Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

TAMPA (FOX 13) -

When cancer strikes, it delivers an emotional and physical knock-out punch. Everyday tasks become difficult, even something as simple as cleaning the family house.

Some eager community givers can't wait to jump into help. Local maid services have joined together with a national group called "Cleaning For A Reason."

It's a charity service that teams women who are undergoing cancer therapy with volunteer cleaning companies in their area. The service and cleaning are all free.

Sheila Lach owns Busy Bee Cleaning. Twice a month, she and her cleaning team visit Kathleen Brodnick, who is undergoing chemotherapy and doesn't have the energy to dust, vacuum, and mop the floors.

"I think it's honorable what they are doing. I really do," Kathleen said. "You know, it's pay it forward. I wish there were more people out there that were doing it."

Sheila said the decision to step up and help was an easy one: "We would prefer that the women use their energy to fight as they are going through treatment."

Cleaning For A Reason is always standing by to help, and encourages women with cancer to contact the group.

For more information: http://www.cleaningforareason.org/

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Cleaning for a reason, helping cancer patients

PUNE, India ?? The Indian government demanded Wednesday that the U.S. Embassy in New Dehli cease all commercial activities - including the running of its restaurant, bowling alley and swimming pool - in a spat over the arrest of an Indian diplomat in New York.

India has been apparently retaliating against America's diplomats in a campaign to pressure the U.S. attorney in New York to waive charges against Devyani Khobragade, an Indian diplomat who was strip searched by U.S. marshals when arrested in December.

Khobragade was apprehended on suspicion of not paying her maid the federal minimum wage and lying about it on her visa application. Khobragade, 39, pleaded not guilty to fraud charges and is free on bail while a federal prosecutor mulls whether to go ahead with the case.

The charges have caused an outcry among politicians especially in India, where the idea of an educated, middle-class woman facing a strip search is seen as outrageous. The U.S. Marshals Service said it was following standard procedure during the arrest.

Since the arrest, India downgraded privileges for U.S. diplomats in India. It limited immunity in case of serious offenses and decided that families of U.S. consular staff will no longer get diplomatic ID cards.

India on Wednesday ordered the American Community Support Association, which runs leisure offerings at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, to shut down its businesses, which include a bar, video club, sports field, beauty salon and gym.

In addition, all U.S. diplomatic vehicles will now be penalized for traffic-related offenses such as unauthorized parking and running red lights.

"Some retaliation has occurred," said Shashi Tharoor, India's minister of human resource development, in an article on the Prague-based website Project Syndicate.

"The initial American rationale (that foreign consuls in the U.S. enjoy a lower level of immunity than other diplomats) led India's government to re-examine privileges enjoyed by US consular officials that are unavailable to their Indian counterparts in the U.S.," he added.

The Indian government says providing commercial services to non-diplomats is a violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which states that "the premises of the mission must not be used in any manner incompatible with the functions of the mission".

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India orders shutdown of bar, pool at U.S. Embassy

Gisborne has only three days water supply left if residents dont reduce their use of water. Gisborne District Council needs every business, every organisation and every resident to reduce their use of water by at least a third, says deputy Chief Executive Peter Higgs.

"Water consumption reduced marginally yesterday but nowhere near enough. Gisborne does not have enough water to meet the current demand. On Sunday and Monday we used 23,000 m3/day. This must reduce to 14,000 m3/day to avoid turning the taps off."

"Luckily Gisborne has a standby treatment plant at Waipaoa that is supplying water to the city. This is being topped up by water from the Te Arai stream that is feeding through the Waingake Treatment plant. Together they are providing a small supply of water. With careful use this should ensure the city has enough water for essential use only."

"If demand for water is not drastically reduced we will have to have periods of time where we have rolling water stoppages - times when you will turn on the tap and there will be no water. Council will not allow the city to completely run dry."

Council has put a number of things in place to reduce water consumption.

There is a complete ban on the use of hoses - no washing your car, watering your lawn and garden or filling swimming pools etc. People really should just be using water to drink and for hygiene reasons. If you see your neighbours or anyone else wasting water please let Council know.

There is now a total fire ban in place in Gisborne city. No fires of any description should be lit and no permits will be issued. "With the supply of water so limited it is a risk we cannot afford to take, says Mr Higgs. "Any fire outside of the city must have a permit."

"Water crisis response manager Dave Hadfield is in contact with the citys top 20 industrial water users. All have water shortage contingency plans which they are being asked to action immediately. By doing this now it is hoped there will be minimal disruption to industry as many enter their busy processing season."

