How to Set Stepping Stones

Stepping stones can make a perfect path through a backyard or garden. They can also take the place of unattractive concrete sidewalks and add a decorative element to a yard. Here’s how to set stepping stones.

Determine Your Stepping Stone Location

Your first task is to determine where the stepping stones should be located. Look for worn areas of your yard or pathways that you’ve already worn into the ground. Also consider stepping stones in boggy areas of the yard.

Measure

To measure the placement of the stepping stones, walk the pathway normally. Stepping stones should be set at the distance of a natural step, so drop a pebble, spray a bit of paint or use another means of marking the ground when you take a step. Then count up the number of stones you need.

Purchase Your Stepping Stones

Purchase stepping stones that suit your outdoor space and budget. Decorative stepping stones are beautiful and make a fun path, but basic concrete stepping stones may be easier on the budget.

Place the Stepping Stones

Dig a shallow hole slightly wider than the stone and not quite as deep. Layer the bottom of the hole with sand about ¼ of an inch thick. For tougher soils, such as clay, consider using additional sand. Place the stone into the hole and stand on it to set it in place. Wiggle around a bit and bounce to ensure it is firmly set. When it is completely set, pack the dirt back around the stone to set it in place. Complete the procedure with the remaining stones to create an entire stepping stone path.

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How to Light Your Yard

As night falls, your backyard can take on a certain gloom that may be too inviting to unwelcome guests. By lighting your yard, you can have the peace of mind that your property is protected, and with the right kind of lighting, you can also enjoy additional decorative elements.

Select The Yard Lights

There are many kinds of lighting options available. A flood light may make sense by a garage, but it might also be too harsh for nearby neighbors. If you do invest in a floodlight, hang it so that the glare is only directly visible on your property and the light isn’t shining into any windows.

If a floodlight is too much, or you’d rather have more decorative lighting, consider lights along pathways or in the landscaping. Path lights and accent lights give off a bit less light than a full spot light or flood light, but they will illuminate your yard enough to see while you walk outside after dark or if you’re curious about a noise.

You can install electric lights which may be less expensive, but more complicated to install. You can also install solar lights which derive power from solar energy and automatically light up after dark. These are simple to install and often require nothing more than placing them in the ground where you wish the accent lights to be, or mounting the light to the wall if you’re installing a solar flood light or spot light.

Install Lights

If you’ve selected solar lights, you have little to do but decide where to actually place the light. If you’ve selected electrical lights, you have a bit more work ahead. Turn off the power before working to install the lights. Carefully follow the instructions of the manufacturer. If at all unsure, consult with an electrician or have your lights professionally installed. This will keep you safe and ensure your lights are installed properly.

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How to Install a Sundial

There are many ways to install sundials – not just on a southern oriented wall. So long as your sundial receives light during the day, it can be installed almost anywhere suitable to the style of your particular sundial.

Installing Sundials Outside

If you’re installing your sundial outside in the garden or patio, you have a few different options. A horizontal or equatorial sundial can be placed where two paths intersect, in the heart of a flower bed or in the middle of the yard. Mount this kind of sundial on a column, but be sure to keep the column under four feet however.

A meridian sundial can be hung from a tree in the yard or on a pillar. It can also be hung from a gatepost assuming the gateposts are facing south. The sundial can be hung anywhere that receives sun in the midday and facing south (or north if you’re in the southern hemisphere.

Installing Sundials on the House

To install sundials on your home, you must first decide what use you will receiving from your sundial. If your dial is primarily decorative, you can hang it above the door as a show of hospitality. You can also hang the dial on any wall without regard to orientation if you are using it only as decoration.

If, however, you are going to actually read your sundial, you’ll want to install it with the correct cardinal direction. A vertical direct south sundial should be hung on a southern wall with the dial facing directly south. Even if the wall isn’t directly facing south, you can orient the sundial using pegs or other means of raising it a bit on one side or the other.

To hang a sundial for the sunrise or sunset, hang it on an east or west facing wall. This positioning works well for direct east, direct west or vertical declining sundial.

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How to Build a Garden Path

A well-designed garden path not only leads you through your garden, but keeps your feet dry and protects your plants from being damaged. Ideally, a path invites you into the garden, leading you under beautiful branches and around trickling fountains, and even over garden bridges. By following a few easy steps, you can build a garden path that does all of this and even more.

