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 |   A Journal to impart knowledge and facts |
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July 22, 2015 I'm going to start today to record on a daily basis whatever happens to strike my fancy. So, it is a very cool breezy day. I just posted 5 short book reviews to The Monthly Reading Challenge. I'm suppose to put away some winter wood today from the woodpile outside but I'm playing hookey from work to write so starting this blog will get done. I'm having a daily fight with a flock of English Sparrows that are trying to take over my barn. They are making a terrible mess so they have to go. I have destroyed several nests so far they don't leave but they get out of the barn when I am around. I'm just starting the fight so I guess I don't know how far I have to go to discourage them. I'm trying not to spread myself to thin on WDC because I find so many things that are interesting here and I am trying to work on a new story. I really enjoy sitting at my desk with a cup of tea and reading blogs on WDC. |
Congratulations! *Delight* You made it to the final day of the competition! *Cool* I’ll give you an easy prompt to end on *Wink How do you celebrate your successes? I am going to keep having fun every day I have left, because there is no other way of life. You just have to decide whether you are a Tigger or an Eeyore.--- Randy Pausch ![Merit Badge in Celebration
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Congratulations on completing your reading goals in [Link To Item #monthlyreading] for May 2018 *^*Bookopen*^*!
~Minja](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Celebration.gif)  How to celebrate is a calm decision here. Maybe a dinner out somewhere or pizza and a movie at home. I did just celebrate with something I wanted to try for a long time. I want to try running a Infrared heater all winter with solar energy. Well I'm going to get the chance to do that. I ordered a new solar kit today. It's up to me to learn to set it up, run it safely, and use it properly. I'm searching for the best place for it right now because their are a lot of trees near the house. I need lots of clear views to the sun and I'm not sure how a blizzard will affect the panels. So, far I have read several books and watched video's about how to set up the panels. My dad always wanted to put in wind power but that seemed to be more cash out of pocket so it's solar for now. Here is a tip, Don't hook up the panels until you have the power receptacles hooked up or you will blow up the panels. They begin charging as soon as they hit the light.  Yep! Could be a shocking experience. If I'm not successful, I will reap a lot of she's  comments. And, just so you know this is me doing this not anyone else.I wanted to do this since 2003. We discussed it in a bio-geography class in which students were moaning and groaning, but the teacher upheld my ideas, because she said her mom had been using solar power for ten years. Maybe, I can claim it's just part of the bucket list I never made. We are on a Rural Coop for our electricity and we get a fairly good rate. They are always suggesting ways to add electricity to your home or their lines, in their local magazine. One time they even showed how to build a solar panel in a do it yourself way. What I have read is that solar panels are getting more sophisticated all the time so I wanted something already built that was technologically sound. It's my way of celebrating summer and the official end of our haying season. Yes. Our hay is all in the barn and today is the end of July 30-Day-Challege. Lots of things to celebrate. Are we Blog camping in August this year??  |
Reflect on the month as a whole. Any highlights from your personal life? Challenges? What were your favorite prompts from the 30DBC? Did you learn anything from or about your fellow competitors?  “You don’t have to say everything to be a light. Sometimes a fire built on a hill will bring interested people to your campfire.” ― Shannon L. Alder https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/meeting-people ODDs and ENDs Spring and summer started out here very slow. It felt like we were still fighting our way into summer weather on the first day of July. Then suddenly summer was here. One day time was dragging the calendar backwards. Then, poof we hit the summer wall. On the 4th of July we climbed over the wall. Time was moving normally on the other side. I closed my eyes and ears to the haying activity. I can't sling hay bales on a regular basis anyway and made time to blog every day. Favorite prompts? I liked having to look up info about TED. Because it was something I never noticed before. While looking up TED I found all kinds of new science info. I kind of was astonished by the one where we were suppose to ask someone their opinion of ourselves. Even if someone was here at the time I'm not sure I could have complied because I try to ovoid dangerous subjects.  But, I liked that blog strange as it may seem?I also liked the thought that we should ask questions in our blog. Makes sense to jab readers with something that will cause them to actually think about what they are reading. Or challenge them to write answers. A lot of the people blogging with 30-Day-Challenge are people who have been blogging here for several years. I was interested in how many joined in to the discussions. For awhile, only a few were sticking to the Challenge every month. This July there are a lot of different bloggers. It took more time to read the blogs and make comments. I paid more attention to comments. I was also interested that the bloggers this July seem to have a lot of similar experiences in life. It makes me think I'm not as alone on the earth as I thought I was. So. Yes, I learned things about fellow bloggers that were good to know. A struggle in life is better carried on many shoulders. Not just the 30-Day but the whole of  make an effort to make everyone a home on this website. .Hard to believe there is only one more blog this month.![Merit Badge in Point of View
