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In Ethiopia With a Mule
Dervla Murphy
In Ethiopia With a Mule
Dervla Murphy
Inspired by childhood stories of Prester John and the Queen of Sheba, in 1966 Dervla Murphy bought Jock, an amiable pack-mule in order to treck across the highlands of this awesome, but troubled land. She wandered south from the Red Sea shore to Sheba's Aksum, and upto the icy roof of Africa, the Semien mountains. From there she descended to the ruined palaces of Gondar and skirted the northern shore of Lake Tana before crossing the drought-afflicted high ranges to Lalibela. Having exchanged the exhausted Jock (named after her publisher) for an un-cooperative donkey, Dervla completed her journey to Addis Ababa. Her real achievement, was not surviving three armed robberies or a thousand mile trail but rather the growing affection and understanding of another race.
'One of the supreme virtues of Miss Murphy as a travel writer – she is human. She needs her drink; she craves her cigarettes; she is capable of losing her temper; she smuggles things through customs. A more virtuous figure would be far less endearing' - Daily Telegraph
In Ethiopia With a Mule
Format: 280pp demi pb
Place: Ethiopia
Extract from Prologue
WHEN I AM ASKED, 'Why did you go to Ethiopia?' I find it impossi- ble to give a short, clear answer. From earliest childhood the romantic names of Prester John, Rasselas, the Queen of Sheba and the Lion of Judah are linked with Abyssinia and, in one's reading, occasional references to the country build up a picture of some improbable land of violence and piety, courtesy and treachery, barrenness and fertility.
Ethiopia has always been difficult to explore and much of it remains so; yet for centuries it was less inaccessible than most parts of Africa and, since the early sixteenth century, a sufficient number of travellers have visited the highlands to maintain Europe's interest. Latterly these travellers had commercial or political motives, but the earliest European explorers were Portuguese missionaries, whose excessive zeal inspired an era of xenophobia that is only now coming to a close.
Most of the Europeans who were lucky enough to return from Ethiopia wrote wondrous accounts of the mountain empire, and gradually the name of Ethiopia or Abyssinia became synonymous with beauty, danger, solitude and mystery. Often the lure of such places operates subconsciously. Then one fine morning the traveller wakes and surprises himself by saying – 'I'm going to Ethiopia'.
Modern Ethiopia is about five times the size of Britain. Its southern tip is 250 miles from the Equator and its coastline on the Red Sea is 500 miles long. The region generally known as 'the highlands' is a vast, fissured plateau between the Upper Nile valley and the Somaliland desert; this plateau lies six to ten thousand feet above sea level, rising in certain areas to twelve to fifteen thousand, and its height gives it – despite the nearness of the Equator – a climate said to be the healthiest and one of the most agreeable in the world.
The country is divided into fourteen provinces, inhabited by people of many different races, religions and cultures – among them the Danakils, the Falashas, the Gurages, the Somalis, the Konsos, the Waytos and the Wollamos. But the true Abyssinians are the Amharas and the Tigreans, who form almost the entire population of the six highland provinces through which I travelled – Eritrea, Tigre, Begemdir, Gojjam, Wollo and Shoa. Until the latter half of the nineteenth century the eight other provinces were either completely independent of or only vaguely associated with the Amharic Empire.
It is thought that the original highlanders were of the same Hamitic stock as the Danakils, Somalis and Nubians. Then, probably between 1,000 and 500 BC, tribes of Yemeni Arabs began to cross the Red Sea to settle in the fertile northern highlands, where the ruins of large cities indicate that their civilisation thrived during the centuries immediately before and after the birth of Christ. One of these tribes was called the Habashat and from this derives 'Habesh' – by which name Ethiopia is still known in Muslim countries – and from 'Habesh' European tongues produced Abyssinia. However, the highlanders now resent being called Abyssinians and their wish to be known as Ethiopians creates a complication. All the Emperor's multiracial subjects are legally Ethiopians, so it would be inexact to write 'Ethiopians' when one is referring specifically to Amharas or Tigreans, who have nothing in common with their non-Abyssinian fellow-subjects. Therefore I avoid 'Ethiopians' for the sake of accuracy and 'Abys- sinians' for the sake of politeness and refer to 'Amharas', 'Tigreans' or 'highland- ers'.
