Home Improvement

Add a Fountain to your Landscape

Over the past ten years or so, water fountains have almost become a craze. More indoor and outdoor water fountain models are available in more choices of styles, sizes, colors, and materials than ever before! Office desks may sport miniature water fountains, logo water fountains are used for corporate signage; hospitals and dental offices use water features to calm visitors; outdoor water fountains are increasingly called for in residential developments, parks, even children’s playgrounds. Municipalities are incorporating water fountains in high-traffic locations.

Simple diy fountain with paving stone

Everyone loves water fountains! Why?

Water circle fountain
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We live in an increasingly stressful world…the sound of water flowing from a water fountain has a magically relaxing effect. Imagine yourself at the ocean, or by a babbling brook, and you may start to unwind… Ambient noise–traffic sounds, sounds of appliances, televisions–all take their toll on our nerves, sometimes without our realizing what’s going on.

Fountain with pump and water tank

How about the sound of water? That question can only be answered subjectively. In general, water fountain sound will be influenced the materials used in making the fountain, the size of the water fountain, the height from which the water falls, and the number of surfaces to which the water falls. External ambient qualities will also come into play…is the location for the fountain very “live” acoustically, i.e. do sounds bounce off the surfaces and echo, or does the space muffle sounds…with acoustic design elements, or just lots of carpets, soft furniture, and the like? How loud are the sounds that the fountain will be used to mask? You can see that the criteria are numerous to determine a fountain’s sound.

Southwest style fountain.

Of course, water fountains also disperse more water into the air, and we all know how much better our skin feels in a room with the appropriate humidity level than in a dried-out environment. Negative ions are produced by falling water…and they have a calming and cleansing effect…notice how clean the air smells after a thunderstorm! A water fountain will have a similar effect.

Vegetables

Okra plants

My okra plants are producing now! Grown from seed started indoors in April.

It was first cultivated in Ethiopia. Records of its cultivation in ancient Egypt date to over 3000 years ago!  In the following centuries was spread throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Okra was first brought to the Caribbean and Southern United States by the slave trade sometime in the 1600s.

It’s a member of the mallow family, related to plans like hibiscus, cotton, and hollyhock. Though it does well in hot climates and will tolerate drought, okra performs best in rich, moist soil.

There are many okra recipes including many kinds of gumbo. I slice the pods and fry them along with summer squash.

Rural life

Phone Scams

Here’s how it works: Scammers are using auto-dialers to call cell phone numbers across the country. Scammers let the phone ring once — just enough for a missed call message to pop up.

The scammers hope you’ll call back, either because you believe a legitimate call was cut off, or you will be curious about who called. If you do, chances are you’ll hear something like, “Hello. You’ve reached the operator, please hold.” All the while, you’re getting slammed with some hefty charges — a per-minute charge on top of an international rate. The calls are from phone numbers with three-digit area codes that look like they’re from inside the U.S., but actually are associated with international phone numbers — often in the Caribbean. The area codes include: 268, 284, 473, 664, 649, 767, 809, 829, 849 and 876.