CONTENTS | OCT | 2017
ON THE COVER
Halloween is a fun and “spooky” holiday for everyone involved. In our Spotlight this month we provide some tips on how to make this Halloween not only fun, but also safe for your kids and even your pets.
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BACKYARD
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REAL ESTATE
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CRAFTS
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SPOTLIGHT
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PET FRIENDLY
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WINE COUNTRY
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Is Your Yard Ready for Winter Guests? Vistancia’s Real Estate Market Update DIY Easy Martian Costume Halloween is an Exciting Time of Year for Kids Halloween Can Also Be Scary for Your Pets Fires Rage in California Wine Country
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BACKYARD
Is Your Yard Ready for Winter Guests? By Anesia St. Clair Anesia is a licensed contractor and owns Pure Patio, a design center and retail store in Goodyear, Arizona.
One of the perks of living in Arizona is that our family and friends want to visit us in the winter. We welcome them with open arms and even brag a little about our perfect weather. Of course, you’ll be spending plenty of time outside… coffee in the morning, grilling out for dinner, fire feature at night. Is your yard ready to impress?
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Your visitors are on vacation and you want to give them a resort-quality experience. In hospitality, it’s all about the details. Sometimes the smallest detail goes unnoticed on its face, but you can be sure it’s appreciated overall. Here are some things you can do to make your yard a paradise for your guests: • Hose everything down. Why does it smell so nice after the rain? The smell of dust is gone and the smell of greenery replaces it. The same goes for your back yard. Go ahead and wash down all surfaces, including your roof, your house, the perimeter walls, the leaves in the trees, the shrubs, hardscapes, and granite. You will notice a difference immediately in the smell and brilliance of colors.
• Clean your screens and windows. You’ll improve your view from the inside out and create a nice sparkle outside. • Shine up your grill. Clean off any major stains or drippings first with a grill cleaner, Mr. Clean sponge, or just water and elbow grease. Once it’s clean then you can polish it. If you have a stainless steel grill, use a microfiber cloth with any stainless cleaner. Other types of surfaces lend themselves to window cleaner or Pledge. If you use Pledge, avoid the lemon or citrus scent as these may attract bees. • Clean your patio furniture. Remove any cushions first and hose off the frames. If they’re dirty, use a sponge or rag and wipe the frames with a bucket of highly diluted dishwashing soap. Hose again to rinse, and wipe dry to avoid water spots. Vacuum off the cushions to remove most of the dirt. Use a wet rag or sponge to work loose any bird droppings. Dip your rag in your soapy water solution and scrub down the surface of the cushions. Wipe again a few times with clean water to remove the soap. It’s a good idea to treat your clean cushions with fabric guard to make cleaning the next time even easier.
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• Check your schedule for upcoming pest service and lawn care. Ideally you want to have the pest service completed at least a few days before your guests’ arrival. Any residual smell and dead bugs that tend to surface a day or two after need to be gone. It’s nice to have your lawn service completed just before your visitors arrive, but with enough time for you to complete your final hosing and cleaning afterwards. • Top dress your granite. Consider adding fresh decomposed granite over your existing landscaped areas. Our granite tends to break down over time or get buried by dirt and leaf debris. Usually a couple of tons is enough to give you the look of a brand-new installation.
Your visitors are on vacation and you want to give them a resort-quality experience. In hospitality, it’s all about the details. Sometimes the smallest detail goes unnoticed on its face, but you can be sure it’s appreciated overall.
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BACKYARD
Now for the fun part – decorate and add some pops of color! Here are some ideas:
stakes incorporate solar lights, making them equally nice in the day and night. Think of toadstools, flowers, turtles.
• Hang a cute bird feeder and fill with a “no-waste” bird food. These mixes have no shells and the birds eat every speck of it. You’ll attract colorful birds that you’ve probably never seen before. It’s amazing how entertaining it can be to watch bird activity while sipping a drink or talking.