Gisborne is running out of water because its main water supply has been damaged by a land slide. The main water pipe from the Mangapoike Dam into the Gisborne District Council water treatment plant was knocked out on Monday at 3am.

"The break is in the pipe line from the dam into our water treatment plant. The water in your tap has still been treated. Engineers and geotechnical experts have a plan to fix the pipe and get the water flowing again. This will take 8-10 days."

Read more from the original source:
Total city fire ban to help Gisborne water crisis

Water Crisis Media Release (3)

Release date: Wed 8 January 2013

Three days water left in Gisborne if use doesnt reduce

Gisborne has only three days water supply left if residents dont reduce their use of water. Gisborne District Council needs every business, every organisation and every resident to reduce their use of water by at least a third, says deputy Chief Executive Peter Higgs.

Water consumption reduced marginally yesterday but nowhere near enough. Gisborne does not have enough water to meet the current demand.On SundayandMondaywe used 23,000 m3/day. This must reduce to 14,000 m3/day to avoid turning the taps off.

Luckily Gisborne has a standby treatment plant at Waipaoa that is supplying water to the city. This is being topped up by water from the Te Arai stream that is feeding through the Waingake Treatment plant. Together they are providing a small supply of water. With careful use this should ensure the city has enough water for essential use only.

If demand for water is not drastically reduced we will have to have periods of time where we have rolling water stoppages times when you will turn on the tap and there will be no water. Council will not allow the city to completely run dry.

Council has put a number of things in place to reduce water consumption.

There is a complete ban on the use of hoses - no washing your car, watering your lawn and garden or filling swimming pools etc. People really should just be using water to drink and for hygiene reasons. If you see your neighbours or anyone else wasting water please let Council know.

There is now a total fire ban in place in Gisborne city. No fires of any description should be lit and no permits will be issued. With the supply of water so limited it is a risk we cannot afford to take, says Mr Higgs. Any fire outside of the city must have a permit.

See the rest here:
Three days water left in Gisborne if use doesn’t reduce

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CMG:Landscape Architecture

If you worked on a house for five years, you'd call it a labor of love, right? What if that process took 25 years? Is there a name for that?

This is the story behind architect Paul Zajfen's epic quest in Laguna Beach.

Zajfen, a design principal at the Los Angeles firm CO Architects, bought an ocean-view site on the steep, winding bluffs of Laguna in 1989. His dream was to create a modern oasis, hugging the landscape and opening to the elements. Then things got messy.

First, a lawsuit by locals to ensure that lots on Zajfens street were buildable held up the project for about five years. Next came changes to the neighborhoods specific plan, which delayed construction for several more years. Around 2000, the architect began the painful slog through the local design review committee, a process that lasted until 2007.

Zajfen still grimaces at the thought of neighbors fighting his contemporary structure because it didnt fit into the local guidelines calling for rustic architecture. In Laguna, that means re-creations of New England, Italian or Spanish Colonial designs.

PHOTO GALLERY: Paul Zafjen's Laguna Beach house

Even though Ive done this stuff a ton of times for big clients, the process was physically affecting me more than anything Id ever experienced, Zajfen said. I thought I was going to die.

The review committee reacts to neighbors concerns, and there were plenty: the homes size, its openness, its lighting, the large amount of glass.

After half a dozen trips to the board, Zajfen finally got the citys blessing. He started construction in 2010 and recently completed the house. It displays some of the compromises necessary to get approval, including a lower profile and a discordant brown stucco entryway on the top floor that does indeed look almost rustic.

But his dream has been realized, somehow. Visiting the house can be nothing short of magical.

Originally posted here:
25 years in the making, a dream house rises in Laguna Beach

Design your garden and landscape of your life ... live your dreams

Do you wish your front yard welcomed you home?

Do you want your backyard to be your favorite get-a-way?

... then harness the power of nature NOW to refresh your soul with the landscape design ideas that are just right for you.

Now, more then ever, we can use our own personal Eden. Whether you have a country estate, an average backyard, a patio or deck, a balcony or simply a windowsill, at My Ideal Garden, you'll:

- get the help you need to create your very own oasis.

- learn how to read the secrets the garden holds in store for you.

- discover how your garden can be the mirror reflecting the beauty and wonder of who you are.

- understand how the eco-system of your garden can show you how to balance the eco-system of your own needs.

- experience how the natural world invites you to nurture, empower and transform yourself so you can fall in love with your life again.

The rest is here:
Get Help Finding Landscaping Ideas and Photos

The Kingwood Garden Club is proud to announce the January Yard-of-the-Month selection.

