November Edition
Get Holiday Ready with SWELL Living!
Inspirational Quote of the Month
“Welcome sweet November, the season of senses and my favorite month of all.”
In November, nature begins its peaceful, chilly slumber.
But, that doesn’t mean YOU have to go into hibernation as well!
There’s still plenty of awesome things to do in Southeastern NC and ways to stay busy, from festivals to live music, to local shops and party planning!
Stay in the know with SWELL :)
This month’s edition of SWELL Living has:
Fun Fact: Yams vs. Sweet potatoes!
Homeowner tips from Professional Neil Sims
SWELL Streaming
Exciting Area Events!
How to Make the Most of Your Yard
Holiday Party Punch Recipes
Raffle: Discover how to win big!
Cape Fear Fair & Expo
This decades-long tradition is back for 2021!
Well known as one of the longest-running events in the Port City area, the Cape Fear Fair & Expo is one of the most fun celebrations that the town of Wilmington has to offer!
Encompassing the entire grounds of the Wilmington Airport, the festival features rides, exhibits, food, shows, and entertainment of all varieties to create a week-long, fun-filled experience for visitors of any age!
October 29, 2021 - November 7, 2021
1740 Airport Boulevard
Wilmington, NC 28405
Price: $22
Cucalorus Festival
120+ Films, every genre of theatrical performances, and educational Connect Events…
Cucalorus has it all!
November 10, 2021 - November 14, 2021
815 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
Downtown ILM Holiday Tree Lighting
Kickoff the Holidays with the annual Downtown Wilmington Tree Lighting.
Join in this free event, full of fun times for all. Enjoy live entertainment, participate in the live countdown to the tree lighting, and then top it off with a special visit from Santa Claus.
Get there early for the free Hot Cocoa!
2017 Tree!
Here’s how our raffle works:
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You will also be entered to win every raffle going forward, pretty sweet!
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December SWELL Prize List
~ Tickets to Enchanted Airlie Gardens
~ $30 to Cape Fear Rum Cake
~ 3 Gift Cards to the BEST Local Retail Stores for all your holiday shopping! (Details to come)
A $250 value!
Winter is Coming…
And there’s still plenty to do in the garden to prepare for Spring!
Pruning Your Garden
Pruning may seem like harsh treatment of your plants, but they actually like it! It toughens them up through the winter, and they will thrive better next Spring!
Plants to prune in Fall: Hydrangeas, Angel’s Trumpet, Butterfly Bush, Chaste Tree, Delphinium, Roses, and Gardenia. Also, anything that’s dead.
Turn the Falling Leaves into Compost
Raking a fall yard may seem like a thankless task, but not if you put those fallen leaves to work!
Fallen leaves make excellent compost for next years’ plants to thrive on.
Check out this video for all the ways to save your leaves!
Plant Your Bulbs Now!
Nothing says, ‘Spring is here!’ like the rise of daffodils and tulips.
These beautiful bulbs require a 10 - 14 week dormancy to flower properly, which is why now is the time to plant!
Want more help? Check out the North Carolina Cooperative Extension for details.
November is here!
Ready to wow holiday guests with these delightful punch recipes?
The following recipes will serve 10 - 12 people!
FYI they are listed in the order of easiest to most difficult.
Fizzy Pear Pressure
4 cups Pear Juice
3/4 cup Vanilla Vodka
1 bottle Prosecco
Garnish with pear slices, and rosemary (optional)
Ice
Add all ingredients into a punch bowl, stir, and serve cold, with ice.
2. You da Pom Punch
1.5 cups Pomegranate Juice
1/2 cup Orange Juice
Juice of 1 lime
1 cup Blanco Tequila
1 bottle Prosecco
Agave to taste
Garnish with pomegranate seeds
Add all ingredients into a punch bowl, stir, and serve cold, with ice.
3. Gin-ger Turmeric Spiced Punch
Pro-tip: You will need a Juicer for this one!
Like this one.
1/4 cup fresh ginger
1/4 cup fresh turmeric
12 - 14 Gala Apples (cored)
2 lemons
1.5 cups of your favorite Gin
Apple Slices for garnish
Ice
Send the turmeric and ginger through the juicer first, followed by the apples. Add juice to punch bowl, add gin, and hand-squeeze lemons.
Serve cold, with ice.
Now it’s time to sip and enjoy!
Did you know that over 50% of the country’s sweet potatoes are grown right here in North Carolina!
So, what’s the deal with yams?
Yams vs. Sweet Potatoes
~ Yams are big edible “tubers” and belong to the Dioscorea family.
~ Yams grow in tropical and subtropical climates, such as South America, Africa, and the Caribbean.
~ Real yams have rough, brown, scaly skin and white flesh.
~ Sweet potatoes are edible “roots” and belong to the Convolvulaceae or morning glory family.
~ They are native to the Americas.
~ Sweet potato varieties come in a rainbow of colors: orange, white, yellow, or purple!
Selling a home doesn’t have to be hard.
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Home Owning In November
Tips, tricks, and things to be aware of, courtesy of:
SWELL home & living
One of the reasons we love Wilmington is because it never gets too cold here.
But sometimes it does get rather chilly… In those moments, we think it’s best to just know some of the basic elements of taking care of your home in colder weather!
Here’s a really SWELL list of things to do now so you don’t freeze later!
