Month: April 2019

How To Make Your Backyard A Fun Place For Your Kids

Guest Post by Hannah Jones

Lately, it’s almost too easy for kids these days to lose hundreds of precious hours to gadgets, video games, and the Internet.

Using technology is inherently not a bad thing, however, having grown up in a different generation, you would know that playing and being active outdoors offer unique learnings and experiences that even the most educational phone games can’t match.

Give your kids a chance to spend their time outside by turning your backyard into a fun zone with all sorts of games and activities. Here’s how:

1. Set up a swing or a silly spinner

If you want something simple yet still fun, the best thing would be to set up a swing or a silly spinner instead.

Now, although these should ideally be attached to a high tree branch, it’s alright if you don’t have a tree in your backyard since you could also purchase ready-to-use swing sets.

You could also opt to buy playsets that have slides, monkey bars, and mini treehouses as well.

Visit intopten.com to browse through your possible options.

2. Build a treehouse

Here’s a classic trick that’s as old as sliced bread, or maybe even older.

Nowadays, the number of kids asking for treehouses in their backyards is growing smaller, which is no surprise.

Why would they want to spend their time building and later staying in a significantly smaller version of their house if they could watch TV all day instead?

The trick to convincing them is by giving them the slight illusion that the treehouse will be their own space where they could impose their own rules.

For instance, if you don’t allow them to build blanket and pillow forts in your expensively-decorated living room, tell them that they can have their forts up 24/7 in their treehouse.

Building a treehouse with your kids is an experience rich with subtle teaching moments.

Additionally, once they’re already in their treehouse, you can slip in some lessons on responsibility and safety. It’s a win-win for everybody.

3. Host original plays

Are you looking to cultivate the creativity in your children?

An excellent way to accomplish that would be to build a mini theatre in your backyard where you can host plays with or for your kids.

you could recreate classic plays, it will be even more fun to ask your kids to write their own stories and choose their own roles.

You could easily set up the stage and curtains with some cloth.

The former could be made out of a simple rectangle of fabric laid out on the grass and put into place with some corner bricks or some other heavy object.

If you want an elevated stage, you could take the extra step and build a custom wooden platform.

Meanwhile, you could make curtains out of a clothesline, red cloth, and two poles.

4. Build a mini athletic course

The idea here is to build a kid-friendly version of the courses that athletes take on in the show American Ninja Warriors.

So, this is perfect if you’re kids are already into sports or other physically competitive activities.

If you’re not familiar with the program, its challenging obstacles are similar to the ones kids encounter at camp, including monkey bars, stump steps,
and climbing tires.

Indeed, this would take a significant portion of your time, money, and energy.

However, if you and your kids are genuinely committed to having this experience, then all the work will be worth it in the end.

Some of the Ninja Warrior obstacles that you could re-imagine in your backyard include the following:

  • Quintuple Steps
    This obstacle consists of tilted panels laid out on parallel sides.To get through this, one would need to jump on the panels one leg at a time in an alternating fashion.
  • Tire Swing
    As the name suggests, this obstacle involves a tire and a rope, which one would use to swing from one point to another without touching the ground.
  • Warped Wall
    Perhaps the most iconic obstacle of the show, the warped wall is an upwards-curving platform that one needs to get on top of using their running momentum.

5. Put up a chalk easel

Create an opportunity for your kids to write and draw freely by making a chalk easel for them.

The great thing about this project is that you could control the size of the easel and your kids could use whatever color they want to write with.

Just be sure to use materials, like the chalk paint, that could stand being outdoors.

Spending quality time with your kids is crucial for them to have a fulfilling and enriched childhood.

By building a treehouse, setting up an obstacle course, or making a mini theatre, you could turn the space in your backyard into an avenue of fun, learning, and bonding.

Just don’t forget to set up all the necessary safety precautions before you do any of the things stated above.

Wheelbarrows

Unless you have enough money to pay someone to do the gardening I would recommend that you think about buying a wheel barrow.

