Westside at Buttercup Creek - October 2012

Copyright © 2012 Peel, Inc. Westside News - October 2012 1

Westside at Buttercup Creek

Volume 3, Number 10 October 2012Official Newsletter of the Westside at Buttercup Creek HOA

WestsideneWs

As the weather begins to cool in Central Texas, and the brutally hot days of August are behind us, now is the time to take care of all those little items that you’ve been putting off in favor of staying inside your air conditioned living room.

Each of these projects is inexpensive, easy, and you can easily accomplish several in a weekend.

Landscaping - Pull up some weeds, lay down some mulch, and prune back the plants. Hire some neighbor kids to rake the leaves. The end of the summer is also a great time to fertilize for the fall/winter dormant season for native Texas plants.

Clean Gutters and Downspouts - Clogged gutters can overflow, potentially causing damage to the wood fascia around your home. Cleaning your gutters is easy, but does involve climbing up a ladder and scooping out some gross stuff. If you aren’t comfortable with heights or don’t know how to use a ladder, hire a pro. Scoop out the dirt, leaves, and debris, and wash everything clean with water from a hose.

Outdoor Painting and Touchups - Walk around your house and look for any areas that need touch ups, are peeling, or look rough. Carefully scrape or sand the area, prime, and paint with the matching color to complete the repair.

Caulking and Sealing - Check key areas around windows and doors for gaps. Cracks can cause leaks and higher energy bills and can be easily repaired with caulk or expanding foam. Also, check for loose trim boards, and re-attach them as necessary.

Asphalt and Concrete Repair - To prevent shifting and tilting of driveways and sidewalks, reseal asphalt every two years and fill cracks in concrete with epoxy.

Maintaining your home doesn’t have to be difficult. Especially when you catch problems early and fix them. In doing so, you will increase your home’s value and prevent costly repairs down the road. If you aren’t able to do this work yourself, hire a professional or inquire with your neighborhood HOA to see if any able bodied neighbors can help.

End of Summer Home Maintenance Tips

By Eric Hegwer

Fall FertilizationBy Howard Garrett

FERTILIZING - THE NATURAL WAYThe natural way to fertilize is to feed the soil and let the healthy

soil feed the plants. Creating biological activity is the goal. Microbe waste and dead bodies of microbes are the true natural fertilizers for the soil and the plant roots. The overall program is to apply an organic fertilizer 2 - 3 times per year at 15 - 20 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. During the growing season, spray turf monthly with compost tea, molasses, apple cider vinegar and seaweed mix (Garrett Juice). Add volcanic and other rock mineral sands once every two to ten years at 40 - 80 pounds per 1,000 square feet.

THIRD MAJOR FERTILIZATION OF THE YEARFertilize all planting areas with an organic fertilizer at approximately

15 - 20 lbs. per 1,000 square feet. Corn gluten meal can be used to help control annual winter weeds such as bluegrass, dandelion, henbit, fescue grass, ryegrass, and Poa annua.

Add rock minerals if not recently done. Choices include lava sand, zeolite, granite sand, greensand, humate products, calcium products, etc. To determine which are the best choices for your property, send soil samples to Texas Plant and Soil Lab for specific recommendations.

Spray Garrett Juice or Garrett Juice Plus and drench plant roots with Garrett Juice Plus and mycorrhizal fungus.

Avoid all synthetic fertilizers but especially “weed and feed types” and the “nitrogen only” types. Remember that the only complete, balanced fertilizers are organic. Others contain no carbon and poor compliments of trace minerals.

The Pools Are Now ClosedWe had a great pool season this year that included new pool

deck surfaces, more chairs and no closed days. The HOA board hopes that everyone enjoyed the pools. If you have any suggestions for the future, feel free to contact Jay Clover who is the volunteer Pool Committee Chair. His contact info is in the committee section of the newsletter.

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2 Westside News - October 2012 Copyright © 2012 Peel, Inc.

Westside at Buttercup CreekBOARD OF DIRECTORS

ADVERTISING INFOPlease support the businesses that advertise in the Westside News. Their

advertising dollars make it possible for all Westside at Buttercup Creek residents to receive the monthly newsletter at no charge. No homeowners association funds are used to produce or mail the newsletters. If you would like to support the newsletter by advertising, please contact our sales office at 512-263-9181 or [email protected]. The advertising deadline is the 8th of each month for the following month's newsletter.

