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Category: Leisure and Interests

Published on Leave a comment on What Does Reading Before Bed Do For Our Brain?

By Gemma Curtis – Sleep Matters Club Journalist

Some people can’t sleep without reading, but for others, the bedtime story is left in their child years. Reading before bed is an age-old tradition. Some people can’t sleep without reading, but for others, the bedtime story is left in their childhood. In recent times, reading interest has surged enormously. Whether it’s because people are running out of hobbies to try when they’re stuck at home or because they’re looking to expand their vocabulary is up for debate. Yet, the key question still remains: can the practice of reading before bedtime be beneficial? We explore how it affects the brain and see what the experts have to say.

Bedtime reading reduces stress

Reading before you sleep could relax you significantly. A study highlighted in the Telegraph by the University of Sussex raised a number of participants stress levels and then attempted to reduce them. Cognitive Neuropsychologist Dr David Lewis found that ‘reading worked best, reducing stress levels by 68 per cent’. It was better than listening to music (61%), drinking tea or coffee (54%) and taking a walk (42%). It only took 6 minutes for participants’ stress levels to be reduced.…

Published on Leave a comment on Sunny Days Ahead – Don’t Stay Away From Sunshine

So many are told to "Stay Away From Sunshine" in Western Countries like USA and Australia. That is based on Flawed Health Science. The Medical Profession is into a lot of that. Many times, if something is GOOD For You, they will tell you it's Bad for you, and Visa-Versa. I've found that through the years. As for taking our beautiful SUNSHINE away, no wonder so many people are feeling Bleak. Let's have Sunshine Inside (of us) and Outside. Both are Healthy, hey!?

Let's Have Sunshine And Brighten Up Our Days!!!

By Dr Al Sears Integrative Medicine Practitioner/International Researcher

Remember the first day of Spring when you opened the blinds to let the Sunshine in? Remember that full-of-energy, ‘happy-go-lucky’ feeling? Have you been missing those Sunny Days?

Many of my patients avoid the Sun like the plague. All they hear is that Sunshine poses serious threats to your health. With all these warnings about the Sun, why wouldn’t they?

Despite the bad rap it often gets, Sunshine is Good for You — if, like everything else, you don’t abuse it. Today, I’ll share some of the benefits of enjoying Sunshine each day – to Lift your spirits and Improve your Health.…

Published on

ABC Alice Springs  By Emma Haskin 26 Nov 2021

Watarrka/Kings Canyon National Park, 300 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs, has been transformed into a watery wonderland thanks to a very wet start to November.  

The Bureau of Meteorology has recorded 218.2 millimetres in Alice Springs, making November one of the wettest on record.

Reg Ramsden has been a tour operator in the region for 30 years and said the region has had sporadic rain over the past three weeks.

Chris Hakanson for Remote Tours

"It's been amazing. It's like a big cleansing. Everything is starting to green up," he said.

"It's been a while since we've seen a major flow like that and you have to be lucky to see it — you've got to be in the right spot at the right time."

Not many tourists 

Mr Ramsden said thanks to COVID-19 there were very few tourists to witness the waterfalls.

"It's unique to see it as it doesn't happen all the time," he said.

"People should get out here. People from Alice Springs should get out to the Western Macdonnell [Ranges] and check out those waterholes as they've all flowed majorly."

Mr Ramsden specialised in school group tours and his business has been badly affected by the global pandemic and subsequent border closures.…

Published on Leave a comment on Spring Has Sprung: It’s Time To Build Your Organic Veggie Garden And Reap The Rewards

By Becky Searles, Family Garden Life

If you want to turn a house into a home then a garden is going to be your best move. And if you want to really improve the value of your home, it’s a productive garden where you can harvest nutrient-dense food that’s going to make the biggest impact.

When you think about a family’s basic needs, food and shelter at at the top of the list, and if your food garden is operating well, it can provide a family with food for most of the year.

