Do you dream of waking up on the beach?

In Montevideo this can be your reality. Montevideo is blessed with a plethora of apartments that will seem affordable to the US or European tourist. In other cities, you may have to settle for something out of town. In Montevideo, which is a living, working city – you can literally wake up and have sand at your feet.

The seafront ”rambla” is the jewel of Montevideo. You can watch beautiful sunsets sink into the Rio de La Plata, take a walk or a morning run along the palm-tree lined boulevard, or just take a seat and soak it all up. During the evenings citizens gather to chew the fat, drink beer or mate (tea) and people-watch.

While there are many neighbourhoods in Montevideo all worthy of a mention, in practice most visitors choose to rent a beachfront apartment in one of the plusher and safer coastal neighbourhoods. After all, what many are seeking is a better standard of living on a budget. With affordable housing a stone’s throw from the beach, why not?

First stop, and where you will disembark if coming by boat from Buenos Aires, is the Ciudad Vieja (old town), which includes the port area. The Ciudad Vieja has undergone a revamp and has received major investment and interest from far flung places. There are several reasons for this.

Firstly, the area is still incredibly cheap for rentals if you can get the right deal. Depending on the apartment, prices of around 200USD/Month for a 40m space are not unheard of, but can be as high as 800USD.

Secondly, visitors are attracted to the beautiful architecture and old colonial-style buildings – far removed from the uniform grey which makes up much of the rest of Montevideo.

Thirdly, the Ciudad Vieja is right on the coast, surrounded by the waterfront Rambla which snakes along the Rio de La Plata. A Ciudad Vieja apartment is within walking distance of almost everything you need on a day-to day basis. At night you are also right next to the popular strip of bars on ”bartolome mitre” for dancing or a bite to eat.

Typically, foreigners are buying apartments in the Ciudad Vieja but not actually living in them – the reason being that the area is still developing. Although the government has tried hard to shed the area of its seedy port reputation, and the zone is well policed, petty theft is still a common occurrence. You should take care when walking alone after dark.

Pocitos is another region favoured by international investors. More ”upmarket” than the Ciudad Vieja, Pocitos has almost everything the expat needs. Composed of a mix of houses and huge apartment blocks lining the sea front – this area is populated by middle and upper class Uruguayans. Although lacking the charm of downtown Montevideo, your day to day needs are better catered for. Pocitos is also safer than the old town. A Pocitos apartment doesn’t come cheap. If you are thinking of the penthouse suite overlooking the beach be prepared to cough up. Montevideo one bedroom beach front apartments are going for around 600-800 dollars, and prices keep rising.

Types of Montevideo Apartment

Casita – literally ‘little house” a casita is your dedicated section of a larger house or building. Casitas often come with the old colonial fachadas, big wooden doors and tend to look quite pretty. You can often rent a similar sized space in a casita for significantly less than in a standard apartment. But the old world charm has its downsides – these houses usually do not have central heating, so be prepared to invest in at least a gas heater because Montevideo can get cold. Temperatures of around 0 degrees are common in June and July.

Apartamento – an apartment , usually part of a larger apartment complex. The big apartment blogs all have a ”portero” – porter, while the smaller ones may share porteros. This makes apartment blocks a more secure option. Rental apartments are more likely to come furnished and to be equipped with the mod cons. Some of the larger complexes have parking space, for which an extra fee is charged. In addition to the rent itself, you will most likely pay ”gastos comunes” – community expenses, the cost for the upkeep of the entire block. Remember if you choose a building with high numbers of elevators/staff compared to occupants these costs will be higher.

Renting an apartment in Montevideo doesn’t have to be difficult, you may even end up on good terms with your landlord! But it helps to go prepared with some basic knowledge and an idea of where to look. Good luck!

By: Patrick Winters

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Compost is a very good fertilizer for the flowers and the plants. For preparation of the compost, a bin is required. The bin can either be purchased from the shops or the same can be made with the available materials at the house.

A corner of the ground that is open to air and away from the house can be chosen for making a container for the compose preparation. The compost container area should also be out of the reach of the children play area and the pets, if any, should also be not allowed near the same.