Following the Arab migrations the Semitic language and culture replaced the old Hamitic civilisation, of which nothing is definitely known, though some scholars believe it to have been highly developed. The newcomers also intermar- ried with the indigenous population and, though the Hamitic strain remained dominant, the Semitic influence is still obvious and this cross has produced a race of outstandingly handsome men and beautiful women.
An Egyptian trader named Cosmas travelled from the Red Sea port of Adulis to Aksum in about AD524, shortly before the decline of the Aksumite Empire. This Empire had been founded by the Semitised Hamitic peoples of the present- day provinces of Eritrea and Tigre, but neither Cosmas nor anyone else is very informative about it and little is known of its six hundred years of glory. It was the centre from which the Semitic language and culture and the Christian religion seeped south until, by the thirteenth century, the provinces of Begemdir, Gojjam and Shoa had ceased to be pagan.
The rise of Islam quickly isolated these Christian highlands and, after Cosmas' departure, a thousand years passed before the arrival at Massawah of the next foreign visitor to give an account of Ethiopia. His name was Francisco Alvarez, and he spent six years in the country as chaplain to a diplomatic mission sent by King Manoel I of Portugal to the court of the Emperor Lebna Dengel – whose grandmother, while ruling as regent during the Emperor's minority, had appealed for Portuguese aid when Ethiopia was being threatened by the Ottoman Empire.
This millennium of isolation inspired Gibbon's frequently quoted – 'Encom- passed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world by whom they were forgotten'. But, in fact, the Ethiopians were much more wide awake then than they are now. During these centuries they produced their finest paintings and illuminated manuscripts, many extraordinarily beautiful rock-churches, of which Lalibela's eleven examples are the most famous, and the best of what little original literature they possess.
Alvarez is the only European to have described Ethiopia as it was before the terrible Muslim invasions, which began in 1527 – a year after the departure of the Portuguese mission. The invaders were led by Mohammed Gragn, a remark- ably able general who took full advantage of the firearms which had recently been made available by the Turks, from whom he also obtained a small corps of about two hundred matchlockmen. 'The effect produced by this tiny body of dis- ciplined regulars, skilled in the use of firearms, was catastrophic. The Abyssin- ian armies broke and fled like chaff before the wind. The whole of Abyssinia was overrun. ... The treasure fortresses were captured and the accumulated wealth of the Kingdom was carried off. The churches and monasteries were looted and burnt ... and the princes of the Solomonian line put to the sword. In the words of the Abyssinian chronicles, nine men out of ten renounced the Christian faith and turned Muslim. Only the King with a scanty band of faithful followers maintained the struggle ... in the mountain fastnesses of the interior'.
In about 1535 Lebna Dengel succeeded in sending an appeal for help to the Portuguese and six years later four hundred Portuguese troops landed at Massawah, commanded by Christopher da Gama, a son of the navigator. In the fighting that followed the Portuguese and Muslim leaders were both killed, and without Mohammed Gragn the invaders faltered and were expelled from the highlands during the reign of Lebna Dengel's son, Claudius.
By then the Empire had been miserably weakened, and immediately there was a new threat from the Galla. These pagan nomadic tribesmen, being harried by the Somalis, began to invade the southern region of the Ethiopian plateau; and when they had acquired horses from the highlanders they soon became formidable cavalrymen, penetrating as far north as Begemdir. 'The Galla came to the highlands not as raiders alone, but also as settlers. Wherever they settled, they made travel dangerous and uncertain for the Abyssinians, isolated entire provinces from one another, and broke up the empire. The Abyssinians fought many battles against the Galla, but though individual groups were defeated, the force of the Galla migration could not be stopped. ... Many of them, because of their warlike propensities, were recruited into the armies of the Abyssinian rulers ... [and] ... it is said that during this period only the sacred character of the Abyssinian monarchy preserved the dynasty from extinction, so that the Galla, even though they wielded great power, never took over the throne itself.'