Plan Your Route

Whether your path is intended to lead from the driveway through the garden to the front door, or from the patio to a secluded bench, the first step is to plan your route. If your path is prone to heavy traffic and is more utilitarian than superfluous, a straight and wide path that gets the traveler where they want to go is best. This doesn’t mean your path will be boring.

Plant interesting foliage along the path and add garden ornaments to keep the path attractive. A secondary path that might branch off of the main path can be narrower, since it is not expecting the heavy traffic flow, and might twist and turn a bit more. Instead of twisting and turning at random, make your curves seem practical—bending the path around an existing tree or placing a boulder in the nook of the curve.

Choose a Material

When choosing a material, it is important to consider again the purpose of your path, as well as your budget. You can use materials from sand or mulch, which can be free, to relatively expensive cut stone or pavers. Keep safety in mind. For primary paths, use a surface material that will be safe whether it is wet or dry, and will not slip or become uneven. Also, consider the style of your house. The material you use for your path should blend in or complement the style of the existing house and other structures.

Install the Path

The exact method of installation will depend on the type of material you chose. Regardless of the material, however, you will need to ensure good drainage so you are not creating a swamp or bog instead of a path. Additionally, you’ll probably use a base and some edging to ensure a level path. Once you have your path, you’ll love to use it and you will take great pride in knowing you created it.

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How to Attract Birds

If you’d like nothing better than to gaze out into your garden and see birds frolicking about, you’d do well to actively recruit them. Here’s how to attract birds to your garden.

Plant a Food Supply

If you want birds to stay in your garden without the help of bird feeders, you should plant a variety of shrubs, trees and flowers that actually provide food for birds year-round. Start with a good mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Deciduous trees produce fruit and nuts while evergreens provide pinecones and berries. Both plant types offer a place for birds to nest and visit.

Reduce Lawn

You’ll want to reduce the amount of space the lawn takes up in your yard. Bare expanses of grass have little or no attraction for birds. Build up your garden with a collection of plants in close quarters. Consider a path and arbor through a variety of blooms and fruit trees. Give the bird something to hide and nest in.

Provide Water

You’ll also want to provide your feathered friends with a source of water. A bird bath makes an attractive addition to a garden or you can install a small pond or fountain for appeal as well as a location for birds to drink and bathe.

Bird Feeders

While waiting for your garden to grow, or if you’re simply unable to build the kind of garden to attract birds, you can also install a bird feeder in your backyard. Be sure the feeder is well stocked with birdseed on a daily basis and hung far enough away from the house and action that birds feel safe. Then, sit back and enjoy the birds that come by for a quick snack.

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How to Mow a Yard

Moving from an apartment to a house is exciting. Not only do you now have your own garage, you also have your very own front and backyard to care for. Your yard is very exciting, at least until its time to mow it for the first time. Here’s how to mow a yard.

Locate a Mower

Your first step in a successful mowing experience is to actually locate a mower to use. You may already own one in anticipation of this very day. You might be able to borrow one from a friend, family member or new neighbor, but don’t plan on making a habit of it. The old owners might have left one behind, but most likely your mowing needs are the cause of one of many trips to the home improvement store.

Buy a Mower

If you’re going to buy a mower, be sure you know what sort of yard you are working with – especially if this mowing experience is completely new to you. An average yard can be cut with a gas powered push mower. A self propelled mower helps with a yard that has hills or dips, or a larger yard, but is not required. Electric lawn mowers work best on smaller yards, and very large yards might be best cut with a riding or heavy duty propelled mower.

Buy Accessories

You’ll also need at least one additional piece of lawn equipment. A mower will cut 95% of the grass in the yard, but you need a weed eater or edger to go around sidewalks and objects in the yard such as metal yard art. A leaf blower and separate edger can supplement a weed whacker, but are not required.

Start the Mower

When you’ve assembled your supplies, read the instructions for your new mower or get help from its owner as to what fuel it requires. It’s likely it takes a combination of gas and oil, but read to be sure. Different mowers turn on different ways, but the most common push lawn mowers require a pull start. Push the prep button three to ten times to prime the mower. Then hold the handle down while pulling up quickly on the start cord.

