I love saving money

Image by nDevilTV via Flickr

The virus protection on my laptop computer is due to elapse on October 16 and I was preparing to download an update which would have cost me about $80. Also while I am away in Mexico the virus protector on the desktop would expire and I was planning to download a free one like AVG to be available when I first went on the internet when I come back. AVG is good especially for a free program but does not handle malware as well as it could. I had AVG on my last desktop and when I took it into be repaired it had a few nasties on it although they hadn’t hindered me in any way.

Anyway Microsoft came tearing to the rescue today  with Microsoft Security Essentials , just released, which will provide real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free (as long as you have not a pirated copy of Windows) download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology.

So I downloaded onto the laptop and away we go. I just saved myself about $160. Thanks Microsoft, don’t like your browser but you have lots of experience with viruses don’t you.

Heads or Tails - Photograph

Skittles started a meme called Heads or Tails this week  the theme is Photograph

This is where we will be staying for 5 months in Mexico, December 1 until April 30. We have rented the apartment in the bottom part of the house. Only $550 a month how could we not. It is owned by an American man from Seattle, he lives on top in the winter months.  It is in San Carlos in the State of Sonora. Sonora is the only state that does not have any drug cartels. San Carlos did sustain some damage from hurricane Jimena earlier this month but not enough to stop us going. The owner promised to have internet access by the time we got there so I should be able to keep in touch.

It snowed!

We are hardly out of summer and there was snow on the ground and sticking to the trees today as I drove out to Houston. It probably won’t stay around but it is the beginning of the winter season, for me anyway. Dave is planning to put the snow plough on the ATV tomorrow just in case. We saw the last of the snow leave in June. I really must get used to a monochromatic world.

This is the last day for my little yellow car to be on the road. There wasn’t really any point insuring it for 8 weeks. We will be leaving for Mexico on November 25 and driving down in the truck so we will be using that in the meantime.

Very little happening here, Dave has been sick with a bad cold so has been home coughing, snorting and dozing for the last week, but he is back to his usual energetic self today. Fortunately I did not catch it. We almost never get colds, in fact when he dug the Sudafed out from the medicine cabinet it had an expiry date of 2003 so that must have been the last time we bought cold medicine. I can’t remember when I last had a cold and I have never had flu. I don’t think either of us is going to have the flu vaccine. We haven’t up to now and I don’t want to mess with what must be good immune systems. I take two Omega 3 capsules and about 3/4 cup of plain home made yogurt every day, both of which are purported to enhance the immune system. 

My biggest problem is year round allergies. They seem worse right now probably because of all the mushroom spores and the wood stove is going full blast. However since we get all our wood free and we run the wood stove for about 8 months a year (except of course if we go to Mexico) heating by electricity is not economically sound for us. So what are a few allergies in light of fiscal responsibility.

What you can do about Cancer or other sicknesses

We have just learned that a dear friend has been diagnosed with cancer and we have been asked to pray. I expect many of those reading this blog know someone who has cancer or some other sickness and we often feel helpless and don’t know what to do or how to pray. Perhaps these ideas will help.

As Christians we pray in Jesus' name. Jesus gave us His authority, so it is not about you or what level of faith you may have, or the sick person's faith, or your ability to pray well -- it is about what He has already accomplished on Calvary.

• Order the cancer to leave and symptoms to abate and that the effected body parts return to normal.
• Curse the cancer cells  and forbid them to multiply.
• Bless the healthy cells.
• Command fear to leave.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to come fill and encourage the person and to minister to them.
• Ask the Lord to come with His healing presence and complete the work in the sick person's body.

You don't even have to be a believer to pray. In fact, studies suggest that non-believers pray almost as often as believers. When we need help, we look for it wherever we think we might find it. How many times have you seen people calling on God when tragedy hits, but who claim not to believe under normal circumstances. Even a confirmed agnostic senses that there's some great power or energy or eternal force behind the universe.

Is there proof that prayer works

Scientific Evidence for Answered Prayer and the Existence of God

Clues that Fall is here

Officially Fall is meant to be here in just under an hour. It is like a summer’s day here though 23C/73F, but Fall has left a few clues around, that it is on the way.

I still have this lingering fear of bears, although we haven't seen any around the property for a while. So I plucked up courage and wandered around picking mushrooms, but I am always scanning the area and get alarmed at any rustle I hear.

