So many times we meet folks who just don’t know where to start on their home designs, or even where to put their home on their land. No worries! We are here to help walk you through those steps.

If you are going with a custom builder, they can provide you with the step by step process that fits their operations. If you have not selected a custom builder, but want to start looking at designs, you can do a few things. These things will also help when you do finally select that custom builder.

Look at existing floor plans – no need to reinvent the wheel. You can piece numerous floor plans together. Start with the size of home you want to build. Define the number of rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc. Keep the pictures of the plans you like and throw the others out. Go to existing home builders, magazines, and the internet to look for floor plans.

Pick up magazines and cut out anything you might want to incorporate. Start a binder and organize it by rooms or ideas. If you like the bathroom in two different magazines, cut them both out and put them in the folder. Later, the builder can point out the pros and cons of the different pictures with your configurations. If you see decorations, include these too.

Take pictures of anything you might see that you want to include in your design; for example, the mixture of stone and brick on the exterior elevation, landscaping, roofing materials, etc.

If you are a visual person, you can sketch out your ideas on paper and that can be the start of your dream home. The builder can take that and start the full plans.

Establish your budget. Adding a lot of bells and whistles can add up rather quickly. Look at your lot/land to see where to place your home. Slopeage can increase the foundation cost. Your builder can shoot some grades of your location and then you can discuss your options. You might want to have some of your land cleared to find that ideal location. Your builder can explain all the additional cost involved and walk your property and discuss options with you.

Once you are ready to start putting your ideas into a home plan, present as much information as possible to the selected builder. It’s so much fun to see those final results all come together and the client’s excitement about starting to build. Some designs might take longer than others. Patience on both sides is important. The selected builder will sort through the items and discuss the details with you. The builder will then produce a preliminary run on all the items in your Custom Floor Plan. Don’t worry, the floor plan can change. Things don’t always come out on the first run. You might need several passes on the plan for it to be your ideal home. It’s better to get the design down up front than once in construction. Communication is very important between you and your builder. This can be a fun process.

For all Your Real Estate and Building needs or questions, call Debbie at 830-833-4249 or 713-818-6658.

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — If you’re left wondering what to do to create a difference and colorful landscape, we have some novel ideas that will appeal to your taste buds too.

How about a little planting that leads to a little produce?

Have you ever thought about having fruit trees in your landscape? I always called that an edible landscapes. I know right in my garden I have some rhubarb plants.

You could have apple trees in your landscape and enjoy apples all summer long. Let me say that there are a lot of different varieties of apple trees that will start producing apples around July the first and you could have apples, depending on the variety, all the way up to November the first. Not only do you have a variety of harvesting but you have a different size of apple trees.

Believe it or not, a semi dwarf apple tree will get you apples in about four or five years.

Not only do you have apple trees, you can have peach trees and cherry trees without a lot of care.

The only thing you need to watch out for is a lot of insect and disease.

Of course they make a backyard orchard spray which is excellent to use.

Now, besides fruit trees, if you’re thinking about having blackberries or raspberry’s or blueberries, there are some choices out at your lawn and garden center that can be put in your landscape. Here is a good example, blackberries, the best one to plant as far as I’m concerned is the very friendly thornless varieties of blackberries.

Two of the best varieties out there is chester and of course the one I like the best is called triple crown. Both of those varieties are going to give you gallons and gallons of delicious blackberries for every plant that you’ve got.

Then there are the blueberry’s out there. They’re great in this area and two things. Number one, you have to have an acid soil and also for blueberry’s you really need two different varieties to have that cross pollination.

Before I leave you today, I’ve got to say, don’t forget the rhubarb. Rhubarb is a great addition to your landscape and really fits right in with your flowers that you have in your landscape. Not only is it beautiful with the leaf structure and stems but it also make quality rhubarb pie.

Until next time. Keep your green thumb growing.

LandscapingNetwork.com publishes new design ideas on San Diego landscaping. The site offers consumers updated design ideas and pictures of completed landscaping projects throughout the San Diego area.

