I saw some really cool looking outdoor LED lighting products at the 25th Annual Fall Atlanta Home Show recently.

The LED landscape lights (made by RedBird Industries) weren't the only cool thing we spotted at the show...by a long shot. There were all manner of innovative products and loads of really interesting ideas just begging to be noticed. We left the show with a bag full of literature on...well...you name it and I've probably got a pamphlet or business card on it.

The three main reasons that the RedBird LED Lighting booth caught my eye were:

unique LED lighting solutions

the sheer brightness of the lamps themselves

the LED lights on display practically covered the full color spectrum.

Tulip Poplar bark siding is about as rustic as it gets in the building material world. This was the first time I had seen Yellow Poplar bark shingles/shakes in use and we saw it while on our little excursion a couple of weeks ago on the home garden tour we attended recently.

The fully landscaped 10-acre estate on the tour featured a fully equipped outdoor kitchen, fireplace, picnic tables (dining area) and...(drumroll please) an outhouse clad in Tulip Poplar bark siding. Now that's rustic outdoor living at its' finest!  

If you enjoy home garden tours, this is the post for you. We attended the Sandy Springs Society Seventh Annual Garden Tour at the beginning of this month that featured 5 extraordinary private home gardens. All proceeds were to benefit the Sandy Springs Society, a philanthropic organization, so it was a win-win for everyone involved. Homeowners got to show off the results of all of their hard work, patrons were allowed to gawk in amazement while gathering landscaping ideas and local charities benefitted from the event.

This was our first Sandy Springs garden tour and it tops our list as one of the best home garden tours we've ever attended. I suppose you'd like to have a viewing. I don't blame you one bit...I'm with you!

I think you know what to do next...

Arborsculpture is the art of shaping live tree trunks. Arborsculpture isn't for everyone, but it is for anyone that is into living eco-art. The art of shaping live tree trunks into living art has been around for centuries and continues today by skilled arborists and enthusiastic green thumbs around the globe.

While researching for this post I've come to discover that arborsculpture requires patience, practice, artistry and a knowledge of bending, shaping and grafting procedures. It is a unique form of art that instills a sense of awe when viewed whether as a work in progress or as a 'finished piece'. If you've thought about taking up arborsculpture or maybe even honing your skills in your own backyard, this post should inspire you even more. If you're here just to have a look-see, I've got you covered, too.

You wouldn't think luxury and green belong in the same sentence together but I'll give it a go.

Having a swimming pool in your own backyard is a luxury, while heating it with a solar panel heating system makes it green. In this context, green does not mean algae-laden.

Okay...so it's a bit of a stretch but it's a better ecological choice than heating it with natural gas or even a heat pump.

You can significantly reduce swimming pool heating costs by installing a solar pool heater. They're cost competitive with both gas and heat pump pool heaters, and they have very low annual operating costs. Actually, solar pool heating is the most cost-effective use of solar energy in many climates. Source

After the initial installation costs of the solar pool heating system, the ongoing cost to heat this pool will be negligible. The only ongoing cost will be electricity to run the control panel, recirculating pump and periodic maintenance. In my opinion, heating the pool with the energy of the sun's rays vs heating with a natural gas system would be considered green. Agreed?

'Help! My Weber gas grill has fallen and it can't get up!'
Pardon the slight adaptation of that old commercial slogan but I've got a slight dilemma on my hands here. OK...so it's not quite on a level anywhere near what the astronauts on Apollo 13 went through but's it's a problem, nonetheless. I bought my smokin' red Weber Genesis 1000 back in the early 90's and, unfortunately, it has seen better days.

It has been the best (well...the only) gas grill I've ever owned. Nearly every homeowner owns a grill these days. I love mine so much that I've bought quite a few replacement parts and accessories for it over the years to keep it up and running. But now rust has reared its' ugly head and limited my options on prolonging the life of my friend...ol' Red.

If I can resuscitate ol' Red, I will, but I might need to face facts and send him to that big grilling party in the sky.

Why would I want to toss out a grill that's given me 15 years of nearly flawless service and delicious meals?