You will have top soil, compost and plants to move. You might even be moving concrete if you want to build some paths.

Its certainly worth spending a bit of money and buying a good one. Probably the best barrow in my opinion is a builders barrow with a large heavy duty plastic tub like this and solid tyres:

I have had this barrow for about 20 years now and its been used at three houses for:

    • Barrowing large amounts of concrete for paths and patios.
    • Mixing small quantities of concrete to avoid staining paths.
    • Moving huge amounts of topsoil.
    • Spreading mulch.
    • Moving tonnes of gravel and pavers for paths.

In spite of being stored outside for most of the time the tub is still watertight and the barrow is always ready for use.

The advantages of the plastic tub over steel are:

    • No rust problems.
    • Lighter
    • Because of the flexibility of the tub concrete that has set in the barrow can be loosened by tapping with a hammer.

A few hints when using a barrow are:

    1. If you are pushing a heavy barrow over rough ground put a couple of planks down.
    2. If you are moving concrete don’t overfill the barrow.
    3. Keep the load as much as possible over the wheel.
    4. If the site is really muddy wrap the tyres in duct tape so bits of mud don’t get stuck in the tread and then fall out on your clean paths.

 

The Settling In Section contains lots of advice on what

to do after you have moved in your new house

 

The Commercial Kitchen Look, For A Keen Cook

Guest post by Sarah Williams

Do you dream of running a Cafe?

Perhaps you see yourself having a home restaurant on ‘My Kitchen Rules’

Do people tell you your preserves are good enough to sell?

If any of these questions apply to you perhaps you should go for the commercial kitchen look for your new house.

Design

A key component of commercial style kitchens is that they are easy to clean, have large clear preparation areas and have safety as a major consideration

By designing it effectively, with planned workflow you will manage to finish up your work very fast and efficiently.

Refrigeration

Good large refrigeration with plenty of storage is a key element in a commercial kitchen.

It enables you to do a lot of food preparation earlier in the day or even the previous day; something that will make catering for dinner parties in your home much easier.

Commercial Refrigeration units lowers the temperature quickly which helps preserve taste as well as preventing food borne ailments.

Many commercial refrigerators also have glass panels which allow you to check the contents without opening the door.

Stoves

Suitable ovens, cook tops, and grills of a commercial standard will be much larger than standard domestic models with greater heat output to cook larger quantities.

This means a higher standard of extraction equipment will be needed.

Dishwasher

You need a dishwasher that has a high temperature range to wash your kitchen equipment and ensure it is sanitised

Materials

Stainless steel is preferred for all surfaces as it is easy to clean and sanitise.

Plastic chopping boards mean you can sanitise them in the dishwasher

The Workflow and Layout of Commercial Kitchens

Local health departments only address themselves to the layout of commercial kitchens as far as food safety is concerned. For work to flow easily, these kitchens are designed in an effective manner. There is a need for having spaces in between the equipment to enable the workers to carry out their duties effectively without hitting one another.

Operating a Catering Business?

If you want to be more than a keen amateur cook you will need apply for a license that will need to be regularly inspected. 

 

Pools – Don’t Forget The Extras

Just because a pool supplier gives you a price for a pool doesn’t mean that will be the final cost.

I have heard than an extra $20,000 – $30,000 is not unusual.

Here how the extra costs can mount up for a small pool:

  • Plans and approvals $2,000 plus . . . more if there is a sewer easement close to the pool.
  • Rock excavation $100 plus  per cubic metre
  • Carting dirt off site 30-40 per cubic metre
  • Fencing $5,000 plus
  • New Electrical circuit $1,000 plus
  • Cover $500
  • Landscaping and paving $8,000 plus

 

 

Acquiring Properties and Getting Value for Every Dollar Spent

Guest Post by Sarah Williams

We work smart to get the best of what life has to offer but in the end, we save money to purchase some assets.

Having something to call our own is the greatest pride to show for the work at hand.

