Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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Find Yourself a Hobby and Enjoy Its Amazing Benefits

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Hobbies are considered by many as the activities that only those with laid-back and quiet lives can afford to have. The truth, however, is that the people who live busy and stressful lives are the ones who need hobbies or past time activities. The reason for this is that hobbies can bring huge positive changes to a person’s life. Here are some great things you can get from having a hobby.

You get to enjoy your free time.

Having a hobby gives you a chance to free yourself from all the pressures and stress of everyday work and hectic schedule. If you feel overwhelmed by all the responsibilities you have, you must be finding it hard to find the time or even allow yourself to take a break from all your tasks to simply sit and relax. But once you find a hobby to enjoy, it will be much easier for you to have a purposeful break. This way, you won’t feel as if you were just sitting around and wasting your time.

You can experience some positive stress.

If you are someone who isn’t overly stressed and you feel that you are actually under-stimulated, you will find that hobbies are actually a good source of stress. This is referred to as the healthy and positive kind of stress that can make us feel more excited about our lives. For instance, you feel that staying home the entire day is uninspiring and dull, you can attend cooking classes to give you a sense of self-worth and enjoyment. You will do this without any pressure, so you get to be productive without having too much to stress about.

You get the chance to meet people.

Many hobbies are in the form of group activities, which can help you become more sociable. Out of your hobbies, you can join knitting circles, golf enthusiasts and even fiction writing group. Such types of hobbies that let you have connections with other people can definitely boost your social life and can bring fun to your daily life as well.

Hobbies are a form of gratification.

According to psychologists, gratifications are meaningful activities that can bring fun and meaning to a person’s life. These activities come with some kind of challenge that will let you put to use all your great personal skills. Through your hobbies, you will have a sense of flow where you can lose track of time and escape the stressors of everything around you. As a result, you will give yourself a huge favor and eventually enjoy a more positive and healthy lifestyle and well being.

Hobbies protect you against burnout.

Especially for hardworking people, being stressed and pressured are inevitable. This is why these types of people are the ones who really need to form hobbies more. By engaging in some interesting and worthwhile pastimes, they will have something to look forward to and something that will free them from all the worries at work. According to some research, those people with high-demand jobs are vulnerable to burnouts. As a result, they tend to feel that sleep is the only way to rest and be free from any worries. However, still as indicated by the research, these people do not really have proper rest even as they sleep. But by doing an activity that is not at all related to their work, they turn out to be less fatigued and can benefit from good quality sleep. Through this also, they feel more enthusiastic about their work and positive about their lives in general.

Hobbies are beneficial to your health and well-being.

There was a study conducted about the relationship between health and hobbies. According to this study, those people who take the time to engage in any physical or leisure activity even for just 20 minutes in a day tend to be less likely to suffer from too much fatigue. In addition, participating in such leisure and fun activities help lower blood pressure, reduce weight, and increase physical function. These activities also were associated with very high levels of positive mindset and considerably lower levels of pessimism and depression.

You can build better relationships with your loved ones.

So much has been said about the psychological and health benefits of having a hobby. If you come to think of it, all these can lead to one great thing – better relationship with people. You can just imagine when you reach the point when you feel so good about your body and your life as a whole, you can definitely spread this feeling to your loved ones. You will surely find more reasons to spend quality time with them, and every minute you spend will be filled with love and happiness. At the end of the day, you will realize that what it simply takes to have a fuller and happier life is to address your own need of having time to enjoy and live life to the fullest.

Cedric Loiselle enjoys writing about a myriad of topics such as business and finance, health, as well as home improvement and lifestyle. He can even give sound advice as to choosing the best cooking classes New Orleans has for you and your loved ones.





Outdoor Decorating for Halloween Festivities

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You always want your house to look great, but you also want to do something special for the holidays. Decorating the outside of your home for Halloween can seem confusing with so much to choose from at the stores. Here are some tips to help you make your house the happiest haunted spot on the street or the spookiest one the kids have ever seen.

Pick a Theme

It’s important to start by making a decision. You can be a scary house, or you have a welcoming and friendly one for the All Hallow’s Eve festivities. Choosing between spooky and friendly will help you create a consistent theme that looks amazing. If you choose to go scary, consider choosing a theme to help you create a spine-chilling feel. It could be spiders, the zombie apocalypse or a gathering of witches brewing something in the yard. Whatever you choose, you are sure to be thrilled with the final look of your coordinated theme.

Understated and Elegant

If you don’t have a lot of time on your hands, consider going with the understated. A fun spider web doormat with a few pumpkins around the front porch creates a whimsical greeting for visitors. Hang a lovely fall wreath featuring colorful leaves and purple ribbons on the door to complete the look.

Creepy Invaders on the Roof

When it comes to the scary decorations, you probably put them in the grass, trees or along the eaves. However, you can make your house the scariest on the street by moving some decorations to the roof. Large posable spiders connected to your gutters will look like they are trying to invade the house, and they will make your home creepy even in the middle of the day. Position skeletons or zombies on the roof as if they are preparing to climb down the chimney, or drape the invaders over your fence. Use rope lighting to illuminate the creep-fest at night and maintain the scary atmosphere.

