reading list

Book Review: Lunar and Biodynamic Gardening

Hi friends! I’m really excited to discuss today’s book with you all. As you all may know, I’m still a new(ish) homeowner, and I love flowers and gardening. So instead of waiting until March or April to start thinking about my garden, I decided to begin my garden planning now, so that I can hit the ground running after the first frost.

The book I’m reviewing is Lunar and Biodynamic Gardening by Matt Jackson. The book focuses on gardening in a way that allows you to create an optimum environment that supports the plants organically. This focus on healthy soil, working with nature’s natural rhythms, and disturbing the environment as little as possible makes it so that both the plants and all wildlife thrive.

Unfortunately, I got this book from the Dollar Tree and I’m unable to locate it on Amazon. However, the author has another book on Amazon that may be worth checking out (it covers the lunar phases and their effects on plants). Make sure to check that out if you enjoy this sort of content.

This book is broken down into six, easy-to-read chapters. The first chapter teaches the basics, explaining what lunar gardening and biodynamics are, and how these two differ from one another. The next chapter outlines what you need to start, depending on the size of your intended garden. The next chapters focus on soil and compost, growing food, growing flowers, and container gardening.

The author resides in the UK, so he is located in the Northern Hemisphere like me. But, he has generously provided resources for readers that may be in the Southern Hemisphere. He also shares resources to help readers get further clarification on certain principles.

I love how accessible lunar and biodynamic gardening approaches can be for novices. Jackson does a great job explaining how to work with various yard/garden sizes. My yard is medium sized, but my garden will be planned as if I have a small yard, and if I’m inspired, I will expand in future years. It’ll be great to start small so I can really master the concepts before I dive deeper.

In this world of law of attraction/conscious creation, it’s really easy to focus on the spiritual or esoteric sides of things to the point where we may not see the practical side of tuning into nature. But this book is a great reminder of how energy works, and how everything works together. I’m fascinated by the moon cycles, and I’m eager to see how these principles influence my garden’s success. I’ll be writing about this in upcoming posts, so look out for updates!

That’s it for today. I hope you all are staying safe and having a great day. Take care!

*This post contains affiliate links.

life curation · reading list

Book Review: The Crystal Fix by Juliette Thornbury

Happy Monday, friends! This is my first official book review of the year, and it’s a good one.

The book I’m reviewing today is The Crystal Fix by Juliette Thornbury. I purchased the book from Barnes and Noble last fall. I’ve been eager to read it, but other things took priority, so I didn’t get around to reading it until a few days ago.

This book is an excellent reference for crystal newbies (like myself). It gives a thorough, but not overwhelming, overview of crystal healing theory, as well as a list of crystals that are best for specific parts of the home. Then, the book dives deeper into a multitude of crystals and minerals, their properties, and how to combine them for best results.

I think what’s really special about the book is how it makes the worlds of crystals ACCESSIBLE and easy to incorporate. I wasn’t inundated by lots of technical jargon or too much information. It’s a reference guide but it’s so much more than that: it reads like a fun how-to book. There are instructions for incorporating crystals into your life, such as making crystal grids, meditation and rituals with crystals, and even beauty treatments that are infused with crystals.

To be fair, this guide is not all exhaustive: there are many crystals that are not listed (I can think of a few off of the top of my head, such as prehnite and quantum quattro). But the book isn’t made to be all-encompassing: it has just enough information to give you a great introduction to crystals and common ways to use them.

I think what’s really special about this book is that, as you read, you’ll find certain crystals resonate with you, and you’ll be inspired to buy those crystals. It’s funny: the crystals end up picking YOU, instead of you picking them. I awaiting my shipment of rhodochrosite and shungite now.

I encourage anyone that is interested in crystals to purchase this book and learn more. There is some great information in this book and it’s a wonderful introduction to the world of crystals.

That’s it for today. I’ll talk to you all tomorrow. Take care!

*This post contains affiliate links.

life curation · Uncategorized · writing

Something Special Coming Next Week . . .

Hi friends! If you have been following this blog for some time, then you know that I treasure New Years Day, and it is, hands down, one of my favorite times of year. I’ve always gotten such a kick out of setting resolutions and working toward my dreams throughout the year.

However, 2020 was nothing like anything that we could have anticipated. Between the anxiety I experienced related to my fibromyalgia journey and the unpredictable situation created by the pandemic, I had neither the energy nor the motivation to work on any big goals. I mourned the loss of opportunity within 2020, but I look forward to better, brighter days in 2021.

In honor of the projects that I put on indefinite hold in 2020, and in recognition of the grand intentions that I’m setting for 2021, I will be undertaking one of the biggest, most special projects I’ve ever considered. And the best part of this project is that all of the basic information will be available starting next week, and the entire process will be documented on this blog. It’s so near and dear to me, that I’m keeping this one really close to my chest, at least until I announce it later this evening (at 6 PM EST) on Clubhouse. If you are on Clubhouse, you can add me – my handle is @bronzebutterfly . I’ll discuss my project there, during my weekly Conscious Creation chat, and I’ll give more details then.

If you aren’t on Clubhouse, or are reading this after 6 PM EST today, then just know that I will be posting the details on next Wednesday (January 6, 2021). I’m so excited that I can hardly stand it!

That’s it for today. I’ll either catch you on Clubhouse, or I will talk to you all tomorrow. Take care!

life curation · Uncategorized · writing

My Latest Projects

While taking a hiatus from this blog, I decided to delve into some other projects of interest. I decided that the best thing for me would be to figure out what lights me up, and to focus on doing that for a while, even if the joyful feeling faded quickly.

The point of the exercise wasn’t to find a long-term passion project, but to put my energy into whatever made me happy, so that I could be in a better mental space for future creation. As it turns out, this short-term projects were just what I needed to relight the spark in me. And, because I had the spark re-lit, some of these short-term projects will be around a lot longer than I initially thought.

For starters, I worked on revising a book that I originally released late last year. The book was (in my opinion) a fantastic workbook for creating lifestyle changes, but because I titled the book “2020 Vision”, I knew that it wouldn’t be a popular selection for 2021. So I changed the title to more accurately reflect the content, and thus “Create Your Vision” was born.

When I tell you all how proud I am of this book . . . It really was a labor of love. I poured my best intentions into this text. And my author’s proof was so pretty, I knew that it would give someone a lot of joy! If you’re interested in getting a copy for yourself, you can click here or on the photo above. I created 25 different covers for this book, so if you’d like to see another design, you can visit my shop at Bronze Butterfly Books, or my shop available through this blog (just click here).

Along with re-releasing my book, I got inspired to work on a series of books that address a need that I (and many other women) have. I’m keeping the details under wraps for now, as I flesh out the concept more and figure out if I will need collaborators on this project. I will be announcing more details soon, so look out for that.

During the past few weeks, I also started a YouTube channel. I’d been wanting to do this for a while, but I finally had the time and energy to start on it, and I’ve been loving it so far! It’s an extension of the ideals of this blog, and I’m very excited to share it with you. Here’s one of my favorite videos, where I share some easy ways to be more like the Duchess of Sussex herself, Meghan Markle.

So those were my major projects for the past couple of months, and it looks like these projects are becoming a permanent part of my life. I’m excited to see where these take me, though if I feel overwhelmed, I will have no problem reducing or eliminating these projects to help maintain a sense of balance in my life.

So that’s what I was up to while I was gone. I have a few other things in the works, but I’ll share those in the weeks to come. Until tomorrow, take care!

*This post contains affiliate links.