Happy 4th of July to each and every one. Celebrate American Independence in spite of the overreaching government, warts, and the retards that want to destroy it. (Looking at you New York Times.)
To those who would erase history, GFY. Love America or get out! Real Americans don’t take the knee & never will.
If When the civil war comes, I think the first target should be the NYT for their blatant criminality. Burn it down!
Meanwhile, we have managed to stay together for 244 years. Great going & let’s make it another 244. God Bless America! We are the shining light of the world. Never forget it.
Contracts to buy U.S. previously owned homes rebounded by the most on record in May, suggesting the housing market was starting to turn around after being hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic along with the rest of the economy.
Other data on Monday showed an improvement in manufacturing activity in Texas in June after three months of record or near-record declines in output. But surging infections of the respiratory illness in many regions, including the densely populated Texas, Florida and California, pose a risk to the nascent recovery. The economy fell into recession in February.
The National Association of Realtors said its Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed last month, surged 44.3%, the largest gain since the series started in 2001.
Still, contracts remain 10.6% below their level in February before businesses were shuttered in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus, almost grounding the economy to a halt.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast pending home contracts, which become sales after a month or two, rebounding 18.9% in May.
Pending home sales fell 5.1% from a year ago. Home resales tumbled to a more than 9-1/2-year low in May. Economists believe the housing market could emerge more quickly from the recession, which started in February, thanks to historic low interest rates.
The numbers: Sales of newly-built single-family houses occurred at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 676,000 in May, the government reported Tuesday.
That represented a 16.6% increase from the downwardly-revised pace of 580,000 in April. Compared with the previous year, new home sales were up 12.7% in May.
Analysts polled by MarketWatch had forecast new-home sales to occur at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 650,000 in May.
The Northeast experienced the most pronounced increase in sales, with a 45.5% jump, followed by the West (up 29%) and the South (up 15.2%). Sales fell by 6.4% in the Midwest.
The median sales price for new homes sold in May was $317,900. At the end of the month, there were 318,000 new homes estimated to be up for sale, which equates to a 5.6-month supply. A 6-month supply of homes is generally considered to be indicative of a balanced market.
A home at 38 Hawkeye Lane near Las Vegas is a concept home built like no other. The home measures in at a robust 5,501 square feet and is listed for $7.9 million.
The plot twist? Each piece of the foundation and framing traveled 4,766 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean in one of 22 shipping containers from Japan. The project was conceived by Sekisui House, which is based in Osaka. The company is one of Japan’s largest homebuilders and purchased the American builder Woodside Homes in 2017.
The company now wants to wow American homebuyers with a touch of its signature style. And if you’re going to gamble on a cool concept, Vegas feels like the right venue.
Sales of previously owned homes fell 9.7 percent in May compared April, the third monthly decline, the National Association of Realtors said Monday.
Existing home sales are counted at the time of closings. So these would have been based on contacts signed in March and April, when most of the country was under instructions to stay at home and real estate showings were off-limits in many areas.
Compared with a year ago, home sales were down 26 percent. Home sales hit an a 13-year high in February but began plunging as the coronavirus discouraged shopping from home, public health officials told Americans to avoid unnecessarily venturing out of their homes, unemployment jumped higher amid mass layoffs, and many states and cities prohibited realtors from showing homes in person.
Previously-owned homes make up most of the housing market, although the sales have a smaller impact on gross domestic product because so much of the work on them has already been completed. Nonetheless, existing home sales can drive sales in appliances, furniture, and home improvement goods. And they remain an important barometer of household confidence and prosperity.
Each of the four major regions of the country witnessed dips in month-over-month and year-over-year sales, with the Northeast experiencing the greatest month-over-month drop, according to the NAR. The decline was worse than the 8.8 percent expected.
Many economists expect that low interest rates and the reopening of the economy will drive up sales in June and in the months to come. Real estate showings are once again permitted in most of the country. Home sales typically peak in mid-summer.
Saltwater and dry desert climates may not seem like a good recipe for growing healthy produce, but that is exactly what a group of scientists has managed to do.
Researchers from the UK-based Seawater Greenhouse company have discovered a drought-proof way to farm fruits and vegetables simply by using solar power and saltwater for irrigation and cooling.
The company has launched plantation projects in arid regions such as Australia, Abu Dhabi, Somaliland, Oman, and Tenerife. Despite the harsh climate of these locations, the plantations are able to grow thousands of pounds of produce simply by making “cooling houses” out of thick walls of dampened cardboard.
While glass greenhouses are designed to keep gardens moist and warm, the cardboard structures use “evaporative cooling” to keep the interior of the plantation structures humid and cool.
Upon completing the company’s Somaliland project in November 2017, it now produces about 300 to 750 tonnes of tomatoes per year—and Paton says that he is excited for his company to launch even more projects in drought-prone regions around the world.
Any ideas for better gardening in the desert are always welcome. This makes a lot of sense. It’s 98 degrees outside, but 73 inside, and our evaporative cooler is on low to save power. The humidity level is only 12%, so we can do that here.
Read and click on the video for more interesting details…Ben
Yes, there are natural insect repellents that work. Here are four all-natural homemade bug sprays that can kick those pesky insects to the curb. If you don’t like the idea of spraying too many chemicals on yourself or your children, these recipes take seconds to mix up and really work for every day sprays.
KNOW THY ENEMY
As soon as we step outside, bugs have a way of finding us. Some use the CO2 we exhale to locate us, others go by scent, body heat, vibrations, or even the colors we wear. For example, deerflies are attracted to CO2, warmth, motion, and dark colors.
One way to make yourself less attractive to insects is to avoid using fragrant soaps, lotions, perfume, hairspray, or aftershave. Instead, use scents that block their receptors, making you harder to find.
Those into gardening and landscaping usually are pretty much on auto-pilot when spring and summer roll in, weeding, planting, watering, etc., but this year, with the coronavirus pandemic, their hobby may have taken on an even more important role. It’s a way to relieve stress while expressing creativity.
Even with many businesses locked down for months, gardening and nursery centers have remained open and thrived to meet those needs of customers and clients.
“We’ve actually seen an increase in business,” said Nathan Boliek, sales manager at TDH Landscaping on Hess Road in Monkton.
“We’re finding that people are investing money in their properties now with the attitude that, ‘Hey, we canceled our summer vacation, we may not even travel next year.’ So, beautifying and even going so far as to build pools and things of that nature has been on the uptick.”
Our garden has been mixed this year. We’ve always done what I call “fortress gardening” where everything is covered and the whole space is enclosed in “chicken wire.”
Over the years, the birds & squirrels have found the holes in our defenses, so today I spent several hours tightening things up. It’s pretty frustrating to see your hard work eaten in just a short while.
We’ve been eating many yellow pear tomatoes, and had looked forward to the first of the yellow squash, but they were nibbled off today. So, it’s back to square one on a few things. I’m glad the stores are all still open… Nobody said being more self sufficient would be easy.
I recently purchased some corrugated roof panels which I’ll now put horizontally in order to bolster our perimeter even more. It may help act as a windbreak as well. It’s been quite windy lately.
Because of our extended growing season here, I’m going to replant a few things that have been decimated. In a short while, we’ll also start some indoor planting for the fall season.
