In Approval

We all know that flowers love sunshine, but did you realize that there are perennials that love the shade?

You can create a beautiful garden in the shade that can act as a cooling retreat on those hot summer days. By using perennials, your flowers will come up year after year for a lifetime of enjoyment.

Shade gardens offer much more than gardens that sit in the blazing sun all day. You can actually sit in them and enjoy them. Pull up a nice lounge chair or have a beautiful granite bench installed. Sit and read on a hot day, or just sip a drink and enjoy the birds and butterflies.

Like any other garden the best shade gardens will have taller plants in the back against the house or woods, medium growing plants in the middle and the shorter or ground cover plants on the inner edge. Since most perennials bloom for a short time, you ‘ll want to plant them so that you always have color in the garden. Stage the planting so that each area has a blooming plant at all times of the season.

Here’s a list of some perennials that thrive in the shade:

Astibe – This plant comes in 3 “sizes” which grow to 20″, 30″ and 40″ in a variety of colors. You can make a whole garden just with this 1 flower! It looks best planted in groups and has clumps of fluffy flower spikes.
Foxglove – This is a great plant for the back row of the garden as it can grow to 5 feet tall. It comes in a variety of colors and has large spikes filled with bell shaped flowers. This beautiful flower is highly toxic if ingested so be careful with it around animals and small children.
Lily Of The valley – This wonderfully fragrant plant has dainty white bell shaped flowers. It is great for a ground cover or the front of the garden as it grows to only about 6″ tall.
Lousiana Iris – This beautiful velvety purple black flower produces 4″ blooms that last well into June. Plant in groups for best effect. Grows about 2 feet tall.

Virginia Blue Bells – This medium sized plant has lavender bell shaped clusters. It grows to about 2 feet in height and is very hardy and easy to grow despite it’s fragile appearance.

About the Author

Lee Dobbins is a contributing writer for Backyard Garden And Patio.com where you can find out more about building your dream garden and growing garden flowers

Purchasing a gas powered cooker or electric cooker can certainly be a nerve-wracking task, for the most part because the prices normally begin from a entry price of around three-hundred pounds through to the high price range makes which can cost you appreciably more than four thousand pounds. The features included within this wide price range are huge & typically extremely tough to comprehend.

Nevertheless, once you have discarded gas operated cookers as a prospect then there are a number of specific things to think about which could assist you in reducing your choices from a plethora of products of electric cookers to 4 or maybe 5 cookers.

Major Considerations: Your most important thing to think about should realistically be if you find it necessary to opt for a slot-in or an incorporated cooker. The slot-in cooker doesn’t need enclosing: plus a model with just a singular oven by and large fits within a sixty cm cubic area (60cm H x 60 cm W x 60 D). You can also select a twin oven that could be installed inside a space that is the same width & depth as a single oven, yet is 90 cm in height.

If you are fitting the electric cooker into a new or renovated kitchen, side-by-side ovens are a favourite option.

This means that you must select among electric operated cookers that come with single or dual ovens. With dual ovens you can bake two items at completely different temperatures; alternatively you can use one as a broiler or warmer.

Other crucial points to weigh up are whether you would favour electronic or manual controls, a self-cleaning oven (which is a typical feature) or, even better, an electric oven with a pyrolytic cleaning component. Such elements, which clean the whole interior are found in the more high-priced brands.

In addition, you will also need to think about your new electric cooker’s exhaust system, whether it will be built-in or “chimney” style. Discover a huge collection of electrical products such as; electric cookers, vacuum cleaners and Dyson vacuum cleaners from leading brands online.

Electric Cooker Installation: A proper sales person ought to be able to guide you through the options highlighted above, and also assist you in determining if your electricity supply is sufficient for the type of cooker you are considering. Numerous electric cookers need a thirty or 45 amp power supply, with a thirteen amp fuse connection. Electric cookers do not typically come with cables integrated; yet, it’s strongly suggested that you employ a properly qualified engineer for the setup. The engineer will then guarantee that you have the appropriate electricity supply and connection.

