Best Housewarming Party Ideas

A housewarming celebration is a time to introduce your friends, family and neighbours to your new home. There are a lot of different ways that you can throw a housewarming party, so here are a few great ideas that will help you make yours a party to remember.

Chore-Themed Parties

Housewarming parties that are chore-themed are a great way to celebrate, spend time with friends and family, and get important tasks done at the same time. Be careful whom you invite to these parties, however, because you only want people there who are ready and willing to do you a favour.

Moving Party
If you are moving a short-distance, your housewarming party could start out with a moving convoy where everyone transfers a car-load of boxes from your old home to your new one. Many hands make light work, but try to limit the number of trips everyone will have to make. At the end of the moving, you should have refreshments waiting for your guests, and gift hampers for those who helped you out.

Unpacking Party
Inviting people to help unpack boxes can be a fun, casual party. Generally, the kitchen and the living room are the best rooms for this as everyone will be in the same area, and no one will have to go through your more personal items. Make sure to treat your guests to lots of good food, drinks and gifts to keep the event feeling more like a party, and less like work.

Housecleaning Party
Scrubbing floors, washing windows and vacuuming carpets are all activities that are more fun when friends are doing it together - they will get done much faster too. Make sure to have good food for everyone to snack on throughout the day, and lots of good music!

Redecorating Party
Throwing a redecorating party is especially useful if you have family or friends who have special abilities when it comes to home care. Small renovations, painting, interior design and lawn care are examples of things you may need to take care of before officially moving in, and are things that are better to work on when you have experienced help.

Traditionally Themed Parties

Traditional housewarming party ideas showcase the entire home as the central attraction. Normally, these parties would come soon after you have officially moved in to your new home and have things set up the way you want them.

Open House Party
This is a very popular type of party, as guests can come and go as they please throughout the day. You can then spend more one-on-one time with friends and family as you give individual tours through your new home.

Block Party
Organising a party for the whole neighbourhood not only introduces your friends and family to your new home, but also introduces you to your new neighbours. This is a great opportunity for you to establish yourself as a new member of the community.

Potlatch
A potlatch party is always a great idea simply because you won’t have to unpack your kitchen and serve all your guests right away. Asking guests to bring their favourite food or gift baskets to share will not only create a fun dinner party theme, but will also ensure you have some leftovers to eat during the gruelling days of unpacking.
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A Useful Tool

I really need this tool, my television remote control. I can’t watch television without it. I felt so annoyed if it’s broken. How’s your relationship with your remote control? It has one yellow button, I can link this post to Mellow Yellow :)

How to Climb Up the Wait List for the Perfect Pooch

The saying, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” reigns true in the world of pedigree pooches.

I recently experienced this when I applied for a German Shorthaired Pointer puppy. Thinking that a furry little addition to my family was merely a couple of months away, I was surprised to hear that I would need to jump through a few hoops to even be considered.

This might sound frustrating if you have recently become rid of removalists and moved into a new place or kit home… and are waiting for a furry little friend to accompany you.

However, keep in mind that breeders often make the purchase process fraught with a few minor difficulties, not because they want to complicate things, but mostly because they want to know that their puppies are going to good homes.

Many breeders will give those who are in the running for one of their puppies a questionnaire to complete. If you are an experienced dog owner and you can create a lifestyle that is enjoyable for the dog, then you will jump through this first hoop with flying colours. Having said that, if it is down to the wire (in some cases it is), then you want to put your best foot forward.

Here are some of the more complicated questions our breeder asked us and how we replied.

1.Why are you interested in purchasing this dog?
We are a young couple who recently became engaged and bought our first home - a two-storey house with a big backyard screaming for a dog to play around in it. We have wanted a dog for quite some time but we wanted to wait until the time was right.

We love this breed as we have had them before so we are well versed in the requirements of this breed.

2.How many members are there in your family and what are their ages? This includes other pets.

We are a young couple without children so it would be just our new beloved dog and us. Having said that, we have family and friends who live close by who are often at our place. Some of them have puppies so we are excited to socialise our new pup with them.

3.What is the size of your yard? Is it fully fenced and secure?

We have a decent yard approximately the size of 600 square metres of level land and it is fully fenced and secure. We also have an undercover patio and a laundry room which the pup will have full access to when out in the backyard.

4.What other exercise will you give your dog?

Having had this breed before, we know how important it is for these dogs to get exercise and to socialise with other dogs. We live close by to dog-friendly (off the leash) parks, waterways and beaches and we can’t wait to spend our mornings at them with our new dog.

Our dog will have daily walks (finishing at an off the leash park run around) in the morning and a walk during the evenings. We will take our dog (once it is a bit older) to waterways and beaches on the weekend – hoping it will share our love of the water.

5.Where do you expect your dog to sleep?

Initially we plan on using your crate technique and then gradually moving the puppy into it’s own cushy area in the laundry which overlooks our backyard.

6.What plans do you have for training your puppy?

Initially we will take it to puppy training classes together. We are so keen that we have already researched a couple of programs offered by local Vets and have made enquiries about them… very exciting!

As you can see from the responses above, you need to sell yourself! Be truthful, but include all of those little details that will help your case. Good luck.
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An Irrigation Dam

-click to enlarge-

It's a quick shot; I captured it from a moving car. The irrigation dam distributes some water of Songgom River (Songgom Village, Central Java, Indonesia) to irrigate rice fields around.

The Weekend in Black and White

A Guide to Caring for the Elderly at Home

Caring for the elderly at home does not need to uproot your lifestyle and become a huge burden. Looking after the elderly is much like looking after yourself and the needs are the same with some variations. Caring for any person, whether a child, or an adult, can be tedious, stressful, costly and worrisome, but it does not need to be this way. There are plenty of home nursing agencies that will be able to augment the care that you give your loved one and ease some of the pressure without a huge financial burden.

How to prepare for aged care
Elderly care does not require a drastic change of lifestyle. The things you will need for your home are much like those which are required for a baby but in larger sizes. Depending on the needs of the family member, there are different levels of help that can be arranged and organised for day to day support.

Elderly care often requires medical safety beds, and other specialised equipment. The processes of care are often very similar but elderly care comes with a level of understanding and response that will ease the processes infinitely. Tedium and frustration with aged care often comes in at this point when elderly individuals refuse to do things that they don’t want to or play the ‘I’m your elder card’ try and take control.

Preventing ‘burnout’
Caring for an elderly patient can be very trying and monotonous so it is very important to be able to take a break. In many cases this is simply not possible and the lack of holidays and contact with the outside world can make the process unbearable. To avoid this situation it is important to have multiple caregivers who are able to relieve you of care duty so that you can still get out and enjoy your life. Seeking professional nursing care or enlisting other family members to help with the care will enable you to take these necessary breaks and make the process all the more bearable.

How you care effects functionality
The way in which you care for elderly patients will affect their overall functionality. If for example you live in a two story house, then you may need to install a stair lift to enable them to access the entire house. Most showers will need to be adapted to have non-slip floors and safety rails to prevent falls in the shower. Whilst these expenses may seem preventative, it will allow you to commit less to the care process as the elderly person can achieve things by themselves.

Care needs to be household wide
Whilst not everyone in the house will necessarily be providing care to the elderly person, it is important that they all know what to do in certain situations. Just as one would prepare for fire safety, it is equally important to prepare for an emergency of many kinds. Alzheimer’s and Dementia can prevent elderly people from recognising their own family and cause them to panic. In these cases it is important that everyone knows what to do, regardless of their status as a caregiver.

Affordable Viewership with Direct TV

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