Patio umbrella bases come in many different styles from cast iron bases to sand filled resin bases. The base color should match the color of the umbrella pole or frame so that it looks like one consistent piece of furniture.

Stands for outdoor umbrellas are most often sold separately from the umbrella. This means that many people often buy the wrong weight or size stand. In order to select the right umbrella base the two most important considerations are:

1. The size of the outdoor umbrella you have or are going to purchase

2. Where the outdoor umbrella will be used – in a patio table or freestanding

Free standing umbrellas require heavier bases. Some general guidelines for purchasing your base are:

- Use 35 lbs or less for a 6 to 7.5-foot umbrella in a table

- Use 40 to 55 lbs for a 7.5 to 9 foot umbrella in a table

- Use 65 to 75 lbs for 9 to 11 foot umbrella in a table or up to a 9 foot wide free standing – that is if it isn’t really windy

- 100+ lbs will support any free standing umbrella. This size base is not normally used with a patio umbrella table.

Heavier stands are recommended when using an umbrella without a table, in very windy areas, or with a tilt option. There are several choices of material that are used for umbrella stands. They include ornate cast iron bases, granite stands, cast aluminum or resin stands that are filled with water or sand. To learn more about patio umbrella bases go to:

http://www.poolfunforeveryone.com/patio-umbrella-bases.html We have enjoyed the pleasures of having our own swimming pool for over 10 years. Take a moment to get some quick and easy ideas for pool party themes, pool party food and games or outdoor party lights by visit Pool Fun for Everyone
Leslie Degner

Gardening is one of the most relaxing and rewarding hobbies that you can have. This is primarily because it allows you to plant the foliage and greenery that you want right outside your home. It is also rewarding and fulfilling since seeing your garden grow right before your eyes as the days go by can very well be the best reward for all of your hard work. To make sure that you have an easy and pleasurable time tending to your garden, it is important that you have the right types of garden tools. Here are some of the basic garden tools that every homeowner should have.

1. Cultivator

A cultivator is generally used for mixing the soil with fertilizer to prepare it for planting. They also help in removing soil lumps, cleaning moss and in thatching and aerating. They can also be used with different attachments to cut vegetation or plough the soil.

2. Spade

A spade is used for digging or removing soil. In the past, spades have actually been made with riven wood. Today, however, they are with sharp tips of metal, allowing an easier and more efficient method or breaking up and moving soil.

3. Garden Hoe

This garden tool offers plenty of uses including agitating the surface of the soil which surround plants and removing weeds.

4. Pitchfork

Pitchforks have a long handle and long and thin pointed tines pr prongs which are widely spaced apart. They are used in lifting and throwing loose materials such as leaves and other agricultural materials.

5. Secateurs

Secateurs are pruning shears which are used for pruning hard and thick branches of shrubs and trees. There are three types of blade designs of secateurs: bypass, anvil and parrot-beak. The first type, the anvil secateur, has a single blade that closes onto a flat surface and are useful for cutting up to two-centimetre thick branches. Bypass secateurs work just like a pair of scissors. They have two blades that pass each other, with at least one of them curved. Parrot-beak secateurs have two curved passing blades, trapping the stem or branch between them, making it easier to cut. Parrot-beak secateurs are often used for narrower stems.

6. Grass Shears

A grass shear is different from a secateur or a pair of pruning shears as it has longer handles which are at right angles to its blades. It can be used in cutting grass and lawn edges from a standing position. It is commonly used by gardeners to cut grass which were not been cut by the lawnmower.

7. Trowel

A trowel is a tool which has a handle and a pointed and scoop-shaped metal blade. Similar to a cultivator, it can be used for digging small holes and breaking up lumps of soil. It can also be used for removing weeds and in planting and mixing fertilizer.

8. Rake

A rake is a horticultural implement which has a toothed bar that is attached to a long handle. It is generally used for loosening the soil, leveling the earth and in weeding.