Once the safe place is chosen, a frame of 4 feet in the shape of cube has to be constructed by using either 2×4’s or even 2×6’s.

The remaining 2×4’s or the 2×6’s should be cut into a length of 4 feet and the same has to be nailed to the frame. A gap of quarter to half inch has to be left for the air to flow between the boards.

After completion of the nailing of all the four sides, lid to cover the container has to be made. It can be made with the help of the cardboard or even a thin sheet. Then the same has to be attached to the container with the help of the hinges. If required, a latch can be added. But it is not a compulsory one.

By using the staples or the U shaped fasteners, the fencing has to be attached to the outside of the container. This will prevent entry of rodents into the container. Many of the wire mesh come in the size of 4 feet wide rolls.

Now the compost container is ready and the same has to be kept in the place earmarked for it. Once it is placed in its position, the composting work can be started. Waste materials from the kitchen and the garden can be thrown inside the compost container. It is better to avoid throwing wastages like oils, meats or fats inside the compost container.

The contents in the container have to be stirred with the use of shovel or the rake with a time gap of 2 or 3 days. A good fertilizer can be seen inside the container after 1 to 1 and ½ months that can be used in the garden.

Those people who live in the apartments and does not have sufficient yard to keep a big container can go in for small compost bins. The dustbin with the lid can also be used as a compost container by doing some alterations like piercing some holes for ventilation for preparing good compost. Thus a good compost container can be made without spending much amount.



By: Russ Snapper

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In many parts of the Taxes the soil is unsuitable and difficult to work with. In the summer the baking heat of the sun can cause the hardiest of plants to succumb to the sun’s rays, containers can be moved to a shadier spot. If you live on a zero lot, or in an apartment, it can be impossible to find space to garden so using containers will help your plants thrive almost anywhere. Selecting the right variety for vegetable for container gardening in Texas is very important. You can grow delicious vegetables in containers, if you find yourself with insufficient space to grow a vegetable garden. Your ideal vegetables for container gardening are squash, lettuce, beans, green onions, egg plants, cucumbers, peppers, and of course delicious tomatoes. You can set up two containers over in the corner with a bamboo tee pee set up in each and grow pole beans all season long. Your cucumbers will need a large container also and you can let them grow up and over and down the sides of their container. Most vegetables will need water daily especially in hot weather. You can plant a few marigolds in your container garden area to keep away garden pests. Use Miracle Grow for vegetables to feed your plants on a regular basis. Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes or poor soil conditions can be easily overcome by switching to a container garden. Crop selection almost any vegetable that will grow in a typical backyard garden will also do well as a container-grown plant. Vegetables which are ideally suited for growing in containers include tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, green onions, beans, lettuce, squash, radishes and parsley. Most varieties that will do well when planted in a yard garden will also do well in containers. The size of the container will vary according to the crop selection and space available. Regardless of the type or size of container used, adequate drainage is a necessity for successful yields. Best suited for container culture are vegetables which may be easily transplanted. Most vegetables should be transplanted into containers when they develop their first two to three true leaves.