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Happy Birthday! Belatedly. I like your point of view *^*Bigsmile*^* ~Adrienne](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Point_of_View.gif)  |
| What does “vacation” mean to you? Alone time or time with friends and family? Staying close to home or traveling far afield? Spendy or thrifty? “A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you’ve been taking.” – Earl Wilson https://worldonawhim.com/vacation-quotes-travel-quotes/ VACATION? I never take a vacation. Years ago we participated as a family in church organized field camp outs. Some group organized nondenominational family oriented meetings for 100's of people. We camped in tents and had choices of speakers and Christian bands for entertainment. It was a week long trip. The 70's. The group that organized the event eventually went bankrupt and that put a stop to the camp outs. My family went to one of these two different years. That is the last time we went camping. I like to camp. Tents are kind of fun to spend some time in. Only now if I really camped in a tent I would want a air mattress under my sleeping bag. There was a news segment one time about a couple of elderly ladies that biked to different places in summer and camped. They had a trailer they hauled with their supplies. It looked like fun. They set up their own tents in what ever park they were in and spent time hiking and biking on the provided trails. There are movies about camping on the Adirondack Trail. That looks like fun too. If it was me I would load up a bunch of books on my kindle. Make portable solar part of my kit. Set up a sleeping tent and a dining tent. of course, tents that are water proof. Take a bike so I could spend some time riding trails. I like to hike but I prefer bike riding. I'm sure it would be nice to just sit around for a few days doing nothing. I would probably have to take my dog for company. Camping means coming in contact with new people and sharing stories with people from different places. Seeing different sites. Exploring different social aspects of life. The last few years I looked forward to vacationing online in August. Since we are always at home the 30-Day-Challenge in August has been like a vacation. We go all over the world and learn how to travel. Some of the things I have learned: What equipment is new in camping gear, how Europe has grown and adjusted since WWII, wonderful sites and social aspects of Australia, and good things about South America, even though many countries down there are having political and economic problems. It gave me historical reality about the world since the year 2000. Plus, I learned about Lynn's fabulous flying vehicle. I even bought a real green summer dress like one I saw on one of the trips but, I never wear it. In reality, Wednesdays are my day off right now. Sundays are suppose to be and I try to slow down on Saturdays. But, K likes to find things for me to do those days, so when he goes to work on Wednesdays I use it whatever way I want. Wednesday is my sane day. Sometimes I tackle jobs he doesn't care whether they ever get done and sometimes I just read or write. It's just a day to do whatever I decide to do. So, it feels kind of vacationee. I'm not spendthrift oriented but, I would like good camp equipment. I would not have to go to far afield to find camp grounds and state parks with trails to visit. It would be nice to share the adventure with a human friend but, gave that up some years ago. Plus it doesn't do any good to plan such a life because I keep pets who need attention and I don't think I could afford a sitter or find a trust worthy sitter for my 4 legged crew. I don't long to go out any more than I do. There is a lot to keep me busy at home and entertainment isn't to far away when squirrels bounce off the roof every day. Some one came in here one day to deliver a horse many years ago. He looked around and said, This is just like a park. My park wasn't getting mowed the last few weeks and it was badly in need of mowing so I mowed two days this week while the kids hayed. It looks more inviting outside now. Easier to take dog walks too.   Stay Happy. Stay Sane.![Merit Badge in Blog Camping
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Thank you for joining me on another August adventure. Hope you join me for the book signing tour next August. *^*Heart*^*](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Blog_Camping-1788309_13.gif) |
