The power of observing and listening

All human beings have been endowed with the sense of seeing and hearing except to those with hearing and seeing impairment. But observing and listening, though primarily aided by these two senses, goes beyond these routinely human mechanisms. Observing is more than seeing and also listening is more than hearing. One can see anything but choose to observe things around him/her for specific reasons. Observing requires concentration, interpretation and later understanding through mind engagement. There is power in observing but the magnitude of it is in understanding. Similarly, we hear many sounds, voices and vibes but choose what to listen. We listen, we interpret then we understand.The core of listening is to seek to gain understanding on what you choose to hear.

Therefore, as we observe carefully and listen keenly we gain understanding and that which seems meaningless becomes meaningful and what seems useless becomes useful. Great ideas that have been hatched in human brains are as a result of observing and listening.

Therefore, before we speak lets observe and listen so that we utter pure undestanding.

6 Disastrous Types Of Domestic Waste That Must Not Lie Hidden In Your Compound

In your day to day life activities, you may be faced by accumulation of numerous disastrous types of domestic waste that lie hidden in your compound.

As a home owner, questions like what are some of the disastrous types of domestic wastes and how they accumulate in your compound must first be answered.

The following are some of the disastrous types of domestic waste that must not lie hidden in your compound:

1. Common Kitchen wastes
2. Plastic and metal wastes
3. Brocken glasses and Sharp objects
4. Old paints and tins
5. Remains of oil, petrol and other garage wastes
6. Electronic waste

1. Common Kitchen Wastes

Most Kitchen wastes originate from food and food related materials.

Whether the kitchen wastes are from cooked or uncooked food, a proper disposal system of kitchen wastes must be implemented.

Kitchen waste is some of the disastrous types of domestic waste that must not lie hidden in your compound.

This is because, if not carefully disposed, they pose numerous health risks.

Unpleasant Stenches, rodents, pests and insects may originate from decomposing kitchen wastes.

Tripling and falling can also be caused by rotten slippery wastes from the kitchen waste materials.

2. Plastic and metallic wastes
Hidden plastic and metallic wastes are a common site to most homesteads.

Apart from providing unappealing looks to your homestead, they pose a looming danger to home owners.

Plastic wastes that are left to accumulate in your compound can be a source of many health problems.

When they become filled with rain water plastics become breeding places for mosquitoes and other dangerous insects.

Metal wastes become rusty when they lie around your compound and pose a great risk of causing injuries when stepped on.

Rusty metals also have negative effects to soil and plants in your gardens and lawns.

3. Brocken glasses and Sharp objects
Managing glass wastes can be challenging task. Unlike plastics and food wastes that you can dispose easily, broken glasses require careful handling before disposing.

When they lie hidden in your compound, broken glass materials can have an adverse potential of causing injuries to both you and you animals.

Tiny and invisible pieces of broken glasses are toxic when they get into food and drinking water.

Sharp objects like used razor blades, pins and needles are also disastrous types of domestic waste that must not lie hidden in your compound.

It is advisable to have them in a separate bin before you find the best way of disposing.

4. Old Paints And Tins
Paints and especially oil-based ones have numerous toxic substances when they lie hidden in your compound.

If tins and containers of old paints are left uncovered, the toxic chemicals in them react with air, gases and moisture to more complex and harmful products.

These accumulated poisonous substances negatively impact both environment and your health.

Used tins and cans are another disastrous type of domestic waste that should not lie hidden in your compound.

Clutter of empty tins and cans makes your homestead untidy and unhealthy. Theyalso play a hiding place for insects and pests.

5. Remains Of Oil, Petrol And Other Small Garage Wastes
Garage wastes are a potential source of unexpected dangers in your home.

Remains of petrol, gasses, grease, oil and old automobile parts should be avoided in the compound as much as possible.

Oil and petrol remains can encourage spread of fire started from inside your home or from the neighborhoods.

Poorly disposed grease and oils are harmful to the soil and plants in your lawns and gardens.

Small old auto parts from your garage should not be found around your compound as they are unsafe when tripled on.