President, Darrell Park [email protected] V. President, Dennis Domanski .... [email protected] Secretary, Terra Thomas ........................ [email protected], Travis Krischke [email protected], Natalie Woods .................. [email protected] Website .......................................www.westsidehoa.org

MANAGEMENT INFO

NEWSLETTER INFOEDITORRandy Woods ...................... [email protected]

PUBLISHER Peel, Inc. ..................................................... 512-263-9181 Advertising............................... [email protected]

Do you want to help out in the community but don’t have a lot of time? Join one of the following Committees and help out as much or as little as you want.

Cave Preserve ............ Darrell Park [email protected] .....Randy Woods [email protected] ......................... Ross Burns ..................... [email protected] Bordic ............. [email protected] ............................ Jennifer Fontana .. [email protected] .........Torsten Weirich .......... [email protected] Watch ...Phil Crochet [email protected] ............................ Jay Clover [email protected] ....................... Terra Thomas ............. [email protected]

COMMITTEES

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HOA Annual Meeting and Elections

Two out of the five board positions are up for election this year. The election takes place at the annual meeting which will be held at the Cedar Park Police Department on October 8th if we have over 500 homeowners at the meeting either in person or by proxy, or November 5th if there were not enough attending the October meeting. Sign in starts at 7pm and the meeting will begin at 7:30pm. Each HOA member should have already received by mail the Annual Meeting information which included the ballot/proxy. This is the first year where you actually have the option to fill out your ballot and send it in if you are unable to attend the meeting. We hope that this will encourage more participation in the process. You also still have the option to write in someone who you chose to be your proxy and represent you at the meeting if you would rather do that. We have three candidates running for the two board positions. They are: Jerry Bordic, Denis Domanski and Travis Krischke. At the annual meeting the candidates will have a few minutes to present themselves before voting. You can read more about them by going to the HOA website at www.westsidehoa.org.

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Are You Mulching Your Trees Properly?

While I don’t consider myself an expert on trees, I have just had arborists from two reputable companies come out and inspect the trees on our property and listened to their concerns about not only our trees but those of the entire neighborhood. As houses are built, the landscaping, particularly the yards, raises the grade of the land by several inches, and people have raised the mulch around their trees accordingly. The primary concern about the health of our trees is that the mulch that has been placed at the base of our trees is threatening the life and longevity of the trees. Evidently, trees need to have access to air at the base, and if mulch is placed against the tree, it creates a false “plate” around the tree. This plate consists of small feeder roots, that if allowed to continue to grow around the base of the tree, will eventually choke off the tree and it will blow over. This is a gradual process, so it is not an immediately noticeable problem, but if you pull the mulch away from the base of your trees and see little roots growing there, you have a problem. Ideally, the base of your trees should be uncovered until you can see the natural slope of the trunk. Mulch is still a good idea around the roots of the tree, just not up against the base. Preventative measures now could save the beautiful trees in our neighborhood.

--Kari Pelley

At no time will any source be allowed to use the Westside News contents, or loan said contents, to others in anyway, shape or form, nor in any media, website, print, film, e-mail, electrostatic copy, fax, or etc. for the purpose of solicitation, commercial use, or any use for profit, political campaigns, or other self amplification, under penalty of law without written or expressed permission from Peel, Inc. The information in the Westside News is exclusively for the private use of the Westside at Buttercup Creek HOA and Peel, Inc.

DISCLAIMER: Articles and ads in this newsletter express the opinions of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Peel, Inc. or its employees. Peel, Inc. is not responsible for the accuracy of any facts stated in articles submitted by others. The publisher also assumes no responsibility for the advertising content with this publication. All warranties and representations made in the advertising content are solely that of the advertiser and any such claims regarding its content should be taken up with the advertiser.* The publisher assumes no liability with regard to its advertisers for misprints or failure to place advertising in this publication except for the actual cost of such advertising.* Although every effort is taken to avoid mistakes and/or misprints, the publisher assumes no responsibility for any errors of information or typographical mistakes, except as limited to the cost of advertising as stated above or in the case of misinformation, a printed retraction/correction.* Under no circumstances shall the publisher be held liable for incidental or consequential damages, inconvenience, loss of business or services, or any other liabilities from failure to publish, or from failure to publish in a timely manner, except as limited to liabilities stated above.



Section 28. Walls and FencesEach month a section of this Article will be reviewed to help

homeowners be better informed. The complete set of Bylaws and CCR’s were given to you when you closed on your house, but can also be found at the HOA website which is www.westsidehoa.org.

