Experts Give Tips On What To Consider Before Buying A Pool

Jeff Erkfritz, owner of Clearwater Pools and Service of , says he likes to talk to his customers about their expectations before he begins work.

“We ask what the needs are for the and we design the to fit those needs,” says Erkfritz, whose company specializes in in-.

A well-designed should also flow with the backyard’s landscaping and home’s , he adds.

Pointing to the , Erkfritz says he’s been doing a lot more high-end work, and there have been fewer about in- from middle-class homeowners.

Whatever style of you choose, Erkfritz says, keep in mind it’ll require an investment of time as well as money. But it’s worth it, he says, because you’ll get instant entertainment without leaving your home.

“With the , they can create something in their that they can actually enjoy,” Erkfritz says. “You get what you put into it. If you put time in testing the water, you’ll get a lot out of it.”

Chemicals to keep the water clean usually range from $200 to $500 annually, depending on the ’s size.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

Pool Landscaping No Comments

Ann Arbor Residents Share Creative Landscaping In Annual Tour

landscaping.jpg”>Homeowners’ artistic expressions are the focus of next Saturday’s Ann Arbor Garden Walk.

From a display titled “A Country French Garden” (at 435 Stein Road) to one dubbed “Geometry in Bloom” (at 2230 Platt Road), the outdoor spaces on the 18th annual tour offer visitors a peek at some glorious landscapes.

“We feel that this year’s gardens offer an exceptional taste of the arts - not only music, but sculptures, artisan fountains, hand-done glass and mosaics, and distinctive plantings,” says Kathy Clark, chairwoman of the walk.
If you go

A perfect example is the garden of Lucie and Larry Nisson (1227 Lutz), called “Falling Waters.”

“I’m an artist,” says Larry Nisson, “and I create art with rocks and wood and some glass.”

He says his challenge is to create art “with dynamic tension, so it looks like it’s almost ready to fall over, but not.” He says he hopes people will view the art in his garden and “experience that tension.”

The water feature in the center is almost as lovely as the homeowner’s collection of orchids - about 120 in all, though not all of them will be on display.

At 809 Brooks St., Middy Potter has created “A Place to Dream” for visitors of all ages. It includes a stone tower that Potter built, 300 varieties of hosta and a vast collection of dwarf conifers. This garden also includes some wonderful sculptures.
Lisa Allmendinger | The Ann Arbor NewsMiddy Potter’s garden on Brooks Street in Ann Arbor, titled “A Place to Dream,” includes a stone tower, a vast collection of conifers and 300 varieties of hosta.
“The gardens on this year’s garden walk demonstrate the homeowners’ vision in creating an artistic expression of their lives and their work,” says Clark.

Tickets are $12, and proceeds will benefit the new education center at Growing Hope. There are plans to build a greenhouse and demonstration garden, which will provide hands-on training and education for low-income families and at-risk students, says Claudia Scioly, a member of the garden walk committee.

New to the tour this year will be entertainment at several of the gardens, Clark says.
The Stout Hearted String Band will play at the first garden (435 Stein Road) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nora Karsch, who plays the hammered dulcimer, is a member of Women’s Farm and Garden Association, which sponsors the annual garden walk.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Hillside Landscaping No Comments

What’s New And Pure Michigan In 2008

Lansing, MI – Annually Michigan offers hundreds of attractions for its residents and visitors, and every year there is something new to enjoy – from beachtowns overlooking Lake Michigan to the beautiful landscape of the Upper Peninsula. Visitors can choose new lodging choices, attractions and destination events. 2008 has many milestone events including the portside city of St. Clair celebrating its 150th anniversary year and the 100th anniversary of the Ford Model T and General Motors. It’s never too early to start planning a 2008 pure Michigan vacation or weekend adventure.

New and Enhanced Places to Stay

Detroit gets another new winner when Greektown Casino opens its new 400-room hotel in October 2008. The 30-story hotel will include 10 banquet rooms and two new restaurants. The complex will also feature100,000 square feet of gaming space and a new 1,100-seat live theatre.

Holland’s newest downtown hotel, CityFlats opens in February with 56 individually decorated suites, penthouse restaurant/lounge, and banquet and meetings rooms. Also in Holland the Value Place Hotel, an extended stay property with 105 rooms will open in March. All rooms have full kitchens and high speed internet. Manistee National Golf Resort will offer completely renovated rooms in 2008 with new bedding, furniture, carpet and LCD televisions.

Look for three new Bed %26 Breakfast options in the Lansing area: Cozy Koi Bed and Breakfast with seven unique rooms in two historic homes with a park-like backyard: The Legend Inn, built in 1898 and furnished with antiques; Rosewood Inn, a beautifully restored 7,000 square foot 1870’s Italianate inn featuring four luxurious and authentic guest suites.