9. Wheelbarrow

A wheelbarrow is small and hand-operated vehicle that has only one wheel. It can be maneuvered by the user through pushing and guiding the two handles on its rear. It is useful in transporting or moving soil, plants, pots, gardening equipment and other things which are too heavy or bulky to move by hand.

10. Lawnmower

The lawnmower is another common garden tool which is used for cutting grass. It has a blade which rotates around a vertical axis or a horizontal axis. Those which rotate around a vertical axis are referred to as rotary mowers while those that rotate around a horizontal axis are referred to as reel or cylinder mowers. Lawnmowers come in different sizes. There are smaller ones which can be pushed manually and are best for smaller lawns or gardens; and there are the bigger ride-on mowers which are more suited for larger lawns.

Khalid Adams has been marketing home improvement companies for over three years. His knowledge of the industry allows him to write sound articles on garden tools amongst other related products and services.

Features of the awnings

The best feature is that they help to cover the backyard and that too at a very economical price. They protect furniture and people in the lawn from sun and rain. They are available in various colors and shades and you can buy one according to the mood that you want to create for your home’s external or internal façade.

They come with a warranty of 5 years from any damages due fading in the sun or getting worn out by the rain. These are however known to last for at least 15 to 20 years before the first complaint goes in.

Advantages of Retraceable Awnings

The biggest advantage is that they provide a comfort zone in the backyard and offer respite in harsh summers and rains. Since they are not expensive they are an easy and economical way decorating the backyard of your home. Along with the change of look for your house they also make your home look more functional. They also work as a cover for any faults or bad patches on the external façade of your home.

The accessories come in different color combinations and if you want the mood lightened then you need to combine bright and colorful retractable awnings. They also protect furniture that is placed outside from damage due to harsh weather conditions. Because they are very cheap they save the cost of constructing a special cover area. These add-ons are cheap solutions to change the way the home looks. With a simple addition you can actually positively impact the appreciation of the home.

So you are you interested on home decorating, Phil Caxton is the author of many resources on home decorating related topics published at home-decorating-reviews.com. Keep reading about retractable awnings and decorating styles at http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com/RetractableAwnings.html.

Should they be Released Back into the Wild?

Ceramic garden pixies provoke one of two feelings; you either love them or you hate them, but one thing is for sure they are a source of fun for people all over the world.

Well, the funniest story I ever heard about ceramic garden pixies was this one that happened to my sister-in law. She had a sweet little garden pixie complete with a fishing rod which she set on the edge of a pond in her back garden. She loved it, even though her husband hated the thing and kept telling her to get rid of it because he thought it was embarrassing. Well, anyway, they kept arguing about it and in the end, her husband paid some local boys to steal it from the garden and get rid of it.

The boys took it away, and my sister-in-law was heartbroken, of course, but then a funny thing happened and she got a postcard in the mail from her missing pixie! It said that he was very well and that he had decided to take a trip around the world, because just sitting by the pond in her garden was boring! I’ll never forget the look of astonishment on her face when she read that first card. And through all of that year, she kept getting these postcards from all over the world and all signed, Pixie.

She was pretty annoyed that it had been stolen, but she couldn’t understand why anyone would be so crazy as to keep sending the postcards. We all thought it was hilarious, because what had happened was that one of the boys who had been paid to remove the pixie from the garden, had then gone off on a year long student trip around the world and he was sending the postcards for fun! When her husband finally confessed, she got her revenge by making him take her to the Garden Centre where she bought three more ceramic garden pixies and a ceramic garden stool.

A lot of people get pleasure from supporting the ‘human’ rights of garden pixies. For example, in Paris in 2005, there was a daring nighttime attack on an exhibition of antique ceramic garden pixies held in a museum. The ‘Pixie Liberation Front’ stole more than 20 of the pixies and later issued a statement demanding that all ceramic garden pixies should be liberated and released back into their natural habitat!

And in several parts of the world, police have had to be called in to solve cases of missing pixies. In Fairfax County, Washington D.C. a woman complained that her garden pixies were being stolen, one each night. The police installed a spy camera and filmed the thief in the act on four separate occasions. It turned out to be a Labrador retriever dog, which had been retrieving the ceramic garden pixies and taking them to his home!

