Category Archives: Lifestyle

Entertaining Your Kids On A Road Trip

06/07/2021 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

road trip, parenting, kids, driving, vacation, family, fun — Image

Road trips can be a great way to holiday without the fuss of a plane and the airport rush. As a parent, planning the ideal road trip can be a fun activity and you can get the kids involved in choosing destinations too. As fun as road trips can be with the kids, they can also be stressful.

Any parent knows that kids have a notoriously short attention span and this means we need to work hard to ensure they are entertained lest they become fussy in the car. Today we are going to take a look at how you can keep the kids entertained on a road trip and make sure that they don’t fuss.

Download videos

The first idea you can try is to use Vidmate download to download some of your kids’ favourite Youtube videos onto a tablet for the trip. By downloading videos locally instead of relying on the signal, it means that you can be sure your kids will have access to some form of entertainment no matter where you are. On long car trips often this is the best way to keep the kids happy and they will stay out of your hair as you drive.

Provide snacks

One of the other big factors that can change your child’s mood in an instant is hunger. When your child is hungry, they can very quickly become stroppy and unmanageable and the last thing you want is to be stuck in a car with grumpy kids! Make sure to bring lots of snacks such as chips and cookies for the kids to eat during the trip, and this will keep them happy and ensure they don’t get fussy.

Bring coloring books

It is important to make sure your kids have plenty of ways to entertain themselves in the car without posing a danger to you while driving. One great idea is to pack some crayons and coloring books or print out free coloring templates for the trip. Coloring books will keep the kids quiet and entertained for a long while and it will ensure that they don’t start jumping around in the back of the car distracting you.

Play games

If you want to kill some time on the road with your kids, one way to do that is to play games on the road as a family. This can range anywhere from I Spy to 20 questions, or even spotting yellow cars on the journey. You’ll always be able to find fun things to do on the road and you can make your trip into something fun for every member of the family.

Take regular breaks

One easy way to ensure the kids don’t get too bored this year on a road trip is to take breaks regularly and stop off for a walk or to visit new places. Being stuck in a car for hours on end can get very boring so having a few rest stops along the way is a great idea for all of you and will stop you from going mad!

Have fun on your road trip this year and keep the kids happy!

Going Healthy, Health, Life, Lifestyle

Can Diet Really Keep Your Senses Healthy? Research Says “Yes”

06/07/2021 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

diet, healthy, senses, whole food, nutrition, health, — Unsplash – CC0 License

We tend to think of our senses as things that are independent of the health of the rest of our bodies. It is hard for us to imagine, for instance, that our sense of touch or taste would be much affected by our overall state of wellbeing. You don’t hear of people suddenly going numb all over because of a bad diet.

But, the reality is actually quite different. It turns out that what we eat really does affect the senses – and often in a big way.

Eyesight

Take eyesight, for instance. We all know that as people get older, they can begin to lose their sense of sight. Many of us, however, just assume that that’s the way things go as people get older and there’s not much that we can do about it. But it turns out that eyesight is something that you can protect with diet.

There are two main ways that what you eat protects your eyes. First, it turns out that some of the color pigments in foods that we eat can make their way into the eyes, getting there via the bloodstream. These act as a kind of defensive barrier that helps to soak up some of the damage of incoming light rays.

The second way food helps is by protecting the tiny blood vessels at the back of the eye in the retina. When blood sugar levels are high from a poor diet, it can damage these tiny structures. And that can cause degradation over time which makes it harder to see. But when you eat a healthy diet, you keep blood sugars low, helping to protect your blood vessels.

Of course, there are also treatments to help eyesight such as Lasik, which, as you more than likely know, it is essential to look at tips for before and after lasik to ensure it is handled correctly, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect your diet once it is done. Your diet can still have a profound effect so that your eyes can keep being healthy.

Hearing

Diet is also a great way to protect against hearing loss over time. Again, as adults age, they tend to develop hearing problems in both left and right ears. And, eventually, that can make it difficult to listen to people in conversations or hear the radio.

It turns out, however, that eating a healthy diet can reduce the risk of hearing loss. According to some research, the risk reduction might be as low as 30 percent, which is highly significant.

Which diets work against hearing loss? Currently, practitioners recommend three different types, all of which are low in processed food.

The first is the AHEI 2010. It’s not a particularly memorable name for a diet, but its basic principles are easy to understand. It recommends basing your diet around fruits, vegetables and whole grains, while limiting salt and sugar.