Fixing Diseases Problems with soil-borne diseases, nematodes or poor soil conditions can be easily overcome by switching to a container garden. Growing Media Synthetic “soils” are best suited for vegetable container gardening. Fertilization the easiest way to add fertilizer to plants growing in containers is by preparing a nutrient solution and pouring it over the soil mix. The type of soil in Texas is best for vegetable growth, however one of the flip sides of practicing vegetable gardening in Texas is the moisture level of the soil. Since the sun is so hot in Texas, some of the areas are left too dry and challenging for farmers to maintain the wetness levels of the soil. Then there’s the pseudo-bonsai tactic I use to stunt trees before planting them permanently outside, and there’s container planting of heat-loving veggies so that in chilly spring time, the soil selectively warms up faster than the outside soil does, and plant them later after the soil is suitably warm for permanent planting. Potting soil and black cow manure can be purchased at your local area Wal-Mart. Many synthetic “soils” are available from garden centers, or one can be prepared by mixing horticultural grade vermiculite, peat moss, limestone, superphosphate, and garden fertilizer. Use a potting soil that is enriched with compost. Plant from seed does best in rich, loose garden soil, so mix in compost in your soil or use a premixed soil blend. Plant your transplants in potting soil enriched with compost. The easiest way to add fertilizer to plants growing in containers is by preparing a nutrient solution and pouring it over the soil mix. In fact, in certain areas, you can observe that the farmers don’t even add any kind of fertilizers and nutrients to the soil and still are able to reap a rich harvest. The soil here is significantly rich in natural minerals and nutrients as compared to other parts of US. One can even resort to plain old watering methods to maintain optimum levels of soil wetness. Tip- add water to your plants either very early before the sun is on your plants or late evening after the sun is gone down. Avoid getting your plants wet to avoid disease. Again apply it at the base of the plant and not on the plants. You will want to use the heavy duty leaf bags to grow your potatoes in. Potting soil and black cow manure can be purchased at your local area Wal-Mart. I hope this helps you grow many plants in containers In Taxes. For more information on gardening go to www.Teegoes.org



By: temp_139402

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Dwarf cats are unusual and popular. People are interested in them. However, what are equally unusual and fascinating are the names of the various dwarf breeds and more particularly how the names came about.

Here are the names of dwarf cat breeds and the stories as to how they were created. Some of the stories about the creation of the name come from the person who developed the breed.

Fittingly, sometimes the name, just like the cat, is a hybrid, a mixture of two or more names.

You can read and see a lot more about dwarf cats at www.pictures-of-cats.org

Skookum:

This breed was developed Roy Galusha through the intentional breeding of the Munchkin to the LaPerm.

When I asked him how he arrived at the name for this breed he gave this full and interesting answer:

“I can tell you the answer on the Skookum, since we created the breed……

When the breed was first started (our first accidental cross), we (not just us, several people in our circle who knew about them), jokingly referred to them as LaMerms (taking the M from Munchkin and replacing the P in the LaPerm.) When we sought recognition as a breed, we wanted to find a good descriptor of the breed, and considered the name “Poco Chino” which means short and curly in Spanish. However, someone in UFO who knew Spanish pointed out that that also means “Little Chineese”, so we scrapped that. After doing a lot of talking and brainstorming, we decided to give it a Native American name. My wife is part Cherokee, so we researched Cherokee names; however, the descriptor names did not have a good flow. We then decided to go with a local North West Native American name (since we were living in Washington State). We looked at quite a few names, and researched the meanings. A local Native American word that comes from the Chinook language and was part of the Chinook Trade Language was Skookum (pronounced Skoo Kum). The word Skookum means mighty, powerful or great. It is also used to signify good health or good spirits. If someone really likes something, they might refer to it as being really skookum (“Boy that apple pie is skookum”) or if you really like a horse (“that is one skookum horse). So we figured that was the perfect name for the breed. Certain TICA officials used the name to object to it being accepted as a breed claiming that the word Skookum means scary monster such as a big foot. This is partially correct in the fact that the spelling Skookum is also used to describe Big Foot, the pronunciation is completely different.Below is the explanation from Tony Johnson, Cultural Committee Chair for the Chinook Tribe.

As per our conversation this morning, the Chinuk Wawa language has two words differing only by their stress that have been popularly written as “skookum.” We write these two words the same,except for their stress: “sku’kum” for something that is strong, tough, brave or impressive, and “skuku’m” for something scary or a “monster.” Typically English speakers stress the first syllable of a word, and your spelling (which is typical historically) reflects that. The word “skookum” for your use is both not “demonic,” and is in fact appropriate. Further discussion of the word “skuku’m seems unnecessary in that it is not the term you are using. As I noted, the word you are using also can be used in a context to mean something like English “healthy.” In this case it basically means your (body is) “strong.” I hope this helps you, and I can see where this confusion would come from. The confusion is entirely based on the problematic nature of people writing Native words and then other people reading them who have never heard actual pronunciation. In our language you could never confuse these two words or their associated meanings.