If you were to give a TED talk, what would it be about? {{size:3.5}b}Quote: “To be a hero you have to learn to be a deviant — because you're always going against the conformity of the group.” ― Philip G. Zimbardo tags: 2008, heroic-imagination, psychology-of-evil, ted-talks https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/ted-talks TED Eighteen minutes is a long time to stand up and talk about one subject. I might have enough pet knowledge and stories to make it through 18 minutes without losing the audience to boredom. I did not take the time to look up a TED and listen to it. I never heard of TED before today. I think the key here is when making a talk that long to keep the attention of the audience. You would have to throw lots of information at people, that they are not already familiar with in order to be successful in any speech. Have you ever come across a video on the internet about some special health break through or gimmick? In the end the people are usually selling something. The sales pitch promising special information can be so tedious most people don't make it to the end. For instance I got side tracked while looking up TED. I ended up going to a site that had a story about an under water city, that had been discovered by tourists, off the coast of Greece. A city not created by human hands. It was created by some type of bacteria that gathers underwater and makes what looks like building blocks. It was a short story. One page long. It gave up the information pretty quick. Only took about 3 minutes to read the whole thing. I've listened to health or gardening speakers on PBS that might be considered TED. Usually I can sit through a half hour talk that is meaningful. So, an eighteen minute talk about anything better be interesting. Even if I'm the one making it. BYE!apondia#1781748 |
I need your help to fill the Challenge War Chest with new prompts. Write four blogging prompts and choose one of your own to write your entry on.  Quote:“Work. Good, honest work, whether it’s working with your hands to create an artwork, or manual labor, brings forth a sense of divinity at play. The only prerequisite is that whatever the work is, it is done sincerely and in congruence with the soul’s true origin and intent, then, without any effort, one experiences a flow, wherein one feels a part of the plan of the entire universe.” ― Kamand Kojouri Prompting the Crowd Sometimes when someone asks for prompts for the War Chest I wonder where this war chest is located? During a challenge I wonder why they don't prompt about??? When we are asked to write a prompt I promptly forget all the prompts I thought up on my own. The mind backs up and sits down on the job, so here goes. 1.  What was the most difficult physical labor you were asked to do as a child and how do you view that time in your life now. I used to ride the rake for my dad when he put in loose hay for dairy cattle. It was an old trip rake pulled behind a tractor. It raked the hay into 10 foot long clumps. When there was a big enough pile of hay under the rake dad would look back and signal me. I would stamp on the trip lever with my foot (I weighed about 30 lbs. and it took my whole weight to trip the lever) to release the tines, then the lever would go back into place and the tines would drop back down to ground level where they dragged across the ground gathering the hay again. I helped plant strawberry plants by hand for my uncle who had a truck garden. He sold produce to customers as a sideline to his shop work. I learned farming from my dad and uncle and house cleaning from one of my aunts. 2.  Do you have pets? How much knowledge do you actually have about training or caring for a pet. 3.  Do you like to get into a vehicle and just drive around exploring roads and sights in your area? If you did what would you see?4.  Here is one a teacher gave me. Go out somewhere and sit. It can be at a park or your front porch, or a coffee house.or a grocery store. Describe what you see, what people are doing, what the weather is doing, what traffic is doing.Or tell us something you saw when you were out and about sometime, that you thought was unusual? Bye Bye |
| Ask someone you trust the following question and write about their answer: “What are my best qualities and what are my worst qualities?” : Quote:“Strategic personal qualities you can base your self-confidence on are those which are interesting for all mankind.” ― Rossana Condoleo https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/personal-qualities Qualities There isn't anyone here but me right now so I'll throw it out there to the brave bloggers. Give me an answer? I do have stories I can tell. Once when I was very young my brother told me I had good rhythm. Family rarely talked to me unless it was to tell me to do something, so I was smitten with this sudden complement. ( Age = 10 or so.) So, I bugged him to say it over and over. finally in exasperation he said, if I knew you were going to make me say it over and over I would not have said it at all. Then, I left him alone. He is also one who is bothered by my tendency to tell the truth as I know it. Even startling facts I read about. I wonder why no one called my attention to this earlier in life. Just some thoughts today. I thought about calling someone on my phone about this prompt but by the time I got answer who knows what amount of time would have passed. ![Merit Badge in Golden Reader Award
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Congratulations on finishing your [Link To Item #2174465] for 2018 *^*Bookopen*^*!