Section 28. Walls and Fences. No walls or fences shall be erected or maintained nearer to the front Lot line than the front building line on such Lot, nor on corner Lots nearer to the side Lot line than the building setback line parallel to the side street, except in special circumstances necessitated by the geography and platting of a particular Neighborhood, and specifically permitted by the Supplemental Declaration(s) affecting such Neighborhood. No fence or wall shall be taller than specifically allowed by the Modifications Committee or New Construction Committee, as appropriate, unless otherwise permitted in a Supplemental Declaration. No chain link fence

type construction will be permitted on any Lot except, however, Declarant is exempt from this prohibition as long as it owns portions of the Property. Any wall or fence erected on a Lot by Declarant, or its assigns, shall pass ownership with title to the Lot and it shall be Owner’s responsibility to maintain said wall or fence thereafter. Approval of the New Construction Committee shall be obtained prior to the erection of any wall or fence on any Lot and the smooth side of all solid fences shall face the adjacent streets. All walls and fencing shall be made of wood, ornamental metal or brick except as set forth herein or in any applicable Supplemental Declaration filed by Declarant, or as otherwise permitted in the discretion of the New Construction Committee or Modifications Committee, as the case may be. The use of chain link fencing is prohibited on all Lots, except for tennis courts and other special applications, and then only with prior written permission from the New Construction Committee or Modifications Committee, as the case may be.

Article X of the Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions for Westside at Buttercup Creek

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Melanie HadleyVice President • NMLS 208645Direct: 512.314.7312 • [email protected]

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Happy Halloween!Here’s a fun project for kids of any age.

Step 1: Color your Jack O’ Lantern

Step 2: Cut out your Jack O’ Lantern along the dotted line

Step 3: Poke a hole through the x, place a string through it and hang up your decoration for a “ghoulish” good time!

This month I had some great questions about toothbrushes. Here they are:

What’s your opinion on electric toothbrushes vs regular?My opinion is that electric toothbrushes do a better job, but that

is just my opinion. The different toothbrush companies have all kinds of data showing how their electric toothbrush is the best, and by far better than a non-electric toothbrush. I’ll let them take care of the proof, but as someone who has used several different electric toothbrushes for more than ten years I can tell you that I would never go back. That being said, I still hand out regular toothbrushes to my patients every day, and I’m confident that if you brush with a regular brush and tooth paste for two minutes, two times a day, that your teeth will be clean. I promote the electric brushes in my office, but giving them out would be a little cost prohibitive. What types of electric toothbrushes do you recommend?

My preferred electric toothbrush is the Braun Oral B Triumph Professional Care. I like how durable it is, the power, the little wireless

timer that sits on my counter and the small round brush heads to name a few things. My teeth feel great after using it. Another good one is the Sonicare Elite. I’ve used that one as well, and it did a great job. I just preferred the Oral B. However, some people swear by the Sonicare. You can buy an electric toothbrush for as little as $5 to up over $100, and in my opinion, it’s true that you get what you pay for. The two brushes that I mentioned here are probably the only ones that I would use and recommend, and you won’t find them for $5. I’ve tried some of the cheaper ones and with most I felt like I might as well be using a $3 regular brush. Be careful when you shop, because there are several different levels of the Sonicare and the Braun Oral B. What about for kids? What to do you think about kids using a Sonicare brush?

All five of my kids use the Braun Oral B Triumph Professional Care. I think that little round head is perfect for getting into little kids mouths. For a while they also used the Sonicare Elite. There

Dental Tips from the Dark Corner of the Mouth:Toothbrushes

By Darrell Park, D.D.S.

(Continued on Page 9)


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Westside at Buttercup CreekThe HOA Website

Are you wondering what you have to do before you make any property improvements? Just go to the website, www.westsidehoa.org, and click on the “Property Improvements” link. Here’s what you’ll find:

Improvements to your property fall into two categories, “maintenance” and “modifications”.

Maintenance- Basic repair to fences, retouching exterior paint or stain with the the existing color or re-shingling the roof with the same color and type shingle. >> more information

Modification - Encompasses all other changes, such as new paint color, construction, pools, patio covers, changes to landscaping, sprinkler installation, etc. >> more information

Miscellaneous• Basketball Goals - may not be permanently installed. Must

be the portable type. • Treehouses - treehouses are not permitted.

