It’s no new insight to say that sometimes, nature has plans that take higher precedence than ours. Anyone who has suffered an intense flooding season, routine heatwaves, hurricanes or worse will no doubt relate to that.
That being said, sometimes nature can be relatively uncooperative in its smaller expressions. You may have a wonderful green thumb, only to move to a lovely house with clay, unwelcoming soil that dashes any hope of growing vegetables without intensive work.
Perhaps the wind is so intensive against your property that robust, well-formatted fencing is the first step to implementing any designs of note. Maybe the dividers against other backward in your neighborhood are lacking, and as such you’ve woken up with a wide array of droppings from local pets on your lawn.
Don’t worry, there are solutions to all of these problems. But if you feel frustrated, exasperation often takes the place of steadfast work. In this post, we’ll discuss how to address some of the most frustrating garden issues with care:
Consider Treating The Soil
Dealing with barren soil can be a real headache for any gardener. It might even feel like you’re trying to plant seeds in concrete. But don’t worry, there are ways to rejuvenate that soil with a little care. If you add some organic matter, like compost or manure, you can work wonders in improving its texture. Moreover, adjusting the pH level to suit your plants' needs can help treat it. With topsoil, you can help change the environment of your garden correctly.
Remove All Old Furniture, Fixtures & Fences
Sometimes, you just need to start again. If the previous owner of your property made some questionable decisions to the point you wonder what they were thinking, starting again can be a good idea. Getting rid of old, tired furniture, and removing damaged fixtures or fences doesn't just make your garden look better. It also makes space for new ideas and larger formats, like landscaping part of the garden to be less steep. This way you can see the space in a new light and even consider a wide array of alterations you’d like to make, all for the better.
Remove Unhelpful Trees Or Limitations
Trees can be a boon and a great hindrance in the garden. While they of course provide shade and shelter, they can also hog all the resources and throw your garden out of balance. If you've got trees overshadowing your plant, if they’re old and decrepit (read: unsafe), it might be time to take action. Tree surgeons can help you remove trees responsibly and even pull the stumps and roots to make sure they don’t grow again. They can also do so in a manner that doesn’t cause damage to your power lines or the rest of your property. This can provide you more space to design, and perhaps more utility in your garden also.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid feeling frustrated with your garden in the best possible sense, and move onto newer designs.
One of the things that people forget as they get older, have kids, get involved with a partner and so on is that your happiness matters too. It’s not just about the other people in your life, it’s also about you. The good news is that there are certain things that you can do to prioritize your happiness, and it’s time that you start doing them sometimes. Of course, there are going to be times where you have to put this on the backburner, but it should never be forgotten about.
In this article, we’re going to be taking a look at some of the suggestions that we think you should try out in order to put your happiness first sometimes. Keep reading down below if you would like to find out more.
Start Exercising, It Helps
First, we’re going to recommend that you start exercising because it does help. You might think that the only thing exercise is good for is giving you a stitch, making you pant like a dog, and generally making you want to lay down on the floor and go to sleep forever. However, once you push past this initial stage, everything gets better. Once you have completed your workout you will find yourself feeling more refreshed and energized than you have in a long time. Yes, you’re going to be sweating and panting, but that’s all part of it.
You just need to get yourself into a routine of exercising and then stick to it. There will come a time where you find yourself wanting to exercise, wanting to feel those endorphins rushing around your body, making you feel better. It doesn’t have to be a nightmare, it can actually be amazing for you, you just have to get past that initial block that you have set for yourself that says that you hate doing it.
Take Up A Hobby You Love
Perhaps there is a hobby that you know you love, but you had to give it up for various reasons a while ago. If this is the case, why can’t you get back into it? There should be no excuses, you should do your research into how you can get back into the thing that you once loved, and then you should get started with it. You can find some time in your schedule, even if you think that you can’t. There should always be times for the things that you love or the things that make you happy, even if that means creating time that didn’t really exist in the first place.
