Gift Ideas For Your Favorite Guy

Read article : Gift Ideas For Your Favorite Guy

Why is buying a gift for a guy so darn hard? I’ve been married for over twenty years now and for most gift-giving occasions that include my husband, I am stumped and have to wrack my brain for a gift idea. You’d think the longer and better you know someone that gift giving would get easier.

True, there are the go-to gifts that I will get him: a bag of Snickers, beef jerky, BBQ-related items, Star Wars stuff, University of Kentucky Wildcats fan merchandise, gift cards to restaurants or Best Buy. But, I can’t get him that stuff for every holiday! I quit buying him clothing long ago because he prefers to buy pants himself to make sure he gets the fit he wants, shirts I’ve bought him have hung in the closet unworn. I’m pretty much relegated to getting him new tshirts, underwear and socks at this point, and the occasional new bath robe or hoodie.

It’s not that he’s too picky, per se, or hard to please — it’s more that he has everything he wants and when something new comes out he often gets it for himself. This year, I found the perfect rocking chair at a local garden store and snatched it up for a Father’s Day gift for the hubby for this year. He’s been talking about getting one for several years but not done it yet. I had to hide it in my daughter’s closet so he wouldn’t stumble across it! I also got him some new BBQ tools and a few other little odds and ends (including some Bourbon infused beef jerky). He does love his bourbon!

This year I’m also adding in these two gems I found from COBY® and Molton Brown. The hubby is in the media business and can always use a good pair of bluetooth headphones. And, while not super crazy about it, he cares about his appearance so I thought some nice masculine-smelling bath and shower gel would be fun to stick in his gift bag for Father’s Day this year…. [read more]

The Trendy Boutique That Employs People With Special Needs - ZABS Place in North Carolina provides on-site job training and business skills

Read article : The Trendy Boutique That Employs People With Special Needs - ZABS Place in North Carolina provides on-site job training and business skills

“Hello, welcome to ZABS Place! My name is Aaron.”

Aaron Roochvarg sports an award-winning smile. He’s there at the door, enthusiastically greeting customers when they enter the store and asking if they need any assistance finding items.

“How did you hear about ZABS Place?” he asks.

“I’ve been here a few times,” reports the customer. “Thank you, Aaron, for all of your help!”

“You are very welcome!” comes the reply.

It’s just a few minutes after 10 a.m. (opening time) and a stream of people file into ZABS Place in the charming town of Matthews, a 20-minute drive from Charlotte, N.C. There is a buzz around town about the quality and selection of clothing, books, games, toys, home goods, handbags, greeting cards and more at this thrift boutique that opened nearly three years ago.

It’s obvious that the selection of merchandise is excellent. But it doesn’t take long for first-time shoppers to realize just how special ZABS Place is. Colorful signs around the store inform customers that “ZABS Place is a thrift boutique employing young adults with special talents.” (The word “talents” appears over the crossed-off word “needs.”) The store’s website advertises it as “Affordable. Upscale. Inclusive.” That it’s all about “providing opportunities, realizing potential and having fun.”

Aaron Roochvarg (Photo: Howard Blas)

‘10 Years From Now . . . ’

In one part of the store, three teenagers sip frozen drinks and banter about whether or not an outfit “looks cute.” In another, mothers with kids in tow throw a few outfits over their arms, heading for the dressing room. All the while, half-a-dozen young adults with special needs are doing their jobs in every area of running a business. Roochvarg, 27, continues to greet and assist customers. Erin Keeter, 28, is organizing children’s games. And Jonathan Gale, a 22-year-old employee who has been with the store from the start and now works 10 hours a week, is shelving books.

He picks up a holiday cookbook and perceptively asks his supervisor, “Should this book be here? It is not near holiday time!” She suggests he move it to another section.

In the back corner of ZABS Place, Cammie Wilson, 25, is straightening books and games on a high shelf as employment coordinator Alison Dugo, 30, looks on. “If you can’t reach this, what you should do?” asks Dugo. Wilson carefully considers the question and suggests bringing a ladder next time.

Dugo has been working at ZABS place for two years. In addition to teaching job skills, she spends a great deal of time on soft skills—the not-so-obvious, real-life know-how needed to be successful and professional at work. These include dressing appropriately, having a positive attitude, knowing how to act in the break room, and learning how to get along with fellow workers and bosses. Dugo thinks quite a bit about the employees’ futures. “I ask them: What do you imagine doing 10 years from now? What are you good at? What do you want to be good at; what is challenging for you?”

ZABS Place offers everything from clothing and toys to home goods and greeting cards. (Photo: Len Weinstein)

In many ways, ZABS Place is intentionally designed to be a training ground and stepping stone to future employment elsewhere in the community.

While Dugo is working with Wilson, Rochel Groner—co-director of ZABS Place and Friendship Circle of Charlotte, with her husband, Rabbi Bentzion Groner—is up front with Keeter, patiently going over how to use the store’s scheduling program on the iPad to request time off. The young woman and her family are planning a trip to Canada in a few weeks, and she is learning the various drag-down menu options, which include vacation days, sick leave and time needed for a personal or family emergency.

Keeter works in the store Mondays and Thursdays sorting children’s clothing and organizing the toy section. She is also one of the artists and craftspeople with special needs who have signed a consignment agreement with ZABS Place to sell their creative works. She photographs flowers near her home and makes them into greeting cards. “I sold three last week!” she reports.

(Photo: Len Weinstein)

Hannah Strunck, 18, is also a consignor, making bath crystals, balms and creams at home to be displayed and sold at ZABS Place alongside jewelry, journals and non-noise-producing fidget toys. Hannah’s older brother, Andy, 27, works at the store two days a week for 90 minutes each day, cleaning floors, hanging clothes, and dusting shelves. He comes with his longtime-care staff member, Aaron, who serves as a job coach.

“Andy feels proud, he feels welcomed, and he can sustain work without complaining,” according to his parents, Michael Strunck and Ruth Singer-Strunck. “For him, this is a huge accomplishment.”

‘A Really Important Place’

For the Strunck family, ZABS Place is more than a vocational training program for their children; it is a source of Jewish pride and identity. While the main indicators that the store has a Jewish affiliation are the mezuzahs on all doors and a sign indicating that it is closed on Shabbat (it’s open on Sundays from noon to 6 p.m.), ZABS Place has become a second “Jewish home” for the Struncks.

“It is a really important place. Much here in North Carolina is Christian-based,” observes Ruth Singer-Strunck, who grew up in New Jersey and moved to Charlotte from South Florida several years ago. “You often hear about a church doing this or a pastor doing that [for a good cause]. It made me feel especially good to have my kids involved in something Jewish. This is a connection to my community. I feel more plugged in and want my kids to have a connection to the Jewish faith.”

They’ve joined the Groners for Passover seder, and their children have participated in Friendship Circle.

A young customer checks out baseball caps. (Photo: Len Weinstein)

Cheryl Slane and her family, former members of the Charlotte Jewish community now living in New Orleans, agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed by the Struncks.

“Chabad believes that every neshamah [soul] has a place,” she says. Long involved with Friendship Circle, she looks to ZABS Place as a model for training young adults with special needs, like their son, Ben, who’s almost 20. “Giving people with a disability a place to work is pretty amazing. That’s what we are trying to do here in New Orleans. There are so few job sites in the country for people with special needs.”

Numerous Charlotte families have gotten to know the Groners through their children’s participation in Friendship Circle, which in many ways was the birthplace for ZABS Place.