Calimesa, CA (PRWEB) December 20, 2012

New landscape design ideas from LandscapingNetwork.com, help consumers find the perfect landscaping style for San Diego area homes. A new collection of design articles and photos feature updated San Diego landscaping designs and ideas for coastal properties.

With a number of tourist attractions, like Sea World, the San Diego Wild Animal Park and others, San Diego has long been one of the country’s premier destinations not just for visiting, but for living. This coastal Southern California area provides the perfect climate for dream homes, along with optimal landscaping opportunities.

San Diego landscapes are as unique as the attractions one will find in the area. Landscape styles range from sleek and modern designs to old-world Mediterranean looks. The Landscaping Network offers an extensive photo gallery featuring San Diego landscapes that include popular Spanish designs, Mediterranean, tropical, modern styles, and many more.

Also, the site offers an updated collection of articles detailing landscaping ideas and designs perfect for San Diego properties, including front yards and backyards. Get details on popular San Diego design styles, planting design, and local climate information.

For this information, and more on San Diego landscaping, and to find local San Diego landscapers, visit LandscapingNetwork.com.

Photos courtesy of Promised Path Landscape Inc in Chula Vista, CA.

About LandscapingNetwork.com

LandscapingNetwork.com works with a team of professional landscape designers and writers to bring together the very best landscaping resources and information available. Homeowners, landscape designers and architects, builders and more can also stay up-to-date through the site’s extensive collection of articles, landscaping photos and videos on landscape design ideas, products and more.

For consumers ready to turn their landscaping design dreams into reality, the site offers an easy-to-use Find a Contractor directory to find local landscape contractors and designers throughout the United States and Canada.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebsandiego/landscaping/prweb10209289.htm

Ty Binfet and Frances

Education professor incorporates therapy dog into curriculum and research

A mutt named Frances from the streets of LA has found her calling as a teaching assistant. UBC education professor Ty Binfet rescued the female dog just over a year ago and put her through extensive training to become a highly skilled therapy dog.

Animal-assisted therapy promotes social and emotional well-being in individuals through animal contact. It is designed to calm clients, facilitate social interactions, build confidence and can bring individuals out of their shell.

Binfet and Frances arrived in August at UBC’s Okanagan campus, where the dynamic duo provides education students with a unique classroom learning experience.

“I use Frances in my behavior management and childhood development classes in both an active and passive way. It is a progressive way of teaching, and one that I’ve found to be very effective,” says Binfet.

For instance, in Binfet’s behavior management class, education students strategize and plan a behaviour exercise to teach Frances, and then attempt to do so within a set amount of time in front of their classmates. This challenge provides a safe and honest training ground for students to learn about approximations and shaping of behavior, explains Binfet.

“We draw parallels between Frances and kids in classrooms,” he says. “I am in no way saying kids are like dogs, but there are a lot of commonalities in how, as teachers, we might manage our approaches and guide the development of desirable behaviour. Frances is a very compliant participant who allows students a living lesson where they can assess their own delivery of skills, as well as practice and hone their skill development.”

In addition to his innovative classroom work with Frances, Binfet will begin a research project this February by examining how animal-assisted therapy impacts feelings of homesickness and sense of social isolation in first-year university students living in residence at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

“Thanks to Frances and funding that has come our way, we’re looking at the use of animal assisted therapy by matching 10 St. John Ambulance volunteer dog handlers and dogs with homesick students here on campus,” says Binfet.

His job is to empirically assess whether the use of these dogs on campus can increase a sense of belonging and institutional affiliation to combat some of the loneliness, social isolation, and home sickness students can experience during their first year of university.

The project, which will run for eight weeks, is called Building Academic Retention with K9s (BARK), and is supported by Ian Cull, Associate Vice President Students.

“There’s a lot of information available about animal-assisted therapy but very little rigorous, empirical work, so that’s my contribution to the field.”

Binfet is quick to note that he does not advocate everyone bringing their dog to work, and wants to remind people that Frances has advanced behavior certification and university approval.

However, ultimately, he would like to work towards establishing a K9 daycare for the pets of UBC staff and faculty that also serves as a drop-in centre for students to connect with pets and allows them establish feelings of connectedness, reducing their sense of isolation.