Also some consist of sharp points that can pierce and cause injuries to family members and domestic animals.

6. Electronic wastes
Commonly known as E-waste. They pose a great great challnge to modern waste management.

Dead mobile phones, remote controls, dead earphones and other e-wastes should not lie hidden in your compound.

Electronic junks make your compound messy and some of them emit toxic radiations that have negative long term health and environmental effects.

As a home owner, you must adopt a suitable system of managing electronic wastes more efficiently.

Like plastics and tins, some electronic wastes create breeding and hiding places for dangerous insects and pests in your compound.

Conclusion
Disastrous domestic wastes in your compound is a complex issue.

However, as a home owner, you should adopt best measures to stop accumulation of domestic wastes as this is a great step to cubbing the problem.

5 Hints For Trimming and maintaining your Hedge without Ruining The Shapes And Designs

Hedge trimming and maintenance is an art and also a science: It is actually the combination of the two. It requires some botanical knowledge and high creativity to trim and maintain a hedge that is appealing.
Attractive mounds and round bushes of roses or boxwoods or eleagnus or Buford holly or a blend of one or more of hedge plants will make your homestead stand out from the rest. However, attaining a great, well trimmed and maintained hedge is by effort and not by default. The following are some of the essential hints for trimming and maintaining your hedge:

1. Get The Right Set Of Tools

In order to attain excellent results in your hedge trimming and maintenance, tools selection is important. Right choice of tools will be determined by the nature of the hedge such as complexity of the existing or new shapes and designs you want and also the age of the hedge in question.
You may consider small shears for soft, young twigs and branches, loppers for hard, aged branches or electric trimmers to bring out those shapes and designs in your hedge. Strings and ropes are also essential especially where straight hedge trimming is to be done. Another essential in the list of tools is the rake that comes last to clear the mess after the whole task is completed.
Whichever set of tools you opt to use, let them be well sharpened oiled or greased up for the job. Blunt tools will not deliver accurate results especially where you want to attain great shapes and designs for your hedge.

2. Concentrate on Aging and Ailing Parts of Your Hedge
As your hedge grows, some leaves, branches and twigs become old and some may become infected by diseases or destroyed by insects. Some may also be affected by their response to changes in seasons.
When trimming therefore, identify the old, disease and insects infected parts of your hedge plants and at the same time take note of the side sprouting and overgrowing shoots. You should also maintain a keen eye on the top of your hedge to see whether overgrown twigs and branches are ruining those shapes and designs.
Always remember that trimming is a cleaning and shaping exercise for your hedge. Cut and remove all aging and ailing branches, twigs and leaves while being careful on the branches that have sprouting and budding leaves and/or flowers. Also ensure that all sprouting and overgrown shoots at the sides and top of the hedge are trimmed. It is advisable to use electric trimmers or shears or both on sides and at the hedge tops for ultimate shaping results.

3. Consider Complexity and Composition Of Your Hedge
The complexity of your hedge is a key aspect to trimming and maintaining it. Older hedges have many branches interwoven together to a complex system of branches, twigs and leaves. In this case it is not easy to determine which branche(s) are budding with new leaves or even flowers.
To maintain this type of hedge, concentrate only on the areas that are growing out of shape. This is because, in a complex system of old hedge plants, a single twig or branch may be the basic block for your shape and design and therefore a little mess will disrupt the set up and eventually the whole appearance.
Hedges composed of mixed variety and species of trees also requires great care during the trimming process. In a scenario where there is a blend of both tall and short bushy trees for instance, ensure that you craft a shape and design that is easy to trim and maintain. You can apply the canopy or pyramid designs for such a blend.
Blended hedges requires special trimming because each type of tree in the complex may require different a different trimming approach. Trim and maintain the plants as per their types and at the same time paying attention to the role of each in the entire shape or design.

4. Mind the seasons
More trimming and maintenance of your hedge should be done in spring and summer seasons. This is because the hedge grows faster and its shape and designs tend to fade away. In This case, trimming may be done two to three times in each season depending on the rate of growth.

