Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

Like many working Americans, Lisa Gray thought she had good health insurance.

That was until she was diagnosed with leukemia in mid-2013, and the self-employed businesswoman made a startling discovery: Her health plan didn't cover the chemotherapy she needed. "I thought I was going to die," Gray, 62, said recently, recalling her desperate scramble to get lifesaving drugs.

Through a mix of temporary measures, doctors and patient advocates managed to keep Gray stable for a few months.

But it was a new health plan through the Affordable Care Act that Gray credits with saving her life. The plan, which started Jan. 1, 2014, gave her access to the recommended chemotherapy. Her cancer went into remission in the fall.

It is now one year since the federal law began guaranteeing coverage to most Americans for the first time, even if they are sick.

Some consumers pay more for insurance. Some pay less. Doctors, hospitals and businesses are laboring to keep up with new requirements. And across the country, "Obamacare" remains a polarizing political issue.

For many Americans like Gray who were stuck in plans that didn't cover vital services or who couldn't get insurance because of a preexisting medical condition the law has had a personal, even life-changing impact.

"A couple years earlier, I think I would have been done," Gray said.

Even the law's supporters concede more must be done to control healthcare costs and ensure access to care.

But the insurance guarantee which includes billions of dollars in aid to low- and middle-income Americans has extended coverage to about 10 million people who previously had no insurance, surveys indicate. That cut the nation's uninsured rate more than 20% last year, the largest drop in half a century.

Originally posted here:
Obamacare's guaranteed health coverage changes lives in first year

Presentations on controlling deer in your landscape, planning a flower "cutting garden" and understandingowls will be offered Saturday, Jan 24, at a Winter Horticulture Workshop in Geneseo, Ill.

The eventsponsored bythe University of Illinois Extensionwill be 9 a.m. to noon atFirst Lutheran Church, 114 E. Main St. Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

The cost is $15 at the door, including coffee, juice and rolls,but you can save $3 by pre-registering by Jan. 22.

To register, go online toweb.extension.illinois.edu/hmrs, or call 309-756-9978 or 309-853-1533. Here's a closer look.

Deer Departed?Martha Smith, a U of I Extenstion horticultureeducator, will discusswhat is knownabout deer control for gardening and the options that may or may not work.

Cut Flowers From Your Yard.Cathy LaFrenz of Miss Effie's Country Flowers & Garden Stuff, Donahue, Iowa, will share her experience and recommendations.

"All About Owls.Susan Atchley, a U of I Extension master naturalist, will teach you aboutowl habitat, diet, behavior, physical features and threats to the species.

Read the original here:
Hort workshop looks at deer, flowers, owls

Water Features/Aqua Designs:

Koi Pond, Reflecting Pond, River-rock Stream, Cascading Waterfall, Exotic Fountain Displays, Pondless Waterfall, Babbling Brook, Free-standing fountains and various manmade and natural stone water features.

There is nothing like the sound of a graceful, cascading waterfall or the gentle trickles of a stone water fountain. Every home can be enhanced with the serenity found in this element of life; reverberated through the gentle sounds of relaxation and calm reflections of a flowing water feature.

We can design any water feature as the showcase of any new or existing residential/commercial landscape. Water features can be designed as a focal point of an entry way, axis of a landscape, accent to a garden, or as the eye of attraction for the facades of the home or business. It can be rustic, formal, rocky, and or all natural with lush green foliage and colorful exotics.

We design water features to embellish front entry of homes, or as the center of attraction for backyard entertainment. Complimented with our outdoor lighting techniques, that will virtually transform any daytime waterscape into that favorite night time attraction. Our aqua designs are majestic crowns of the night, better known as the majestic gardens of life, will breathe new life and meaning into your home and outdoor life.

Original post:
Water, Pool Coping, Pool Renovations, Waterfalls ...

Filinvests Botanika

The prospect of having a daily walk through a master planned nature sanctuary located right at ones backyard is one of the many features attracting investors to Botanika Nature Residences, a premium low-density residential enclave in Filinvest City in Alabang.

In the same way that an apartment with a view and easy access to New Yorks Central Park is considered a premium property, Botanikas centralized garden system offering scenic walks through the 1.55-hectare property is differentiating the project from other high-end developments in Makati and Bonifacio Global City, according to Catherine Ilagan, EVP of Filinvest Alabang, Inc., Botanika project developer.

Open green spaces are getting more scarce in the metropolis. Our planners thus thought of offering Botanika residents a system of gardens that would allow them to enjoy natures healing properties right at their doorstep, she said.

Various studies have shown that nature has the power to renew ones senses as well as to clear ones thoughts so that contemplation and inspiration can take place.

Departing from the conventional residential condo environment where space is limited, Botanikas 369 units ranging from 123 to 343 sqm and spread out over three towers will be open to nature while offering privacy to residents.