These are shaggy manes and they are amongst many varieties of mushroom that pop up this time of year on our property, but these are the only ones I feel safe in harvesting and eating. I plan to make salmon cakes this evening and I will serve them with the shaggy manes.

The other clue is the trees are starting to turn golden and a few leaves have fallen already. I had to clean out a couple of boxes of petunias from the deck as they were quite dead however my other boxes look like they will last a few more days. Although we are experiencing Indian Summer the nights are getting cold only 4C/39F  last night.

Heads or Tails - Book

Skittles started a meme called Heads or Tails this week we have to write a post mentioning the word Book.

There are two books that comes to mind that have made me stop and think in the last few years.

The first is called God at War by Gregory A. Boyd.

Gregory Boyd is professor of theology at Bethel College, in this book he undertakes to reframe the central issues of Christian belief. He argues that theologians draw too heavily on Augustine’s response to the problem of evil, which is to attribute pain and suffering to the mysterious “good” purposes of God. Through a close study of both Old and New Testaments Boyd argues that God has been in an age-long, (but not eternal), battle against Satan and this conflict is essential to an understanding of the biblical narrative.

This book has been one of the most thought provoking books I have come across and I have referred to it many times.

The second is The Language of God by Francis S. Collins.

Dr. Francis Collins is head of the Human Genome Project, and is one of the world’s leading scientists. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and Scripture.

Dr. Collins believes that faith in God and faith in science are compatible. In the book he takes his readers on an amazing journey into the realms of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible.

I think this would be good reading for any high school student before entering university, it may answer lingering questions regarding their faith.

Neither of these books are light reading but certainly fascinating.

Pray the News

An excerpt from Margaret Silf’s book 'Close to the Heart'

“A particular form of intercessory prayer, and one that can frequently flow most  powerfully out of our own experience of pain, involves praying the news. This means taking complete strangers, or whole groups of people or other situations from the national or international news, into your prayer.

If it is true that we are 'all one below the tide line' then whatever happens in other, troubled, parts of the world is part of our being in the world. A virus that affects our lungs will sooner or later lower the resistance and strength of every other part of the body.

And if it is meaningful to pray in such a way, how might we approach this kind of prayer? We might reflect on the special power such prayer has when it flows from the heart of someone who has a real bond of empathy with the situation or person for which we are praying.

It is very easy to become overwhelmed by the international news and to be sucked into an abyss of despair when we become aware of our apparent helplessness to change things or even to alleviate the world's suffering in any significant way. A common and understandable reaction in these circumstances is to switch off inwardly- to insulate ourselves against an encroachment of grief and pain that we cannot bear. It follows, all too easily, that we become insensitive to some of the horrors we see on our television screens. We can grow dangerously apathetic and detached. If your reactions are anything like mine, you start to feel bad about yourself for not feeling more acutely what is happening to others in the world. Guilt kicks in and undermines any possibility of releasing positive energy into the troubled situation.

When I react like this, I find that it helps to take advantage of what the news editors call the human interest factor. In practice, this means paying attention to the specific situation of a person or family caught up in the trouble. Every night there is a report from somewhere around the world of a natural disaster or a political crisis or a major atrocity or a ferocious crime. Before you shut off emotionally because of your own powerlessness, try to notice the face of someone caught in the middle or it. Notice the expression in his/her eyes. Imagine experiencing the cold sweat of his/her fear. See for yourself where this person is living. Notice the things he/she says. Enter into his/her domestic space for a while and let it become your prayer, just as you might pray for a friend. Let that person's story, that one person's need, form your prayer for intercession. This will shrink the unmanageable down to a size that is unavoidable. It will hurt, but maybe real prayer such as this has to hurt, just as Christ's prayer for us from the cross was a hurting prayer.

Even a small gesture, expressed from the reaches of our hearts, can do more than we hope for or imagine, when it is made in the power of God.It le  ads me to believe that when we pray the news our smallness can count, and, like the widow's mite ,it can become the drop that causes the ocean to overflow.”

Garbage day again!

It seems I am starting to measure my life by the garbage bin.  Every Thursday morning about 7am we have to put out the garbage for collection. We are prohibited by a village by law from doing it the night before because of bears. It is Thursday is tomorrow and I have to collect up all the stuff ready for pick up as I can’t think too straight at 7am and might throw something at the garbage guy, rather than throw it into the garbage truck.

