Archive for August, 2009
Skies and Snow with an Outdoor Natural Gas Fireplace
Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 | Business | Comments Off
Louise loves taking her breakfast on her patio. She likes having the early morning sun shine on her and warm her up as she sips her first cappuccino of the day. Besides, she says, her doctor told her about Vitamin D from the sun. On weekends you are likely to find her lounging in a blue butterfly chair reading a book. She likes to read too, devouring everything from Dan Brown through Cervantes to Homer. Even in the evenings you’ll still find her outdoors. She’s kind of a romantic who likes to watch the moonrise and count the stars at night, sometimes waiting for meteors so she can make a wish.
An attractive job offer made her move to the Northeast. Of course, she wouldn’t live in a house without a patio. And she just had to have a nice outdoor fireplace to warm her up on autumns and winters. The one she had in California was a log-burning type. While she loved the dancing flames and the crackling sounds, she thought she could do without having to carry logs from a pile, the difficulty of lighting them up, and the cleaning of ashes. This time she opted for an outdoor natural gas fireplace. She continues to enjoy her morning coffee under the skies and, this time, the myriad colors of autumn and fresh snow on the ground.
Fire Ants
Saturday, August 1st, 2009 | Standards | Comments Off
You can tell if an ant is a fire ant by looking at the color of its body. This ant variety often has a copper brown head and body, but with a darker abdomen. The workers tend to be blackish or reddish, and they can be 2 to 6 millimeters in length.
Fire ants build their nest in moist soil. You can find them in river banks, lawns that are often watered, near ponds, or fountains. They tend to build their nests under some form of covering such as beneath a fallen log, bricks, or rocks. If there is no covering, they build mounds that could reach a height of about half a meter.
When most ants bite, they spray acid on the wound causing a bit of sting. Fire ants, however, bite only to secure a hold then sting from the abdomen injecting a toxin called Solenopsin. This alkaloid venom causes a painful sting that is similar to a burning sensation.
There are various natural remedies to the bite of a fire ant. You can use a thick meat tenderizer paste, baking soda mixed with water into a thick paste, salt, tea tree oil, onion, and even dishwashing liquid. If these do not work and abate your swelling, it is suggested that you see your doctor. But if you are the kind that is sensitive or allergic to insect bites, you better see your physician right away.