Dappled Air

I stumbled upon this interesting video about smiling. Have you ever noticed that when you just pull your mouth into a smile it makes you feel differently, happy? Well this video shows a very unique way to achieve this whenever you need a pick me up.

It is the end of November and a glorious morning. At 9 am the temperature is around 0°C, no wind and sunny. I just had to go for a walk around Oat Hill Lake. As usual, I took my camera with me in case there was something that would grab my attention. And something did grab my attention. On the western side of the lake there was a small area where dead reeds were sticking out of the water where the water was frozen. I bent down low and tried to capture the ice with the open water. Oat Hill Lake - November 2010 As I continued walking on the grass, I realized that the ground was frozen and it felt different walking on it than earlier in the year. Once I made it home, I shrank the photo for the web and then tried my newly discovered Pixel Bender Oil Paint filter in Photoshop. Oat Hill Lake photo as an oil painting I feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful area.

Mayan Day Keeper Saturday, September 4, 2010 hurricane Earl arrived in Halifax as a category 1 storm. It went directly over the city and left us without power for about 10 hours. The evening before we watched the "movie 2012", which we thought was appropriate in light of the upcoming hurricane. The movie was great from a movie effects perspective, but nothing to crow about from the story line. For the last 10 years I have been interested in the Mayan Calendar and so follow the steady stream of information about what we can expect in 2012, but I don't believe in all the hype. I believe that things will turn out totally different than expected. On Sunday after the storm I went to the local Chapters bookstore and came upon a book that seemed to talk to me. It is called "The Twelve" by William Gladstone and has something to do with 2012. I am only halfway through the book and find it an enjoyable read and can't wait to find out the ending. I haven't...

rosehips Where has the time gone? On my walks in my neighbourhood I am amazed at the variety of fruit and berries that grow here in Nova Scotia. There are wild one and cultivated ones. This year the rain and sun combination was just perfect and everything is just so lush. These rosehip are just so big and inviting. Growing up in Switzerland I used to love to have rosehip jam on my bread. I can't describe the taste. It is not very well knows in North America. Bavarian Rosehip Jam (12 ounce) by igourmet.com ornamental red currents Next I came across an ornamental hedge and to my delight discovered that they were red currents. They are cousins to black currents. My parents had red and black current bushes in our garden and it was my chore to go pick them. Black currents are very strong tasting while red currents look like tiny bunches of red grapes and have a much milder taste. Pioneer Valley Gourmet Red Currant Jelly wild blackberries The wild blackberries are only...

After switching from shampoo to no-shampoo , ie. I use 1 heaping teaspoon backing soda in a glass of warm water and 1 teaspoon cider vinegar in half a cup of water. I was ready to tackle the deodorant. I have been using deodorants, not anti-perspirants, all my life, but this year I noticed that they did not seem to work as well any longer. That sent me on an Internet search for recipes to make my own. After reading tons of info and searching for what they had in common, I found my recipe and I must say for the past 2 months that I have been using it, I am very happy. Homemade Deodorant Recipe: 2 tablespoon baking soda 6 tablespoons cornstarch Combine and mix well. Works best by shaking in a closed container. Now put in a smaller container. Apply with powder puff. That's where I ran into a snag, where do you get a powder puff? You make one! I crochet one that's washable and will post the instructions shortly. Note: Some recipes call for half baking soda and half corn...

I don't watch movies when they first come out, I watch them when they make it to the TV screen and this is one such movie that I found absolutely delightful. It is called " the Invention of Lying ". I like they way they portray a world where everybody says the truth and how one guy discovers that he can stretch the truth and everybody believes him. The movie made me think of how much what we believe to be the truth is based on what we have been told and have blindly accepted. How often do we really try to understand if it is really true or if we just simple accepted someone else's belief. Doing that will change our world view and our life.

I tried to remember the name of the show I used to listen to in Switzerland in the early 70s on ORF3 (Austrian Radio 3). It was called something 'Folk with ?', but I could not remember the name. Then last week I suddenly remembered. It was 'Folk with Jack'. Jack Grunsky was born in Austria, grew up in Canada when his parents moved here and then returned to Austria where I heard of him. I always liked his songs and a stroll around YouTube lead me down memory lane. When my twins were young I got a children's tape by Jack Grunsky  with the song 'Dreamcatcher' on it. Now that my kids are all grown, I had totally lost track of Jack and to my surprise discovered that he's still producing interesting music. So I could not help but introduce him to others. More Information about Jack: Jack's Website from Wikipedia Facebook Fan Page MySpace Page YouTube Jack Grunsky Search

It is official, June bugs are now also May bugs in Canada. Last night they appeared and flew into my bathroom window.  They are attracted to the light. Last year I was wondering if they are turning into May bugs in Canada and now I know it is true. In Switzerland the same bugs are called May bug, because they come out in May. Searching for some new pictures of May bugs, I came across chocolate May bugs. I had totally forgotten about them. I also came across a blog post called "Swiss are still weird" about chocolate May bugs.

