Quote to Card

A lot of people over the age of twenty have a sort of love-hate relationship with birthdays. They love to have a party and be the centre of attention and a lot of fun, but they hate getting older. But I believe that people should celebrate their birthdays. After all, you enjoy going to someone else’s birthday party and so you are morally obliged to put one on for others too.

And birthday parties ought to be a load of fun. It does not have to be a children’s type party, of course, but you could still get dressed up and play games.

You could have a barbecue for all your friends and family and do it cowboy style. Have a barn dance that would make ‘JR’ proud. The food for this is straightforward enough. Begin by providing plenty of Texas sized spare ribs, half-pounder hamburgers, T-bone steaks, and jumbo size hot dogs with loads of bread and salad.

For music, it has to be country and everybody has to wear cowboy gear, although it would probably be better to leave the sidearms at home. Annie Oakley style costume for the ladies and Buffalo Bill style for the gents. If it is going to be a big party, ask everyone to bring their own favourite dish, in true Southern style. That would be a great way to commemorate an adult’s birthday for the family.

If you do not go much on the macho cowboy idea, you could try a Caribbean style barbecue. Wear flash short sleeved shirts and bright colours or swimming costumes. The music could be reggae and calypso and the food would be grilled fish and chicken with salad and plenty of fresh fruit. Offer hot and not so hot chilli dips and barbecue sauces. You could have a go at limbo dancing too, that is always good for a laugh.

Or perhaps you would rather a humorous barbecue party and all dress up like the hillbilly family ‘The Clamperts’! That would be fun. The men could wear old velvet hats and old clothes tied up with string like Jed and Jethro and the women could come as Ellie May or Granny. I think that the authentic food like possum and bullfrog might be difficult to get hold of in some areas, but you could just supply what you want for this one. Steaks, hamburgers and fried fish; bread and salad with cake to finish.

Another favourite form of barbecue for a birthday party is the Luau. An Hawaiian barbecue is really something else. You will need bright colours and plenty of tropical Hawaiian decorations. You could provide half coconut shells for drinking out of and lots of coconut and pineapple based drinks. You should ask your guests to wear loud Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, provide plenty of leis and hula music and a ‘loudest Hawaiian shirt’ contest is de rigour.

If none of those tickles your fancy, how about a ‘Vicars and Tarts’ barbecue? You can use your own imagination on that one though. More tea and crumpet, vicar?

If your barbecue party is to continue into the evening and it might get nippy, you could hire or borrow some patio heaters, just so as to give you a few extra hours in the garden.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the electric outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

categories: decks,patios,garden,hobbies,recreation,outdoors,entertainment,relaxation,real estate,landscaping,happiness,retirement,self help,other

If you run a restaurant, pub or any business using outdoor facilities in a temperate climate zone, then you will know that business is likely to drop off when the weather gets colder. You know that you would not sit outside shivering yourself, so you do not expect anyone else to do it. The only answer is to modify the outdoor ambient temperature to an suitable level.

I have seen this done to stunning effect in Prague in October when there were heavy snow storms. People wanted to sit outside and get pleasure from the snow storm as long as they were fairly warm. A person’s primary heat comes from the body and is retained with decent clothing, but it is nice to have a patio heater near-by just to add a glow to your face and hands.

If you have a business that only opens when it is warm enough, then you have an expensive business and these days expensive businesses do not last long. You need to wring every last cent out of your business real estate and if that means putting patio heaters in, then that is what you should to do.

Patio heaters come in a range of guises, but they are not that expensive to buy. Sometimes you can rent them too. Most of these outdoor heaters run on bottles of propane or butane gas, but there are mains gas varieties too. There are also electric ones, but they tend to be costly to run, unless you can generate your own electricity.

I think that the best two types are the box type where the gas cylinder goes inside the device and the heat is directed at foot to knee height and the street lantern style, where the heat comes down from about seven or eight feet in height. The gas canister also fits inside these models lowering their centre of gravity and making them more difficult to unintentionally knock over.

These heaters are very safe although patrons should be advised to exercise caution if they have young children with them. A standard heater will keep up to two tables and eight people warm enough to enjoy themselves even while it is snowing.

The hire of a few of these patio heaters or even their purchase will soon be off-set by your augmented custom, especially if your competitors are not using them. My wife and I will never forget our time in Prague, when it was snowing, drinking coffee and eating cake outside, watching people go by while we were as warm as toast due to the restaurateur’s prudence in providing patio heaters.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Oak is one of the best woods to use for patio garden furniture. It is local to most Western countries and, being a hardwood, can endure the weather, if treated correctly. It is very durable and, so long as you maintain it, it will give you pleasure and comfort on your garden patio for decades to come.

Oak is certainly not inexpensive, but if you bear in mind that it will last for ten to twenty years, whereas plastic and metal may last two to four years, it does not work out a bad deal over the long term and during that time span, you will have been sitting on garden furniture that is the bee’s knees in every way.

Just a point of interest here that will give you more scope when you are buying your hardwood garden furniture, oak and cherry wood share many of the same characteristics as far as garden patio furniture is concerned.

