I draft my final speech for next season, it’s the one I wish I could have back most.
School is no longer about learning multiplication on an abacus and getting your knuckles rapped for wrong answers; it’s the first and last time you are forced to be around people for most of your day, nearly every day, in your whole life. In my very teen opinion, it seems like every adult bemoans the difficulty of maintaining friendships and hobbies after leaving school – so if your kids never learn how to connect with people and find their interests in their formative years, what are they left with at 30, when there’s no structures in place to urge you to form relationships and venture out into the world?
A lighter course load in exchange for time in a club to develop soft skills that not only employers, but the world demands is a deal that you should encourage every student in your life to take as early as possible.
A Note From Bee
I have a very strong dislike of electronic games for children. You rarely see children playing outside anymore. They are inside with eyes glued to electronic games. Even children as young as three have an electronic device.
In the good old days children played games outdoors, rode their bicycles, played in the sandbox, swung on swings, etc. My children spent at least three summers building a tree house in an enormous walnut tree in back of our lot. They were building houses in our addition and there was lots of scrap wood. Scrap wood, some nails, and hammers and it kept them busy a large part of the day.
The construction crew consisted of six kids all about nine years old. There were two other kids but they were too young to be on the crew. There were a couple of scary moments. I was looking out the kitchen window and saw that one of the kids had climbed beyond the highest utility line. My first reaction was to run screaming out to the tree and yelling to the boy to get down. I got myself under control and talked the boy down. We immediately had a safety lesson on the dangers of climbing beyond the tree house. My daughter got her foot stuck on a nail. I had never climbed a tree and of course when the children were hurt my husband was at work. Fortunately a teenage boy lived a couple of houses down and somehow got me to my injured daughter. I did have to pull her foot out of the nail. We had another safety lesson. Those kids really pounded those nails in so hard that years later the boards were intact. They had weathered many a strong storm. Just the other day we got to reminiscing about the tree house. Our daughter said if we ever cut the tree down she wanted a piece of it. She had such pleasant memories of building that tree house.
Bee Jones
John Ruskin
ASK MR. TRAFFIC
By Chet Skwarcan, PE, President/ Founder of Traffic Engineering, Inc. Chet@TrafficEngineering.com
Cars Are Not Meant to Be Idle
Do Your Fair Share
By far, the question I get asked the most is, “Can I see your driver’s license and registration?” But another question often asked is, “As a homeowner, how much traffic do I generate?” Because think about it, most of us live in houses, apartments, or condominiums — so it might surprise you how much traffic you’re contributing.
Vehicle tracking data is available for newer vehicles, but don’t worry, it is anonymized (to protect your privacy). So, although I may know a vehicle leaves your address every day (your house?) and goes to another address (your work?) and stops at Taco Bell on the way there (and the way back), I don’t actually know if it was you driving the car or a friend of yours or someone who just looks like you. That’s because the data is anonymized — your privacy is protected.
And if you put all this data into a computer — thousands and thousands of vehicles, latitudes, longitudes, time of day, etc., we can see, for example, how great it would be to have a more interesting job.
Fortunately, someone already did this. We know, for example, a typical single-family home generates approximately 10.4 trips per day (5.2 coming and 5.2 going). This number includes your share of friends, visitors, and deliveries. Also, keep in mind, this is an average number — your neighbor far exceeds this (and I know, you never get to go anywhere).
So, if you and 99 of your friends live in a subdivision (i.e., 100 houses), traffic engineer’s would expect, on a typical weekday, approximately 520 vehicles entering and 520 vehicles exiting during a 24-hr period. More interesting, during the evening rush hour, we would expect approximately 60 vehicles entering and 40 vehicles exiting. And if there’s more than one entrance, these numbers would be distributed between all the various driveways.
This information is based on hundreds of studies across the nation. And if you do not live in a single-family home, data is also available for apartments, condominiums, senior housing, mobile homes, campgrounds, etc.
The bottom line is this: keep doing your fair share — go someplace 5.2 times a day (and then return 5.2 times per day). Traffic engineers depend on it. Thank you.
A Squirrel About Town
By Archy
“Archimedes was wrong.”
I had never seen a despondent squirrel before. Archy’s experiment to use a lever to balance out people’s opinions must not have been successful.
“We tried to move chakras with our transcendental levers but they were so dense, they wouldn’t budge,” he muttered.
I sat down and commiserated in silence for several minutes. Then, I recalled hearing a farmer tell a story about his grandfather’s mule. It ended with, “He finally lit a fire under him. Burned all the hair off his belly before he moved.” The squirrel chuckled. “Good one,” he said. “Force may subdue, but love gains and he who forgives wins the laurel,” I said. “Just like you to quote William Penn,” the squirrel laughed. I told Archy that I admired his intentions and he shouldn’t be discouraged.
