A.B.E. Doors & Windows marks its fourth decade

Forty years after founder Jim Lett started A.B.E. Doors & Windows, the former one-man business now employs 23 people and may soon be hiring at least two more.

The company celebrates four decades of operation this month and Lett says its future is promising.

"Today about 75 percent of our business is residential and the rest is commercial and industrial work," Lett said. "We sell and install windows; residential entry doors, storm doors, patio doors, garage doors and openers and we still do basement doors. A lot of today's newer homes are built to be cost-effective but after people are in a while, we find they often want to upgrade to improve the look and energy efficiency."

Lett is training his son, Jim Jr., as the heir to the business and takes pride in the approximately 17-year longevity rate for the majority of his employees. The key, he says, is to take pride in the work and give the customer an excellent product at a fair price.

Lett began his business less than a week after graduating from Bloomsburg University while he was still living with his parents. He had a separate phone line installed in his bedroom, his mother would take messages during the day and his father guided him with pricing and training.

"I had wanted to start a business but I didn't have anything in mind," he recalls. "My dad worked for Wolf Distributors and met the people from Gordon Cellar Doors at a trade show and that was the start of the whole thing. I went down to the newspaper office, took out an ad and I was up and running."

Lett would install basement doors during the day and return phone calls or do estimates at night.

One year after starting, he learned that Frantz Garage Doors on Race Street in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, was looking for someone to install garage doors, so he added that to his offerings and within a few more years, he had signed PermaDoor, one of the pioneers in the steel entry door market.

"Those first three products were really just a matter of taking advantage of opportunities that presented themselves," he said. "That was pretty much my business plan at that time."

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A.B.E. Windows celebrates four decades, and other company news

When I open my patio doors and breathe in the delicious scent of my neighbour's mock orange, with its pretty white flowers cascading conveniently over my garden fence, I know that summer is really here.

The delicious smell of this flowering shrub may only last a couple of weeks but for me it's one of the most memorable events of summer and there are varieties to suit most gardens, from the golden mock orange Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureus', which can be used to light up the back of a mixed border, to the more compact P. 'Manteau d'Hermine', which grows to just 75cm (30in), bearing masses of heady cream flowers and ideally planted next to a seating area in a sheltered spot where people can enjoy its scent to the full.

Of course, on the patio you are spoiled for choice with scented plants. Those which will grow happily in containers include night-scented stocks, clove-scented pinks and scented pelargoniums in the Fragrans Group, which have leaves with the aroma of lemon, orange and mint.

Herbs too will provide you with scent as well as flavour, including lemon verbena, Eau de Cologne mint (Mentha x piperita f. citrata), lemon thyme and fragrant rosemary. All these need to be touched to release their fragrance.

Sweet peas will also grow happily in a pot, trained up a wigwam, to give you not only fragrance but plenty of colour as well. Cut the flowers regularly and put a bunch on your patio table or even indoors if you want the scent inside as well. Cutting is essential with sweet peas if you want more flowers to appear throughout the season, as, if you don't cut them, the flowers will form bean-like pods, which send a message to the plant that flowering is over.

If you're after low-maintenance scent, pots of lavender will provide you with plenty of fragrance as well as attracting bees, and just need shearing to keep neat immediately after flowering. However, keep heavier scents such as lavender separate from other scented plants as otherwise it will dominate the group.

Plants whose scents will blend together beautifully in the border include lilies, phlox, sweet Williams, nicotiana (tobacco plant), sweet peas and nepeta (catmint).

For optimum fragrance, go for old-fashioned varieties of nicotiana, such as N. alata, which folds up its petals during the day and comes to life only at night. Modern dwarf varieties may look better but they don't have as much scent.

Similarly, I prefer old-fashioned roses which are in a bed, as I've never found that patio roses give as much scent-wise. Among my favourite roses for the border is the David Austin English shrub rose, Rosa 'Gertrude Jekyll', which bears stunning large, rosette-shaped pink flowers and has an outstanding perfume, as well as strong stems and a neat, compact shape with flowers produced throughout summer. It can be grown as a climber, reaching a height of around 8ft, and will do well combined with clematis.

Of course, there's also a plethora of scented climbers which are ideal for positioning near a door or pathway, or close to opening windows where their fragrance can be enjoyed from inside too.

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Heaven scent

An informal survey of bar and restaurant patio owners in Gibsons found that a smoking ban was not a divisive issue, a Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) official told councils committee of the whole on June 10.

VCH tobacco reduction coordinator Caitlin Etherington said she surveyed 16 patios where it currently would be legal to smoke. Of those, she said, 11 are already smoke free, two allow limited or occasional smoking, but both of those said they would welcome a bylaw because it would provide clarity and a more concrete justification for providing a smoke-free place for their clientele. Three technically allow smoking, but only one has a concern about their bottom line.

VCH is asking local governments to pass a leading-edge bylaw that would ban smoking 7.5 metres from doors, on all patios, in parks, on beaches and trails, transit stops and public places where people gather.