“When Jonathan was a junior in high school, we asked him what he wanted to do. He didn’t want to continue in high school; he wanted to work,” recall his parents, Caren and Charlie Gale. “We wanted a place that would understand him in his fullness—with all of his abilities and disabilities. We sat around the kitchen table and said, ‘What can we do to help Jonathan and all the families we have met in waiting rooms all these years?”

The former clarinetist and screenwriter couple, longtime transplants from Los Angeles, had an idea—open a business. The Gales approached the Groners, “concerned about people like Jonathan, who were getting older, and what to do when they age out of Friendship Circle.”

(Photo: Len Weinstein)

‘A High Bar for Our Children’

Rochel Groner adds some important details in the evolution and growth of ZABS Place.

“In 2012, some Friendship Circle families approached us and asked if we would start a Jewish group home,” she explains. The Groners were more focused on vocational training and the overall lives of young adults with special needs as they got older. “We wondered: ‘What are they doing meaningfully during the day?’ When I would ask parents what their child was good at, many didn’t know. We had to do something.”

Rochel went home and started brainstorming. She was generating ideas for businesses with low overhead and thought of a thrift store. She searched online for “thrift stores and disabilities,” and came across Our Thrift Store in Franklin, Tenn., which provides 25 ongoing jobs for young adults with special needs. “A few months later, when Friendship Circle was on break for the summer, we made the nine-hour drive to see the program.”

Dave Krikac, the store’s founder, was very helpful in providing guidance about the ins and outs of starting and running a thrift shop. When the Groners returned to Charlotte from Tennessee, they met with the Gales and discovered that they, too, had been thinking about starting a business for people with special needs.

Keeter organizes a section of books. (Photo: Howard Blas)

Rochel’s formal training is in Jewish education; she was a classroom teacher for 10 years. She also notes with a small smile, “I did help run a basement business with family members many years ago in Baltimore, selling Israeli skirts.” At the time, Groner learned many things, including web design, though she acknowledges that the business was “minimally successful.”

When she and Bentzion married in 2005, they moved to Charlotte. In 2007, she began working with Bentzion at Friendship Circle International, an organization that creates chapters in local communities to foster relationships and friendships between typically developing teens and children with special needs. Through her work with Friendship Circle, Rochel acquired a great deal of experience in working with people who had all kinds of abilities.

“We know from Friendship Circle that everyone is unique, and has hidden qualities and something to share,” states Bentzion. In imagining a workplace for people with special needs, the Groners strongly believed that employees with special needs would develop social skills through their jobs.

Truth be told, “there were a lot of ups and downs” on the road to starting a thrift store, attests Rochel. “We looked at 25 places in a year and a half,” adds Bentzion. “Even when it got tough, people like the Gales stood behind us,” helping with fundraising and much of the behind-the-scenes work.

Rabbi Bentzion and Rochel Groner

Throughout the sometimes challenging startup process, the Groners stood fast to their sense of mission and their dedication to the people they serve. “It was a community effort—totally a partnership,” says the rabbi. Many helped gather, transport and store merchandise, as well as remove room dividers, strip and repaint walls, and more.

They credit Rochel with an eye for business and an easy demeanor. “Rochel is sweet, dedicated, hardworking and intelligent. When we met, I thought she was too young to work,” jokes Ruth Singer-Strunck, commenting on the 30-something’s young appearance.

Work she does, 24/6, her only day off being on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, when the store is closed.

“Rochel had a vision—a place that was bright and airy, where people will want to shop,” adds Caren Gale. “It has attracted a cross-section of people, from young thrifters to people struggling financially, and they buy because they feel like mensches here.”

Singer-Strunck also has kind words for the Groners: “They are lovely, good people doing good work. Rochel delivered on a concept. She knew what she wanted it to look like.”

Caren Gale agrees. “I admire her attention to detail, and her desire to run a store that is both professional and beautiful.”

But perhaps most importantly, she says, “Rochel sets a high bar for our children—everything parents of a child with special needs could hope for.” Her husband, Charlie, adds that “she has such an affinity to this population and believes strongly in what they can do.”

Caren and Charlie Gale, parents of employee Jonathan Gale (Photo: Howard Blas)

‘A Wonderfully Nurturing Place’

Another fan of the Chabad emissaries is Lisa Shporer, a community member with more than 10 years of retail experience. Shporer volunteers 20 to 30 hours a week, and sees herself as the “snow-globe shaker” since she is known for “shaking things up” at ZABS Place.

Her connection to the Groners and ZABS Place is uniquely personal. Her son, Zachary, died of leukemia in 2012, at the age of 19. He was a student at the American Hebrew Academy in Greensboro, N.C., and an active volunteer with such organizations as the Special Olympics, student council and Friendship Circle.

Community member and volunteer Lisa Shporer, whose 19-year-old son Zachary died of leukemia in 2011. The store is named in his memory. (Photo: Howard Blas)

The Groners, who had a special relationship with Zachary, approached the family at shiva about “doing something in his merit.” They decided to name the soon-to-be opened ZABS Place in his memory, using the initials of his Hebrew name: Zechariah Avraham Baruch. A sign and picture near the checkout station explains the origin of the store’s name.

Elias Roochvarg, the longtime cantor at Temple Israel of Charlotte and the father of Aaron is pleased with ZABS Place and his son’s work there. “It is a wonderfully nurturing place for adults with special talents,” he says, adding that his son looks forward to two afternoons a week there. “As parents of an employee and as members of the community, we shepped parental and communal nachas knowing how much our son is thriving as a result of the staff, and how great a service to the community Chabad is performing in this endeavor.”

Caren Gale is proud that Jonathan feels “confident and really productive,” creating the book section at ZABS Place. “Our hope is to be a model for other communities and to expand; it is always a process where we refine and add. We all need to find our own path. Why shouldn’t these kids?”

Employment coordinator Alison Dugo (Photo: Howard Blas)" />

Employment coordinator Alison Dugo (Photo: Howard Blas)

Merchandise With a Mission

Customers say they appreciate the variety and quality of merchandise at ZABS Place as well as the mission behind it. They learn an important lesson about people, in particular, the abilities of people with special needs.

“It’s nice to see their impressions evolve,” says Rochel. “For many, it is their first opportunity to come this close to people with special needs. ZABS Place helps them build educated opinions—that all people are important and can do things. We even see their patience when one of our employees is at the cash register.”

Caren Gale acknowledges that she hadn’t “anticipated at the start the role ZABS Place would have in educating the community. A byproduct of the program is that people came in, and their minds were changed. People were moved.”

Rochel says she never imagined directing a thrift shop. “But of all the jobs I’ve had, I am most excited to come here. I just love the people!”

She adds: “People ask me if I still teach. And I do. I teach here, every day.”

Photographs of Rochel Groner helping a child with autism on a transatlantic flight went viral on Facebook.

In fact, the general population got an opportunity to witness Rochel’s abilities firsthand. Several weeks ago, Rochel and Bentzion were on a flight back to the United States, via Belgium, after chaperoning a Birthright Israel trip. About an hour into the flight, a young boy with autism began screaming and crying. Passengers began getting upset, and the mother seemed unsure of what to do. Rochel approached the boy with her hand out, which he grasped; the two then spent a few hours playing near a bulkhead on the plane. A photo posted by Bentzion on Facebook went viral, generating more than 6,500 Likes.

That didn’t surprise members of the Charlotte community and those affiliated with ZABS Place. Singer-Strunck made it a point to say “that is who she is. She saw that a kid was in trouble; it didn’t matter who. This is their world. They are immersed in the work they do.”

Alison Dugo knows that all the attention on Rochel must have been tough. “She is humble and shy. For her, it is a calling—what she thinks she should be doing.”