The second diet is the more famous DASH diet – a popular medical diet designed for people wanting to prevent diabetes. It includes lean meats, nuts, fruits and vegetables, and limits salt, fat and sugar.

Lastly, you might want to consider the Mediterranean diet – probably the most delicious of the lot. This tries to recreate the old-fashioned diet of people living in places like Greece and Italy. It includes beans, herbs, vegetables, and a small amount of olive oil.
All these diets improve the overall health of your body, which improves the health of your ears at the same time.

Life, Lifestyle, Tips

The Roofing Materials the Professionals Use

06/01/2021 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

Although a professional can take care of our roofing, it does not hurt knowing just what the choice of materials is so that we can have more of a say in what is used. Eagle Eye Roofing, as a professional roofing contractor, can advise what you need to ensure that you make the right choice for your circumstances. Several factors determine what materials are used. This article will consider some of the issues regarding materials so that, together with our roofing professional, we can make an informed choice.

Shingles

Roofing shingles are used to create a roof that is both watertight and resistant to wind. This combination will ensure that your roof is protected from environmental damage. In other words, bad weather. A storm is your main enemy as that can cause significant damage to a roof that has not been well constructed or maintained.

Shingles are available as asphalt, metal, clay, wood, or slate. All of these kinds will protect your home equally well. However, some of them will perform better in certain climates. This is something that a professional roofing contractor will be able to advise you on.

In comparison to their cost, the roofing shingle is a good choice when it comes to withstanding the elements of the weather and lasting for a significant period. The asphalt shingle is a popular choice among roofers and their customers because it is inexpensive and easy to fit. Apart from that, it is widely available to buy. For these reasons, it is considered the most popular roofing material in the U.S. So, if you are struggling to know what to choose for your roof, nobody is likely to advise you against this option. It depends on the look and the longevity that you are trying to achieve.

Natural Slate

For a complete contrast, a natural skifer (slate) tile will provide a natural period look, and instead of lasting around 20 years, will last for more like 100 years. That’s an entire lifetime! And despite the passing of time and changing fashions, slate will fit right in.

One obstacle to utilizing slate for some people can be the cost of the material, as it is one of the most expensive of all the roofing materials. Professionals will only recommend it if you have the budget for it. In terms of how it lasts, it can be considered a long-term investment. If you want to put money into a house, then this will be the way to achieve that. No buyer can ignore the fact that the roof is sorted for a while, even if they need to spend significant money on other areas of a house. You could forgive anyone for putting their priorities into the roof of their house. It is, after all, not just a curbside feature but an insurance company’s friend in that it protects the household fittings and contents. A good roof is a householder’s friend, too, because it keeps the heat in that we spend so much money generating.

Your roofing contractor can help source your slate. It is present in lots of places around the world. In the U.S., it is found in Vermont, New York, and Virginia.

Tiles

Like shingles, tiles come in many different forms. We primarily have a choice of clay, concrete, metal, double style roman roof tiles, or metal tiles. Not forgetting slate tiles that we mentioned above. Slate can be used in its natural form as a slate tile, or as shingles.

It should be said that it is more time-consuming to fit individual tiles than sheets of shingles, so this will invariably increase the cost of a job. This time will need to be charged for. It is a nicer look to have individual tiles, but a very close effect can be achieved with shingles. Your choice, as always, will be about affordability. Either way, you will want to put your money into having your roof fitted properly. This should be more important to you than the materials because a badly fitted roof will not prove to be effective when it comes to storms, persistent rain, or snow.

Insulation

It is only right to conclude this article talking about insulation. Without it, a roof is not complete in that it will not keep enough of the heat in to heat your home efficiently.

Glass wool remains one of the commonest insulation materials used by roofers. It is lightweight and a good insulator. It can only be used, though, where there is roofing underlay. It is best installed by a professional as it can irritate the handler during installation. Rock wool has a slightly better density and so is better for sound insulation. Spray foam insulation known as PUR is another option. This will fill every gap effortlessly. Then, if you are wanting to exploit the space that is beneath the floor, insulation boards or panels are the answer.

So, mentioned above are some materials that will be used by professionals when constructing, repairing, or insulating your roof. It is a good idea to know about them, then you will know what questions to ask when you are talking roofs with your constructor. That way, you can achieve a roof that you are both happy with.