2 . One of the most exciting parts of moving to a new neighborhood is the chance to find out what makes it so special.    1    

Walk around.

If you want to know what your neighborhood has to offer, go to see it yourself.    2    It will allow you to see your neighborhood better.

Meet your neighbours.

    3     Meeting your neighbours provides you with a chance to ask questions about your new neighborhood and possibly discover some worthwhile information you might have missed otherwise. As for how to do it, follow the golden rule — a little friendliness goes along way.

Shop locally.

You can find a big box store anywhere you move, but that little mom-and-pop shop on the corner is something you will only find right where you live.    4    It also can let you find out what makes your community special. Local businesses bring local flavour to their environments, and the restaurants and shops that also call your neighborhood home can tell you a story about what is important there and what brings people together.

    5    

Take a short cut to discovering the best of the best in your new neighborhood by asking for suggestions from people who are already in the know. If your job is local, ask your co-workers where they suggest for, say, great live music or the best local dishes.

The day will come when your new neighborhood no longer seems so new and you have settled into life in the community.

3 . As Chinese new Year approaches, many people go on house cleaning.     1     In other words, get rid of things that take up space but aren’t used often or at all. If you are interested in tidying up for Chinese New Year, here are a few tips that might help you.

Decluttering is important but lacks urgency, so it’s easy to keep putting it off.     2     Make sure your family is free during this time, too, since some of the things are probably theirs. Then take an hour or two or maybe even a whole day to declutter.

Be prepared with a place to put items for disposal.     3     You may want separate containers for items you want to throw away, those you plan to donate and those you want to sell. Thus four boxes are needed: a box for things you’ll keep, a box for things you’ll store, one for things you’ll donate or sell, and the last one for things you’ll throw out.

    4     Sorting through your things is the hard part. Now, you just have to throw out all of the trash and put all of the items you want to keep back where they belong, and make sure to have a great organizational system that will keep them neatly in place.

Make time for weekly and daily decluttering.     5     Now that your home looks nice, you have to make an effort for it to stay that way by making time to keep your space organized every day and at the end of every week.

5 . You don’t have to break your back to create a yard that’s both beautiful and kind to Mother Nature. These environmentally smart ideas will turn your home turf(草地)into a little slice of Eden.     1    

Let the grass grow. Cut grass less often, so it gets a few inches longer than you’re used to.     2     That’s because roots will grow deeper and grass thicker, which means fewer pests, less disease, and a decreased need for chemical intervention.

Water the grass right way. Water before 10 a. m. , when the air is cool and not as much moisture will be lost to evaporation.     3     Water near the base of plants, slowly delivering the good stuff right to the roots. For lawns, water long and deep once a week.

Get keen on composting(制堆肥). Compost isn’t called gardener’s gold for nothing. It keeps kitchen leftover out of landfills and enriches soil with much-needed nutrients.     4     Veggie and tea bags, eggshells, dry leaves, and untreated grass clippings are all fair game.

    5     Honeybees help pollinate(授粉) 75 percent of our flowering plants and nearly 75 percent of our food crops. There is increasing evidence that many of the vital pollinators are in decline. Creating a garden that includes plants that flower at different times of the year will benefit pollinators throughout the growing season. Whenever possible, choose native plants with a variety of flower colors and shapes.