On Friday's walk around Oat Hill Lake we came across the first ducklings of the season. That's why I always take my camera along on my walks. The ducklings must be very new as they still have yellow in their plumage from the egg.

Talking to my mom yesterday I discovered another piece of my dyslexia puzzle. She casually mentioned that she was watching the election of Mister Switzerland and that last year's winner said that his biggest problem was spelling and that many men then wrote in and said that they had the same problem. I wonder if boys have a different learning style regarding spelling than girls? Is the teaching style geared towards girls and not boys? Well, that brought our conversation to me and learning to read in Grade 1. My mom explained that in 1960 I was taught the whole word method and not sounding out the words. I vividly remember telling the teacher that reading sucks and that I was never going to learn to read and would not take my homework, a box with words to make sentences, home. What was the teacher to do? She found an older neighbour's girl and asked her to bring my homework home for me and tell my mom. According to my mom is jumbled the letters b and d and everybody assume...

In today's news from Ontario, the government announced that sex ed will now start in Grade 1. Now there is a big controversy going on. I am surprised, because after all we are in the 21st century on hone hand and on the other hand we are still in the dark ages when it comes to sex ed. Looking back over the years I have these key memories about my twins (boy & girl, now almost 32 years old) growing up. We were visiting my parents in Switzerland when they were 3 years old and happened to come across a TV show in the afternoon where a woman gave birth. My daughter was very intrigued, my son could not care less. For the next few days our daughter gave us very graphic replays of what she had seen. It was all very natural to her. Then her attention was captured by something else that was it for giving birth. The twins went to kindergarten in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and they had sex ed. So for the next 3 months my daughter drew mommies with babies in their tummies. Then one nice ...

Phil Mickelson - 272 Lee Westwood - 275,  Anthony Kim - 276 K. J. Choi - 277 Tiger Woods - 277 Fred Couples - 279 Here are the scores for April 8/2010, April 9/2010, April 10/2010 Fred Couples (Oct 3/59) - 66 - 75 - 68 - (209) Tom Watson (Sep 4/49) - 67 - 74 -73 - (214) Lee Westwood (Apr 24/73) - 67 - 69 - 68 (204) Phil Mickelson - (Jun 16/70) - 67 - 71 - 67 (205) K. J. Choi (May 19/70) - 67 - 71 - 70 (208) Tiger Woods - (Dec 30/75) - 68 - 70 - 70 (208 My predictions for the winner was right on, read yesterday's blog post to see. Biorhythm info  on my main website.

The Augusta Masters course has 18 holes, 72 par and is 7500 yards. Here are the scores for April 8/2010, April 9/2010, April 10/2010 Fred Couples (Oct 3/59) - 66 - 75 - 68 - (209) Tom Watson (Sep 4/49) - 67 - 74 -73 - (214) Lee Westwood (Apr 24/73) - 67 - 69 - 68 (204) Phil Mickelson - (Jun 16/70) - 67 - 71 - 67 (205) K. J. Choi (May 19/70) - 67 - 71 - 70 (208) Tiger Woods - (Dec 30/75) - 68 - 70 - 70 (208 Score Order for April 10/2010 Lee Westwood - 204, Phil Michelson - 205, K. J. Choi - 208, Tiger Woods - 208, Fred Couples - 209 Biorhythms for April 11/2010 Player Emotional Physical Intellectual Intution Score Tiger Woods 95% 81% 72% 50% c 69 Chad Campbell 5% 43% c 31% 2% 71 K. J. Choi 89% 69% 87% 80% 69 Fred Couples 61% c 97% 95% 19% 70 Trevor Immelman 50% c 56% c 27%  73% 72 Zach Johnson 95% 37% 1% 58% c 75 Phil Mickelson 71% 90% 1% 0% 67 Tom Watson 50% c 90% 1% 58% c 73 Lee Westwood 95% 50% c 84% 98% 71 c=critical day After observing the player's bi...

