Placerville, CA

ActiveRain Communities – Adding Neighborhoods

I learned something new by visiting the Video Tutorials section of ActiveRain University. I watch a video on Communities and saw how to add a community to the site.

Here is what I did to add my community.

Click the Hyper-Local Pages box, and then fill in the information in the State, County, and City drop downs. Once you do that, you will be prompted for a neighborhood. If your neighborhood is not there – Add it yourself!

Click on the Add Neighborhood link, and a new window will open. Click on the screen to set the red pin marker. Be sure to include the name of the neighborhood. When you are finished, click on Add Community at the bottom.

That is how you add a community to Hyper-local.

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure – A Contractor’s Solution

I don’t know about you but I hate throwing things away that still have value. As a contractor I accumulate building materials, parts, tools, and other things that are perfectly good but I do not use regularly. What do I do with this stuff?

For example, if I were to do a small renovation job in a bathroom, I would have some extra flooring, tiles, maybe the old cabinets, or some

specialty tool. If I still had a use for the items, and plan on using it in the future, I’d save it until then. Otherwise, all the rest would go to the landfill. I have thrown away some perfectly good things because there was no other place to go.

Habitat for Humanity has a retail store that can help me with this problem. Think of this store as a home improvement thrift store. It can be a treasure for many people in need of that one rare item, probably at a discounted cost too.

So if I’m changing the shower doors to a shower, I can donate the old one. They clean it up and sell it to someone who needs a used shower door and not an all new assembly.

Getting new windows, cabinets, sink or toilet? Donate the old one! Apparently, there is a demand for this sort of thing. That baby blue toilet that you are getting rid of is just what someone is looking for.

So check your garage, do you have something that was left over from a “project” that you completed? There is a market for it. The Habitat for Humanity in my community welcomes all donations. It is tax deductible and all proceeds go toward the efforts of Habitat for Humanity. They do some good things for communities all across the nation; check out their web site for more information.

El Dorado County Habitat for Humanity

An Ever Changing Palette in the Sky

With the weather being so good lately, the sunrises and sunsets seem to be picture worthy every day. Today’s high temperature of 64 ties the record for this date in history. I was able to get an early photo this morning of this ever-changing palette.

Hope your day was just as beautiful.

Where Do I Go to Get Rid of My Christmas trees in El Dorado County?

Christmas is over and you are looking for a place to dispose or recycle your Christmas tree, where can you go? El Dorado County has several drop out and collection locations for you. Do not burn your tree in your woodstove or fireplace; they can be a fire hazard!

This list may help:

El Dorado County recycling options for Christmas trees

West Slope El Dorado County Residents: Free drop-off at the Waste Connections recycling facility, 4100 Throwita Way, Placerville, 8 am to 5 pm daily, Jan. 1 through 15. (530) 626-4141

South Lake Tahoe: Drop-off at the Resource Recovery Facility at no charge, 2140 Ruth Ave. - Call (530) 541-5105

El Dorado Hills: Free tree-chipping at the Community Park, north entrance, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Jan. 7 and 8. The El Dorado Hills Community Services District and El Dorado Disposal sponsor this event. It is free, but is open to El Dorado Hills residents only.

Cameron Park: Cameron Park Community Services District drop-off at Cameron Park Lake, 2989 Cambridge Road, 7 a.m. to dusk, daily through Jan. 31.

Placerville and unincorporated areas served by Waste Connections: Curbside pickup on regular yard waste collection days. (530) 626-4141

I got to see this sunset last night while in the foothills of Placerville. The sun was setting behind a tree on the horizon. The photo appears much darker than it really was at the time.

Maybe someone can explain how best to photograph the sun and the moon.

Hope everyone is enjoying today, Christmas in 7 days!