During the ninety years or so between the expulsion of the Muslims and the beginning of the Gondarine era there was yet another disruptive element in highland life, which briefly threatened 'the sacred character' of the monarchy. This was the excessive missionary zeal already mentioned. In 1632 the conver- sion, by Jesuits, of the Emperor Susenyos, and the Catholics' intolerant attempts to convert the whole Empire, led to the banishment from Ethiopia of all for- eigners and was followed by a relapse into isolation. However, Ethiopian history since 1632 is reasonably well documented, and in my diary I have referred to some of the main characters and events.
There is a certain similarity between the developments of Ethiopian Christian- ity and Tibetan Buddhism. In both cases, when alien religions were brought to isolated countries the new teachings soon became diluted with ancient animist superstitions; and so these cuttings from two great world religions grew on their high plateaux into exotic plants, hardly recognisable as offshoots of their parent faiths. But there the similarity ends. Of the two religions Tibetan Buddhism is much more advanced philosophically and has a far greater civilising influence on the peasants. Lamas rarely encourage bigotry and racial arrogance – as Ethiopian Coptic priests frequently do, by teaching that Ethiopian Christians are the only true Christians in the whole world. This defect is not exclusive to Coptic priests, but it is extra-pernicious in such a remote land, where a pathetic national superiority complex tends to run wild for lack of sobering comparisons with other nations.
Though so little is known about early Ethiopian history, the romantic story of the Empire's conversion is believed by scholars to be substantially true. In the first half of the fourth century Meropius, a philosopher of Tyre, was voyaging in search of knowledge with two young relatives, Aedesius and Frumentius, who were being educated by him. Their ship put in for water at a port (Adulis?) where it was boarded by 'barbarians'. These tribesmen massacred Meropius and his companions, but spared the boys – who were found on shore, studying under a tree – and brought them to the court of Ella Amida at Aksum. The King became very fond of both boys, and made Aedesius his cupbearer and Frumentius, who was already learned and wise, his secretary and treasurer; but before long Ella Amida died, leaving an infant son, Aeizaras, as heir. The Queen begged the young men to help her bear the burden of the regency and, during the years when he was virtual ruler of the country, Frumentius encouraged Christian Roman merchant settlers to spread their faith.
When Aeizaras had been crowned Aedesius and Frumentius handed over their trust and returned to the Roman Empire, though both the King and his mother implored them to stay. Aedesius hurried back to visit his family in Tyre, where he later became a priest, but Frumentius went direct to Alexandria and urged Athanasius to send a bishop to foster Christianity in Ethiopia. Athanasius decided to consecrate Frumentius himself and sent him back to his mission-field – where he converted countless pagans, ordained priests and after many years converted Aeizaras himself, thereby firmly establishing the Coptic Church in Ethiopia.
From the appointment of Frumentius by Athanasius until 1951 the Abuna (head of the Ethiopian Church) has always been an Egyptian monk, chosen by the Patriarch of Alexandria from the monastery of St Antonius. Inevitably there were long intervals – sometimes one or two decades – between an Abuna's death and the arrival of his successor; and the suffragan bishops who were oc- casionally appointed could not ordain. Moreover, as a solitary exile for life, with a language, training and background which completely isolated him from his strange diocese, the Abuna never formed a real link with orthodox Christian traditions – so there was no check on the uninstructed Ethiopians' peculiar scriptural interpretations.
Many animist strands still run through Ethiopian Christianity, which also reveals a considerable Jewish influence. The Amharic words for 'alms', 'idol', 'purification', 'Hell' and 'Easter' are of Hebrew origin, though the only version of the scriptures ever known to the Ethiopian Church was a translation into Ge'ez of the Septuagint. A. H. M. Jones thinks that before the rise of Islam Yemeni Jews may have been proselytising in Ethiopia, 'which had at this time very close commercial and political relations with South-Western Arabia and was closely akin to it in language and culture. ... The conversion of the royal house to Christianity ... prevented Judaism from becoming the official religion of the Abyssinian Kingdom, but was not in time to prevent the conversion of various independent Agau tribes to Judaism, nor the adoption by the Abyssinians of certain Jewish practices.'