“It was just Thursday, darn it!” I exclaimed out loud to myself. I talk a lot to myself. I remember doing this same routine last week.  It comes to something when that is all you can remember from week to week.

For posterity I will relate my doings this morning.

1. Made the bed and got rid of some dirty dishes
2. I emailed my Avon lady and checked my email and feeds
3. Went and took a look at Facebook
4. Made Irish soda bread with caraway and raisins for hubby
5. Made flax meal, buckwheat, bean flour, coconut flour, oat bran bread for me.
6. Experimented with yogurt and made a small batch with added stevia and whey powder.
7. Made up some chicken salad with left overs
8. Collected the garbage

It is just past 1pm, maybe I will try another looming project. So far I have made 5 woven bracelets. It is quite time consuming on a loom but so far I am enjoying it. I have a watch that belonged to my mother and must be about 70 years old, but keeps time faithfully. It is badly in need of a strap I might see if I can create something for it.

I still have to get some wood in and make supper, we probably will have fish. “Oh what a surprise” I say to myself.

Hubby is off painting a building with his pal. He has been leaving around 8am and returning about 4pm. Then he sets to and chops wood or he might go off in the truck and get more gravel for the driveway. I don’t know where the man gets his energy.

Love and Sorrow

	Here a female mate is injured and the condition is soon fatal. She was hit by a car as she swooped low across the road.
	He brought her food and attended to her with love and compassion.
	He brought her food again but was shocked to find her dead.
	He tried to move her ... a rarely-seen effort for swallows!
	Aware that his sweetheart is dead and will never come back to him again, He cries with adoring love.
	He stood beside her, saddened at her death. Finally aware she would never return to him, he stood beside her body with sadness and sorrow.

Millions of people cried after seeing these photos in America,  Europe, Australia, and even India .
The photographer sold these pictures for a nominal fee to the most famous newspaper in France.

All copies of that edition were sold out on the day these pictures were published.

And many people think animals don't have brains or feelings? You have just witnessed Love and Sorrow
felt by all God's creatures.  The Bible says God knows when a sparrow falls.

It has been that sort of day

I had these photos sent to me today amongst a lot of others but these are my favorites. I can so relate. I can't find anywhere to give credit for them though.

  This has to be my favourite though. 

Simple ways to give your brain a workout

Image via Wikipedia

Here is a simple exercise that we can all do which will strengthen neural connections and even create new ones.

Switch the hand you are using to control the computer mouse. Use the hand you normally do NOT use.  Is it harder to be precise and accurate with your motions?  If you are feeling uncomfortable and awkward don’t worry, your brain is learning a new skill.

Try other neural building and strengthening exercises with everyday movements. Use your opposite hand to brush your teeth, dial the phone or operate the TV remote.

Try to include one or more of your senses in an everyday task. Get dressed or wash your hair with your eyes closed.

Break your routine. Go to work on a new route, eat with your opposite hand. Shop at new grocery store.

Walking is especially good for your brain, because it increases blood circulation and the oxygen and glucose that reach your brain. Walking is not strenuous, so your leg muscles don't take up extra oxygen and glucose like they do during other forms of exercise. As you walk, you effectively oxygenate your brain. Maybe this is why walking can "clear your head" and help you to think better. Studies show that in response to exercise, cerebral blood vessels can grow, even in middle-aged sedentary animals.

Studies of senior citizens who walk regularly showed significant improvement in memory skills compared to sedentary elderly people. Walking also improved their learning ability, concentration, and abstract reasoning. Stroke risk was cut by 57% in people who walked as little as 20 minutes a day.

When the cognitive abilities of elderly women were compared, those who walked regularly were less likely to experience age-related memory loss and other declines in mental function.

Information taken from http://www.fi.edu/learn/brain/exercise.html

Keyboard dilemma

Something weird. My keyboard is not working with the internet. It jams and then runs a whole bunch of letters. I am typing this on Live Writer which is computer based not internet based (it then uploads to internet) and it works fine, but as soon as I get on the internet I have problems. I can’t think how to fix it. I have unplugged everything and re-plugged it, changed the batteries, switched everything off. I will keep worrying at it. I suppose I might need a new keyboard. I

A couple of useful applications for business or students

Here are a couple of applications which I think could be useful.