Hotel Sterling is a new 11-room boutique hotel offering visitors to downtown Monroe the first lodging facility in decades, and the first ever ‘world-class’ lodging in Monroe. The former City Hotel once condemned went through a year of renovation. Each guestroom includes La-Z-Boy furnishings — a tribute to the furniture giant that has been located in Monroe since 1927. (By the way, 2009 will mark 100 years as to when the first La-Z-Boy recliner swept American off its feet.)

Detroit’s hotel choices will expand when the Westin Book Cadillac Detroit hotel opens in October 2008 following a $180 million restoration of what was the largest hotel in the country when it first opened in 1924. The Book Cadillac will feature 455 guestrooms and suites, 39,000 of ballrooms and meeting space, three restaurants and many amenities. Visitors can also look forward to the addition of 204 luxury hotel suites as part of the old Pick-Fort Shelby — being redeveloped as the Fort Shelby DoubleTree Suites, to be operated by Hilton Hotel Corp. The Detroit Marriott at the Center and the Sheraton Detroit Riverside, formerly the Pontchartrain, have renovated rooms to keep up with the competition.

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is converting its indoor pools into an aquatics play area with a waterslide, waterwalk, and sprayground giving it the excitement of a water park, and will continue to provide lap swimming, aqua aerobics and swimming classes.

The expansion cost was $4 million and this month the Great Wolf Lodge of Traverse City plans to open its new 9,700-square foot conference center, a 4,042 square-foot Grand Ballroom with retractable walls, five breakout and meeting rooms and a 1,981-square-foot pre-function area. Families can continue to splash in the 38,000 square-foot indoor waterpark and soon enjoy a miniature golf course and a state of the art interactive fantasy game called MagiQuest that allows hotel guests to battle and vanquish computer-generated dragons and goblins through the property.

Summit Village at Shanty Creek Resorts in Bellaire, near Traverse City, is undergoing major structural changes in the first stage of a $10 million facelift. The187-room lodge will be rechristened the Lakeview Hotel %26 Conference Center with tall hardwood ceilings and a panoramic view of Lake Bellaire. Summit remodeling is scheduled for a spring 2008 completion, will include all dining, meeting and banquet facilities and creation of a new “Presidential Suite.” In addition, all guestrooms in the hotel are being redecorated. Other new developments at Shanty Creek include the launching of a new innovative concept called Silent Sports which includes kayaking, hiking, birding, disc golf, and other non-motorized sports.

New Places to Play and Explore

Boyne Highlands, Harbor Springs has increased its snowmaking capability by 40 percent with the installation of over $400,000 worth of equipment adding to an already extensive infrastructure. A new exclusive snowshoe loop measuring 3.2 kilometers is being track-set this winter. Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls expanded its Tubing Park with a new locale. The tubing park is being carved between FIS and Thunder Trail, allowing space to expand the park by two lanes and 375 feet for a total size of four lanes and 1,000 feet. Solace Spa at Boyne Mountain is unveiling a new salon; offering hair cutting, styling and coloring, make-up services, manicures and a semi-private pedicure suite.

The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) recently reopened following a comprehensive and expansion project that began in 2001. Visitors can now enjoy a new DIA program, Friday Night Live! with live music, art-making workshops, drawing in the galleries, guided tours and much more. Activities take place from 6 to 10 pm and its free with museum admission. Watch for many other innovative programs and exhibitions in 2008.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians have broken ground on a new tribal museum and cultural center in the native community of Peshawbestown. It will include galleries, collections storage space, archives, museum store, and classrooms. The museum site is on M-22 on the eastern coast of the Leelanau Peninsula, midway between Suttons Bay and Northport.

Holland’s Windmill Island has changed its name to Windmill Island Gardens to better reflect numerous new plantings and enhanced gardens. Dutch Village has also changed its name; Nelis Dutch Village reflects the family name of the owners. Watch for the April 19 opening when the 50th anniversary celebration begins with special events every month, May through October.

Take in two new exhibits at Frederik Meijer Gardens %26 in Grand Rapids: Art of Africa, January 25- May 4; Degas: The Sculptures, May 30- August 31, and Jaume Plensa, September 24-January 4, 2009. John Ball Park Zoo also in Grand Rapids welcomes the return of lions with a new $4.1 million lion exhibit that will be one of the largest of its kind in the country. The exhibit will be near the chimpanzee and African Veldt attractions.