It is also important to note the changes in your hedge throughout these seasons so that you can trim and maintain them effectively. For instance, during the autumn some trees shade down their leaves and even change colors. Trimming cycles in this season therefore, must be kept as minimal as possible since the trees don’t have much leaves on their branches.

However, during the autumn, attention may be shifted to overgrown trees and the falling leaves that make your homestead untidy. Trim the tall trees and rake off the falling leaves whenever they accummulate.

5.Hire an Arborist For a Professional Touch
Hedge trimming and maintenance requires a lot of attention and it is a continuous process. If you are in a busy profession and don’t spare time for your hedge, or if you just want your hedge to have a professional touch, then you can hire an arborist.

An arborist will provide expert tips on general maintenance of your hedge and also help you manage gardens in your homestead. He will also provide professional services of determining the dangers that lurks in overgrown trees or branches that are growing in your homestead.
In order to tap on the whole source of professionalism for your hedge maintenance, a Level 5 arborist is advisable because he can provide you with high quality hedge trimming and maintenance services and also advice you on how to take care of your trees in your hedge. This can greatly improve your homestead.

Conclusion
Hedge trimming and maintenance is a continuous process. If you have not done it for yourself before, you will encounter several challenges especially when dealing with full grown hedges and making initial shapes and designs of your choice. However, as you continue to master the process and employ the required tools, it becomes interesting and easy and it can gradually transform into your favorite hobby.

When The Rain Falls

When the rain falls,

Furious waters from steepy slopy points,

Gather stones and uproot the stumps,

Floats them lightly like fabric lints,

While lowly lands awaits the dumps.

When the rain falls,

Farmers grab their tools and attire,

Work from dawn until the dusk,

Like worker bees so they tire,

Missing out a rest or bask.

When the rain falls,

Wild birds on shrubs and trees,

Halts chirping and shut their beaks,

And hide away from windy breeze,

And shelter from the stormy wrecks.

When the rain falls,

Plants with weak and withered leaves,

Emaciated roses and water lillies,

Prop their stems and fast revives,

To match their mates in fertile valleys.

When the rain falls,

Writers befriend their books and pens,

To draft and publish newly posts,

Enhance their blogs in vast designs,

And hues and all attractive templates.

How a notable difference in two Israeli lakes emphasizes the virtue of giving

Israel is one of the most mentioned nations in the Bible. In fact most text in Old Testament revolves around Israel. Many Religious denominations including Christianity and Islam concur with each other on Israel’s richest history as a chosen Nation. But am neither talking about Israel and its long time favours nor its rich history as an elect of our Creator, because the Holy Scriptures has it all: I will write about her favors in one of my blog posts. Well, am talking about its two amazing Seas, that have a notable difference, a feature so distinct that it can work to define the human vice of giving and a looming danger that lies in holding back and being mean. The two seas are the Sea of Galilee (Lake Tiberius) and the Dead Sea. They both source fresh water from River Jordan which is one of the largest rivers in Israel. But surprisingly, the Dead Sea does not support any aquatic life in it: no sea plants, no sea creatures! Reason? The water in Dead sea has a high density of salt.

On the other hand, the Sea of Galilee that also owes its source from River Jordan is a fresh water Lake supporting millions of sea creatures and plants alike. So this raises many questions as to why two lakes sharing the same source of fresh water would have such a notable difference. But there is a simple answer to this puzzle that also comes with a great lesson in our daily lives. The answer is the outlet. Yes, the outlet that is present in the Sea of Galilee but not in Dead Sea. It (outlet) ensures a constant freshness of the waters in the Sea of Galilee. It also eliminate wastes out of the Sea, facilitates a steady in and outflow of ‘new’ waters from The Jordan for a well breathing of sea animals. The outlet also enables a continuous supply system of fresh and vast nutrients for both aquatic plants and animals. So it is vast of life in Sea of Galilee unlike in its counterpart the Dead Sea, with no outlet. As the name tells, ‘dead’ means no life: It is made impossible by accumulation of salt due to unreplaced water. Once the water gets in to the Dead sea, it does not find its way out; The Sea receives but cannot give out because it lacks an outlet. As a result of this, old materials and wastes piles up in the sea, accompanied by dense ripples of salt that creates a high saline environment which renders aquatic life impossible. The two Israeli Rivers are a clear examples that serves to draw a thick line between holding and giving. When we give we create an outlet and therefore we receive a steady and constant renewal of life: Life of abundancy, fullness, wellness, freshness, happiness and lots of other unregretable gifts. By holding, however, we make life and all its beauty come to a stop. We accummulate without sharing, so we do not get refreshed. We concentrate on receiving and forget the most joyous part of giving as a way of creating an outlet. As a result we suffocate this precious gift life. So come on and let us give lest we become dead.