Even better, if your family adopts organic gardening principles, you’ll have home-grown organic food that will leave money in your back pocket.

Some advantages to growing your own organic food include:

  • Saving serious money
  • Your family will enjoy freshly harvested food
  • Reducing your family’s carbon footprint
  • Your food will be packed full of nutrients
  • Your harvest will be free of the baddies like synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and chemicals
  • You’ll be helping the environment on so many levels
  • Mindfulness, connecting with nature and family at the same time

Planting the right foods at the right time will yield you delicious results all year round.…

Published on Leave a comment on How Blue Light Affects Your Sleep And What You Can Do

 By Maureen Salamon from WebMd.Com 2020

Have you ever woken up to bright morning skies feeling energized? A big reason for your mood is the high-intensity blue light coming from the sun. Among the visible light spectrum, blue wavelengths have the most powerful effect on your sleep-wake internal body clock.

Both natural and artificial blue light can boost your alertness and mental sharpness. But too much of it may keep you awake when your body needs to wind down.

Sunlight

Need help waking up in the morning? Open the blind or get outside to feel more alert.

Light From Screens

Their “blue” light has a powerful effect on your brain. Turn them out about 2hrs before bed.

Artificial Light

Bright lights after dark signal our brain to wake up. In the evening. In the evening. Use dim light, and block outside light.

Block Out Light To Get Good Sleep

How Blue Light At Night Hurts Sleep

Your eyes aren’t good at blocking blue light. So almost all of it passes straight through to the back of your retina, which helps your brain translate light into images.

Exposure to all colors of light helps control your natural sleep-and-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm.…

Published on Leave a comment on No More Weeds!!! Heres My Secret To Weed-Free Gardening!

By Candi from FarmFreshForLife.com

Weed-Free Gardening. Is It Just A Dream?

I have some serious experience in gardening.  I’m not your average “salad” gardener.  I grow most of what I eat…. all year…   For the 101 days I was on The Homesteaders Food Challenge I grew everything I ate.   Which is tricky.  When you decide to grow your entire diet you need to know how to grow things.  Or you’ll starve.

Mulch Is A Must If You Want No Weeds - Plus Advantages

I didn’t starve and I had a massive garden.  Last year I had 3 massive gardens actually.  When you have several gardens you learn a thing or two about weeding.

Like how much you hate it.

So, I became an expert at preventing weeds because I wanted to go to the pool and not weed my garden every day of my life.

If you want to ditch weeding and don’t know how – this is for you!!!!!

Of all the tricks, systems and methods I tried – this one is my favorite.

MULCH

My mulch of choice is:  STRAW

  1. Straw is easy to find.
  2. Straw is cheap.
…

Published on Leave a comment on Whats The Verdict? Kids Playing Outside Like They Did Years Ago Is In. Its OK!

By Janet Vargas - Natural Health Researcher

So don't be frightened of germs because there are Good Germs as well, kids are missing out on that benefit their Immune System. It’s much Safer than text books say – just one of many practices grandparents and their grandparents encouraged, and their kids were healthier than children Today. No they weren’t mistaken – less educated but not silly. We have been, to take so much notice of information we have been brought up with medical influence. TV and TEC are not Baby Sitter, but we have substituted them for Good Healthy Outdoor Play, Aye?

Encourage Your Kids To Get Their Hands Muddy Or Sandy - Its Good For Them!

And today’s Medical System always scaring us into Antibiotics and Vaccines  - half of which are not appropriate for or country here in Australia. We are not in a Third World Country, and people who live in the Islands are healthier than we are without a Medical Establishment, who are always finding more ways to rake in more profits.

I don’t think there are many of us who remain ignorant to the likes of Big Pharma after 2020 – what a boost to the Industry.…

Published on Leave a comment on Did You Know The Truth About Veggies – That You Can Regrow Some Of Them From Scraps?