These aboriginal Agau converts are called Falashas (exiles) by the Coptic highlanders, and some of them still speak an Hamitic language as well as Amharic. Their traditional stronghold was in the Semien mountains and, though they now number only about 30,000, they were sufficiently powerful in the seventh century for Professor Simoons to suspect that they aided the collapse of the Aksumite Empire by blocking the southward spread of Christianity.
Among the Falashas, as among their Christian neighbours, isolation has led to various eccentric beliefs and practices, and a number of Coptic traditions – including a monastic system – eventually merged with their own archaic form of Judaism. Never having had a written language of their own they are dependent on the Ge'ez version of the Old Testament and they do not possess the Mishra or the Talmud. According to Wolf Leslau most of their laws and precepts are based on the apocryphal Book of Jubilees. These 'Black Jews' are now scattered throughout the provinces of Tigre and Begemdir, where they are not allowed to own land, but must rent it from the Christians, who despise them for being non-Christians – though this doesn't worry the Falashas, who like to keep well away from unclean non-Falashas.
This, then, was the background to my journey – a country not quite of Africa nor of Asia, with a civilisation that became completely introverted as time passed. During many centuries the currents of new thought merely lapped the Red Sea coast, reaching the interior as disturbing rumours to be at once rejected for seeming far less credible than the legends of the saints in the monastery manuscripts.
The preparations for a walking-tour are simple. I only had to buy a large rucksack, a strong pair of boots, a one-gallon plastic water-bottle, a Husky outfit of jacket, pants and socks that was light to carry but warm to wear, a few basic medical supplies, half-a-dozen notebooks and a dozen ballpoint pens. To maintain contact with my own civilisation I also packed a Shakespeare anthology, Tom Jones, W. E. Carr's Poetry of the Middle Ages, Cooper's Talleyrand and Boros' Pain and Providence. Unfortunately other books inexplicably accumulated in my rucksack between London and Massawah and when climbing to the 8,000- foot Eritrean plateau I found myself carrying a weight of fifty pounds.
I had been warned – by people who knew people who knew people who had been to Ethiopia – that the Ethiopian authorities distrust foreigners and would only give me a thirty-day tourist visa. Happily this proved to be nonsense. When I had presented my passport at the Ethiopian Embassy in London, filled in an application form for a six-months' Business Visa and paid the fee, I was asked to call again at 10 a.m. the next day. I came at 10.05 a.m., expecting to encounter a large snag; but my passport had been duly signed and sealed and was at once delivered.
The real difficulty concerned maps. There is no such thing as a good map of Ethiopia, but Barbara Toy generously presented me with the Italian maps that she had used on her Ethiopian journey and these suited me perfectly. They were inaccurate enough to give me, at times, the gratifying illusion of being an explorer in trackless wastes – yet accurate enough to tell me that Addis Ababa is due south of Massawah. So it didn't matter if I went mildly astray every day en route, provided I didn't go east or west for too long at a stretch.
My homework was a little more arduous. I read most of the recently published books on Ethiopia and carefully studied Wax and Gold* – which greatly increased the pleasure of my journey, for without Dr Levine's sympa- thetic analysis of the Amharic culture I would have gone wandering through the highlands in a permanent daze of incomprehension.
Then, having had my 'shots', I flew to Cairo on 3 December, 1966, and eight days later boarded a Norwegian boat, at Port Said, for the five-day voyage to Massawah.


