This month we are going to go into some detail about the care of cattleya orchids. These orchids are probably the easiest to care for and like all plants need water, light and fertilizer. Playing some nice music or talking to them doesn’t hurt either.

Most of the wild cattleyas grow in rain forests of South America, namely in Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Mexico. They flourish in the Andes from altitudes near sea level to high altitudes of 9 - 10,000 feet. These orchids are truly epiphytes or air plants. So, they are used to being partly covered by the canopy of the rain forest and get considerable humidity and bright light to grow.

Being in the forest as noted above they are used to diffuse light all be it bright light. They generally do not have direct mid day sunlight. The bright light helps them to develop hard pseudopods. The pseudopods are the orchids main way to hold water which is so important for their growth and life. It is from the pseudopods that the orchid flowers come from.

Being in the forest and at various altitudes there are a wide range of temperatures that these plants are used to. In the winter and higher altitudes these plants become accustom to temps which can go as low as 50 - 55 degrees in the winter and as high as 80-90 degrees in the summer.

Humidity is the friend to cattleyas. We can understand this from being in rain forests. Most cattleyas do well with being set on humidity trays. These are metal or plastic trays that are filled with pepples and then half full with water. The plant roots cannot sit in water for a long period of time or else they will get root rot. Allow for good air circulation but not sitting in direct aim of an air vent.

Generally, watering twice a week does well during their growth and flowering period and once a week during their period of rest. Cattleyas are orchids that can and should get dry between watering. This aids in the growth of healthy pseudopods. Be sure that the potting medium allow the water to drain out fairly rapidly.

To check to see if a plant needs water stick your finger about 1 inch into the potting material and see if it comes out dry or damp. If dry it needs watering. If damp it may be able to go another day or two without water.

When watering allow the water to flow into the plant and then drain right out into the sink and not into the humidity tray. You can let the water water flow onto the plant for about 20-30 seconds and the pseudopods will get enough water for storage.

If plants are blossom in the winter or spring this means that these orchid plants deserve a rest period of about 6 to 8 weeks. During this time water them about once a week and keep the lighting the same.

If the plants blossom in the summer time no rest period is needed.

Fertilizing should take place about every other week with a balanced formula like 20-20-20. If the plant is flowering you can fertilize with a blossoming mixture with a higher nitrogen factor, e.g. 30-10-10.

With these rather easy steps you will get many years of joy from your cattleya orchid plants.

Visit our Orchid Store: http://www.orchid-store.orchids-plus-more.com

** This article can be used freely as long as the author and the Orchids-Plus-More.com are identified within the article

Our site is devoted to these wonderful orchid plants. Did you know they are the second in popularity only to the poinsietta plants? You will find a good deal of information on how easy orchid care really is. They are wonderful to have around your home or for that special gift. Orchid flowers are beautiful and can last for months. Your plant will be appreciated for years and years.

http://www.orchids-plus-more.com/orchid-contact.html

From: http://www.orchids-plus-more.com

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Asphalt technology in California has been changing since the creation of Hot Mix Asphalt and will continue to change as time permits. Asphalt rubber pavement was introduced in 1991, which shocked many industry experts. Asphalt rubber pavement seemed promising to those in the industry who were ready for a change. On the other end of the spectrum were industry experts who thought that the world wasn’t ready for such technologies to be implemented.

In Tom Kuennens article titled, “Asphalt Rubber Makes a Quiet Comeback” shown in Better Roads Magazine, he describes rubber asphalt as, “a chemically reacted mix of liquid asphalt binder with 15 to 22% crumb rubber. The rubber is obtained from reclaimed tires, and added to liquid asphalt. It’s reacted at elevated temperatures prior to being mixed with aggregate.”

There are two types of asphalt rubber (wet process) are used in California. Type A- contains rubber only from ground tires, and Type B contains rubber from both ground tires and natural rubber. Caltrans seems to favor Type B binders because they have better resistance to reflection cracking and provide better stability. Rubber pavement disappeared for a few years due an increase in asphalt pavement technologies and a decrease in existing pavement costs associated with this form of material. Until recently, a number of important developments have helped propel asphalt rubber pavement to its current level of acceptance, including new tire-shredding technologies and the establishment of tire recycling facilities in every part of the United States.

