Holidays

The City of Peoria has announced they will begin collecting Christmas trees for recycling – CURBSIDE! No more driving all over town to find a drop-off spot, or driving out to the desert (you know who you are!) And no more getting needles all over the car, which takes until about June to get rid of..

Here’s the schedule:

Jan 3 - North of Pinnacle Peak Rd

Jan 4 - South of Cactus Rd

Jan 7 - North of Union Hills Dr and South of Pinnacle Peak Rd

Jan 8 - North of Cactus Rd and South of Union Hills Dr

They ask that all decorations (ornaments, tinsel, etc.) be removed from the tree. Then simply lay it at your curb where you would normally place your trash can.

Any questions?  Contact the Solid Waste Dept at 623-773-7431.

Your synthetic tree owing Realtor,

Chris Butterworth

Technorati Tags: Christmas tree recycling, Christmas tree collection, Peoria, Fletcher Heights

Here’s a couple of my favorite unique pumpkin carvings……these were winners on www.extremepumpkins.com - a hilarious site to check out.
I think I”ll order his new book and try some extreme pumpkin carving next Halloween!

Mmmmmmm - if you’ve never saved your pumpkin seeds and baked them, you’re missing out on a healthy AND yummy snack!  Here’s a basic recipe from www.elise.com for your eating pleasure!

1 Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut open the pumpkin and use a strong metal spoon to scoop out the insides. Separate the seeds from the stringy core. Rinse the seeds.

2 In a small saucepan, add the seeds to water, about 2 cups of water to every half cup of seeds. Add a tablespoon of salt for every cup of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and drain.

3 Spread about a tablespoon of olive oil over the bottom of a roasting pan. Spread the seeds out over the roasting pan, all in one layer. Bake on the top rack for 20 minutes or until the seeds begin to brown. When browned to your satisfaction, remove from the oven and let the pan cool on a rack. Let the seeds cool all the way down before eating. Either crack to remove the inner seed (a lot of work and in my opinion, unnecessary) or eat whole.

My last newsletter from the Silverton II HOA invited everyone to watch the 4^th of July fireworks display (at the Peoria Sports Complex) from the Silverton II “front lawn” – the huge grassy area on the north side of Beardsley and between 87^th and 89^th Aves.

I think this sounds like a great idea!

Every year we struggle with the dilemma of watching fireworks – you have to get there early to get a good spot, then you cook in the heat for a few hours (and get eaten by ants!) while dealing with little ones getting impatient. Eventually you get to see the fireworks, but the display is interrupted by bouts of crying from overtired children who are up past their bed times!

This will be a way to show up a little bit later and not have to fight a huge crowd. Count us in – I hope to see you there!

- Chris Butterworth

Technorati Tags: fireworks, July 4^th