Or, instead of going back to an old hobby, perhaps you would like to focus on going for something new. Take a look at and try out a range of different hobbies to try and get your groove back. There’s absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t have something that is yours, that you enjoy to look forward to. Everyone else has one, don’t they? You deserve one too.
Buy Yourself A Little Treat
There is nothing wrong with buying yourself a little treat from time to time. Sometimes, we just need that feeling that we get when we press purchase and we have bought ourselves a lovely little present. For example, it might be something super small like a plushie that you saw and fell in love with, or it might be a new pair of shoes or something like this. The point of this is that you need to have something that is completely impractical and is not used for anything else around the house.
Buying yourself a treat is a lovely feeling, and we don’t want you to feel guilty about it. Of course, you should not be doing this if you are struggling and you are on a super tight budget as there are other things that need to be paid. But, if you have paid all of your bills and you are up to date with everything, why should you not be allowed to get yourself a little something?
Have A Day To Yourself Sometimes
We’re sure that you have had days in the past where you just sat there and wished that you could have a day to yourself. Well, it’s time to start granting your own wishes, because if you need a break, then you need a break. You can’t keep trying to go around this and talking yourself out of it, because eventually you will run yourself into the ground. It’s hard when you know that you have responsibilities and things that need to be taken care of, but it’s harder to reach the point where you are so burnt out that you cannot function anymore.
What good are you to anyone if you can’t function? The reason you’re not giving yourself a break is because you say that people need you, but you can’t not look after yourself for the sake of this. Just take a single day to yourself to do whatever you want to do whether that’s go out, go to bed, have a nice hot bath on your own, or whatever. By the time the day is finished, you will feel so much happier in yourself, and in your life.
Make Sure You’re Getting Outside
Staying inside all of the time is not good for you. We’re sure that there is a good reason for you to avoid the outside world if you do this, but unfortunately it’s not going to help your overall mental health and happiness. The reason that we mention this is because humans thrive on natural light and being outside with nature on a subconscious level. You will always feel a little better when you are outside, because you can really soak in the beauty of the world.
We recommend trying to get outside at least once per day, even if you’re just heading out on a short, half an hour walk. You will likely come to find that you look forward to this part of your day, and that you feel happier when you are doing it.
Do The Things That You Enjoy
Make a list of some of the things that you enjoy, and then make sure that you are making time for them in your life. If you have kids, then maybe some of them you can do with your kids as they might enjoy them too. The ones that you can’t, you can always ask someone to watch them for a little while every now and then so that you can do what you enjoy. Or, if you don’t want to do that, you can wait until they are tucked up in bed to start doing the things that you enjoy. You should never cut out these things from your life, as they are important to your happiness.
Doing things that you enjoy doing is all part of being happy in life. If you are constantly only doing things that make you unhappy or that you are indifferent to, then where are the smiles? Where’s the joy? Your happiness matters, and you need to take control, doing things that make you feel good.
Put Effort Into Relationships
We also think that it’s important to mention that you should be putting effort into relationships. What we mean by this is that whether it’s a family member, a friend, a partner, or whoever else, you need to be putting effort into that relationship to make it work. But, relationships are two sided, and they need to be putting in effort where it counts too and you should not let them forget that.
It’s very easy to get to a point where you can’t be bothered anymore, and you think that just because you are comfortable with that person that it’s going to be okay if you stop trying. It’s not. You constantly need to be trying with them, engaging in conversation with them, communicating with them about how you are feeling and so on. We understand that this can be tough for some people, but you just have to learn. When your relationships are all on a solid footing, we promise that you will feel so much better and happier, not having to worry about this side of things.
We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that you need to do in order to be happy in your life. At the end of the day, we often forget about our own happiness in place of someone else’s, but this is no way to live. You need to be putting your best foot forward for yourself at all times, ensuring that you are happy the same way that you are constantly trying to make sure that everyone else is happy. While it might not come easily at first, stick with it, and remember that you are important too. We wish you all the luck in the world with this.
