Aren’t All Psychics Liars?

I’ve always been able to tell what others are thinking and feeling. It wasn’t a special gift or anything when I was young. I just knew I was different. Other kids my age didn’t have the same senses and feelings I did.

As a young adult, I had two children. I was a great Mama. I noticed my empathy for others around me grew stronger during this time. I also could tell what was going on with the neighbor couple we were acquaintances with – like when they were having marital troubles. I knew what Gloria was thinking even though she smiled and said kind words. She never liked us and felt like she was better than we were. Her husband, Bob, was different. I picked up on his sincerity from the first time I met him. He followed like a puppy wherever Gloria said to go, though.

As I grew into my 40s I noticed another shift in my Intuitive nature and the empathy I had for others. I didn’t always like these “gifts.” The strong feelings left me exhausted and hurting for other people. Actually hurting in my chest. It felt heavy. I had a sadness about me when I knew someone was in pain or if their lives were in turmoil.

I’d never believed in “psychics” before but was starting to delve into the subject. I still wasn’t serious about it all. I was just super sensitive my husband told me.

However, in my 50s, I met a woman who worked full time as an online psychic. She made very good money and always seemed to know what I was thinking. I confided in her how I had always felt about my “sensitivities.” She said I needed to get online and help others with my gifts. I shrugged it off for months. I wasn’t anyone special. Who was I to help other people with their problems in life?

One day, I got serious about the subject – after being exhausted one day from holding in a friend’s marriage problems. I got online and signed up to take chats from strangers. I was scared to death but kept myself honest and open. I didn’t use cards or dice or any other devices. I merely was there for these hurting souls. I felt their pain through their words as they typed to me and I typed back.

That beginning turned out to be a huge blessing of a job for me. I now work part time as an advisor on keen.com (I’m Cajun Queen). I have heard many stories about many types of people. It’s a very interesting career. I feel so blessed and satisfied to be able to do this job. Yes, I get tired mentally and stiff after sitting for so long some days. But, it’s worth it to help those out there who are in need.

I just thought I’d let you know how some of us who are online advisors (some are called psychics) think. I’m not out to make the callers stay online as long as possible for the money. That is a misconception some of my acquaintances. I type quickly and I don’t waste their time.

So, there are some of us out here who are honestly doing a service for others on these psychic sites. Just thought you’d like to know.

What is Noom?

Noom is the weight loss plan I am following. It works when I work it – much like most plans out there. However, I enjoy Noom because of its daily lessons and periodic, short quizzes and online food journal that tells me how healthful the foods are that I am consuming. It also offers a personal coach and group support.

Click on the Noom link at the beginning of this blog to see an in-depth article about it. Best one I’ve seen yet.

Today, I begin my day with a fruit yogurt and coffee. I’m satiated and ready to start this Monday ahead of me.

I work online as a counselor of sorts and in between my calls, I research certain items of interest. I strongly suggest, if you have weight to lose, no matter how little or how great the amount, check out Noom to see if it suits your needs.

I’ll check back in with you in a few days. I’m eating well and feeling good!

Lea

Are You Eating Honey From a Bee’s Stomach?

Yes, you are.

Forager bees return to the hive after finding nectar, where they regurgitate and transfer nectar to the hive bees. Forager bees give the nectar to Hive Bees. The hive bees then use their honey stomachs to ingest and regurgitate the nectar, forming bubbles between their mandibles repeatedly until it is partially digested. The bubbles create a large surface area per volume and a portion of the water is removed through evaporation. The bee’s digestive enzymes convert sucrose to a mixture of glucose and fructose and break down other starches and proteins, increasing the acidity.

The bees work together as a group with the regurgitation and digestion for as long as 20 minutes, passing the nectar from one bee to the next, until the product reaches the honeycombs in storage quality. It is then placed in honeycomb cells and left unsealed while still high in water content (about 50 to 70%) and natural yeasts which, unchecked, would cause the sugars in the newly formed honey to ferment. Bees are among the few insects that can generate large amounts of body heat, and the hive bees constantly regulate the hive temperature, either heating with their bodies or cooling with water evaporation, to maintain a fairly constant temperature of about 35 °C (95 °F) in the honey-storage areas. 

The process continues as hive bees flutter their wings constantly to circulate air and evaporate water from the honey to a content around 18%, raising the sugar concentration beyond the saturation point and preventing fermentation. The bees then cap the cells with wax to seal them. As removed from the hive a beekeeper, honey has a long shelf life and will not ferment if properly sealed.