Michigan’s Adventure Amusement Park in Muskegon is building the first suspended looping roller coaster in the state of Michigan. The new steel coaster, Thunderhawk, will open this spring bringing Michigan’s Adventure’s roller coaster count to seven. With speeds of up to 50 mph, it will roll through five inversions for anyone least 52 inches tall. Also in Muskegon, the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum is underway with a $2.3 million expansion to provide a permanent location for the museum, library, theatre, community room, classroom, gift shop and ticket office. The new storage facilities will be climate controlled to better preserve valuable pieces of Michigan’s naval and wartime history. New at the Muskegon Winter Sports Complex is the only ice skating trail through the woods; skaters can glide on a 10 foot wide iced trail that meanders 700 ft through the woods. Two snowshoe trails have been marked this year for beginners and advanced users; snowshoe rentals are available.

Onekama’s Portage Point Historic Inn and Waterfront Resort has a new 30-slip marina; the new marina will enlarge seasonal and transient boater capability. The resort will have 900 feet of beach front and several feet of new sand enhancement on the Portage Lake side if the property.

New Places to Wine and Dine

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa has a new restaurant on its top floor named Aerie. Downtown Traverse City has two new restaurants opening during the current winter season: Catch Island Grill, a Caribbean-style eatery with an emphasis on fresh and saltwater fish, and Red Ginger, an upscale Asian fusion restaurant and sushi bar.

Motor City Casino will move its Iridescence restaurant to the top of the17-story hotel that opened in late 2007. Iridescence received the AAA-Four Diamond Award rating and is the recipient of the 2007 Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

By next season the Traverse City region will boast two additional wineries: a new venture called Two Lads and an offshoot of the popular Black Star Farms winery near Suttons Bay on the Old Mission Peninsula. The Black Star Farms Suttons Bay also plans to add a tasting room; circle the calendar for July to get a new taste. Two Lads will specialize in red and sparkling wines, and has 13-acres of a 58-acre farm planted in grapes with plans for a major expansion in the future.

2008 Michigan Milestones

10th Anniversary – Inn at Bay Harbor

25th Anniversary – Last Resort, South Haven

25th Anniversary – Summer Festival

50th Anniversary – Nelis Dutch Village, Holland

50th anniversary – Waterfront Art Fair, Charlevoix

70th Anniversary – Weber’s Inn,

80th Anniversary – Symphony Orchestra

80th Anniversary – Michigan Theatre,

80th Anniversary – Riverwalk Theatre Community Circle Players, Lansing

100th anniversary – General Motors

100th anniversary – Ford Model T

150th anniversary – City of St. Clair

For more information on Michigan destinations, events and packages, visit michigan.org or call 888-78-GREAT (784-7328). Travel Michigan, a division of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, is the state of Michigan’s official agency for the promotion of tourism. Travel Michigan markets the state’s tourism industry and provides valuable visitor information .

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Thursday, February 21st, 2008

Backyard Landscaping No Comments

How to survive your marriage Sex and romance

Married? Here’s some advice on sex and romance from the book “How to Survive Your Marriage” (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $13.95), straight from people who’ve done it:

“After you get married, things will inevitably become less romantic-which is OK. But I let the relationship slip into a brother-sister vibe, which was not good at all because it zapped all of the sexuality out of everything. Do your best to keep things steamy, at least one night a week.”

-Molly F., New York City, married 5 years

“Being in love is different than being married. Being married is a very real, in-your-face, sometimes-good, sometimes-bad thing. And it doesn’t have a whole lot to do with love. The most important thing is being best friends. It sounds cliche. But if I have a problem, there aren’t other people that I call first. I call my wife. In some ways, marriage is like the best roommate situation you could ever have.”

-Anonymous, Atlanta, married 10 years

“I keep the romance alive in my marriage by doing simple, unexpected things. A card in the mail or placed on the counter; a rose placed under the windshield wiper or delivered to work or home; a surprise dinner of favorite foods; and letting her know she is the most important person in the world to me.”

-R.A., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, married 25 years

“Be aware of sleep patterns and needs. My fiance needs about two to three more hours of sleep each night than I do. That’s a drag since we love going to bed and waking up together. The compromise is a small desk at the foot of our bed where I keep my laptop. I wake at my usual hour and get to work-checking e-mails, writing stories, doing research, etc. We’re still together, but I’m not lying in bed `wasting time’ and he’s not getting up crankily. When his alarm goes off, I crawl back in bed with him and we `wake up’ together.”

-M.C.L., Chapel Hill, N.C., divorced and now engaged

“My wife brings me fresh fruit in bed almost every morning. She gets up and peels an orange or slices an apple and brings it back to bed and feeds me. There’s been no drop-off in that area since we got married.”

