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Summer is screaming by, but it’s not too late to plan a relaxing getaway from the pressures of daily life. Whether you’re needing a personal holiday or a furlough with the family, coming up with a worthy travel destination can leave you feeling a bit stumped. We’ve come up with some fun and simple ways to ensure your vacation is something to remember.

1. Seek Water

We’re in the thick of our summer scorcher, and though nature has been kinder this year that in some in the recent past, even adults will agree that the best way to cool off is getting soaked! The Pacific Ocean is unforgiving, but its about as cold as you can get for little more than a westward trip. Other options include taking advantage of our abundance of near by creeks, lakes, and swimming holes, or if the kids insist, there are a handful of nearby water themed amusement parks to get some liquid relief.

2. Find Cultural Centers

America is a melting pot of culture, and both coasts have something totally different to offer. In California we’re blessed with authentic Mexican delights, exquisite Thai cuisine, gourmet Indian dishes, and killer sushi that’s the real deal. Besides this, there is a plethora of artistic and musical energies flowing through the west. San Francisco is a great example of a concentrated cultural vortex, with folks from all walks of life offering their skills to the community. You can find some amazing bands, visit some of the largest museums in the world, or just spend the day walking through the neighbor hoods and soaking in the beautiful and ornate decorations of homes and shops that represent a minute tribute to that culture’s roots. (I wonder if there’s an “American Town” district in any major city overseas?)

3. Serenity Now

Sometimes you just need some peace and quite. Often lounging around the house still exposes you to the stresses and worries of modern living. Luckily, serenity is not far in any direction. The peaceful crashing of ocean waves on a lonely beach, the rustling of ancient redwoods in the breeze, the endless expanse of the desert – these are all great locations to meditate and escape the world for a while.

4. Distant Relatives and Old Friends

A great excuse for taking a vacation is to go see someone! Besides the obvious perk of having a place to stay when you get there, reconnecting with your past is often a surprisingly powerful way to relieve stress from your life that you may not even know is there! The resolution obtained from catching up with the outskirts of your family tree or high school buddies can bring an amazing about of peace and calm with you when you return home.

5. The Unknown

Try something new! Go to a new place, eat an exotic, try skiing or surf boarding or mountain climbing – just get out there and do it! These trips are the ones that go down in history, and you might find a new hobby along the way!

6. The Journey There

It’s been said many times that the in any endeavor the journey there is more important than the destination. This is doubly true for family vacations! Being crammed in a small vehicle for hours on end is enough to make everyone cranky, and that can put a serious damper on the whole trip. And you’re going to do it all over again on the way back, when you’re most likely totally exhausted from the trip! But planning a scenic route and taking it slow getting to your destination can significantly improve the quality of the whole journey. Plus, when you stop to smell the roses, you never know what else you’ll find.

Before you drop everything and go…

1. Check your irrigation system (and make sure it’s on!)
2. Look for leaks and drips that might turn into a nasty welcome home present
3. Turn off the AC and the lights
4. Empty the fridge of perishables like milk and leftovers
5. Call Earl’s for a once over on potential plumbing issues

Often when presented with the topic of diet, many Americans find themselves lost in the milieu of opinionated and polarized information that shrouds this crucial component to all human life, and, essentially, a healthy life. The fact is that most of the largest opponents and proponents of various interrelated topics such as organic vs GMO foods, food additives and coloring, and the health effects of high fructose corn syrup, on both sides, are mainly large agricultural corporations, or various scientific and government organizations that are literally funded by those same corporations. The result is a very complex web of half truths and extreme vagueness, sometimes out right lies, that makes the choices for the average consumer difficult. Either buy the same food you’ve been eating since you were a kid from the same stores you’ve always shopped at, or fork out the extra cash for a “high quality”, soy based space food that just barely resembles something edible, often leaving flavor and palette as an afterthought.

The reality is that eating health isn’t that hard, and doesn’t require hours at the grocery store scrutinizing labels for organic and all natural ingredients, blacklisting an endless list of unfamiliar compounds you can barely pronounce. In fact, the quickest way to a health diet, and in turn, a health life, lies in simplicity and a little creativity. Food comes first and foremost from nature, in the form of vegetation, seed, or animal, and humans have evolved over millions of years to survive on the fruits of the Earth. So what’s the secret to maintaining health in our culture? If it’s not from nature, don’t buy it! Unprocessed or minimally processed foods (such as whole wheat flour) can be used to make or replace anything you see in the grocery store, is much more nutritious, and usually tastes way better (once you’ve retrained your tongue away from artificial flavors).

