Brummet's Conscious Blog

-- Garden --   You may recall back on the 22nd of this month I gave a little chat about some of the amazing benefits of landscaping and greening balconies, roof tops, window sills, front steps, etc. This is our 4th year on this property and we are finally able to do some landscaping... I started with a 30' mulched landscape bed leading to and underneath a huge pine tree - filled with daylilies, iris, marigolds, clematis, sweet peas, rhubarb, amethyst,  blue hyacinth, 4 o'clocks, nasturtium, flower bulbs and so on. It has taken quite nicely and things are blooming well despite being the first year. This weekend we will start on "gorilla gardening" techniques... planting on the city property - a grassy area between our fence line and the street curb. *We did check with the city to make sure it was alright and also followed through with the "call before you dig" service which connected us with the gas, water, sewer, city and other tech folks out there to...

-- Guest Blogging Tips --  * By George Russel Joseph Many people have been wondering whether guest blogging has an effect on SEO in current times. The truth is that the practice increases SEO. This is because it aids in increasing overall long tail traffic. While guest blogging still has the ability of increasing the ranking of your site, you need to observe a number of tips. The tips that you need to put into consideration include: Ensure that you post on relevant blogs Google recently rolled out measures to punish websites that had links in irrelevant blogs. For example, if you have a health blog, you will be punished if a link is found in a commerce blog. To prevent your blog from being punished, you should ensure that you post on relevant blogs. This means that if you have a finance blog, you should post on finance related blogs only. For you to brand yourself and drive traffic to your site, you should not only post on related blogs, but you sh...

-- The Power of Kindness -- * by Bruce Star Sometimes you learn the simplest, most powerful lessons of kindness under the most ritual and mundane circumstances. For instance, five days a week, I get up, or I am awakened by my daughter Kenia, to get her ready to go off to school. This morning I asked her as usual what she wanted for breakfast. I would ask if she wanted cereal or oatmeal? She would say... either... oatmeal... or cereal. Her response left me cold. It took a few days for me to realize that the correct and kind response was to say, "I will have cereal dad, thanks!" Or, "I will have oatmeal dad, thanks!" When I asked her to please respond that way, she said she would and did so from that point forward. It wasn't that I was being mean or overly demanding of her. I just knew it made me feel better that if I had to get up earlier than I would like, if she showed a form of appreciation by responding in a way that would lift my spiri...

-- Quote of the Day --  "We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,  so as to have the life that is waiting for us. " ~ Joseph Campbell  -- Positive News --  In keeping with yesterday's post about greening cities - I learned recently that upgrades and improvements have been made to an already good recycling system in BC , which earned top honors in Canada for the extended producer Responsibility programs. – find out more at: http://recyclinginbc.ca / … recycling in BC has expanded the # of items they will accept to include things like aerosol containers, milk containers and plant pots. Recycling doesn’t just save energy and resources, and keep our air clean, it also preserves natural spaces through less resource mining, but also create jobs locally through businesses that use the recycled materials to make new products, as well as the recycling and shipping industries. People are getting really ...

 -- Quote of the Day --  "The journey is not about helping ourselves, but about helping others. We do best when we use our own skills to make a positive difference in the lives of others. When we do this, we bring enjoyment, hope and fulfillment to others, but we also find that we enjoy the journey more than we ever could have imagined.”  ~ Dave Lieber  -- Positive News --  In Bejing, subway services now offer passengers the option of paying for their travel through recycling plastic bottles via onsite kiosks.  This is a fantastic way to encourage recycling to go mainstream, to help individuals who struggle financially and to keep the streets clean. Imagine a group of youth who's pockets are empty but they want to go to an event that is too far away to walk to. So they look around them, pick up some litter and take it to the nearest subway station to deposit the bottles in a kiosk and get ...

-- Quote of the Day --  Everyone is the age of their heart.  ~ Guatemalan Proverb -- Poetry --  Today I'd like to share a couple excerpts from my book  - Towards Understanding - Together Yet Apart I am glad we are still friends, That we can still relate; I am glad we made amends, Before it was too late. Yes, we live our separate lives now. 'Cause time is too soon lost and gone, But together - yet apart - we'll make it somehow. We will be forever friends, this I now know. No matter what comes, no matter what goes. Together - yet apart - we will continually grow, Until, together, we reach our highest goals. Then, on that day, we will celebrate again, What we have conquered together, my friend. Helping each other along the way We can make it through another day. * Lillian Brummet, written in ode to R. Johnson Go Ahead And Cry  You give love with all your heart,...