“I didn’t like it,” admits Groner. “But I will survive the attention,” she says, as long as it’s been an opportunity for others to learn. “I hope what comes out of this is the ability for people to realize that they can reach out and offer support to one another, instead of staring or being apathetic. We’re all different, and the onus is on the community to make it work for everyone.”

It’s what her mother always taught, says the Chabad emissary: “Leave the world a better place than how you found it.”

Helping a customer with her selections. (Photo: Len Weinstein)

Len Weinstein browses through the wide variety of items at ZABS Place.

Outdoors: Unusual catch | Outdoors

Read article : Outdoors: Unusual catch | Outdoors

Just when a fisherman thinks he’s got it figured out ...

Mike Sholley has caught striped bass in the spring on the Susquehanna Flats. The Flats make up the delta at the mouth of the river and are a jewel of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.

The last thing Sholley and his buddies expected two weeks ago was to hook up with monster stripers just a few casts from downtown Harrisburg.

The Palmyra angler and his friends have focused a lot on the smallmouth bass population throughout the Susquehanna. Sholley has even helped establish the Susquehanna River Bassmasters club.

On the day rockfish rocked their world, the guys were throwing bigger top water smallmouth baits at the lowhead Dock Street Dam, just down-river from the state capital. That’s when the first fish, of what would be a catch-and-release rockfish roundup, couldn’t resist.

“I was basically fishing for big smallmouths because they like to hang out in that area near the dam,” Sholley says. “The first one caught was a hybrid, and I thought it was fluke. Then we caught the first one that was 30 inches and it was game-on for 45 minutes to an hour.”

The stripers had held at the foot of the dam where the water rolls over. Sholley and Heddon Spook baits lured them out. The stripers destroyed the torpedo-like baits. Two fish came to the surface at once, the bigger one “winning” the bait. “Quite an exhilarating rush,” Sholley says.

Sholley’s experience with stripers had been with catching hybrids. Those big stripers are put into and taken from lakes like Raystown.

Sholley thinks the stripers that found their way to Harrisburg were true Bay specimens.

How the rockfish got to Harrisburg is anybody’s guess. To migrate that far north out of the Flats, the stripers would have had to negotiate four dams.

Speculation is the rockfish came from Maryland on the recent high water, following the shad that were coming northward.

Striped bass move from the sea to rivers to spawn, usually in the spring and primarily in the tidal freshwater segments of the Schuylkill and Delaware rivers in Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna has no tidal influence.

Sholley grew up on the Loyalsock Creek in Williamsport where it meets the river. His father took him fishing early as a youngster. Now he is a service technician for a window and door, shower and bath company.

Sholley also markets fishing apparel under the “Susquehanna Native” brand. He says the line of clothing sets fisherfolks apart from others.

Sholley’s trip to the Dock Street Dam set him apart from other smallmouth bass anglers. His striper measured 35 inches. The group caught three others of at least 30 inches.

To Kris Kuhn, a biologist and the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission fisheries manager for this area, the white coloration of Sholley’s fish suggests it could be a Bay striper. He said it’s not uncommon to get an occasional report of someone catching a striper at the Dock Street Dam.

Kuhn said one of his crews boated seven stripers of 21 to 32 inches in the vicinity of the Dock Street Dam last week while electrofishing to check on young of the year muskies.

“Striped bass stacked up at the dam because it is an impediment,” Kuhn said. “It’s also an impediment to other prey fish, so there is a lot of forage there.”

As for how they got to Harrisburg, the stripers could have made the 115-mile trip down-river from Raystown Lake, Kuhn said. The commission stocks the Chesapeake strain of stripers at Raystown each year and they could get through the pass-through and into the branch of the Juniata River in high water years like this one.

It seems likely that Sholley’s rockfish came from the ocean.

Kuhn said the report of fish passage through the dams on the lower Susquehanna is incomplete, but four stripers are confirmed to have made it through the Holtwood Dam and two through the York Haven Dam. The Dock Street Dam is 70 miles upriver from the Conowingo Dam. “Not a long way for a striper to go,” Kuhn added.

Elk drawing

The next class of elk hunters in Pennsylvania will be determined Saturday when the drawing for permits is held at the Great Outdoors Elk Expo in Benezette.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission has allocated 25 antlered elk licenses and 93 antlerless elk permits for this year’s hunt to be staged Oct. 30-Nov. 4. The extended season would be Nov. 6-11.

While the commission has no plans to live-stream the drawing, those selected will learn quickly of their luck. Winners will be notified by phone on the day of the drawing, and they often begin getting calls from outfitters sooner than that.

They walk, she naps

Bekah and Derrick Quirin figure now is the best time to show their 18-month-old daughter the great outdoors, and get her into the record books as the youngest person ever to navigate the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail.

The hike started in March and makes its way southward, reverse of the traditional Georgia to Maine trek.

Baby Ellie reportedly is content to ride in the child backpack and take long naps. Both parents are former trail guides and know they can make it work. They plan to take a full year to finish the piecemeal hike.

Tweet of the week

“Student waiting to interview for a paramedic internship saves choking man. And, he got the internship.” – Associated Press

The Atlantic Monthly/Volume 18/Number 106/Passages from Hawthorne's Note-Books

Read article : The Atlantic Monthly/Volume 18/Number 106/Passages from Hawthorne's Note-Books