A Spooky Brew for Witches

If you are shooting for a witchy theme, then make an oozing cauldron of bubbling brew that you can recycle from one year to the next. You will need a large plastic cauldron, a bag of plastic spiders, some plastic bugs, eyeballs and other creepy additions. Fill the cauldron with spray-foam insulation and let it dry. Spray paint the insulation a lovely shade of yellow-green and then adorn the brew with your plastic bugs and other creepy fare. Keep the kids away from the cauldron until the concoction dries and you will have a decoration that can be reused year after year.

Make Jack-O-Lanterns that Last Longer

If you love the look of happy jack-o-lanterns on the garden walls but hate how fast they rot, there is a solution for you. Special pumpkin decorations feature stakes that you gently push into the pumpkin. Using these recyclable decorations, you can create scary spiders, fun Frankensteins and bewitching cats. The pumpkins last longer, and you’ll appreciate how fast and easy they are to set up.

It doesn’t matter if you want your house to be a regular scare-fest or a delightful and welcoming retreat from the Halloween scares. Choose a theme that suits you and have fun with the decorating. The visitors to your home will appreciate the décor, and you will have a great time in the process.

Melina is an outdoor decor blogger for Patioshoppers, the leading online store for all of your outdoor living needs.

5 Ways To Make Homes Healthier

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We all want to feel safe in our own homes; that once we shut that front door, we are in control of what happens within that environment and that in an ideal world, nothing can hurt us. When we have others to think about, like a family, that becomes even more of a priority. Similarly, no one likes to think of themselves as unhygienic or dirty. We accept that we can’t control what happens or what we are exposed to outside; whether that be being stuck on a crowded train with complete strangers who may be ill, or the food that is served to use when we eat out. At home, we want that to be different. Additionally, if we can ensure that the place we bring up our children is safe and clean, it makes it easier to pass on good patterns of behaviour for them to take with them into adulthood.

So below are a few ways you can ensure that your home is a safe haven from germs, for yourself and those you live with.

1) Shoes and Jackets

When you come in after a long day, you just want to shed yourself of all the things that have been dragging you down; this can be uncomfortable shoes, a rain-soaked jacket, or bags which have been on the ground. In the rush to get in, it can be easy to discard things as you enter the home, dropping things everywhere (something which over-excited kids will do). Not only does this create a scenario where you’ll lose track of belongings, but you could be bringing in mud, twigs, fragments of litter, animal feces etc., with you from the outside. As well as being unhygienic, this dirt can be incredibly hard to get out of carpets once pressed in by a footprint, and may require professional stain removal services. Marks that are left behind after cleaning can also devalue your home. To stop this, keep an area by the front door for shoes, and hang up jackets on hooks, rather than drape them on the back of chairs which can be breeding ground for mold or particular insect infestations who are attracted to moisture. If you have a porch or conservatory, take advantage of them and use this as a “disinfection area” of sorts before coming into the house properly.

2) Pets

You can’t always account for where you pets have been or what they’ve been eating, sniffing or walking around in, so keep a tight control on them, especially when they enter the house. Cats are harder to do because they come and go as they please through the cat-flap; so keep this in mind if you’re considering buying one but like a clean home. Inspect paws of dogs as they come in from walkies. Toilet-training is a necessity and not an option when you get a new pet, though there are products which can assist this process such as special trays which won’t mean you have a home full of droppings. However, as stated, you can’t keep an eye on them every moment of the day so seriously consider this when buying a pet.

3) Washing Hands

Germs build up under fingernails, so even if hands look clean, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are. However, you don’t want your home to replicate the sterility of a hospital by having anti-bacterial stations in every room or hallway. You can take simple tips such as making a point to wash hands when you enter the property. Teach this to kids when they come in from outdoors, and especially before and after they eat. Perhaps make a game out of it; each time they do it without you asking them, they get a gold star and five gold stars gets them a chocolate bar or small treat.

4) Bins

Taking out bins is the scourge of any communal living space. Some will wait till they absolutely must to muster up the effort to take out over-filled bins. In fact, bins should never be over-filled or reach that level because that is when things fall out or are not disposed off properly. Pets or small kids can then pick things back out of the bin if they are teetering on top. Tidying up anything that falls out will be more troublesome. The best tip when it comes to bins is to have them in a proper bin (not just plastic or bin bags), inside a cupboard on its own. This way, any germs are isolated to one place, and you won’t have to deal with the trouble of flimsy bags which can break.

5) Open Windows

When you’re trying to get rid of bad smells, refrain from artificial sprays which only disguise smells rather than actually rid the house or room of them. You can never be quite sure what is in these sprays in terms of chemicals, and how individuals will react to them. Arguably, they may even have their own odour and can be quite “obvious”. Usually a well-ventilated area will be recommended to prevent a buildup in one room or area. Open windows instead, and allow fresh air in just to be safe.