Gas cookers & electrical cookers both have their own benefits, and among cookers electric operated products are typically the most logical option to get.

Paint a Picture With Your Words

Depending on what you sell, it is not always easy to get your point across, so it is very important to paint a picture with your words to give your customer a visual of your product, or a visual of themselves using your product.

When you are meeting someone face to face, and you can show them your product up close, it is easy for them to get a visual because they are looking at it with their own eye’s, and they can hold it in their own hands.

But seeing and feeling the product is not enough. You want your customers to see themselves using your product. You want to give them the visual of being in action with the product.

For instance, the last time I was on the market for a car, I went to a local dealership looking to test drive some jeeps.

The salesman showed me the jeeps he had on sale, and he even let me test drive a few of them.

Not only did he go over all of the wonderful features the jeep had to offer, such as the CD player, the electric windows, and the heated seats. He also said to me; Can’t you picture yourself cruising through the mountains with the sun setting behind you, and a cool breeze flowing through the open cabin as you play all of your favorite Cd’s?

The visual of me cruising up into the mountains in my new jeep with mother nature in all of her glory was all I needed to picture in my mind, and I was sold.

Well, I still have that jeep, and I enjoy it just as much today as I did the day I bought it. However, I have yet to experience anything as serenely as I had visualized the day I test drove it for the first time.

But the salesman’s technique worked. I bought the jeep.

If I were selling baseball bats, I would give my customers the visual of hitting a home run in the bottom of the ninth too win the game with the exact bat they were holding in their hand.

I could sit here all day coming up with scenarios to get my point across, but I think you get the picture.

So the next time you sell a product, paint a picture. Put a visual in your customer’s head of them using the product in a positive light. It will make a world of difference.

This article may be reproduced by anyone at any time, as long as the authors name and reference links are kept in tact and active.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of www.jconners.com, a mortgage resource site, he is also the owner of www.callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.

There are so many exercise bikes available that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. Spinning bikes, stationary bikes, dual action bikes, and recumbent bikes are probably some of the terms you’ve heard. It’s almost as though you have to be a fitness equipment engineer to understand the differences! Here’s a quick summary of these confusing terms.

Spinning Bikes

You’ve probably heard about the spin craze that has become so popular in health clubs. Spinning bikes usually have at least a front wheel that spins (which is why they are so brilliantly named spinning bikes). These bikes might be the current fad, but they aren’t very comfortable. The seats are small and hard. The classes make these boring bikes more interesting, but as home exercise bikes, they quickly become tedious.

Stationary Bikes

Stationary bikes (or upright bikes) are the exercise bikes that most people can identify. It’s the same basic model as in the 1980’s. Once again, it’s fairly uncomfortable. You can’t really do anything like read or watch TV because you’re leaning left and right and bouncing, so it, too, quickly gets boring.

Dual Action Bikes

Dual action bikes are aptly named, as they give you both an upper and lower body workout. There are handles that move independently – much like an elliptical machine. It’s a good workout, but a bit tough for beginners, and as usual, the time on the bike will eventually get boring.

You can also get dual action bikes that allow you to adjust the machine to create an arm-pedaling workout. It’s usually fairly difficult to make the adjustments. It’s also two separate exercises, which create a longer workout. Most people aren’t as likely to keep up such a routine.

Recumbent Bikes

Recumbent bikes are the exercise bikes with the comfortable bucket seats. You sit back and lower to the ground as you pedal. These exercise bikes are easy enough for even the most sedentary beginners, and they usually offer workout programs to keep the workouts from becoming mundane.

The Experts Recognize the Advantages of Recumbent Bikes

Most physicians and personal trainers recommend recumbent bikes. Recumbent bikes are better for people of all different fitness levels. You are more likely to keep up a recumbent bike routine over time, the bikes are safer, and there are different benefits for both men and women.

Recumbent Bikes for All Fitness Levels

Even the most sedentary person will find a recumbent exercise bike easy to use. You can adjust the settings to offer little or no resistance as you pedal. People who are overweight will definitely find the seat much larger and more comfortable than other exercise bikes.