In late 1994 the city of Los Angeles had the chance to repaved Olympic Boulevard with hot-mix asphalt which included 15% asphalt rubber millings from that same street.

How often will California use this material to law a quieter foundation for its streets?

Nobody knows. By decreasing noise on the highways, this asphalt technology gains ground with the transportation department of California. At the same time it also loses popularity because of the negative byproducts it elicits, i.e., bad smell, smoke, and sticky material base.

Tom Kuennens also stated that, “The California’s Rubberized Asphalt Concrete Technology Center promotes the use of crumb rubber from scrap tires in roadway rehab projects by providing education, and consultation services to local agencies within California.”

To visit their website go to www.rubberizedasphalt.org

To learn more about the changes in the asphalt paving industry of California, please visit the Manhatten Paving Company home page: Asphalt Paving in Los Angeles @ http://www.manhattenpaving.com.

Brett Lane is the Webmaster and SEO professional for Manhatten Paving Company, located in Los Angeles, California. It provides a wide variety of services such as asphalt paving, seal coats, striping, resurfacing, and driveway maintenance.

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These often overlooked sources of heat loss and air leakage can cause heat to pour out and the cold outside air to rush in — costing you higher heating bills.

Air leaks are the largest source of heating and cooling loss in the home. Air leaks occur through the small cracks around doors, windows, pipes, etc. Most homeowners are well aware of the benefits caulk and weatherstripping provide to minimize heat loss and cold drafts.

But what can you do about the three largest "holes" in your home — the folding attic stair, the fireplace and the clothes dryer? Here are some tips and techniques that can easily, quickly and inexpensively seal and insulate these holes.

Attic Stairs

When attic stairs are installed, a large hole (approximately 10 square feet) is created in your ceiling. The ceiling and insulation that were there have to be removed, leaving only a thin, unsealed, sheet of plywood.

Your attic space is ventilated directly to the outdoors. In the winter, the attic space can be very cold, and in the summer it can be very hot. And what is separating your conditioned house from your unconditioned attic? That thin sheet of plywood.

Often a gap can be observed around the perimeter of the door. Try this yourself: at night, turn on the attic light and shut the attic stairway door — do you see any light coming through? These are gaps add up to a large opening where your heated/cooled air leaks out 24 hours a day. This is like leaving a window open all year round.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add an attic stair cover. An attic stair cover provides an air seal, reducing the air leaks. Add the desired amount of insulation over the cover to restore the insulation removed from the ceiling.

Fireplaces

Sixty-five percent, or approximately 100 million homes, in North America are constructed with wood or gas burning fireplaces. Unfortunately there are negative side effects that the fireplace brings to a home especially during the winter home-heating season. Fireplaces are energy losers.

Researchers have studied this to determine the amount of heat loss through a fireplace, and the results are amazing. One research study showed that an open damper on an unused fireplace in a well-insulated house can raise overall heating-energy consumption by 30 percent.

A recent study showed that for many consumers, their heating bills may be more than $500 higher per winter due to the air leakage and wasted energy caused by fireplaces.

Why does a home with a fireplace have higher heating bills? Hot air rises. Your heated air leaks out any exit it can find, and when warm heated air is drawn out of your home, cold outside air is drawn in to make up for it. The fireplace is like a giant straw sucking the heated air from your house.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a fireplace draftstopper. Available from Battic Door, a company known for their energy conservation products, a fireplace draftstopper is an inflatable pillow that seals the damper, eliminating any air leaks. The pillow is removed whenever the fireplace is used, then reinserted after.

Clothes Dryer Exhaust Ducts

In many homes, the room with the clothes dryer is the coldest room in the house. Your clothes dryer is connected to an exhaust duct that is open to the outdoors. In the winter, cold air leaks in through the duct, through your dryer and into your house.

Dryer vents use a sheet-metal flapper to try to reduce this air leakage. This is very primitive technology that does not provide a positive seal to stop the air leakage. Compounding the problem is that over time, lint clogs the flapper valve causing it to stay open.