~Minja](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Golden_Reader_Award-1945677_14.gif) THE END {BECAUSE THE FAMILY IS ALL WORKING TODAY.)p.s. My dogs, cats, and parrots all get clean bedding, and fed on a regular base does that count as a positive.  apondia#1781748 |
Take us on a sensory journey to a place that is significant to you. Try to describe the place using all of your senses so we can be there with you!  Quote: “The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.” ― Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture Book To Read From the App Audio Books from Libervox: The Adventures of a Grain of Dust by Hallan Hawksworth Sounds and Scents of Haying Time Morning on haying day has its own way of meeting the sun. The first thought I have is look at the sky. Is the sun coming up on clear blue sky, are the clouds high or low, white or gray, stratus or cumulus? Today we have high light covering of cirrus. Hopefully they with burn off as the morning progresses. The object for the day is dry grass turning into hay. Bales that are stored in a barn must absolutely be dry inside and out. One bale with wet grass bundled into the center can cause enough heat to combust into flame and burn everything around it in raging fire. The scene out the window by my desk is green. Lawn grass and brown trees sit still with only the smallest breath of a breeze. Beyond the yard sits the red combination of pieces of metal, chains, and immense flywheel sitting in a part of the field, where it was abandoned after the last use. Waiting as only a monstrous machine can appear to wait to resume the task of turning rows of dry grass into manageable precisely formed bales of hay. Bales that can be stacked in high blocks to await the day when winter winds are futility beating on the barn walls and doors. That will be the day when the effort of storing a thousand 100 pound blocks of hay will be worthwhile as the animals lounge around in clean stalls eating their fill maintaining for spring. Behind the baler a flat floored wagon with a rack built on the back. also sits in the field waiting for the days labor to begin. Fifty yards beyond as the sun is now rising is the hay laid down the day before with still a different type of machine. A machine built to cut the bottom of a 4 foot high stalk of grass a few inches from the ground and press some of the moisture from the grass as it lays it onto the ground in long rows ten feet wide, that are satiny and crinkly to touch. The sound is like a whispered sheeee as you push your arm through them to feel the weight and dryness. The mown grass will lay in the sun and air drying until it is a texture that will properly run its way through the baler. But before that, some one will climb onto a tractor hook up still a different machine. This time it will be a rather ancient rust brown rake. The rake is built to turn the hay a few hours before it is baled so the under side that is laying on the ground will dry in the white blue summer sunshine. On like people farm machine rarely retires it is used and repaired. Parts are changed and so the metal on the rake has becomes an aged brown color, used to setting outside in the weather, then as the season returns for hay, it is put into service as it is needed. The ancient rake will roll the hay into long rows about three feet wide. Like a cake roll without any filling the rows will be ready for the baler. It will be a long cavalcade of machinery. The tractor first pulling the baler, the baler has a 30 foot long wagon hooked behind it. The driver has to be skilled in order to maneuver the bed of the baler into the proper position so it will pick up the row as they trundle along. There is a sound that goes with this scene. Its goes something like this, chunk, chunk,chunk, k-clip,the sound beats over and over. It"s the mechanics of the machine pushing the hay through the square box; squashing it together as if packing too many clothes into a suit case for a long journey. The driver feels like a mother sitting in a rocking chair. As the baler rocks back and forth doing its work, it is also gently rocking the tractor back and forth, while you progress at a snails pace across the field. The twenty foot high trailer loads are pulled into the barn and unloaded by hand. At the end the family that accomplishes this is tired, but understands the worth of what they are doing. It's a good tiredness only honest work can achieve. Bigger farms, more expensive equipment can be bought for thousands of dollars that takes some of the work out of the day. No matter the amount of money spent or work accomplished make no mistake it is necessary to life. The End |