• Lay down a new patio rug. Add instant color and warmth beneath your feet with an outdoor rug as you step onto your patio or lounge in your chairs. You’ll need to plan ahead with this one. Big box stores have turned their attention to Christmas and you won’t find rugs during our season. Shop online or go to a specialty retailer that can order one in the color scheme and size that works for your space.
• Add a small water feature to your front entryway or back patio. At the entry, this will create a welcoming first impression and a fun bit of color. On the back patio where you’ll be spending some time, guests will enjoy the soothing sounds and it will certainly enhance that vacation feeling. Water features that are made from pots or colorful bowls are simple to fill with water and plug in to an outlet. • Install a spinner. These whimsical yard ornaments stake into the ground and have a colorful metal design that spins with the wind. You’ll find many different styles and sizes to fit a blank spot in your landscape. • Hang a wind chime. Create a relaxing atmosphere with the soothing sounds of a tuned chime. Smaller ones generally are higher pitched than larger ones, and they range in size from about 18” to 5 feet! They can hang from a branch in a tree, a shepherd’s hook, or a bracket on your patio. • Add colorful yard décor. You can add a focal point to your concrete perimeter wall or courtyard with outdoor wall art. You’ll find traditional southwest designs such as suns, geckos, and kokopellis, as well as more contemporary abstract pieces. Consider art on a stake that you can put into a pot or the ground. Some
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• Toss out some throw pillows. Add a couple of fresh pillows to your outdoor seating that coordinate with your rug or add color all on their own. There are so many beautiful patterns and textured solids available. Some of the cases zip off so you can wash them in your machine. • Dress up your outdoor dining table. Your guests will want to eat outside anytime they can. Show off your presentation skills with a table runner, placemats, colored napkins, a centerpiece, or bright shatterproof dishes. Any of these additions can be coordinated with your rug or throw pillows to pull off a designer look. The perfect weather has arrived. Attention to detail can make your outdoor areas even more blissful for you and your guests. Enjoy sprucing it up. If you don’t have guests coming to visit this year, treat yourself to a fabulous space. Happy season!
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REAL ESTATE
Vistancia’s Real Estate Market Update By Jay Patel Jay Patel, owner/agent at Lake Pleasant Real Estate, has been selling homes in Vistancia since 2005. He can be reached at 623.451.0443 or info@KeyToAzHomes.com.
Home sales and prices in the Valley of the Sun are up and expected to keep climbing for the rest of 2017. That’s based on the numbers & pace we have seen during the 1st half of this year. 2017 is shaping up to be one of the best years for home sales in Phoenix. Sales aren’t higher than the boom year of 2005 when speculators bought a record number of homes, or the bust year of 2011 when investors snapped up a record number of bargain Phoenix-area foreclosure homes. But those years weren’t normal and definitely weren’t healthy for Phoenix’s housing market. “2005 went down in the history books as the year our housing bubble rapidly inflated,” said housing expert Tom Ruff of Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service’s The Information Market. “2011 was the year housing prices bottomed out after the housing-market collapse. “This leaves 2017 as the very best year for Valley resale homes in our history not influenced by some freakish market outlier,” said Ruff. Overall, home sales are up 9 percent from 2016. The Valley’s top half-years for existing home sales are as follows: • 2005: 54,142 • 2011: 53,896 • 2017: 49,181 Regular buyers, including many first-timers, are driving more Phoenix-area home sales this year, and that’s a big reason why 2017 is such a better year than the others.
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This leaves 2017 as the very best year for Valley resale homes in our history not influenced by some freakish market outlier.
