The Greens and the
Meadows At Northridge
1050 Claire-Taylor Court • Culpeper, VA 22701
Phone: (540) 825-6300 • Fax: (540) 825-8893
SEPTEMBER 2015
HIGHLIGHTS
Ten Minutes to a Slimmer You
You won’t really slim down in just
10 minutes, but you can use those minutes
to build toward your goal of losing weight.
Whenever you’re tempted to indulge in
some forbidden food, wait 10 minutes
before diving in. On reflection, you may
decide your momentary impulse was a bad
idea after all.
Revive Stale Chips
Nobody likes stale potato chips or tortilla
chips, but you can rescue them from snack
food oblivion with a little oven time. Set
your oven to 375 degrees, layer the chips
in a pan or on a cookie sheet, and bake for
five to 10 minutes.
BULLETIN
BOARD
Sit Up and Get a Lift
NOTES & NEWS
Labor Day
Labor Day, observed on the first
Monday in September, became a federal
holiday in 1894. The day recognizes the
contributions and achievements of
American workers. Labor Day also
symbolizes the end of summer for many
Americans, who celebrate with picnics
and parties.
Hours
Monday–Friday
9 a.m.–6 p.m.
Saturday
10 a.m.–2 p.m.
Sunday
Closed
Use Patterns
Using patterns in home decorating has
many advantages. One is as inspiration. If
you are attempting to design a room from
scratch, find a patterned piece you love,
such as a rug, and pull colors from it for
other items.
Improve your posture and you could
improve your mood. Studies show sitting
up with your spine straight and shoulders
back can make you feel happier and more
confident. Psychologists say this simple
physical change lowers stress hormones
and increases happiness hormones, which
can cue the brain to switch to a more
positive and poised state of mind.
Sky Watch: Full Harvest Moon
The night of Sept. 27 will bring the
biggest and brightest full moon of the year
for North America, the Harvest Moon. This
moon is nearest the autumnal equinox, and
was named because it allowed farmers to
work by moonlight to bring in their crops.
Green Food Delivery
Are you ordering lunch or dinner to be
delivered? Keep it green by asking the
restaurant to leave out the plastic forks and
knives they normally include with your
meal. Keep a set of real cutlery at your
desk at work, or use your own if you’re at
home. The less waste, the better for
the planet!
Your Friendly Staff
Yolanda Cropp
Community Manager
Kristin Brown
Marketing and Leasing
Manager
Roger Brissette
Maintenance Manager
Website
www.northridgeapthomes.com
TRIVIA
WHIZ
The Evolution of Football
The 2015 NFL regular season
begins next month, so let’s tackle
football history.
American football began as a
mid-1800s version of British rugby
played at U.S. universities, using
similar rules and the same oblong
“pigskin” ball. The first intercollegiate
game was played Nov. 6, 1869:
Rutgers beat Princeton 6–4.
New Year’s post-season matches
began in 1902, when Michigan beat
Stanford 49–0 at the Pasadena,
Calif., Tournament of Roses. In 1923,
the Rose Bowl stadium became
home to the match, inspiring “bowl
games” nationwide.
Professional football began in the
early 1900s, and on Aug. 20, 1920,
several Midwestern teams formed
the American Professional Football
Association. Two years later, the fastgrowing group became the National
Football League.
The rival American Football League
formed in 1960. The leagues merged
in 1970, with a National Football
Conference and American Football
Conference under the NFL umbrella.
Conference champs square off at
the end of each season in the world’s
most-watched sporting event, the
Super Bowl.
Super Bowls have always been
designated with Roman numerals,
but the game that will take place on
Feb. 7, 2016, will be known as Super
Bowl 50, not Super Bowl L. The big
game happens in Santa Clara, Calif.
“The game of life is
a lot like football. You have to
tackle your problems,
block your fears, and score
your points when you get
the opportunity.”
—Lewis Grizzard
Bedding Basics
Cooler weather is on the horizon,
and many folks will be swapping
lightweight summer linens for cozy
blankets and flannel sheets. If you’ve
shopped for bedding lately, you know
how complicated it can be. Here
is a lesson we’ll call Linens 101.
Proceeding from the inside
out, let’s start with the mattress.
Mattress pads or covers protect
this investment, and the thicker
ones also add extra cushioning.
Bed skirts or dust ruffles, placed
There’s Much to Love
About Okra
A favorite of many Southern cooks,
okra is a main ingredient in gumbo and
is also popular pickled or fried. There
are many other tasty ways to cook
okra, though, and the vegetable is full
of key nutrients.
Okra likely originated in Ethiopia,
and by the 12th century B.C. was being
cultivated by the ancient Egyptians.
The mild flavor of okra has been
described as a cross between
asparagus and eggplant. A great
source of dietary fiber and vitamins A,
C and K, the vegetable also provides
folic acid, potassium and calcium.
It is not only the seed pod that
is edible. Young okra leaves can be
eaten raw in salads or cooked like
dandelion greens. Okra seeds can
be roasted and ground to make a
caffeine-free substitute for coffee. The
seeds also yield a cooking oil, which
is commonly used in Mediterranean
between the box springs and mattress,
hide the box springs and whatever you
may have stashed under your bed.
Sheet softness is determined by
fiber and threads per square inch.
Egyptian, Pima or combed cotton
sheets with thread counts between
200 and 400 are a soft and comfy
favorite. A thread count higher than
400 isn’t necessarily better quality.
Take into account the sheet’s
weave. Popular choices include crisp
percale, shiny sateen or stretchy
jersey. A good quality flannel should
have a weight of at least 4 ounces per
yard. Other bedding fabrics include
linen, silk, bamboo and microfiber.
