I often have to tell my clients that owning home can be challenging. There is maintenance involved. In fact, a home is like a living and breathing organism. It has a life of its own. Just like your body needs proper nutrition, exercise and rest, so does your home.
The weather probably has the biggest impact on the exterior of your home - so keeping a close eye on your roof and shingles after a harsh winter like we just experienced is important.
While on the inside of your home, the furnace is one of the most important elements that needs annual maintenance to ensure that it continues to function through the cold winter months.
Now the point of today's article has to do with yard maintenance. My partner and I moved last November and the yard is more like a park. Many garden beds and a lawn that seems to go on forever!
In an effort to pollute less, we recently purchased a battery operated lawn mower. No cords and no smelly fumes. While it still consumes electricity to keep the batteries charged, there are no noxious fumes pouring out of the machine while keeping the lawns clipped.
But the biggest challenge of all - DANDELIONS! I think the City of Toronto should adopt the dandelion as its flower. Pasadena California is known as the City of Roses - Toronto? Drive around - publicly owned land is awash in a sea of yellow - Hogtown is now Dandelion Central.
This past week, I have spent 4 hours attacking the dandelions in my front lawn. New city bylaws prevent me from using any pesticide - not that I would have anyway - but the alternative solution involves time and energy. I picked up a new garden tool at Canadian Tire the other day that plucks dandelions - root and all - well mostly all the root - right out of the ground. The only problem is, you can only do one at a time. And I swear, there must be at least 500 hundred of them in my front yard. There doesn't seem to be much grass left and that's a story for another day.
But going green means I can probably give up my gym membership soon - as I intend to spend countless hours keeping the dandelions at bay and having the perfect lawn. My mother was obsessed with having a great lawn. She was an immigrant to Canada but quickly got caught up in the local - unofficial - "who has the best lawn?" competition. She loved to be outdoors and work on the lawn, pulling weeds of all shapes and sizes. She would have loved this new tool from Canadian Tire!
My mother would have been proud!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Going GREEN
A few months ago I received delivery of a new vehicle - a FORD Escape Hybrid. I chose this SUV for a few reasons. I spend a lot of time in my car and it had to be comfortable for me and my clients. I also needed a large enough vehicle to be able to transport props to listings where I am helping clients get their homes ready for sale. But my primary reason for getting the Hybrid was to pollute less! Remember I drive a LOT!
The beauty of this vehicle is that when I am stopped at a light or stop sign, the gas engine STOPS. And as I accelerate, the gas engine does not click in until I get to 40 km per hour. There are some stretches of road I have found that I can drive for several kilometres using only the electric motor. Amazing.
I average 7.3 litres of gasoline (regular) per 100 km. I am told that this will improve the longer I drive the car. With gas at $1.25 per litre today, well, another reason to drive a Hybrid. I fill my tank every two weeks - and sometimes every 3 weeks depending on how often I need to get onto the highway.
Kermit the Frog even endores the Ford Escape Hybrid
The beauty of this vehicle is that when I am stopped at a light or stop sign, the gas engine STOPS. And as I accelerate, the gas engine does not click in until I get to 40 km per hour. There are some stretches of road I have found that I can drive for several kilometres using only the electric motor. Amazing.
I average 7.3 litres of gasoline (regular) per 100 km. I am told that this will improve the longer I drive the car. With gas at $1.25 per litre today, well, another reason to drive a Hybrid. I fill my tank every two weeks - and sometimes every 3 weeks depending on how often I need to get onto the highway.
Kermit the Frog even endores the Ford Escape Hybrid
Monday, May 5, 2008
recycling
Today I met with a client to ensure that his home was indeed photo ready. He had done a great job of decluttering and packing up. He's moving to Montreal this summer!
He found that getting rid of unwanted items in Toronto is not so easy especially if you don't have a vehicle. He had an old Pentium 2 desktop with a huge old-school monitor that he needed to get rid of. So I drove him to a computer recycling depot called reBOOT. Located near Dufferin and Dupont, its in a location that's not that easy to access by transit - especially when you have to lug around old equipment.
I had been here before when I had an obsolete computer. It's a great organization that refurbishes old computers and gives them to organizations that need them. In turn, you get a charitable donation receipt at the same time that you are recycling.
So if you have old computer equipment and don't know what to do with it, go to www.rebootcanada.ca and check it out!