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As rent prices continue to climb, Millennials are feeling compelled to make the jump into homeownership. Many new residents coming to the Valley from the Midwest and Northeast for jobs are now buying homes after renting for a year or so. A growing number of investors, including Canadians who bought houses for less than $100,000 during the crash, are now selling for hefty profits since home values have rebounded. Current buyers can mostly afford
houses priced below $500,000. The Northwest Valley has a “serious shortage” of such homes for sale. Supply is so tight for houses priced right that some buyers are purchasing houses without seeing them in person because there’s so much competition. That demand and competition for houses in the right price range is pushing up home values. But Valley home prices still haven’t rebounded to boom levels. Ruff said metro Phoenix’s median home price is up 6.5% for the year, a more-than-steady increase. He said the current median home price of $245,000 is still about 7 percent off the peak price of $264,800 in 2006. Phoenix-area home sales and prices do cool a bit during the summer when temperatures heat up. So this probably won’t be the year Valley home values rebound back to boom levels But at the current pace of sales, 2018 could be that banner year.
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CRAFTS
DIY Easy Martian Costume By Vanessa Coppola Visit www.seevanessacraft.com for more crafts and recipes.
I love making homemade Halloween costumes for my kids, but I don’t do overly complicated or time consuming. Here’s a super easy Martian costume that you could whip up in under an hour. The tutu, although easy to create, will take the most time to make. It’s worth the effort, I love how this costume turned out! My son dressed up as an astronaut to match his sister, which made for a really fun sibling costume.
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SUPPLIES green capri leggings green tank top green tulle braided elastic scissors 3 small foam balls 3 large googly eyes headband thin green feathered boa hot glue gun green wig
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CRAFTS
INSTRUCTIONS Step 1: Find a pair of green leggings and a tank top. I purchased mine from Primary.com, which has a great selection of solid colored clothing that’s perfect for costumes. Step 2: To make a tutu, measure a piece of elastic to fit around your child’s waist. Sew the ends of the elastic together. Tie on strips of tulle to the elastic until the elastic is completely covered. Step 3: To make the googly eyed headband, hot glue a piece of feathered boa to the headband. Hot glue 3 small foam balls on top
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of the boa strip and attach googly eyes to the front of the balls. You could also attach pipe cleaners to the headband if you’d like antennas. Step 4: Put it all together! Have your child put on their green clothes and add the tutu on top. Put the green wig on and the googly eyed headband on top of the wig. Add a green pumpkin bucket if you’d like and call it a day! Step 5: If a parent or sibling wants to have some Halloween fun, they can dress up as an astronaut. You could attempt to DIY this costume, I just bought it. This would make for a fun family costume!
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SPOTLIGHT
Halloween is an Exciting Time of Year for Kids Brought to you by the American Academy of Pediatrics | www.aap.org
Halloween is an exciting time of year for kids, and to help ensure they have a safe holiday, here are some tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). ALL DRESSED UP: • Plan costumes that are bright and reflective. Make sure that shoes fit well and that costumes are short enough to prevent tripping, entanglement or contact with flame. • Consider adding reflective tape or striping to costumes and trick-or-treat bags for greater visibility. • Because masks can limit or block eyesight, consider non-toxic makeup and decorative hats as safer alternatives. Hats should fit properly to prevent them from sliding over eyes. Makeup should be tested ahead of time on a small patch of skin to ensure there are no unpleasant surprises on the big day. • When shopping for costumes, wigs and accessories look for and purchase those with a label clearly indicating they are flame resistant. • If a sword, cane, or stick is a part of your child’s costume, make sure it is not sharp or long. A child may be easily hurt by these accessories if he stumbles or trips. • Do not use decorative contact lenses without an eye examination and a prescription from an eye care professional. While the packaging on decorative lenses will often make claims such as “one size fits all,” or “no need to see an eye specialist,” obtaining decorative contact lenses without a prescription is both dangerous and illegal. This can cause pain, inflammation, and serious eye disorders and infections, which may lead to permanent vision loss. • Review with children how to call 9-1-1 (or their local emergency number) if they ever have an emergency or become lost.
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If your older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home.
CARVING A NICHE: • Small children should never carve pumpkins. Children can draw a face with markers. Then parents can do the cutting.
• Parents should check outdoor lights and replace burned-out bulbs. • Wet leaves or snow should be swept from sidewalks and steps.