PASSAGES FROM HAWTHORNE'S NOTE-BOOKS. VIII. Concord, Saturday, August 13, 1842.—My life, at this time, is more like that of a boy, externally, than it has been since I was really a boy. It is usually supposed that the cares of life come with matrimony; but I seem to have cast off all care, and live on with as much easy trust in Providence as Adam could possibly have felt before he had learned that there was a world beyond Paradise. My chief anxiety consists in watching the prosperity of my vegetables, in observing how they are affected by the rain or sunshine, in lamenting the blight of one squash and rejoicing at the luxurious growth of another. It is as if the original relation between man and Nature were restored in my case, and that I were to look exclusively to her for the support of my Eve and myself,—to trust to her for food and clothing, and all things needful, with the full assurance that she would not fail me. The fight with the world,—the struggle of a man among men,—the agony of the universal effort to wrench the means of living from a host of greedy competitors,—all this seems like a dream to me. My business is merely to live and to enjoy; and whatever is essential to life and enjoyment will come as naturally as the dew from heaven. This is, practically at least, my faith. And so I awake in the morning with a boyish thoughtlessness as to how the outgoings of the day are to be provided for, and its incomings rendered certain. After breakfast, I go forth into my garden, and gather whatever the bountiful Mother has made fit for our present sustenance; and of late days she generally gives me two squashes and a cucumber, and promises me green corn and shell-beans very soon. Then I pass down through our orchard to the river-side, and ramble along its margin in search of flowers. Usually I discern a fragrant white lily, here and there along the shore, growing, with sweet prudishness, beyond the grasp of mortal arm. But it does not escape me so. I know what is its fitting destiny better than the silly flower knows for itself; so I wade in, heedless of wet trousers, and seize the shy lily by its slender stem. Thus I make prize of five or six, which are as many as usually blossom within my reach in a single morning;—some of them partially worm-eaten or blighted, like virgins with an eating sorrow at the heart; others as fair and perfect as Nature's own idea was, when she first imagined this lovely flower. A perfect pond-lily is the most satisfactory of flowers. Besides these, I gather whatever else of beautiful chances to be growing in the moist soil by the river-side,—an amphibious tribe, yet with more richness and grace than the wild-flowers of the deep and dry woodlands and hedge-rows,—sometimes the white arrow-head, always the blue spires and broad green leaves of the pickerel-flower, which contrast and harmonize so well with the white lilies. For the last two or three days, I have found scattered stalks of the cardinal-flower, the gorgeous scarlet of which it is a joy even to remember. The world is made brighter and sunnier by flowers of such a hue. Even perfume, which otherwise is the soul and spirit of a flower, may be spared when it arrays itself in this scarlet glory. It is a flower of thought and feeling, too; it seems to have its roots deep down in the hearts of those who gaze at it. Other bright flowers sometimes impress me as wanting sentiment; but it is not so with this. Well, having made up my bunch of flowers, I return home with them. . . . . Then I ascend to my study, and generally read, or perchance scribble in this journal, and otherwise suffer Time to loiter onward at his own pleasure, till the dinner-hour. In pleasant days, the chief event of the afternoon, and the happiest one of the day, is our walk. . . . So comes the night; and I look back upon a day spent in what the world would call idleness, and for which I myself can suggest no more appropriate epithet, but which, nevertheless, I cannot feel to have been spent amiss. True, it might be a sin and shame, in such a world as ours, to spend a lifetime in this manner; but for a few summer weeks it is good to live as if this world were heaven. And so it is, and so it shall be, although, in a little while, a flitting shadow of earthly care and toil will mingle itself with our realities. Monday, August 15th.—George Hillard and his wife arrived from Boston in the dusk of Saturday evening, to spend Sunday with us. It was a pleasant sensation, when the coach rumbled up our avenue, and wheeled round at the door; for I felt that I was regarded as a man with a household,—a man having a tangible existence and locality in the world,—when friends came to avail themselves of our hospitality. It was a sort of acknowledgment and reception of us into the corps of married people,—a sanction by no means essential to our peace and well-being, but yet agreeable enough to receive. So we welcomed them cordially at the door, and ushered them into our parlor, and soon into the supper-room. . . . . The night flitted over us all, and passed away, and up rose a gray and sullen morning, . . . . and we had a splendid breakfast of flapjacks, or slapjacks, and whortleberries, which I gathered on a neighboring hill, and perch, bream, and pout, which I hooked out of the river the evening before. About nine o'clock, Hillard and I set out for a walk to Walden Pond, calling by the way at Mr. Emerson's, to obtain his guidance or directions, and he accompanied us in his own illustrious person. We turned aside a little from our way, to visit Mr. ———, a yeoman, of whose homely and self-acquired wisdom Mr. Emerson has a very high opinion. We found him walking in his fields, a short and stalwart and sturdy personage of middle age, with a face of shrewd and kind expression, and manners of natural courtesy. He had a very free flow of talk, and not much diffidence about his own opinions; for, with a little induction from Mr. Emerson, he began to discourse about the state of the nation, agriculture, and business in general, uttering thoughts that had come to him at the plough, and which had a sort of flavor of the fresh earth about them. I was not impressed with any remarkable originality in his views; but they were sensible and characteristic, and had grown in the soil where we found them; . . . . and he is certainly a man of intellectual and moral substance, a sturdy fact, a reality, something to be felt and touched, whose ideas seem to be dug out of his mind as he digs potatoes, beets, carrots, and turnips out of the ground. After leaving Mr. ———, we proceeded through wood paths to Walden Pond, picking blackberries of enormous size along the way. The pond itself was beautiful and refreshing to my soul, after such long and exclusive familiarity with our tawny and sluggish river. It lies embosomed among wooded hills,—it is not very extensive, but large enough for waves to dance upon its surface, and to look like a piece of blue firmament, earth-encircled. The shore has a narrow, pebbly strand, which it was worth a day's journey to look at, for the sake of the contrast between it and the weedy, oozy margin of the river. Farther within its depths, you perceive a bottom of pure white sand, sparkling through the transparent water, which, methought, was the very purest liquid in the world. After Mr. Emerson left us, Hillard and I bathed in the pond, and it does really seem as if my spirit, as well as corporeal person, were refreshed by that bath. A good deal of mud and river slime had accumulated on my soul; but these bright waters washed it all away. We returned home in due season for dinner. . . . . To my misfortune, however, a box of Mediterranean wine proved to have undergone the acetous fermentation; so that the splendor of the festival suffered some diminution. Nevertheless, we ate our dinner with a good appetite, and afterwards went universally to take our several siestas. Meantime there came a shower, which so besprinkled the grass and shrubbery as to make it rather wet for our after-tea ramble. The chief result of the walk was the bringing home of an immense burden of the trailing clematis-vine, now just in blossom, and with which all our flower-stands and vases are this morning decorated. On our return we found Mr. and Mrs. S———, and E. H———, who shortly took their leave, and we sat up late, telling ghost-stories. This morning, at seven, our friends left us. We were both pleased with the visit, and so I think were our guests. Monday, August 22nd.—I took a walk through the woods yesterday afternoon, to Mr. Emerson's, with a book which Margaret Fuller had left, after a call on Saturday eve. I missed the nearest way, and wandered into a very secluded portion of the forest; for forest it might justly be called, so dense and sombre was the shade of oaks and pines. Once I wandered into a tract so overgrown with bushes and underbrush that I could scarcely force a passage through. Nothing is more annoying than a walk of this kind, where one is tormented by an innumerable host of petty impediments. It incenses and depresses me at the same time. Always when I flounder into the midst of bushes, which cross and intertwine themselves about my legs, and brush my face, and seize hold of my clothes, with their multitudinous grip,—always, in such a difficulty, I feel as if it were almost as well to lie down and die in rage and despair as to go one step farther. It is laughable, after I have got out of the moil, to think how miserably it affected me for the moment; but I had better learn patience betimes, for there are many such bushy tracts in this vicinity, on the margins of meadows, and my walks will often lead me into them. Escaping from the bushes, I soon came to an open space among the woods,—a very lovely spot, with the tall old trees standing around as quietly as if no one had intruded there throughout the whole summer. A company of crows were holding their Sabbath on their summits. Apparently they felt themselves injured or insulted by my presence; for, with one consent, they began to Caw! caw! caw! and, launching themselves sullenly on the air, took flight to some securer solitude. Mine, probably, was the first human shape that they had seen all day long,—at least, if they had been stationary in that spot; but perhaps they had winged their way over miles and miles