YES IT'S TRUE! I HAVE WITNESSED THIS PHENOMENA SEVERAL TIMES ON YouTube VIDEOS AND CERTAIN WEBPAGES IN RECENT YEARS......YOU CAN FIND LOTS OF THESE THROUGH GOOGLE IMAGES. IT'S FUN, IT REALLY IS! YOU SHOULD TRY IT SOME TIME. I JUST POSTED AN ARTICLE ON USING OUR OWN SEED FOR GROWING SOME VEGGIES AT HOME AND THOUGHT I WOULD ADD THIS POST FOR GOOD MEASURE AS WELL FOR YOU.

Some Kitchen Scraps Can Be Regrown

SHOULD BE GOOD FOR YOU SAVVY ECONOMISTS, GARDEN AND NATURE LOVERS OUT THERE AND YOU CAN HAVE SOME FUN WITH THE KIDS AS WELL. YOU MAY LIKE TO TRY SOME EXPERIMENT FOR THE NOVELTY:)

TRACY MORIN has an article with a similar title on Mashed.Com She writes:

Whether you can't get to the store, are looking to pinch pennies, or just want to enjoy the process of growing your own produce, why not repurpose whatever vegetables and herbs you can find in the kitchen, encouraging regrowth through scraps you'd otherwise throw away?

For example, green onions and other vegetables, like romaine lettuce, bok choy, cabbage, leeks, and carrot-top greens, are renowned for their powers of regeneration — just add to a container of water and watch 'em come alive.…

Published on Leave a comment on Sun-Mapping And Positioning Our Veggie Garden-Beds For Success

Here You Have It Gardeners, Another Way To Improve On Your Veggie Gardening!

Last Week I Made A Companion Planting Guide For Gardeners And Beginner Gardeners. Now To Address The Light And Shade Aspect. Lets Work With Nature. Most Of Us Have Some Shade And Part-Shade In Our Yard (Or Space) When Thinking Of Growing A Veggie Garden (Big Or Small) And Some Of Us Are A Little Confused How To Work Things Out.

Happy Sun-Mapping For Your Veggie Garden

This Post Will Help Bring Some Clarity Into The Situation, So You Have An Idea Where To Grow Your Herbs And Veggies And How To Go About It. The Following Articles Should See You On Your Way To Good Results And Maybe Better Than You Have Had Previously.

How Sun Mapping Can Help Homegrown Veggies Thrive

ABC Everyday  By Koren Helbig

In hindsight, figuring out where the sun falls in our backyard would have been handy to do before we started planting any veggies.

Because edible plants need sunlight to grow — the more of it, the better — yet the sun changes position across the seasons, dropping lower in winter and throwing longer shadows across the earth.

My partner and I didn't even think to consider this when we moved into our Adelaide rental four years ago.…

Published on Leave a comment on Outback Sees Biggest Budgie Event In 10 Years – You Should See The Photos And Video!

ABC Alice Springs  By Emma Haskin and Alex Barwick 1st August 2021

Thousands of brilliant budgerigars are flocking to the Australian outback thanks to perfect breeding conditions across the country. Mark Carter, Alice Springs bird watcher and trained zoologist, said that the region has not had a budgie event this big in 10 years.

"There was an event in 2016 which was localised to certain areas," Mr Carter said.

Wonders Of Nature – Show Of Budgies – Australia

"This event involves huge number of birds across the landscape," he said.

Mr Carter said it was hard to comprehend how many birds there were out there at the moment.

"If you do the maths on how many budgies are out there across the landscape, it's mind-boggling,"

He said that there are a few factors as to why the numbers have exploded.

Budgies Love To Flock At Dams Water Holes - 2

"It's a combination of things: We had rain at the perfect time here and they bred up in other parts of Australia and gathered here," he said.

Mr Carter said that those budgies subsequently have stayed and continued to breed resulting in extraordinary numbers across the region.

He said that there was an abundance of food thanks to low cattle numbers and the budgies have "cashed in on that".…