The other day when I was coming in from a walk, I noticed that my tulips are starting to pop through the ground, a sure sign that spring is just around the corner.
It made me sit down and think about what I need to do in the yard this spring. I have a flower bed in which I want to plant something, although I haven’t decided just what yet. I’ll see what I can find at the nursery in the coming weeks.
But working in the yard means bringing out the power tools and remembering how to use them safely.
On Avista’s website you can find a list of safety tips for using electricity at home. For those power tools that use electricity, make sure you are using a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI) in your outdoor outlets. Inside my home, I have several of these in my outlets—I didn’t know that was their name, but they are the buttons you have to push regularly on newer outlets, and if you overload the circuit, they shut off the electricity. For my outdoor outlet, I bought one for about $30 at the hardware store. I make sure that whether I’m using a hedge trimmer or a weed whacker, I plug them into my GFCI.
Now that it’s almost spring, what kind of projects are you planning for your yard?
Lisa, an Avista customer, bought her 1910 house because she loved the old-world character, some of which doesn’t make her house very energy efficient. Lisa is sharing her experience on taking some simple do-it-yourself improvements to inspire others to do the same. You’ll find her stories right here every Tuesday morning.