Athletes will find the recumbent exercise bike a challenge. The resistance can become incredibly difficult. The bike can simulate pedaling up hills. Most recumbent bikes offer various programs that will require you to sprint and tackle hills. If you want an upper body workout as you pedal, you can easily add weights and do repetitions as you sit back in the recumbent bike seat.

Recumbent Bikes Offer a Sustainable Workout

The programs offered by most recumbent exercise bikes definitely keep the workout from becoming boring. You can simulate a course that is easy or difficult, flat or hilly. When shopping for exercise bikes, it’s better to get a bike with as many variations as possible.

The fact that a recumbent bike is suitable for all levels will keep you getting back on the bike. If you’re feeling particularly tired or lazy one day, you can have an easy workout where you can read a book or newspaper. If you really want to test your limits, you can crank up the music, set the machine to more difficult levels, and add some weights for an upper body workout.

Recumbent Bikes are Safer

Because you sit back and lower to the ground in a recumbent bike, it is better for your body. Most exercise bikes force you to hunch over, causing a stiff back. Some dual action bikes are back injuries waiting to happen. Recumbent bikes require that you sit with good posture as you pedal.

Recumbent bikes also offer one of the few cardio workouts that put no pressure on your knees and other joints. You can’t “cheat” on a recumbent bike and stand up when you’re finding it more difficult to pedal. Standing like that on other types of exercise bikes puts unnecessary pressure on your knees and ankles. Recumbent bikes let your body exercise at an angle where your body weight is not stressing your joints. Even people with back and knee problems will find a recumbent bike easy to use.

Why Men Should Choose Recumbent Exercise Bikes

So many men neglect their lower bodies when they workout, especially in strength training. It’s common to see buffed out men with giant biceps and tiny little bird legs. That’s because it’s easier to get an upper body workout at home. If you just invest in a recumbent bike, you can set the machine to high resistance. You will build leg muscle, and you can even do curls while you pedal.

Recumbent bikes can also allow men to get a great cardio workout without the discomfort that only a man knows on regular bikes or other types of exercise bikes. With the large, comfortable seats of recumbent bikes, you are much more likely to enjoy your workout pain-free.

If you move the seat of a recumbent bike up a bit to bring your legs higher, you can even target the lower abs and have to do less crunches to get the bottom of your six-pack!

Things Women Should Know About Recumbent Bikes

Two words, ladies: legs and bottoms. Recumbent exercise bikes are so comfortable and easy to use that eventually you can do workouts giving you results like you’ve spent hours a day on a stair-stepper.

Recumbent bikes can give you a fat burning cardio workout with enough resistance to help you build long, lean muscle. Picture Tina Turner legs. Recumbent bikes also are great for your inner thighs. Using different programs and settings, you will be able to target different muscle areas in your legs for longer looking, leaner legs.

According to most polls, women claim in higher numbers to not have time for exercise because of more responsibilities in the home. With the positioning of a recumbent bike, you can multi-task to more easily fit in a workout. You are able to read, catch the news, and even use a phone or your handheld organizer.

Finding a Recumbent Exercise Bike

With prices between $200 and $3000, there is quite a variety of recumbent bikes available. Use the Internet to find great deals (including free shipping most of the time). Because the bikes are great for any level and help you to finally be able to stick with a safe and effective workout routine, you can splurge a little. This is definitely one of the best investments you can make for your health.

Michael Walker is a freelance author providing useful information about exercise bikes, recumbent exercise bike and www.all-in-exercise-bikes.com/10001-home-fitness-equipment.htm“>home fitness equipment. His numerous articles offer comprehensive tips and solutions for the fitness enthusiast.

English Version

1) Grendel’s Divorce

You must know that I do not hate

And that I hate you,
Because everything dead has two

Sides;
A sound is one arm of the quiet,
Ice has its warm half.

I hate you in order to start hating you
To begin life again
And never to stop hating you:
That is why I do not hate you yet.