The lovely landscaped yard of Richard and Debbie White is located in the Woodstream Village at 3206 Pine Alcove Court.

The homeowners shared that this landscape has evolved over a period of eleven years. They began with a builders grade landscape to create this oasis in the subdivision.

They began with tropical plantings, but with a snowy glancing blow of old man winter, they didnt survive.

Since then they have worked to naturalize their landscape. They have developed multiple separate, but coordinated, planting areas that incorporate rock beds, Tuscany type jars and jugs planted in the beds, river rock streams and weaving walkways of brick, rock and slate.

Richard and Debbie both take pride in developing the individual areas of their yard, naming one area the square, which utilizes a fountain and water rocks to replicate a dry river bed.

The foundational plantings include a giant sago palm, a Texas Mountain Laurel, dwarf umbrella Indian Hawthorn bushes and a large knock-out rose bush.

These plantings are supplemented with bottlebrush bushes, foxtail ferns, African Iris plants, Aganthepus and Nandina bushes.

The Whites add seasonal decorations, plantings, and a whimsical rabbit who watches over the scape.

The winter plantings included cabbage, kale, Johnny jump-up, pansies, cyclamen and snapdragons. The homeowners have enjoyed the new flower beds in the backyard and have added vintage style copper low voltage lighting that adds a soft glow to the landscape in the evening.

Excerpt from:
Kingwood Garden Club honors the January Yard of the Month

Jan. 9, 2014, 7:48 a.m.

Beau Edwards and Marita Van Dermeys at Coledale rock pools. Photo: CHRISTOPHER CHAN

Source: Illawarra Mercury

When the tide is high, its easy to overlook the Coledale ocean pool. Carved deep into the rock between the pebbly shore and the wide ocean, it could be mistaken as part of the natural landscape.

That is until you walk a little closer, and notice swimming caps rhythmically bobbing up and down the length of the pool, and groups of young girls in mutilcoloured rash vests perched on the edge before practising their perfect dives.

Like all the Illawarras ocean pools, it is beloved by locals and visitors alike. When the Wollongong citizens panel recommended two or three pools be reduced or run to fail to cut costs for Wollongong City Council, the outcry was swift and strong.

No-one wanted the pools to close, with the council sent 360 responses in relation to the suggestion.

Built by volunteers in 1915, the Coledale rock pool has been the swimming spot of choice for many for almost a century.

Some visitors just want to cool off in the shallows, others are more serious about their strokes and continue to swim on frigid winter mornings, steadily tallying lap after lap.

Then there are those who choose not to jump in, preferring to simply sit on the bench and gaze out at the ocean.

Read the rest here:
Ocean jewel almost 100 and still going strong

Jim Neri grew up on the bluffs and beaches of La Jolla, gaining an appreciation for the design subtleties found in both natural and built landscapes. Schooled in horticulture at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and armed with a masters degree in landscape architecture from Cal Poly Pomona, he sketched his way through Europe, and designed the great outdoors with a San Diego landscape architecture and planning firm before founding Neri Landscape Architecture in 1997.

Jim Neri

His work on civic projects and zoological gardens has garnered several Orchid Awards from the San Diego Architectural Foundation and earned Neri Landscape Architecture a reputation for design excellence. He is a past member of the San Diego Public Art Committee and Mayors Tree Advisory Board, and is currently working locally to improve the walkway at the Childrens Pool, re-vegetate the bluff at Goldfish Point, and finish improvements at WindanSea Beach. Neri is married and has two children.

My mother. She drove my two sisters and me here in 1965 from Las Vegas, keeping us busy by tossing handfuls of popcorn into the back seat. It was her choice to move us to either La Jolla or Albuquerque, and I thank her often for heading west.

If you could snap your fingers and have it done, what might you add, subtract or improve in the area?

Our shoreline parks and beaches are our most photographed and advertised resources, but they get short shrift when it comes to public funding. A civic-funded survey of our beach parks and public access easements and a living plan for their improvement and upkeep would be a first step to protecting these common treasures. The next step would be the long-term funding and snap!

Who or what inspires you?

That a group of dedicated people with divergent ideas can enter a room and come to consensus on a single subject is a constant source of inspiration to me. It proves that we have more in common than we think we do that, and nature.

If you hosted a dinner party for eight, whom (living or deceased) would you invite?

Invitation would go out to: (Roman consul) Sulla, Nelson Mandela, Benjamin Franklin, Joan of Arc, Neil Young, Thomas Jefferson, Jane Austen and Wendy Neri.

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Landscape architect Jim Neri has designs on La Jolla’s scenery