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Simple Living Newsletter In this Issue
Current News WANDA'S SCHEDULE October 3:
Simple Living Tips Declutter Fall is the perfect opportunity to “declutter” your home. Set aside time to go through your closets and drawers and donate anything you have not used within the year to charity. Or give to a friend. Halloween Fun Be a standout this Halloween! Instead of buying the flashy packaged Halloween costumes that everyone else will be wearing, plan a fun outing to the thrift store with family or friends. See who can come up with the most original costume. This idea will save you money, as well as provide a few laughs. Get Moving This time of year, the temperature is ideal for walking as a family, or just walking on your own. When you walk as a family, you get a time to focus on each other with no interruptions. This encourages healthy conversation, and, especially if it is a wilderness walk, those ever-important teachable moments. Walking by yourself can allow you to escape everyday pressure while increasing your endorphin levels. You can use the time to focus your mind on whatever you choose, listen to music, or simply to enjoy nature. Agra-tainment It’s time for pumpkins. Plan a visit to an area farm to pick your pumpkins, rather than just getting them from the grocery store. You’ll be supporting local farmers, as well as learning about what your community has to offer in the growing market of “Agra-tainment.” Many farms feature hayrides, marshmallow roasts, and corn mazes. That's something you don’t get in a checkout line! Toil in the Soil Although we typically think of spring as the major season of planting, trees planted in autumn fare much better. This is also the time to put in bulbs. You’ll benefit from the fresh air and exercise of a little “toil in the soil,” and when spring arrives you will be treated to the fruits of your labor, beautiful blooms. Calls to Action Help us spread the word about the simple living lifestyle: Now is the time public television station managers and programmers are looking at their fall schedule. Contact your local public television station to make sure they know you’d like them to carry Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our newsletter? Click here to forward this email to up to 5 friends at once. |
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The Simple Living Sunflower House 
By Wanda Urbanska Green building is becoming a passion for the nation as Americans search for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and counteract global warming in our buildings. Increasingly, we’re turning our attention to the materials we use in our homes, apartments and commercial spaces when we build or remodel. We’re seeking ways to build with the most health-enhancing materials possible, to reduce unnecessary chemical inputs and to make our houses commune with nature, to bring us all closer. I’ve always been fascinated by the spaces and places in which we dwell. When I read Carol Venolia’s book, “Healing Environments,” some years ago, I knew instantly that her material resonated with me. People can create homes that nurture our souls and heal our minds and bodies. More recently, I became entranced with Robyn Griggs Lawrence’s book, “The Wabi-Sabi House,” with its premise that the Japanese art of “imperfect” beauty sets the stage for a nurturing home. That because we humans are imperfect, ultimately a perfect home sets the stage for discontent while an imperfect home with some humble, some aged elements, makes us feel comfortable. It is with the idea of putting theory into practice that we are embarking on a “green remodeling” of a home here in Mount Airy, North Carolina – an all American mid-century ranch style home that is being transformed into the “Simple Living Sunflower” demonstration house. So Simple Living invited David Johnston, the acclaimed author of “Green Remodeling,” and Robyn Griggs Lawrence to come from Colorado and offer their wisdom about how to transform this home. This solidly built – and lovingly maintained – brick rancher home in the Burkewood development in Mount Airy is a three-bedroom, two-bath model with a large finished room in the basement. It’s a “not-so-big house” (to borrow my friend Sarah Susanka’s inspired phraseology) that has reasonable proportions for a small family and what my friend Hattie calls a “one-hour lawn” (you can mow it in an hour). As David Johnston sagely counsels, we’re putting our focus on energy conservation, using materials like premium spray foam insulation – the product of the EPA award-winning NCFI Polyurethanes here in Mount Airy – to insulate the attic and a portion of the basement, to seal the house and meet our goal of cutting the energy bill in half. We’re adding Mount Airy granite countertops in the kitchen and master bathroom and putting in screens to the windows so that house can “float” with the natural temperature. (This way, you don’t even have to turn on the heating/ air conditioning.) Though the house is well shaded with large oak and magnolia trees, making it a less-than-ideal candidate for solar panels, we’re considering adding some of them as well, perhaps on the south-facing carport. We’ll use low VOC paints on the rooms that need repainting and add ceiling fans everywhere to keep the air circulating in the house. We’ll close up the energy draining ceiling insert lights that effectively suck up the heat and air in the home. If we are able, we’ll replace the aging wooden deck with a composite deck that is made of recycled plastic and is splinter-proof. This will encourage more time to be spent out doors, to garden, hang laundry and eat and play with the cat. Even though I’m a television producer, I’m in no hurry to introduce television into the home. I’m reverting to my early childhood when I was the only kid on the block whose family didn’t own a set. So for us, it will be “appointment television.” We’ll need to find a place where we can watch a particular show when we do watch. We will soon begin documenting this remodel on our website with photos and written updates, so that you can follow our progress, seeing exactly how the vision for this home will become reality. We look forward to sharing the excitement of this journey with you. I can hardly wait to get started on transforming an ordinary home into the Simple Living Sunflower home! White Sulphur Springs Embodies the Simple Life 
