Brummet's Conscious Blog

Housecleaning day for me... Yesterday we finished installing the soaker hoses for the 3 raised beds (now planted with various tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, lettuce transplants and a few herbs including lemon balm, lemon basil, italian basil, thyme... raspberry and strawberry plants... and a few flowers as well. It has been a busy two weeks of sifting 2 bins of compost, amending the soil, and placing it in the newly built the beds. We also planted a rhubarb and hosta division that a neighbor gave us. Luckily we have made arrangements to get some grass from a fella who drops off a small trailer load once a week - so we've been using that for layering in the compost, mulch around the yard, and to mulch down the pathways in the developing garden. We'll start on the next batch of raised bed construction in about a week or so.  It's been frustrating having our website down for so long - and I'm really learning to have more patience on the issue. Dave's having a he...

Today's article was sent our way via author: Tom Reynolds, marketing executive at Monster Play Systems, an outdoor play equipment manufacturer based in Watford, UK. Image credits: unionland and dondj2 What Makes a Playground Eco-Friendly ? In these modern times when many of the population tries their best to recycle as much of their household waste as they can and industries have to do their bit as well, it's refreshing to see that playgrounds have joined the green movement too. Many of the outdated old style playgrounds have been torn down and in their place eco-friendly play areas have been erected. But what makes a playground eco-friendly? Non Toxic Materials An eco-friendly playground will be made out of non-toxic materials which include wood as well as 100% recycled materials such as plastics and rubber, and all these materials have to meet any regulations set in place by the government. When it comes to surfaces found in eco pl...

-- Quote of the Day --  “Our greatest glory is not in never falling  but in rising every time we fall.” ~ Confucius     -- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio --  * Airs live @ 10-11 AM (Pacifc)  - all episodes are archived indefinitely within moments after they air live, and are available for you to listen to later on at any time of day.   Sign up via itunes for the Conscious Discussions Radio show: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id262138144     Best of ConsciousDiscussions series offers highlights from some of the best discussions we've had in the past. Today is our 44th episode in this series – Featuring 2 experts offering advice on: Leaving a Legacy & HealingGrief through Writing. Our first guest : Queenelle Minet is a psycho...

-- Quote of the Day -- “Sometimes we see others (or dealing with a new situation) for the first time and we are feeling really anxious or nervous – instead of trying to be the brave person actually telling them how you are feeling will help you put yourself at ease and help the other person interpret your body language for what it actually is. … “I’m really nervous, I’m not feeling well, I don’t know what to say…” this is important because reading body language is subjective; you know: “is this person mad at me, are they proud or sad, they don’t care…” It just eases the conversation. …The reality is that we all want to protect our children, and that life is full of up and downs. …And it is important that kids see their parents make mistakes – because if they don’t see you making mistakes you become unapproachable, the kids won’t come to you when they’ve made mistakes – and this creates a safe space for others to share what is going on. Let them know that it is OK to hav...

-- Quote of the Day --  “For safety when traveling let your contacts know what your itinerary for the day will be. There is a little door wedge that you can purchase – they can be very effective from keeping people from breaking into your room when you are sleeping. …Don’t tell people that you are alone; don’t allow them to know where you are staying (room number). …In general - don’t go to bars and get intoxicated, just common sense like that.  …Spread out your cash in different locations – have a safety stash and don’t carry it with you. …You can have a mugger’s wallet where you keep just a little amount of cash and you can hand over that. …I also keep a little change purse for tips and markets; leave your wallet along with your ID and credit cards in the hotel safe or locked in one of your bags.” ~ Shannon o’Donnell Today’s quote originates from the Conscious Discussions Talk Radio episode that aired back...

Cleaning day for me ...ugh. That is always the challenge, isn't it? Trying to find the balance between managing the existing business activities while reaching for growth in skills, techniques, contacts and opportunities - while somehow balancing the home life, getting all those pesky chores done. lol Over the last 10 days or so in between work and other obligations, we were able to construct 3 raised garden beds in 2X6 board frames. Eventually there will be 8 beds (as I mentioned the other day) ranging between 3X14 and 3X16 (feet) in size.  We have, as you are likely aware, a 3-bin compost system that we have been using to conditioning our heavy clay soil along with other organic material such as lawn clippings, leaves and kitchen waste. The third bin in that system is the most composted and that is the one we've been emptying into the two beds, and while the soil is a lot better then what we started out with it is still very clay-like, so we have added a bag of peat to eac...

-- Conscious Discussions Talk Radio --  * Airs live @ 10-11 AM (Pacifc)  - all episodes are archived indefinitely within moments after they air live, and are available for you to listen to later on at any time of day.   Sign up via itunes for the Conscious Discussions Radio show: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id262138144     World of Writing segment episodes air every 2-3 weeks on the Conscious Discussions Talk radio show and today we have the pleasure of featuring author Ken McAlpine. Ken been published in numerous national publications and he has earned three Lowell Thomas awards, the top award in the industry for travel writing. Ken is the author of several books: Islands Apart - A Year on the Edge of Civilization and Off Season, Discovering America on Winter’s Shore and two novels: Fog and Together We Jump .  Access the live (1...