“It’s all about the timing,” I told him. “Sometimes people don’t reach a pivot point until they’re ready. It’s something they have to do for themselves. It bothers you more than it bothers them, but you can’t blame them for their faults. ‘Never despise what you can’t understand.’ ” “Penn again?” the squirrel asked. I admitted the attribution for the quote. I followed with another. “He also said, ‘The secret of happiness is to count your blessings while others are adding up their troubles.’ Keeping a positive attitude will make up for the negative behavior you see. Don’t keep company with misery. ” The squirrel shared silence a bit longer. “It’s just so sad to see humans waste their time and energy being angry,” he said. “I can’t understand why they seem to relish in it.”
I admitted I couldn’t see the point either. “I guess we have to have patience when it’s called for,” I told him.
The squirrel looked up and smiled. It was his turn to quote William Penn.
“Let us see what love can do,” he said.
The Periodic Cicada Is Coming!
The periodic (17 year) cicada will be emerging soon in our area. Will it harm my plants? What do I do? Cicada bugs are mostly harmless in the garden. Cicadas feed only on woody perennials. They causedamage to young or newly transplanted trees.
Female cicadas slice
into branches to lay their eggs. The slits are known as flagging. It will not harm your healthy trees, which regrow damaged branches. Extension office say no control is necessary: just consider this a healthy, all-natural form of pruning.
Above: Cicada tree damange slits.
To protect young trees, cover with a netting you use to keep the birds from getting your cherry fruit.
Resist the temptation to blast the cicadas with an insecticide, you won’t make a dent in the huge population and you will kill beneficial insects and birds that are feasting
Resist the temptation to blast the cicadas with an insecticide, you won’t make a dent in the huge population and you will kill beneficial insects and birds that are feasting on the pests. Cicadas are eaten by everything with an insectivorous diet, skunks, snakes. Even cicada killers - a two-inch wasp! Both male and female die within a few weeks after they emerge from the ground.
Life cycle of the cicada
When the eggs hatch, the newly hatched nymphs drop to the ground and burrow into the soil. Cicadas live under ground for most of their lives feeding on juices of plant roots.
Seventeen years ago I attend a “Cicada Party.” Guests brought baked, fried, barbeque and chocolate cicada dishes. Even cicadas on a pizza!! Cicadas are full of protein but don’t eat if you are allergic to shell food.
Get out your ear plugs, cicadas are the only bug that can be heard above the din of a noisy lawn mower.
The Power of Your Breath
Written by Chase Cotten, The Willow Center, 317-852-3690
Stop what you are doing for a moment…and notice your breath.
Perhaps you are breathing short and quickly. Maybe your breaths are long and slow. Do you feel your breath in your nose or in your mouth? Does your chest rise and fall with each breath, or does your belly?
We rarely take time notice and appreciate our breathing. All day and all night, our body and brain just do it for us. In and out. In and out. It typically takes a cough or a brisk walk up a flight of stairs for us to finally notice it.
Would it surprise you to find out that your breathing is directly linked to your mental health? In particular, the way we breathe and the way we turn our attention to our breath can have dramatic effects upon how we feel and how we manage stress.
According to a research study completed by Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity, “our attention is influenced by our breath and that it rises and falls with the cycle of respiration. It is possible that by focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimize your attention level and likewise, by focusing on your attention level, your breathing becomes more synchronized.”
Other studies have show strong correlations between focused breathing meditations and cognitive benefits such as a lower mind-wandering, higher levels of arousal, increased feelings of positive emotions, and decreased feelings of negative or reactive emotions.
These positive correlations have much to do with the neurotransmitter in our brains called “noradrenaline”, also known as “norepinephrine.” According to Hormone Health Network, noradrenaline is responsible for “helping you to wake up, in increasing attention and focusing on performing a task, and in memory storage. It is also important for emotions. Problems with norepinephrine levels are associated with depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. Bursts of norepinephrine can lead to euphoria (very happy) feelings but are also linked to panic attacks, elevated blood pressure, and hyperactivity.”
In other words, when you get stressed out, your brain produces an excess of noradrenaline and the subsequent negative feelings associated with stress begin to take over. This is where breathing meditation comes in. For centuries, Eastern spiritual practitioners have advocated for the power of noticed or focused breathing, such as Yoga practices that originated in Hinduism and the many forms of meditation that originated in Buddhism. As it turns out, this research suggests that these ancient practices help regulate the flow and slow the release of noradrenaline, thus reducing our stress responses and improving our overall mental health.