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Anadlu... (Welsh for Breathe) A film designed and directed by Anna Lewis Filmed and Edited by Michael Blackwood Barnes Performed by Rosalind Brooks Music 'Your Pride' by Chipper (Harry Keyworth) with thanks to CIRIC, UWTSD, Martine Van Rikswijk (MUA), Claire Savage Ontswedder, Daniel Butler, Tim Stokes, Chloe Pullin (Set assistant) & Rebecca Morgan (photographer)
Knew That Day
Music video for Harry Keyworth by Seven Everything and Tallman Films, with Moving Image Wales and Mwnci Studios. Direction, Filming & Editing - Michael Blackwood Barnes Production – Claire Savage-Onstwedder Production Design & Art Direction – Anna Lewis Photography, Art Direction & Styling – Elliot Davies DIT – Chris Holtom ELT – John-James Savage-Onstwedder Make-up, Hair & Styling – Orla O'Carroll Camera & Set Assistance – Cerys Ackland Set Assistance – Eifion Lloyd James
Be My Animal
A music video produced by the Seven Everything team for The Good Natured track 'Be my Animal' 2010. Directed by Elliot Davies Production design by Anna Lewis Filmed & Edited by Michael Blackwood barnes
Seven Everything Stills Portfolio 2008-2011
Selected stills shots from the collaborative 'Seven Everything' project by Anna Lewis & Elliot Davies. Music by Delphic With thanks to all our models and on set teams x


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Whether you are a long-time biker or a new cyclist who owns a good bike, it could be truly annoying having some un-anodized parts of your bike (for instance, kickstand, spokes, wheel, pletscher racks etc.) become heavily oxidized.
The brown rust on what used to be a shining aluminum wheel could be a displeasing eyesore and you might be icky with the question: how to clean and shine those oxidized aluminum wheels, rims, or whatever?
Don't worry, I am here to help. Outlined below are some tips and tricks you can adopt in cleaning and shining your oxidized aluminum (bike) wheel:
Table of Contents
- How To Clean Aluminum Bike Wheels
- My Best Way To Clean And Polish Aluminum
- Best Aluminum Polish And Cleaner: Top 5
- Homemade Rim And Wheel Cleaner/ Remover
- How to quick wash your bike in 5 minutes
How To Clean Aluminum Bike Wheels
- Use a metal polish
You can use a metal polish like the BlueMagic 400 Metal Polish Cream, which is a compound that works on different categories of surfaces, including steel, copper and aluminum.
It removes tarnishes and oxidation from the surfaces, leaving a lasting protective coating on them to produce adorable shine.
Other examples of metal polishes are Mothers 05101 Mag & Aluminum Polish and Mothers 05106 Billet Metal Polish. In fact, it is the easiest way to polish aluminum wheels.
- Use a sandpaper
This is an abrasive method for cleaning oxidized aluminum wheel, most especially the one that is only slightly oxidized. You can use a rag to wipe it clean after scraping the aluminum surface with the sandpaper.
So if you already have an oscillating multi-tool that performs well in sanding, try using it to clean your bike. Totally work!
- Use a rag
This is another simple method for cleaning aluminum wheels that are slightly oxidized.
Dip the rag into a cleaning solution, it could be your local detergent or a more powerful chemical solution. Make sure that your solution doesn't cause cleaning solution, it could be your local detergent or a more powerful chemical solution. Make sure that your solution doesn't cause corrosion as it could eventually destroy the aluminum surface.
- Use oiled fine steel wool:
The fastest way to polish aluminum is by using oiled fine steel wool.
You can use any type of steel wool to clean your oxidized aluminum wheel. The most common type of steel wool is the 000 steel wool, and it has been reviewed positively by many bikers.
My Best Way To Clean And Polish Aluminum
Years ago, when I used to be a little girl, I very much liked seeing my dad cleaning his bike or car. Turning a brown dirty thing into a shiny, mirror-like item is a magic to me, a little girl.
He always uses Mother's Mag and Aluminum Polish. And years of seeing daddy using it, I am confident enough to recommend it to you.
It is a proven and popular polish for cleaning oxidized aluminum wheels that have no clear-coat. If you follow my dad's simple procedure below, I assure you, your oxidized alum wheel will be back to it mirror-perfect finish again.
1. Leave a small amount of polish onto the oxidized part of the wheel. Wait for 10- 15 minutes until a grey residue emerges.
