Today is May 15, 2021

Published 7:00 am Saturday, May 15, 2021

Plant a Lemon Tree Day.

LSU Ag says Meyers Lemons: Meyers is the only lemon recommended for Louisiana since it does possess a small degree of cold hardiness. It ripens in mid-October and holds on the tree until December. It is better when grown from a rooted cutting. It has a strong tendency to bloom and set fruit throughout the year. This makes it an excellent tree for a protected area near a window or door. It is recommended for homeowners in Zone I and in protected areas in the southern part of Zone II.

For more information visit here.

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Learn to Swim Day

The importance of safety when swimming in backyard pools

Backyard pools provide families with ample opportunities for recreation. It’s easy to be distracted by all the fun when swimming in a backyard pool, but it is crucial that homeowners take steps to ensure everyone is safe when spending time in the pool.

Establish a barrier

The Consumer Product Safety Commission warns that drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death in children between the ages of one and four in the United States. Pools attract curious children, so maintaining a barrier between the home and the pool is essential. Many municipalities require some sort of fencing around pools or ladders that self-latch or can be closed off to climbing.

Locks and alarms on windows and doors that face or provide access to the backyard also can serve as barriers.

Keep play under control

Children and even adults may be swept up in the fun and engage in potentially dangerous behaviors. Pool users should not be allowed to run around the perimeter of an inground pool, as the cement can get slippery when wet and lead to falls that can cause injuries

Exercise caution when using diving boards or diving into pools. It’s easy for divers to hit their heads when diving off a board into a pool due to close proximity of the transition wall in the deep end of the pool or by diving into shallow water. The Red Cross recommends a water depth of 11.5 feet for safe diving and the transition wall should be at least 16.5 feet from the tip of the diving board. However, the standard depth for many pools is 7.5 feet of water and a slope beginning seven feet from the board.

Exercise caution with inflatables

The Good Housekeeping Research Institute found that inflatable pool toys are especially dangerous. Such toys can flip easily, putting children at risk for injury (from striking the sides of the pool) or drowning (especially if the children were ejected into deep water). Inflatables also can prevent access to the surface of the water for submerged swimmers.

Choose a backyard lifeguard

At least one person should be designated as backyard lifeguard when the pool is in use. This person should always direct his or her focus on the pool, counting swimmers and keeping track of who enters and leaves the pool. Safe Kids Worldwide suggests rotating water watchers every 15 minutes.

Pools are fun places to spend summer afternoons, especially when every step is taken to ensure the safety of swimmers.

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Senior Fraud Awarenes

Seniors are the ‘target of choice’ for COVID scammers
WASHINGTON, DC, Apr 23 — It may sound dismissive and insulting to say that the older you get the more susceptible you become to fraud, but a study published in the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, found that “even cognitively intact older adults can have ‘functional’ changes that may render them financially vulnerable,” according to Rebecca Weber, CEO of the Association of Mature American Citizens [AMAC].
The report goes on to note that the risk increases “dramatically” for those who feel isolated and, as Weber points out, “loneliness, especially for older Americans, has become the routine during the current COVID pandemic.”
The condition is known as Age-Associated Financial Vulnerability, or AAFV, and it is important to note that the study dealt with individuals who were financially competent during their lifetimes. “It doesn’t mean you are getting senile in your old age; it means that it is time to slow down a bit and that you might feel more comfortable by getting ‘a second opinion’ when you are about to make a financial decision,” Weber explains.
The authors of the report say that more research needs to be done in order to better understand who is at risk and why. They concluded that “AAFV is a problem with serious effects on patients, their families, and society. Its roots reside in the curious intersection of several trends, including a rapidly aging society, age-associated changes in the human brain, shifts in the concentration of wealth to older demographic groups, and industry’s adoption of marketing strategies that are increasingly becoming rooted in behavioral economics and cognitive neuroscience.”
Here are some of the more current senior scams that have been reported:
-Beware of offers to get you on a COVID vaccine list or to get an early vaccination for a fee. There is no charge for signing up or getting the vaccine.
-Watch out for fraudsters promising to clean your home as a means of avoiding COVID contamination. They don’t want to clean your home, they want to clean you out.
-Salespersons may contact you with offers of oils, brews and all sorts of fake COVID preventative treatments; there are no such things.
-And then there are the charity scammers. They may ask for a contribution to help out a needy family dealing with the coronavirus or a fake COVID-related charity.
“Three and a half million American men and women turn 65 each and every day and it’s not unusual, anymore, to see friends and relatives reaching the ripe old age of 100 and beyond. It’s a matter of fact that the older you get the more likely it is that you can become a victim of fraud. So, here’s a suggestion: if and when someone, even a relative or a friend, proposes you make a purchase or an investment of any kind invite a trusted third party for an opinion before you agree. It’s good advice at any age.” says AMAC’s Weber.