An easy, low-cost solution to this problem is to add a dryer vent seal. This will reduce unwanted air infiltration, and keep out pests, bees and rodents as well. The vent will remain closed unless the dryer is in use. When the dryer is in use, a floating shuttle rises to allow warm air, lint and moisture to escape.

About The Author

Mark D. Tyrol is a Professional Engineer specializing in cause and origin of construction defects. He developed several residential energy conservation products including an attic stair cover and a fireplace draftstopper. To learn more visit www.batticdoor.com.

mark@batticdoor.com

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Sliding patio doors are usually aluminum but there are many wooden and vinyl models on the market. All of them use ball bearing rollers to slide easily back and forth. The aluminum and some vinyl doors have a door bottom that is held in place by 2 screws on either side of the door near the bottom. Beneath the screw is usually an open hole in which there is an adjusting screw to raise the roller up and down. The wooden doors often have pairs of rollers due to their extra weight. The adjusting screws are accesible through plastic caps covering holes in the front of the door bottom.

I mention the adjusting screws because you need to check them before deciding to pull the door out and replace the rollers. Slide a big flat blade screwdriver underneath the door on one side and lift slightly to remove the weight from the roller. Use another screwdriver to turn the adjustment screw. See if that makes the door slide better.

Sometimes thats all thats necessary but if the adjusting screws wont turn or are totally missing, you will have to lift the door out of its track and remove the large screws holding the door bottom on and pull the door bottom off. Get help to lift the door out. Two people are needed to safely handle even the smaller patio doors. The door bottom may not pull off easily especially if the door is old. Check for any metal tabs that may be holding it on and gently work the bottom off.

Some old aluminum and vinyl patio doors have rollers that use one screw both to mount the roller and to adjust it. These types of rollers can often be changed without removing the bottom of the door. Look carefully at the bottom of the door in case there is room to pull the roller assembly out.

Wooden patio door rollers are somewhat easier to change, although the door itself is much heavier. The rollers are often screwed in to the wood door bottom. Remove the screws, and out come the roller.

Some Vinyl patio doors are glued together. They were never intended to come apart. You may not be able to remove the rollers if you see no visible screws holding the frame together. Also vinyl doors are often brittle with age and crack easily as you try to pry off the door bottom. Take extra care if you have a vinyl patio door.

Once you have the bottom off the patio door it should be easy to see how the rollers are held in. Usually, removing one screw or bending a metal tab is all thats necessary. Remove the rollers and take them with you to your local glass shop to get the proper replacements.

To reassemble everything start by adjusting the new rollers so they are up as high as they can go. You dont want them getting in the way when you reinstall the door on its track. Make sure you cover the roller retaining screws with cork or rubber if they come near the bare glass in the door bottom. If the metal screws touch the glass, it will crack.

Replace the door bottom, reinstall the screws that secure it and lift the door back in to place. Follow the instructions gave earlier for adjusting the rollers. You should now be able to see the door move up and down when you turn the adjusting screws. You will also be able to align the door with the frame using the screws. Your patio door lock may need to be adjusted to compensate for the new door height.

Try the door and you should be amazed at how easy it is to close. It should only require a couple of pounds of force to open and close. No more fighting with a heavy door and you did it all yourself!

About The Author

Adrian Dunevein runs a self help website for people who want to do their own window and door screen repair. The website is a complete resource for anyone needing to repair or replace any type of screen.

adrian@all-about-screen-doors.com

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First, seeds must have moisture to germinate and grow. And the soil mix must be moist, but not soggy, or you’ll drown the new plant, since it must also have oxygen!

Second, while heat is essential, temperatures must be maintained in a narrow range for ideal germination to occur. Most vegetable seeds germinate quickly between 75 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. After plants are up, many of them will grow in cooler temperatures, but most all will become dormant (stop growing) at temperatures below 50 degrees.