So, what are you waiting for? Take a deep breath in, and count to eight. Then, let your breath out, and count to eight. Deep breath in. Slow breath out. Breathe with your belly and really fill your lungs up. Notice how much better you feel already!
References https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180510101254.htm#:~:text=Breath%2Dfocused%20meditation%20and%20yogic,reactivity%2C%20along%20with%20many%20others. https://www.hormone.org/your-health-and-hormones/ glands-and-hormones-a-to-z/hormones/norepinephrine
A Bark From the Past: Henry
[Editor’s Note: The Republican’s first four-footed correspondent was Henry. A mixed breed rescue dog, Henry would make observations about being a dog in a small town. The articles, which ran in 2006 - 2010, have been languishing in the computer’s memory and we thought a new audience might enjoy some canine commentary.]
WOOF! Do I have some exciting news this week! I was talking to my buddy Spike. Spike’s human came home from a meeting the other day with some papers that Spike read. It turns out that there’s a possible ordinance (I looked this up. It’s like a rule or a law.) to plant more trees in Danville! Is that neat or what?
I don’t have to remind you that we dogs have a natural connection with trees anyway. So, having more trees around is going to please the canine members of the community. But, they do a lot of good for humans, too. They are pretty to look at, they make shade to stay cool in, and they drink up lots of rain that could flood low spots if they weren’t there.
There is going to be a list of trees that would be good to plant around here, trees that are already used to Indiana’s weather. And there is going to be a list of trees that may not be good here. That’s a great idea! A lot of humans may not know what trees are right or wrong for Danville. A list would really help them.
From what Spike said, there is going to be a tree committee to make sure that trees along the street are planted in the right places. That’s a good idea, too. And I think there ought to be a dog on the committee. Who better to have a say in the kinds of trees and where they should go? We know where we like to go, so there ought to be a handy tree near by! I may see if I can fill that position!
I’m not sure how this works exactly, but I guess the town owns a little strip at the edge of everybody’s yards. The town wants anybody who plants trees in its strip of yard to get okayed for the kind of tree and where it needs to be. That’s so no one plants what will be a tall, tall tree under power lines. That would be dangerous!
There’s also a section in that rule that makes it against the law to hurt a tree on the town’s strip of yard. That’s good. A tree can’t run away like we can if some human is about to hurt it. A tree is helpless! So, it’s only right that there should be some way to deal with a tree hurter.
There are already a lot of trees in our neighborhood. It’s really neat in the spring and summer. Some of the trees get flowers on them! And some have fruit you can eat! And some are just for decoration and that’s nice, too. My human was talking with our neighbor the other day, and he said that we had two dogwoods. Then, he said you can tell a dogwood tree by its bark. The neighbor laughed at that, but I don’t know why. It seems to me you should use every clue to figure out what trees you have.
Yep, trees are our friends. And we can all use a few more friends, right? So, find a nice spot in your yard and plant a tree! Make a new friend!
Thought for the Day:
Carbon dioxide is one of the major greenhouse gases that cause global warming. Every tree you plant reduces your family’s “carbon footprint” by turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. Help the planet! Plant a tree!
D. Elton Trueblood
Got Questions? Call The Home-Landscaping-Garden Help Line and Master Gardeners will answer your questions every Tuesday. May 18 to Sept 28. Hours 9:00-Noon and 1-4:00pm call 317-745-9260 (Hendricks County Extension)
Cooking for a Crowd
Have to feed a crowd? Call up a caterer.
But there was a time when cooking in quanity was nothing out of the ordinary for a home cook. A meeting of the Women’s Club, a family reunion, harvest time, or helping out with fundraiser for your church.
A cookbook published by the Amo Friends Church in 1941 had it covered. In the back section are helpful hints, among them, what quanitities are needed to serve 50 people. Here are some of the measurements, in case company calls and keeps calling: Oyster Stew - 1½ to 2 gal. oysters, 2 cal. milk. Meat loaf - 12 pounds meat. Chicken for creaming, pie, or fricassie - 25 poiunds, dressed. Ham - 18 - 20 pounds. Macaroni and cheese - 3 pounds macaroni, 2 pounds cheese. Potatoes - 1 peck Fruit for shortcake - 8 quarts. Ice cream - 6-7 servings per quart. Pie - 6 generous servings per 9 inch pie. Soups - 4 gallons Escalloped potoatoes: 8 quarts sliced potatoes, 3 qts. milk.
Cocoa - 1½ cups cocoa, 2 cups sugar, 1¼ teaspoon salt; 1 pt. warm water, 1 qt. boiling water, 8 qts. milk.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