“I purposely drive to campus every day on Innovation Way to remind myself that I am here to be a different kind of thinker. I’m here to push the boundaries a bit, and here to do what I think is intuitively good for the social-emotional well-being of students and evaluate that in an empirically rigorous way,” says Binfet.

“Having dogs on campus is one way of maybe getting us to reconsider things like how people feel accepted in classrooms, in dorms, and what a community can look like with the addition of four-legged companions.”

To view a UBCO.TV video interview with Ty Binfet and Frances visit http://ubco.tv/frontend2.php?cm=movies/NextBigThingBinfet.flv.

Ty Binfet and Frances

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The Metropolitan Builders Association’s annual Home Building and Remodeling Show is set for Jan. 11 through 13 at the Delta Center in downtown Milwaukee.

With the theme, “Building Lifestyles,” the show will offer visitors ideas on designing, building, remodeling, decorating, landscaping and entertaining.

Among special displays will be 2013 Kitchen Inspirations and Man Cave, powered by Apple.

Admission to the show is $8 at the door for adults. Children 12 and younger are admitted free. Visitors can receive a $1 discount on adult admission when they donate two non-persishable food items at the door. Visit MBAhomeshow.com for more information.

The show will be open Friday, Jan. 11, from 2 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 12, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, Jan. 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

© 2012, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved.

Mr. Helvenston spent last Super Bowl Sunday planting the garden outside his 1940s cottage, in a neighborhood of modest houses close to downtown. Orlando’s growing season is nearly year-round, and Mr. Helvenston, a self-employed sustainability consultant for the building trade, said he saw the garden as “a budget thing” — a money-saving supplement to the chicken coop he and his wife, Jennifer, installed a few months later behind their house.

Since his backyard doesn’t get much sun, Mr. Helvenston ripped out the lawn in his front yard and put the 25-by-25-foot, micro-irrigated plot there. The unorthodox landscaping went largely unnoticed for months, perhaps because he lives on a dead-end street next to Interstate 4.

Then, in September, Pedro Pedin, who lives in Puerto Rico but owns the rental property next door, visited with his wife and cast a displeasing eye on his neighbor’s front yard. “All the houses are pretty much kept neat,” Mr. Pedin said, “but his house looks like a farm.”

Mr. Pedin contacted the city, which cited the Helvenstons for violating section 60.207 of Orlando’s Land Development Code (failure to maintain ground cover on property) and set a deadline of Nov. 7 to comply.

Instead, Mr. Helvenston stood outside his polling site during the last election circulating a petition to change the current code, and then appeared on a local TV news station, telling the reporter and any city officials who happened to be watching, “You’ll take my house before you take my vegetable garden.”

Gardeners aren’t generally known for their civil disobedience, yet in the last couple of years several have run afoul of local officials for tending vegetables in their front yards. In Ferguson, Mo., a stay-at-home father was ordered to dig up his 55 varieties of edible plants. In Tulsa, Okla., a gardener who didn’t want to remove her veggies and medicinal herbs saw them largely cleared by the city. In Oak Park, Mich., a mother of six named Julie Bass faced up to 93 days in jail for refusing to take out the raised beds in front of her home and plant what the city deemed “suitable” ground cover.

These and other cases have drawn national attention, as well as outrage from gardeners, some of whom have begun referring to the isolated skirmishes as a broader “war on gardens.”

Roger Doiron, the founder and director of Kitchen Gardeners International, a group promoting food gardens, has marshaled support for Ms. Bass and others. “If you define a war as a struggle between opposing forces, this does fit the bill,” he said. The opposing forces, in Mr. Doiron’s view, are progressive-minded gardeners and backward-thinking municipalities. Gardeners, he said, “need to push back. This isn’t about a single garden; this is about the right to garden.”

Though rooted in something as innocuous as vegetables, these disputes touch on divisive issues like homeowner rights, property values, sustainability, food integrity and the aesthetics of the traditional American lawn. Ecologists and libertarians alike have gotten into the debate, the latter asserting that the codification of gardens is just one more way the government tells people how to live.