Whether in fret or in joy, its always a writing time.

I fell in love with literature in my last years in high school. I spent a better time of my studies in reading, rereading and underdstanding all set books as the syllabus would have dictated. Yet this was not enough to quench my burning thirst for literature, because as far as i was concentrating on the course work, i could still spare some time in James Hadley Chase, John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon and the likes of Robert Ludlum. And now back to the literature, the short stories became my favorite, but this story “The Toilet” in” Looking for a rain god and other short stories from Africa”, a collection of Short stories from some of the unsung African writers really touched me. Well, it was about a young lady who, after completing secondary school, went to stay with her elder sister, who was working as a secretary in Johannesburg. Her sister was working for a white lady, who offered her to stay in her quarters under conditions that she had to minimize her visitors as much as possible. So when her younger sister visited her, she had to stay locked in their room until the white lady was out for work and it had to be a secret known by just the two of them. But things got worst or mybe better because the visiting sister secured a job in a factory and so she had to stay out of the premises before their host cum employer woke up in the morning and start preparing herself to get to work, becayse if she opted to wait until the white lady was through with her preparation and out for work, then she would get to the factory late.The young lady therefore, would leave the compound earliest possible; lest her sister’s boss smells a rat. But she had to buy some time in streets before heading to the factory, and this is where she discovered her place of solace and a haven, a public toilet: one that was not so much frequented. She could lock herself in that toilet and do what she liked most; reading, yes reading amidst all that anxienty. She realized that once she locked herself in that toilet then she was all alone, doing her thing, escaping from the noisy city around her and indulging herself in her small world, the toilet. Such is the world of a writer. You write in joy, in tears and fears, in fret and in whatever circunstance you find yourself in. Write even when you are not writing and write even when you don’t want to because you are in your own secluded place, your ‘toilet’ your small yet wide writing world.

Thwart not my plans thou procrastination

I write to test, on this word thwart from Stevens Krista, in daily post. I write at rest, from different meanings, Oxford and Webstar, my reference most, But thou my foe Procrastination, thwart not my plans, today i beg.

I write again, in moods of sorrow, on destructive ways of procrastination, I write in pain, on time we borrow and chances we narrow, in life stagnation, But thou my foe procrastination, thwart not my plans today i beg.

I write to flee from sad memmoirs, on piles of missions and wasted times. I write to glee, on vast of time and many visions of uncrossed rivers, But thou my foe, procrastination, thwart not my plans today i beg.

How to free off those crammed spaces

In our day to day activities, we are oftenly caught up in messy and congested spaces. Whether in our offices, our homes, corridors or even in our car booths. It is important to realize that, from the onset, these spaces are meant to always remain neat, organized and capable of facilitating our daily tasks as per their capacities. But as a result of these daily activities, it comes to a point that our spaces become so crammed that they can no longer facilitate any reasonable movement; Piled up with working and non-working essentials. This is where the idea of freeing off these spaces comes in handy.

Out of reach if not in use

Make use of stores and/or archives on materials that are not consumed oftenly: You do not need them around your space if they are not intended for use in any near future. It is advisable to identify the materials you daily require around, place them tidly in the nearest point of your space then take the rest to the stores or archives where they should also be arranged in an ordely manner. This procedure should be repeated oftenly because, as some materials become less useful or they are not required for the daily duties, they become scattered in our space and therefore conjest it hence making it look untidy and neglected. Regular sorting out of irrelevant materials and taking them to stores and archives helps free off unnecessarily occupied space.