of country, had breakfasted on the summit of Greylock, and dined at the base of Wachusett, and were merely come to sup and sleep among the quiet woods of Concord. But it was my impression at the time, that they had sat still and silent on the tops of the trees all through the Sabbath day, and I felt like one who should unawares disturb an assembly of worshippers. A crow, however, has no real pretensions to religion, in spite of his gravity of mien and black attire. Crows are certainly thieves, and probably infidels. Nevertheless, their voices yesterday were in admirable accordance with the influences of the quiet, sunny, warm, yet autumnal afternoon. They were so far above my head that their loud clamor added to the quiet of the scene, instead of disturbing it. There was no other sound, except the song of the cricket, which is but an audible stillness; for, though it be very loud and heard afar, yet the mind does not take note of it as a sound, so entirely does it mingle and lose its individuality among the other characteristics of coming autumn. Alas for the summer! The grass is still verdant on the hills and in the valleys; the foliage of the trees is as dense as ever, and as green; the flowers are abundant along the margin of the river, and in the hedge-rows, and deep among the woods; the days, too, are as fervid as they were a month ago; and yet in every breath of wind and in every beam of sunshine there is an autumnal influence. I know not how to describe it. Methinks there is a sort of coolness amid all the heat, and a mildness in the brightest of the sunshine. A breeze cannot stir, without thrilling me with the breath of autumn, and I behold its pensive glory in the far, golden gleams among the long shadows of the trees. The flowers, even the brightest of them,—the golden-rod and the gorgeous cardinals,—the most glorious flowers of the year,—have this gentle sadness amid their pomp. Pensive autumn is expressed in the glow of every one of them. I have felt this influence earlier in some years than in others. Sometimes autumn may be perceived even in the early days of July. There is no other feeling like that caused by this faint, doubtful, yet real perception, or rather prophecy, of the year's decay, so deliciously sweet and sad at the same time. After leaving the book at Mr. Emerson's I returned through the woods, and, entering Sleepy Hollow, I perceived a lady reclining near the path which bends along its verge. It was Margaret herself. She had been there the whole afternoon, meditating or reading; for she had a book in her hand, with some strange title, which I did not understand, and have forgotten. She said that nobody had broken her solitude, and was just giving utterance to a theory that no inhabitant of Concord ever visited Sleepy Hollow, when we saw a group of people entering the sacred precincts. Most of them followed a path which led them away from us; but an old man passed near us, and smiled to see Margaret reclining on the ground, and me sitting by her side. He made some remark about the beauty of the afternoon, and withdrew himself into the shadow of the wood. Then we talked about autumn, and about the pleasures of being lost in the woods, and about the crows, whose voices Margaret had heard; and about the experiences of early childhood, whose influence remains upon the character after the recollection of them has passed away; and about the sight of mountains from a distance, and the view from their summits; and about other matters of high and low philosophy. In the midst of our talk, we heard footsteps above us, on the high bank; and while the person was still hidden among the trees, he called to Margaret, of whom he had gotten a glimpse. Then he emerged from the green shade, and, behold! it was Mr. Emerson. He appeared to have had a pleasant time; for he said that there were Muses in the woods to-day, and whispers to be heard in the breezes. It being now nearly six o'clock, we separated,—Margaret and Mr. Emerson towards his home, and I towards mine. . . . . Last evening there was the most beautiful moonlight that ever hallowed this earthly world; and when I went to bathe in the river, which was as calm as death, it seemed like plunging down into the sky. But I had rather be on earth than even in the seventh heaven, just now. Wednesday, August 24th.—I left home at five o'clock this morning to catch some fish for breakfast. I shook our summer apple-tree, and ate the golden apple which fell from it. Methinks these early apples, which come as a golden promise before the treasures of autumnal fruit, are almost more delicious than anything that comes afterwards. We have but one such tree in our orchard; but it supplies us with a daily abundance, and probably will do so for at least a week to come. Meantime other trees begin to cast their ripening windfalls upon the grass; and when I taste them, and perceive their mellowed flavor and blackening seeds, I feel somewhat overwhelmed with the impending bounties of Providence. I suppose Adam, in Paradise, did not like to see his fruits decaying on the ground, after he had watched them through the sunny days of the world's first summer. However, insects, at the worst, will hold a festival upon them, so that they will not be thrown away, in the great scheme of Nature. Moreover, I have one advantage over the primeval Adam, inasmuch as there is a chance of disposing of my superfluous fruits among people who inhabit no Paradise of their own. Passing a little way down along the river-side, I threw in my line, and soon drew out one of the smallest possible of fishes. It seemed to be a pretty good morning for the angler,—an autumnal coolness in the air, a clear sky, but with a fog across the lowlands and on the surface of the river, which a gentle breeze sometimes condensed into wreaths. At first I could barely discern the opposite shore of the river; but, as the sun arose, the vapors gradually dispersed, till only a warm, smoky tint was left along the water's surface. The farm-houses across the river made their appearance out of the dusky cloud; the voices of boys were heard, shouting to the cattle as they drove them to the pastures; a man whetted his scythe, and set to work in a neighboring meadow. Meantime, I continued to stand on the oozy margin of the stream, beguiling the little fish; and though the scaly inhabitants of our river partake somewhat of the character of their native element, and are but sluggish biters, still I contrived to pull out not far from two dozen. They were all bream, a broad, flat, almost circular fish, shaped a good deal like a flounder, but swimming on their edges, instead of on their sides. As far as mere pleasure is concerned, it is hardly worth while to fish in our river, it is so much like angling in a mud-puddle; and one does not attach the idea of freshness and purity to the fishes, as we do to those which inhabit swift, transparent streams, or haunt the shores of the great briny deep. Standing on the weedy margin, and throwing the line over the elder-bushes that dip into the water, it seems as if we could catch nothing but frogs and mud-turtles, or reptiles akin to them. And even when a fish of reputable aspect is drawn out, one feels a shyness about touching him. As to our river, its character was admirably expressed last night by some one who said "it was too lazy to keep itself clean." I might write pages and pages, and only obscure the impression which this brief sentence conveys. Nevertheless, we made bold to eat some of my fish for breakfast, and found them very savory; and the rest shall meet with due entertainment at dinner, together with some shell-beans, green corn, and cucumbers from our garden; so this day's food comes directly and entirely from beneficent Nature, without the intervention of any third person between her and us. Saturday, August 27th.—A peach-tree, which grows beside our house and brushes against the window, is so burdened with fruit that I have had to prop it up. I never saw more splendid peaches in appearance,—great, round, crimson-cheeked beauties, clustering all over the tree. A pear-tree, likewise, is maturing a generous burden of small, sweet fruit, which will require to be eaten at about the same time as the peaches. There is something pleasantly annoying in this superfluous abundance; it is like standing under a tree of ripe apples, and giving it a shake, with the intention of bringing down a single one, when, behold, a dozen come thumping about our ears. But the idea of the infinite generosity and exhaustless bounty of our Mother Nature is well worth attaining; and I never had it so vividly as now, when I find myself, with the few mouths which I am to feed, the sole inheritor of the old clergyman's wealth of fruits. His children, his friends in the village, and the clerical guests who came to preach in his pulpit, were all wont to eat and be filled from these trees. Now, all these hearty old people have passed away, and in their stead is a solitary pair, whose appetites are more than satisfied with the windfalls which the trees throw down at their feet. Howbeit, we shall have now and then a guest to keep our peaches and pears from decaying. G——— B———, my old fellow-laborer at the community at Brook Farm, called on me last evening, and dined here to-day. He has been cultivating vegetables at Plymouth this summer, and selling them in the market. What a singular mode of life for a man of education and refinement,—to spend his days in hard and earnest bodily toil, and then to convey the products of his labor, in a wheelbarrow, to the public market, and there retail them out,—a peck of peas or beans, a bunch of turnips, a squash, a dozen ears of green corn! Few men, without some eccentricity of character, would have the moral strength to do this; and it is very striking to find such strength combined with the utmost gentleness, and an uncommon regularity of nature. Occasionally he returns for a day or two to resume his place among scholars and idle people, as, for instance, the present week, when he has thrown aside his spade and hoe to attend the Commencement at Cambridge. He is a rare man,—a perfect original, yet without any one salient point; a character to be felt and understood, but almost impossible to describe: for, should you seize upon any characteristic, it would inevitably be altered and distorted in the process of writing it down. Our few remaining days of summer have been latterly grievously darkened with clouds. To-day there has been an hour or two of hot sunshine; but the sun rose amid cloud and mist, and before he could dry up the moisture of last night's shower upon the trees and grass, the clouds have gathered between him and us again. This afternoon the thunder rumbles in the distance, and I believe a few drops of rain have fallen; but the weight of the shower has burst elsewhere, leaving us nothing but its sullen gloom. There is a muggy warmth in the atmosphere, which takes all the spring and vivacity out of the mind and body. Sunday, August 28th.