2. Start rub the surface with a rag or steel wool until the polish turning black.
3. Add more polish gradually, and you shouldn't be in a hurry to remove the dark residue. The residue acts as a secondary polishing agent.
4. Once you have sufficiently cleaned the wheel, wipe it with a hot cotton towel.
5. Dry with a clean, dry cotton towel. Don't let the polish dry on the wheel—make sure you turn the drying towel frequently.
Best Aluminum Polish And Cleaner: Top 5
If you are looking for the Top 5 aluminum polish and cleaner, check these great ones out! They have product guides that will show you how to remove oxidation from aluminum:
This brand is pretty much popular in cleaning and polishing.
Its secret formula produces a wonderful shine and it is easy to use for aluminum wheels and parts, alloys, brass and other accessories.
All you need to do is to apply it on the oxidized parts using a clean cloth and a little elbow grease.
However, you need to be careful when polishing a part that is only coated with a thin layer of another metal, because the metal will be removed. For example, if you have a headlight with a chrome housing, you may lose the chrome if you do not carefully apply the polish.
Another well-known player in the game.
Simichrome can beautifully remove surface rust from your aluminum bike wheels without leaving any scratches or marks on them.
It is made up of a finely mixed formula that can make oxidized metal have a perfect mirror finish in as little as 30 seconds.
As a fastest cleaning agent, it can smoothly polish any uncoated, non-ferrous metal surface. In addition to bringing back the original shine on your aluminum bike wheels, it would cover them with invisible protective coating to prevent future oxidation.
Apart from using this polish on your aluminum wheels, it can work perfectly well on any other part of your bike.
This is regarded as the ultimate protection polish for fiberglass, painted surfaces and metal. It possesses UV inhibitors which help stop oxidation and fading.
You can use it for metals with
You will discover that PTEF is the slickest, non-stick material you will ever use. And it repels water and oil-based deposits and stains and deposits that facilitate future cleanup.
The good news is that this polish lasts for up to 4 to 5 times longer than other marine waxes. And as far as I read the customer's reviews, it also happens to be claimed as the best wheel cleaner for brake dust they have ever used.
Purple is another good polish for oxidized aluminum wheels.
It easily removes the hard water stains, and its ability to make polished aluminum look chrome is amazing.
You don't necessarily need to take the polished aluminum parts off of your bicycle and have them powder coated black.
It is the simplest of all polishing applications and you can see the results immediately. It can make your bike looks better than the ones in the showroom.
This is a fast and powerful solution to surface defects, whatever the blemish may be. It safely treats light to extreme scratching with ease.
You can apply by hand or with
It is wax and silicon-free.
Homemade Rim And Wheel Cleaner/ Remover
Although using a proper cleaner might give the best result. Sometimes we just don't need that perfect.
Yes, anything always has a home remedy.
So instead of buying polishes available on the market, you can save money by using your own homemade wheel cleaner or remover. Described below are two examples of homemade aluminum wheel cleaners:
- Bleach and water
Using bleach is the fastest way to clean almost anything.
You need to mix bleach and water to make the mixture works well as a wheel cleaner.
As you may have known, bleach is a very powerful substance; so, it's advisable that you dilute it. With a solution of only half a cup of bleach mixed thoroughly with a full gallon of water is enough.
You should remember to wear gloves if your skin sensitive and rinse the wheels once you've completed the cleaning. Also, avoid leaving bleach on your wheels because it could damage them over time.
- Dish soap
Everyone has a bottle of dish soap in their home. Have you ever thought it could be used as a wheel cleaner for your aluminum wheels?
The fact is that if your wheels aren't too bad, just a simple mix of water and dish soap can remove the stain in no time.
For every gallon of warm water, add ten drops of dish soap and soak a soft towel in it. You can spray the wheels with a degreaser for added effect and let it soak overnight, then clean it with water and soap.
- Vinegar
It would be unacceptable to not mention this invincible liquid. Vinegar literally appears in almost cleaning remedies, ranging from clothes, table to metal.
