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There is nothing worse than coming in after a hard day and when you finally get a decent fire going, all you get is smoke coming back into the room. It burns the eyes and lungs, and you wind up having to open windows and doors to let the cold air in to air the room out. That smell gets into all of the fabrics in the house as well as in your clothes, and it seems to take forever to get rid of it.

Many of the common smoking problems deal with the fact that a fire needs to be supplied with a large amount of make up air as one of its three primary elements, as well as needing to have an adequate opening through the chimney to the outside in order to exhaust out the smoke and gases so that they don’t come back into the room. Below is a list of the top ten possible reasons and their solutions as to why you’re having that smoking problem.

1) Dirty or Obstructed Chimney– Have the chimney inspected and swept by a Certified Chimney Sweep so that the chimney can be checked for any obstructions such as a bird’s nest or tree branches, or your kid’s missing volley ball. Also, a dirty chimney cap will prevent smoke from freely exiting the chimney.

2) Closed Damper– Before starting a fire, always check to make sure that the damper is completely open. If you’re not sure, shine a flashlight up the chimney to see if the metal damper plate is open or closed.

3) Fuel– Cut firewood must be aged a minimum of one year. It should be kept dry and protected from the rain. If the log is larger around than 6″ in diameter, it should be split so that it burns efficiently. Also, some types of prefabricated “paper wrapped” logs can be prone to smoking.

4) Fire Grate Placement– The fire grate is where you place your wood in the firebox and should be placed as far back in the firebox as possible, preferably right against the backwall in order to create a good draw. Sometimes it’s necessary to raise the grate with bricks to help. This gets more air under the grate for better circulation and it also raises the height of the fire.

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What’s Varicose Veins

Swollen, elongated veins usually visible on your limbs are called varicose veins. These veins may cause aches, fatigue, or a burning sensation in the affected limbs. Generally more women than men are afflicted by this condition. Varicose veins are often unsightly and they can be more visible when an impacted person is standing because of increased blood pressure in the affected limbs. One of the first signs of varicose veins is when swelling occurs along a course of veins. If the impacted vein is in the leg, muscular cramps may occur with a feeling of general tiredness of the legs. In some cases, the normal flow of blood towards your heart may be reversed when you are in an upright position. This could lead to blood collecting in the lower part of your legs with the skin becoming purplish, and this may lead to other complications such as ulcers on the leg.

Juice in Diet Treats Varicose Veins

Regular fruit juice intake helps you to maintain proper weight. And along with a balanced diet of raw food and vegetables will give you nutrients that may help prevent varicose veins. Vitamin C and protein are components of collagen, part of the tissue in the veins and valves. If your collagen is in good shape, the tissues are likely to be more resistant a varicose condition. Organic raw vegetable juice like carrot juice in combination with spinach juice, have proven to be beneficial in treating varicose ailments. The juice formula proportions considered helpful is a mix of 1 ¼ cup of carrot juice and 1 cup of spinach juice. Also dark-colored berries like cherries, blueberries and blackberries have anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins: (more…)

Worried about having your children pester you while you work from home? Here are some innovative ways where you can include them in your daily schedule.

Almost everyone who does work from home and has children wonders about the best way to involve your children in your work without making slave labor out of them. Depending upon the age of the child, he can be of complete nuisance when you are trying to work, or can be a cheerful and helpful assistant who is proud to be helping you. If your child is school age, you may elect to do most of your work during school hours and keep your afternoons and evenings free to interact with the children. If, however, you want to provide your children with a positive work ethic, one of the best ways to do that is to get them involved in your home based business.

Use their talents

When you work from home with your child, it should be as enjoyable to them as it is for you. If you like to create artistic web pages and that is the type of business you have created out of your home, it is unfair to expect your child to be as thrilled with the work as you are. They may have other talents that could mesh nicely with your own and make your business stronger than it would have been otherwise. If your child loves to work with numbers, let them keep track of the orders. If they enjoy organizing and inventorying things, put them in charge of your product inventory.