I hate you, and I do not hate you,

As if I carried
Locks in my pocket: to a past of
A feeble, crumbling joy

My hate has two lives, in order to

Hate you,
That is why I hate you, when I do

Do not hate you,
And also why I hate you when

I do…!.

#700 6/1/05

2) Grendel’s Waiting

Do not go far off, for more than a

Moment; becausebecause
It’s difficult to say this: a moment is not,
Not long, and Grendel will be waiting
For you, as in an empty cave,

Nothing is safe.

Don’t be alone, even for an hour,
BecausebecauseGrendel’s

Friends, full of anguish will run,
Run after you, choking the life
Out of your heart…

…oh, hide your silhouette, yes
Never dissolve it, just hide it,

Hide it, eyelids and all into an
Empty space; fine my
Friend,

Becausebecausein that moment
You wander off, you will have gone

So far, you will not come back; and
And love will remain here dying?

#701 6/2005

3) Counting Days
[Prose poetry]

Each day I wake-up I
Thank God for another; for
today is only today. It has its
own history you might say,
which consumes all of the past
for me.

When I look back, it seems
the days, no longer days (rather
history now) come and gone,
had wings on.

I do not want to swallow-up
tomorrow, it will come and pass,
and be consumed like a burning
patch of autumn leaves.

#703 6/2005

4) Papa Augusto’s Hipdromo
[At the Racetrack in Lima, Peru5/2005]

While I sit here, in the open,
drifting in myself,
I must have stared a long time
down the racetrack, beyond the
horses,
someone yells
“Trifecta!” everyone’s in my space
I won!!

#707 6/1/05

Spanish Version

1) El Divorcio de Grendel

Usted debe saberlo que yo no odio

Y lo que yo odio,
porque todo lo muerto tiene dos

Lados;
Un sonido es un brazo de la calma,
El hielo tiene su mitad caliente.

Lo odio con el fin de comenzar a odiarle
para Comenzar la vida otra vez
Y nunca parar odindolo:
Es por eso que no le odio an.

Le odio, y no le odio,

Como si yo llevé
Cerraduras en mi bolsillo: a un pasado de
Una débil, desmenuzada alegra-

Mi odio tiene dos vidas, con el fin
de odiarlo

Es por eso que le odio, cuando lo hago

No lo odio,
Y también por qué lo odio cuando

Hago …!.

*700 6/1/05

2) La Espera de Grendel

No vaya muy lejos, por ms que un

Momento; ” porque porque ”
Es difcil de decir esto: .: un momento no es,
tan largo, y Grendel estar esperando
Para usted, como en una cueva vaca,
Nada es seguro.

No esté solo, an por una hora,
por que, por que, los amigos

de Grendel, llenos de angustia corrern,
corriendo después que tu, ahogando la vida
fuera de tu corazn …

…oh, oculte su silueta, s
Nunca disuélvalo, solamente ocltelo,

Oculte ello, prpados y todo en un
Espacio vaco; bien mi
Amigo,

” Porque porque en ” ese momento
Usted vaga , usted se habr ido

tan lejos, usted no volver; y
Y el amor permanecer aqui muriendo?

*701 6/2005

3) Conteo de Das
[ Poesa de prosa]

Cada da desprtando yo
Agradeciendo a Dios por otro-; por
hoy es slo hoy. Esto tiene su
propia historia usted podra decir,
que consume todo el pasado
para m.

Cuando miro hacia atrs, parece
los das,dias largos (ms bien
la historia ahora) vienen y van,
tenan alas sobre.

No quiero tragarlo
maana, esto vendr y pasar,
y ser consumido como una combustin
pedazo de hojas de otoo.
*703 6/2005

4) El hipdromo de Pap Augusto
[ En el Hipdromo en Lima, Per-5/2005]

Mientras me siento aqu, en el abierto,
llegando a la deriva yo mismo,
Debo haber mirado fijamente mucho tiempo
abajo el hipdromo, ms all de los
caballos,
alguien grita
” Trifecta! ” todo el mundo en mi espacio
Gané!!

