Grading: Get Schooled in Dirt

"Whenever I do something with wet soil, I'm so happy I did it!" 
-Lee McKnight, Realtor

It's not report card season but it is the season of wet soil here in Portland and that is the perfect time to evaluate the slope of your home's grade and rectify any potential problems. Grading refers to the slope of the land around your home. Ensuring that the land surrounding your home is at a proper slope will protect your home from potential water damage.

Spring is the ideal time for this type of work because if any corrective action is needed, the soil is easier to break up and move around because it isn't frozen (winter) or dry (summer & fall). This is a project you can absolutely start–and finish–on your own or give us a call and we can refer you to one of our favorite vendors for either an evaluation, re-grading, or both.

Watch this video about how to get water flowing away from your house>>

Menopause (aka that thing no one wants to talk about)

Whether you are on the precipice of menopause, have years to go before you begin, or have someone in your life who is experiencing menopause whom you'd like to support, Sasha Davies & Nancy Nowaceck have created a guide that can help. 

Support their project if you support a world that embraces aging women!

Learn More About Menopause: An Imperfect Guide>>

Daylight Savings: Our Favorite Reminder

Two times each year we get a national reminder to keep up with the program that runs everything: TIME. Go ahead and ride the momentum of wandering room to room in your house re-setting clocks and knock out a few other important yet hard-to-remember household maintenance items.

Check the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, check your fire extinguishers, confirm your fire escape plan, and make sure your first aid and emergency preparedness kits are stocked and expired items have been replaced.

Period: The Movement

Founded in 2014 by high school students Nadya Okatoma and VIncent Forand, Period is a youth-activist organization working to change the public conversation about periods through service, education & advocacy.

Headquartered here in Portland, this organization is proof of the power of #youth + #activists doing work to #fightforyourrights and making sure #wearenotgoingback!

Learn More About Period Project>>

Extraordinary Movements: Ordinary People

"From the places that you have been instructed to ignore or rendered unable to see come the stories that change the world, and it is here that culture has the power to shape politics and ordinary people have the power to change the world."  -Rebecca Solnit from her essay "A History of Shadows"

Women's-history-hits lists direct our focus to the grand and dramatic milestones and subtly encourage us to ignore what surrounds us: the lives of ordinary people, and their potential to make an impact. This month we invite you to be on the lookout for the seemingly small but meaningful actions of the people surrounding you. When you see them, acknowledge them so that all of us can begin to notice the ground beneath our feet again instead of perpetually staring at the horizon in anticipation of the next Superhero.

In the spirit of acknowledging direct action by ordinary people, we turn your attention to a few of our own local women who picked up the proverbial megaphone and started talking about...Menstruation and Menopause...two taboo subjects we have always been taught were not ready for prime time.