Construct shelves and cabinets in your spaces

Construct shelves and purchase cabinets for your required materials, tools and other necessities. However, the size of a shelf or cabinet will depend on the size of your space. You can have an extra shelf in your kitchen, a medium size cabinet in your study room, rails and hooks in your stores and files and boxes in your archives.

Stack that stuff neatly

Your working materials can be stacked in boxes or bales especially when they are bulky, in order to make it easy to carry them around. They should also be tied or bound in regular forms and shapes to ease the task of arranging them in their necessary spaces. The tied or bound bales should be labelled in such a way that each can be identified by its content.

File those documents and insist on soft copies where necessary

Do not leave hard copies scattered around your working space especially in you office. File them as soon as you are through with them. Documents are more safe and tidy in files than when they are separately placed. Document files can then be arranged in a shelf or cabinet and labelled for easy access. This labeling can be done as per the genre of the contents. For example, if you are an accountant in an organization, you can label the document files as per departmental consumption; Procurement, human resource, marketing, production and other departments available in your firm. By so doing, locating a required document is much easier and a lot of your working space is freed. You can also consider keeping soft copies saved in your computer system rather than printouts and then generate hard copies only when the need arise. Sometimes you may need to carry some documents home for unfinished task in your office. If you always use your private car to get home, then place the documents in a file and place the files in your car back seat or booth. This will prevent them from scattering in a disorderly manner as you drive your way home. It also gives you more space for your shopping in case you want to make stop overs in either supermarkets or fast foods.

Exhaust that storage space systematically

Ensure that the storage space is completely utilized. When arranging materials in your space, make use of entire space; both vertical and horizontal. Depending on the size of your space and the nature of your materials, you can stack the materials in rows and columns moving upwards. When, for instance, you want to decongest a space that is full of bottles, then you can put them in crates and then arrange these crates in a stake of ten rows and ten colums moving up so that you have a total of fifty crates per stake. You can also do the same thing if you have your materials in boxes. Exhausting your space vertically and horizontally in a systematic order leaves your space neat, organized and frees off a considerable amount of space.

Love for these creepy plants

Creepy plants are a wonder to watch them grow especially how they spiral their way up the nearest tall buildings, poles, written off vehicles, fences or any other object that can support their creepy behaviour. The shape and form of these plants will be a replica of the object that renders its support or simply their host. However, if you decide to plant a creeping plant next to your house or any other accessible area within your compound, then you can shape it to your suitability.

Steady and shady Touch

When they wind their way up their support, they can provide a steady shade that can act as a safe haven for birds, human and also other plants. Birds makes them their alternative homes, human shelter from the scotching sun and plants growing under their shades fetches enough nutrients from the soft and moist soil below it with an ease, while their rate of transpiration is reduced.

Natural beauty

Creepy plants are green throughout every season. Their inclination from their host objects and their leafy and bushy nature gives them an edge in competing for sunlight against other nearby plants. Their deep roots are a surety for vast access to soil nutrients. These are some of the reasons that makes them green throughout the year and most of them survive even after their host support plant is long dried and withered. When you have a creeping plant in your compound and you want to keep it, then be rest assured that it is a natural beauty in all seasons.

Cools that well water

For those that creeps their way up the trees growing near wells or dams, then they can be a reliable source of continuous cooling effect to the waters in the well. Well water tastes naturally cool regardless to the time of the day because it is calmly sheltered. Do you love these plants? Try one in your compound.

Why saxophone evokes my musical spirits.

Music, music, music is the mantra that all human ages are familiar with. Music is as old as mankind and has been an essential tool in human entertainment and also as a tool for dressing, coloring and suiting various occassions in human life. From country to rock, reggae to ragga, hiphop to soul and classicals or other unchanted genres, music makes life events count, it makes time easily measurable while turning those dead and fade memories alive, not forgeting that it is one of the human art that is so strong to ‘bring the past to a quick present’, so close so that one can almost feel or touch those gone moments! There is drawing, carving, poetry and other arts-but music is the greatest. Music is never complete without accompaniments like the cordions, guitas, violins, trumpets, clarinets, saxophones and many other instruments that enhances that tune. Accompaniments makes music so harmonious and alive that the listener would always want to sing along, hence creating that relaxing and entertaining impact to either disturbed or anxious mind. But different musical instruments have different impacts when played as accompaniment in music.