—Still another rainy day,—the heaviest rain, I believe, that has fallen since we came to Concord (not two months ago). There never was a more sombre aspect of all external nature. I gaze from the open window of my study, somewhat disconsolately, and observe the great willow-tree which shades the house, and which has caught and retained a whole cataract of rain among its leaves and boughs; and all the fruit-trees, too, are dripping continually, even in the brief intervals when the clouds give us a respite. If shaken to bring down the fruit, they will discharge a shower upon the head of him who stands beneath. The rain is warm, coming from some southern region; but the willow attests that it is an autumnal spell of weather, by scattering down no infrequent multitude of yellow leaves, which rest upon the sloping roof of the house, and strew the gravel-path and the grass. The other trees do not yet shed their leaves, though in some of them a lighter tint of verdure, tending towards yellow, is perceptible. All day long we hear the water drip, drip, dripping, splash, splash, splashing, from the eaves, and babbling and foaming into the tubs which have been set out to receive it. The old unpainted shingles and boards of the mansion and out-houses are black with the moisture which they have imbibed. Looking at the river, we perceive that its usually smooth and mirrored surface is blurred by the infinity of rain-drops; the whole landscape—grass, trees, and houses—has a completely water-soaked aspect, as if the earth were wet through. The wooded hill, about a mile distant, whither we went to gather whortleberries, has a mist upon its summit, as if the demon of the rain were enthroned there; and if we look to the sky, it seems as if all the water that had been poured down upon us were as nothing to what is to come. Once in a while, indeed, there is a gleam of sky along the horizon, or a half-cheerful, half-sullen lighting up of the atmosphere; the rain-drops cease to patter down, except when the trees shake off a gentle shower; but soon we hear the broad, quiet, slow, and sure recommencement of the rain. The river, if I mistake not, has risen considerably during the day, and its current will acquire some degree of energy. In this sombre weather, when some mortals almost forget that there ever was any golden sunshine, or ever will be any hereafter, others seem absolutely to radiate it from their own hearts and minds. The gloom cannot pervade them; they conquer it, and drive it quite out of their sphere, and create a moral rainbow of hope upon the blackest cloud. As for myself, I am little other than a cloud at such seasons, but such persons contrive to make me a sunny one, shining all through me. And thus, even without the support of a stated occupation, I survive these sullen days and am happy. This morning we read the Sermon on the Mount. In the course of the forenoon, the rain abated for a season, and I went out and gathered some corn and summer-squashes, and picked up the windfalls of apples and pears and peaches. Wet, wet, wet,—everything was wet; the blades of the corn-stalks moistened me; the wet grass soaked my boots quite through; the trees threw their reserved showers upon my head; and soon the remorseless rain began anew, and drove me into the house. When shall we be able to walk again to the far hills, and plunge into the deep woods, and gather more cardinals along the river's margin? The track along which we trod is probably under water now. How inhospitable Nature is during a rain! In the fervid heat of sunny days, she still retains some degree of mercy for us; she has shady spots, whither the sun cannot come; but she provides no shelter against her storms. It makes one shiver to think how dripping with wet are those deep, umbrageous nooks, those overshadowed banks, where we find such enjoyment during sultry afternoons. And what becomes of the birds in such a soaking rain as this? Is hope and an instinctive faith so mixed up with their nature, that they can be cheered by the thought that the sunshine will return? or do they think, as I almost do, that there is to be no sunshine any more? Very disconsolate must they be among the dripping leaves; and when a single summer makes so important a portion of their lives, it seems hard that so much of it should be dissolved in rain. I, likewise, am greedy of the summer-days for my own sake: the life of man does not contain so many of them that one can be spared without regret. Tuesday, August 30th.—I was promised, in the midst of Sunday's rain, that Monday should be fair, and, behold! the sun came back to us, and brought one of the most perfect days ever made since Adam was driven out of Paradise. By the by, was there ever any rain in Paradise? If so, how comfortless must Eve's bower have been! It makes me shiver to think of it. Well, it seemed as if the world was newly created yesterday morning, and I beheld its birth; for I had risen before the sun was over the hill, and had gone forth to fish. How instantaneously did all dreariness and heaviness of the earth's spirit flit away before one smile of the beneficent sun! This proves that all gloom is but a dream and a shadow, and that cheerfulness is the real truth. It requires many clouds, long brooding over us, to make us sad, but one gleam of sunshine always suffices to cheer up the landscape. The banks of the river actually laughed when the sunshine fell upon them; and the river itself was alive and cheerful, and, by way of fun and amusement, it had swept away many wreaths of meadow-hay, and old, rotten branches of trees, and all such trumpery. These matters came floating downwards, whirling round and round in the eddies, or hastening onward in the main current; and many of them, before this time, have probably been carried into the Merrimack, and will be borne onward to the sea. The spots where I stood to fish, on my preceding excursion, were now under water; and the tops of many of the bushes, along the river's margin, barely emerged from the stream. Large spaces of meadow are overflowed. There was a northwest wind throughout the day; and as many clouds, the remnants of departed gloom, were scattered about the sky, the breeze was continually blowing them across the sun. For the most part, they were gone again in a moment; but sometimes the shadow remained long enough to make me dread a return of sulky weather. Then would come the burst of sunshine, making me feel as if a rainy day were henceforth an impossibility. . . . . In the afternoon Mr. Emerson called, bringing Mr. ———. He is a good sort of humdrum parson enough, and well fitted to increase the stock of manuscript sermons, of which there must be a fearful quantity already in the world. Mr. ———, however, is probably one of the best and most useful of his class, because no suspicion of the necessity of his profession, constituted as it now is, to mankind, and of his own usefulness and success in it, has hitherto disturbed him; and therefore he labors with faith and confidence, as ministers did a hundred years ago. After the visitors were gone, I sat at the gallery window, looking down the avenue, and soon there appeared an elderly woman,—a homely, decent old matron, dressed in a dark gown, and with what seemed a manuscript book under her arm. The wind sported with her gown, and blew her veil across her face, and seemed to make game of her, though on a nearer view she looked like a sad old creature, with a pale, thin countenance, and somewhat of a wild and wandering expression. She had a singular gait, reeling, as it were, and yet not quite reeling, from one side of the path to the other; going onward as if it were not much matter whether she went straight or crooked. Such were my observations as she approached through the scattered sunshine and shade of our long avenue, until, reaching the door, she gave a knock, and inquired for the lady of the house. Her manuscript contained a certificate, stating that the old woman was a widow from a foreign land, who had recently lost her son, and was now utterly destitute of friends and kindred, and without means of support. Appended to the certificate there was a list of names of people who had bestowed charity on her, with the amounts of their several donations,—none, as I recollect, higher than twenty-five cents. Here is a strange life, and a character fit for romance and poetry. All the early part of her life, I suppose, and much of her widowhood were spent in the quiet of a home, with kinsfolk around her, and children, and the life-long gossiping acquaintances that some women always create about them. But in her decline she has wandered away from all these, and from her native country itself, and is a vagrant, yet with something of the homeliness and decency of aspect belonging to one who has been a wife and mother, and has had a roof of her own above her head,—and, with all this, a wildness proper to her present life. I have a liking for vagrants of all sorts, and never, that I know of, refused my mite to a wandering beggar, when I had anything in my own pocket. There is so much wretchedness in the world, that we may safely take the word of any mortal professing to need our assistance; and even should we be deceived, still the good to ourselves resulting from a kind act is worth more than the trifle by which we purchase it. It is desirable, I think, that such persons should be permitted to roam through our land of plenty, scattering the seeds of tenderness and charity, as birds of passage bear the seeds of precious plants from land to land, without even dreaming of the office which they perform.