Third, light is not necessary for seed germination, but as soon as your seedlings begin to emerge from the soil, maximum light is required immediately for proper development. Therefore, to grow in your house, make sure your plants have a strong (but not hot!) light source directly on the plants, for up to 16 hours per day. Pictures of two grow-light shelves can be seen in the Photos section of the free gardening group at MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com. The metal one is 6-shelf Commercial Chrome Shelving, from Sam’s Club costing only $70, and will hold 20 flats of plants. Suspend shop lights with 2 cool and 2 warm 40-watt tubes 2 to 4″ above the plants.

The fourth principle relates to feeding. A balanced nutrient mix of 13 minerals is essential to plants immediately after germination. Those nutrients are mineral salts and must be very dilute in the soil moisture, otherwise osmosis will cause the salt to draw the life-giving moisture out of the plants, and they will die. To ensure you never burn your plants, water seedlings daily using the “Constant Feed Solution” of one ounce (2 level tablespoons) of Weekly Feed dissolved in 3 gallons of water. For the free Weekly Feed formula, go to the Gardening Techniques section at www.foodforeveryone.org, and look on the Fertilizer page.

Next, it is important to separate your small plants before their leaves begin to overlap with others’, or the tiny stems will become very weak and spindly as the plants all stretch - looking for more light. By the time the plants have their first or second true leaf, this step should be completed. Failure to wait even a few hours can result in spindly, weak plants, which never recover. Transplanting seedlings into 2″ 6-paks or pots will provide adequate space for them to grow an additional 2-3 weeks, depending on variety. If it’s still too early to put them out into the garden by the time plant leaves are again beginning to overlap, prune the leaves, transplant again into larger pots, or separate pots, so the plant leaves always have maximum light.

Before transplanting into the garden, “harden-off” your plants outside, off the ground for 2 to 3 days, to acclimate them to direct sunlight, temperature, wind, etc. This is important so the plant doesn’t have the shock of a new environment added to the shock to its root system caused by transplanting. If the weather turns cold at night, bring the plants back in the house. The temperature adjustment needs to be gradual.

For many of your plants, the pruning process does double duty. In addition to assuring maximum light, it shocks the plant mildly, causing it to pause in its growth and produce a thicker, sturdier stem. This process makes the plant much better able to endure the vicissitudes of the outside environment, such as cutworms, ants, etc. that often quickly decimate plants with weak, spindly stems.

For tall-growing plants, like tomatoes, by the time they are 12″ tall, provide small stakes tied to the plant stem to prevent them from falling over. And with tomatoes, begin immediately to remove all sucker stems as soon as they appear, to assure a single, strong stem and maximum production from your plant.

Jim Kennard, President Food For Everyone Foundation “Teaching the world to grow food one family at a time.” www.foodforeveryone.org,

Jim Kennard is the President of Food For Everyone Foundation. He teaches gardening classes and trains people throughout the world in family-based food production.

The Foundation provides free materials on its website including a gardening ebook, greenhouse plans, automated watering plans, garden calendar, and a valuable free chapter from every one of the world-renowned Dr. Jacob Mittleider’s vegetable gardening books. All of Dr. Mittleider’s gardening books, software, and CD’s are also available to purchase. And you can share knowledge with others and be taught personally by Jim Kennard in the free MittleiderMethodGardening@yahoogroups.com.

Visit the website at http://www.foodforeveryone.org

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* House to garage door hall. * Front door * Master bedroom * Inside garage

You need at least one keypad to communicate with the control panel. If you elect to have only one keypad you should have it installed as close to the door you use most often as possible. Even if you or others sometimes use a different door, you can put it on its own delay zone and have a longer entry time to get to the keypad from that door.

There are different levels of keypads available for each model of control panel. The one that the dealer uses as their basic model varies by company. The choice of keypads is usually made for you as sales persons tend to stay away from technical discussions even if they do know the difference. If you know that you have a choice and find out what your options are you can make sure that you get the keypad that will work best for you. Following is a general list of the main differences:

* LED- (light emitting diode) This keypad has many lights to tell you what is happening such as a green light for ready to arm, a red light for armed, a yellow light next to a zone number to show you which zone is open if it is not ready.