It is common that a mower requires a few attempts at starting before the engine catches. If the engine doesn’t catch right away, don’t despair. Prime the engine again and pull. If the mower doesn’t catch in a few tries, consult with a friend or neighbor to see if you’ve missed a step.

Mow!

Once you get the mower going, hold down the handle and begin pushing it in rows over the yard. Overlap your rows slightly to avoid leaving a path between each pass. Go in straight lines to make your lawn appear manicured. If you are bagging your grass clipping you may have to stop to put the clipping in trash bags. If you’re mulching, you can mow your entire yard without stopping.

Trim

When the moving is complete, use your weed whacker to cut in on the edges you were unable to reach with the mower. Be sure to trim the grass along the flower beds, house walls, driveway, sidewalk and any other lawn objects. Then, put your equipment away, relax, and enjoy your manicured yard.

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How To Write An Unsent Letter

The unsent letter is a journalism tool often used when you, the writer, have something you want to say to someone and are unable to tell them directly.  Whether the person is physically absent from your life or there are other extenuating circumstances, an unsent letter can help diffuse the negativity of holding something inside.

What are some of the times you might choose to write an unsent letter?

• When the person you want to write is not able to listen.  (The person is dead or in a coma or otherwise completely beyond your voice’s reach.)
• When the person you want to write is not willing to listen.  (The person no longer wants a relationship with you or you are still in a relationship but know from past experience that there are certain things they will never hear due to their own denial.)
• When what you want to say may be more hurtful than helpful.  (You are so angry or hurt by the other person that you need to get that raw emotion out on paper or you will be eaten up by it.)
• When what you want to say is something you don’t necessarily want the other person to know at this point in time.  (You have a personal confession to make but are not ready to fully disclose yourself to the other person.)

The purpose of the unsent letter is to afford you the opportunity to say it all, everything from pain to rage, without fear of reprisal.  You can tell someone to take a long trip off a short pier or confess that, even though they have moved on with their lives, you are still very much in love with them.  You can tell a parent how much their neglect and abuse damaged you; or tell your rebellious child how painful it is to watch self-destructive patterns repeat themselves from one generation to the next.  You can tell a teacher what you really think of the grade you received or your boss what you really think about your job.  The unsent letter can be as rich or frivolous as you need for it to be.

Before you begin to write your letter, set aside a block of uninterrupted time for the actual writing.  Allow at least thirty minutes but be prepared to spend more time because it is not unusual to find yourself pouring out more than you had initially anticipated writing.  It is also not unusual to find that the emotion with which you started writing changes as you write.  I have begun an unsent letter furious with anger and have the letter shift into a compassionate confession where I try to understand why something happened.  Then again, you may find yourself filling pages with vitriolic accusations and never stray from that fury.  There is no right or wrong when writing an unsent letter and very few rules apply.  In fact, there are only three.

One
When writing the unsent letter the first thing you want to do is to date your letter, just as you would any other journal entry or letter you would write.  You want to date your unsent letter for your own purposes.  A year (or ten) from now, if you should reread your letter, you may be surprised by how much your personal attitude towards the person or situation have changed.  This is to be expected but you won’t be able to fully appreciate how far you have come if you don’t know when you were at this place emotionally speaking and needed to write the letter to begin with.

Two
Write honestly and without hesitation. Do not stop to revise yourself.  Above all else, do not censor yourself.  Nobody is going to read what you write.  You are not going to send this to the person.  You don’t have to worry about anyone judging you for being too angry, too weak, too pathetic.  Let everything pour out onto the page, whether you compose it with pen and paper or on a keyboard.  Give yourself to be as transparent as you can be.

Three
This should be obvious but do not send the letter.  Sometimes it is tempting to do so, especially if the person you are writing is still alive.  The consequences of sending the letter are manifold.  If you go into writing this letter without the intention of sending it, you are likely to say things that the other person is not prepared to hear.  Yes, you may want to tell your former lover how much their absence grieves you but it is unlikely that you will receive any sympathy after your letter is read.  If anything, he or she may think you are trying to be manipulative. 

