Self Help ebooks and audio programs to improve YOU and Your Life.

There are many ways to attract different forms of wildlife to your garden and backyard – planting the right plants, avaoiding common gardening mistakes etc.
You can read about most of it in our comprehensive eBook >Landscaping for Wildlife

The easiest way ( a little bit like cheating in the nicest possible way I think…) to attract wildlife is feeding the animals!
Obviously – birds are the most perceptive in this regard, and I will talk a bit more about that in a minute. But as you might know, some other animals are followers of our urban society and started making a living of our waste ( some kits have specialist cleaning suburban waste dumps, seagulls have been feeding of dumpsters for decades, racoons are breaking into our basements and coyotes and in some areas northern areas bears are coming dangerously close to breaking into our dwellings to eat what’s on offer.
So, by attracting wildlife, you have to be very sure which kind of animal you want to attract and make sure you don’t inadvertently attract dangerous ones as well.

Growing up I always loved going to my grandmother’s house, she always had those large tray type bird feeders. She loved birds that were for certain. But I think she needed to think of where she placed some of those trays. Birds will flock to them wherever they are and they don’t seem to care if people are there or not, at least not these birds. We were getting dive bombed any time the birds came by and saw us near their food. I don’t know if they actually thought we were smaller than them or not but they had guts.

When placing tray type bird feeders around your property you should always think about the location. If you have them too low to the ground, cats are bound to jump at every bird that flies over and if it is low enough they might jump on it. Squirrels seem to be another problem as they don’t need to jump, all they do is climb. In order to keep the squirrel’s away grandma would hand the tray type bird feeders from a very long string.

Keep in mind that while tray type bird feeders may be ideal to feed many birds at once they aren’t always protected. If you’ve got one that doesn’t have a house around it or a roof over it, when it rains the food will get ruined. For the sake of the birds you may want to have two platform bird feeders, as the bigger ones love bullying the little guys. You don’t want to see an injured bird in your yard when you could’ve protected it.

When it comes time to place the food in your tray type bird feeders, also known as platform feeders, think about what you want to attract to your yard. While most birds will come to store bought seeds and sunflowers, others will come to only certain types of foods. Birds love fruits as well and many people don’t ever think about leaving fruit inside bird feeders, but try it and see how many show up. Grapes and Raisins attract mockingbirds, bluebirds, waxwings and catbirds.
Woodpeckers, Tanagers, Finches and Robins have also been known to flock anywhere grapes are. You better be careful though if you didn’t plan on your grape vine getting picked apart.

Lets be honest – its a lot of fun to watch our little friends – so lets get going and start putting some feed out…

Anyone that has had a baby, knows that the worst sound that you can hear is them crying.
Although everyone knows that all newborns cry and show some fussiness, it is also clear that when a child who is basically healthy cries for more than 3 hours straight during the process of a day, it is more than likely colic that is causing it.

These days it is estimated that up to 25% of all babies have colic. It usually starts between the 3rd and 6th week after they are born, and goes away on its own by the time the baby is somewhere around 3 months old. If the baby is still crying to the extreme after that time, chances are that some sort of health problem may be the problem instead.

There are quite a few facts about colic that you may not realize. These facts are:

• Colicky babies generally have a healthy sucking reflex and a really good sense of appetite and are otherwise healthy and growing well. Sick babies may seem to be colicky but they won’t eat very well and they won’t have the same strong sucking reflex.
• Colicky babies really enjoy being cuddled and handled. Sick babies are usually uncomfortable when they are handled.
• Colicky babies may spit up a bit, but if your baby is actually vomiting and/or losing weight something is very wrong and this is not a symptom of colic.
• Colicky babies usually have normal stools. If your baby is hard to soothe and has diarrhea or if you see blood in the stool, call your doctor.
This all being said, you should have a better idea of trying to decipher if your child actually has colic and not a more serious problem. With this in mind, this book is going to be your comprehensive guide to understanding colic and how you can get your colicky baby to sleep through the night so that you can sleep through the night!

To find out more and get helpful tips how to help your baby sleep through the night check out the book Baby Colic – 10 steps to help your baby sleep

We all want to save money -
How often do you think of the fact that by saving energy you also save money! And you help the environment – talking about one stone and many birds at the same time…

here a few snippets from our book : Simply Living Debt Free

Wash full loads of clothes and dishes.
When possible, do not run the dishwasher just for a few items. If you want to clean a stray dish a soap dispenser with a scrub brush attached is perfect for this purpose.
Hang clothes on the line instead of drying them.
This will dramatically cut down on the energy used, as you will not be running the dryer nearly is often. Additional Tip: Clothes dry fastest on a hot, dry, sunny day.
Shut down your computer, television, car, and miscellaneous devices.
Any computer or electronic item will use up the most energy, so it is important to shut it down at night or during other times when you are not using them.
Use compact florescent light bulbs.
You usually get more usage for these for the price, as they last quite a bit longer than traditional bulbs.
Use power strips, and surge protectors.
Any large device that you have such as a DVD player, television, or computer should be plugged into a box such as this. Using these devices can cut your bill as much as 30%.
Bath or short shower?
If you absolutely cannot be content with taking a five-minute or ten-minute shower then you should consider taking a bath instead. It will save you money. However, if you take a shorter shower it would use less water than filling your tub with bath water.

More energy saving tips can be found on local and national government websites. You can also call energy savings hotlines for further advice. Yopu can also check out the ebook Simply Living Debt Free