Backpack primarily designed for business but since it allows you to share information between several members in a group it would seem a good tool for sports teams or family groups. Backpack keeps your documents, discussions, and schedules etc. in one place all the time. There is a cost however but if you have up to six using it is only $24 a month.

The other is Notely a new online tool for students of all ages looking for help to get better grades. Notely has all the tools a student could need, schedule, calendar, note-taking, homework planner, to-do list, task list and an upload area  and more and appears to be free.

I love organizers, I just wish I could get one for my closets but they have yet to invent a computer program that does that. LOL

Update and singing the praises of Opera 10

Made two lots of bread this morning and Dave has gone off into the forest to get more wood. We have lots of it now but he wants to get the wood shed completely full. I think he finds great satisfaction in seeing it all neatly stacked. He has, on occasion, given wood to those not able to get it, but it is hard work pulling trees out of the bush with a winch, sawing it up and then splitting it when he gets home. We had a terrific storm last night, the lightening lit up the whole sky like daylight and the thunder went on for some time. I sat out in the solarium and watched the display, I have always loved a good storm. Then the power went out so I got out the lamps but by 10pm our eyes were getting strained reading so we went to bed.

I downloaded Opera 10 and have moved over to it completely. It has a Turbo setting which can speed up my connection when it gets slow which happens every evening. Plus you can personalize it to your hearts content. It also synchronizes all my settings with the laptop. I have set it up as my main mail client, having my gmail accounts download into it, and they can be read offline if necessary as well as my feeds. There are a lot of features I like about this browser. Opera isn't as well know in North America as in Europe but it is a very good browser. Takes some time to get it all set up the way you want it, but worth it.

I have been a faithful fan of Firefox since it came out but it seems to have got very slow lately, at least for me. Flock is a faster alternative to Firefox, uses same code and you can use all the Firefox extensions with it and great if you are really into social networks etc. and I moved over there for a while. I tried Safari 4 but not that impressed it is faster than Firefox but you can't personalize it at all. Chrome is good but has not come up with ways to personalize it as yet.  I won't even use Internet Exlporer.

Productive or not

The future doesn't look that friendly in BC  what with the new HST tax, budget cuts to programs and services and the overall rise in the cost of things. I can't help thinking that if the provincial government had not given themselves that huge pay raise there would be a bit more money going around. Admittedly not billions but if we all have to tighten our belts I would like to see the politicians do it too.  It is dreadful that the minimum wage has, yet again, not been raised. How do they expect people to live? Not everyone living on the streets is into drugs etc. they can't afford to rent let alone buy a home.  It isn't just students that take minimum wage jobs, sometimes that is the only job one can find. Now we have a federal election looming, the fourth in six years. Voters have not been turning out, probably  because the choices are not great. I think my philosophy  at voting time will be 'better the devil you know that the devil you don't'.   Anyway enough politics, boy it makes me angry though! I can't say the politicians are particularly productive, at least to my mind, except to line their own pockets.

Washed my car this afternoon  and then finished another bracelet. I want to make a whole bunch for the Christmas bazaar that is held just before we go to Mexico. I sold a few pieces of jewelry this summer at the Crafter's Hut in the village so I guess I should keep on keeping on with it. At least I can wear what doesn't sell.

 Canned all the salmon today, it took most of the day but it is all in my pantry now.  I have two turkey carcasses tumbling off the top shelf of my upright freezer every time I open it. I keep promising them I am going to make them into soup and then can it. Then the raspberries need to be made into jam and hubby is gently reminding me that he is all out of marmalade and store bought is not as good as mine. I will have to make his bread tomorrow and I am all out of my flax meal bread. I want to try making my own chocolate bars. I bought unsweetened dark chocolate and I am going to try sweetening it with stevia and put nuts in it.

I had a go at making low carb pie crust this evening. It tasted alright but I couldn't roll it out so had to pat it on top, but next time if I let it get cold, which I should have done I know, it will work. Hubby said it was a good substitute and tasted and looked a lot like pastry. I used whey powder, coconut flour and a little bit of soy flour, butter and water.

I don't know how I found the time to work a full time job, with a part time job on the weekends plus doing typing for a local business man and homeschooling three boys. I must be slowing down but at least I am productive.