Do You Believe in Ghosts

Does anyone believe in ghosts, has anyone ever seen one or heard one? Our house has many unexplained noises, there is the classic bump in the night. We have never had objects moved, but we have heard doors close., steps across the floor at night. One time when my eldest son was sleeping over he saw someone walk past his door and when he checked no one was there. Is it vibrations from the past or do spirits really haunt some places?

If you were ask if you do know the difference between a spirit or ghost or if you might have a ghost in your house, what would you say? Some people think the spirit was trapped between this world and the after life, or they died in the house and live on there. Some people hire ghost hunters to come and see what is going on. I have seen the documentary's on ghost hunters.

Another type of ghost is the poltergeist, an invisible spirit or ghost that manifests itself by moving and influencing objects. Places that poltergeists have been reported is India, United States, England, Japan and Brazil. I have seen programs where families have reported being attacked by poltergeist, scratched or objects being thrown. I thought I would have fun with this and see what you have to say. Believe it or not there are people that swear they have seen ghosts.

Armenian Genocide

The definition of genocide is the deliberate destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group. Research of Arnold J. Toynbee, an intelligence officer of the British Foreign Office, who estimate that 600,000 Armenians died or were massacred during deportation in the years 1915-1916. Since early times man has invaded other countries, killing people and taking prisoners, in order to add more land to their own, or just to dominate.

Armenia is located in the southern Caucasus and is the smallest of the former Soviet republics. A land of rugged mountains and extinct vollcanoes, its highest point is Mount Aragats and one of the worlds oldest civilizations and the first country to embrace Christianity. Over the centuries Armenian has been conquered by Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Mongots, Arabs, Ottoman Turks and Russia. That is a lot of conquering for such a small country.

The cause for their extinction was caused because in the 1860,s to early 1870,s they began to ask for better treatment from the Ottoman government. The Armenian's complained about looting, tax collection, murders and criminal behavior by government officials and the governments refusal to accept Christians as witness at trials. The government promised to look into these complaints and would punish those responsible. The Armenian Genocide, also known as the Armenian Holocaust refers to deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War II.

It was characterised by the use of deportation involving forced marches under conditions designed to lead to the death of the deportees, with the total number of Armenians death generally held to have been between one and a half million, it is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides, this was carried out to eliminate the Armenians. The Ottoman military uprooted them from their homes and forced them to march for hundreds of miles, depriving them of food and water, to the desert of what is now Syria. Massacres were indiscriminate of age or gender, also with much abuse. The Armenian Genocide is the second most studied case of genocide after the Holocaust.

The shortest way of disposing of women and children was to either burn them or take them out in boats and throw them overboard, doctors would also inoculate them with blood from typhoid fever patients. However the Republic of Turkey, the successor of the Ottoman Empire, does not accept the word genocide as an accurate description of these events. When I read this article I immediately thought of the Iraq people that Hussian slaughtered and buried them in large pits.

TREES

This is dedicated in honor of Mother Earth on Earth Day.
Trees, by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast,
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray,
A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair,
Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain;
Poems are made by fools like me.
But only God can make a tree.

Rainbow Bridge

I miss all my animals that have gone on to Rainbow Bridge to wait for me. I can just see them there, looking into the distance, saying to each other, "I bet I will see her coming first. Why do we get so attached to our pets? We treat them very good and make sure they are well taken care of. Above all they love us, trust us and like to please us.

At Rainbow Bridge==Inspired by a Norse legend

By the edge of a wood, at the foot of a hill, is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run, when their time on earth is over and done.
For here, between this world and the next, is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play, till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.
No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness, for there they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed, their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.
They romp through the grass, without even a care, until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back, then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.
For just at that instant, their eyes have met; Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past, the time of their parting is over at last.
The sadness they felt while they were apart, has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with love that will last forever, and side-by-side, they cross over...together.

Obesity & Our Children

parents now a days are both working, the kids are either latch key, or they are with sitters. Some schools have programs that the kids can stay until one of the parents show up for them. A mother working full time and also juggling the household, finds this very tiring and stressful, they may try to make amends to their kid's because they are away working most of the time. They indulge them the wrong way, either with the wrong foods or buying them gift's. This post is about our children being obese, this is happening at an alarming rate.

