While you may get flowers or a card from the one you love on Valentine’s Day, it can be hard to know how our four-legged friends feel about us. 【小题1】. Here are signs that your dog loves you.

Happy greeting

It’s great to be welcomed home by our pet and your dog isn’t doing this to show welcome to you; 【小题2】. This is also the case if your dog greets you when they are already wrapped up in another activity, like playing or eating. It is known to all how much they like their treats, so you know you’re well-loved if they choose you over that!

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When your pet chooses to look at you with soft, relaxed eyes, they trust you and are happy in your company, accepting you as non-threatening. And, it could be argued, that trust is the highest form of love.

Hugs (on your pet’s terms)

Your dog can choose to curl up wherever they like, so when they hug you, they are actively choosing you. This can range from full body hugs to them leaning into you to ask for some love. However, any hug must always be on your pet’s conditions and personalities. 【小题4】.

Tail wagging

A wagging tail can display a whole range of emotions from your dog, but you’ll know it’s a sign of love when they treat you to a full body wiggle. Their tail will turn around in circular movements like helicopter propellers (螺旋桨). 【小题5】.

Licking you

Your dog may lick you for a variety of reasons, but one of them is affection and love. They are ultimately seeking attention from you because they want to interact with you.

Are you tired of spending a significant part of your monthly budget on groceries? Growing your own food can help with your ballooning grocery bill.

If you don’t have an established vegetable patch (菜地), the set-up can be costly enough to put you off. 【小题1】 These let you grow your own food without having to pay for garden beds, compost (堆肥) and gardening tools. Some gardens have been running for decades. They’re usually run by local like-minded gardeners who can share their knowledge of what grows well where you are.

If you hope to grow food closer to home, you could consider “guerrilla gardening”, where you change your neighbourhood natural land into food gardens. Before starting, check if your local planning laws allow it. 【小题2】 To get started, consult the guidelines from Farmers of the Urban Footpath.

【小题3】 Garden beds higher than the area around are a good option. They operate as closed systems, saving water and nutrients for later use by the plants. Good quality compost will improve harvests and save you money in the long term.

What about apartment residents? If there is sunlight, you can grow food cheaply. 【小题4】 Remember to consider potential pollutants if you take this approach to make sure your soil and the food growing in it are clean.

If you get more serious, you could even stop using soil entirely and look at hydroponic units (水培装置). While more expensive, hydroponic units offer a more controlled growing environment to ensure better harvests and protect your plants against extreme or unpredictable weather. 【小题5】

With more large solar farms being developed in the sunny southwestern United States, researchers and conservationists alike are beginning to notice surprising environmental effects. While solar energy is known for its positive environmental impacts, officials at the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory have come to recognize one of its significant downsides: Some specks of birds that live close to large solar plants (太阳能板) are dying off, including endangered birds.

A recent federal investigation recovered 233 birds that had been killed as a direct result of solar plants. Researchers believe that some of the affected birds have mistaken the large, reflective areas of the solar panels for bodies of water. This is a phenomenon referred to by scientists as “lake effect.” The birds are drawn to what they assume to be water. They aim for the area and slam into the panels with great force. It is thought that the insects that birds cat fall victim to “lake effect” as well, leading the birds into the panels.

Researchers figure that between 1,000 and 28,000 birds are killed as a result of harvesting solar energy. The number of birds affected by wind farming is much greater, ranging from 140,000 to 328,000. Coal-fired electricity has the largest negative effect on birds, killing nearly 8 million a year. These numbers make solar farming seem like the best option. However, conservationists are quick to point out that areas where solar is expected to boom between 2015 and 2020 are home to some of the rarest birds in the United States. This could put specific bird species at risk of extinction.

There exists a state order in California that 20 percent of all electricity of all energy sold should be renewable by the year 2017. This has been one driving force behind the rapid development of huge solar farms. The industry, which is expected to boom as a result of this change to renewable energy, is facing newly filed lawsuits (起诉) by conservationist groups. These lawsuits could slow down the approval process for the planned solar development across the Southwest.