SACRAMENTO SWIMMING POOL CONCRETE PATIOS, WALKS, DRIVEWAYS (916) 630-7665
New and remodeling swimming pool concrete decking may involve cantilever forms, stamp, salt, exposed aggregate, sand exposed or sand blasted and broom finish...
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SACRAMENTO SWIMMING POOL CONCRETE PATIOS, WALKS, DRIVEWAYS (916) 630-7665 - Video
Another great job by Azteca, Outdoor, kitchens, fireplaces, fire pits. patios, And. Retaining walls.
Another great job by Azteca before and after. here I show you how we built a Outdoor kitchens, fireplaces. fire pits, steps. patios. And Retaining walls. mor...
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Another great job by Azteca, Outdoor, kitchens, fireplaces, fire pits. patios, And. Retaining walls. - Video
Cold Frame for Balconies Patios - How to Build
Everything you need to know about making your own Cold Frame for starting seeds early and extending your growing season! *Glass Cutting Basics for Picture Fr...
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Cold Frame for Balconies & Patios - How to Build - Video
Territories and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury aims to free up more unused public land for growing food in Canberra and plans a registration system for backyard beekeepers this year, among measures to boost food self-sufficiency in Canberra.
Mr Rattenbury, head of the ACT Greens, called a roundtable of local producers last year and on Tuesday outlined the ideas to the Assembly. Other ideas included a localabattoir and targets to reduce chemical use in home gardens.
The roundtable heard that 700 hectares would be sufficient to feed a third of the ACT population, and pushed for more government land to be set side for intensive production, such as greenhouses, hydroponics and aquaponics.
It discussed accessing land near creeks, cycle paths, power line easements and road easements for growing food. It suggested a relaxation of restrictions on using nature strips and other land for gardening, providing residents took responsibility for controlling fruit tree pests, he said.
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Canberra had 3.65 hectares in community gardens and that could be expanded, especially on public transport routes, with access to water, electricity and toilets. Walls and roofs could also be used for food production, and areas could be set aside for "agri-hoods", or neighbourhood food production.Land should be set aside when suburbs were being built.
The roundtable also pointed to the need for more bee-friendly plants, registration of beekeepers and reducing pesticide use, Mr Rattenbury said.
Among other ideas, the Molonglo River flats could be considered for market gardens, and a specific agricultural zone could be created. Agriculture should be part of ACT economic planning, he said, with one suggestion that as many as 10,000 or 12,000 people could be employed in the sector.
The roundtable had also looked at areas where Canberra was over-regulated, including a requirement to weigh individual eggs, a specified size for hand-washing sinks and rules covering selling food.
Mr Rattenbury said he would introduce a registration system this year for beekeepers, most of whom were backyard beekeepers, and was looking to free up open spaces for food production. "There's a lot of community energy out there, with people saying if you just let us go at it there are things we'd like to do," he said, pointing to the approach from the now-established City Farm and work to set up a Lyneham orchard.
Baltaire, an ultra-luxe new steakhouse by the team behind Coral Tree Cafe, Red Room Food & Wine Bar and Comoncy coffee boutique, is now open in Brentwood. Think dark wood, plush leather armchairs, white marble countertops and a lounge with a fireplace.
Executive chef Travis Strickland, who has worked at Chicago Cut Steakhouse and The Local Chicago, will cook all the restaurant's meats on an imported French Montage broiler. Cuts include A5 Japanese Wagyu, porterhouse for two, 35-day, dry-aged cote de boeuf and more.
On the menu willbe a seafood platter with king crab, shrimp, oysters and Maine lobster; and a Dover sole fileted and deboned tableside in French copper pans.
There'salso a Greek salad prepared tableside and a shaved vegetable salad with beets, carrots, blue cheese and citrus vinaigrette on the lunch menu.
The beverage program, curated by beverage director and sommelier David Vaughn (formerly of Osteria Mozza), includes more than 30 wines by the glass and more than 450 half bottles, full bottles and magnums. Cocktails include the Baltaire Julep, made with a guest's favorite base spirit, and the Sangre y Arena, featuringIllegal mezcal, Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and orange juice.
There's also a selection of rare single malt scotches and imported craft beers.
The restaurant features a 68-seat dining room, fireside lounge, baby grand piano [for live music performances] and a 2,500-square-foot outdoor terrace.
Baltaire is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dinner is served 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
11647 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, (424) 273-1660,www.baltaire.com.
I like my meat rare. Follow me on Twitter@Jenn_Harris_
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Baltaire steakhouse opens in Brentwood with steaks and tableside Dover sole
Laminate Flooring Installation - 619-850-4794
Laminate Flooring Installation By San Diego Remodeling Inc. - Call 619-850-4794 for all your wood flooring installations and repairs - In this video you will...
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Published: March 9, 2015
By Suzanne Elliott
Almanac Staff Writer
Suzanne Elliott / The Almanac
McMURRAY Peters Township is seeking proposals from design consultants in an effort to make its municipal building more efficient and safer.
The municipal building has been a fixture on East McMurray Road since 1964, but was remodeled in 1983 and 1984, making the structure hard to navigate and inefficient. In addition, the building is constantly in use as a meeting site, making it hard to keep track of who is inside.
