Author Charles Dickens' classic, A Tale of Two Cities, begins this way: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness ... ."

You have those who believe the Obama administration and the president when they lie and say that the economy is doing great, even though actual economic growth is nearly zero, and a record number of Americans are out of the workforce.

But then you have those Americans who have been hard-hit by the Great Recession that supposedly ended some years ago, who are chronically unemployed or underemployed, reeling under higher costs for practically everything (especially their healthcare, which wasn't supposed to happen after Obamacare became law). They know what kind of economy we really have. And they know that the GMO folks are exactly right to be worried about a crash.

Alaska

As we know, the population in the world grows, the strain on habitats and ecologies increases and the demand for food rises, so the food we consume has a bad impact on the global environment. The problems around food supply, production, and consumption are very complex, but there are a few considerations that could help to reduce the environmental effect of what you eat. Meanwhile, this also gives a healthy lifestyle. You can follow some tips below:

– If you eat meat, decrease the number of meals having meat you eat weekly.

– If you eat fish, select sustainably-sourced species as well as fishing methods.

– It is advisable to choose seasonal, local produce.

– Try avoiding fish contaminated with mercury

– Try avoiding food with unnecessary packaging, because this just leads to unnecessary, additional rubbish for your bin.

– You also should look for fair-trade, sustainable, environmentally-friendly food because this helps the economy.

2. Save Water

Another way to lower the environmental effect of your lifestyle is saving water around your home. Reducing energy usage can help you to save plenty of money. Follow some simple tips to save water below:

–  Making sure no leaks exist in the plumbing system – including taps, pipes, toilet cisterns – helps to prevent unnecessary water wastage.

–  When you brush your teeth, turn off the tap.

–  Take short showers

– Boil only as much water as needed

– Use short cycles to wash clothes

How to Wear a Classic White Shirt

 

Knowing how to wear a classic white shirt can help you have a more minimal wardrobe. I’m all about classic styles. While we all want a closet full of clothes, it’s important to know how to wear the basics and accessorize to make the most of your outfit.  With a little planning, you can make a classic white shirt look either casual or dressy which will help you create a range of styles from a few favorite pieces. I’ve been working on creating a capsule wardrobe and classic shirts are going to play a big part.

For a casual look when I run errands or meet friends for coffee, I add a lightweight jacket or sweater to the outfit for extra warmth.  I often use contrasting colors to bring out the white in the shirt.

To me, casual means jeans and a nice pair of jeans goes great with a classic white shirt.  You can always add in a belt for a little extra style.  A necklace or bracelet will probably be hidden if you’re wearing a hoodie but if you’re not adding a layer on top of your classic white shirt, you can always dress it up with some casual jewelry.

A white shirt works just as well in a dressy outfit as it does in a casual outfit.  Replace the jeans with a nice pair of black slacks.  Leave the hoodie at home and try wearing an undershirt below the shirt for added warmth and style. I love the way layers look.  You can contrast the black slacks and white shirt with a gray undershirt or if you’d rather, you can choose a white or black undershirt and let it blend in. Now is the perfect time to add in some bling! 

If you’re off on a night on the town, add in something bold and vibrant with lots of color. If you are off on a night on the town, add in something bold and vibrant with lots of color. If your are wearing your classic white t shirt to work, you may want to think quiet and understated like a chain or tennis bracelet or even a watch depending on your style.

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101 Dalmatians

 

When was the last time you took a cold shower? Chances are it was not by choice, but you were forced by circumstances. Well, taking cold showers will soon become a choice once you discover the amazing benefits. In fact, I’ve been taking cold showers for over a year.

Some athletes even take ice baths to reduce inflammation and muscle soreness. But it’s worth noting that drastic temperature shocks can be harmful to people with heart conditions. That said, regularly cold showers won’t do you any harm. Here are  benefits of cold showers.

1. You’ll become emotionally stronger

You’ll be able to deal with stress better when you take cold showers. Research shows that cold showers cause oxidative stress in the nervous system. So being exposed to cold showers frequently will eventually harden you and make you calmer.

2. Your willpower will increase

It takes willpower to turn off the heat and take a cold shower. The willpower will benefit you in other aspects of life like exercise, work, and fighting cravings.

3. You’ll burn more fat

Research shows that exposer to cold temperatures increases metabolism of brown fat, and can help you lose up to 9 pounds a year.

4. You’ll recover faster

For years athletes have been using ice baths to recovery faster after workouts. Take a cold shower after an intense workout or a long run.

5. They’ll put you in better mood

Cold showers will get rid of the cranky feeling you have in the morning. It’ll increase your heart rate and improve flow of blood to the brain.