Writing the unsent letter is not meant to be an opportunity for you to tell anyone else what you need to say; its purpose is to afford you the opportunity to say what you want and need to say in spite of the other person’s willingness or ability to listen.  This journalist exercise is incredibly powerful and, although it seems simplistic and may even appear to be useless, the truth is I know of no better way to express yourself honestly and without concern for repercussions than by writing unsent letter.  If you simply must have someone read it afterwards, you can always share it with a friend or you can post it anonymously on the internet. 

The unsent letter is an opportunity to give yourself closure where none is offered and the benefits may not be fully appreciated when you first undertake writing one but you can and will benefit from it in the long run. 

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How To Not Write a Poem

The following is a list of the mistakes immature poets often make. The truth is, even practiced poets will make these mistakes. Nobody is immune to lazy writing. But if you want your reader to realize that you are not a talented poet, that you have nothing new or interesting to say, then be sure to include one or more of the following things in your poetry.

1. Use archaic language.

Once upon a time when people spoke, they used such words as "thou" and "methinks." A lot of poetry was written at this time and we are still reading these poems today even though we no longer talk that way. Contemporary poetry should be written in contemporary language. When Shakespeare wrote, "Methinks thou doth protest too much," this is actually how people spoke in his day. When you choose to use archaic language for the sake of sounding poetic, you only make yourself sound like an amateur.

2. Use cliches in your writing.

Cliches are useless unless you are writing about cliches. If you fall back onto cliches you reveal yourself as a lazy writer. If you describe someone’s eyes as being deep as the ocean or your love being like a rose or any of the other typical metaphors, your reader will quickly lose interest.

3. Rhyme for rhyming’s sake.

There are many people who write form poetry which usually means lines of verse that have end rhymes. When done effectively, some of the most brilliant poetry will rhyme and rhyme well. However, too often it is done poorly. If you have to invert sentences to force a line to rhyme, revise the poem until you can do it without compromising your syntax. My son likes to mock certain rappers for making rhymes out of nonsense words or, worse, rhyming the same word with itself. If you can’t rhyme creatively, better to just not rhyme at all.

4. Be vague and abstract.

Henry Miller says that he always set aside his writing for a year. I have done this and been surprised to find a poem I wrote was utterly meaningless to me. It sounded lovely, used typically poetic language with metaphors, allusions to literature. But when I try to get to what the poem means, all I see are pretty phrases with no substance.

5. Stop reading poetry.

If you want to write bad poetry, you either need to expose yourself to only bad poetry. The problem is that if you read any poetry you risk reading good or even great poetry so it is probably best to read no poetry at all. If you simply must read poetry, only read poetry that was written over 500 years ago. You wouldn’t want to read anything contemporary, anything written in your vernacular. Better yet, try to read poetry written by people with whom you have no connection. Most older poetry is written by highly educated, wealthy, white men. If you are none of these, you won’t be able to identify with them as poets and what you write will lack authenticity.

6. Read books about poetry–all of them, all of the time.

Rather than actually write poetry, spend your time reading about writing poetry. Memorize everything you can about meter, be ready to define any and all formal poetry types from haiku to vilanelle, and memorize not only the difference between a Shakespearean sonnet and an Italian sonnet. If you can actually quote from memory examples of all of the above, that is even better. The time you spend learning all of this information could have been spent writing poetry and that is not what we are trying to do here.

7. Throw out all spelling and grammar rules.

Whitman and Dickinson started it and then came cummings, who wouldn’t even capitalize his own name. With modern poetry came a wave of waving goodbye to the conventional rules of spelling and grammar. These genius poets paved the path. No longer were poets confined to conventions. Not only did lines not have to rhyme but now poets didn’t even have to capitalize a proper name or follow the most common grammatical rules. The problem is that these people who most perfectly ignore the rules first mastered them which is why they break them so beautifully. They don’t break the rules for the sake of breaking them, they break them to say something more meaningful than conforming to the rules would have afforded them the opportunity to do.

8. Avoid yourself as a poet.

If you are writing poetry then you are probably comfortable with a certain style of writing. Perhaps you are comfortable with free verse or you may prefer for your poems to have a tight rhythm with carefully chosen end rhymes. Neither choice is better than the other but if you write other styles of poetry then you risk actually growing as a poet. Stretching creatively beyond your personal comfort zone will likely result in your becoming a better poet. I caution you to find your one style and stick to it no matter how boring your poetry writing may seem.

