green:: lawns get even greener

Even though Earth Day 2009 is over, making a concious effort to protect our Planet Earth has really just begun. Together, everyone can make a difference that will make a huge positive impact. That means changing the way we do a lot of things . It may be switching to recycled shopping bags and getting rid of the disposable plastics altogether, or just switching to CFL lightbulbs and being more concious of our energy usage. Going green also goes outside (but of course!) to things like organic gardening, composting, growing your own vegetables...even fertilizing your lawn! I just discovered a wonderful "green" product for the lawn called Ringer organic lawn fertilizer. No nasty chemicals that may have horrendous ill effects on our health and the earths health in this great product at all! And the benefits of using it on your lawn and garden is exponential as well. In addition to helping improve the environment and decreasing the chances of accelerated disease in your family, going organic can provide mental and physical benefits, long-term money-savings, and increased vitamin and mineral content in your soil, and you feel good knowing you are doing your part - even outside - to help the earth!One of Ringer's great products, ringer lawn restore, is an OMRI Listed® and compliant fertilizer for use in organic gardening. It naturally restores your lawn,by stimulating growth and killing weeds in a safe and natural way. Spring is here and it's time to get tending that lawn and time to fertilize, so why not do it the natural way!

cool products - eye on design - funky eyewear

These are definitely not your average eyeglasses ...

Genius Eyewear Maker, Scott Urban, definitely made a spectacle of himself when he designed his innovative ultra cool line of spectacles and started selling them through his company, Urban Spectacles of Wood. His creations were an eco friendly bi product born from his life long obsession with wood crafting, using exotic woods from trees that people had never heard of. Like lignum vitae, desert ironwood,amboyna, cocobola ... Tree dictionary please! I love these because they are unique and organic and unlike all other collections of eyewear, these one of a kind funky eye frames are truly handmade with meticulous attention to detail.Using the most eccentric and durable hardwoods as his material, Scott handcrafts each pair of eyeglasses individually to meet the specific desires of his client. As unique as the imagination, the possibilities of eyewear from his company are boundless!

Not only does Scott use exotic hardwoods , but frames can be crafted of just about anything else unexpected. Like say...bicycle parts? Yup, even beer bottles, vinyl LPs...you name it.

Take a look at this informative and entertaining video and then
check out more over at Urban Spectacles of Wood. His product is JUST COOL!

New Spectacles from dalas verdugo on Vimeo.

ECHOING EICHLER

Today is Friday - Tag Sale day - I make my rounds to all the area sales looking for unusual finds for my ebay site and usually come home with a few little treasures for myself. Rounding the corner of Brooks Edge and Hilltop, I glide into one of my favorite developments . I am not a fan of developments either.
Teak Crest was built in the early 1950's - mid 1960's and has a wonderful step back in time feel. From the towering canopy of maples that lure you along the wide winding lanes, to the Eichler / Wright inspired homes that rise out of the rolling emerald lawns, it is the quintessential throwback to a bygone era. I expect to see a bow-tied white uniformed milkman rolling up the road in his milk truck or a perfectly coiffed June Cleaver appear on the front steps with an Ipana smile . I am reminded that when I do find MY PERFECT HOUSE it will probably be one like these with their simple modern design and solid sensibility. They aren't sprawling, something that would have been at the top of my wish list twenty or so years ago, but just right in size and functionality.
I will undoubtedly make a few small changed to the design - to update and green it a little more but amazingly these houses built over 50 yrs ago can today be considered just as green, if not more so than their contemporaries.
They don't make 'em like they used to!

Enter the World Of Eischler Design