In these poems we see not only human nature at work [in Grendel], but the nature of the invisible world perhaps, trying to get into Mr. Siluk’s poems. A joyful win at the racetracks, and counting days, can be a bore. All made to order for a nice afternoon in reading. Rosa Penaloza

According to linguists (i.e. scientits who engage in the scientific study of human language)there is an important distinction between language acquisition and language learning.

As you may well have noticed, children acquire their mother tongue through interaction with their parents and the environment that sorrounds them. Their need to communicate paves the way for language acquisition to take place. As experts suggest, there is an innate capacity in every human being to acquire language. By the time a child is five years old, s/he can express ideas clearly and almost perfectly from the point of view of language and grammar. Although, parents never sit with children to explain to them the workings of the language, their utterances show a superb command of intricate rules and patterns that would drive an adult crazy if s/he tried to memorize them and use them accurately. This suggests that it is through exposure to the language and meaningful communication that a first language is acquired, without the need of systematic studies of any kind.

When it comes to second language learning in children, you will notice that this happens almost identically to their first language acquisition. And even teachers focus more on the communicative aspect of the language rather than on just rules and patterns for the children to repeat and memorize. In order to acquire language, the learner needs a source of natural communication.

The emphasis is on the text of the communication and not on the form. Young students who are in the process of acquiring a second language get plenty of “on the job” practice. They readily acquire the language to communicate with classmates.

In short, we see this tendency in which second language teachers are quite aware of the importance of communication in young learners and their inability to memorize rules consciously (although they will definitely acquire them through a hands-on approach just as they did with their mother tongue)

Unfortunately, when it comes to adult students, a quick look at the current methodologies and language courses available clearly shows that communication is set aside, neglected or even disregarded. In almost all cases,courses revolve around grammar, patterns, repetitions, drillings and rote memorization without even a human interlocutor to interact with.

The very same courses that promise you language independence and the ability to communicate upon completion of the courses do NOT offer you a single chance to do engage in meaningful conversations. How many times have you bought or read about “the ultimate language course on CD” in which the learner simply has to sit in front of a computer to listen to and repeat words and phrases time and again. That is not communication. That is the way you train a parrot! The animal will definitely learn and repeat a few phrases and amuse you and your friends, but it will never ever be able to communicate effectively.

How could you be expected to communicate if you are never given the chance to speak with a real person? Language without real communication is as useless as Saint Valentine’s day without lovers or Children’s day without kids.

In some other scenarios, in which there is a teacher, the work done in class is mostly grammatically oriented: tenses, rules, multiple choice exercises and so on and so forth. Is this similar to the way in which a child “acquires a language?” Definitely not. No wonder why so many people fail in acquiring a second language naturally. Simply because whatever they are doing is highly unnatural and devoid of meaning to them. This is the field of language learning.

Language learning as seen today is not communicative. It is the result of direct instruction in the rules of language. And it certainly is not an age-appropriate activity for your young learners_ as it is not for adults either. In language learning, students have conscious knowledge of the new language and can talk about that knowledge.

They can fill in the blanks on a grammar page. Research has shown, however, that knowing grammar rules does not necessarily result in good speaking or writing. A student who has memorized the rules of the language may be able to succeed on a standardized test of English language but may not be able to speak or write correctly.

As teachers, it is our duty to make sure that our students “acquire” rather than “learn the language.” What can we do to achieve this higher goal? In our next mini-article we will explore simple effective and highly innovative ways to turn our learning environment into real language acquisition setting.

Reflection (*2)

Read the article thoroughly.

What do you think is more desirable, to acquire a language or to learn a language?

What differences between acquiring and learning a language could you pinpoint?

In your personal experience, do you feel you’ve been acquiring or learning a language? Or maybe both? Explain your reasons.

Julio Foppoli Teacher of English as a Second Language, Teacher of Spanish as a Second Language, Creator and owner of http://www.esaudio.net/Spanish , an online educational website with a technological edge, specialized in the teaching of Spanish as second language via audio-conference to native speakers of English from all over the world. The website offers free listening comprehension activities with Spanish from all of the Spanish speaking world.