6. Your skin will become more attractive

Unlike hot showers which cause skin dryness, cold showers tighten the skin and get rid of acne.

Big Boy Picture At Frisch's In Louisville

Phew! It was good to get that off my chest! I feel like a loner in a world of fall lovers (my husband being the most militant of all), but the fact is, I don't  like it.  Don't get me wrong, fall is a beautiful time of year.  But, because Winter is right around the corner it sort of takes the fun out of it.

Maybe it's because I grew up in the Ohio Valley where fall means the sun is about to hide behind a thick blanket of cloud cover for 6 months, or maybe it's because the hope of spring sowing has faded to the reality of the harvest (anyone else feel shell-shocked like they've been through war with the pests this year?!), but it could be as simple as I love warmth and going outdoors and feeling it without 10 restrictive layers of clothes.

David's Painting Of A Water Mill

What will the outcomes of this coming election make our world look like? What will it be like when they are trying to live as Christians in a culture so determined to dismantle our Biblical values? Have I taught them enough? Equipped them for the battles they’ll face? Will they withstand the pressures and policy changes and political shifts?

I’m not even sure I understand all the complicated political realities, but I do know when I watch the news or read discussions about the upcoming election, I don’t get a good feeling.

What I thought we’d have to navigate one day, seems to be a reality this day.

And it can leave this simple mom’s heart feeling afraid.

Do you ever feel this way? We crave safety and certainty and simplicity to raise our families, serve God, and live out our Christian beliefs in both private and public. But so many things feel threatening to those desires.

How do we navigate both our fears and our faith?

There’s a wonderful truth I turn to time and again when I get afraid. It’s in 2 Kings chapter 6 verse 16, “‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’”

We Miss The Mark Of Love When We Judge Others

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. Which standard are we using to judge? When it comes to us being judge, what measure would we like to be used? This is how we are to determine what standards we are to use when we must evaluate what we see.
We want mercy and grace! Followers of Jesus who have been radically changed by grace and mercy should be the first to extend radical grace and mercy. Recipients of forgiveness should always be the dispensers of forgiveness. Those who received much should always be the people who give much.
Evaluation of self is what enables us to properly evaluate the attitudes and actions of others.

Presidents In Uniform.

Hi Friends! I hope your week is off to a great start.

Most of us know about the benefits of pomegranates, but, very few are aware of the benefits of its peel. We often discard the peel of pomegranates. But this peel is blessed with numerous health and beauty benefits. It is an excellent remedy for stomach infections, throat tonsils, heart disease, acne, wrinkles, mouth odor, hemorrhoids and cough.

Pomegranate peels have more powerful antioxidants such as flavonoids, phenolics, and proanythocyanidins than what the pulp yields.

Health Benefits of Drinking Pomegranate Peel Tea

Prevents Wrinkles & Signs of Ageing

Drinking its tea prevents breakdown of collagen in your skin, in turn promoting cell growth, which helps delay signs of ageing and wrinkles effectively.

Improves Dental Hygiene

Pomegranate peels tea might help cope with a number of dental issues just like avoiding foul breath, gingivitis, carries as well as mouth ulcers.

Remedy for Sore Throat

If you are having sore throat or are suffering from tonsil pain drink pomegranate peel tea, it help you soothe your troubled throat and give immediate relief.

Improve Gut-Health

The peels have got tannis within them which help decrease inflammation of the intestine, swelling of hemorrhoids, tighten up intestinal lining, prevent bleeding throughout diarrhea and improve digestion.

Heart Health

Pomegranate peels tea good for heart disease. It reduces stress and lowers the blood pressure. Mix the sun-dried pomegranate peel powder with warm water and drink it daily or in alternate days to improve your heart health.

Prevent Skin Cancer

Many study show that pomegranate extracts contain a preventive agent that fights against the onset of skin cancer.

Good Moisturizing Agent

Pomegranate contains pelagic acid. This is a very good moisturizer and is rally effective in trapping the moisture in your skin. It ensures that the moisture in your skin cells does not dry out. Your skin is kept well hydrated.

Yellow Sky

 

Ten Commandments Of Food

Eat food grown as close as possible to where you live.

Give thanks for the food you eat.

Strive for all people to have knowledge about and access to affordable, nutritious food.

Eat mindfully and in moderation.

Do not waste food.

Be grateful to those who grow and prepare food for your table.

Support fair wages for farm workers, farmers and food workers.

Reduce environmental damage of land, water and air from food production and the food system.

Protect the biodiversity of seeds, soils, ecosystems and the cultures of food producers.

Rejoice and share the sacred gift of food with others.

