Stir It Up Coffee

Attention all mid-towners! If having a laid back atmosphere, great music, great coffee and free WIFI are on your “things I want in a coffee shop” list, then Stir It Up Coffee is for you. Sitting in this locally owned, locally beloved shop and thinking about how it differs from others, a few words come to mind: bohemian, South American, peaceful, spotless, authentic, comfortable, non-corporate. There’s something here for everyone.

All drinks that 99% of corporate coffee connoisseurs desire are here, plus a few. Hard-to-find-anyone-serving Yerba Mate is on the menu. Other drink options include Matcha Japanese green tea, a vast array of Italian Sodas, and smoothies. Menu options range from toast to homemade tamales. Sandwiches are also available. But what’s most appealing about this place is the crowd: it’s a good mix of youth and old-timer, artsy and conservative. WITT+HORNE

A/C Filters

Paragon Property Services,
Thank you for your comments on installation issues for tankless water heaters. Here is the link to his article: Paragon Property Services
WITT+HORNE

Today's House Tip:
Just in time for summer. Change your A/C filters monthly. Go over to the hardware store and buy a dozen good quality disposable A/C filters. Do not buy the washable ones - they never get clean. Do not buy the blue ones that you can see through - they are relatively ineffective. Buy the ones that are corrugated, usually white. Keep them in your closet/attic/garage. Then, every month when you pay your electric bill, change out the filter. It may not look dirty, but go ahead and change it out. The objective is prevention. You may feel a little bad throwing away a "clean" filter, but not nearly as bad as you will when your A/C goes out in the middle of the summer because the coil got dirty. WITT+HORNE

Where am I???

The answer to yesterday's "Where am I?" is: "In a house with a tankless water heater."

The picture is of a tankless water heater thermostat. This one was located in the laundry room of house Emily was showing last week. Her client asked about it and we thought some of our readers might be interested to know a little more about tankless water heaters. You will notice the brand name Noritz on the thermostat. They produce 1.3 Million tankless water heaters a year. There are many benefits to tankless water heaters including: endless hot water, up to 50% lower energy costs (see cost chart above), and space savings. Also, they tend to last longer than normal water heaters - a lot longer. We are seeing many more of these in homes today. They do tend to be slightly more expensive at the point of purchase, but like almost all green technologies they pay for themselves quite quickly.

We highly recommend choosing a tankless water heater the next time you're faced with replacing an old one or building a new home.

Real Estate Market Information

Article: FHA may aid those "Underwater" on loans

Where am I ??? - post your guess to comments

Come back tomorrow for the answer. WITT+HORNE

Tiny Boxwoods

This obscure, hip breakfast / lunch eatery is reasonably priced with outdoor seating. It's unique in that "outdoor seating" here does not mean sitting in a parking lot. There's a terrific synergy between Thompson & Hanson's nursery inventory and the patio dining of this cute establishment.

Our dishes: the buffalo burger and the Frenchman. Though tasty, where buffalo is generally lean, this dish is quite heavy as it is loaded with pesto and blue cheese. The Frenchman is truly delightful: prosciutto, pesto, goat cheese and tomato on thin wheat bread. Both come with either fries or fruit. The fries are comparable to those served at any fast food joint; the fruit, however, is terrific: it wasn't dominated by the usual 'less desirable' melons. In fact, it was a colorful medley of the 'desirable' fruits: strawberries, blueberries and apples. The chocolate chip cookies are super-popular. WITT+HORNE