Of course we don’t always have the time to make everything from scratch, but there’s a few key areas of our diet that are really easy to effect. All it takes is just a few extra minutes, some fresh ingredients, and a little creativity. Humans are known to over think things, so give yourself a break and let us do the thinking for you! Here’s 7 easy ways to break those old habits without breaking the bank:

1. Homemade Salad Dressing – Instead of spending extra for a little flavor with a lot of extra additives, make your own! Here’s a quick and simple recipe that takes 5 minutes, and you probably have the ingredients already: Mix 1 part vegetable oil (olive is preferred) to 1 part lemon juice or your favorite vinegar, add a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt & pepper, and serve with salads or use for a marinade.

2. Fruits for Breakfast and Snacks – This is almost so simple that its appreciation might be easily missed. Having an ample supply of fresh fruits is great for when you need a quick breakfast before work or a snack on the go. For something more filling and nutritious, simply dish out your favorite fruit with peanut butter.

3. Make Smoothies – Everyone loves smoothies, but how many people make them themselves? It’s actually super easy: just blend up some of your favorite fruits, add some juice or milk, and blend away! You can also add peanut butter or yogurt to this mix for added nutrition, and some ice to thin out the mixture. No flavoring needed, its very filling (many times replacing a whole meal), and is a great way to cool off in the summer.

4. Drink Water – Resist the urge to glaze over this one. Drinking water with meals instead of milk, tea, or soda is more hydrating, contributes to healthy digestion, and is (obviously) much cheaper.

5. Eat Salads Frequently – While unprocessed foods is the key to healthy diet choices, raw, or uncooked, foods are even more nutritious, and incidentally, cheaper and easy to prepare and serve. Instead of cooking your veggies, make a salad for lunch or dinner. Its much easier and quicker to make and serve, and will save energy costs both from cooking the food and from subsequent cooling of the added heat, and will reduce the used dishes & clean up time as an added bonus.

6. Go For a Walk – OK, this doesn’t really have anything to do with eating directly, but diet and exercise are two sides of the same coin. Make sure to use your body and provide the necessary fuel to metabolize all those great nutrients you just ate.

7. Start a Garden – One of the most powerful ways to improve your quality of life is to start a garden. You’ll save money, increase nutrition, and get much needed exercise and sun light, all while reducing your dependence on the big Agra-Businesses that threaten human and environmental health. Nothing tastes better here in Northern CA than sitting in the sun and eating a fresh tomato or peach (or carrot or cumber or squash or strawberry….) right off the plant you just poured a whole season of love into. That’s how nature intended us to eat, like kings.

Do you have any tips to add to the list? What about home made salad dressing recipes, your favorite smoothie mix, or the best you’ve pulled from your garden? We want to hear about it, so let us know in the comments below and share with your friends!

This week is America’s birthday, and we’re all part of the celebration! It’s that special time of year of sparklers, BBQs, and fireworks. But it’s special for another reason: the tremendous freedoms we have and fight for each and every day. We thought we’d pay special tribute this year by sharing some of our favorite ways to express our freedom and gratitude for it.

1. Vote

This may sound simple or redundant, but it cannot be expressed enough that our current, albeit limited and critically flawed, democratic process can only truly be democratic if we represent ourselves. The best way to do this is through voting, and not just once every four years. Local and state elections directly effect everyone in our community. And don’t just vote, do your research! Voting in ignorance is worse than not voting at all.

Here in California we have the powerful initiative process in which any CA citizen, including you and me, can push for legal change in our great state with just enough support. These law changes are crucial to pushing the envelope of democracy and providing a precedent to the rest of the nation on alternative solutions to everyday problems.

Another way to vote: buy locally. This applies to all levels of economy, but we mostly feel it here with food. We’re blessed with weekly farmer’s market, and our great Chico Natural cooperative, that both host some of the best produce and agriculturally products in northern California, arguably the whole nation (or world!). Each time you make a purchase, you’re casting your vote of support for that product, store, and lifestyle. That’s your hard earned money, your time and dedication that provides the sustenance of life for you and for family. So invest in your local economy, help your neighbors grow, and vote for Chico!

2. Plant a garden

This goes hand in hand with #1. Growing your own food is a great (and sometimes radical) way to break away from the monotony of daily living and reconnect with the Earth. What better way to celebrate being free than by growing your own food, unprocessed, without labels, and totally innocent of third party or corporate influences.