Coast Reporter

Originally posted here:
Smoke ban not divisive for Gibsons patio owners

CC/Boyds gutter and patio doors

By: Tonya Boyd

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CC/Boyds gutter and patio doors - Video

A WARNING has been issued by police about summertime sneak-in burglaries after two incidents in Bromsgrove where thieves took advantage of unlocked doors and windows.

They happened in Churchfields in Sidemoor last Wednesday and Thursday (June 11 and 12) and, because of the way they were carried out, officers believe they could be linked.

Both properties were accessed via unlocked windows or patio doors after the raiders gained access to the back gardens.

The first - between 1am and 1.30am on June 11 - saw a white Sony laptop and three mobile phones, worth a combined 620, taken. The owner was in another room at the time of the incident.

And on June 12, a 2,400 haul was taken from a house in the same street which included an Acer Laptop and a variety of jewellery. Among the items stolen were a gold necklace, earrings and bracelet with an Aztec design, a rope chain gold ankle bracelet and another bracelet with blue and white stones.

Witnesses or anyone with any information should call 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Following the incidents, Det Con Tony Flannagan from the North Worcestershire anti-burglary team warned residents to be on their guard against sneak-in burglaries.

He said: With summer upon us and the weather generally warmer people will often leave windows and doors open to get a bit of fresh or cooler air blowing through the house.

Unfortunately opportunist thieves will target such properties as they know they can nip in and out very quickly, grabbing any valuables in sight.

People need to get into the habit of ensuring doors and windows are locked, even if they are at home, and equally they need to get out of the mindset that this type of offence always happens to other people and not them."

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Police warning after two sneak-in burglaries in Bromsgrove in two days

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They then phoned a local bird of prey rescue centre and an expert spent 30 minutes getting the young eagle off its makeshift perch using a dead chick.

It was then reunited with its owner and falconer James Moore who revealed the young bird was called Storm and was being trained to ward off seagulls at a nearby landfill site.

It had been reported missing three days prior to turning up at Ms Morrells house after it was frightened by a loud bang and broke its tethers.

Ms Morrell, a retired maths teacher in her 50s, said: "We were about to watch the final of the French Open tennis when this big black thing swooped into the room.

"We have had small birds fly into the patio doors before and I thought it might have happened again but then Karen said 'it's an eagle'.

"We couldn't believe it. Initially there was total panic - our two dogs were in the front room and they both jumped to their feet and started barking.

"We took them into a bedroom and shut the door then went back into the lounge to get a proper look.

"There was the huge eagle, around 18 inches tall, sat on top of the wooden glass cabinet.

"It had knocked over a few ornaments and then started pecking away at a bowl of pot pourri.

"We thought about trying to tempt it back outside and tried putting ham outside but it didn't work so we called the police who put us in touch with Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue.

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Eagle swoops into Dorset living room

Russian Steppe eagle flew in through patio doors and perched on cabinet Shocked homeowner had just settled down to watch French Open tennis Her friend tried to lure 18in-tall bird down wearing thick jacket and gloves They also put pieces of ham outside in bid to tempt it away, but with no joy Bird-of-prey expert was finally called to coax it down using a dead chick Storm escaped while being trained to ward off seagulls at a landfill site Owner delighted to have him back and apologises for 'ruining' tennis match

By Simon Tomlinson

Published: 06:03 EST, 9 June 2014 | Updated: 18:30 EST, 9 June 2014

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Perched imperiously on top of a wooden display cabinet, it looks rather like something brought home from the taxidermist. But this eagle was very much alive, swooping into a living room through a set of open patio doors.

The bird, a steppe eagle called Storm, landed on the cabinet and then knocked over a selection of ornaments with its 4ft wings and pecked at a bowl of pot-pourri.

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In a flap: Jon Ball from Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue captures an eagle after it flew into retired teacher Wendy Morrell's living room while she was watching television

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The eagle has landed....in my living room: Teacher's shock when huge eagle with 4ft wingspan swooped in and pecked at ...

Eagle flies into a living room in Broadstone

5:28pm Sunday 8th June 2014 in News By Toby Wadey

Picture by Wendy Morrell

AN EAGLE flew into a womans living room as she watched the French Open final in Broadstone this afternoon.

Wendy Morrell was at home with friend Karen Ruddlesden and her two dogs, Coco and Udo, when the surprise visitor swooped into the house.

It is a hot day so we had the doors open and were watching the tennis. Then suddenly all hell broke loose in our living room, she added.

This enormous black thing flew in and the dogs went absolutely berserk.

Wendy promptly called Wessex Bird of Prey Rescue, which quickly deployed an officer to collect the bird, later identified as a Russian Steppe eagle called Boris.

Boris had earlier gone missing from Beacon Hill landfill site in Corfe Mullen.

Hobbies and general interest

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VIDEO: Eagle flies into a living room in Broadstone