He found that getting rid of unwanted items in Toronto is not so easy especially if you don't have a vehicle. He had an old Pentium 2 desktop with a huge old-school monitor that he needed to get rid of. So I drove him to a computer recycling depot called reBOOT. Located near Dufferin and Dupont, its in a location that's not that easy to access by transit - especially when you have to lug around old equipment.
I had been here before when I had an obsolete computer. It's a great organization that refurbishes old computers and gives them to organizations that need them. In turn, you get a charitable donation receipt at the same time that you are recycling.
So if you have old computer equipment and don't know what to do with it, go to www.rebootcanada.ca and check it out!
Sunday, May 4, 2008
YARD SALE FOR A CURE
I thought I would share this post by my broker - Debra Bain - about how the "Yard Sale for a Cure" got started. I am proud to be a member of the REMAX Hallmark team. We are involved in the community in so many ways - our Breakfast Program - the Childrens' Miracle Network - and the Yard Sale for a Cure
Here is Debra's post.
May 02, 2008
Yard Sale for the Cure by Debra Bain
How the "Yard Sale for the Cure" all began...
With all the talk about the "Yard Sale For The Cure" just around the corner I thought that I would tell you the story of how it all started.
About 3 years ago I got a call from one of our agents Cindy Shanks asking me if I could meet with a woman in the Beach who had a great fund raising idea for Breast Cancer. Of course, I said yes. When Cindy and I met Rachael Smith at the Queen Office I was taken with her commitment to fight the disease which she had just finished treatment for. She was very organized and had really thought thru a plan to have people in the Beach community all have a yard sale on the same day and donate the money raised to help the fight against Breast Cancer. It was a monumental task to distribute the yard sale kits which included a yard sign, a t-shirt and pink balloons. People from the community signed up on line and then picked up their kits at the Beach office. We had hundreds of signs and t-shirts stored in the basement at Queen. All of the staff participated and there was a steady stream of people in and out of the office for weeks. There was a great buzz about it all! The agents sent letters to their clients asking them to participate and some of them even door knocked the streets delivering flyer's. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. On the day of the Yard Sale there were hundreds of signs scattered thru-out the beach and people came out in droves to purchase the items laid out on the lawns and driveways of homes.
It was a huge success, money was raised, and a bigger ambition was born.
What followed next was an introduction of Rachael and her husband Howard to Christine Martysiewicz at RE/MAX Ontario. RE/MAX embraced the idea, and put their marketing and promotion department behind it. The 2nd year it expanded to many towns across Ontario with each local RE/MAX office getting involved just as we did the year before. Year 3, it is now across Canada!!!
It is incredible to me to see how it has grown and expanded in such a short time. All of us should be extremely proud that this event which helps many woman with breast cancer was started right here at RE/MAX Hallmark!!!
Here is Debra's post.
May 02, 2008
Yard Sale for the Cure by Debra Bain
How the "Yard Sale for the Cure" all began...
With all the talk about the "Yard Sale For The Cure" just around the corner I thought that I would tell you the story of how it all started.
About 3 years ago I got a call from one of our agents Cindy Shanks asking me if I could meet with a woman in the Beach who had a great fund raising idea for Breast Cancer. Of course, I said yes. When Cindy and I met Rachael Smith at the Queen Office I was taken with her commitment to fight the disease which she had just finished treatment for. She was very organized and had really thought thru a plan to have people in the Beach community all have a yard sale on the same day and donate the money raised to help the fight against Breast Cancer. It was a monumental task to distribute the yard sale kits which included a yard sign, a t-shirt and pink balloons. People from the community signed up on line and then picked up their kits at the Beach office. We had hundreds of signs and t-shirts stored in the basement at Queen. All of the staff participated and there was a steady stream of people in and out of the office for weeks. There was a great buzz about it all! The agents sent letters to their clients asking them to participate and some of them even door knocked the streets delivering flyer's. What happened next was nothing short of amazing. On the day of the Yard Sale there were hundreds of signs scattered thru-out the beach and people came out in droves to purchase the items laid out on the lawns and driveways of homes.
It was a huge success, money was raised, and a bigger ambition was born.
What followed next was an introduction of Rachael and her husband Howard to Christine Martysiewicz at RE/MAX Ontario. RE/MAX embraced the idea, and put their marketing and promotion department behind it. The 2nd year it expanded to many towns across Ontario with each local RE/MAX office getting involved just as we did the year before. Year 3, it is now across Canada!!!
It is incredible to me to see how it has grown and expanded in such a short time. All of us should be extremely proud that this event which helps many woman with breast cancer was started right here at RE/MAX Hallmark!!!
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