Over the last few years, more and more people have been thinking about having less meat in their diet - or even entirely giving it up altogether and becoming vegetarian or perhaps taking it a step further and becoming vegan. And the fact is that there does seem to be a good argument for eating less meat (we’ll go into the benefits shortly), but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy thing to do, not least because you might simply like the taste of it. However, if you are keen to try a new diet and to enjoy the benefits of being meat-free (or at least consuming less meat), here are some ways to go about it.
Understand The Benefits
One thing that can be highly motivating when you’re trying something new is to look for the benefits - once you know what they are, and you keep them in mind even when things are a challenge, it’s much easier to keep pushing through. So just what are the benefits of eating less meat in general?
For one thing, it can help to lower your carbon footprint. The more people eat meat, the more animals will be bred for that purpose, and that takes energy, food, and water, which uses up the planet’s precious resources. Then there’s the transport of the meat to stores and homes - when you eat less, that gets less of a problem as well. Plus, eating less meat is better for your health, studies suggest. Diets that contain a lot of plant-based foods are associated with a lower risk of chronic diseases like heart disease, some types of cancer, and diabetes, for example, and by incorporating more fruits and vegetables into your meals, you can have a balanced and nutritious diet.
Start Slowly
Transitioning to a diet that includes less meat (whether that’s a lot less or a little) should be a gradual process because you won’t be overwhelmed and you won’t miss meat so much. Instead of trying to eliminate meat overnight, try taking smaller steps towards your goal. That could mean designating one or two days a week as meat-free days, and using those times to experiment with different plant-based recipes.
As time goes on and you become more comfortable with eating less meat and incorporating alternatives into your diet, you can gradually increase how often you bypass the meat choice, until you’re eating an entirely plant-based diet (assuming that’s your ultimate goal).
Choose Good Quality Meat
Now you might not want to eliminate meat completely from your diet, and instead, you could just want to reduce how much of it you eat, which is perfectly reasonable - denying yourself something you enjoy generally leads to then indulging in a lot more of it when you give in to your cravings, which is a very human thing to do.
If that’s the case, opt for the highest quality, ethically sourced meat you can find, and in that way, even if you’re having less meat, you’re having better meat - good examples of what we mean can be found on this site.
What you need to do is look for labels such as organic, grass-fed, pasture-raised, or certified humane (and so on), which show that the animals were raised in better and more sustainable conditions. It’s true that these options might be more expensive, but if you’re eating less meat, the increased price can be offset, and you’ll be able to prioritize quality over quantity.
Add Plant-Based Proteins
One common worry for people when they decide to have a meat-free (or reduced meat) diet is that they won’t get enough protein from their food, and they could become sick as a result. The good news is that there are plenty of plant-based sources of excellent protein to choose from, including beans, lentils, tofu, tempeh, nuts, quinoa, and seeds.
If you can add these things to your meals, or even make them the main ingredient, then the protein you miss out on from meat can be made up for with these items. Plus, there are always supplements you can try if you want to boost your protein intake (or any other kind of nutrient, come to that), and that can be a great way to ensure you’re as healthy as possible even without the nutrients that come from meat.
Plan Ahead
If you want to have less meat, planning your meals ahead of time is a great idea - it means you won’t run out of ideas and grab something quick, easy, and meat-based because you have to eat something.
Take some time each week to plan out your meals, including snacks, and even do some batch cooking if you have the time. Make sure you include a variety of plant-based foods so that you don’t get bored, and be as creative as you can with your recipes.
Chances are, you want to get the most out of your garden and home, right? You want these spaces to feel like yours, to, well, just feel like a home! Maybe for each room, you’d like for there to be a bit of a theme, like the perfect living room that director Nancy Meyers would swoon for, a bedroom that feels like a hotel room, a bathroom that’s reminiscent of a spa, or even an adorable kitchen that makes you feel as if you’re looking in a French chateau out in the lavender fields.
