Rosslyn Redux

Tag: Wellness

  • House of Dreams

    House of Dreams

    House of Dreams (Quotation by Gaston Bachelard via Keri Smith)
    House of Dreams (Quotation by Gaston Bachelard via Keri Smith)

    Hat top to Keri Smith, one of my favorite doodlers (I’m talking about the short-short list!) for sharing this Eureka moment quotation on her blog.

    In honor of Gaston Bachelard, I’d like to subtly bastardize the sentiment:

    I should say: Rosslyn shelters day-dreaming, Rosslyn protects the dreamers, and Rosslyn allows us to dream in peace.

    It’s not always 100% evident to me. When a foundation leak graces us with a basement flood. Or Lake Champlain spills out of her banks and into our boathouse. Nor when a 100+ year old maple tree succumbs to blasting winds and smashes the handmade fence. Etc.

    But on afternoons like today, the smallest things, like the way the morning light illuminates the carriage barn windows, I know. I understand that this wonderful old, living and breathing home provides for us in innumerable ways every day. I know that Rosslyn is a house of dreams and daydreamers. And for this I am extremely grateful.

    Thank you, Keri and Gaston for the timely reminder!

  • Organic Box Springs

    Organic Box Springs
    Dissecting Organic Box Springs…

    After another toss-turn-twist-roll-toss-turn night I spent some time trolling the web for organic mattresses and organic box springs. It’s truly amazing how much this marketplace has changed over the last year or two. There are literally too many options to sort out!

    I’m hoping to inspire Susan to look into a few and see if maybe she’d be willing to try out something new… A couple that look promising:

    • Home Green Home Organic Box Spring
    • Abundant Earth Organic Cotton Box Spring
    • Earthsake Organic Box Spring
    • Royal-Pedic Double Diamond Box Spring
    • Rawganique Organic Box Spring

    I’ve come to suspect that our problem with the bed/mattresses we’ve been sleeping on since moving into Rosslyn might have less to do with the mattress and more to do with the box spring, or lack thereof. The mattress sits on a rigid platform that was built for us. I’ve read in several places that heavier bodies (I’m usually around 205 pounds) are better supported by mattresses with springs in conjunction with box springs.

    “Sleepers over 175 lbs. especially will appreciate the increased flexibility of a box spring compared to a rigid slatted platform.” (Home Green Home)

    Worth a try? Susan’s found it incredibly hard to sleep soundly on this mattress/bed as well, so we’re both looking for a smart solution rather than trying new mattresses every few months…

  • What is Green Building?

    The Earth flag is not an official flag, since ...
    What is green building? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    The term “green building” is moving steadily from fringe to mainstream, but its meaning is getting blurrier in the process. Sounds good on a brochure, but is it accurate? What does “green building” even mean?

    Green building is the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources — energy, water, and materials — while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal — the complete building life cycle.” (via Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, “The Federal Commitment to Green Building: Experiences and Expectations,” September 18, 2003)

    That’s one of the most clear, compact and intelligent summaries I’ve seen in a while.

    Here’s another effort to clarify the idea of “green building” from Green Harmony Home.

    A sustainable building, or green building is an outcome of a design which focuses on increasing the efficiency of resource use – energy, water, and materials – while reducing building impacts on human health and the environment during the building’s lifecycle, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance, and removal.

    Green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact of the built environment on human health and the natural environment by:

    • Efficiently using energy, water, and other resources
    • Protecting occupant health and improving employee productivity
    • Reducing waste, pollution and environmental degradation

    I’ll continue to cast about for a more universal and straightforward definition of “green building” but this will provide a point of reference for now.