| Write about a fear you experienced as a child that you have since overcome. All Quotes Are From: https://www.success.com/19-quotes-about-facing-your-fears/ “Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as the bold.” —Helen Keller TO FEAR OR NOT TO FEAR First let's explore the idea that fear isn't all wrong or bad to have. It's a brain thing. Quote:“Fears are nothing more than a state of mind.” —Napoleon Hill It's there to help you evaluate your situation. Maybe that fear is real and there could be something you could do to stop whatever is causing the trouble you feel in your life? I think it was Colorado (I could be wrong about the place) during Reagan's administration (I'm using this reference instead of looking up the dates). A Swami of some sort was building a cult. He was using mind power to cause people to faint and other little psychic tricks to keep people in line. I read an article written by someone who was inside one of the gatherings at this cult. Eventually, the USA government used monetary pressure to break up the situation and send the Swami packing to somewhere else. When I read this the man had taken up residence in the UK. Another group of people in Europe were driven out of a country because they called themselves P. They could make animals and people Pee on command as they prayed. Some of them were arrested but some of them fled to the USA. There would probably be an archived article about this in the New York Times. The word power is thrown around a lot in the section of the country where I live. At least one church of people I know of has members who have bragged to me that they can call down lightning on people. They also use mind control to get people to do things they want them too. One of the things they brag they can do is put people to sleep. This is concentrating your mind on a section of someone else's brain. It causes a glitch between the workings of your brain and the messages your brain sends to your body via your bodies electrical systems.(spinal cord). There have been many more science experiments done over the years. So, if you research you will find out there is a lot more information out there that is true about such types of power. Kabbalah is a type of wisdom used to understand God's relationship to man. However, there is a part of Kabbalah that is called criminal kabbalah. Using this power to influence others in ways that cause them to do things they would not have done if they were following their own abilities and thoughts. Sometimes, sexual energies are used and this is part of criminality. There was a small outcry about Madonna when she was studying Kabbalah with her male partner at that time. She was accused of using Kabbalah to make money? It died down before I figured out the particulars. It most likely died down because if they get to deep into this they find out how many people in the USA might be involved and because this is a difficult thing to stop. The cult Scientology is based on Kabbalah.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology Christ was fighting this kind of power that was being used improperly inside of Israel. Very often you never hear about the difference between mind control, psychic power, and the Holy Spirit. If you get into the nitty gritty the differences are extreme. There are now, in many countries Christians speaking out who know the difference. Honest scholars of the Bible who know the difference. What does all this have to do with the prompt? I live in an A-frame house. People start rumors about it being a pyramid. People have tried to call down lightning on my house and bragged about it? I don't go to church so they think they have a right to do bad things to me or my children. In this area, there are a lot of brotherhoods and sisterhoods and just plain churches that rely on psychic power to influence people to go to church not to believe in the things God wanted on the earth when the prayer was taught "on earth as it is in heaven." I was in a member of a protestant congregation at one time and there was a women who was asking people to form a circle, hold hands and pray that a certain family would come to church. That morning the male household member showed up at the end of the service. He did not stay just came to give people a piece of his mind. He probably won't ever go to any church again because he knows, in his mind, when people are influencing him about, what he believes. Another group I was attending that were Eastern Star based, sat people in a chair to represent someone, who would not bow to their wishes and prayed over the person in the chair as if it were the absentee. Once I asked them why they did not send a delegation or ask the people person to person about their needs in life. I was told they did not have to have any personal contact with anyone they could get them to do what they wanted with prayer. A female journalist publishing articles in the Erie Times about witchcraft in this area was murdered and her murdered was never brought to justice. Also a lot of years ago. It's a symptom of disease in society when these issues are not addressed openly. The recent trials of Catholic priests should have been a wound that was opened a long time ago. But, don't think that priests are the only ones guilty of this kind of psychic injury to humans. The Masonic's, Eastern Star, Rebecca's and other like