A Winters Evening

 

Sleep is a vital health determinant. It is the time when the body relaxes from all the strains of daily activities and gets a chance to attend to itself. This is also the time for repair, healing, and recovery.

The body greatly benefits from a good night’s sleep. Recent studies have uncovered more benefits of sleeping in the cold.

Brown fat and sleeping in the cold

Research has shown that sleeping in a cold environment stimulates the formation of more brown fats. This is the healthiest type of fat in the body, unlike the more abundant white fats.

Brown fat is considered as metabolically active. That means the body has more use for it. The transformation of brown fats leads to more energy consumption and increased metabolic rates that last throughout the day.

Brown fat is previously believed to be only present in babies. Recent research found that there is a small amount present in adults. There is about 1 teaspoon-sized brown fat in the upper back and neck area. According to studies, this amount of brown fat can be increased.

Having more brown fat is more advantageous than having white fat. It aids with better weight management and better health. Brown fats promote burning more calories and more efficient use of energy. This fat also helps in better regulation of the metabolic process that can lead to better insulin and blood sugar controls.

Sleeping in a cold environment has been shown to encourage the formation and storage of brown fats.

Better sleep quality

The body is continually regulating its own temperature. During an entire 24-hour period, body temperature fluctuates. It typically reaches its highest level around the early afternoon. The lowest is around 5 AM.

During sleep, body temperature tends to go down as the body cools off and becomes less active. As the body cools down, it relaxes and soon, sleep comes. When the environment is cooler, the body can relax sooner and sleep quality improves.

In a cooler environment, the body is not required to keep regulating temperatures. This will significantly reduce tossing and turning at night looking for a comfortable position and stable temperature. This will promote a more restorative, deeper kind of sleep.

Recent studies also found that a cold sleeping environment is beneficial in managing insomnia. People tend to sleep sooner and longer in a cold environment compared to sleeping in a warm environment.

Other benefits of sleeping in the cold

Aside from better fat profile and sleep quality, here are a few more reasons for sleeping in a cold environment:

• Look younger

More melatonin is released during sleep when in a cold environment. Melatonin is an important anti-aging hormone that helps achieve a more youthful appearance.

• Reduce risks for metabolic diseases

Brown fat formation has been demonstrated to promote better energy usage and calorie burning. This can help in better insulin response and reduction in the risk for diabetes and other metabolic diseases.

Try sleeping in a cold room tonight and see the benefits. In a few days, health benefits like better energy will be observed.

Abandoned English Farm

A recent study by the National Cancer Institute and the U.S. Department of Agriculture found that there are not enough fruits and vegetables in the entire United States for each person to eat five servings a day even if they wanted to.

Although the researchers attributed the problem to low demand caused by poor eating habits, the findings strongly suggest that U.S. food policy simply underemphasizes the cultivation of fruits and vegetables for domestic consumption.

Yet, in spite of this appalling shortage, every single grocery store in the country throws out more than a ton of food each year. The vast majority of this food is fresh produce, which is often discarded if its appearance degrades (as from bruising), if its "sell by" date is getting close or just to make room for a fresher shipment.

According to a recent study, 63 percent of the average supermarket's waste is food. In the midst of a record recession, could there be any clearer sign of how distorted our food priorities are?

Hanging Out

Limit your kids' screen time now

So what's a concerned parent to do? Fortunately, research supports the effectiveness of simply setting limits on your children's screen time, and sticking to them. Experts also recommend banning screens from the bedroom, even if that means turning off your WiFi at night so children can't secretly go online with mobile devices after going to bed.

You can also look for educational environments for your children that are light on or free of screens, such as Waldorf Schools. Surprisingly, a Waldorf school in Los Altos, Calif., is popular with parents who work at tech companies making the very devices these parents want their children to avoid.

https://youtu.be/DL0u3Ukf8OE

Honey bees are hardwired to efficiently search the landscape enabling them to continue working for the greater good of their hives even when they are sick, according to new research co-authored by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).

Radar technology has been used to show for the first time that bees remain nimble and able to search and respond to their environment even when they have infections or viruses.

Honey bees tirelessly commute between rewarding flower patches and their hive, often hundreds or even thousands of metres apart. Their remarkable navigational skills rely on distinct landmarks, such as trees or houses, which they very efficiently find and memorize on orientation flights.

Experts fitted a transponder, a tiny dipole aerial much lighter than the nectar or pollen normally carried by the bee, to the thorax of the bee. Tracking each bee individually they would pick up a radar signal form the transponder showing where and how it was flying.
 

Street Car

 

Dark chocolate is packed with iron, fiber, magnesium, caffeine, protein, antioxidants, and a range of vitamins and minerals, which has been proven to help with weight loss, anxiety, headaches, and preventing multiple diseases.