9. Mistake prose for poetry.

This offense occurs most often in haiku where someone writes a seventeen syllable sentence and breaks it into lines of five/seven/five and declares themselves the writer of a haiku.

- I hate you mostly
- when I talk to your wife on
- the phone as she cries.

Technically, this meets the haiku standard for line breaks but offers nothing else. It lacks the emotional subtlety of a true haiku. Any poet who would dare to proclaim this a haiku only shows their ignorance of what a haiku should be.

10. Be afraid to break the rules.

Although you definitely want to break the grammar and spelling rules (as mentioned in rule seven above), you want to be careful to the point of paranoia when doing so. Consider all rules sacred. If you do this then you are more likely to write in a very formal tone, using those archaic words that are no longer a part of your natural vocabulary, and you will do whatever it takes to make that line rhyme the way it should.

If by some chance you are reading this article because you actually want to write a good poem, maybe even aspire to write some great poetry, and wanted to read some rules of things to avoid, then you would do well to follow number ten closely. Even these ten points are not sacrosanct. You can and should have the courage to do whatever you must to make your poem as powerful and potent as you can. If that means using archaic language or a cliche, manipulating a line so that the rhyme works, etc., by all means do it. But only do it if it is truly effective and there is no other way to make your poem relevant.

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How to Have a Baby Girl

If you are not interested in genetic engineering or artificial insemination, there is no certain way of conceiving one gender versus the other. There are, however, various theories about how to increase your chances of a specific gender.

Selecting a Baby’s Gender

According to surveys more than 90% of expectant parents have a preference in regard to their unborn child’s gender. The reasons behind the preferences are varied, and when parents don’t get their wish, they adapt and are overjoyed to welcome any new baby to their home. But if you are ready for a baby girl and want to try to tip the scales, here’s how:

The Shettles Method

Doctor Shettles penned the most popular method designed to increase the chances of a girl. Before beginning the method, you must understand the rationale behind it. Women produce an egg every month during ovulation. The egg is always carrying an X chromosome. Two Xs make a girl and one X (the egg) plus one Y make a boy.

Men are responsible for the second X or Y. Each sperm is assigned one chromosome. When a male ejaculates, he sends 200-400 million sperm into the vagina that immediately begin searching for the released egg. Out of those millions, only one sperm gets the prize, and the chromosome of that one unites with the X of the egg, and the miracle has begun.

The Shettles method offers instruction on how to get more X-carrying sperm to the egg and beat out the Ys.

Conceiving a Girl

To actively work at conceiving a girl, you must know your cycle. Chart your cycle for a couple of months to see what day you begin your period and what day you are ovulating. You can do this using an ovulation kit or basal temperature. Then, once you know the day you will ovulate, begin having sex immediately following the end of your period. Have sex at least once a day until two or three days before ovulation. Then stop. (Sorry, guys.)

Y-carrying sperm swim faster than X-carrying sperm. The boy-makers also tend to die out more quickly. By stopping three days before ovulation, you are ensuring the only sperm left waiting around for the released egg are the longer-lasting, slow-swimming X-carriers. (Sperm can live up to 5-7 days inside a woman’s body.) When the remaining sperm meet up with the egg, it is far more likely an X sperm will get the honors.

Doctor Shettles also suggests having sex in the missionary position to deposit sperm as close to the entrance of the vagina as possible. He also suggests the woman not orgasm during sex (Sorry, girls.) An orgasm can make the vaginal environment alkaline which can kill off sperm more quickly preventing any pregnancy.

Easy Step By Step Instructions

• Know your cycle
• Use the Shettles Method to time your pregnancy
• Plan accordingly

Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions

A lot of people have been leaving some shocking comments. If you are able to conceive a child, love it regardless. Trying for a baby girl is one thing, being unhappy if you end up having a boy is pathetic. If you find yourself angry or unhappy at having a baby boy seek professional help right away!

Speak with a Professional about having a girl

Ask a Live Doctor about how you can Increase the chance to have a girl

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