2019625(火)

The mould for each cookie

One of my fondest childhood memories is of my mother helping me make a Valentine's box to take to school. We pulled out white paste, an old shoebox, scraps of doilies, and construction paper. There was a flurry of activity as I cut and pasted, and imagined my box filled with homemade Valentines from classmates and secret admirers.

My favorite teacher in the fourth grade was Mrs. Dearing. For Valentine's Day, I wanted to make her something special. My mother had a recipe for sugar cookies that she had made as a child. We stayed up late rolling out the dough, long after my brothers had gone to bed. Carefully, we sprinkled the cookies with sugar and waited for the sparkling wafers to emerge from the oven.

To this day, when I smell sugar cookies baking, I think about Valentine's Day and that special present for my teacher.

SUGAR COOKIES

Ingredients

1/2-cup unsalted butter at room temperature

3/4-cup sugar

1 large egg

1 Tablespoon milk

1/8-teaspoon salt

1/2-teaspoon vanilla

2-cups flour

Granulated sugar for decoration

1 ceramic cookie mold (available at craft stores or from www.cookieartexchange.com )

A plastic drinking straw

1/4 inch satin ribbon

Directions

1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugar. Stir in the egg, milk, and vanilla. Mix in the flour and salt.

2. Knead the mixture into a dough. Chill for 15 minutes.

3. Use the ceramic cookie mold make a fancy Valentine cookie. Coat the mold with cooking spray. Pour a little granulated sugar into the mold, tilt until sugar covers the bottom, and tap out any excess. Press dough into the mold and turn it out onto a greased baking sheet. Use a plastic drinking straw to make a hole in the top of the cookie. Sprinkle with sugar and chill for 30 minutes.

4. Repeat the process for each cookie. (You will only need to coat the injection mold外部リンク with cooking spray once, but you will have to re-sugar the mould for each cookie.)

If you don�t have a cookie mold, on a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick. Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to make your cookies. Use a plastic drinking straw to make a hole in the top of each cookie. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. Place on a greased cookie sheet.

5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake all chilled cookies for about 10 minutes, until golden. Cool completely.

6. Tie a 9-inch piece of satin ribbon through the hole of each cookie. On a tag, attach your special message or Valentine wish.

Instead of store bought Valentines, encourage your child to make a gift that will fill him with pride and accomplishment.

--

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About the Authors: Rondi Hillstrom Davis and Janell Sewall Oakes are the co-authors of the award-winning book Together: Creating Family Traditions. To check out their website that's jam packed with family ideas, visit

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2019624(月)

Which can cause mould problems

If you're thinking of selling your home, then like most everyone else, you will rightfully want top dollar for it. Before you call that realtor looking for an appraisal, you may want to take some time to consider, if perhaps, you may be driving down the value of your home. Many bad habits and personal quirks can easily decrease the value of your home to a potential buyer. Here is a list of the top five habits that assessors feel quickly devalue your home:

The first on the list is smoking. It is, by far, one of the most damaging and difficult odours to eliminate from a home, especially if the home has been filled with consistent smokers for many years. It is also very expensive to hire the needed professionals it will take to come through and remove all traces of cigarette smoke from the walls, ceiling, floors and flooring, including any carpeted areas. That is considering, there are no burn holes or other damage due to cigarette smoking. If so, there will be additional expenses in repairing or replacing things such as counter tops and flooring.

A full elimination of cigarette smoke from a home will require a thorough cleansing of all surfaces, especially the walls. Once all the nicotine has been removed, your walls will then have to be sealed and repainted. Aside from cleaning all carpets, you can also expect to hire a professional to clean your furnace, change the filters and flush out all the air ducts. For an average size home, removing all traces of cigarette smoke will run approximately $1,500. To seal and repaint, you can expect to pay another $6,000. If a home has belonged to a heavy smoker who has pets that urinate inside the home, realtors warn home sellers to expect a cleaning and replacement bill of around $25,000. They also warn that most home buyers will not even consider putting in an offer on such a home, regardless of the clean up efforts or how low the cost of the home.

A distant second for home depreciation are pet odours, particularly the smell of cat urine. It is very difficult to remove the smell and generally requires replacing the carpets, and sometimes, even the sub-flooring. This bill can run a homeowner up to $15,000.

Too many plants are also an eyesore for potential homebuyers. Not only does it give the overwhelming feel of a jungle, too many plants can overload a home with humidity, which can cause mould problems. To rectify injection mould外部リンク issues in a home can run up a $10,000 bill by the time all the insulation has been replaced, which is the only way to ensure a complete eradication of the problem.