It is interesting to see how each player reacts to the critical period. I also noticed that many players are playing really well when their intuitional cycles are high. Here are the scores for April 8/2010, April 9/2010 Fred Couples (Oct 3/59) - 66 - 75 Tom Watson (Sep 4/49) - 67 - 74 Lee Westwood (Apr 24/73) - 67 - 69 Phil Mickelson - (Jun 16/70) -  67 - 71 K. J. Choi (May 19/70) - 67 - 71 Tiger Woods - (Dec 30/75) - 68 - 70 Score Order for April 9/2010 Ian Poulter - 136, Lee Westwood - 136 K. J. Choi - 138, Tiger Woods - 138, Phil Michelson - 138, Zach Johnson - 144 Biorhythms for April 10/2010 Player Emotional Physical Intellectual Intution Score Tiger Woods 89% 90% 80% 58% c 70 Chad Campbell 1% 56% c 23% 4% 80 K. J. Choi 81% 81% 93% 73% 70 Fred Couples 50% c 99% 90% 26% 68 Trevor Immelman 61% 69% 36%  80% 72 Zach Johnson 89% 24% 3% 50% c 76 Phil Mickelson 81% 97% 3% 2% 67 Tom Watson 61% 97% 3% 66% 73 Lee Westwood 89% 37% 77% 99% 68 c=critical ...

Ok, that was interesting. Chad Campbell - 79 I would count out all chances for improving for Chad. Looking at his biorhythms for the next 3 days, I don't think he will be playing very well, Saturday and Sunday may even be harder for him. Here are the scores for yesterday April 8/2010 Fred Couples (Oct 3/59) - 66 Tom Watson (Sep 4/49) - 67 Lee Westwood (Apr 24/73) - 67 Phil Mickelson -(Jun 16/70) - 67 K. J. Choi (May 19/70) - 67 Tiger Woods - (Dec 30/75) - 68 Biorhythms for April 9/2010 Player Emotional Physical Intellectual Intution Score Tiger Woods 81% 97% 87% 66% 70 Chad Campbell 0% 69% 15% 8% 68 K. J. Choi 71% 90% 97% 66% 71 Fred Couples 39% 98% 84% 34% 75 Trevor Immelman 71% 81% 45% c 86% 73 Zach Johnson 81% 13% 7% 42% c 74 Phil Mickelson 89% 99% 7% 4% 71 Tom Watson 71% 99% 7% 73% 74 Lee Westwood 81% 24% 68% 99% 69 c=critical day Biorhythm info on my main website.

Recently I have become more interested in sports from the energy psychology angle and that combined with my lifelong interest in biorhythms leads me to conduct an experiment, now that the 2010 Augusta Masters Golf Tournament is on, to see if I can predict the winner based on his biorhythms. To start with I went to look up the birth dates of the players and then checked their biorhythms. Tiger Woods - 12/30/1975 - 2005, 2002, 2001 winner Chad Campbell - 5/31/1974 - 2009 winner Trevor Immelman - 12/16/1979 - 2008 winner Zach Johnson - 2/24/1976 - 2007 winner Phil Mickelson -6/16/1970 - 2006 winner Biorhythms for April 8/2010 Player Emotional Physical Intellectual Intution Score Tiger Woods 71% 99% 93% 73% 68 Chad Campbell 1% 81% 9% 13% 79 Trevor Immelman 81% 90% 54% c 91% 69 Zach Johnson 71% 6% 12% 34% 70 Phil Mickelson 95% 98% 12% 8% 67 c=critical day Let's see how the day plays out.

Yesterday I had my hair trimmed for spring and learned something interesting from the hairdresser. I requested to only have my hair wet cut rather than washed and cut and casually mentioned that I hadn't used shampoo for a long time and didn't want to start again. I am very happy with my baking soda and apple cider vinegar system. As the hairdresser was cutting my hair, she inquired as to why I wasn't using 'drugstore' shampoos. I mentioned that I found that my hair seemed to be coated with something and I did not like the feel of it. That's when I learned that 'drugstore' shampoos have wax in them, where as the more expensive 'salon' shampoos did not. She said, that she did not know that until she became a hairdresser herself and then could experience it first hand. So, I stick with my inexpensive natural system rather than switch to the expensive salon system. I would love to hear from readers about their thoughts and experiences.