Botanika is the first of the Filinvest Groups Exclusive Collection, the newest and highest-end brand category. Each project with the Exclusive Collection brand is envisioned to be an iconic, top-end and one-of-a-kind residential space that will add prestige to the groups large-scale projects, said Ilagan.

From the top, each of the buildings takes the shape of a leaf, a unique configuration which will mean that none of the units will peer directly into a unit of a tower. When a resident looks out his window, he will not have a direct sightline into a unit in the neighboring tower because of the curving walls of the tower.

At the center of each building will be an atrium that will allow natural light to go through the structure. The atrium will also force air through the edifice offering passive ventilation.

From the ground level, the atriums will be interconnected to each other and to a central pool area through a paved walkway that naturally blends with the lush tropical landscape.

Read more:
Luxury condo project offers natures healing power

Mandarin residents are just starting to see the massive changes in the landscape along their part of Interstate 295.

Thousands of trees have been torn down to make way for a SunPass toll lane or express lane between the Buckman Bridge and the I-95 interchange.

Unfortunately, Mandarin residents wont be able to use it.

Im really ambivalent about the express lane because I wont be able to use it anyway, said Leah Tincher, whose home in the Sweetwater neighborhood on Greenland Road now sits in view of the interstate.

Though many homes along the interstate are losing their natural barrier, along with the does, bucks and yearlings that could often be seen at night nibbling on the grass along the woodline southwest of the interchange, there will be no entrance points to the toll lanes anywhere in between leaving Mandarin residents in the three traditional lanes of traffic.

Im just glad theyre finally putting in a sound barrier, Tincher said.

After the last round of widening on that section of I-295, Tincher was mortified. When I bought this house, you couldnt hear the interstate and you couldnt see the interstate, she said. Now I can wave to people from my pool.

Bike Week is especially bad, she said.

You cant talk on the phone or hear the television, she said.

The interstate now is coming even closer.

Read more:
Mandarian residents see I-295 edge ever closer to homes; bypassed by benefit of new lanes

Objections are mounting to a plan to build 35 houses on land north of Pangbourne.

The site off Pangbourne Hill is one which West Berkshire Council has identified as a preferred site for development.

Applicants Pangbourne Beaver Properties Limited put in an application to build ion the site in November.

The application has prompted more than 80 comments, many of them objecting to the scheme.

The plan is a hybrid application - part full and part outline - for 35 homes and a combined public amenity space and play area.

It includes pedestrian and vehicular access from Pangbourne Hill, a new footway, engineering and landscaping works along the Pangbourne Hill frontage and car park to serve Pangbourne Cemetery.

Almost half the homes, 40 per cent, will be affordable.

Among the comments on application on the West Berkshire Council planning website was an objection from Rev Brian Timms of Bere Court Road who registered "the strongest possible objection to this application" which he described as "ill-conceived and detrimental to this area of Pangbourne".

Andrzej Kopec, of Green Lane, said: "The site is within an area of archaeological importance based on finds from the Palaeolithic period onwards being recorded on it.

"There is a Roman cemetery and Roman deposits (sepulchral urns and coins) found 350m to the north of the development.

Excerpt from:
Pangbourne Hill development: objections to 35 homes mounting

Published: Sunday, January 4, 2015 at 4:30 a.m. Last Modified: Thursday, January 1, 2015 at 12:34 p.m.

Van Hoff, biological science technician at Carl Sandburg National Historic Site, works with crews of volunteers and hired help to keep both cultivated and natural landscapes in excellent shape.

Our landscape represents the Sandburg period, Van Hoff says. We constantly refer to (a report) if its not in here, were probably not going to do it.

Van Hoff refers to a cultural landscape report created in 1993 by Susan Hart, then a graduate student at University of Georgia.

The document covers the landscaping history of the historic site from the time it was first developed by the Memmingers in the 1830s up through the decades the Sandburgs called it home from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Maintaining an absolute accuracy regarding specific plants the Sandburgs grew is not always possible, for various reasons.

Like ordinary people, they changed what they grew, Van Hoff says.

Also, the fact that 90,000 visitors tramp through the National Historic Site each year affects what can be grown and where.

The roses in the front yard once went to the fence, but not now, she says. We need to maintain the fence and get a mower through.

A star magnolia near the house allowed Mrs. Sandburg to enjoy the flowers fragrance from her bedroom window.

See the article here:
Sandburg Home biologist gives Mother Nature a hand

LAND CLEARING, JCB
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By: RB CIVILS PTY LTD

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LAND CLEARING, JCB - Video

Unique Aura - Interior Designer In Pune
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By: Bizporto Official

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Unique Aura - Interior Designer In Pune - Video

IKEA Home Interior Design Company
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By: PIN Interior

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IKEA Home Interior Design Company - Video