Monday, January 31, 2011

Winter Fun




Lori has a beautiful winter layout to share today. Isn't that sled the coolest? Mostly she used the Kris Kringle collection but she snuck something in. Can you guess what it is?


Give up? Ok, we'll tell you. This gal is so creative! She actually took a border from the Spooks Halloween collection and covered the orange border with Stickles to look like icicles. Here's a close-up.


The elegant layered snowflakes fit so perfectly with this chilly snow scene! Now that January is almost over, we are kinda wishing that stuff would go away here in Utah. How about you? Anyone nice and warm at CHA?

Southern Inspired


Good day lovely friends, I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. It was a gorgeous here in NC and I was able to enjoy some much needed outdoor time with the family. Yesterday I sat outside read a book, some magazines, and worked on the computer while the kids bounced their little hearts out in the bouncy house Santa delivered in our backyard... the best investment ever!  It is amazing how much better you feel when the sun is out and the thermometer reads above 50 degrees.
Over the weekend while catching up I came across Haskell Harris from Garden and Gun and her wonderful interview for their blog Belle Decor with Charlottean and Capitol boutique proprietor Laura Vinroot Poole. This photo is stunning! I am not sure if it is the colorful  skirt, gorgeous velvet sofa, or the vertical garden by French botanist Patrick Blanc but collectively it is an exquisite picture. I love a little inspiration like this to start the work week and hope you enjoy too.
You can read the interview Here

                                                                                                                                                             

OUR READERS HELP.(Brief Article).

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How Do You Clean Your Gear?

Q: How do you clean all your gear--mask, snorkel, BC, booties, gloves, regulator, light, etc.?

SCOTT BARCLAY

FORT WORTH, TEXAS

I get all the obvious dirt off the outside, then pitch it all in the jacuzzi bathtub. Fill with warm water, then turn on the jets for about 45 minutes. Add Sink the Stink or BC Life as needed. Never fails.

LARRY LOZUK

DALLAS, TEXAS

We do the same as Larry--one of us takes the BCs and suits to the jacuzzi master bath, and the other takes the regs, fins, masks, lights, etc, to the spare bath. We rinse everything thoroughly (all our dives are salt water). BCs inside and out, draining from all the vents and the oral inflator, and letting warm water rinse through the mouthpiece of the regs for several minutes (make sure not to press the purge button while you're doing this or water can get to the first stage). Then everything soaks in fresh water--at least overnight.

VIA RSD MESSAGE BOARD

I run my dry suit in the shower both inside and out and then hang it up to dry. Hood and gloves get an occasional washing with Woolite in warm water. I don't need booties anymore, but I used to wash them in Woolite too. Wash them inside-out so that you make sure to clean all smell out of them. Let them dry very well before turning them right side in again or all the little buggies grow between dives.

VIA RSD MESSAGE BOARD

I use wetsuit shampoo for everything. I usually soak my regs in fresh water on the way back from the dive. I don't soak anything more than a few minutes and haven't had any odor problems.

PHIL GARNER

SAN PEDRO, CALIF.

We try to do a good soak before we leave the boat or resort to get the salt off--including a couple of rinses inside and out for the BCs--and get things as dry as possible before repacking for trip home. I get a tank so I can give the second stages a good soaking in fresh water or rinsing under tap with the reg pressurized. Then blow a lot of air out with the purge button on each reg. Once home, everything but the regs goes in the shower with shampoo for another soak and rinse. Once everything is really dry, it gets packed away.

ROBERT DELFS

HONG KONG

A tip that I picked up a while back really works for keeping the booties from getting rank while on a dive trip and when they don't have a chance to dry out from one day to the next: After the last dive of the day soak the booties in a sink of water with some mint-flavored Listerine added.

JIM N. PARKHILL

McALLEN, TEXAS

At the end of each day of diving in salt water, if I plan to dive the next day, I rinse the reg (while it's attached to a tank) with a hose, and then blow out the second stage with the purge. When I make the last dive of a trip, I prefer to immerse the reg in warm water, again attached to a tank, and rinse it thoroughly (I use a large ice chest for this). If you can't rinse the reg while attached to a tank, be careful not to shake the second stage or press the purge button with the reg immersed or full of water. That could allow water to pass the second stage valve and enter the first stage.

CHARLIE PARMELEE

MARIETTA, GA.