Paul is a health and cleanliness-obsessive who has learned a lot from living in student-accommodation while at university. He also enjoys watching science shows in his spare time.

Grow Your Own – The Dream of Self Sufficiency

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Grow Your Own – The Dream of Self Sufficiency

Autumn veg

When that electricity bill lands on your doormat as you’re about to leave for the job you hate do you ever long for The Good Life – growing and rearing your own food for the table and living free from the binds of modern living? Here’s our guide to the ultimate self sufficiency dream.

Land

If you’re based in the UK these are interesting times for those wanted to by land. With a growing housing crisis and a stagnant economy, the coalition Government is temporarily scrapping planning permission laws for house extensions and making some significant noises to suggest a relaxation of planning laws and possible development of green belt land. Buying a plot of land now might prove to be a significant investment if approvals for building become easier to get in the future.

To achieve our self sufficiency dream for a family of four, we reckon we’ll need a couple acres of land.

Shelter

Ideally you’d want an eco-home – straw built or timber frame perhaps, with low energy requirements. However, most properties with the land you need to go self sufficient are rather run down, draughty farm building, so pack plenty of thick socks and jumpers.

Food

Surely one of your top questions should be, what will we eat and will there be enough? You’re going to need to use you land carefully to ensure you have a food all year round. Vegetable patches will represent the majority of your crop and you will want to rotate crops each year.

It can take a lot of back breaking digging to get the ground ready for your vegetables and will you have the energy for digging on vegetables alone? You could kill two birds with one stone and get a pig. Pigs are nature’s answer to the rotavator, churning up the ground as they snuffle around for food. If you move your pig pen to wherever you need new ground churning up, they’ll do the hard work for you.

Pigs, chicken, vegetables, fruit trees and knowledge of how and where to find wild food are all vital for the self sufficient family

Water

Equally as important as food, the ultimate self sufficiency dreamer dreams of a borehole and a well, living off water pumped from their own land. Another important and free source of water is rain. Catching rain water is the perfect way to get water for crops and washing.

Power

The looming energy crisis is a global concern and responsibility. Renewable energy is the only future and massive and vital investments are being made to in such sectors as offshore wind power. These macro-scale projects trickle down into technological developments on a micro-scale and home wind turbines have become an excellent way of powering your home for free – free from those electricity bills. And with feed-in-tariffs, you might even find you get paid for energy you don’t use.

To keep the romance in the self sufficiency dream, be sure to install a wood burning stove for those chilling winter nights – you can even cook your vegetable and pork casserole on the top!

James Anderson writes freelance articles for the wind power sector.

Finding the Best Holiday Accommodation for you and your Dog

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When you have a dog and you’re planning to go on holidays you can’t even consider leaving your loved pet behind with family or friends, in fact you want him to be by your sides at all times. This is why it’s a sensible idea to plan your holidays in advance in order to have enough time to look for the perfect holiday accommodation for you and your four footed friend. Here are some tips on finding the best holiday accommodation not only for you but also for him.

Your Holiday Destination

When you plan to go on holidays it is really important to have a clear idea of your destination, in fact knowing your holiday destination will help you plan the rest. You’ll be able to book your ticket in advance and enjoy potential offers and you’ll also be able to book your holiday accommodation in that very location. Some people plan to go on holiday with their dog, they book an accommodation such as a hotel room without asking if dogs are allowed, this is exactly the kind of things that can ruin your holidays. So make sure that the accommodation you choose is dog friendly before making your bookings.

The Kind of Accommodation you’d Like

Do some searches on the Internet and write down the kind of holiday accommodation you’d like. During this selection phase make sure that you have your needs in mind but also your dog’s. In an ideal world finding an accommodation that is next to a park will be perfect for him, as you’ll be able to take him to the park for a walk any time you feel that he may need some fresh air. You can also choose an accommodation by the sea as dogs enjoy running on the beach, and if you’ve never brought him to the beach it will be the best occasion to make him discover new sensations. Once you’ve selected your favourite accommodations, make sure you don’t take your decision too quickly. In fact, take the time to compare the different accommodations you selected.

Comparison Phase

This phase helps you to eliminate any accommodation that you think would be a bit problematic for you or for your four footed friend. For instance if you’ve selected a hotel room you can forget about this as most hotels don’t allow pets, for various reasons. Then, if you choose a sharing accommodation, the presence of a dog might cause problem for some of your flatmates, therefore this is definitely not the holiday accommodation you should go for.

The Best Dog Friendly Accommodation

Most people who have a dog or any other pet prefer spending their holidays in self-catering holiday cottages as they will not only have all the comfort they need but also enough space for them and their dog. In addition, most holiday cottages are located by the countryside so you can take your dog for a walk any time you want. Some of the best holiday cottages in the country are in Devon, more precisely in the city of Dartmouth, so if you need a nice dog friendly cottage you can book a Dartmouth accommodation for your next holidays.

Cassandra has been a dog lover all of her life, and would never even think of going away without her canine companion. She is currently studying in travel and tourism.

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