Give them a break

If a child is in school all day and you expect them to sit at a desk when they arrive home without any break in routine, you will have a child who is not focused on the work from home. You would be far better off to let them do something active for a short while, or even grab a snack. Especially if the child will be doing homework in the evening, they should not be doing sedentary work or even just watching television when they are at home. A variety of work will be better for their concentration and for their physical health as well.

Remember their birthday

Expecting a child to work from home is reasonable, but expecting perfection is not. Find tasks to do that the child can achieve success at. Not ‘make work’ but tasks that will benefit the entire household in one way or another. Particularly if there is more than one child involved, each should be made to see that their particular job is important and worth doing well.

Rewards system

If you provide your child with an allowance and in return they are expected to do certain chores, it is a good way to teach work responsibility and money management at the same time. If at all possible, doing tasks so that you can work from home should be rewarded. The child should be paid for any tasks that you would otherwise have to hire outside help for. This includes completion of household tasks such as cooking, laundry, pet care and vacuuming.

Whether you are male or female, a mom or a dad, balancing career and family can be really difficult. When you’re a woman, though, the choices you have to make seem especially difficult and the responsibilities all the more great. For some reason, women are guilt-ridden with their career decisions and the choices they make about working while trying to raise their children, providing nutritious meals for their family, keeping a respectable house and keeping their husbands happy. Last on the list, of course, is finding some time for themselves. So how does a woman find time to actually feel happy with her daily activities while keeping up with all of the responsibility?

First, take time to smell the roses! Literally, you can take time to smell the roses but you can actually do this with no flowers in sight. Every day, try to look around and appreciate what you have, taking in the sounds of your child’s laughter, the wag of your dog’s tail, the special glance of your husband as you tell a funny joke. Sometimes, the knowledge of what you have on your plate for the day will feel overwhelming, but a little perspective goes a long way. It may be a cliché and a very tired phrase, but it truly does work. People tend to get lost in the mundane, day-to-day “functioning” instead of really living their lives. For example, next time you are worried about fitting in your exercise with your child’s play date at Little Gym, forego the Little Gym and head out with your son or daughter for a run. Strap the little one in the jog stroller or if he or she is old enough, ask them to put on the running shoes with Mommy and head outside! Once outside, you can literally stop to smell the roses. Just a few minutes of gratitude a day will work wonders for your soul and automatically make your life feel more balanced.

Along these same lines, try and give yourself some “me” time once a week. Once a week may not seem like much, but if you really allow yourself to soak it in and enjoy the time spent, it will make the stress of all of the rest of the hectic days melt away. Take a good block of time on a Saturday or Sunday - 2 hours, maybe - and mark this time in your calendar in pen, not pencil. Keep a standing appointment with yourself, and honor it as you would any other. Think you are too busy on a weekend to do this? You will feel much more productive the rest of the weekend allowing yourself this little ‘refresher’, rather than trying to cram some time in on a random Tuesday or other weeknight. For this special time, you can book a massage or a facial at your favorite spa. Take a couple of hours to go window shopping at your favorites stores, by yourself or with a friend. Take in a matinee with a couple of girlfriends. If your husband is willing to fly solo on a Saturday night, you can even book a girls’ night out once in a while and truly let loose! Even if your budget doesn’t allow for these activities once a week, you can lock yourself in the bathroom with a good book, a bubble bath and a nice glass of wine and feel good about your time alone - you deserve some!

Probably the most obvious way to balance career and family is to incorporate your family into what would otherwise be “work time”. If you have a short commute to work, for example, perhaps you can drive your kids to school each morning instead of having them take the bus. In the alternative, you could have your morning cup of coffee at the bus stop with them and spend a few minutes chatting about their day and what they plan to learn in school as you sip your cup of Joe and breathe in the morning air to mentally prepare for your own day ahead. If you normally exercise in the morning and leave the house very early, switch your workout time to lunch and leave the office to go to the gym, eating at your desk when you get back. You will have more time with your family each day and get a healthy break from your pile of papers to boot.

You may need to get a little creative with your schedule, but there are definitely ways to help balance career and family. Sometimes an extra few minutes each day or a once-weekly good block of time can go a long way in helping restore your peace of mind and help you feel less harried.