How to Have a Winter Garden

                Would you like to have a winter garden? Well, you can. Gardening does not have to start with spring and end with fall. If gardening is your hobby and passion there are some solutions that will help you have a garden all year round. You can do this with plants that thrive during the winter and in cold temperature. With them you can have a spot of color in the otherwise dreary atmosphere that winter brings. Some of the winter plants you should look into are the Blue Rug Juniper, Irish Moss, Coral Beauty Cotoneaster, White Lady Helleborus, Hardy Evergreen Bamboo and Wintergreen.

                Blue Rug Juniper would be a perfect plant for your winter garden. It is a flower that tolerates temperatures below zero very well, and it is beautiful throughout winter. It has silvery-blue, dense foliage that grows to about 8 inches, and it spreads to almost 5 feet. Irish Moss is a low-growing moss that is ideal to fill the spaces that are between your various plants and shrubs. It will grow about 2 to 5 inches tall. It is a very resistant plant, you will be able to walk on it and you will have to clip it from time to time. Irish Moss is a great way to have some green in your garden when nothing else that is green will grow.

                Another great addition to you winter garden is Coral Beauty Cotoneaster. It is a green plant that produces reddish colored berries that will withstand winter. This plant will add some much needed color to your garden in the winter. It grows up to 24 inches and spreads to about 6 feet. This plant will also let you know when spring is about to come to an end, because in this period it will sprout beautiful white flowers.

What is Canvas Painting

                Canvas painting is the most popular and most used painting technique. If you visit a museum or an art exhibit you will see a lot of works from famous artists done in this medium. Many of classic and world renowned artists painted on canvas. Canvas is a textile material and due to its texture it is great for painting on. It started being used in the Renaissance period and since then it continued to rise in popularity. Some of the most famous works of art are canvas paintings.

                Compared to watercolor painting, canvas painting is livelier and bolder. This is due in part to the fact that this type of painting is done with oil based paints. This gives the paintings a longer life and a quality that maintains over a period of time. They also allow for a higher degree of expression to go into the painting. And oil paints are water resistant. A painting done on a canvas with oil paints is very resistant to water damage and the degrading influence of time. Because oil paints sink deep into the canvas, a painting done like this can last for hundreds of years.

                The main impediment when an artist starts canvas painting is the fact that the texture of the canvas is very rough. On a smooth surface painting is easier. On canvas however a lot of pressure needs to be applied for the color to stick. Of course after a period of practice it becomes easier. There are two types of canvas to choose from. There is the stapled canvas and the spline canvas. The stapled canvas is usually used by beginners, because its edges are stapled and it has a clear delimitated shape. An experience painter would prefer to use the spline canvas, because he can do the delimitations himself.

What is a Simile

                If you are wondering what is a simile, let me give you an example. Last Wednesday morning I was as drunk as a lord, but that’s only because on Monday I was as sober as a judge. Or after I take a bath I am as hungry as a wolf. So a simile is a comparison that is made between two terms in order to illustrate a point. As drunk as lord, means extremely drunk, as sober as a judge, means very sober, and as hungry as a wolf, means I am starving after I take a bath (I have no idea why).

                So what is a simile? A simile is an expression that is similar to a metaphor that is used to express a superlative. A simile is used when someone wants to express a high level of intensity to a perception or experience. Saying that the room went silent after you said a joke, expresses a fact, however, when you say that the room was as silent as the grave after you have said your joke, implies how pressing the silence was, and the simile clearly expresses your feelings about the situation. So a simile is a great way to express an emotional load with the facts of a story.

                If you want to know what is a simile to use for a specific situation, or simply learn what it means, you should check online. There are plenty of sites that have a huge database of similes, and the similes are explained. Of course most of them are pretty obvious (as slow as a tortoise), but some of them are harder to understand. And if English is not your first language, it is understandable if you find yourself struggling with the meaning of some similes. So go ahead and type simile in Google and you will probably find the one you are looking for.

Two Types of Mexican Cookies

                There is a huge variety of cookies. From the classic chocolate chip cookies to more exotic types that have names which cannot be uttered in polite company, these small mouth watering snacks are good for events, parties, restaurants and especially waiting for Santa. There are so many types of cookies that there are even subtypes of cookies. For example, there are many different types of Mexican cookies. There are the Mexican wedding cookies, the Mexican Biscocho Cookies, marranitos, cochinos, purquitos and churros. So even though learning to bake cookies is easy, learning to bake all the types of cookies is a task worthy of respect.

                Mexican wedding cookies are a delicious traditional type of Mexican cookies. They are made from groundnuts, be it walnuts, pecans or almonds, and shortbread. They are served at anniversaries, on the Christmas holidays, and, as you’ve probably already guessed from the name, at weddings. This recipe has seen many variations around the world. In Sweden and Russia they are known as tea cakes. They are easy to make and the recipe for them is easily found online. So if you have a wedding or some sort of celebration coming up, consider putting Mexican wedding cookies on the menu.

                A Mexican Biscocho cookie is another recipe that is very popular in Mexico. This type of Mexican cookies originated in Spain. Biscochos have anise seeds added to them and they are sprinkled with cinnamon. My mouth is watering from just writing that last sentence. Some makers add orange juice or wine to enhance the flavor. They are usually cut using cookie cutters into the shape of a diamond. And it is not unreasonable to eat them while drinking wine. Everybody knows kids love cookies, but Biscochos, well Biscochos are for adults. You can also find this recipe online for free.

The History of Naot Footwear

                Naot Footwear is a sandal and shoe manufacturer based in Israel. It was started in 1942, and at first it was a kibbutz factory that produced work boots. Now it has 160 employees and it designs new lines of footwear each year in order to keep up with the fashion trends from around the world. It manufactures children’s, men’s and women’s sandals and shoes. The insoles of the shoes are specially designed to fit the shape of a person’s feet. This makes the sandals and shoes very comfortable.

                Naot Footwear faced some rough times in 1988, when the shoe imports from other countries in the Far East were dealing a blow to the company’s sales. The company was even considering the possibility of closing shop. It was a very dire situation, so dire in fact that the economic downfall of kibbutz factories was being studied at the University of Tel Aviv. But things started to turn around for Naot when Ami Bar-Nahor was brought on as a consultant. This was a class exercise for him. He managed to save the company by rethinking its approach to shoe selling and the company’s image. Ami realized that the only way to compete with other shoe manufacturers was to redesign the shoe line as health shoes. This was a stroke of genius. The original footwear had rigid soles, and they were uncomfortable. With the new redesigned and flexible soles, Naot’s footwear began rising in popularity. In 2006, the Shamrock Holdings company paid 31 million dollars for three quarters of Naot’s stocks.

                The official Naot Footwear site has a large variety of products available for purchase. You can find the Dead Sea series of body care products. All of these products are Hypo-Allergenic. You can find the Dead Sea body lotion, foot cream and hand cream. You will also find them in packs. Then there are the famous Naot shoes and sandals on offer.