Don’t forget to turn back your clocks this weekend and enjoy that extra hour of sleep Saturday night!
“Daylight Savings Time” is a way of making better use of the daylight in the evenings by setting the clocks forward one hour during the longer days of summer, and back again in the fall.
Daylight savings time will end with a “fall back” to standard time on Sunday November 2, at 2 a.m.
To keep your furnace working at its optimal performance you need to either change or clean your furnace filter on a regular basis. Furnace filters that become clogged with dirt and dust particles don’t clean air efficiently and force your furnace to work harder. Not to mention that dirty filters can increase operating costs and affect the life and efficiency of heating and air conditioning equipment.
If the filter is reusable, remove it, wash down with a hose and then re-insert. Otherwise, you’ll want to replace it with a new one. Always invest in the best filter you can afford after considering your furnace requirements. Not only will it clean your household air better, it may not need to be replaced as frequently as a cheaper model.
Check back in the months ahead for more household tips!
Halloween is a holiday celebrated on the night of October 31 and Calgarians love the scariest night of the year. Halloween symbols – costumes, trick or treating, jack-o’-lanterns, witches, ghosts, goblins and magic – are out in style.
For some spooky family fun check out Fright Nights – a Halloween Events Guide for things happening around Calgary. From Ghost Tours and Boo at the Zoo, to a Haunting Halloween Family Skate, there are plenty of activities to attend for kids and adults alike.
www.visitcalgary.com//explore-calgary/inside-guide/fright-nights-halloween-events-guide
If you’re an adult who’s a kid at heart and who gets an adrenaline rush out of being scared to death, don’t miss ScreamFest, Canada’s Largest and Scariest Halloween Event! At ScreamFest you will experience haunted houses, Halloween themed carnival games, creepy and disturbing entertainment, and FEAR.
This event will be held at The Grandstand Building at Stampede Park. It is rated PG 13 so is NOT recommended for young children, but intended to frighten the pants off venturesome adults!
For more details check out www.screamfest.ca.
Now’s the time to check your windows for drafts and leaks. Improperly maintained windows can be a big burden on your heating bill. Taking care of them not only helps reduce energy costs, but will keep you and your family warm and comfortable through the winter months ahead.
A quick and easy way is to hold a lighted match to their edges on a blustery day. If it blows out and the smoke flutters, it’s time to stock up on new weather stripping! Be proactive…you won’t regret it!
Check back in the months ahead for more household tips!
The team at Bill Brandsma Real Estate wishes everyone a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)
Writer, Poet, Essayist, Novelist
This year’s Leaf & Pumpkin Composting Program will run from September 27 to November 9.
During this program residents can recycle their bagged leaves and pumpkins by taking them to a leaf and pumpkin composting drop-off location. Composting leaves and pumpkins is an easy way to keep material out of the landfills and is one of the many ways people can reduce waste, reuse and recycle.
Residents are encouraged to use paper yard waste bags, available at many local yard and garden retailers. They are:
1. Better for the environment
Because these bags are made of paper, they are completely compostable along with the leaves and pumpkins, leaving no waste behind. Plastic bags are not compostable and are unfit for recycling after the contents are removed, so all that plastic ends up in the landfill.
2. More efficient
City workers can put paper yard waste bags straight into the compost rows without the additional step of opening the bags and removing the contents.
Seasonal drop-off locations have been set up around Calgary. View the list of drop-off locations »
Until November 9th, 2014, residents can take their snow-damaged branches and tree debris as well as leaves and pumpkins to most of The City’s leaf & pumpkin drop-off locations. Visit www.calgary.ca/General/Pages/September-Snow-Event.aspx
Condominium Sector Boosts Calgary Resale Housing Activity
Citywide year-over-year sales growth reaches double digits
If you like to stay up to date on what’s going on in the Calgary real estate market, click here for an excellent overview:
http://www.creb.com/public/documents/statistics/2014/package/res-stats-2014_September.pdf
For more information or details about the Calgary Real Estate Monthly Statistics, get in touch with Bill Brandsma Real Estate at 403-253-5678, specializing in Calgary and the surrounding area.
The Calgary Food Bank was looking to take back its place in the Guinness Book of World Records Saturday September 20, 2014, with a goal of 560,000 lbs of food collected in a single day, but fell just a wee bit short.
That said, thanks to the huge efforts of 7,000+ volunteers, the food bank’s shelves are stocked with 489,570 lbs more non-perishable items to help out Calgarians in need. While it would have been amazing to have reached world record status again this year, we did our best, and almost half a million lbs of food is an effort to be proud of. Fantastic Calgary!
The City-Wide Food Drive is the biggest the food bank puts on every year. Guinness Book of World Records status was achieved in 2008 when the drive brought in a haul of 511,102 lbs. One of the critical ingredients in a successful food drive is the volunteers. Without them drives like this one would not be possible so a big shout-out to ALL the volunteers who contributed their time, effort and energy…way to go, good on ya…much appreciated!
Who knows, maybe next year the city and all the wonderful volunteers will be up for the challenge again, after they’ve had some time to recover, that is!
In the meantime, it’s never too late to make a donation. The Calgary Food Bank accepts donations all year long and there’s more than one way to donate. Learn more at www.calgaryfoodbank.com.
On September 20, 2014, the Calgary Food Bank is going to make an attempt to reclaim their 2006 Guinness World Record for most food collected in a 24-hour period.
The City-Wide Food Drive is the largest single-day food drive in Calgary and more than 7,000 family volunteers participate and help collect food throughout the morning and night. This drive is really important for the city as September and fall heads into a high-demand period due to back-to-school expenses.
If you see the City-Wide Food Drive bag at your door, please fill it with NON-perishable food items and leave it on the doorstep for an 8am pick-up! Make sure your bag is visible to the volunteers as the Calgary Food Bank doesn’t door knock or solicit!
There is currently a very high need for the following items:
For more information on the City-Wide Food Drive, contact Keoma Duce at kduce@calgaryfoodbank.com or visit www.calgaryfoodbank.com.
Oh my gosh, it’s only September. Can you believe this snow?! The leaves on the trees are still green and vibrant – something’s just not right!
The abrupt weather conditions and subsequent temperature changes have likely caused many of us to not only turn up the thermostat over the past 24 hours, but to consider the comfort levels in our homes going into the fall and winter seasons.
The heating and cooling systems in your house play vital roles when it comes to keeping your home comfortable. It’s important, to ensure that the equipment that keeps the temperature just right is maintained properly. Proper maintenance of your furnace can save you money by making sure that it’s operating at peak efficiency and can also translate into extended life for this major appliance.
Seasonal check-ups will help to maintain the ideal home temperature all year long and this little premature taste of winter is the perfect time to have your seasonal check-up done!
Bill Brandsma Real Estate, specializing in Calgary and the surrounding area. If you’re thinking of buying or selling, call 403-253-5678.