organizations are sometimes involved. I'm even sure that parts of these types of organizations are not involved. You have to take things on an individual bases to get any truth of the matter. I get what I call the screaming Mi Mi's when they start praying about me. And, it does happen. Yesterday a woman kept calling here and hanging up. When I answered she said she was calling about my electrical bill. I asked her what company she was calling about? She asked me if I was (used my name) I said yes. and if someone told her to call me and harass me they had given her bad advice. She hung up. Then someone called K and told him his social security number had been compromised. He said if it had the social security administration would have written him an official letter. They hung up. When I read how some of the 30-day bloggers are having mental problems I believe it. To live is to try to keep your own thoughts clear and keep the ability to make good decisions. I'm really 74. I won't move or give up my home just because someone else wants it. Be afraid of me. I'm love life on the earth. Some day I will die. Probably not today. By the way I wasn't ranting, but the way I have had to stand my ground and live my life shows me that fear is often reconciled with knowledge of reality. The cults I've written about and have experiential knowledge of are part of my life experience. Sometimes they don't even know they are cults. They think they are Christians, I always say. If you don't like what I tell others stop attacking me. My way of life trys to mind my business not yours. I don't make crank calls or walk into your home when you aren't there or try to harm your animals. I would not do that. I would talk directly to you if I knew who you are. Just sayin! The above information has a point. People who live near me read my blog. Hello to all of you who want to find out more about me. I would like to meet you too. apondia#1781748 |
Share three pieces of advice you’ve received through your life that you wish you had heard earlier.  Another quote from Goodreads: “To handle yourself, use your head; to handle others, use your heart.”― Eleanor Roosevelt ADVICE I am literally trying to stay away from blogging to much of my life experiences. It makes this particular prompt difficult to find comments I should share. But here goes anyway. 1. An uncle told me I shouldn't trust my cousin. It would have been better if this uncle had told me 40 years earlier in life .And, told my cousin he told me. Honestly, the part about this prompt that is difficult is "advice you wish you had heard earlier." It isn't always the things they tell you too late that matters; sometimes it's the things they refuse to tell you at all that are hard to bear. People don't give me advice or knowledge they just feel superior when I make a bad decision without knowledge to back it up. 2. Someone once told me Psychology was witchcraft. So, when I took psych 101 in college I learned a lot about how psychology is used improperly as well as how it is suppose to be properly used. I could have used this knowledge about 65 years ago. 3. One bit of knowledge I gained through magazines was about hoarders. This isn't just a disease it is a hereditary problem passed down through families. It would have helped to know this forty years ago. No. I'm not a hoarder but I have met some in my time. The problem is they want to use my home to store things they don't ever intend to use.  .OK. Enough. Have a good day.  THE END. |
| Write an entry inspired by any three WDC emoticons. You pick the emoticons, but make sure they are tied to your entry in some way.Quote: “The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets.” – Al McGuire An emoticon is suppose to convey feelings.  I like strawberries and it came up so I used it.In the last couple of weeks. When I typed in an emoticon a list would come up. The emoticon I typed in doesn't necessarily always come up. Then, I look it up on the list to make sure I typed it properly, yep most times I did. I noticed the lists are always different and so I've became familiar with lots of different emoticons. Some I never noticed before. So, I started inserting emoticons just for the fun of it. I thought maybe the lists were hinting I should use some emoticons that aren't used often.  Some of you may have tried to figure out how they related to the blog when actually maybe they didn't. I was just playing with the keyboard and the emoticons. My mind was saying hey look at all these  little pictures lets use a few. I was just entertaining myself while I typed, with these lists of little pictures.Although, some of them I did put in as a way to express myself, about whatever I was writing. So,  If what I'm emoting doesn't seem to fit?? Don't get in a flurry about it. I didn't know we had a tornado or a tie dye emoticon?Oh shucks! Just three where's the fun in that. Bye. reference: Today's quote came from https://www.keepinspiring.me/funny-quotes/ |
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