Green tea is packed with antioxidants, polyphenols, catechins, caffeine, and L-theanine, which helps with boosting mental, physical, and overall wellbeing.

While a variety of chocolate bars and green teas are available on the market, it’s best to stick to chocolate containing 60-100% cacao and pairing it with a cup of organic green tea.

The good thing is, the more intense the cacao concentration is, the less refined sugar you’ll get, which is excellent for promoting better health!

Bagels have their origin as a traditional food among the Jews of 16th century Poland.
Because fresh bread was a staple food but no cooking could be done on the Sabbath, the bagel dough would be prepared before the Sabbath and then placed in a cool place to slowly rise throughout the course of the day.

Once the Sabbath was over, the dough would be immersed briefly in boiling water and then baked. The reason for the boiling is murky, but the effects are clear: boiling gives the outside of the dough a thick, chewy crust that prevents the inside of the dough from rising much during baking. This, in turn, makes the inside of a bagel dense and also chewy.

Most bagels sold in supermarkets and even bagel shops across the United States lack this signature texture, because boiling each individual bagel is a labor-intensive process that would raise manufacturing costs significantly.

To avoid these costs, most modern manufacturers instead use machinery to steam the bagels before baking. Unfortunately, this does not produce the same texture as the traditional method, leaving many bagel purists with no choice but to make their own.

This Is Too Funny

Are you getting so bored with your typical greasy scrambled eggs that you are now aiming to find some healthier alternatives to cook it? If you are tired of eating your richly cooked eggs for breakfast, it is high time that you update your cooking skills and revisit your recipe books. There is nothing more palatable than finding a new way of cooking eggs for breakfast. Of course, a healthier alternative is beneficial for our bodies too, so why not change our overly oily sunny-side-up to a lighter one?

Eggs are considered to be one of the healthiest foods known, but are they still healthy when they are constantly whisked or lathered with butter? Most people do limit themselves from eating too many eggs. After all, people should keep an eye on their cholesterol levels if they don’t want to find themselves in the doctor’s office. This, among other reasons, is why so many people are now adapting to a healthier way of cooking food.

If you want to have an idea on how to create a healthy dish with eggs as your main ingredient, then you must alter your style of cooking. Here are some of the healthiest ways to cook an egg:

Boiled, Poached or Steamed!

If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” C.S Lewis
Eating healthy is becoming a big priority for people of all ages. One healthy eating habit that’s proving to be very popular these days is eating organic foods. However, some people are hesitant to try it because they think a diet based on organic foods is bound to be expensive. That is arguably the biggest myth in organic eating.

The fact is that you can still eat organic even on a tight budget. You just have to find a cheap and easy way that works for you.

1.    Be a creative shopper

Some techniques can help you save a lot of money when shopping for organic food. Before making a purchase, you can check out different retailers, as well as online stores, to see which shops offer the best prices for particular organic ingredients.

Aside from comparing prices, you can also take a look at their promotions. You can also make use of items such as discount coupons to help you save some more extra cash.

2.    Buy food in season

Fresh produce is one of the most integral parts of the organic eating lifestyle. The problem is that their prices tend to fluctuate with the seasons (among other things).

One great strategy that will help you save money is to shop for food that is in season. In-season fruits and vegetables tend to be at their lowest prices during this time of the year. As a bonus, in-season produce is also more nutritious and delicious!

3.    Use affordable ingredients

Some people may think that just because something is labeled “organic,” it is automatically expensive. In fact, there are foods considered to be organic that won’t burn a hole in your savings account.

Consider going for affordable ingredients if you cannot afford the pricier ones. After all, it’s the process of growing them that makes food “organic”. Examples of cheap organic food include lentils, beans, eggs, seeds, and certain greens.

Our Labor Day Picnic and Birthday celebration!

New addition to the family. Meet Oliver, a pure bred Yorkie.

A Day To Celebrate Your Hard Work

As summer winds down, what better to close it out than a holiday in your honor? Enjoy your day!

I’ve learned how important it is to “make room” for God in my life by creating space in my day to talk to Him and read His Word. I make room for more of God’s presence when I honor Him in my actions and attitudes and “move over” by submitting my will to His. I create more space for God when I choose to accept the love He offers above my feelings of inadequacy that seek to crowd that love out.

You’ve probably heard it numerous times that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The foods you eat in the morning will influence your energy and eating habits throughout the day. So you should start your day with the healthiest meals. And there are no better foods than the superfoods listed below.

Greek yogurt, sweet potatoes, avocado, chili peppers, green tea, quinoa, blueberries, chia seeds and spinach.