Jeff Rowes, a lawyer for the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm based in Arlington, Va., that is advising Mr. Helvenston, is adamant. “It’s the micromanagement of land that invades your liberty in a thousand small ways,” he said.

Invoking the nation’s agrarian past, Mr. Rowes noted, “Washington, Jefferson and Madison were all farmers.”

For Mr. Pedin, the issue is less about the inalienable right to grow snap peas at home than it is about the prerogative to not stand idly by while your property value plummets. Mr. Helvenston’s garden is “messy,” Mr. Pedin said, and will attract rats and lower the worth of his rental home. Mr. Pedin also questioned Mr. Helvenston’s commitment to maintaining the mulch-covered plot.

There has been a long-running campaign, spearheaded by a group of teenagers, to get better skating facilities in the park. The work has been included in Walsall Council’s list of projects within its proposed budget. Funding of £180,000 for landscaping work, including the creation of the skate park, has been allocated for the next financial year.

There will then be a further £60,000 the year after. Councillor Sean Coughlan, from the Friends of Willenhall Memorial Park, today welcomed the news.

“This is fantastic for the Friends group and even more fantastic for the young people in Willenhall whose project this is,” he said.

“They have brought this idea to the Friends group and done a lot of work coming up with the ideas.

“It’s also fantastic news for Walsall in the sense that if it’s put in place, it will be a regional skate park and will attract youngsters from across the Black Country.”

It is hoped the new skate park would be created where the current one is, close to the tennis courts at the Pinson Road entrance.

Councillor Coughlan said designs for it have been drawn up. “I think what we need to do now is sit down and talk about the maintenance of it,” he added. “We had long been campaigning for the money from the sale of Willenhall Leisure Centre to be put back into the town so this investment would be great news.”

Money allocated in the draft budget will also include improved pedestrian and vehicle access as well as a revamp of pathways.

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Getting close to Christmas, isn’t it. Closer and closer and you haven’t found the right gifts yet for some special people in your life. Some have given you a list but most are, well, your guess, and if you’re like me, your guess is usually wrong.

You want it to be something special but ideas just aren’t there yet.

Maybe the usual? Clothes or something for the house would work, but not without guidance. Sure, if you just let them pick and you pay, you’re OK, but that’s no fun.

No, you want to pick it yourself and see their delighted surprise when they receive your perfect gift.

You want it to be special, something that, whether it’s for your spouse or others, won’t be forgotten after the initial smiles are gone. You want it to have some longevity, something cool that keeps on giving.

So you ask questions of what’s valuable now and later. Wife Weezy says gold as in jewelry. That makes sense: It’s pretty and valuable. Can’t argue with that.

Decorator daughters Laura and Bari say good furniture, which makes sense also. Good furniture not only makes you smile but it’s a lifetime thing.

Dallas daughter Brigette, sole owner of one of the largest car dealerships in Texas, of course says cars. Enduring value, she concedes, isn’t there, but pleasure derived makes it a perfect Christmas gift.

All these things make sense, but then it occurs to me: How about landscaping?

Smart Money magazine made it their investment of the month a couple of years ago. Locally, a well-known real estate person privately told me it was the cheapest way to raise the rent. Surely, enduring value is there.

And then there’s the part that makes you smile. My, how nice it is to return home to a nicely landscaped home after a long day as breadwinner or homemaker. What a pleasure it is to live your kind of life in your kind of backyard?

What’s that? You say too expensive? Might be. Landscaping the whole yard may be a few thousand bucks, something you’d give one another, but sprucing up the front yard might be just the right gift for her and you come out pretty good yourself.

Still more than you want to spend? Ever consider how much just the right container plant at the front door can add? And if you want the ultimate return on your gift expenditure, consider giving a tree.

Plant a fast grower now and before you know it, it has added tons to the front, or you’re enjoying its shade in the back.

So get yourself going. Call me if you want the bigger options, or give the guys at Garden Works a ring if you want the smaller ones. Gotta run now. Warm Christmas wishes from me and wife Weezy. See you next year.

