Extremidades caseras diarias de la renovación

I like simple.

I like saving money.

I like the holiday season, giving presents and receiving presents.

I want to do our part to ’save the environment’.

I like contests that are free and simple.

Today we combine all of these as we launch for the first time ever a DailyHomeRenoTips.com contest, namely the DailyHomeRenoTips.com Home Energy Conservation Contest.

As you know we are passionate about reducing energy consumed in the home. Heck, we even have an entire page devoted to Energy Conservation tips where we list 101 different energy conservation ideas and suggestions.

We want more energy conservation tips to add to our ever growing list; a lot more. Here is where you come in and how you can enter the contest. Trust me, it’s easy.

All you have to do is between today, Saturday November 15, 2008 and Saturday December 6, 2008 is to?use the form on our Energy Conservation page to enter an energy conservation tip usable by someone in their home (e.g. sending us a tip such as ‘ride the bike to work and leave the car at home’ would not qualify whereas ‘install weather stripping on the door frame for a door to the cold cellar’ would qualify).

These can be tips you personally use to reduce energy consumption in?your own?home. These can be tips that you have heard others mentioned but you don’t personally use. These can even be tips that you found on some web site (although we hope these will be energy conservation tips that we don’t already have on?the Energy Conservation page of our web site! :-)? so we can add to our ever growing list of energy conservation tips).

These can be tips to reduce the energy consumed to provide your heat in the winter, your air conditioning usage in the summer, your electricity consumption any time of the year.

These can even be energy conservation ideas that might be a little ‘off the wall’ (but keep it clean … this is after all a family friendly web site ).

Enter as often as you wish, but only one home energy conservation tip per entry, please. For example, let’s say you have 10 home energy conservation tips in mind. Well,?using the form on our Energy Conservation page to make 10 separate entries?each containing?1 unique energy conservation tip is the way to go. There is no limit to the number of?entries?you send us…..but remember one energy conservation tip for the home.

The only caveat is that each entry has to contain?an energy conservation tip which you did not already use on a prior contest entry during the contest period (from 15-NOV-08 to 06-DEC-08).

What are the prizes? Well, if you have not already guessed, the fine folks at Home Depot?have provided the prizes. To get in the holiday spirit, DailyHomeRenoTips.com will be giving away Home Depot gift cards to?selected entrants in our DailyHomeRenoTips.com Home Energy Conservation Contest.

Gift cards are always a great gift to receive at any time of the year. Home Depot gift cards are an ideal gift for the do-it-yourself folks on anyone’s gift list. Heck, from what I’ve seen this year the Home Depot gift cards come in all types of cute designs this year, some of which are shown in this very article.

The winners can use the gift cards themselves (there’s the receiving part) or give to someone else (there’s the giving part) to use on their own home renovation or home energy conservation projects, or actually on anything at Homedepot.com or at one of their store?locations in the USA.

Here are the contest prizes:?

• 1st place winner will receive a $100 Home Depot?gift card;
• 2nd place winner will receive a $25 Home Depot?gift card; and,
• 3rd place winner will also receive a $25 Home Depot gift card.

These gift cards can only be used in the USA which makes our contest, by default, open only to USA residents. (sorry about that gang).

How are the winners selected? Well, we do want to increase our list of energy conservation ideas for the home. As stated above, part of the reason we are running this contest is to increase the number of energy conservation tips for the home on our Energy Conservation tips list.

So, first place will be awarded to the person with the greatest combination of?uniqueness,?usefulness and?creative home energy consevation idea that we do not already have on our Energy Conservation list. It can be a simple idea or a complex idea. Bottom line, it cannot already be on our list of 101 Energy Conservation tips for the home.

Then again, we do already have 101 enegy conservation tips. So, to encourage you to at least think more?about (and hopefully?take more action on)?energy conservation in your home, even if you do not have an overly active imagination, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be also be selected based upon uniqueness, usefulness and creativity of their energy conservation tip for the home …. even if it is already included in our energy conservation tip for the home.

The winners will be advised by us via email. A Home Depot representative will then contact the 3 winners directly, also by email, to obtain their mailing address so Home Depot knows where to mail the gift card to?the 1st place, 2nd place and 3rd place winners and to ensure that the mailing address is in the USA.

We will not publish or?sell the email addresses of the contestants. Yes, however, we will publish the names (but no contact information) of the winners just to prove that there were actual winners.

Once the contest closes we will write an article or two about all the new home energy conservation tips received that we are adding to our existing energy conservation list so everyone can benefit.

You have until Saturday December 6, 2008 at 11:59 pm Eastern Time zone.

Access our Energy Conservation page to start making your contest entries.

Good Luck to All!

(as they say, contest void where prohibited by law)

In Part 25, we prepared both the main front garden and one of the side gardens to receive our new tulip bulbs.

Today, the side garden

Now, the first thing we?planned for?was the height of the tulips.

We mentioned yesterday how we needed tall tulip plants in the side garden next to the front door because of it’s? stone border. As well, we wanted to be sure that the tulips would be visible from behind the Hostas that would be between the tulips and? the stone garden border.

Now, the tallest we could find were the Menton variety. And, they colour should blend nicely with the red brick of our home.

Now, the select of the Tulip varity?is not as simple as one might think. Let me explain.

Look again at the package. It’s a little blurry (sorry about that :-(? ) , however, see how the lower middle of package has the phrase ‘Jumbo bulbs 14cm for Giant Flowers’. If one is in a hurry, one might simply focus on the word ‘Jumbo’ and the phrase ‘Giant Flowers’ and think that these are very tall flowers.

Not so fast. What you have to look for is the fine print; actually, the small little symbols over the right side of the packaging. What you have to look for is the one that is for the height of the flower. On this package it? stated that a height of 65 cm which is about, ?if my math is right, 2 feet 3 inches. Good. That’s pretty tall and should cause the flower to appear over both?the side garden’s brick border as well as the leaves of the Hostas.

Additional information on the package indicated that the bulbs should be planted between September and November, 15 cm (6 inches) apart as well as deep, and that we should see the flowers blooming in May.

Now, planting tulips is pretty easy. But, from a planning perspective, you should decide the arrangement of the flowers when they are in bloom. If you want to have a large grouping for a visibly large colour impact in the spring then you will plant the bulbs in a group. If you want say the flowers to be in two rows, then you will plant the bulbs in two rows.

We decided on the former, i.e. we wanted a large grouping to give a nice splash of colour.

So, step 1,?clear the soil?of the Hostas’ leaves as well as weeds from the summer, check (OK, OK .. this picture was before I cleared all of the weeds :-)? ).

Step 2,?use a shovel, spade or hand tool to remove sufficient soil from the area where you will plant the bulbs, ensuring that the area for the bulbs is the same depth as that recommended on the package, check.

Step 3, place the bulbs in the desired pattern that you want the flowers to appear, check.

Step 4, gently (so the bulbs do not move by the soil) replace?the soil on top of the bulbs, and smooth the top.

Next time, the main front garden.