Outdoor Furniture, Patio Furniture and more!

Well, another year has begun; and, while many people are complaining about winter’s icy grip, my gripe is with all of the articles and news stories summarizing the “first decade” of the millennium.  It’s incredible that so many supposedly knowledgeable news professionals are calling 2010 the beginning of a new decade, when it is, in fact, the last year of the first decade of the 21^st century, which began on January 1, 2001.  They seem unable to understand that, since a count of ten always begins with 1, the first year of any decade will always end with a 1.  Sheesh!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, another thing that everyone is unhappy about is all of the weight that they gained over the holidays, and the trouble that they’re having trying to lose it.  While this is one of the most common challenges (and one of the most frequently broken resolutions) of every new year, with the right mindset, it can be done.  The important part is just getting started; and you don’t have to join a gym or spend any money to do it.

If you want to begin slowly, your everyday housework and yard work can help you burn a lot of calories.  In fact, the after-Christmas cleanup can give you an exceptionally good workout, because it requires a lot of energy just to take down the decorations and the tree.  You’ll probably have to move some furniture around, too, if you rearranged it to make space for the tree.  This is also a good time to tidy up your closets, by adding, or re-organizing, modular shelf units, wood storage boxes, dressers, armoires, and storage chests.

Mopping, sweeping, polishing, vacuuming, and carrying boxes and loads of laundry are also great exercises, especially if you’re going up and down a lot of steps.  Outside, you’ll get a great workout taking down your lights and displays, hauling everything back to the shed, garage, or outdoor storage boxes, and putting up new outdoor décor.

These are just a few of the simple ways that you can get started on losing weight, before you move on to more strenuous activities.  Of course, I’m not a health care professional, and, since I don’t want anybody getting hurt, I guess I’ll add that you should always consult your doctor before doing any housework!

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

Tags: armoires, furniture, house work, outdoor decor, Sheds, shelf units, storage boxes, storage chests, work out

As I was saying, I enjoy trying to find out how our many holiday traditions got started; but each one has so many conflicting versions, that it can be difficult to pinpoint its exact origin.  Still, they’re all pretty entertaining.

 Kissing under the mistletoe, for example, is a strange one.  As one story goes, in ancient Scandinavia, it was a plant of peace; so, if enemies happened to meet under it in the forest, they would put down their arms and observe a truce until the next day.

 Somehow, over time, that led to kissing beneath it.  The thing is that, according to legend, men supposedly had license to kiss women who were standing under it.  BUT (and, as you can see, that’s a big but), afterward, they would pluck a berry from the mistletoe, and when the berries were gone, it was, well, all kissed-out, I guess, and the privilege existed no more.  

 However, like every tradition, it apparently kept on changing, and the berry-plucking eventually ceased.  Of course, although it’s no mystery why men would want to do away with the part that would deprive them of their rights to further kisses, I don’t know whether it was a blatant disregard of convention that caused the modification, or the simple fact that most mistletoe found in homes today is plastic. 

 See?  That’s the even-funnier thing about trying to solve an ancient puzzle; the more pieces you find, the more puzzling it becomes.  In the first place, I can’t imagine what possible good a one-day truce would do anybody, except that, maybe, it gave one party the chance to run away (and live to fight another day!) under cover of darkness.  Otherwise, it seems to be a hollow gesture – kind of like a meaningless kiss.  

 At CedarStore.com, we prefer more solid traditions; and that’s why most of our wood furniture is still hand-crafted in true, Old World style.  This includes our beautiful oak and cherry jewelry chests, jewelry boxes, armoires, silverware boxes, and cedar chests, which make great gifts, not only for Christmas, but for any occasion.  In fact, by giving one, you may start a whole new tradition, as it may end up being passed down for generations. 

 All in all, I’d say that’s much more enduring and meaningful than an insincere kiss under a plastic plant!

 Yours Outdoors,

 Kathy

Tags: armoires, cedar chests, cherry, jewelry boxes, jewelry chests, oak, silverware boxes, wood furniture