The Bathroom as a Health and Beauty Spa

Read article : The Bathroom as a Health and Beauty Spa

Italians are very health conscious. They also attach great importance to their appearance and go to great efforts to improve on what nature has given them.

Italian bathroom. Ph. pixabay CC

In the early post-war period, neither financial nor technical resources were sufficient to allow home improvement to extend to the bathroom areas. The small amounts of "extra" wealth that were available were devoted to the areas of the home that were most in view to the outside world, in particular the living room and the dining room. Also a relatively high proportion of the family income was devoted to clothing as one's personal appearance outside of the home was of utmost importance to establish one's position in society.

Needless to say, the situation is now completely changed. The growth of Italian wealth, the society's pursuit of beauty and art, the availability of advanced technical solutions and infrastructure, and the individuality of Italians is nowhere better illustrated than in the extraordinary lengths to which home decorators go in designing and equipping bathrooms. Bathrooms that were long neglected are now seen as very important parts of the home devoted to the health and well-being of the occupants. And in achieving health and well-being, style is of utmost importance to Italians.

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Modern Bathroom Designs in 2010.

The quest for style covers all aspects of bathroom design, from the wall and floor tiles, to the doors and knobs, to the sanitary appliances and the lighting. The world of ceramic tiles is vast, and information about the use of this material for decorating bathrooms and kitchens will be discussed under a separate section. In the current section, information will be provided only regarding the latest trends in sanitary appliances designed to make Italian bathrooms similar to health and beauty spas.

Until a few years ago, the utmost in bathroom wellbeing was seen to be the installation of double washbasins and Jacuzzi-type bathtubs. Nowadays, homes normally have one bathroom with a tub, but the other bathrooms are generally equipped with showers. As regards tubs, the latest design has been devoted to developing solutions that are "anatomic", while the showers are designed to attain the ultimate in personal hygiene and wellbeing. Thus, for example, the company Titan promotes a full immersion tub designed to ensure maximum comfort.

"Titan, faithful to its promise of fitting out completely the bathroom entirely with the Genesi design project, presents at Cersaie 2002 the evolution of the Genesi line. A project initially started with the creation of a multi-wellbeing whirlpool bathtub designed by Takahide Sano, expands the line with a series of accessories and products devised to follow the philosophy of a refined layout and characterised by exclusive aesthetic harmony. The same care taken over the bath tub has been lavished on the attention to detail, accessories and complements of the line designed by Takahide Sano.

The bath tub is enhanced by a set of taps on the side of the tub complete with mechanical mixer, flow nozzle and extractable shower head with automatic flexible hose rewinding, made in steel and with accessories inspired by Japanese minimalism such as the head rest and the folding seat. These are both made in curved natural beech wood which, with their refined and functional design, allow anyone to take advantage of the benefits afforded by the whirlpool bathtub. The new Genesi shower tray, coordinated with the Ramses R-S5 shower enclosure thanks to its clean cut lines and the high quality finishes highlighted by the lightness of the design, maintains the same coating characteristics as those of the tub.

Bleached oak or natural mahogany are the natural materials for the front inspection panels and for the non-slip centre footboard, while white or "night" satinised methacrylate is used for the shower base. The presence of the new bidet and sink taps equipped with a single-control mechanical mixer and a flow nozzle with jet diffuser and waste pipe control lever, made entirely in steel, are further proof of the will of Titan to complete the Genesi project, creating a bathroom in which all the elements echo the stylistic elegance of the collection. New products for a collection in continual evolution, where the idea of beauty is combined with that of functionality to create a new contemporary bathroom concept dedicated to well being. Titan continues along its course eliciting increasingly new sensations, for high quality products, studied right down to the smallest details that guarantee multi- wellbeing in one's own home.

They also sell a shower box that can be operated as a Turkish bath.

Moreover, the company guarantees that bathroom design can be personalized with for example stones, marble, mosaic or wood to create a unique atmosphere. The company Cesana promotes its shower boxes as possibly the best, while PDP has created walk in showers with right-hand and left-hand entrances of the series Elite.

"A wellspring continuously gushing forth new ideas. For thirty years, Cesana has always dedicated itself to finding new, up to date solutions for a bathroom area that has become increasingly important. This dedication to research and development has generated over 10,000 variations on the 'shower enclosure' theme so far. This has made the ltalian Company an established point of reference in the sector both in ltaly and abroad, especially in Europe. Because, beyond its capacity for innovation, Cesana's reliability stems from its unswerving attention to quality and workmanship, combining advanced technology and traditional craftsmanship. First-class materials The glass used for Cesana's shower enclosures is tempered using the most advanced equipment.

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Contemporary bathroom design.

Ultra-resistant to shocks and pressure, it satisfies both Uni and international norms, providing the security that is indispensable in the bathroom area. The aluminum used for the support frames is also of the best quality, carefully finished in epoxy powders, corrosion tested for 3,000 hours in saline mist. Design elegance Cesana's heart and soul is, without a doubt, its Research & Development Division, based on Cesana values: elegance of shape, practical functioning and innovation. Talking about innovation, the revolutionary System Logic, protected by international patents, is a Cesana product.

System Logic sets conventional expectations on end, with the water jetting upwards from the pavement and the shower system column containing the temperature and intensity controls located outside the enclosure. An oasis of well-being and functionality Welcoming both because of its attractive design and its practical, comfortable organization: Cesana's shower enclosures are in complete agreement with today's tendency to view this area as an oasis of intimate well-being, a private island where one can recover one's equilibrium."

Personalized solutions are the hallmark even of the large popular manufacturer of sanitary appliances such as Ideal Standard (see image below ) (www.idealstandard.it).

Aqualia

Suffice it to say that the company's sales line is "A thousand bathrooms, and in addition yours", and here too attention is given to design and practicality as in the case of the Cantica line where the appliances are free of floor stands that only collect dust and are difficult to keep clean. Innovative design is also characteristic of the line of ceramic sanitary appliances called "Qube e Rond" of the company Axa (www.axaonline.it).

In recognition of the increasing age of the Italian population (the country has one of the lowest birth rates in the world), attention is being given to the health needs and wellbeing of the older generations also in the design of bathroom equipment. Thus, for example, the company Busco (www.busco.it) has created the Auxilia easy access tub, for therapeutic showers, hydro-massage and hydrotherapy of the possibly less agile generations.

An important feature of Italian decoration of bathrooms is the use of ceramic floor and wall tiling. Resistant to years of use, easy to care for and to clean, available in a wide range of colors and designs, ceramic tile is the preferred decorating material used for bathrooms in Italy. Marble is also used, but the costs are somewhat higher. There are enormous numbers of producers of ceramic tiles for bathrooms. These extend from the designer tiles by such well-known names as Laura Biagiotti, Valentino, and Versace to little known small manufacturers providing quality materials. The tiles are available in all possible colors and sizes. It is even possible to decorate a bathroom with tiles that look like mosaics.

A Water's Edge Retreat on Kelleys Island

Read article : A Water's Edge Retreat on Kelleys Island

By VacationIdea Staff. Last Updated on September 30, 2017.

A Water's Edge Retreat is a luxurious bed and breakfast retreat on Kelleys Island in Lake Erie, Ohio. Located four miles north of Marblehead in the western basin of Lake Erie, Kelleys Island is the largest American island in the lake and is a popular vacation destination for families and couples alike.

A Water's Edge Retreat offers a relaxing, home-away-from-home retreat with elegant accommodations, delicious home-cooked cuisine, modern conveniences and friendly, welcoming service. All guest rooms and suites offer beautiful views Sandusky Bay, and most offer views of Marblehead Lighthouse and Cedar Point, and guests can kick back and watch the lake freighters make their way across the lake.