•Guard Your Water Pipes!
Disconnect your garden hoses and store them in a safe place out of the way of weather.
AND if it’s really cold, shut off the water to your outdoor faucets and drain the lines.
•Keep Indoor Water Flowing
If you have an indoor faucet that’s close to an exterior wall, turn the hot and cold water on and run for a few minutes a day to prevent freezing pipes.
•Know Where the Water Shut-off Valve is
In the unlikely event that a water pipe freezes and bursts, then there will be water everywhere. Know how to turn the water valve off so there’s less mess!
•Clean Your Gutters
When there’s less stuff in your gutters, then there’s less chance of ice forming.
• Attic Ventilation/Insulation
Proper ventilation will stop the water from freezing on your roof, while proper insulation will help your home maintain temperatures.
These are some of the main ways to make your home cool weather-ready.
For questions or more information contact us anytime. We’re here to help!
Discover New TV, Movies, Music, & More
Ty covers the TV & Movie recommendations, here are his picks this month:
For TV to straight binge: Squid Game
Ever been down on your luck? Needed a little bit of help paying your bills? Signed your life away to fuel your gambling addiction? You might be eligible to play Squid Game!
This is an infectious Korean tv series about desperate people willing to go to their limits. Compelling storytelling and novel concepts make this show fun and exciting. Once you start, you won’t want to stop. Available on Netflix.
For a fun docu-series: Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings Of Miami
Fifteen years after the release of his original cult classic film comes director Billy Corben’s Cocaine Cowboys: The Kings of Miami - a six-part saga on the South Florida traffickers indicted in one of the largest drug cases in U.S. history. Alleged to be the chief U.S. distributors for two of Colombia’s biggest cartels, Cuban exiles Augusto “Willy” Falcon and Salvador “Sal” Magluta were accused of smuggling over 75 tons of cocaine into the U.S. in the 1980s. The high school friends built a reputed $2 billion empire that made Willy and Sal, aka “Los Muchachos,” two of Miami’s biggest celebrities. While law enforcement plotted their takedown, the world champion powerboat racers managed to skillfully outrun and outmaneuver prosecution for decades before the chase finally came to an end. Featuring colorful interviews with those closest to them, their defense team, and the Feds tasked with taking them down, the series paints a vivid portrait of the last of Miami’s “Cocaine Cowboys". Available on Netflix.
For a heart-warming action movie: Finch
Premiering November 5th on Apple TV
A robot and a dog form an unlikely family in a powerful and moving adventure of one man’s quest to ensure that his beloved canine companion will be cared for after he’s gone. Tom Hanks stars as Finch, a robotics engineer and one of the few survivors of a cataclysmic solar event that has left the world a wasteland. But Finch, who has been living in an underground bunker for a decade, has built a world of his own that he shares with his dog, Goodyear. He creates a robot, played by Caleb Landry Jones, to watch over Goodyear when he no longer can. As the trio embarks on a perilous journey into a desolate American West, Finch strives to show his creation, who names himself Jeff, the joy and wonder of what it means to be alive. Their road trip is paved with both challenges and humor, as it’s as difficult for Finch to goad Jeff and Goodyear to get along as it is for him to manage the dangers of the new world..
Starring Tom Hanks. If you’re looking for a fun evening this is a great choice. Available on Apple TV.
Music on Repeat: Anthony's Monthly Picks for Featured Tunes
Aesop Rock - Spirit World Field Guide - This album, released one year ago this week, is the eighth from alt-rapper Aesop Rock (Ian Bavitz to his mom) and is a narrative meant to serve as a friendly “tour guide” to the spirit world. Including hallucinatory images of killer eels, magic spells, anecdotes about people on the run, recipes, survival tips, warnings, and maps, this “guide” is inspired, often hilarious, and carries a solid bop throughout that is classic Aesop Rock: deadly serious while silly, with a dope beat. True to its form as a spirit guide, the original sales of this album included a canteen, pocket knife, and flint kit. Grab your headlamp, pull your socks up, and dig into the Spirit World Field Guide.
Enjoy the journey!
Chevelle - Niratias - Released in March 2021, Niratias is the ninth studio album from Chevelle (and is an anagram for “Nothing Is Real and This is a Simulation”). Cheery, right? While the content is a little heavy, and the rock is even heavier, this is the first studio album credited to just the founding brothers of the band, Pete and Sam Loeffler, and it shows a step towards maturity for these guys famous for producing the heaviest possible version of jock-rock. A big step beyond Chevelle’s predictable (though excellent) pump-up shredders, Niratias is a visceral sci-fi fever dream that pairs tight, caustic riffage with billowing melodic trails through the atmosphere and on the way to Mars. It’s cool. Like, super cool outer-space metal that makes me wish my car had wings so I can blast these tracks while doing donuts around mountaintops. Wheeeeeeeeee!
For the love of Podcasts: Marisa’s favorite this month
Reflect the Life You Want: Join Tim Howard as he shares his personal struggles and the ways he overcame them, as he helps you embark on the journey that is your life.
If the holiday season is giving you the blues, consider listening to an uplifting podcast that is guaranteed to bring you peace and calm to carry on.
“This podcast is such a great reflection on being present to others and listening in a beautiful way for the good others contribute, even when we don’t agree with everything. We can really gain insights and wisdom when that is what we are seeking!”
-Karla Dawn
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