Source Citation
"OUR READERS HELP." Rodale's Scuba Diving July 2000: 45. Academic OneFile. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
Document URL
http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A63540824&source=gale&srcprod=AONE&userGroupName=broward29&version=1.0


Gale Document Number:A63540824

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Animals in armor: having a hard body is a good thing if you're an animal under attack.(includes information on armor worn by knights)(Cover Story).

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You've heard of knights in shining armor. Even today, some people wear bullet- proof vests or ride around in armored vehicles. It's all to protect the body from harm.

But guess what--nature did it first! Many animals come with ready-made suits of armor. In fact, they make their own best bodyguards! Here are just a few.

Everybody knows about the armadillo--probably the world's most famous armored animal. Its name even means "little armored one" in Spanish. Its armor is made of super-tough skin and bony bands.

There are many kinds of armadillos. Some have bands all the way down their backs. Some have just a few bands. The nine-banded armadillo below can curl up, but not all the way into a ball. Only three-banded armadillos from South America can do that.

Watch a millipede if you want to see flexible bands in action. a pill mil- lipede shuffles along, minding its own business. But what if something dangerous comes sniffing around? Fwwwipp!--the millipede pulls itself into a tight little pill-like ball. It can do that by bending at each place where two bands are joined. All the soft parts--head, back end, and underneath--are now protected.

You won't find this kind of millipede unless you're visiting a tropical rain- forest in Borneo. But you might find other kinds right in your own neighbor- hood. Watch to see if they also curl up their hard, banded bodies when threatened. Or look for a millipede lookalike called a pillbug (also known as a sowbug or wood louse).

Some animals carry their own shields with them wherever they go. Take this tropical snail, for example. Like any garden snail, this slimy guy can draw completely into its hard shell. Snails aren't the only soft-bodied creatures that live a "shell-tered" life. The ocean is chock full of armored creatures such as scallops, oysters, clams, and barnacles.

And don't forget lobsters and crabs. They don't have shells that they can open and close or go in and out of. Their whole bodies are wrapped in a shell. That king crab looks as if its body armor could take a lot of hard knocks.

Like all turtles, the desert tortoise lives inside a kind of bony shell sand- wich. The top and bottom halves of its shell can't close up completely, as they can in a box turtle. But the tortoise can pull in its head and seal off the opening with its strong, scaly legs. The tortoise looks as if it's warning a predator: You can knock, but you can't come in!

Check out the tortoise copycat. Just like the tortoise, it has a shell. But it's really a kind of insect called a tortoise beetle. All insects wear their skeletons on the outside. But this skeleton forms a super-duper shield that covers even the insect's head and legs.

Scales form the most flexible armor of all. They aren't exactly like a knight's metal "cloth" (called chain mail), but they work just as well.

All reptiles--from snakes to crocodiles--have scales. The spiny lizard has scales that end in sharp points. This lizard might make a prickly mouthful. But it can usually make a quick getaway first. While thick bands and big shells can add weight to an armored animal, scaly armor doesn't slow this lizard down!

Most fish, including the parrotfish, have bodies covered by hard scales. In some fish, the scales are thick and heavy. In others, they're small and thin. And some fish, such as sharks, have scales that are tiny but very rough.

There's even a mammal with scales--the pangolin (PANG-guh-lin), which is some- times called a scaly anteater. Believe it or not, the scales on that pangolin mom and her baby are made from a weird, extra-hard form of hair.

The pangolin isn't a fast mover. But it is flexible. If it can't escape danger fast enough, it just rolls up into a ball. Mom can even curl up with her baby tucked inside! The scales have sharp edges, so it's not a good idea to mess with a pangolin that doesn't want to be messed with.

Bands that bend. Shells that shield. Scads of scales. These forms of body armor all help protect the animals that wear them. They may not keep the roughest, toughest, or sneakiest pests and predators away. But they help make the armored ones' lives a whole lot safer.

Solid sheets of metal armor protect this knight in a big way. But they're stiff and clunky and make it hard for him to move around. Narrow bands joined together let the body bend.

A big, heavy shield works great to fend off weapons. A warrior can duck behind it or move it around to cover unprotected parts of the body.

A knight's chain mail armor is made of interlocking pieces of metal. It's lighter in weight and much more bendable than solid metal sheets or even bands.

Source Citation
Lambeth, Ellen. "Animals in armor: having a hard body is a good thing if you're an animal under attack." Ranger Rick May 1997: 40+. Popular Magazines. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
Document URL
http://find.galegroup.com/gps/infomark.do?&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T003&prodId=IPS&docId=A19332509&source=gale&srcprod=PPPM&userGroupName=broward29&version=1.0


Gale Document Number:A19332509

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