Guests are treated to a gourmet breakfast served every morning, which can be enjoyed in the beautiful formal dining room or outside on the covered verandah overlooking the lake. Cheese and wine hour is held each afternoon, offering samples of some of the region’s best cheese and wines. A roaring fire in the lounge offers cozy respite on chillydays, and sunny beach decks are ideal for relaxing in the summer months, and a whirlpool spa is a perfect place to unwind.

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A Water's Edge Retreat Suites

A Water's Edge Retreat offers six beautifully appointed and individually decorated guest suites with private entrances, en-suite bathrooms, and deluxe amenities. All suites boast breathtaking views of the gardens and lake, and additional amenities such as fireplaces, Jacuzzis, golf carts and bicycles add extra levels of comfort to ensure an unforgettable stay.

The Robert Stephen Waterfront Jacuzzi Suite is a stunning L-shaped carpeted suite with a queen-sized bed dressed with country-style linens, an en-suite bathroom with a double soaking tub and glass-enclosed corner shower, and separate sitting area with gorgeous lake views. The sunny living room features a love seat and three large windows overlooking the lake while a skylight over the tub in the bathroom offers the perfect place to soak up the stars.

The Mary LouisePremium Waterfront Guest Suite boasts an unusual octagonal shape with four large windows offering breathtaking waterfront view. The carpeted suite features a queen-size bed and private en-suite bathroom with soaking bathtub and glass-enclosed shower and ample storage for clothing.

The Charles Lawrence Suite is an Executive Jacuzzi/Honeymoon Suite and offers extra levels of luxury and comfort. This beautiful two-room waterfront-facing suite features a master bedroom with aqueen-size bed dressed in plush country-style linens, and a private en-suite bathroom with walk-in ceramic-tiled shower and double Jacuzzi bathtub. Two separate sitting areas enjoy a large fireplace, overstuffed chairs and an ottoman, modern amenities such as television, VCR and CD player and opens onto a sunny porch overlooking the lake.

The Marguerite Suite is a Premium Waterfront Guestroom that offers a large queen bedroom and separate sunny sitting area with windows that look out over the lake. This gorgeous waterfront-facing suite features a queen-size bed in country fabrics, an en-suite bathroom with glass-enclosed shower and bathtub, and extra sitting nook with large windows facing the lake and modern amenities, including CD player and stereo player.

The Paul Francis Suite is an alluring waterfront-facing guestroom with three-sided views of the lake and sunny spacious living areas. The Suite features a queen-size bedroom and en-suite bathroom with bathtub and shower. A cozy sitting nook has a day bed / pull-out sofa for extra guests and desk and chair.

There is a minimum two-night stay at all guest suites and each suite includes a gourmet breakfast each morning, afternoon cheese and wine, beverages and hors d'oeuvres in the evening, bicycle and discounted golf cart rental, a $20 massage therapy gift voucher, and an after-dinner treat.

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Dining

A Water's Edge Retreat serves a delicious gourmet breakfast each morning, featuring the usual favorites and extra treats. Enjoy hot selections such as eggs, omelets, bacon and sausages or go continental with cereals, tomato, yogurt, fresh fruit, and juice. Freshly brewed coffee and tea adds the final touch and breakfast can be enjoyed in the lovely formal dining room, on the sunny covered verandah or on one of the beach decks overlooking the lake. Hors d'oeuvres and beverages are served every afternoon as the sun sinks below the lake horizon and sweet treats are offered just before bed.

Regarding dinner, there are several excellent restaurants around the island, serving a variety of cuisine in casual and laid-back settings. Bag the Moon is a family-friendly restaurant whichis open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and serves a menu of all-American fare such as ribs, steaks, and chicken while the Caddy Shack Restaurant & Buckeye Bar is the best spot to go for fresh seafood. They also serve excellent pizza, sandwiches, salads and pitas and have fried chicken specials in the week. Beer-lovers can head to Kelleys Island Brewery, which has a sunny beer garden in which to enjoy a few local brew, cocktails and sangria alongside casual cuisine.

Wine-lovers can enjoy sampling the vintages of Kelleys Island Wine Co., which is home to a variety of award-winning wines and a European-style deli and bistro serving delicious light lunches and snacks. Special barbecue nights are held on The Grilling Deck and Coffee House, and Ice Cream Parlor serves mouthwatering treats, all on the grounds of Kelleys Island Wine Co. The Island House Martini Bar and Restaurant is a popularspot with great food, beer and wine and ambiance, and Captain’s Corner is a fun, family-friendly eatery that serves a range of favorites such as hamburgers, steak, pasta and a special kid’s menu with beautiful views of Lake Erie in the background.

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Amenities & Recreational Activities

In addition to beautiful accommodations, A Water's Edge Retreat offers deluxe amenities, including a gourmet breakfast every morning, bicycles and golf carts for exploring the surrounding area, and a hot tub in the garden for the ultimate in relaxation.

For more active pursuits, the island boasts excellent hiking and cycling paths and the tranquil waters of the lake are ideal for swimming, sunbathing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. The lake is packed with perch, catfish and smallmouth bass, which makes for excellent fishing and there are several boat launches for those who prefer fishing froma boat rather than the shoreline.

Birders will delight in the myriad species of birds that call the island home and can partake in free week-long nature and birding camps while wildlife-lovers can discover several rare species such as Lake Erie water snake and theKelleys Island salamander. Monarch butterflies can also be seen in their thousands as they migrate to Mexico for the winter, and shy white-tailed deer with their tiny fawns can be seen grazing at dusk and dawn.

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Things to Do Nearby

A Water's Edge Retreat is located on Kelleys Island in the western basin of Lake Erie. Measuring more than 2,800 square miles and the largest island American island in the lake, Kelleys Island is just four miles from Marblehead and twelve miles from Sandusky, both of which are on the Ohio Peninsula and offer a variety of things to see, do and enjoy.

The entire island is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to many remnants of the past from architectural styles and scenic treasures to ancient natural wonders, which can easily be explored by walking, cycling or golf cart.

The Glacial Grooves State Memorial features some of the most spectacular examples of ancient glacial grooves formed over thousands of years. The Memorial is an international study site and is renowned for its vast gashes of prehistoric glacial grooves that have been carved into thelimestone bedrock.

The Inscription Rock State Memorial is a large, flat-topped boulder on the south side of the island that features signs of an early Indian hunting ground. The Boulder has faint pictographs of men, animals, and birds that are thought to have been drawn by Erie Indians more than 400 years ago.

Kelleys Island is one of extreme natural beauty and is packed with lovely landscapes, beautiful flora, and plenty of wildlife. The island boasts miles of self-guided nature and hiking trails that wind along the shoreline and through flower-studded woodlands, lush wetlands, and rolling meadows. The East Quarry Trail explores the east stone quarry, which is home to ancient fossils.

The 17-mile shoreline of the island is home to a variety of endemic and migrating bird species on their journey across the lake. Visitors can enjoy free week-long nature camps that explore the island’s bird population.

The Lake offers a wealth of water-based recreational activities, such as swimming, kayaking, canoeing, jet-skiing, and power boating, and anglers will delight in the excellent fishing. Shipwrecks on the bottom of the lake dating back to the 1700 and 1800s provide plenty of fun for snorkelers and scuba divers. The Kelleys Island State Park has a lovely sandy beach with safe swimming, a quaint stone pier for fishing and a boat launching ramp.

827 E Lakeshore Drive, Kelleys Island, OH 43438, Phone: 419-746-2333

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