Brummet's Conscious Blog

*Written by Skye Whitlock  -- Fall Yard And Garden Prep --    Many people wait until spring to begin planting, but This Old House landscape contractor, Roger Cook, said, "Fall is the absolute best time to get things done, and it gives you a head start on spring." Fall weather is cooler, making it much more enjoyable to be outside planting. With the right tools, such as a tiller, mini cultivator, aerator, shovel, and watering can or hose, you can easily plant a variety of foliage in your yard. Here are a few things you can successfully plant this fall: 1. Turfgrass Other than late summer, early autumn is the best time to plant new seed. Reseeding in the fall will lower the amount of weeds the seed has to compete with. The cooler weather also means the soil is not too wet for the seedbed. Reseeding in the fall also means the plant seed will grow slowly due to the cooler temperatures. But though it is cooler above the surface, there is a...

-- Product Review --  While I rarely do book reviews anymore (I was a professional book reviewer for 7-8 years, reviewing an average of 500 books a year in many genres from young children to novels and non-fiction), I could not resist MX Publishing’s invitation to review 5 different books in the Sherlock Holmes genre. I received: Sherlock Homes – Tangled Skeins – Stories From The Notebooks Sherlock Holmes And The Sword of Osman Ms. Hudson in New York No Better Place : Arthur Conan Doyle, Windlesham and Communication with the Other Side The Final Problem – a Sherlock Holmes Graphic Novel These books were delivered to my doorstep August 11 th or so in an appropriate sized cardboard shipping box, with no additional or unnecessary packaging -which is great for the environment. I have been reviewing each book separately and have hyperlinked the titles of the books I’ve already completed in the list above. T...

    -- Quote of the Day --  "Meditate.  Live purely.  Be quiet.  Do your work with mastery.  Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds!  Shine."  ~ Buddha Award-winning authors Dave and Lillian Brummet: http://www.twitter.com/brummet http://www.facebook.com/ lillian.brummet   http://www.linkedin.com/in/ ldbrummet http://www. consciousdiscussions.blogspot. com https://plus.google.com/u/0/ 110939008901230737529      

*Today's article was written by:  Scott Gardner - founder of boutique firm Agile' Marketing Services, LLC. They specialize in working with their clients to become Recognized Experts, and using that status to leverage the clients' marketing efforts. Visit http://www.AgileMarketingServices.com -- Unique Promotion Opportunities --   A few days ago, I saw a post on social media that people were celebrating National Smile Day . What amazes me is that it was from an author I'm connected with, and she was only mentioning it in passing. Business people are missing out! Nearly every day of the year has some celebration attached to it. Pick a few, and ride their coat tails to a profitable promotion. Even if they don't actually celebrate it as a religious holiday, most people in America recognize Christmas as a time to spread joy and good thoughts. For the past 100 years or so, it's also been a time for companies large and small to run sales and ...

-- Product Review -- The Ultimate Smile Professional At-Home Teeth Whitening Kit was due to arrive from Amazon.com on August 4 th - 5th but due to the forest fires (resulted in some border closures and poor traveling conditions) and some vehicle troubles on our end we were unable to cross the border (we live a couple miles North of the US border) to pick up the packages until August 15th. We took some extra time with this product to do the 10-day whitening session and witness the results a few days later. The write up in Amazon.com states: “ Also included, the Cheek Retractor, designed as an additional tool for better comfort “ however this was not included in the kit I received. Comes with two silicon mouth trays and 2 syringes of the whitening gel, each with 5 ml. of gel; however you can request gel refills instead of purchasing the entire kit again. The Ultimate Smile Case does not actually hold the mouth trays after you have formed them to fit your teeth....

  -- Quote of the Day --   "When we look up, it widens our horizons. We see what a little speck we are in the universe, so insignificant, and we all take ourselves so seriously, but in the sky, there are no boundaries. No differences of caste or religion or race."   ~ Julia Gregson Award-winning authors Dave and Lillian Brummet: http://www.twitter.com/brummet http://www.facebook.com/ lillian.brummet   http://www.linkedin.com/in/ ldbrummet http://www. consciousdiscussions.blogspot. com https://plus.google.com/u/0/ 110939008901230737529  

 * Today's article was written by: Liz Uram - a leadership expert who delivers thought-provoking actionable content backed by proven on-the-job results to help organizations develop extraordinary teams.  -- Reasons To Delegate More Often -- We all know that good managers delegate tasks as a tool to grow and develop their team. And we all know that managers aren't delegating enough (Gallo, 2012). We also know that focusing on the WIIFY (What's In It For YOU) factor is the best way to influence people so instead of focusing on the benefits of the employees, let's flip this around and focus on the benefits for the managers. After all, managers are people too. It's a win/win for everyone. Here are 5 selfish reasons to delegate more often: 1) Work less hours. This should be obvious, but the fact is, many managers feel obligated to put in more than 40 hours a week. The unwritten expectation of management positions in many companies is 45 - 50 hours a ...