The top layer of bedding could
be a duvet, comforter, quilt, coverlet
or blanket, depending on the
season and personal preference.
To complete a bed’s look, consider
decorative pillow covers, or shams,
which are available in standard,
king and Euro (square) sizes.
countries. Even the hibiscus-like
flowers are edible!
Okra is harvested in late summer
and early autumn. Choose small,
bright-green pods, and use them within
a few days.
Here are a few recipe ideas: Sauté
okra with tomatoes and corn; try it in a
classic Indian curry; fry whole pods in a
light tempura batter; or roast okra with
olive oil, salt and pepper, then dip in a
spicy chipotle sauce.
All parts of the okra
plant are edible
WIT &
WISDOM
“Change your opinions, keep to your
principles; change your leaves, keep
intact your roots.”
—Victor Hugo
Improve Your Concentration
Do you struggle to stay on task?
Concentration can suffer in a world of
multitasking and all the devices and
people competing for our attention.
Try these tips to hone your focus.
Ditch distractions. Stop
compulsively checking phone and
social media notifications, and curb
your urge to gab. Block distractions
by listening to calming nature sounds
or classical and ambient music
without lyrics.
Organize and prioritize. Know
which tasks get your fullest attention
by using calendars, ranked to-do lists
and self-imposed due dates. Rather
than multitasking, focus on one task at
a time, and give yourself a little reward
when each job is complete.
Stay healthy. It’s hard to work when
drowsy. Strive for seven to eight hours
of uninterrupted sleep nightly. Often,
reducing caffeine intake can improve
sleep quality. Stay alert during the
day by drinking plenty of water and
eating a diet of lean proteins, whole
grains, nuts and seeds, colorful fruits
and vegetables, and healthy fats like
omega-3s. Boost blood flow to the
brain by getting regular cardiovascular
exercise. A brisk midday walk
can reduce stress and keep you
feeling sharp.
Train your mind. Be aware of
your awareness. When you notice
your mind wandering, gently nudge
your thoughts back to the task at
hand. Exercise your brain just as you
would the rest of your body. Cultivate
“attention fitness” and it will eventually
become a habit.
Pecan Rolls
Ingredients:
• Cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans
(divided)
• 1 package (8 ounces)
refrigerated crescent roll dough
• 1/2 cup apple butter
Directions:
Heat oven to 375° F. Coat 8-inch
square baking dish with cooking spray.
In small saucepan over medium
heat, combine butter, brown sugar and
maple syrup. Stir until melted and pour
into baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with
1/3 cup pecans.
On cutting board, unroll tube of
crescent roll dough into a rectangle
(seal seams and perforations). Spread
apple butter evenly over dough surface
and sprinkle with additional pecans.
Starting on long edge of dough, roll
lightly, jelly roll fashion. With serrated
knife, cut roll into 16 equal slices. Place
each slice cut side down on the glaze
in the baking dish.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes, or until
puffed and golden brown. Remove
from oven and immediately invert onto
serving platter.
For more recipes, visit
www.Musselmans.com.
“I can’t change the direction of the
wind, but I can adjust my sails to
always reach my destination.”
—Jimmy Dean
“Change is the law of life. And those
who look only to the past or present
are certain to miss the future.”
—John F. Kennedy
“When we are no longer able to
change a situation, we are challenged
to change ourselves.”
—Viktor E. Frankl
“Change, like sunshine, can be a
friend or a foe, a blessing or a curse,
a dawn or a dusk.”
—William Arthur Ward
“Never doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world. Indeed, it’s the only
thing that ever has.”
—Margaret Mead
“I have noticed even people who claim
everything is predestined, and that
we can do nothing to change it, look
before they cross the road.”
—Stephen Hawking
“Miracles happen every day; change
your perception of what a miracle is
and you’ll see them all around you.”
—Jon Bon Jovi
“My friends, love is better than anger.
Hope is better than fear. Optimism
is better than despair. So let us be
loving, hopeful and optimistic. And
we’ll change the world.”
—Jack Layton
September 2015
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
1
2
3
4
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
6 Labor Day
SEPTEMBER
1868: The first volume of the
children’s novel “Little Women” by
Louisa May Alcott is published. The
instant bestseller has become a
beloved literary classic.
1915: Nicknamed “Little Willie,” the
first tank prototype is unveiled. The
armored vehicle was tested and
improved, then put into battle the
following year.
Copyright © 2015 by Uhlig LLC
www.illustratus.com
1940: President Franklin D. Roosevelt
signs an act creating the nation’s
first peacetime military draft
and establishing the Selective
Service System.
1957: After months of advertising, the
Ford Motor Company debuts the
Edsel. The new car was kept top
secret until the “E-Day” unveiling.
1962: The Four Seasons hit the top
of the pop charts with their song
“Sherry.” It was the first of several
No. 1 hits for the doo-wop group.
1985: Farm Aid holds its first
benefit concert in Champaign, Ill.,
to raise money to support America’s
family farmers.
1995: Baseball’s “Iron Man,”
Cal Ripken Jr., shortstop for the
Baltimore Orioles, plays in his
2,131st game, breaking the record
for most consecutive major league
games played. Lou Gehrig held the
record previously.
2004: For the season premiere of her
daytime TV talk show, host Oprah
Winfrey surprises all 276 members of
her studio audience by giving them
new cars.
2013: After 53 hours, Diana Nyad
completes the 110-mile swim from
Cuba to Key West, Fla. The
64-year-old was the first person to
make the swim without a protective
shark cage.