There are a large percent of grown people overweight, and this is becoming a big problem with their health also. I am concentrating on our children, we love them and want to see them live healthy, productive lives. If you have ever gone to a grade school or high school, you will see how alarming this problem is. Some schools are trying to address this problem by setting up certain exercising programs, I have read about this and some people think the programs are not adequate. Many children can not handle a divorce, they may turn to many outlets to compensate, such as over eating, drugs or choosing the wrong friends. After all they are just children and trying to cope with life, God Bless them.

Some of the things that make our kids over weight is wrong kind of snacks, this is a big factor. Other things are TV, Video games, computers and cell phones, almost every child I see has a cell phone attached to their ears.All these activities encourage snacking while doing them, and they choose quick snacks, they don't have to mess around making, such as chips, cookies sodas and so on. Schools don't help, by placing vending machines that have snacks and pop in them.

Lets face it our children are becoming couch potatoes, sitting way too much, parents can help by addressing this issue with healthier snacks. They can make a change by having in the house fresh veggies, low carb dip, fresh fruit, diet pop and low calories snacks. I know even the grown ups cringe at anything diet, but some of them are very tasty, you know the saying "try em, you might like em", well something like that. The parents can have set times for TV, video games and cell phone, especially when the kids have homework.

If this is archived, children will loose weight, start having more self confidence in how they look, be healthier and more active. Here is ways parents can help the kids get active, give them household chores, such as making beds, dusting, taking out the trash, cleaning their rooms, sweep or mop. Just put on your thinking cap, you are getting them involved and this is promoting exercise, the kids won't know your goals, they will think you are being mean.

They need to be out of doors, have them mowing the lawn, weeding, raking leaves or helping to clean out the garage and in the winter shoveling snow, cleaning off the car and making sure paths are cleared to the trash or the bird feeders. Down deep kids like to help out, they just need us to motivate them. Other ways for more exercise is the whole family get involved by bike rides, picnics, swimming at the beach or in a pool. The new video game Wii is a very good way to exercise your whole body, you have to be moving to play it.

Children of all ages need guidance, whether it's doing chores, helping outside or being involved in family fun. Children need to stay healthy , not become sluggish and become overweight. In the United States at least one child in five is overweight and this continues to grow, this is astonishing, we as parents need to wake up to these statics and help our overweight children. A doctor determines if a child is overweight by measuring their height and weight, if you think your kids are overweight talk to their doctor.

Crime & Punishment

Americans are scared and angry, the violent crimes has made some afraid to walk the streets in front of their own home. We Americans have had enough, we want to know why criminals were let back out on the streets, so they could kill again.

Crime is becoming part of everyday life, we see it on TV and read about it in our newspapers. Big city crimes happen every minute of the day, compared to small towns and cities. There is more and more of this violent crime seeping into the smaller cities., in our town we are now looking at killing and robbery at a jewelery store, the owner and an innocent customer, these people were just going about their business and pow, they are shot in the head.

The victims of crimes, suffer emotionally financially and sometimes physically. There is not enough being done to prevent crime, especially hate crimes, these are committed against certain people or groups, just because what they are doing is not acceptable. Gangs play a big part in street crimes, the dope peddlers that pray upon children and adults are out there also.

Criminals are being slapped on the wrist, they either get off scott free or receive light prison terms, and sometimes probation. This all to often is due to not enough evidence or the evidence was not handled properly. I have seen and read in our newspaper where a criminal has raped, tortured and then killed a person, only get a light senrence, come on, he not only raped her but tortured her and the final act of killing, there has to be a change in our laws.

Here is a true story, in Detroit, Michigan=Wayne County Jail, inmates were freed early, due to overcrowding. They did not release a few hundred but a few thousands felons, and get this with little or no supervision, which ment the court had only their word they would show up for court, with no one looking over their shoulders they vanished.

Today we as human beings are really discusted with our legal system, too many people that beat, rape and as if this is not enough they murder their victims. I feel so sad everytime I read or see this on TV, the criminal receives only jail time. What does the criminal get as a reward, clean clothes, three meals a day, if they want to start a hobby or further their education, oh yea I forgot this one, help mentally for doing what they did, and they can have visitors. The reward for the victim is death, a nice grave marker and a family that will miss them everyday of their lives and yes, the victim may have visitors also, at the cemetery.