hayu masi (many thanks),

Tony A. Johnson

Culture committee Chair

Chinook Indian Tribe / Chinook Nation

The person who I believe started all the flack in TICA about the name Skookum would know the difference as her husband is one of the leading experts on big foots nation wide, and I understand that he has written several books and manuscripts on Big Foot, to include a passage about the use of the word Skookum in Chinook language and how it pertains to Big Foot. They would know the correct pronunciation for Big Foot as used by the local natives and would know the differences in the meanings; however used that to side rail the registration process.

The Skookum has also been referred to as the Shirley Temple cat, because it is short and curly. That was a marketing strategy when Cat Fancy first allowed us to advertise them. We came up with that slogan as the best descriptor of the cat.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.”

I can’t add a thing to that! Great answer.

Genetta:

The Genetta Cat was created and named by Shannon Kiley of Pawstruk Cattery in 2006. Genettas are being registered as an experimental breed with The International cat Association (TICA). Shannon came up with the name “Genetta” as the breed is “being modelled after the African Genet and part of the scientific name for a genet is “genetta”. So I thought that would be very fitting and unique.” (Shannon Kiley)

The African Genet is catlike in appearance and habit but not a cat. It has a longish body and widely spaced black spots. It is a member of the family Viverridae, which includes mongooses.

To achieve the look Shannon developed the Genetta using breeds such as munchkins, bengals, savannahs, DSH, and Oriental Shorthairs

Kinkalow:

The kinkalow results from the mating of an American Curl to a Munchkin. Terri Harris developed this breed and says this about the name:

“The Kinkalow name was decided on while I was at Kinkos getting some copies make. The Kinkalow has kinky ears and low legs, Kink+low = Kinkalow”.

Dwelf:

This is simple! This name is a mixture of “dwarf” and “elf”. The cat is a Cross between a Muchkin, Sphynx and American Curl. This dwarf cat is short, hairless and ears that curl back at the tips.

Napoleon:

This little cat was developed by the intentional mating of the Munchkin to the Persian or exotic shorthair, by Joe Smith. Napoleons are currently registered as Experimental with TICA (The International Cat Association) but recognized as a breed with TDCA (The Dwarf Cat Association).

I confess that I have yet to get an answer to my enquiries about this name. However, a bit of rational and logical thought leads me to this conclusion. This cat being a dwarf cat is short of stature. Napoleon Bonaparte (the French general during the French Revolution) was short of stature by today standards (5 feet 6 inches). Also most of the napoleons that I have seen are white and Napoleon Bonaparte rode a white horse (is there a connection there?). There probably isn’t and the name probably originated from the short stocky profile of this cat which mirrored Napoleon Bonaparte.

Munchkin:

In 1983 music teacher Sandra Hochenedel discovered two cats hiding under a vehicle. She rescued them; both had short, stubby legs. She called them Munchkins after the little people in The Wizard of Oz. This is the founding dwarf cat.

Bambino:

Stephanie and Pat Osborne of the Holy Moly cattery organised this dwarf cat breed. As Pat is of Italian extraction and as the cat keeps its kitten like appearance and character throughout its life they named it “Bambino”.There are two great pictures of this cat breed at www.pictures-of-cats.org

Lambkin:

A straight dictionary definition, I think, provides the answer. Lambkin means “very young lamb”. Lambkin cats are a new dwarf cat breed that comes from the cross of a Munchkin and Selkirk Rex to produce curly haired kittens, just like a little lamb.

Knook:

A Knook is a type of immortal being or fairy in the work of L.Frank Baum. Knooks are the guardians over the animals. They had a crooked appearance. (source: Wikipedia). I confess that my research on the name of this dwarf cat breed produced nothing more than the above.

However, a knook is a fairy that gives us the clue. A fairy is delicate and small. A knook is a Kinkalow with a LaPerm/Skookam-type curled coat and that means this cat is going to be pretty delicate and small….



By: Michael Broad

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