-J.C., Washington, D.C., married 3 years

“Be goofy. Always keep a sense of humor.”

-Geoff, , Mich., married 2 years

Tags: ,
0

Friday, February 1st, 2008

Landscaping Stone No Comments

Home Garden Landscaping briefs Oct

Knox Heritage hosts a Saturday, Oct. 27, open house at the two Parkridge George Barber houses the has renovated this year. The houses, a Victorian design at 1618 Washington Ave. and an early 20th-century Dutch Colonial home at 1620 Washington Ave. ,will be open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. that day.

The two houses also will be open during the 1-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 28, Parkridge neighborhood home tour. Six other Parkridge residences will be open during that day’s “Spirit of Park City” event.

Tickets for Saturday’s Barber open house are $10; advance tickets for the Sunday tour are $10. A two-day advance ticket for both days is $15. For more information about the Barber open house or the combination ticket, call Knox Heritage, 865-523-8008. More information about the Parkridge event is available at www.parkridgecommunity.org.

Master woodworkers to display their works

The 14th annual Master Woodworkers Show, presented by the East Tennessee Woodworkers Guild and the Arts &; Culture Alliance, is Nov. 2-4.

The juried show at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay St., is 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Nov. 2; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 3; and noon-5 p.m. Nov. 4. Admission is free.

Featured in the show are handcrafted furniture, wood turnings, sculpture and marquetry created by 27 master woodworkers from Tennessee and surrounding states.

An opening reception is 5-9 p.m. Nov. 2 as part of downtown Knoxville’s “First Fridays.” After the show ends Nov. 4, a limited exhibit of items will continue through Nov. 20. The Emporium’s gallery hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays -.

Crescent Bend hosts free open house Nov. 4

Crescent Bend, 2728 Pike, hosts a special “A Taste of Crescent Bend House &; Gardens” open house for the public 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4.

The open house is free. Crescent Bend includes a historic house and 3 acres of terraced gardens; the property will be set up as if an event is taking place there. Special event vendors will attend.

The property, owned and operated by the Toms Foundation, often is used for such special occasions as weddings, receptions, parties and meetings.

Professor to talk at Friends of UT Gardens meeting

Friends of the University of Tennessee Gardens’ 16th annual membership meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 5, at the UT Visitors Center, corner of Neyland Drive and Pike.

University of Michigan associate professor of landscape architecture Robert E. Grese will speak about the late landscape architect Jens Jensen.

Grese, director of the Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols at the University of Michigan in , is author of the book “Jens Jensen: Maker of National Parks and Gardens.”

Three Knoxville gardens were designed by Jensen in the early part of the 20th century; one is now preserved.

Social hour begins at 6 p.m., followed by the 7 p.m. program. For more information, call the Friends of the UT Gardens, 865-525-4555.

Master glass cutter to sign pieces at Glass Bazaar

Glass Bazaar, 6470 Pike, hosts master glass cutter Sean O’Donnell 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6. O’Donnell will sign and personalize pieces of Waterford crystal purchased from the store’s stock.

O’Donnell has worked for Waterford since 1971. He became a maser glass cutter eight years after he started as an apprentice. He lives in Old Parish in Ireland’s Waterford County and has created a number of Waterford pieces.

Erin’s Meadow announces variety of November classes

Various uses of herbs are the topics of November classes and demonstrations at Erin’s Meadow Herb Farm.

Peggy Merritt will discuss to treat colds and flu, at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 3. Tammy Price will teach “Essential Oils for Body and Bath” at 1 p.m. Nov. 3.

Author Ellen Hitchcock will read from and sign copies of her book, “Nature’s Magical Moments,” 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10.

Merritt will present a demonstration and class about “The Cherokee Path to Health and Happiness” at 1 p.m. Nov. 10.

Herb farm owner Kathy Burke Mihalczo will teach “The Many Uses of Dried ” at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 17 and “Herb Cookies” at 1 p.m. Nov. 24.

Cost per demonstration or class is $20. The Nov. 10 book signing and reading is free.

Erin’s is in Anderson County’s Marlow community near Oak Ridge. To sign up for a class, call 865-435-1452. For more information, see www.erinsmeadowherbfarm.com

UT Society’s annual dinner set for Nov. 6

The University of Tennessee Society’s annual dinner and silent auction is 6 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 6, at Sagebrush Steakhouse, 390 S. Illinois Ave., Oak Ridge.

UT associate geology professor Dr. Henri D. Grissino-Mayer will be guest speaker. Grissino-Mayer specializes in dendrochronology, or the study and analysis of tree rings.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Wednesday, December 26th, 2007

Garden Landscaping No Comments


website counter