Thanks to Wikipedia for information

Low Carb vs Junk Food Diet

I’ve made a discovery. I had to choose a path to travel when I approached a fork in the road. Ironic that it’s called a FORK when my diet is what drastically changed. Over the last couple of decades, I made junk food my go-to when I felt stressed, bored, afraid, or whatever other emotion I was dealing with. I was alone a lot in my first marriage and fell to food as a coping mechanism.

You’ve heard this tale before by many others BUT mine hit me square in the face tonight. With hubby number two off at a meeting, I was bored and hungry. Instead of choosing the low carbohydrate foods in my pantry, I turned backward and drove to a taco stand. It sounded so tasty, and it HAD been a month since I’d changed my diet. I deserved one meal I craved, right?

I crushed the tacos in a bowl and added salsa. I sat down to watch a sit-com  – anticipating the first bite of an old delicious friend, a taco with an actual crunchy shell on it.

Boom! There was the taste. Only it wasn’t what I remembered. It had a stale, kind of burned taste, and the texture of the meat was odd. It was packed together tightly but get this . . . there was almost no taste at all. It WASN’T delicious. It was greasy and bland and not even close to what my mind remembered.

I finished the tacos anyway, secretly hoping each bite would find me enchanted again with my old habit. Nope. So, I ate until I was too full (like I once did) and felt like crap! Within fifteen minutes, I had a headache. I kid you not. MSG? I knew there was no “going back.”

I had taken a path of clean eating over the last month, and it prevailed. I was both encouraged and disappointed. I didn’t have the old habit I once counted on as my Band-Aid.

Yet, I faced a new path . . . one with a healthier destination.

I now walk in the light of health and won’t have the old unhealthful habits. I guess that’s one way to quit a habit you hate. It becomes something you detest after a while.

My bare feet take me to a happier and tastier place, and I do enjoy the journey much more than I used to. Soon, there will be no fat, headaches, mood-changing sugars, or any other detriment that I once held so closely.

I wonder what else 2018 has in store.

Happy February, dear ones ~

How Clean is “Clean?”

What tiny creatures lurk on your face? Even your cleanly washed face?

Demodex Mites!

According to Lucy Jones with BBC, “They are microscopic mites, eight-legged creatures rather like spiders. Almost every human being has them. They spend their entire lives on our faces, where they eat, mate and finally die.”

Want to see more pics? I thought you might. Here are the arthropods:

Cute little guys, eh? (shiver!)

These mites live in your pores, hair follicles, and sebaceous glands. What’s even more exciting to learn is that they also may live in out genital areas and on our breasts. I’ll never feel clean again.

There are about two mites per eyelash on your lovely eyes. Want to see another pic? I knew you would.

So, what do these crab-like critters actually “do?”

Ms. Jones suggests, “Some people think they eat the bacteria that are associated with the skin . . . Some think they eat the dead skin cells. Some think they’re eating the oil from the sebaceous gland.”

Nice, any one of these gives me the creeps but it’s nature. It’s our miraculous bodies.

How do the mites reproduce? We aren’t sure of that, either. Other types of mites even resort to cannibalism but it’s not been shown in the Demodex.

Lucy Jones also states, “They’ve never been known to eat one another,” says Thoemmes. “It appears that they come out at night to mate and then go back to their pores.”

Ugh.

The mites lay a few large eggs around the base of a pore – but these guys don’t “go to the bathroom.” They have no anuses. So, it’s thought that they save it all up in their bodies until they die or explode on our faces.

(Don’t you just love this blog?)

It has been stated that there is a link between Rosacea and the Demodex Mite. People with Rosacea have more mites per square centimeter than people without Rosacea. But rather than causing the skin condition, it’s thought that it’s not the Demodex who start the process but are merely present in skin that is of older adults or that has been exposed to extreme weather. Less oil means easier skin irritation.

See photo of a more severe case of Rosacea below:

Demodex have also been shown to be more prevalent in people with compromised immune systems, as in AIDS or cancer patients.

Can you get rid of these mites? Would you want to? They actually may be eating bacteria and dead skin cells, which isn’t a negative. Even if you did rid your face of these, Jones says, “It looks as if there is something special on our faces that they need. Even if you kill them off, you’re going to get them again, because they’re everywhere and they want to be on your face.”

Our bodies are teeming with microorganisms. 90% of our cells are made up of them. So, Ms. Jones is accurate in saying, “There is a simple lesson here. You are not just you; you are a walking, talking community, an entire ecosystem held within one body.”

Now, how clean is “clean?”