Sometimes we feel sorry for ourselves and get depressed, but then somethings happens or a website appears that make you really reevaluate your situation. I have come across the guy in this video and his website a number of times recently. Well, today I just have to share this inspiring story. I am not sure I could be as upbeat as Nick in his situation. Quotes from Nick: "The day you believe that you have reached your fullest potential is the day you have not" "Dream big" "The only limits I have in my life are the limits I have put on myself" 3 Part Inspirational Video by Nick Vujicic Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 1 of 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bL3GR4iAW0 Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 3 of 3 Websites and More YouTube Videos Life Without Limbs Attitude Is Altitude YouTube Videos

The last of the ice in the lake March 16/10 After a pretty nice winter, that means no huge snowfalls, spring is arriving about 1 month ahead of schedule. There could still be some more snow on the way, but it will not last as the ground is already thawing. The ice is out of most lakes and the first snowdrops are up. I wonder what this weather will mean for the rest of the year? The lack of a heavy snow cover could spell trouble for people on wells this summer. The fishermen are out in full force already, last year on April 1st the official opening of the fishing season, there was still ice in the lake. The ducks are swimming around, maybe the ducklings will arrive early this year. I am sorry that I haven't been able to update my blog more frequently, but I have just been swamped with work. Then this week I came across this really cute idea to say "I'm sorry" in a 'geeky' kind of way. Unfortunately, I don't remember where I saw it or snagged it.

I don't know where time goes. In a blink of an eye another weeks has passed and we are already in the 3rd month of the year. So it is high time to write another blog article. I seem to go in waves when I have lots of ideas and then suddenly .... nothing. I am finally cleaning out my todo file and came across this, I don't even remember where I got it from any more. The five Universal Laws of Nature The law of Balance. There are two sides to everything. The law of Growth. Everything happens for a reason – evolution. The law of Connection. All things are interconnected, nothing is independent. The law of Attraction. What you appreciate grows. The law of Hierarchy. There is an force greater than the force we know. All things are humble to something. They remind me of the saying: everything I needed to know I learnt in Kindergarten. Well, the best teacher for everything I need to learn and understand is nature.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner I was asking myself: When I look in the mirror can I really say to myself: that I love myself? Yes, it sounds so easy, but to truly mean it and feel it is a totally different story. I once read that before we can really love another person we have to love ourselves, warts and all. The reason is that once we love ourselves, loving another person is the icing on the cake. That's when I remembered Louise Hay's Book 'You Can Heal Your Life' where she talks about doing 'mirror work'. It is very simple and quite effective. Last night I created this card as a reminder. Here are some links about Louise Hay: You Can Heal Your Life - the Movie A Place for the Heart Lessons from a recovering doormat Simply Blessed Louise Hay Facebook Page

How many times have we rushed only to find that we are moving slower not faster? This morning I came across this subject when I randomly picked a page in my inspiration book called "Creative Sparks" by Jim Krause. The page I picked said this: Sometimes it's way faster to go a little slower I remember trying to catch a bus and walking really fast only to realize that all I did was tire myself and did not really move much faster. Then when I relaxed and just focused on getting there in time I moved more smoothly and even faster. What I learned is that we are our own worst enemy. Rather than blaming outside circumstances, we should be blaming ourself and instead learn to relax and just go with the flow. As I always say it's the little things that make life special, it's the icing on the cake that makes the cake special. Have a wonderful week.

Today I came across this link in my RSS feeds from the Make Use Of website. It all had to do with First and Last Names. So after some playing around with our family's names I decided that it would make a great blog post. The following info is from these two website: Family Name History Behind the Name My Maiden Name: Moser South German: topographic name for someone who lived near a peat bog, Middle High German mos, or a habitational name from a place named with this word. North German (Möser): metonymic occupational name for a vegetable grower or seller, from an agent noun based on Middle Low German mo-s ‘vegetable’ My Married Name: Cohen Jewish: from Hebrew kohen ‘priest’. Priests are traditionally regarded as members of a hereditary caste descended from Aaron, brother of Moses. See also Kaplan. My First Name: Marlies Gertrud I had a hard time finding any English info as my name is Dutch, German or Swiss Dutch sequence of Maria and Elisabeth. Means 'Star of the ocean' (La...

Today is 011110, a binary computer number day and I just discovered a post which for a fontoholic like me is right on target. This is 'the typeface personality quiz' is perfect for a font geek like me. I love collecting fonts and using them. To take the quiz: enter your first and last name and the password ' character ' and off you go answering four questions. My answers were: emotional, assertive, progressive and relaxed and my typeface is: Cooper Black Italic. What do I do with all my fonts, you might ask? Well, I combine love of collecting fonts with my love of collecting quotes and combine them into 'fontplays'. Here is a link to my latest fontplays and here to older ones like the one below.