-- Quote of the Day --    "Have you ever observed a humming-bird moving about in an aerial dance among the flowers - a living prismatic gem.... it is a creature of such fairy-like loveliness as to mock all description."  ~ W.H. Hudson -- Of Gardens and Green -- You've likely heard me talk about greening buildings, yards, balconies etc. on the radio show, or read posts about it here or in our Trash Talk book series... Today I'd like to share a few thoughts on how planting a little green can save you a lot of green - cold hard cash.  First - landscaping can increase the value of your home by 15-20%! This works best when you are considering curb appeal, planting for privacy and also diversity. Mature landscapes or those a few years old are much more likely to drive up the value of your home. Simply installing a patio area and entrance area with interesting plants can increase the value of your home by 4-12%! It really is tha...

-- Quote of the Day --  "Change your thoughts and you change your world."  ~ Norman Vincent Peale -- Fun Resource -- Check out this wonderful, brief, video when you get a chance: http://www.bbncommunity.com/3-minute-video-will-make-problem-seem-astonishingly-trivial/ Talk about putting our lives in perspective!      Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well! --  

-- Quote of the Day --    "Frugality is one of the most beautiful and joyful words in the English language, and yet one that we are culturally cut off from understanding and enjoying. The consumption society has made us feel that happiness lies in having things, and has failed to teach us the happiness of not having things." ~ Elise Boulding -- Chatter --  I'd like to open a discussion here today about living with less... Dave and I - for instance - have been living with one vehicle since '95. At times it has been difficult to simply schedule shopping and outings around each other. When I was working outside of the home, one of us would get up early to drive the other to work in the morning and then either he or I would walk, bicycle or take a bus home if the person with the vehicle was unable to pick us up from work. We managed to do this fairly well with few if any conflict of need. And all those years we paid one insura...

 -- Poetry --  Occasionally, I like to share excerpts from our published books of poetry. Today I'd like to share 2 from the Rhythm and Rhyme book: Rhythm & Rhyme: http://brummet.ca/store.html I chose this first poem based on a recent interview where the host and I were discussing the tendency for women to refer to themselves as "just" this or that. I wrote this poem tongue in cheek but with a powerful message.  Women - Know Your Place Women - know your place! How DARE you go beyond Where you are MEANT to be? It is NOT your place  To feel criticized or downsized Or set standards no other can meet. It is NOT your place To fulfill your mother's dream Or your father's expectation. It is NOT your place  To meet the ideals set by the masses Or to reach without your "Self".  You are NOT "only" wives You are parnters, supporters You are friends and lovers. You are NOT "only" mothers You are educators, n...

-- Chatter -- I wanted to take the opportunity today to encourage our readers to browse the blog pages via the tabs on the top of the screen there, below the blog name. You'll find a media page that lists the most recent 50 or so interviews and media appearances that I've done (in the order of oldest on the top of the page to newest at the bottom).  By doing so you'll find interesting discussions, learn more from us and about us, but also discover wonderful informative resources (sites, blogs, talk radio, etc.) that you may want to follow regularly. For those of you looking for media exposure for your product, business or service - these resources might prove to be marketing opportunities for you as well. Feel free to share whatever links on the media page with your social networking circles as well. It is a great way to show support for our work, the media member, and to also spread the information around. You'll also find a section that refers to product revie...

-- Quote of the Day -- "No power in society, no hardship in your condition can depress you, keep you down, in knowledge, power, virtue, influence, but by your own consent. " ~ William Ellery Channing -- Positive News --  Kudo's to Austria Glass Recycling (a non-profit organization based in Australia) who recycled more glass in 2013 than any other year since the country began glass recycling more than 35 years ago.  More than 234,000 tons of glass was collected for recycling, an increase of more than 3,500 tons from the previous year (2012)... which averages out to about 26.8 kg per person.  It is encouraging to see the incredible support people give the recycling industry and proves that with education we become more willing to participate religiously. Advances in technology, efficiency, staffing and location of collection sites also plays a role in the increased participation.  Success breeds success, they say - ...