Paradise – Haiku Sugar Mill – Maui, Hawaii

Dave and I took off for Haiku, Hawaii today (on Maui). Owner, Sylvia Hamilton-Kerr, has completed a restoration of the old grounds. The once-thriving mill had sat crumbling and was a historical loss to all. However, it is now protected and able to be enjoyed by visitors. A tour is given to a limited number of guests a few times a week. You get a dose of entertaining history, amazing tropical horticulture, and breathtaking photo opportunities. Their fresh mango lemonade at tour’s end isn’t too shabby, either. Note the Breadfruit tree and its fruit. Its uses are many.

It is starchy and sugary when ripe and can be baked, roasted, fried, or boiled. I’ve had it as potato chips and as a thickener in a Hawaiian preparation of an octopus dish. Both were tasty. Interestingly, the sap from the Breadfruit tree (see the white drip above) may be used as a latex in caulking waterproof boating vessels, homes, and in chewing gum. That was new information to me.

Ms. Hamilton-Kerr has made a garden of Eden under a mango tree that is approximately 150 years old. Cool breezes blew through my hair as I soaked up the ambiance and beauty of it all. Vintage French ironwork and woodwork adorn walls, decorates walkways, and even hangs from the tree. My senses were overwhelmed in this area of the mill tour. Bird songs in the background and sweet scents from nearby blossoms were a treat for everyone present.

The actual old mill structure is only 1/3 present but in what a presentation it is offered! Old World Europe meets Island Tropics. Sylvia married these elements into a unique and delightful piece of Maui that seems a million miles from the “real world.”

As a side note, Haiku Mill is a perfect wedding venue. I have seen many settings, as I am a registered wedding officiant, but none so much a paradise as this.

Vines and other lush vegetation cling to the old mill’s stone facade. The inside of the entry wall is as beautiful as the outside.

Our tour group of eight lingered after the presentation was shared. We took photos, chatted, and drank our mango lemonade. We were excited to be offered for purchase a fresh star fruit and a jar of homemade mango jam. This gem of Maui should not be missed. Escape the tourist areas, and enter a world steeped in island history and a place of peace and tranquility ~

Quinoa – Do We Really Know What We’re Eating?

Thank you to Julie R Thomson of Huffington Post for a fantastic yet simple article. See below. I will past it here in case the link becomes inactive. Have fun reading. I did!

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/19/what-is-quinoa_n_7612836.html

Second only to maybe kale, quinoa is the health food star of our time. The Food and Agriculture Organization named 2013 the International Year of Quinoa, after all. This tiny grain-like food is full of good-for-you nutrition and tastes great in just about anything: salads, omelettes and even cakes.

We’re willing to bet you’ve eaten a good deal of the stuff, but do you know what it really is? It’s okay if you don’t, because not many of us do. Today’s the day we change that with a few fun facts and photos that tell us about where quinoa comes from.

Here are 8 important things everyone should know about quinoa:

1. First, it’s pronounced KEEN-wah. Let’s just all get that straight.

2. The part of the quinoa plant that we eat is the seed — it’s not a grain. It grows from a plant in the goosefoot family, which also produces edibles such as chard and spinach. So although we treat it like a grain, it is not in fact a grain.

3. It’s a complete protein — meaning it contains all nine of the essential amino acidswhich cannot be made by the body and therefore must come from food. Quinoa is also naturally gluten-free, so it’s perfect for healthy eaters. Bonus: This is great news for vegetarians looking to up their protein intake.

4. Cooked quinoa looks like it has a little curly “string” coming out of it. This is not something that should gross you out — it’s just the seed’s germ.

5. There are hundreds of varieties of quinoa out there. The white, red and black are the most widely cultivated.

6. While we’re just getting hip to this healthy seed, quinoa has long been a staple ingredient, dating back to pre-Columbian civilizations in the Andes of Peru and Bolivia.

7. Quinoa is one of the few crops that not only survives but thrives in harsh, unpredictable climates. After all, it originated in the Bolivian Altiplano, known to have over 200 frost days and severe droughts. While many countries are jumping on the quinoa train trying to ramp up production — including the U.S. and Canada — results have yet to be as good as Bolivia or Peru’s quinoa.

8. Bolivia and Peru are at odds about quinoa farming practices. Bolivia used to dominate quinoa exports, but recently Peru has been climbing the scales. Bolivian farmers are unhappy about the way Peruvian farmers are ramping up production, using factory farming practices and heavy amounts of pesticides while driving down the price of the crop.

Enjoy! Now Google some yummy quinoa recipes! 😉

 

 

Vacations are Approaching!