Members of the Woodcliff Lake Broadway Corridor Committee made a presentation to the Mayor and Council Monday night to address a proposed addendum to the borough’s Master Plan that would make way for short and long-term improvements to the land south of Highview Avenue.

Committee member David Goldberg made several proposals to improve the quality of life on the east side of town that included short-term projects such as lighting enhancements, landscaping improvements, handicapped accessible walkways, and the possible installation of a second traffic light at the bottom of Highview Avenue to enable left turns going south on Broadway, something members of the committee present that evening said was a top concern.

While committee members agreed the intersection was an “accident waiting to happen,” Police Chief Anthony Jannicelli, who was in previous talks with the county engineer, said there have been no accidents at the intersection of Broadway and Highview in the past two years.

He said residents rejected a traffic study in the mid-’80s that recommended installing a traffic signal at the site. If a traffic signal were installed, police, he added, anticipate that there would be a higher volume of traffic and speeding from motorists using Highview Avenue as a cut-through street to avoid Prospect Avenue. He said an additional traffic signal could make residents who live near Highview unhappy and that motorists who are stopped at the stop sign are responsible to look out for northbound traffic.

Long-term enhancements that would range anywhere from five to 10 years include transforming the vacant land and abandoned buildings south of Broadway into a “vibrant area.” The study recommends renovating the Woodcliff Lake Train Station, something Goldberg felt was in “dire need” of fixing as it serves as the “anchor of the east side.” It also recommends creating a “transit village concept,” which would include a restaurant and office space to drive more businesses to that side of town.

Councilman John Glaser said in a survey he designed, borough residents said they were looking for a quality restaurant in town. Council President Jeff Bader said it must be done in the “right taste” while being mindful of the residents who live near the proposed site. While Bader said he agreed that part of town needs work, he said next year’s tight budget would be a problem.

“It needs work,” Bader said, “[but] the reality is, we don’t have the funds.”

Goldberg said most of the project would be financed through state funding and possibly United Water. Roughly $50,000 has been spent on the study.

Mayor Jeffrey Goldsmith said, “The goal is to get the course and direction and listen to our residents. [Next year] is when we continue to move, and we will move.”

Email: albrizio@northjersey.com

STUART —
Miss Julia F. Harris was born Jan. 22, 1878 in Michigan, the grand-niece of Millard Fillmore, her grandmother, Julia Fillmore, being the sister of the former U.S. president. Miss Harris, who never married, was a Latin teacher in Minnesota, with a degree in psychology, enduring the cold winters there before moving to Florida about 1911, as her uncle and aunt, George J. and Catherine Backus had done, for health reasons.

The Backus’ settled in Stuart, but Julia settled further south in Miami, with an ambition to open a private school where indications were that one might be needed. In a warmer climate, perhaps students could improve academically in an open-air environment, unlike the enclosed classrooms in Minnesota. In 1913, the school began with just 10 children and was located in the Coconut Grove region of Miami. Within two years, however, enrollment had increased and a larger building and campus was necessary and sought.

The Harris school would be situated at Brickell Avenue on Biscayne Bay and feature classes in a screened pavilion, allowing pleasant breezes to surround teacher and students; there was a main building on the campus when classes needed to be indoors. Miss Harris’ Florida School was in an exclusive residential section offering a private facility for well-to-do Miami families and socialites from other areas. Some students lived on campus while others attended classes only during the day, a few from international locations such as neighboring Cuba and Latin American countries.

Kindergarten to college preparatory courses were taught with generally 100 to 150 students at the school in a typical yearly session from October to May. Those who graduated were issued diplomas titled, “Florida Scientific Preparatory School.” Harris encouraged students to excel in academics, body and mind, developing personality and character. Amenities which were added to the campus and curriculum included a swimming pool, tennis court and regular boating trips on Biscayne Bay all of which enhanced the highly respected school.

