To Bling or Not to Bling

OK so bling isn’t really where I was going, but I liked the way the title sounded. As you may know bling is a hip-hop term referring to jewelry and such, yet what I really wanted to discuss was simply - yard art.

Many of us, including myself, enjoy pieces of interest in our garden beds. Things that bring character, and are topics of conversation and personalize our space with things we enjoy and appreciate. But like anything that is ornamental, it needs to shine. Make sure that any yard art you have nestled amongst your flowers and shrubs is clean and free of damage. If it is painted it should always be free of chips and not faded. In addition, yard art, like bling, is only an accessory. It’s not meant to be the only thing you or your grounds are wearing. Your yard art should be incorporated into your landscaping not BE your landscaping. Tuck your items in or around plants and shrubs so that they appear to be a part of the landscape, adding fun and interest.

It’s interesting to see the different types of things people use for yard art. Sometimes antiques are used as planters, like an old bucket, barrel or wooden box. This is fine provided that the items are not deteriorating and beginning to take on a sad, more junk like appearance. Also if you use metal items make sure that they are iron, copper, bronze or brass, not tin or aluminum. Wrought iron holds up well in the outdoors and even unpainted iron as it rusts can look good. As the other three metals age, oxidation from the elements forms a colorful tarnish, known as patina, that is attractive with age, and it looks more natural in a landscape environment. Tin and aluminum do not make attractive yard art. If you want something that is shiny, use glass instead. Remember that just because something exists, doesn’t make it attractive yard art. Please do not use furniture or household fixtures and furnishings. A television stand, shelving unit or a kitchen sink is not attractive yard art. Please use good taste and judgment when adding accessories to your landscaping and remember to keep them clean and looking good so that we may all enjoy them.

Birds and Squirrels and Rats - Oh My!!

We are all, for the most part, completely enthralled with watching the wildlife around us. The variety of birds alone in Silverdale Estates is amazing. Not including the water fowl, I’ve seen quite an assortment of birds including eagles, hawks, red wing black birds, sparrows, finches, wood peckers and hummingbirds, just to name a few! They truly are so much fun to watch, and because of this, many of us tend to invite them in a bit closer with feeders and or a bit of stale bread. Unfortunately this practice has a down side. Bird feeders are a great way to get nature’s aviators to your window or back porch, but the feed also invites less glamorous visitors as well. Sure the occasional red squirrel will scamper up and display his talented acrobatic ability to retrieve bird feed upside down from a hanging feeder, but the problem is that the food spilled to the ground will often attract his cousin the rat. Squirrels are a part of the mammal specials know as rodentiasfind that they like the nice dry location under the home and they make a nest and raise a family. None of which is good for you or for your family. Point is, if you are going to provide feed for the song birds it would be a very good idea to make sure that the feeder cannot support a squirrel or a rat and that if any feed does get spilled to the ground that you clean it up as soon as possible and not leave it for the local rodents, - squirrel or otherwise. Please remember also not to leave out any dog or cat food as raccoons can also be attracted to your home and they can be dangerous and unsafe as well.

Clubhouse Carpet

Well here we go! The long awaited replacement of the clubhouse carpet has finally come to fruition. Commonwealth has hired a contractor to replace and install the carpet in a number of the communities that it manages with Silverdale Estates being the priority property. A big thank you goes out to Bunny Stevens for helping move all of the books from the library off of the shelves so that they would be safe and easier for her to put back in order once the installation was complete. Thank you also to Dave and Linda Freeland for moving the MHOA table out of the way to keep it safe and Cheryl Pasternak for helping dust the library and restock the big print books when it was all over. We apologize for the inconvenience caused to all those residents who regularly join in the morning coffee club, swim, do Yoga and play billiards on Mondays and Tuesdays, and to the BUNCO players who had to reschedule their night of cards and socializing. We appreciate every one's patience during the process.

The new carpet for those of you who haven't seen it yet is a subtle green with a high low texture. It adds a noticeable warmth to our lodge style clubhouse. The installation went fairly smoothly. Furniture needed to be moved from room to room to make it quicker and easier for the installers to do there job and get us back up and running as quickly as possible. The high level of professionalism and experience made the process relatively painless (from the managers point of view - except for the office being disconnected for a day!).   

Because we have new carpet we ask the same thing any of you would should you go through the pain and expense of installing new carpet. Please wipe your feet when entering the building and take care when eating or drinking anything in the clubhouse. Also please clean up any spills immediately. If you spill something on the carpet and are unable to get it out please notify management of what was spilled so we can treat the spill appropriately and lessen any damage. We hope the carpet looks good and wears well for many years to come.

Please come by and check it out when you have a chance!

Clubhouse gets a facelift!

Like everything sometimes a little updating is needed. The Silverdale Estates clubhouse with it's plethora of activities is getting a little face lift on the inside. We have recently had the hardwood dance floor refinished and are getting new carpet installed on May 2nd. The hardwood had suffered some water damage in the past and had warped around the edges of the grand fireplace. A very talented contractor came in and spent a day sanding the floor. He even planed the wood surrounding the fireplace stones by hand since his electric sanders couldn't get close enough to do a thorough job. He also replaced a few of the damaged parquet flooring squares that had been seriously damaged with spares we had in storage. He finished the second day by putting four coats of clear lacquer on the floor bringing back the beautiful golden hue of the oak wood floor.