Hello, blog friends! It’s about time to hit Hawaii for a month. September will find Dave and I in Maui for the month. Thanks, T, for house sitting, and eat all of the chips/cola/popcorn/and ice cream you like. 😉

I’ve got my earbuds in and am listening to a live webcam of the ocean rolling in on a Maui beach. It is sublime! I cannot wait to get there and LIVE there for 32 days. We found lesser expensive lodging, so we can stay for about the same price as our 5-day trip there last October. Yay for a month of eating tropical fruit, fresh fish, snorkeling, boating, hiking, ATV-ing, zip-lining, and writing on my laptop from quaint Hawaiian coffee shops nearby. Don’t miss my blogs coming up. I’ll blog or vlog on YouTube daily while there AND while traveling there. You’ll go along with us!

I saw two large green turtles from the webcam a bit ago. Made me miss that place so much. Just the sounds of the Pacific waves rolling in and crashing lightly on the shore make me long to sit beside it all. We will take our Go-pro video camera, my Sony video camera, my fancy Canon camera with macro lens, our iPads, and my laptop. Think that’ll be enough to capture some of Hawaii for you guys? Leave me specifics of what you’d like to see, and I’ll try to accommodate. Example, coffee plantation. 🙂

First things first, though. We’re headed to Vegas July 9-12. I’ll also document that trip via blog and vlog on YouTube. Looks pretty, doesn’t it? We’ll be arriving at night, so I should capture some great shots from the plane.

Hope you guys will give me ideas on where to visit and what to do while in Vegas, on this, my first time to visit! Love y’all!

Las Vegas in a Few Weeks!

It seems appropriate to blog in MONEY GREEN today, as I’ll soon be heading to a mini-vacay in Vegas. However, this green is also a pukey color.

Ahhh, much brighter. SO, Dave and I are heading to Vegas for a 4 day and 3 night mini vacation next month. After the exciting news of agreeing to the initial deal that Hilton offered us, the first thing I think of is ‘Thank god for our house sitter. He’s always willing to stay over and babysit the pets and care for the house.’ (Thank you, T).

Moving on . . . I’ve never been to Las Vegas or anywhere else in Nevada. I was a Southern girl for many years. If the residents of a state didn’t realize that iced tea was supposed to be served with lots of ice and plenty of sweetener, I hadn’t visited their state. That’s all changed!

The sights and activities in Vegas sound big, bold, and in-my-face. Yep, my kind of fun . . . over done! LOL. The older I get, the more bling I wear. I like it on my sandals, in my jewelry, and even in my toenail polish! Now, I’m not a gambler, so that shouldn’t be a huge waste of our money while in Las Vegas. I’ve tried slot machines but have only ever won $75 (which I played again until I lost it).

Gambling makes me mad, really. I don’t like watching my dollars disappear each time I push the big lighted button in front of me. Know what I have at the end of the night? I have an empty wallet, a pissy attitude, and a voice in my head that says, “You knew you’d lose, idiot.”

Ugh, onto a happy color now. I look forward to seeing new things and meeting interesting people. I love to fly and am an adventurer when it comes to exploring new towns’ music, theater, and plain old fun spots. After we return from Vegas, we’ll stay home for a couple of months before heading out on American Airlines on a 9 hour flight to Maui, Hawaii.

I’ll definitely blog here and vlog on my YouTube channel about the Hawaii preparations and then the entire stay on the islands. You may see my YouTube videos HERE.

Right now, as of June 12, 2017, I only have half a dozen videos that include our last trip to Hawaii and the underwater life there. Soon MANY more to come! Please subscribe and keep up with my vlogs now. There will soon be many, and they will be interesting and most will be humorous. 

Love you guys! Thanks for reading! I’m getting new readers each week. XO!

And, uh, this green below may be the only green I get back home with from Vegas OR Maui. 😉

Japan – A Disaster Waiting to Happen

I’ve blogged a few times about the Fukushima Nuclear Plant’s fallout and the water and land damage it caused. It was due to a 9.0 earthquake named Tohoku and its following tsunami on March 11 of 2011. See the link below for that blog:

https://everydayclimb.wordpress.com/2013/04/13/remember-the-2011-japanese-earthquake-fukushima-nuclear-plants-meltdown/

 

The blog also stated that Japan is ripe for another large earthquake, possibly in or near Tokyo. See the article I read today below:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/strong-quake-hits-japan-tsunami-warning-issued-170923403.html?ref=gs

A 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Tokyo.

Friends, the earth is a powerful entity. We don’t control it. We don’t manage it. It behaves as it behaves. Enjoy your days here. Love your family and laugh with friends. Make a difference in people’s lives for the better. It’s a fleeting existence. Make it a full one.