Julia’s uncle and aunt, George and Catherine, had established a home in the Tropical Farms region, south of Stuart that included many acres of property, known as the Backus Plantation. George owned a realty, offering citrus property and home sites in the 1910s and 1920s as well as operating an insurance company. The plantation, through the expertise of Catherine was well known for its beautiful trees, palms, plants and flowers raised in the nursery. Catherine was also a renowned sculptor. George died in January 1944 in Martin County and Catherine in August 1955, while visiting niece, Julia, in Miami.

Miss Harris had inherited from her mother and Catherine, a 15-acre parcel of land located in the Riverview Subdivision of Palm City on the South Fork of the St. Lucie River, just north of Pelican Cove. With the tremendous development in Miami at the time, perhaps that quiet beautiful area would be a good location for the school. The prime Miami property on Brickell Avenue was sold in January 1957 and Julia, age 79, made arrangements to have a new campus constructed in Palm City.

Stuart architect Donald Armstrong toured the Miami school and worked with Julia to create a 10,000-square-foot academy building and dormitory. With 1,600 feet of property on the St. Lucie River, many of the classes would be outdoor seminars. Miss Harris’ Florida School for girls would offer a wide variety of courses including the sciences and Latin, taught by Julia, permitting a graduate to be accepted in any college. Harris stated, “We want to build safely on the old, established foundations of hard work and respect for moral values, but to have too the pioneer spirit of investigating the new ideas of each day ….”

Several of the teachers from Miami joined the faculty of the new school, which was ready for occupancy by Oct. 1, 1957, with a dormitory accommodating approximately 20, the remaining enrollment being day students, most living with family in the area.

Julia resided in an apartment suite on the top floor of the building as she had done for decades in the Miami facility. She was active in the community, becoming a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church.

The first graduation ceremony was held May 24, 1959, with four young ladies: Susan Hall, Mary F. Lyons, Susan Buzney and Pamela Ferguson having completed the requirements. The school closed for the summer and would reopen in October. Harris took advantage of that time to have a swimming pool and tennis courts built on the campus with landscaping of plants and fruit trees. Musical concerts, plays, classical dance and boat trips on the St. Lucie River were part of the regular academics; many classes were held outside.

At age 91, Miss Harris was ready to retire from teaching and directing the school. She sold the private educational institution to Earle R. Hackett; the transaction was finalized in 1970. Hackett became headmaster, but Miss Harris remained in her own private apartment on the top floor of the facility. The Harris-Stuart School operated for two years as a college preparatory with grades 7 to 12; Julia served in an advisory position. In the 1971-72 school year the institution became co-educational with seven boys admitted as day students.

On March 15, 1972 the Harris-Stuart School was sold to William J. Matheson, a Palm City rancher and member of a pioneer Miami family. Matheson also owned 30 acres adjacent to the campus, which bordered the St. Lucie River. A new headmaster, retired Army Lieut. Col. Woodbury Johnson, was appointed to serve an enrollment of 40 students. Julia retained her advisory position and the upstairs apartment.

The Charles F. Chapman School of Seamanship and Maritime Arts, founded by Glen D. Castle and Charles Frederic Chapman, purchased the former campus from Matheson in November 1974, ending the private school’s tenure, but Miss Harris maintained her apartment on the campus. The Chapman School opened in Palm City in January 1975.

Sadly, after a brief illness in 1977, Julia Fillmore Harris, age 99, passed away Friday afternoon April 8 at her residence, the former school she had established decades before. Julia was buried at Woodlawn Park Cemetery in Coral Gables.

The Chapman School of Seamanship and Maritime Arts remained at the Palm City site for years, eventually moving to St. Lucie Boulevard near the Manatee Pocket in Salerno. The building no longer exists, having been replaced by condominiums. The many young ladies who attended or graduated from Miss Harris’ Florida School must surely be proud of the association with such a prestigious institution.

Alice L. Luckhardt is a freelance historical researcher and writer, member of the Board of Directors for the Stuart Heritage Museum and researcher for the Elliott and House of Refuge. Greg Luckhardt, a native of Stuart and 1967 MCHS grad, is a former science teacher, retired businessman and member of Stuart Heritage Museum. They can be contacted at gandavignettes@gmail.com