So, you’re probably more than familiar with modern farmhouses or even those other rustic aesthetics that are used for kitchens. In fact, there’s even French country, but adding some of that Provence flair just really makes a difference. It’s simplistic, it’s still rustic, it’s elegant, and at the same time, it’s comfortable, feels lived-in, but still magazine-worthy. It’s just perfect; that’s all there is to it. But with that said, where can you even begin bringing these vibes into your home? Well, here’s what you need to know!
Embrace Natural Materials
One of the biggest elements when it comes to bringing the Provence vibes into your kitchen is knowing that there are some rustic hints and natural beauty. That means that you’re going to want to incorporate natural materials into your kitchen design, which is definitely going to be the best way to capture the essence of the region. This is a cakewalk cause there are so many ways to do that; you can choose wooden countertops, open shelving made from reclaimed wood, or a farmhouse-style table for a touch of authenticity.
Provencal elegance. But why stop there? In fact, maximalism, to a degree, incorporates elements such as woven baskets, ceramic pots, and copper accents. All of this helps make it look and feel more rustic but elegant at the same time.
Think About How to Display Things
The displays themselves will really help sell the idea that you’re going with the Provence aesthetic. For example, the style and color of your window blinds and how they’re placed will really make an impact. But it still goes beyond that. You might even want to try and create a charming display of fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and basil in decorative pots or hanging baskets near your kitchen window again, where items are placed matters too. Usually, the countertops are somewhat cluttered, and there are shelves above the counters that show off the stuff, too.
Invest in French-Inspired Cookware
If you google “Provence Kitchens,” you’ll see plenty of wooden spoons, cast iron, and copper pans. You might even want to have some French shapes and colors, such as Dutch ovens, cocottes, and baking dishes (not only to show off but also to help keep the illusion alive when cooking in these). But speaking of showing off, why not go ahead and display your collection proudly? As was mentioned earlier, these kitchens usually have some open shelves, but even some pot racks.
Do you feel as though your home isn’t quite as appealing as it could be? Maybe you feel as though it is giving off the wrong impression and you want to take action on that. Either way, it has never been easier for you to make a change and when you follow this guide, you should be able to see an improvement in no time at all.
Focus on your Front Door
Believe it or not, your door is a major focal point and you should be paying attention to it. Try and make sure that it creates a solid impression and that it is welcoming too. If you have a wooden door then one thing you can do is add a fresh coat of paint. When you do you can then paint it in a navy color or you can opt for olive or even charcoal gray. You can then feel confident knowing that your door is going to add to the general aesthetic value of your home. Don’t forget to polish any letterboxes you have and doorknockers too. If you can focus on things like this then you will soon find that your home looks better as a result. If you want to elevate your home, consider hiring a vinyl siding contractor.
Clean your Drive and Patio
Another thing you can do is clean your drive and your patio. If you have a driveway or a path then most of the time this can benefit from a power wash. Patios and rendered surfaces can also be given a scrub down. You can remove moss this way and you can also pull any weeds too. By doing this, you can then make sure that you get the result you want out of your home, so keep that in mind if you can.
Work on your Boundary Lines
Where your property starts and where it ends is such a big factor in your buyer’s mindset. If you want to do something here then make sure that the boundaries are both obvious and attractive. Give your wooden fences and your gate a new coat of varnish. You also need to repaint the metalwork and make sure that all of the gates function as they should. If you notice any issues then now is the time for you to deal with them, so be mindful of that and make sure that you go over everything properly.
Garden
Making sure that your garden is full of plants is such a key consideration. You need to put some potted plants on the doorstep and you also need to take the time to draw attention where possible. At the end of the day, property exteriors tend to look way more inviting when there is a pop of color, so if you can focus on adding this then it will help you out a lot. If you have a lawn then keep the grass nice and short and feed it so that it stays nice and vibrant. Things like this can work in your favor quite a lot, and this is especially the case when you are trying to sell your home.
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