Summer is hot, especially in South Louisiana! And your garden can suffer if your plants aren’t watered often enough to keep up with the heat.

The solution?  Diapers.

We all know how diapers are excellent for retaining moisture. (We’re sometimes surprised by exactly how much they can hold!)  To keep your potted plant from wilting in the summer sun, place a diaper at the bottom of the pot.  When watering the plant, the diaper will soak up a good bit of the water, so you may need to put a little extra to make sure that the plant gets some too!

When the plant starts to get dry, its roots will soak up water from the diaper.  This method is great for those summer annuals that require daily watering, or for the gardener who is often on-the-go.

How clever!

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Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

 

“The future depends on what you do today.”
                                                                            -Mahatma Gandhi

 

From wanting to break a bad habit to adopting a completely new lifestyle, we all set goals for ourselves to achieve.  Most of the time, however, it’s easier said than done.  The amount of dedication required to achieve these goals can be daunting, and repeatedly comparing our current states to our ideal states may only discourage us.

However, we all have a powerful weapon–today.  It’s the only day we are guaranteed, so what we do with it is crucial.

Make today the day that you will give your best effort.  Tomorrow will thank you for it!

 

What will you accomplish today?

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Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

Quick & Easy Meals

Shrimp Scampi

This creamy pasta is perfect for a busy weeknight–in only 25 minutes, it’ll be on your table!  Try it with an earthy Sauvignon Blanc.

INGREDIENTS

• 8 ounces linguine
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more, to taste
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

INSTRUCTIONS

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
• Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pink, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in wine and lemon juice; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat and stir in pasta, lemon zest and parsley.
• Serve immediately, garnished with Parmesan, if desired.

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Originally Posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News

 1. Disable or remove browser extensions and toolbars you don’t really need.

   Firefox: Hit the menu button on the far right, select Add-ons / Extensions, then select disable or remove for each    item on the list.

Chrome: Right-click on any extension button / Manage Extensions, then uncheck the box to disable a particular item, or click the trash can to wave it goodbye.

Safari: Hit Safari (top left) / Preferences / Security / Extensions, then select an item to uninstall. You can also turn off all Extensions here.

Internet Explorer: Tools / Manage add-ons / Show All add-ons, then select the offender(s), and click disable or remove.

2.  Your’re running too many programs at once. Doing a trillion things at once is exactly why we have computers but, at some point, your little bundle of artificial intelligence is going to falter. Your computer’s ability to run multiple programs at the same time hinges in part on its RAM (random access memory). Shut down un needed programs even at start up. 

3. Too many brower tabs are open.  Bookmark those “necessary” links (for organization’s sake, in a Bookmarks folder titled “To Read”) and shut those tabs down. 

4. Rogue programs are hogging all the processing power. Some programs or system processes may be stuck in a loop or have encountered an error. Check how much processing power programs and processes are using by heading into Task Manager (Windows; Ctrl+Alt+Delete) or Activity Monitor (Mac; in Applications / Utilities). For both, click the “CPU” tab to order the programs by how much processing power they’re taking up. If a program that you’re not actively using is still up there in the top few programs, you can select to quit the process.

   

5. You have an overzealous antivirus program. Head into your antivirus settings and configure it to scan late at night when you aren’t using the computer.

 

 

 

Thanks to Sharon Tara who took time out of her schedule not only for one Grasshopper but THREE             Elite Team Members as well as many other rainers! Sharon used Ribbet and taught us several tricks of photo editing. No technical difficulties stopped these determined Rainers, we learned cloning, airbrushing, wrinkle removing, as well as other editing features that will certainly enhance our marketing abilities. With team view, Sharon and I were going back and forth between managing the photo editing, which was great!!! Looking forward to using all of our newly found tools and thanks to Sharon, Elite Team’s favorite word right now is…