And in Australia, the gardens of one specific residential area were totally cleared of garden pixies, which left the local police mystified. It wasn’t until several months later that the pixies were found in a bush clearing where they had been carefully set out around the largest one, as if having a meeting.

If you are a lover of ceramic garden pixies and you visit England, you absolutely must visit the Pixie and Gnome Reserve, set in some wonderful countryside in northern Devon. In a beautiful four acre reserve, there are more than a thousand gnomes and pixies made out of pottery, porcelain and ceramics. It’s very popular with children who always love anything to do with fairies, elves and pixies. Apparently, the owners just started with one or two around their large garden and in the small wood next to it and then every time they spotted a ceramic garden pixie they hadn’t got, they bought it and now they’ve got enough to populate a small village!

It’s clear that although to many people the ceramic garden pixie is an abomination, there are many others who find that their cheery presence brightens up our lives and adds a bit of fun to the gardens they inhabit.

Hassan Ouda is a sublime devoted author He writes articles on several subjects including publishing ebook. You can read more of Hassan’s articles at Hassan’s Publishing located at

http://www.ceramicsonlines.com

Summer is a time when we want to just relax and chill out. There is an urgent desperation to stay cool and fresh. But its not just about dressing cool. The dressing of the surroundings makes a difference too. Check your living space – indoors and outdoors for cool, chic summer look.

Use more of the cooler colors like leaf green, sky blue, translucent mauve, baby pink, snow white and tulip yellow. Here is a detailed set of ideas for a super cool, fresh look for your mansion.

Clean it Up: Cleanliness is godliness. Keep your home neat and clean, This is a must look for the summers. Also include lot of empty spaces in your furniture arrangement. Heavy decor is for winters. It should all appears light, spacious and refreshing. Put away the extra tables, chairs and lighting fixtures for your summer patio decor.

Lighter paints: If you are about to get your room, home painted, choose the cool summer colors. They can be easily darkened during the winters. Stay away from off whites and creams. White has to be snow white, yellow has to be paler than tulip yellow, and green, paler than leaf green. The paint has to be the lighter ’cause usually, the furnishings accentuate the colors. Light pinks and mauves and greens are suggested.

In case you already have a bright paint in your room, no harm. Try and get some jute wall mats – light shades – and put them on the walls. It will lighten the heavy tone of the room. Similarly, you can get cloth wall hanging with lighter bright colors.

Furnishings: Keep your furnishing light and simple. Cottons, georgettes and laces. Get light-weight curtains in same or contrasting colors. For example blue walls can have sea blue, transparent curtains with brown sequin work, green lacy curtains with pink sequins and needle work.

Get nice lacy, cotton slip covers for sofa, table runners, bright colored linens for bed, and pillows and the throws.

Revamp Your Porch: If you have ignored your backyard for the last season. It is time to de-clutter and revamp. Clean it up, straighten things, get the grass growing, flowers blooming, squirrels running and birds chirping. Put your patio back to life. Put a swing chair, revive your old wooden table sand chairs, carpets. In short arrange for proper seating arrangements.

Add outdoor lanterns for a rustic look, and lighting. A bird feeder would make it livelier. Get a colorful bird feeder – put both food and water in it. Also make a shelter space for them to rest when it turns scorching hot.

Decorate with Flowers & Plants: White and yellow and pink and blue and lilac. Get the flowers in any color that you like. They add a fresh look to your place and bring a sense of cool in the summer season. Put them in almost any nook of the house – center tables, bathroom corners, bedside tables, window sills, sofa sides, anywhere.

The easy way is to put them in sleek and smart vases. But to arrange them creatively, you can check out various flower arrangement ideas and guide available on the net.

Coastal or beach home decor brings about a sense of calm and peace in the scorching summer heat. Add some colorful summer special serve wares to the kitchen too. Let summer also have a chilled out, cool welcome with ready-to-beat-the-heat decor at your home.