* LCD- (liquid crystal display) This keypad uses a display window to tell you what is happening such as "System armed", "Zone 4 open"

* ALPHA(alpha-numeric readout) This Keypad can be programmed to give you descriptive readout of what is happening with your system such as "Tommy’s window is open", "Alarm violation, Basement Motion"

* Large display area is important so that you don’t have to squint to read it.

* Some windows are not back ?lighted so you have to turn a light on to see what’s happening. Make sure your window and number keys have lights built in.

* One touch arming lets you turn the alarm on the way you want without entering a code such as Away, Stay (bypass motion detectors), Instant (Make delay doors instant) etc.

* Exit buttons on some keypads allow you to open a door for 30 seconds if the alarm is on. This is handy for letting your pets out and back in without having to disarm the system. This is also a great feature if someone in the house has to exit in the middle of the night.

* Panic buttons for Police, Fire and Ambulance are on most keypads. Make sure you don’t have to contort your fingers into strange configurations to use them. The better-designed keypads are the easiest to use.

* Your keypad should have the ability for the alarm owner to program in a code for each user. Some people use one general code for the whole family and have a different one for the real estate agent, builder, maintenance companies, boy or girlfriends that they don’t expect to be around that long, baby sitters and so on. You can easily remove a code at will, and the more sophisticated systems have a timer on how many times a particular code can be used before it erases itself if desired. Having different codes for employees at your business is important for obvious reasons and many high-end systems can track what time a code user entered and exited. Some like this feature at home to track what time the cleaning service or their teenagers entered and exited. (you would need an alpha keypad to read such information) Some systems can hold up to 40 different code users.

* A "distress code" should be able to be programmed into your system. This is a code that will be easy to remember for the whole family. When the system is turned on or off with this code it simulates normal function while notifying your monitoring company that you are in a hostage situation. Almost all systems have the ability to have this programmed in and it amazes me how many people I have consulted that didn’t know they had a distress code. Make sure this is discussed when you are choosing an alarm, as it is one of your systems greatest features.

(HOT TIP!) Write your distress code on the inside of your keypad cover door with a marker so that it is there as a reminder for you at possibly the worst time of your life. If a burglar breaks in and sees this code they will think to themselves "look how stupid these people are to write their code down" and they will turn your system off. A dispatch will promptly be made to your local authorities as a hostage situation or holdup in progress. This is the highest priority response you can get. Who’s stupid now?

Lets take a look at how easy it would be to use your keypad by reviewing some common every day scenarios. The flexibility and complexity of how your keypad can be programmed often scares people into thinking that an alarm would be hard for them to operate. It is important to remember that once your alarm system is set up to your specifications by your installer, it is quite easy to use. Most of the keypads on the market are designed for use by anyone who is older than 7 years old. The systems will even have your bypass requirements for motion detectors and interior traps pre-programmed so you can make several things happen with the push of a well- defined button.

When I think about how many pages of paper it would take me to create scenarios for every keypad on the market, I envision an empty forest somewhere with no wildlife in it. In an effort to show you how easy your alarm is to use I will give you a general set of situations that would pertain to my system of choice. The slight differences you might see if you used a different keypad are often subtle things like having to press two buttons instead of one. So in the interest of me doing my part for earth conservation today, I will limit myself to a general use mode.

Leaving the house- If all the devices on your system are ready to be turned on meaning doors are closed, windows are closed, nobody is walking around in front of a motion detector etc. Your system will display "Ready". If any thing is not ready on your system your keypad will display its location so that you can know where to go to make it ready. The keypad would say "Zone 2 open" or "Back door open" if you have an Alpha keypad. If multiple areas are not ready it will scroll through all of them.

Press "AWAY"- This will tell the control that you are leaving the house and want all devices including the motion detectors armed. The keypad will begin to emit a beep at 1-second intervals. This is your systems way of saying to you "Have a great day, goodbye!" The exit counter is usually set for approximately 60 seconds but can be longer if your lifestyle requires a longer exit time. Once the exit time has expired your system is "ARMED" and is protecting your house or business.

