Wildlife and Driving Precautions in the Winter

In the northern regions of the United States, you could have a collision with wildlife and even more, so it is hard to detect them while driving in blustery snow. A Moose whistle which is placed on the front of a vehicle may help. It makes a sound somewhat like a dog whistle that only the moose, deer and other wildlife animals can detect. The moose whistle is a tool to help alert the precious wildlife to stay back from your area and your moving vehicle.

One of the most common animals to come into a collision with a vehicle is a deer and this type of collision could cost you dearly.

How can you be more careful to avoid this? Learn more about the deer’s habits. Deer has a natural camouflage and detecting them while driving can be difficult if you are on an interstate and driving at high speeds. It is easier to spot them during the day, but in the early morning hours and evenings this can be a challenge.

During the fall and November, it is particularly more of a danger for both a driver and a deer when they are looking for food in the winter and mostly in the mountains. Keep an eye out if you are on a road protected by deer fence and keep special attention to where the fences begin and end, as deer can cross in these areas. Also look for signs like roadside fences broken down and be sure to slow down in these areas.

Hitting a deer can cause severe injury to the animal and damages to your vehicle and injuries to you and your passengers as well.

The moose are also another animal to look out for and can cause more severe injuries and damage all the way around since a moose is much bigger than a deer. The injuries that occur when colliding with a moose are head and neck injuries since the moose is much taller and bigger and the full body weight with the windshield of many vehicles is common.

Travel carefully if in the areas of wildlife and know that the early morning hours from 4 am to 6 am and the evening hours from 6 pm to 11 pm are the most dangerous for the animals and drivers alike.

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Raylaen at Pixabay.com

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Fun and Easy Pumpkin Decorating For Halloween

Have fun with the entire family by painting, adding decals and more for a funny or scary pumpkin.

Pick Your Pumpkin

Pumpkins are easy to get this time of year, whether it is a fresh found in grocery stores to farmers market. You could also opt to get a faux pumpkin and use it year after year. Check out your local craft stores for those.

Using Paint and Markers

For both the fresh pumpkin and the faux pumpkins, acrylic paint works best. Paint the entire pumpkin or just use the paint for a scary face or cartoon style. Use different size brushes and colors . You could also use markers either of the pumpkins and the best ones are Sharpies. The “Sharpie Markers”are able to stand up to the layer of wax that is on the fresh pumpkins.

Head on over to ThePumpkinLaday.com and choose from 700 Free Carving Patterns. While these can be used to draw on the pumpkin and then carve, you could also trace and then paint or use markers to make the Halloween scene. If you want to carve your pumpkin then check out The Pumpkin Lady’s page for How To Carve a Pumpkin

Skip The Paint – Go With Decals

For a fun and fast way to decorate your pumpkins, add decals and stickers. Sold in Craft stores.

Adding the Extra’s

Ribbons, hats, wigs and fuzzy accents bring out the creativity for your pumpkin. You could use yarn for hair, ribbon for bow ties and more.

Don’t want to carve free hand? Try the cookie cutter method. Check out this video below to show you how!

Wishing you a Fun and Safe Halloween

 

 

 

Photo Courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Party Decorations and Treats Ideas DIY For Halloween

It’s Halloween, coming up and whether you decorate a little or for a haunted house it does not have to cost you a lot if you are creative. Even the food can be a part of the fun decorations.
Go over to our Pinterest Page Halloween for Party Decoration and Treats Ideas

Here are some of the pins for creating great food and décor for Halloween:

Chocolate Dipped Candy Corn Rice Crispy Treats
Spooky Halloween 7 Layer Dip Recipe
Mini Caramel Apples Recipe
Strawberry Ghosts
Halloween Mummy Jalapeño Poppers
Halloween Table Decorations
DIY Spider Web Ball Jars
Five Easy Halloween Games For Kids
11 Ways to Make Your House Look Haunted
34 Inspiring Halloween Party Ideas for Adults

Happy Halloween :}

 

 

Photo Courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tips To keep your clothes Dryer from Becoming a Fire Hazard

Have you noticed a difference in the performance in your dryer? Are your clothes taking longer to dry or come out hot but still damp when the timer goes off that they are done? You may have a clogged dryer vent and that may lead to shutting down your dryer, or worse a fire..