If you’re really into freedom, do a Google search for permaculture:

https://www.google.com/search?q=permaculture.

3. Engage Your Community

The first amendment gives us the most basic and powerful right for expressing our freedom in this country: freedom of speech. This extends to freedom of the press and freedom to protest, but it represents something much deeper and closer to the soul of the human being. The freedom to express yourself freely literally means the freedom to be yourself. Even though we’re preached by the media to be like everyone else and fear peer judgement, the reality is we don’t have to live that way. From the way we dress, to the music we listen to, to starting your own business, we’re free to pursue our chosen lifestyle, within the limitations of modern society.

So get out there! Hold a workshop and teach your skill, hold a public feed for the homeless, start an online forum or Facebook group to discuss an issue important to you. In the immortal words of Mahatma Gandhi:

“Be the change you want to see in the World.”

4. Have Party!

What better way to celebrate than, well, celebrate! Fire up the BBQ and grab an extra pack of lighters. Crank up the tunes and call over some family and good friends. It’s summer, it’s the 4th, and we’re in Chico! What more reason do we need to party!

Happy holidays to everyone and remember party responsibly. And as always, if you need our assistance to save your party from crashing, we’re ready for your call, even on holidays.

Before you roll your eyes and prepare to gloss over this article, know this is NOT a scam. Local water service providers all over California are participating in this limited free give away. For example, anyone in Butte County using Cal Water can sign up easily just by visiting this website:

https://www.freesprinklernozzles.com/enter-butte.asp

Just enter in some basic information from your water bill and you’re set!

Again this is a free service, and we’re just passing the word along. Feel free to contact us for assistance installing your new sprinklers, as well as adjusting your system to the proper settings.

It’s just another quiet, peaceful morning up in the foothills. Like a windup doll you start your daily ritual of preparing coffee to rouse the senses and convince your brain it’s a good idea to think. You step to the sink, turn on the faucet, and wait… no water!

If this sound familiar, you might even respond with a half woken here we go again. But no matter how many times it’s happened before, when your well stops producing water, everything becomes difficult. Cooking, cleaning, and bathing are out of the question, not to mention gardening & irrigation, swamp coolers, and, that’s right, the toilet won’t work either.

Sometimes there’s no warning, but often times a well system will have one or several signs that there’s something wrong. Quick diagnosis and repair can be the difference between a simple fix and a costly pump replacement. What starts as a minor failure can result in collateral damage that exponentially increase the cost, difficulty, and effectiveness of repairs to your system.

Because of the complexity of modern residential well systems, troubleshooting can be difficult and prone to errors. The only sure fire way to determine the source of a failure is to contact a license well and pump contractor in the area. Earl’s Plumbing is proud to offer this service to our entire service area.

If you see any of the following red flags contact us right away for a free well system analysis to diagnose the situation:

– Loss or inconsistency in water pressure
– Your pump cycling on and off
– Sparks or arcing at the electrical connections
– No water at the home
– Anything else out of the ordinary for your system

If you’re having pump or well issues, call Earl’s Plumbing or schedule online today. We offer complete service, repair, and replacement of well pumps and components, so call us to get your well pump fixed right, right now!

June is here, and that means sun, sweat, and a week or two of triple digit heat here in the North Valley. For those of us in the area, staying cool isn’t just a passing comfort, it’s a necessity! Here are some simple tips to beat the summer super heat:

* Open the windows in the evenings when it’s cool and close them in the morning before the sun comes up. Will will stop the daily heatwave cold in it’s tracks.

* Hit the water. We’re blessed with a ton of rivers, lakes, and swimming holes perfect for a quick dip or taking the guys out for some fishin’!

* Plant trees around your house. Providing shade to your home will increase it’s ability to fend off the pounding heat of the sun during those cloudless scorchers.

* Drink plenty of water. This is a simple one but often overlooked. Besides the practical implications of fighting dehydration, your body also uses stored water to cool off. (Ice cold water is somewhat less hydrating than lukewarm water)

* My personal favorite: cook outside, eat salads, and enjoy some cold treats (aka frozen fruit, smoothies, or better yet, ice cream!). Keeping the kitchen heat outside will let your house stay cool and a little more tolerable.

When shade just isn’t enough, use the advice above to keep your home somewhat livable. If you need advice on your AC system, we’d be happy to extend our professional recommendation. Or if you need help with your swamp cooler, irrigation system, or swimming pool supply lines, give us a call and we’ll send one of our friendly technician’s to your home for a free assessment.