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Outdoors at Night

With our busy lifestyles, sometimes the only time you have to enjoy your garden is in the evening. Frankie shows us how to make your garden perfect for nighttimes enjoyment!

Here is a summary:

Fences for Privacy and Security

We’ve all heard the old adage "good fences make good neighbours", but what needs to be considered to make a fence good? Well, from my gardening and police experience, I can tell you that if you approach the fence selection process from the perspective of doing what is best for your garden, you will eliminate two common home security pitfalls which you might otherwise overlook. I am referring to the tendency of people to over fence their yard.

High Tech Garden Tools

In this Cityline segment, Frank and Winston look at high tech gear for outdoor living.

1. Husqvarna Automower

This automatic mower cuts your grass for you! No worries about theft, if someone picks it up and takes it off property an alarm will sounds and it shuts down and cannot be activated again without a personalized security PIN. Quiet operation and zero emissions.

Outdoor Camps for Kids

Kids spend plenty of time every day in front of computers, TVs, cell phones and video games. But according to a poll from The Nature Conservancy, only about 10% say they are spending time outdoors on a daily basis! There are so many benefits to kids when they spend time outdoors:

How to Snowshoe

There are plenty of activities to do in the winter, but one of my favorites is snowshoeing, especially through the local forests. Throughout the winter I am fortunate enough to lead group snowshoe hikes through the York Regional Forests as part of their Nature's Classroom program (offered free to eligible groups). Historically, snowshoes were created by various native cultures to make moving through deep snow easier, long before the invention of snowplows and snowmobiles.

Squirrel Appreciation Day!

You may not be a fan of squirrels, but on January 21st, it is a day to celebrate them because it is Squirrel Appreciation Day! There are over 280 species of squirrels in the world. In Ontario we have four types of squirrels; Eastern Grey, Red and Northern Flying and Southern Flying. Black squirrels are a colour variety of the Eastern Grey Squirrel and not a separate species.

Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis)

Winter Weather Words

When you watch Frankie give his forecast on Breakfast Television in the morning, you will hear a 'flurry' of different terms used to describe the wintery weather in the forecast. We have defined some of the winter weather words so you can have the inside scoop on Frankie's winter weather forecasts.

Blizzard - A period of heavy winds or wind gusts of 55 kilometers per hour or more, accompanied by blowing and/or falling snow leading to reduced visibility and possibly some really cold temperatures.

Chinese New Year 101

The Lunar New Year, also known as the "Spring Festival", is a major holiday for the Chinese community and is a time for family reunion and to give thanks. Unlike the Christian New Year, which is based on the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year is based on the lunisolar calendar, so it is the start of the solar year, plus the phase of the moon. This is why it falls on a different date of the solar calendar each year. February 8th in 2016.