From there you can click on the “more information” link to find out more, including a link to the Modifications Application. Go check it out at www.westsidehoa.org.

are seven of us in our house, but that doesn’t mean that we have seven of those toothbrushes. You attach the toothbrush heads of the Braun Oral B and the Sonicare to the handle that has the battery and motor in it. They come with a toothbrush head holder so that several people can use the same motor. You can buy 6-packs of the brush heads pretty cheap at the warehouse stores, and we sell them at cost in my office. So I think they are great for kids, and you don’t have to spend $100 for each child in your family. As soon as my kids have teeth, morning and night I lie them down on the floor and with water only until they understand not swallowing, I brush their teeth with that great little brush head. All I have to do is get it in there and make sure I get it on each tooth, and it does all the work. It’s a lot easier than trying to move a regular brush around in their mouth. Two minutes is the goal, but may be difficult to accomplish with little ones. As soon as my kids are strong enough to hold the brush, I brush for the first minute and then give it to them to practice for the second. That way I know their teeth are clean, and they also get some practice. My youngest son is 5 and we still do this method every day, with him lying on the floor.

Email your dental related questions to [email protected], and I will post your anonymous question along with the answer. It can be about anything dental, including but not limited to procedures, education, research, controversies, products, etc…

Toothbrushes - (Continued from Page 6)

http://www.westsidehoa.org/Maintenance.aspx

http://www.westsidehoa.org/Maintenance.aspx

http://www.westsidehoa.org/Modifications.aspx




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Colloquially known as ‘bunnies’, rabbits and hares are small mammals that can be found in a variety of habitats, including meadows, woodlands, grasslands, deserts, and even wetlands. But did you know that there are true differences between rabbits and hares?

Rabbits are clearly distinguished from hares in that rabbits typically have young that are born blind and hairless (altricial) and hares have young that are born with hair and able to see (precocial). Since young hares are well camouflaged and mobile within minutes of being born, the mother does not protect them and is with them only long enough to nurse. Rabbits, other than cottontails, live underground in burrows, but cottontails, like hares, live in simple grass nests above the ground called ‘forms.’ Unlike rabbits, hares usually do not live in groups (although a group of hares is called a ‘drove’) and they are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears and black markings on their fur. Hares are also called jackrabbits, as they are very quick and can run up to speeds of 45 miles per hour! They have jointed or kinetic skulls, which are unique among mammals. This joint permits relative motion between the anterior and posterior part of the skull’s braincase, helping to absorb the G-force created as the hare strikes its powerful hind legs with impact against the ground.

In our area of Texas you can find the Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), the Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), and the Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus calfornicus). Living in the eastern third of our state and one of the largest cottontails in its range, the Swamp Rabbit inhabits poorly drained river bottoms and marshes. Its upper parts are grayish-brown heavily lined

with black with a white underside and cinnamon-colored front legs and tops of hind feet. At home in the water, this rabbit’s dense fur helps to waterproof its skin, and unlike other rabbits it will cross streams and rivers on its own. Also unlike other rabbits, its young have fur at birth but their eyes and ears are closed.

Eastern Cottontails are the most common rabbit in the eastern three-fourths of Texas and are moderately large with rusty-brown fur, relatively short ears, and large hind feet. These cottontails commonly frequent brush-dotted pastures and are active largely in the twilight hours and at night, when they venture out to meadows or lawns to forage. They often live at the edges of town and feed in gardens and flower beds, and are common along country roads lined with dense vegetation. Eastern Cottontails are prolific breeders, and can have as many as four or five litters throughout the year.

The Black-tailed Jackrabbit, also known as the Desert Hare, reaches a length of about two feet and weighs from three to six pounds. Its distinctive long ears and powerful rear legs distinguish it as a hare. With dorsal fur that is dark buff peppered with black and an underside of creamy white, its black markings are found on the tips of its ears and the top of its short tail. In warmer climates like ours, this jackrabbit breeds year round and the average litter size is four, but it can range from two to seven depending on the food supply. Since it does not hibernate or migrate, it uses the same square half-mile to mile habitat of oak-juniper woodland as its territory.

Now that you know the subtle (and sometimes confusing) differences between these closely related mammals, you too can try your hand at splitting hares!

Splitting Hares NatureWatchby Jim and Lynne Weber

Swamp Rabbit Eastern Cottontail Black-tailed Jackrabbit

Send your nature-related questions to [email protected] and we’ll do our best to answer them. If you enjoy reading these articles, look for our book, Nature Watch Austin, published by Texas A&M University Press.


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Westside at Buttercup Creek - October 2012

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