By Laura Wharton As a long-time friend of Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska, Burke Robertson shares many of the simple life principles on which the show is based. For instance, Burke is creating a porthole to another time with his development of White Sulphur Springs, the premier mountain community sandwiched between Simple Living’s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, and the magnificent Blue Ridge Parkway. White Sulphur Springs’ history is certainly intertwined with its future. In its heyday from the late 1800s until the end of World War I, the property boasted a grand dame of a hotel frequented by the well-to-do from up and down our Eastern Seaboard and as far away as Europe. They came to enjoy cool mountain breezes, croquet on the lawn, strolls by the Ararat River, and of course, to take the waters. The spring – a natural mineral spring rare in this part of the country – was reported to cure a variety of ailments and disorders. In 1893, the water was sent to the Chicago World’s Fair for exhibition, it was so popular. It still tastes the same way it did back then. The sulphur won’t hurt anything but your nose. Originally called Gunpowder Springs, the ever-bubbling spring comes from an errant underground stream of the Ararat River which trickles over a bed of yellowish-green deposits of sulphur. Sulphur was used to make gunpowder – and the water’s smell will remind you of this history lesson in a hurry. This resort had it all. Solid meals of local fare, a pavilion for dancing to live music under the stars with a ten-pin bowling alley below it, a summerhouse made of ivy roots, stables, billiard room, a horse-racing track at one point either on or near the property, fishing or rowing on the bordering Ararat River, hunting, day trips into the Blue Ridge Mountains, and many amenities like electric lights and private baths all waited for the seasoned travelers who expected – and got – the very best accommodations. Most travelers came to the resort by train for the summer. Impressed with the region as tourists, many returned to Mount Airy and the surrounding communities as locals. With the advent of the car, locals could venture to White Sulphur Springs for a day or a church picnic. With the impetus for spending a summer at the resort gone, and the Great Depression soon passing time, business at the resort declined. The hotel closed for good in the 1940s, and a fire finished off the building. Dr. Ivan Richard bought the dilapidated property in 1958 and spent the next 20 years cutting away trees, grading the once-grand lawns, and stacking the remains of the hotel’s foundation. In 1978, Dr. Richard and his wife built a home of their own near the hotel’s remains, and enjoyed the private mountainous 145 +/- acre retreat, maintaining the free-flowing spring and seven-acre meadow that stretches out like a hammock along side the lazy Ararat River, disturbing little of its former grandeur and preserving its beauty for future generations. When Mount Airy advocate/ green developer Burke Robertson and his associates approached the family about purchasing the property a few years ago, the family expressed concern about preserving the integrity and heritage. Robertson had a vision for the property, one that the family could see and appreciate. Now the developers are sharing their vision with the world, and once again turning tourists into locals. White Sulphur Springs is a planned, eco-friendly community with 92 home sites planned. Design Guidelines aid homeowners, architects, builders, and landscape architects in understanding the vision for White Sulphur Springs while preserving the surrounding environment with protective conservation easements and enhancing property values. White Sulphur Springs – a place to relax, renew, and refresh your senses. For more information, contact Burke at (336) 786-6769 or visit the website, http://www.WhiteSulphurSpringsNC.com.
Congratulations Tammy. We will miss you! 
Simple Living congratulates Tammy Byerly on her September 8th wedding to Andy Flynt. Coincidentally, this magical wedding took place on the lawn of White Sulphur Springs, here in Mount Airy. We wish her and Andy all the best as they embark on this amazing and exciting journey together.
Support Simple Living in Eco-Friendly Style 
Did you know that the average American uses between 300 and 700 plastic bags a year? Most of these bags – which use significant amounts of petroleum to produce -- wind up in our landfills. Starting in October, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska ChicoBags will be available for purchase on our website. These reusable bags – that fit into your purse or carryall -- are ideal for groceries, drugstore and other items. These stylish bags are made of durable nylon, and they fold into an integrated pouch small enough to fit into a purse, or attach to a key chain. The cost for one bag is $5.00 plus $2.95 shipping and handling. Only $1.00 shipping and handling will be added for each additional bag purchase. This is a great opportunity to support Simple Living while reducing single-use bag waste. For more information, check out our website at www.simplelivingtv.net or call 1-888-789-7475. |
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