​Happy New Year Everyone!

​As the winter wonderland is very much present and is honoring us with its breathes of cold air and first snowflakes, it is the perfect time to start preparing everything for yet another white season. Of course, as magical as it may sound, winter has its downsides as well. The colder weather can greatly affect the condition of many things; so keeping this in mind, it is only reasonable to find suitable solutions for these issues. We are not the only ones who need protection from the cold, our furniture can also suffer. So these are some ideas on how to protect them this winter:

Metal and Aluminum
 
Perhaps the most reasonable choice when it comes to patio furniture is choosing metal, steel or aluminum materials. It is because these materials are very much resistant to any weather conditions and are mostly powder coated, which protects it from further rusting. This furniture is great as it does not require high maintenance. The best you can do is clean it thoroughly and apply another coat of rust-resistant paint.
 
Wood and Wicker
 
Wooden furniture looks the most appealing choice for most people’s gardens. Of course, depending on the quality and type of the wood, most wooden furniture can withstand harsher winter conditions. Recommended by Wintons Teak outdoor furniture producer, the best way to go is choosing durable wood and applying protective coating. Wicker on the other side should be stored or at least covered during winter as it has a tendency of expanding with humidity which could cause cracks and splintering.
 
Plastic
 
The best way to preserve your plastic garden furniture is giving it a rinse of water and properly drying it. Considering the fact that plastic is quite a fragile material and is prone to cracking, it would be recommendable to store the furniture inside during the harshest weather conditions. Also you could try using simple tools to remove excess dirt or residues which could not be handled with water.
 

​Stone
 
Stone-based furniture requires a lot of attention. As resistant as it may seem, stone is a natural material and contains a lot of cracks which can be fatal during the winter. If it happens that water gets in the cracks it will freeze and contract which will further lead to more issues and ruckus. This is why it is the best idea to keep the stone furniture safe by storing it somewhere inside.
 
General Maintenance
 
One of the most important things to keep in mind is some basic things about cleaning and maintaining your patio furniture. Firstly, the outdoor furniture should be cleaned about twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Also there are special cleaning products for garden furniture that do not harm the materials. Protective coats should be applied every now and then in order to make your furniture more resistant and resilient to colder weather conditions. If taken with care, most furniture will have no issues withstanding another winter.
 
Just like with everything in our life, if we wish to preserve something, we need to know how to properly take care of it. This applies for both tangible and intangible things in life. This is why learning how to take care of the things we cherish is of crucial value.

Handling different types of video formats can be frustrating at times – particularly when you run into one that you can’t seem to play no matter what. While PCs are fairly versatile in terms of the amount of formats they can handle, many mobile devices are less than forgiving and it can be tough to keep up with which formats are compatible and which ones aren’t.
 
Having a tool that will allow you to convert videos easily is definitely a good idea – and that’s exactly the niche that the Movavi Video Converter fills. Truth be told it goes a bit beyond that too.

Switch Video Formats Conveniently
 
Converting any video to another format with the Movavi Video Converter is easy enough on its own and all you need to do is add the video, select the format you want such as VOB to MP4, and hit the convert button. However what if you’re not sure which format you should convert your video into?
 
In that case, the Movavi Video Converter provides a collection of hundreds of presets that cater to all sorts of devices and platforms. Just pick one, and the software will automatically use the best format and video settings for that device or platform. Needless to say this makes converting a lot easier – especially for anyone who isn’t too familiar with video formats in the first place.

Extensive Capabilities
 
Aside from being able to convert videos, the Movavi Video Converter is capable of much more – such as converting audio and image files too. It acts as a media converter in this way, and also has video editing features so you can enhance the quality of your videos, cut and combine video segments, crop or rotate videos, or even add customizable text as captions, subtitles or watermarks.
 
If you want you could use it to create animated GIFs, extract audio from video files, take screenshots from videos, regulate audio levels and add new audio tracks to videos – and much more too.
 
Providing all these capabilities is what makes the Movavi Video Converter such an attractive tool to have handy. Not only will it prove to be useful the next time you run into a video that you can’t seem to play or need to make compatible for other devices or platforms – but it will also give you a range of other options that you will find useful in different situations.

Today's Welcome Wednesday is Clarisa Vollmar. This 'lil cutie was born Deafblind. Both her parents are Deaf-Sighted. When they couldn't find any guidelines or helpful tips and videos on raising a Deafblind child, they decided to start a foundation to fund Clarisa's many needs, make videos for other parents, and provide funds for other Deafblind children.
Please check out their GoFundMe page as well as Clarisa's own Facebook Page.

Here's how to say Merry Christmas in Sign Language.

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Tracy,