The patterns of whorls and rings in the timber is truly beautiful, so in order to maintain the stocks of these trees, please make sure that your patio furniture comes from a replenishable source.

Make sure you adhere to the maker’s recommendations as far as preservation is concerned. This will prolong the life of your hardwood furniture, ensuring that you will get extra life – up to twice as much – life out of your hardwood garden furniture.

The manufacturer or craftsman will probably deliver your furniture primed and stained and maybe varnished too. If you get raw timber furniture, the maker is probably leaving your options open. The least you should do is rub an oil into it.

Ask at your decorators’ merchants or timber merchants which is the best. You could also stain it and varnish it. Ask to see examples before you go ahead, but it has to be done at least once a year anyway, so you can change approach when it wears off.

This grade of furniture will be seen often at commercial venues, because it is so hard wearing and long lasting, if correctly looked after. You should let commercial sense guide you and follow suit, if you can afford it. If you cannot afford a full suite of hardwood garden patio furniture all in one go, why not buy one or two pieces of furniture a year?

Once you have your furniture in place, you can start thinking about accessories. The most common accessories are lighting, power points, mosquito zappers, sun shades and patio heaters. You will perceive that restaurants and pubs with a patio will use patio heaters when the weather gets cooler.They have to do this, otherwise customers would vanish.

You can learn from this for your back garden. Get yourself a patio heater so that you can enjoy your garden patio in comfort every month of the year. Add a few extra plants and a few nocturnal blossoming plants. Put in a small pond with a fountain and some fish. Finish the whole picture with a few spotlights pointing at your favourite features and hang up a mosquito trap. This way you will get the most out of your oak or cherry wood garden patio furniture.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

categories: decks,patios,garden,hobbies,recreation,outdoors,entertainment,relaxation,real estate,landscaping,happiness,retirement,self help,other

After you have finished buying in your garden patio furniture and you have set it out as you like, it is time to park yourself in one of your new patio chairs with one of your favourite drinks and maybe a pen and paper, and take stock of the situation.

Is your garden patio a little congested or do you have loads of room? Are there other things you would like to have out there? How about plants? Do you have enough plants and bushes – eye candy? Will you be using it only in the daytime or in the evening or even at night too? Will you need lighting, for example?

This is where your own personal flair can be added to your shop bought furniture to make the patio truly your patio. So, if you live in a house that only has a small garden, you might want to think about things that hang rather than things that must be sited on the ground, which will take up walking space.

If you do not have much room, but you want to grow plants with edible fruit such as strawberries or tomatoes, you could get some hanging baskets. You can hang them from bushes or standard lamps or fix them to a boring wall. Similarly, you could grow herbs or other small flowers in a window box which has been fixed to a wall or placed on top of it. Or put shelving up and put boxes and pots on that.

If your patio is too sunny, you could grow sunflowers or put up a trellis or an arbour and grow vines or clematis up it. Bamboo grows quickly too. If it is too shaded, plant plenty of bright yellow and white flowers and maybe paint the walls white or pink, if you are not keen on glare.

If your garden patio is a much bigger, you could add garden accessories in order to further your enjoyment. For instance, you could build a barbecue area out of stone slabs or bricks. You could add a fountain too. A fountain makes the very soothing sound of running and splashing water and fish are a delight to look at.

For the colder months, you could build a fireplace, if local bylaws permit or get a patio heater. They are very efficient and can keep a fair radius warm, depending on the ambient temperature.

You will probably need some form of lighting too, if you reckon on spending some evenings on your patio. I suggest a few spotlights to highlight your favourite flowers and the fountain and a broader beam light that you can read by. Do not put these lights near where you intend to sit because they will be a magnet for flying insects. However, they make a good distraction from you and will keep all but the blood sucking insects away.

For parasites such as mosquitoes, you should get some form of mosquito trap. Some are very good and promise to keep a quarter or even half an acre clear of mosquitoes and other such nuisances.

For all these extra accessories you will need power points. Therefore, if you plan your garden with pen and paper as I suggested at the beginning of this article, then you will be able to show the electrician where you want the points and what-not in your new garden patio layout.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

categories: decks,patios,garden,hobbies,recreation,outdoors,entertainment,relaxation,real estate,landscaping,happiness,retirement,self help,other

Would it not be great, at the end of a hard day’s work or on your day off, to relax outdoors on your patio deck? It is a dream that many people have. But it does not have to be just a dream.You could be actually doing it within a couple of weeks. You can either make the deck or patio yourself, if you are useful with your hands or you can hire someone in.

The best thing to do is talk with your contractor about your ideas about size and materials. If you want to have a go at making it yourself, take the measurements to your local builders’ merchant and get them to give you a price. If you need it, they can usually suggest a contractor to you. This can be a good idea, even if it is only to get an idea about price.

There are also lots of ‘standard’ plans available too. You could get a few gardening magazines, you will be able to tell the ones you want by their titles. You could also look online. There is also designing software for this kind of project, it just depends what you want your input to be.

You could just hand the whole task over to your builder, if that is what you want. However, I would go for a drink with my wife and take paper and pens. Over a drink or two, I would encourage us both to make a few sketchy plans of what we would like. Then you can chat about and amalgamate the designs.