A friend of mine noticed that her clothes were taking longer to dry over the past month and when doing laundry, the other day, the dryer just shut down. The dryer is only 2 years old, and this could have been prevented. She contacted an appliance repair company who came out and told her the motor shut down. The cause, blocked dryer vent that goes up through the attic to the outside top of the roof.

This happened because when lint builds up in the dryer or in the exhaust duct, it causes excessive heat to build up and in this instance the dryer motor shut down. What could have been worse, if the motor had not shut down it may have resulted in a fire.

Instead of replacing the dryer, or having the motor replaced, the cost of repair exceeded the price of having a dryer vent maintenance check. Having a maintenance check at least once a year will give you peace of mind for the safety of your home and family, maintaining the care of your dryer and less out of pocket expense.

If you have a laundry room that has the dryer vent going up through the attic and out through the roof, or you notice the same problems as the warning signs below check your dryer vent and consider a maintenance check. The repair company informed her to have it cleaned out every six months (depending on how often you use your dryer), to at least once a year.

Here are some warning signs you should look out for.

Clothes taking longer to dry

Dryer is very hot on top

Very little or no lint in the lint trap

Dryer stopping anytime during a drying cycle

Lint left on clothing

Moldy odor from clothes

Higher Light Bill from running the dryer more

Here is a list of things you can do to help cut down on the lint build up.
(This does not assure build up will not occur and a 6 Months to a Yearly maintenance check is still advisable).

Check your lint screen before and after each load of clothes to dry and clean thoroughly.

Keep dryer area free of clutter and piles of clothes on top of dryer.

Clean behind and underneath the dryer for lint building up.

Replace flexible tubes with ridged metal ducts to get less build up, clean up easier and will stand up to a lint fire much better

 

Photo Courtesy of digitalart at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Money Saving Tips for Up Keeping Your Appliances

 

The holidays are just around the corner and that means you will be using your oven, refrigerator and dishwasher much more and your light bill going up.

If you have old appliances, you may want to consider changing them out for new ones before the busy season starts or making repairs and upgrades to the ones you already own.

This may sound expensive but keeping up with old appliances can save you money in the long run and now with so many energy efficient appliances to choose from, if you can afford it, change it an appliance for a new one.

If your refrigerator is not running properly your food will spoil quicker and that is not only a waste of food but a waste of your money. The culprit to look for first is that seal around the doors. If you have a spill or crumbs that build up, then your seal will not work as it should. A sticky spill will lead to the seal pulling away from the door every time its opened. This allows warm air to get in your fridge keeping the motor running to keep the temperature where it needs to maintain it. To help your fridge stay at its best, it’s as simple as catching those spills and keeping the seals wiped down with warm water and soap. Also wiping down the fridge at least once a month will help extend the life of your refrigerator.

Oven needs a cleaning

Your oven will get quite a workout with cookies and treats to main course roasts and turkeys. This can lead to spills or grease build up which can lead to fires. The one time out of the year you will want to turn on the self-cleaning cycle is January after the holidays or anytime you do a tremendous amount of cooking. Clean up as you go and catch those spills that you may have missed and prevent any potential hazards.

Prevent Rust in the Dishwasher

Check out eh vinyl coating on your dish racks. After much use the vinyl can peel exposing the metal which leads to rust. This can cause pieces of your dish rack to fall apart resulting in a new dish rack or worse the pieces falling into your pump causing breakage. Catch that peeling vinyl right away with a vinyl touch up coating like Plastic Dip Dishwasher Re-Rack

Contact an appliance company in your area to see if they will take your old appliances and maybe even offer you a deal

 

Photo Courtesy of Photo-Mix at Pixabay.com

 

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