The building was not designed for single entry, said Michael Silvestri, the township manager. We also need to be more cautious. There have been incidents in other communities.
Peters wants a consultant to perform an assessment of the building, particularly its condition and how it is used. One of the things the township is considering is the installation of a key card entry access system for the building, Silvestri said.
In addition, the consultant would be tasked with designing physical and operational measures to increase building security and improve its use. For example, the townships planning department is in the basement of the building, Silvestri said. That department needs to be relocated to the buildings first floor and the basement used for storage, he said.
Were looking at relocating the offices for better work flow, he said. Nonpublic uses would be moved to the basement.
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Peters Township looking to renovate municipal building
I figured out the other day I have lived with my husband in our house longer than I lived anywhere else. It was close, with the house I lived in when I graduated being only slightly less, but still, the most consistent chunk of my life was spent on this farm and in this old house.
And weve been working on remodeling it the whole time.
In those first few years, we dumped money hand over fist for results that could be felt but not really seen. We replaced windows, added insulation and replaced or added wiring as was necessary. Several of the old windows were cracked (all were single-paned), there was no insulation in any wall, and the wiring, while safe and functional in most respects, was simply lacking. The number of outlets in each room (one or two) may have met the standards of a wealthy family in the 1950s, but it failed to meet basic standards for millennial electric usage. #firstworldproblems
Once the basics of function were handled, we began replacing and repairing items of more cosmetic value. The kitchen got some laminate hardwood over top the previously visible plywood subfloor. The cast iron tub, which was barely tolerable in the summer and downright freezing in the winter, was replaced. The washer and dryer were moved out of the basement and into the bathroom/laundry room.
In recent years, we began repairing and replacing the plaster in the areas of the house where we live and occasionally entertain. The old plaster, made on site in the 1880s, was mixed with horse hair curried from an animal that probably lived here at the time. (A red horse, it would appear.)
The plaster is incredibly heavy and exceedingly dusty. When chunks of it fall off the wall often our first indication that it needs to be replaced it creates a dust that seeps into all facets of our existence and is extremely difficult to clean up. Like pet hair, you think you have handled it all, then discover there is a little more. And then a little more. Swiffer doesnt even have a product to handle horse-hair plaster.
We have taken to closing off all rooms except the one we are gutting, opening all of that rooms windows, and using a fan to blow the dust out as control measures. It was somewhat successful, especially when my daughter is in charge.
My oldest daughter likes to remove the plaster. She climbs up on a ladder with a putty knife and a five-gallon bucket and scrapes it off as gently as possible. She has been working in the hallway for a few weeks now, an hour or so after school when the weather permits.
Soon, the plaster will be down and it will be ready to rebuild. Then, my husband will begin the process of beautifying the walls, stairs, railing and floor. I will begin trying to clean up all of the dust that still managed to creep under closed doors and through curtains into rooms where it was never supposed to be.
The jury is out as to who will finish first.
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Getting plastered
10 hours ago Women from the village of Okabi taking part in Stephi's research exercise. Credit: Stephanie Hirmer
Stephanie Hirmer, a PhD student from the Department of Engineering's Centre for Sustainable Development, is investigating the value-perception of the users of rural electrification projects in Uganda.
As part of her investigations, Stephanie travelled to Moyo in northern Uganda to ask which possessions the villagers most value and why. The results will be used to help reduce the failure rate of projects that bring electricity to rural communities there. In this article she talks about her experiences there:
"If I have a flush toilet in my house I think I can be a king of all kings because I can't go out on those squatting latrines also it can protect my wife from going outside alone as recently my wife was almost raped by a thug when she escorted my son to the latrine at around 10:30pm in the night."
This is Paul. His declaration of the possession he would most value is met with laughter from his fellow villagers, but it highlights a very real concern the safety of his family.
It's also a valuable research finding for me. Too often, projects that bring electricity to villages like Paul's fail because of lack of uptake and maintenance by the rural communities. But if, for instance, the benefits of electrification could be understood in terms of the safety value of night-time lighting, this could improve the sense of community responsibility towards sustaining the technology after its implementers have gone home.
Another villager, Michael, explains that he places most value in owning a corrugated iron sheet instead of grassthatched roofing because this would reduce the risk of indoor fires. Here too, the value of electricity can be highlighted it would avoid the need to cook on an open fire.
Understanding the locals' real needs and desires can be a key element in overcoming the lack of technology uptake. Finding out what these are is the aim of my PhD research, working with Dr Heather Cruickshank at the Centre for Sustainable Development. While the technology itself has been extensively studied, social attributes in project design have received little attention.
I have travelled here by a 'boda boda' motorbike and then night bus, sharing my seat on the 12-hour journey on unpaved roads to the West Nile Region of Uganda with two too many people, a goat lying beneath me, and enough chickens not to be able to ignore the smell. Only once I am on the bus do I realise that my local research assistant has accidentally booked us on the budget bus (only US$2 cheaper than the luxury coach).
To provide better infrastructure services to rural communities, it is fundamentally important to relate to the beneficiaries' needs and aspirations, and I need to travel to the areas to learn this at first hand. Infrastructure failure after the projects are handed over to the communities is common across the basic utility provisions such as water and electrification, and I am keen to discover if there is a way of improving project longevity by 'selling' a service that is valued.
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Keeping the lights on in rural Uganda