Harmonious sax rythme

Harmony is an important aspect in music and without it music is reduced to unnecessary noise. From harmony of keys to instruments and voices, it makes music more strong and create that sense of orderliness.To me, saxophones tops all the instruments in matters harmony. It brings that impetus and calming sound, a variation of relaxing and comforting tune that can free off a crammed mind and make those moods flee. I like the sound swinging effect of high and low tones that a sax creates especially when played professionally. Trends of playing it will depend on music type but to me a well played sax is always good irrespective to music genre.

Sax makes music lives on

Sax makes music stand the test of time. It makes old music new and bring out that refreshing effect. With saxophones, the music age does not matter. In fact, the more sax in music the longer it lives and newer it feels.

Sax evokes those memoirs

When you want those iconic life memories back, then sax- accompanied music does it. It makes a quick brain roll back and push those old moments even closer to present. Whether in your car or at the comfort of your own home, you cannot resist the impact of saxophone in music that will make your brain wander in the vast past of sweet moments and those colorful events that have a special place in your mind.

Sax for your soul search?

I said it does not matter the type of music that a sax accompany, but let me be precise on the charm of sax in gospel. It is a tool of meditation and soul search, stirs that spiritual part in human heart and bring that serenity and heavenly peace of mind. This surpases all manner of relaxation. It is normally calm, cool, relaxing and harmonious with sax in gospel music.

Why captivating scenes from hills can almost cease those frequent beach trips.

I used to frequently visit our local beaches in most of my country’s coastal towns, not because of that cooling sea breeze, or the sandy and coral shore ends or the long stretches of coconut palm but because of that captivating view of sea water that stretched as far as my eyes could see, leaving me with an imagination of how far or deep i could sail my way to the next neighboring isle. Another impressing reason for my often beach trips was to watch the early morning sun as it ascended steadily from the sea horizon and brighten the sea water that had reduced to a vast surface of long and huge ripples after a long night of fearce tides. I could watch this from the top of the coral rocks or just from the sandy shores and late in the evening i could stare at the high tides that furiously blasted at the shores leaving a series of foamy white bubbles!

A rediscovery of my hilly home village

A change is as good as rest so to speak. If you so much lavish your evening coffee, you will be surprised on how you will enjoy a glass of wine or champagne in place of coffee; you break the boredom of coffee and enjoy more from those shots of champagne or wine. Thats what i experienced when i first started rediscovering my remote hilly countryside and the catchy sceneries it provided, especially when viewed from the highest peak. It provided me with a renewed spirit of adventure, that change of mind and a sudden drift of heart from shores to hills and thus cemented my strong passion for natural sceneries. I travelled to my remote hilly village and spent some time on one of the highest point on the hill and alas! what i observed was amazing. First was the farthest view of vast flat lands with wide spread of shrubs, and as my eyes drew nearer there was an attractive green hills of fully grown trees which swayed peacefully from the effect of the wind. Another breath taking scenerie was the morning mist that embraced the rocky hill sides like a light smoke raising from a house chimney. Valleys and rivers miandered down the slopy terrains that leads to the lowly located shopping centres, schools, churches and other iconic social centres in this village.

Slow in giving in but finally a made up mind

It crossed my mind that i was supposed to enjoy this fresh air from my green and hilly village more oftenly; but just a moment, there was an internal fight to decide whether i should part ways with my love for beaches. But ‘old friends makes good friends’ as the old saying goes. This is the land of my birth. It provided these vast caprivating natural sceneries for me and its first gulps of air were the first to fill my little lungs. I am at the crossroads whether to continue loving my newly found love for the beaches or stay loyal to my hilly sceneries which is my true birth right. However, they are both gifts of my royal mother nature that i love so much.