“If I mow short, it will be longer until I have to mow again.” - False! The ‘blade’ of grass is where photosynthesis takes place, where grass converts sunshine into sugar to feed the roots. When you chop the blades off really short, the grass has to RACE to make more blades to make sugar. It then grows amazingly fast. This fast growth uses up a lot of the grass's stored sugar, and weakens the plant – making it vulnerable to disease and pests! Tall grass is healthier and can use the extra sugar to make rhizomes (more grass plants), thus thickening the turf. And remember to always leave the clippings on the lawn. It adds organic matter and nutrients back into the soil.

Tip: If you have a serious weed problem, consider mowing twice as often as you normally do. The sensitive growing point for grass is near the soil. The sensitive growing point for most weeds is near the top of the plant. Think of it as though when you mow your lawn, you are giving your grass a haircut and cutting the heads off of the weeds.

“Watering my lawn often is best.” - False! Shallow, frequent watering encourages "thatch", where the grass propagates with above-soil runners rather than rhizomes under the soil. There get to be so many runners that they weave a mat that chokes out water and air. And since the roots are in the top inch or two of soil, a hot day will quickly dry the soil and much of the grass as well. On the other hand, weeds and weed seedlings thrive with a daily watering.

Watering infrequently but thoroughly will force your grass roots to go deep into the soil, deeper than most weed roots. As the top few inches of soil becomes bone dry, the weeds and weed seedlings up there die while the grass is still able to get a drink.

Many homes have been updated with or built originally using Vinyl Siding as the exterior finish. It comes it a variety of styles and an amazing array of colours. But what can you do if you want to change the colour? Simply paint it!

There is such a thing as vinyl siding paint. And even though some paint manufacturers have labeled some product "vinyl siding paint", it's nothing more than 100% acrylic latex house paint.

Like any painting project, preparation is key. For outside vinyl that has been exposed to the weather for years, a good clean is essential. And if you’re planning to paint yourself, allow plenty of time. Siding, or any material, takes a good amount of care and time to paint properly.

Eggs have been called nature’s most perfect food, because they actually contain all the vitamins a human needs, except for Vitamin C. 

Eggs age more in one day at room temperature than in one week in the refrigerator. 

To test an egg’s freshness, carefully drop it in a cup of cold water.  If it stays on its side on the bottom it’s fresh.  If it stays on the bottom, but stands up, it is at least ten days old, and if it floats or comes to the top, it is spoiled. 

The average hen lays about 257 eggs per year, which is equivalent to roughly five eggs per week. 

The colour of an egg depends on the breed of a hen – hens with white ear lobes lay white eggs and hens with red ear lobes lay brown eggs.   

There is a World Egg Day, which is the second Friday in October. 

China has the highest egg consumption per capita at 38 pounds of eggs a year.  

The most expensive egg ever sold was the Faberge "Winter Egg" sold in 2002 for US$9.6 million.

“Shake a leg”

Meaning – Wake up and get out of bed, or hurry up.

Example – “It’s almost 9 o’clock already. Shake a leg or we’ll be late!”

Origin - Naval origin. An alternative to 'show a leg'. This was the injunction given by naval officers to underlings who they were rousing from sleep. Showing a leg out of the sailor's hammock was required to prove they were awake.

Cool Sites

Amazing Tricks to Learn
Gina, age 9, says, “I want to be a magician when I grow up. This site has some fun things you can do to amaze your parents and friends. And most of them are really easy, too!

Happy Easter Jokes
Jeff, age 8, says, “My Dad calls these jokes ‘groaners’, but he wanted to hear every one! They’re funny and my friends at school laughed a lot when they heard them.”

Animal fact Sheets
Marta, age 10, says, “This web site has lots of fact sheets on animals around the world. It tells you all about them and shows you a picture, too. Some of them are endangered.”

Why Easter?
Kyle, age 11, says, “This site has everything about Easter - games, stuff to do, stuff other people do, and more.”

If you have always thought that there was no difference between the button called "Back" and the one called "up" when you have a computer folder open, read on. There really is a difference ... 

Say you're navigating through folders and sub folders and decide you have overshot your mark. Well, there are two ways to go. The "Back" button will take you to the last folder you were in, while the "Up" button (a folder icon with a green "up" arrow) will take you one level up in the folder hierarchy. This may, or may not, be the same place. So try both so you know when each is best used.

Words of Wisdom; “Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don't let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.” ~ Clifford Stoll

Easter Facts
• The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.
• In medieval times a festival of egg throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg.
• The first Easter baskets were made to look like bird's nests.
• Easter Bonnets are a throw back to the days when the people denied themselves the pleasure of wearing finery for the duration of Lent.
• The traditional act of painting eggs is called Pysanka.
• To early Egyptians, the egg was a sacred token of the renovation of mankind after the Flood.
• To Christians, the egg has always been a symbol of the Resurrection.
• To Jews, the egg marks the time of their departure from the land of Egypt.
• The date of Passover is variable as it is dependent on the phases of the moon, and thus Easter is also a movable feast.
• Easter is now celebrated (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer) on the first Sunday after the full moon occurring on or after March 21, the Spring Equinox.
• By tradition, it was obligatory (or at least lucky) for churchgoers to wear some bright new piece of clothing - at least an Easter bonnet, if not a complete new outfit.

Stop deck boards from “cupping” - There’s no shortage of conflicting advice on this topic. Some manufacturers insist that boards should be installed with the bark-side up. An equal number say bark-side down. The truth is that it depends on the moisture content of the board when it is installed and its exposure after installation controls a board’s shape.

Deck boards are typically flat-sawn so they are very likely to cup one way or the other. A good way to remember how wood cups it to imagine that growth rings try to straighten out as a wet board dries. If you install a wet piece of lumber (like most treated decks) with its bark-side up, it will cup up at the edges as it dries. However, a dry board moves in the opposite direction when it gains moisture. Dry lumber installed bark-side up will cup to shed water as it is wet.

Now, if you are like most other folks, when the last season ended, you threw a cover over the old grill, rolled it into the back of the garage or a shed (and some of us even left them standing outside on the patio) and forgot about it until now. Well, the season is upon us! The least you can do for the old cooker is give it a tune-up. It will make for safer, cleaner grilling this season.

The tune up
Spiders love barbecues! Over the winter they climb into the tube that connects the burner to the propane tank and block the flow of fuel with their webs. This can block the fuel completely, or cause the gas pressure to build before ignition, creating that small explosion of flame that's been known to singe the arm hair off many an unsuspecting griller. So start by emptying out your barbecue and put a vacuum cleaner on the end of the hose. Or try one of those specifically made brushes for cleaning them out.

Next, dump out the old food and briquettes that are in the bottom of your grilling area. While you have it partly dismantled, fire it up and visually check the operation of the burner. There should be an even blue flame all over.  If not, reclean the tubes or see if there is rust damage to the burner and replace. Or check owner’s manual for proper venturi opening. 

Now you’re ready to add in some new briquettes. (Tip 1: Briquettes last a lot longer than lava rocks. Tip 2: Don't dump the whole bag of briquettes in - just replace the casualties of winter.) Consider buying a gas grill degreaser to clean the grills. Or give it a good scrub with a brass brush to remove any deposits.

“A person without a sense of humour is like a wagon without springs. It's jolted by every pebble on the road.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

“Nature does nothing uselessly.” ~ Aristotle

“Computing is not about computers any more. It is about living.” ~ Nicholas Negroponte

“Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~ Robin Williams