The Blog Sites

I became interested in blogging almost a year ago, I like to go to as many posts as I can, as of today I have over 150 sites I visit. Everyone is so interesting, their views, ideas, recipes, trips, pictures and most of all I love to hear about their families, so many, many things to keep you interested in, I also like the animal posts, cats, dogs, sheep, cows, horses, goats and etc..

I especially like to hear about the family and the pictures they post. I like to hear from them also and I do. Today when we hear the family values are going down hill, they should come to the blogging site and see how it is still alive and kicking.

I also like the awards given to all the blog friends, they are great and quite a variety of them. The bloggers that post cards, garage sale and vintage items, some posts just have what they are interested in. Some of the sites are done so beautiful, you can tell who is more creative, my site is due to the work of my son and I am sure some of you have had help also.

I just had to post about you blogger friends, thanks for coming to my posts and leaving a comment. If I need to have a smile for the day I go to Merle's post, if you don't smile before you visit it, you will while reading it. I can't put into words how I appreciate all of you and hope blogging last for years to come.

The Sahara Desert

The Sahara Desert is not lush in vegetation, only in the Nile River Valley, a few Oasis and in the Northern Highlands. Many thousand years ago the Sahara was a green home to water loving animals, like Hippo's. About 10,00 years ago, the climate changed, which turned most of the Sahara into a Savannah-type environment. This was caused by Monsoon rains sweeping onto the Sahara, transforming the region into a habitable area, swiftly settled by the Nile dwellers. Then after 5,500 years ago the rains stopped and the desert returned, then the people had to return to the Nile River Valley or the Oases.

The Sahara Desert is the worlds largest hot desert, it is located in Northern Africa, it is known to be the hottest place on earth. Due to the climate change of thousands of years ago, today rising and falling winds pull moisture away from the desert, but they rarely bring rain. Sand dunes make up only 15 per cent of the desert, the size of the desert is about three and a half million square miles, even a single dune can be enormous and the rainfall reaches less than three inches a year. The desert covers a third of the African continent, it is almost the size of the United States. The Sahara Desert has just two permanent rivers and they are the Nile and Niger River's. The Oases are referred to as "Distant Islands", left behind by the sea.

There are several Oases in the Sahara Desert, without these Oases these wet stops for human and animals, crossing the desert would be almost impossible. An Oasis is the product of fresh water being available from underground reservoirs, rising to the top causing large pools. Many Oases are fertile, due to a constant supply of water and sunshine. These Oases are very beautiful and very large, the population can vary from a few hundred to a few million people. They make their living on agriculture, such as dates and olives, in recent decades tourism has been a vital source of income. In the Siwa Oasis it was discovered what maybe the world's oldest human foot print, it was discovered in 2007, it dates back over three million years. Progress has been made by roads built to the Oases, they no longer are isolated.

Water in Egypt take different forms, the royal river flows on the surface and water hidden in the depths, swelled with rain that falls in faraway lands. The royal river (Nile) is confined to the valley and can't water the desert and the Oases. The underground water was stored deep inside the earth in some distant, long-forgotten time, when the climate was rainy. This water flows deep, becomes fossilized, it is held captive, hidden; and yet it brings life and the possibility of survival to the oases.

When I had my heart attack a few years ago, my wonderful son and granddaughter bought me Egyptian books, lots of them from Barnes & Noble. While I was mending I read them all, I fell in love with the mystery of Egypt and her Pharaohs, Queens, people, building temples, tomb's, pyramids and the Valley of the King's & Queen's. This is fascinating reading and I recommend it to everyone.

H.J. Heinz

The other day I was using Heinz ketchup and I remembered I had been given a copy of his Biography by the Heinz Company in April of 1973, I read the book from cover to cover. This is such an interesting book, he is among the first icons of American History and what a success he was. I have read this book at least three times.

Henry Heinz was born in 1844 in Birmingham, now the south side of Pittsburg, PA.. At the age of eight he had to do his share of the family's labor. His mother had a kitchen garden as it grew bigger, he went into the village and sold the produce, when ten he went from a basket to a wheelbarrow, and two years later a horse and wagon. His feet was already set on the path that willlead him to great success, but at this time neither himself or his parents had such dreams.

Henry's parents wanted him to be a minister, and they sent him to school for this. The house in Sharpsburg, Pa. had a bountiful kitchen garden and Henry helped and was so interested in it, so without intending it, his mother directed his course of life away from the ministry. So, a business genius was saved to the world.