Additional devaluation issues are obvious things such as too much clutter. A potential home buyer's first impression of your home is very important and you only get that chance once. Having a home that is even somewhat up to date with environmentally friendly things like windows, furnace or on-demand hot water tanks are also an additional selling feature. If your home is furnished with leaking windows, leaking water tanks and an insufficient furnace, these are not a great selling points to any potential buyer.



2019621(金)

Mould on any surface of your property

You have a contractor hired to wash your property regularly. Yet, when you took a closer look at your property today, you were surprised at how old the walls and fences look. Even the pool sides seemed faded and lack luster. You are wondering what the problem is.

Well, any experienced cleaning professional will take one look at your property and tell you exactly what the issue is. Pressure washing - your cleaners aren't doing it! A regular soap-and-water or squeegee and sponge wash doesn't do your property much advantage, except for making it "look clean". While cursory amounts of dirt, dust and foreign particles run off the surface with water, the property is still awash in grime and mould.

Pressure - the right tactics

Many inexperienced cleaning crews employ novice cleaners who are unaware of the basic characteristics of dirt and grime. With time, dirt, dust and box moul外部リンク has a way of solidifying, especially once exposed to sun and wind, making them extremely entrenched in crevices of walls and fences, driveways and roofs, pool sides and floors, and even on surfaces of solar panels and other structures. No amount of water poured through buckets or hoses will dislodge that mess.

A company that specializes in pressure washing recognizes this unique phenomenon, and uses appropriate tools and techniques to deal with it. For instance, understanding that not all surfaces are built alike, and that each of them has a unique propensity to attract and trap dirt, is key to fighting dirt. Without a professional grasp of this basic principle, no amount of strong arm tactics will get your property clean and pristine-looking.

The right tools

Professional pressure washing services companies employ highly trained technicians on their cleaning crews. These individuals master the use of gadgets like commercial "Whirl-Away" rotary machines that are uniquely designed to dislodge even the most stubbornly entrenched particles - oil stains, grease and chewing gum - from your property.

Companies that rely on conventional cleaning techniques are no match for a professional, highly-trained crew that brings with them many years of cleaning a variety of property and landscapes. Using cleaning machines that produce from 600psi to 4000psi of pressure, they can target deep-rooted grime and mould on any surface of your property.



A win-win

By using a professional cleaning company for pressure washing your home, garage, factory, workshop, warehouse and other residential and commercial properties, you get the peace of mind that they will do the job in an environmentally-friendly way. They use bio-degradable formulas that are safe for pets, plants and people, and that leave no harmful residue behind.

And, their modern equipment does the job faster, and uses less water than a conventional cleaner would use. So what's not to like about having your property professionally cleaned. It's a win-win for everyone!



2019620(木)

Breaking the mould and doing something

All of those motivational plaques you see on the walls of corporate offices tell us we should soar like an eagle.

But I reckon we should all start quacking like eagles instead.

What do I Mean by That?

Over the years, I've met with hundreds of business owners. And it's very unusual to meet someone who is willing to break the mould (the ones who do are usually quite wealthy) - most prefer to copy what everyone else in their industry is doing.

They are afraid to break away from their industry's "pack of ducks" for fear they will look silly. So they all quack like ducks because...

They are scared of putting a compelling headline on top of their advertisement.

They are scared of writing a long copy advertisement

They are scared of trying a bundle of different strategies instead of just following along like a flock of ducks as all their competitors do.

That's why getting together with people in your industry at meetings and events aren't always the best use of your time. You always end up going over the same strategies because in most cases, almost everyone is doing the same thing.

(Idea: what would happen if you got together with the leading entrepreneurs from different fields and exchanged ideas? Wouldn't that be more productive?

Could you find a unique new strategy which would work for you. Trust me, your business isn't really that different - you're all selling to human beings with the same needs, wants and desires!)

In a nutshell, they are scared of doing new things. Many years ago, when I was about 18 I picked up a book from a bookshop in Melbourne called "Jonathon Livingston Seagull." It was a lovely story about a REBEL seagull that dared to step outside the mould and live his life to the fullest.

Rather than scavenging from the beach and just focusing on survival, he decided he wanted to explore the world and see all the wonders it had to offer. He was rejected by his clan and labelled an outcast. But from memory, he ended up being a big hero and a leader.

It's a great book if you ever get the chance to read it. Anyway, I don't think any business owner is a natural eagle. At the end of the day, we all start out as ducks.

Most of us are scared out of our mind of making a mistake... breaking the mould and doing something different.