While searching for what to buy there are various factors to consider which includes the amount of cash that one has at their disposal.

A person may look to acquire the cheapest house and land packages to save some money.

However, while going for this package one may want to consider value for their money.

In order to get the greatest satisfaction, there are various things to have at the back of one’s mind.

It is crucial to survey the market.

Suburbs enable one to escape the noise of the city and its commotions.

You can choose a contemporary look, or go for a more traditional look to stand out from the rest. 

New Estates and the Builders

It is important to contact land developers who come up with new estates.

Even when dealing with a developer property agents are important people to consult about the most valued houses and land.

They are the middlemen between the owner and future buyers and also connect landlords to potential tenants.

Agents have great market knowledge and they know which packages would serve their clients well.

When you find a development in a good area you will find builders offering package deals. 

While building a home, a person has to also focus on the future.

It is important to build houses that can be comfortable during hot and the cold weather.so orientation is important both to the block and the house design

Conclusion

Any house built can also be used as a rental residence or as a business premise.

It is best to check the areas that are likely to develop within a short period of time and attract people.

As a business entrepreneur, one must go for the best value house and land packages.

This ensures that although they need to keep costs down it’s important to have an asset that will gain in value.

Making The Most From Your Solar Panel

To get the best value from your solar panels you need to maximise your use of power when the panels are generating, and avoid taking grid power during that time.

This limits the kW you generate that are paid at the low Feed In Tariff.

Here is what we are doing.

Extend Generation Time

We have done this by having the solar panels facing two different ways to extend the time we are actually generating.

8 panels face North and 5 panels face West.

Plan Power Usage

With modern controls its quite easy to plan run times for various electrical items so that they are typically operating when the panels are generating.

Its also important that they don’t operate at the same time as the higher demand means that you could be taking power from the grid at peak rates.

Here are the steps we take:

  1. Straight after breakfast use the automatic washing machine. The early start also means we can then hang the washing on the line for most of the day.
  2. Run the dishwasher after the washing machine has stopped.
  3. Our hot water is by a ‘Heat Pump’ which runs for up to an hour starting at 1.00pm. As the tank is well insulated this provides enough hot water for the rest of the day and morning showers.
  4. If its a hot day by the time the heat pump is finished the house could be warming up . . . . but there is time to run the air conditioner to get the temperature down for the evening.

 

How Much House?

Do you know that in spite of the standard block getting smaller over the past 20 years the actual size of the houses has been getting bigger. The builders are doing a good job of selling us on the idea of more space.

There are three sizes of house you could buy:

  1. The size you need . . .. SMALL
  2. The size that you would like. . . . BIG
  3. The size that the builder wants to sell you. . . .ENORMOUS

Get a bigger house and it could blow your Budget. To keep costs in check you need to do some preparation. Here are some suggestion:

  1. Avoid starting by visiting show houses.
  2. Go through your existing house throwing away all the junk you haven’t used in the last year or two. You could even raise some money and have a garage sale.
  3. Measure the internal size of each room in your house, in m2 and think about whether that room needs to be bigger, or could be smaller.
  4. Don’t forget to include the wardrobes, the pantry, and the garage.
  5. Don’t measure the hallways but allow 15-20m2 for hallways and passages.
  6. Allow around 15-20m2 for internal and external walls.
  7. Decide what additional rooms you need, for example an extra bedroom if you have another child on the way.
  8. Add all the areas to get the total area of the house.
  9. You could also convert the sizes to Squares for easy comparison when looking at adverts.
  10. Start looking on the builders web sites or adverts for houses plans that are close to this size.
  11. When you are looking at plans use the dimensions you originally took for each room to get a feel for the room sizes.
  12. Only go and look at houses that are within the dimension you calculated, plus say no more than 10%.

To help I have prepared a Google documents Checklist which can be accessed from the link or the Checklist tab at the top of the page.

How have you made sure you haven’t finished up with a house that’s too big?

For posts about Costs see Budget

For Posts about Design see Floor Plans

 

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