You also have to come to a decision whether you want a raised deck or one at ground level. A raised, wooden deck might help keep the snakes at bay, but a stone patio puts you right in the middle of your garden and flowers.

A consideration, depending on where you live, could be the use of patio heaters. If you think that you may have to use patio heating at various times of the year because of the weather, you might not want your patio deck made of timber. After spending time and money on your new patio deck, you will want to make use of it whether it is a bit chilly or not, which is where the heaters come in.

Furthermore, patio heaters are not that pricey any more and not that dear to run. If you add a mosquito trap and some lighting, you will have a pleasure to enjoy for the rest of your life.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

If you have a nice garden, then you probably have a patio of a deck so that you can get every last scrap of enjoyment out of it. Most patio furniture is left outside for a lot of the year so it is best to get high quality garden deck furniture. High quality garden deck furniture is essential if you expect it to withstand the rigours of all kinds of weather and yet last a reasonable length of time too.

Another consideration, particularly these days, is the ecology. People want to have as little impact on the ecology as possible, thereby reducing their carbon footprint, as they say. The manufacture of plastic involves polluting the environment with more CFC’s and disposal can cause problems too. Plastic can take decades and decades to bio-degrade.

Metal patio garden furniture also has its issues. It has to be mined and fabricated and people are beginning to worry about robbing Mother Earth of her minerals, but at least old metal can be recycled. That leaves us with timber and especially hardwood. Before, there was a great deal of alarm in almost every country about logging, but a lot of countries have the problem under control now after unrelenting pressure from the West.

Most people understand these days how important it is to look after our planet. There is even a special day to help people remember the Earth’s dire state called ‘Earth Day’. Using hardwood from replenishable sources is the best way to save our forests.

Garden furniture made from hardwood from a guaranteed sustainable source is the most ecological way out. If you maintain your hardwood furniture according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for the type of wood you have, it will last for a decade or more. Far longer than any plastic or metal furniture, which you might well have to replace every two years or so.

Acacia hardwood offers a hard wearing and comfortable alternative to teak. In fact, this type of wood is much like teak, as if you leave it untreated it will transform to a silvery grey color. However, it is best to treat all hardwood once or twice a year with suitable oil in order to maintain the warm tones of the timber.

Most people will have a garden patio furniture set of up-right chairs, loungers and a table or two or a nest of small tables. However, there are a few other pieces of furniture that will help you get more pleasure from your garden. It is nice to be able to sit in the garden after it gets dark or when it is a bit chilly too. This can be achieved easily with a few accessories.

I suggest a patio heater, an electric mosquito killer and suitable lighting. Patio heaters are not expensive any longer and a single upright propane heater will keep up to eight people warm, depending on their seating arrangement. An electric mosquito killer will usually keep a whole garden clear. In fact, some will keep a quarter of an acre or more clear of flying insects. These two items may supply enough light for you, but is best to have a few spots to highlight a plant in bloom or to read by.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

categories: decks,patios,garden,hobbies,recreation,outdoors,entertainment,relaxation,real estate,landscaping,happiness,retirement,self help,other

If you have converted your garage into a workshop or home office, you are sure to need heating in one form or another. This is because most garages are not built to the same standards of insulation as the main residential building. However, that need not present a difficulty. You may even have the opposite problem during the summer, as garages often do not have windows, or at least large ones, either.

Ventilation could be another matter that you will have to cope with, but we will come to that later. If you have a plentiful supply of dead wood, you could set up a pot-bellied stove, but you will have to vent the flue outside. This is very easily done, since most garage walls are only one brick or block thick. However, if they do not burn correctly, there can be a smell, which you may find disagreeable.

Or you could use a paraffin/kerosene heater. They are cheap to buy and are readily portable. These heaters do not necessarily have to have a flue. They are easy to turn on as many of them employ an electric starter. Some also have a thermostat to regulate the temperature. They can be a hazard if there are children around as they can be tipped over. However, for most people, the glitch would be the smell given off.

You could use an electric hot air heater. They are quite cheap to buy, are easily portable and do not require a flue, but they can create a very dry atmosphere and are costly to run.

One of the most common choices these days is a gas heater. There are many different types of gas heater, but most run on butane or propane. Most of the models are fairly inexpensive. The main benefit of a gas heater is that they give consistent heat, are fairly cheap to run and are portable. Or at least many of them are.

You could have one built in, but it is scarcely worth it, unless you are using gas that needs to be vented. Propane gas heaters also come with or without thermostatic controls. A propane heater could also double as a patio or deck heater on chilly evenings.

These gas heaters come in two forms: vented and unvented. The unvented models are the portable ones. They use the air from the room and the vented models have a flue that vents straight out of the garage. The slight disadvantage of the unvented model is that you have to keep the room ventilated at all times.

Therefore, if you decide on a portable, unvented propane heater, you must leave a window partly open in order to allow the exchange of air and these heaters can be used as patio or deck heaters during the spring and autumn/fall. However, the vented gas heaters are fixed and have a flue attached, so they cannot be taken outside. Furthermore, if you decide on a vented model, you would be better off getting a professional in to install it for you by the book.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.