Returning home- When you come home you will enter through a door that has been pre-assigned as a delay door. As you open the door the keypad emits a steady welcome home tone. This entry delay time is usually set for approximately 30-seconds but once again can be tailored to your lifestyle. The system needs you to enter your complete code (3 to 8 digits) to turn off your system so it will not go into an alarm condition.

If you entered through a delay door first the system will let you walk in front of a motion detector if needed to get to the keypad, for the complete entry delay period.

Turning your system on for the evening- When you are staying at home you will want to turn on your perimeter system but not your interior devices such as motion detectors on the main floors.

Press "STAY"- This will let the system know that there will be activity inside the home so it will turn off the assigned motion detectors and any other interior traps you may have. It will arm the perimeter doors, windows, glass break detectors and any other perimeter devices you may have.

In the STAY mode the system knows nobody is leaving so it does not emit a goodbye countdown from the keypad. If nobody leaves through the doors within 60 seconds or so, the system will remove the entry delay time from your usual delay doors. This means that if someone opens even a delay door while you are armed in the stay mode the alarm will sound instantly. If someone does leave within 60 seconds or so, the system will activate the entry delay so they will get a welcome home tone and time to disarm upon their return.

Disarm in the morning- When you are ready to turn your alarm off simply enter your code. The red armed light turns off.

Returning home to a violated system- If your system was violated while you were away the siren will sound for a pre-programmed period of time. After this alarm time expires the systems will re-arm preparing for a second attempt. When you return home the keypad will be emitting a high pitch and rapidly beeping tone. The keypad will also tell you where the security breach occurred in the order of violation. If you hear such a tone on your return you should LEAVE IMMEDIATELY! as the burglars may still be in the house. Go to a neighbor’s house and make sure the authorities clear your home as safe to enter before re-entering. When it is safe to return just enter your code to reset the violation alert.

This is yet another way that your system protects people as well as property. This feature coupled with the distress code is for me the best reasons to have a system. When you are thinking about what is irreplaceable in your home I hope you are placing your loved ones and yourself at the top of that list.

On the lighter side there is the opportunity to eliminate another future worry from your life. There is nothing better than returning home and knowing as you unlock your door that nobody has been or still is in your house. If you open the door and hear a normal welcome home tone, all is well. If your keypad was removed forcefully by an uninvited quest, you will not hear your tone and you will still suspect that something is wrong.

The scenarios I have just gone over with you will pretty much cover your daily use of your security system. As you can see the system is not complicated for you to use. The Percentage, by which you decrease your likelihood of being a victim, far exceeds the inconvenience of having to learn something new.

Matthew Francis Alarms@expertsknow.com

22 year veteran of the alarm industry Installer, salesman, licensed alarm company owner, monitoring station designer, promotions and marketing director with one of the worlds largest security dealers. He now works as a consumer advocate, teaching consumers how to buy or get systems for free (without being taken). He is committed to being unbiased. His web site is http://www.expertsknow.com

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Marble has a famous history. The ancient Greeks built their architecture, cities, and sculptures often from Pentelic and Parian Marbles, quarried in Greece. The romans later used marble in their buildings as well, quarrying in the Greek spots and finding roman marble quarries of their own. Marble is, in a lot of ways, what the classical and Hellenistic age was built from.

It is still used heavily today in construction, and can be quarried all over the world. The uses for this stone are almost endless. It’s used in flooring, counter tops, pillars, stair cases, colonnades, paneling, and facing stone in architectural structures. It can’t however be used outdoors, since water would corrode its crystalline structure. It is also very smooth and therefore tends to be slippery, which makes it unfavorable to use in high traffic areas.

Marble is one of the most beautiful stones, with a highly polished smooth face and a wide variety of colors. These various colors are due to impurities, such as iron or carbon, getting caught in the marbles structure during formation. They often appear in stripes which makes the marble, especially when cut, very beautiful.

It’s these properties that make marble suited to some of the more delicate arts. It can be crafted into beautiful home furnishings, and it has been the material used in many of the worlds most beautiful sculptures. It is one of the most beautiful, elegant, historically prevalent stones that can be used.

About The Author

Joey lewitin is an author and designer. His website http://pebblez.com is where he hosts his unique home decor items

info@pebblez.com

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