So when it comes to advertising, we ask everyone's opinion about which ad is the best. And that's a BIG MISTAKE because everyone will tell you the ad they like is the one with the shortest copy that looks the prettiest.

But that's not true. In fact, in one of Peter Sun's books, he gives an example of two advertisements. Almost everyone -

I think it was over 80% picked the ad, which ended up receiving 2 calls versus the one, which resulted in 11 jobs in the same time period. And the ads were right next to each other in the phone directory.

So DARE TO BE THE DUCK in your industry who breaks the box moul外部リンク, "quacks like an eagle" and does something different.

Quack like an eagle, apply what you learn and eventually (just like Jonathon Livingston Seagull) you could end up being the leader in your industry, too.



2019619(水)

Mold is a definite threat to you

There is no place like your home where you can freely let go and relax to your heart's content. Your home is the one place where you can release your worries because your home should be the safest place to be in, where you cook and eat as you please and sleep with comfort. The things about your house reflect who you really are and even the interior is a mirror to what the owner's life is all about. Your family lives with you and every corner of your house is a reminder that these four walls is a safe haven for you and your loved ones.

You and your family are not the only ones living in your house. If you look really hard you will notice that there is mold in your house and that it is not only in one part of the house but could be on every hidden surface. It is terrifying to think that you are not the only ones living in your household but that There is no place like your home where you can freely let go and relax to your heart's content. Your home is the one place where you can release your worries because your home should be the safest place to be in, where you cook and eat as you please and sleep with comfort. The things about your house reflect who you really are and even the interior is a mirror to what the owner's life is all about. Your family lives with you and every corner of your house is a reminder that these four walls is a safe haven for you and your loved ones.

You and your family are not the only ones living in your house. If you look really hard you will notice that there is mold外部リンク in your house and that it is not only in one part of the house but could be on every hidden surface. It is terrifying to think that you are not the only ones living in your household but that mold can even be spreading at an alarming rate if you don't do something about it. It is even more frightening to consider that you can not do anything about this problem making you feel helpless and frustrated.

Mold is a definite threat to you and your family as it spreads in your house, risking the health of the people inside. It can damage your skin and even invade the internal organs such as your lungs and eventually can be fatal. If you are healthy, infections caused by mold can be mild but you should not dismiss the chance that once you are infected you may get a chronic illness and have to undergo constant treatments which could be costly and time-consuming. Mold can take over your life and your home will be a safe haven no more.

You must take charge of your home and make it a place where you and your family can continue living in it by being prepared and having the best mold killers as soon as you are certain that mold is in your house. The most important thing is to have the most effective and safest organic mold cleaner on hand in order to ensure that you are not risking the health of your family and even your pets. Ordinary mold removers contain harsh and toxic materials that could be hazardous to your well-being. The main thing is to stop the mold from spreading and efficiently wiping out its presence in your household but make sure that your mildew cleaners and mold removers are of organic formulation so that handling these products will not be a health risk. Your family's health is a top priority and so always be certain that your safety comes first. Mold is a tricky thing to detect but once it is found, removing it is easy as long as you have the right product for natural mold cleaning. Living with mold in your home is no laughing matter. So take action and be sure that you have the right mold remover and protect your family from mold. can even be spreading at an alarming rate if you don't do something about it. It is even more frightening to consider that you can not do anything about this problem making you feel helpless and frustrated.

Mold is a definite threat to you and your family as it spreads in your house, risking the health of the people inside. It can damage your skin and even invade the internal organs such as your lungs and eventually can be fatal. If you are healthy, infections caused by mold can be mild but you should not dismiss the chance that once you are infected you may get a chronic illness and have to undergo constant treatments which could be costly and time-consuming. Mold can take over your life and your home will be a safe haven no more.

You must take charge of your home and make it a place where you and your family can continue living in it by being prepared and having the best mold killers as soon as you are certain that mold is in your house. The most important thing is to have the most effective and safest organic mold cleaner on hand in order to ensure that you are not risking the health of your family and even your pets. Ordinary mold removers contain harsh and toxic materials that could be hazardous to your well-being. The main thing is to stop the mold from spreading and efficiently wiping out its presence in your household but make sure that your mildew cleaners and mold removers are of organic formulation so that handling these products will not be a health risk. Your family's health is a top priority and so always be certain that your safety comes first. Mold is a tricky thing to detect but once it is found, removing it is easy as long as you have the right product for natural mold cleaning. Living with mold in your home is no laughing matter. So take action and be sure that you have the right mold remover and protect your family from mold.



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