• Consider using a flashlight or glow stick instead of a candle to light your pumpkin. If you do use a candle, a votive candle is safest. • Candlelit pumpkins should be placed on a sturdy table, away from curtains and other flammable objects, and not on a porch or any path where visitors may pass close by. They should never be left unattended. HOME SAFE HOME: • To keep homes safe for visiting trick-or-treaters, parents should remove from the porch and front yard anything a child could trip over such as garden hoses, toys, bikes and lawn decorations.
• Restrain pets so they do not inadvertently jump on or bite a trick-or-treater. ON THE TRICK-OR-TREAT TRAIL: • A parent or responsible adult should always accompany young children on their neighborhood rounds. • Obtain flashlights with fresh batteries for all children and their escorts. • If your older children are going alone, plan and review the route that is acceptable to you. Agree on a specific time when they should return home. >>>>
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SPOTLIGHT
• Only go to homes with a porch light on and never enter a home or car for a treat. • Because pedestrian injuries are the most common injuries to children on Halloween, remind Trick-or-Treaters: - Stay in a group and communicate where they will be going. - Remember reflective tape for costumes and trick-or treat bags. - Carry a cellphone for quick communication. - Remain on well-lit streets and always use the sidewalk. - If no sidewalk is available, walk at the far edge of the roadway facing traffic. - Never cut across yards or use alleys. - Only cross the street as a group in established crosswalks (as recognized by local custom). Never cross between parked cars or out driveways. - Don’t assume the right of way. Motorists may have trouble seeing Trick-or-Treaters. Just because one car stops, doesn’t mean others will! - Law enforcement authorities should be notified immediately of any suspicious or unlawful activity.
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HEALTHY HALLOWEEN: • A good meal prior to parties and trick-or-treating will discourage youngsters from filling up on Halloween treats. • Consider purchasing non-food treats for those who visit your home, such as coloring books or pens and pencils. • Wait until children are home to sort and check treats. Though tampering is rare, a responsible adult should closely examine all treats and throw away any spoiled, unwrapped or suspicious items. • Try to ration treats for the days and weeks following Halloween.
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PET FRIENDLY
Halloween Can Also Be Scary for Your Pets Brought to you by The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) | www.aspca.org
Halloween can be the spookiest night of the year, but keeping your pets safe doesn’t have to be tricky. The ASPCA recommends taking these simple, common sense precautions to keep your pet happy and healthy all the way to November 1.
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Stash the Treats The candy bowl is for trick-or-treaters, not Scruffy or Fluffy. Several popular Halloween treats are toxic to pets. Chocolate in all forms—especially dark or baking chocolate—can be very dangerous for cats and dogs, and sugar-free candies containing the artificial sweetener xylitol can cause serious problems in pets. If you suspect your pet has ingested something toxic, please call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Poison Control Center at (888) 4264435 immediately. Watch the Decorations and Keep Wires Out of Reach While a carved jack-o-lantern certainly is festive, pets can easily knock over a lit pumpkin and start a fire. Curious kittens are especially at risk of getting burned or singed by candle flame. Popular Halloween plants such as pumpkins and decorative corn are considered relatively nontoxic, but can produce stomach discomfort in pets who nibble on them.
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PET FRIENDLY
Be Careful with Costumes For some pets, wearing a costume may cause undue stress. The ASPCA recommends that you don’t put your dog or cat in a costume unless you know he or she loves it. If you do dress up your pet for Halloween, make sure the costume does not limit his or her movement, sight or ability to breathe, bark or meow. Check the costume carefully for small, dangling or easily chewed-off pieces that could present a choking hazard. Ill-fitting outfits can get twisted on external objects or your pet, leading to injury. Be sure to have your pet try on the costume before the big night. If he or she seems distressed or shows abnormal behavior, consider letting your pet wear his or her “birthday suit” or don a festive bandana instead. Keep Pets Calm and Easily Identifiable Halloween brings a flurry of activity with visitors arriving at the door, and too many strangers can often be scary and stressful for pets. All but the most social dogs and cats should be kept in a separate room away from the front door during peak trick-or-treating hours. While opening the door for guests, be sure that your dog or cat doesn’t dart outside. And always make sure your pet it wearing proper identification—if for any reason he or she does escape, a collar with ID tags and/or a microchip can be a lifesaver for a lost pet.
