The main problem with long narrow gardens is that they can feel like you’re standing in a corridor. In a long, narrow garden your eye is drawn straight to the boundaries making the space seem small and claustrophobic. This type of garden does not invite exploration and the furthest parts of the garden often remain dark, dank and unused. Counteracting the claustrophobic feeling and giving the impression of greater space and depth are the main challenges when designing a long, narrow garden.There are three main ways to deal with the problems of a long-narrow space. One strategy involves changing the perceived shape of the garden and tricking the eye into focusing away from the garden boundaries. Another method is to introduce drama by creating a more complex journey around the garden. The third way is to draw the eye upwards by introducing vertical elements that open up the garden by giving the appearance of more height.Although it seems counter-intuitive to close off a garden that is already feeling cramped, dividing the garden into separate areas is a very effective way to design a long-narrow garden. Creating separate garden rooms each with its own distinct character makes people want to use the whole garden and explore the next room. The garden will become more useable because each room has its own purpose. Breaking up the space is a great way of stopping the eye from immediately alighting on the rear boundary. This strategy creates a more stimulating journey and encourages exploration of the garden.Walls work well for creating garden rooms, especially if they have a window offering a tantalizing glimpse through to the next room. However, brick and block walls are expensive to build and other methods of dividing the space can be just as effective. Clipped hedges, pergolas, or a simple screen of posts and trellis with an archway through all make good partitions and may be more appropriate for the style and setting of the garden. Railway sleepers set on end like a huge vertical blind create a dramatic garden screen.The transitions between the garden rooms provide another opportunity to add visual and vertical interest. Circular moon gates add striking architectural detail, they also give height and their shape is excellent for focusing attention inside the garden. An arched doorway cut through a clipped hedge creates a dark outline that cries out to be explored.Circles and curves are a great for directing attention where it is desired. Using circular shapes for lawns and seating areas focuses the eye into the centre of the garden. An ‘S’ shaped path will draw attention away from the boundaries and give a more interesting journey through the garden. Placing some taller plants or trees in the deep curves of the ‘S’ creates informal divisions and stops the eye.Another design strategy that tricks the eye and creates a more exciting, indirect route around the garden is to set the plan on the diagonal. The lines of paths, lawns and borders set at 45 degrees to the boundaries draws the eye across the garden and gives the impression of greater width. Using zig-zag paths will provide a meandering walk around the garden.There are many different ways to create height in a garden, it can be done simply by including trees and taller plants. Pergolas are useful for creating instant vertical focus, they can be used as room dividers and give extra space for planting which is especially useful in a small garden. Clipped, formal hedges are also excellent for creating height, as a backdrop for planting and as walls for outdoor rooms.Long narrow sites can make fabulous gardens, but like any tricky space they need a good design that addresses all the practical issues, and includes a bit of wizardry to make them comfortable and inviting spaces to spend time in.
Independence From Payday Loans is Easier Than You Think
Upon getting information about an upcoming school science fair and the need to consider a topic of interest, many students will typically have no idea where to get started. While the science fair is typically a common occurrence in any school at any grade level, there are different types of topics that should be taken a look at depending on the age of the student. After first taking a look at the many different categories of science projects, you will be able to locate a suitable choice of topic to take to the next level.There is a wide variety of categories that fall under the types of science projects that can be chosen for a school science fair. These include biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine, environmental, mathematics, engineering, and earth science. While you may not have yet learned very much in any of these categories, don’t be afraid to see what each one entails. Taking a good look at your interests will allow you to focus on the right direction to take.Many resources are also available for those who are unsure as to the topic they are wanting to use to create their science projects. If you take a look at the topics that fall under the biology category, you will likely notice that there are topics that deal with plants, animals, and humans. For those who are in 2nd grade or 3rd grade, an interesting topic may be to determine if ants are picky over what type of food they eat. While this topic might not be of interest to an 8th grader, it is certainly something in the biology category that an elementary school student would enjoy.Along with the biology category, a high school student may want to take a look at diffusion and osmosis in animal cells as this would be a more appropriate topic for the grade level. A student in 6th grade would be more advanced than an elementary school student, but not as advanced as a high school student. At this middle school grade level, a topic of how pH levels effect the lifespan of a tadpole may be of interest.Whichever resource is used to locate a topic for science projects, it is always a good idea to consider the grade level of the student prior to making a selection. It is always assumed to be best to have a project at an appropriate level in order to keep the attention of the student and provide a fun and enjoyable learning experience.
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.