In 1869 he married, and he formed a firm which became the ancestor to today's company. The firm formed by Mr. Heinz was a partnership with l.C. Noble, the firm was named Heinz & Noble. Henry' s first product was grated horse-radish in bottles, he had faith that food products could be made into a big enterprise. In 1871 they expanded, and a year later Henry took on another partner, E.J. Noble brother to L.C. Noble. By 1874 the firm was cultivating one hundred acres in the Allegheny River Valley.

There was the Panic of 1873, it spread far and wide, but the young company weathered it. In 1875 the company had expanded again, they had made arrangements to buy crops from a canning and pickling company in Illinois. The year 1875 turned out to be a phenomenal crops, the bumper crop was coming in at the rate of two thousand bushels a day, calling for twelve hundred dollars a day, not to mention cabbage and other crops coming in. Not that this was bad enough another financial crisis passed over the land, bank's failed and could not honor checks,Henry's company was failing.

This is from his diary: Oct. 17-I have by the aid and strength of God, saved the firms paper from protest. Nov. 2-:I have two hundred dollars to meet tomorrow and not a penny to meet it with: The crops kept rolling in, he borrowed money from his wife, it hurt him to do this. The crash came and his records showed he did everything to meet the firm's obligations.

In those days when you file bankruptcy and you want to continue your company, you have to use a different name. Henry was thirty-one years old when disaster fell on him, he had a wife and two children. His brother John and cousin Fredrick Heinz gave him money to start anew, so in February 6, 1876 under the name F. & J. Heinz the business was launched once again. With the understanding John and Fredrick would be stock holders.

The history of the business after 876 may be divided into three periods--1876 to 1888 in which year the firm name Heinz Company, 1905-when the partnership form was changed to the corporate form under the same name and 1905 to present time. He had succeeded as he always did, in 1888 he took over, his brother John wanted to go west. Henry believed in God, himself and his fellow man. We all know that there are a variety of product made by Heinz, a long cry from his starting product, horse-radish, which is still sold today.

Henry Heinz, had developed a cold and was advised to stay in bed, he was assured he could leave for New York in a few day's. On Sunday he became worse, developed pneumonia, on Tuesday at 4 o'clock on the next afternoon the end came, the year was 1919. Henry was the first employer to provide dinning-rooms, locker rooms, first aid station, hired a trained nurse and free life insurance (which I am sure is not free now day's).

The reason I received this book from The Heinz company , is I bought an old old bottle 1888 from a vendor at Muskegon flea market, it was aqua, the side panel's were embossed F & J Heinz. I knew right away this was old and I contacted the company. They not only sent me the book but literature, and photos of their old bottles up to the present. They told me I had a rare bottle and should read the book and I would know what was in the bottle (horse-Radish). There is a lot of reading in this book and I would recomend it, you will not be disapointed. The book is 233 pages long and has many photos in it.

A Winter Tale: The Mitten

While going through my boxes of pictures to day I came across this cute tale, it appeared in the schools Weekly Reader in 1991. At this time my granddaughter Sarah was in the second grade at Ferrysburg School in Ferrysburg. I thought you might like to read about it, it is titled A Winter Tale: The Mitten.

One winter day, a little boy went for a walk in the woods. He stopped to tie his boots. He put his mittens down on a log. When he left, he picked up only one mitten.

Along came a chipmunk. She was very cold! "That mitten looks nice and warm," she thought. So in she climbed. Soon a squirrel came along. "That mitten looks nice and warm. Can I get in too?" the squirrel asked. "OK" said the chipmunk. So in he climbed.

Soon a fox came along. "That mitten looks nice and warm. Can I get in too?" the fox asked "OK" said the Chipmunk and the Squirrel. So in she climbed. Soon a bear came along. "That mitten looks nice and warm. Can I get in too?" the bear asked. "OK" said the chipmunk, the squirrel, and the fox. So in he climbed.

Soon a tiny mouse came along. "That mitten looks so nice and warm. Can I get in too?" she asked. "Well, it's pretty crowded. But "OK" said the chipmunk, the squirrel, the fox, and the bear. So the mouse tried to climb in.

The mouse wiggled and squirmed and pushed. But just as she got her head in- the mitten burst. Later, the little boy came back. He was looking for his lost mitten. But all he could find was a little bit of blue yarn. He never did find his mitten.