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Serving the communities of Vistancia, Trilogy and Blackstone!
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Thank you for your ongoing support through the summer months. Cooler temperatures are finally here, and following our scheduled overseed, Trilogy Golf Club will reopen for play on Saturday, October 28th . We hope you’ll come on out and enjoy our exceptional service, fast play, fair pricing and beautiful conditions. NEIGHBORHOOD SPECIAL
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WINE COUNTRY
Fires Rage in California Wine Country By Michael Franz You can find more reviews from Michael Franz and other talented wine writers at www.winereviewonline.com.
Publishers Note: As of press time, there have now been more than 40 deaths attributed to the fires, with more than 200 still missing. Two hundred thousand acres have burned, nearly 6,000 structures are destroyed and 100,000 were forced to evacuate.
It seems likely that almost all readers of Wine Review Online are already aware of the horrible fires that have wrought massive destruction across large swaths of wine country in California’s North Coast. Still, it would be inappropriate for us to post coverage of anything else in this space at this deeply trying time, and all of us who write for this Web site have many friends in the area...about whom we are deeply concerned.
Above: This map shows the areas affected by the fires as of October 9, 2017. More than 100,000 people were forced to evacuate.
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As of this time of writing, 17 people have lost their lives in the fires, with 11 of those being residents of Sonoma County, two from Napa County, three from Mendocino County, and one from Yuba County. Roughly 200 others are reported missing, and though many who were formerly missing have now been located, the situation on the ground seems so chaotic that it is pointless to speculate on how high the loss of life might rise. Clearly, losses of property are not quite as upsetting, but for those who lost their homes -- and all of their possessions, in many evident instances -- the trauma shouldn’t be understated. Santa Rosa, the largest city in Sonoma County and home to more than 175,000 people, suffered catastrophic losses of entire neighborhoods, and photos and videos of the affected areas are difficult to process when viewed--at least for me. The number of destroyed homes and commercial buildings is currently estimated by The San Francisco Chronicle at between 1,500 and 3,000. The number on the low end of that range is horrifying, and it is almost as disturbing to consider the uncertainty in the area manifested by the breadth of the range in numbers.
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WINE COUNTRY
Although Wine Review Online is obviously a wine-dedicated Web site, I find it a bit distasteful to accord more importance to winery damage than residences or businesses of other types. Still, we know of at least three wineries that seem to have been destroyed outright (Paradise Ridge, Signorello and White Rock), with at least six others having suffered significant damage. These numbers have not moved for nearly 24 hours, but it is essentially impossible to know whether this reflects a leveling off of damage or just delays in reporting. What is clear is that multiple fires continue to burn out of control, and though winds calmed somewhat yesterday, they are expected to pick up again later today. I know that I speak for all contributors to WRO when extending my concerns and sympathies to all who have been affected by these terrible fires. Our hearts go out to you....
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If you’d like to donate, here are some local, on-the-ground funds that will go directly to victims when it’s time to rebuild: • North Bay Fire Relief Fund of the Redwood Credit Union www.redwoodcu.org/northbayfirerelief • Resilience Fund of the Sonoma County Community Foundation www.sonomacf.org/sonoma-county-resilience-fund/ • Disaster Relief Fund of the Napa Valley Community Foundation www.napavalleycf.org/supporting-napa-county-fire-relief-efforts/ • Sonoma County Fire Relief from the Redwood Empire Food Bank https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/WebLink.aspx?name=redempire&id=64 • California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance Fund for Undocumented Fire Victims https://www.ciyja.org/caliimmfirefunds