Home & Garden

With southern California being home to not only movie stars, but earthquakes and wild fires as well, it is imperative that residents throughout have the means to stay informed in the event of a local emergency.  The City of Santa Clarita is constantly preparing for any possible disasters and has recently launched a new addition to the City’s Emergency Notification System (ENS) that will allow residents to update their own contact information through the City’s website so that if the need arises, the City can stay in touch.

Water gardening is fun and easy.  It is easier to take care of than a garden and you will use less water than your lawn.  Ponds are alive, active and always changing.  Both adults and children can enjoy them.  Children can learn about nature watching the plants grow, the fish swimming around and the dragonflies dancing in your water feature. 

Summer has arrived, which means spending more time in our cars taking the kids to their various activities, trips to the beach or mountains, vacations and errands around town.  Now the question becomes, “Is all that clutter that’s been accumulating over the past months crowding you out of the driver’s seat?”  If so then you have car clutter!

The visual arts are the arts that produce beautiful objects to look at.  The visual arts include all objects created for visual appeal, including those that serve a useful purpose.  When we think of visual arts, most people first think of painting, sculpture, and architecture.  Some people might add photography and filmmaking to the list. But today, the world of visual art also includes the crafts, industrial, fashion, and interior design; landscape architecture, television production; and the new computer arts.

CWG-USA announced its new Filtersorb SP3 catalytic water conditioner media for hard water scale prevention.  The salt-less resin media works with a ceramic catalytic surface.  Once hard water contact occurs on the surface of the media in the water conditioner you have the formation of Nano calcium crystals.  These calcium crystals are now out of solution and cannot attach to any surface in the service water stream.  This applies to pipes and reverse osmosis membranes.  This catalytic reaction works with cold as well as hot water.  The formation of Nano sized calcium crystals are rinsed away from the water conditioner by the water flow going through your home.

Homeowners today realize what a terrific investment they’ve made installing a swimming pool and spa in their backyards.  It adds value to your property, but more importantly, the back yard now becomes a focal point and center of activity for all forms of entertaining.

“My gardenia has yellow leaves!”  This is a phrase heard almost daily in the nursery industry.  People love gardenia flowers, but have difficulty growing the plant in the Santa Clarita Valley.

More and more friends with exotic cars are doing group drives.  Why?  Because driving in a group of cars provides a visual and aural effect that can’t be beat.  Here’s an example of a group drive in which I participated on Saturday, March 29th. 

California revised the regulation governing residential swimming pools and spas this year in an effort to reduce the tremendous amount of yearly energy consumption resulting from the use of swimming pool and spa equipment.  The regulation applies to both in ground and above ground pools.  Under the revised regulation, Title 20 California Code of Regulations, portable spas will be regulated for the first time.

The Magazine of Santa Clarita’s Annual Best Mom Mother’s Day contest was another wonderful expression of how much Mother’s are loved.  Our winner this year came from Blanca Schreier of Castaic who wrote a lovely letter to her mother.  Blanca and her mom will be...

Summertime is approaching fast, and now is a great time to think about putting a room darkening or block out treatment on your windows.  This not only helps you stay cool, but it also protects your furnishings and artwork from the damaging rays of the sun.  I am often amazed at the amount of blinding sun my clients endure year after year when there is a quick and often inexpensive solution to just about any type of sun issue.

Is this possible? Yes!  We have the solution for every home and business to install solar power for no money out of pocket.  Solar Electric Solutions has relations with investors who are willing to invest their money in your home or business.  This gets rid of the up front cost of purchasing the system itself.

During the 1960s and 1970s, much of our nation’s focus was on the pollution of our outdoor environment, but recently our focus has shifted to pollution to our indoor environment.

Concern for fuel economy in the early 1970s led to changes in construction techniques and building design to prevent the loss of temperature-controlled air from buildings.  Airtight structures keep air inside, but they also prevent the flow of fresh air from outside.  Research by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that our indoor environment has two to five times more pollutants than outside air.

Join more than 60 exhibitors on Saturday, May 17 and Sunday, May 18 for the 22nd Annual Bug Fair at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.  The Natural History Museum is located at 900 Exposition Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.  The Fair will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days and will include performances by John Acorn and the Nature Nut.

A lot of questions have been asked about water softeners in the Santa Clarita Valley.  Let’s start with why new installations have been banned in our valley.  Automatic water softener systems discharge chloride into our sewer system, which goes to our wastewater treatment plants, and then to the Santa Clara River. 

The question is “What is the state of the arts in the city of Santa Clarita?”  The arts community in Santa Clarita does exist I am sure but it just has not been identified as who the art community is.  The interest in the arts exists among the residents of our city but seems to be in the shadows of the performing arts as there are no art galleries to represent the visual arts at this time in Santa Clarita.

Taking pride in the place where you live stems from each individual’s sense of personal responsibility and desire for constant improvement.  Residents of the City of Santa Clarita have since its incorporation demonstrated their desire to live in a community that values ideal surroundings.

Paper is the toughest type of clutter. It just accumulates so fast and it never stops coming. Here are some more handy tips to keep your paperwork from driving you mad.