That said, you should check this video seeing this guide doing magic to his car wheels. I know we are talking about
How to quick wash your bike in 5 minutes
Stumbled into this video few months ago, I must say this video is extremely helpful. This guy cleans his bike in 5 minutes and I could not agree more with him about that much needed time to always have a shiny and like new bicycle.


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About us
We are the leading Slovenian company in the field of identification and information solutions for support of personnel processes in medium and large size organisations in terms of the number of employees. We are also the first on the list of companies in Slovenia and South-Eastern Europe in the field of fare collection in public passenger transport.
Our mission is to introduce information systems that can improve the work efficiency of personnel services. By introducing top-level payment systems we also improve the effectiveness of public passenger transport operators.
Our basic values are oriented towards people - continuous personal growth and professional development of our employees provide expertise and reliability with which we can successfully meet dynamic demands of the market. Constant care and responsive approach towards our business partners enables us to develop good personal relations that are prerequisite for successful and long-term cooperation.


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We bet you loved your house when you first decorated. Everything must have seemed new, exciting and well-planned. And what about today? Aren't you just sick and tired of that old armchair always standing beside the sofa, or the crowded console in the entryway? It would be so great if you could just overhaul the entire house, start all over again and reawaken that first-time-in-your-new home feeling. But what if you don't have the time and money to tackle a major renovation right now? Would you believe us if we told you that you can change the appearance of your interior by simply moving your furniture around? Silly, right? Not so much, check out this guide and see for yourself.
This is especially important if you want to squeeze in some extra square footage. If you have an ottoman by the bed serving as nothing more than a decoration – turn it into a stylish coffee table. A console that holds only a flower vase can be turned into a photo display or a true mini-garden. It can also fill up the gap between the sofa and the wall, and thus make the space more functional.
If you need a quick change and you don't have enough money to invest in new furniture, you can simply move some pieces from one room to another. When doing that, remember to first think about the room's layout and combine the furniture in size, color and material. Don't forget the furniture's purpose, though. Of course, you won't put a king size bed in the living room, but you can move the living room armchair in the bedroom, put a floor lamp next to it and create a comfy reading nook.
If the TV is the current focal point of your living room, shake things up a bit by turning all the furniture towards an art piece, a window or some colorful bold item. Other focal points in the rest of the rooms in your home can be textured wall, patterned wallpaper, architectural feature, striking lighting fixture, etc.
When doing all this, you have to be careful not to disrupt the overall home design. Have a clear idea of what some space should look like before you start piling up a bunch of incoherent furniture, and stick to one prevailing style. You can visit different display homes in your neighbourhood. This will help you to decide what you want and do not want in your home and maybe you will find an inspiration.
Smaller furniture pieces, such as coffee tables, seating poufs, etc. allow easy moving, so you can move them around until you find a good place for them. Also, they're great for when you want to update a room in a matter of five minutes.
It doesn't matter if your room is small and cramped or large and sterile, it can still benefit from different comfy hubs. You can create a cozier look by simply introducing a small armchair or a nightstand and a stool. You can use area rugs to define different zones in a room.
If your room seems flat and dull, why not change the perspective a bit? Forget the typical line-the-walls arrangement. Try placing all the furniture and accessories on the diagonal. It will make the space look more interesting and guide the gaze smoothly through the room. An off-center table can also be an interesting addition.
Do you believe us now? Just make sure that before you turn everything upside down, try to draw a layout or use a space planning online software, so that you see how some larger pieces will fit in relation to each other. Good luck!
Emma Joyce


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Alitalia SpA said Chief Executive Officer Andrea Ragnetti has resigned one year into his post, as the Italian flag carrier reported its loss quadrupled last year.
Alitalia widened its loss in 2012 to 280 million euros ($366 million) from 69 million euros the year earlier, the Rome- based carrier said in a statement late yesterday. Chairman Roberto Colaninno will act as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found, it said.
Ragnetti was named to run Alitalia a year ago to continue a turnaround effort. Colaninno's investor group CAI, which includes Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP), Italy's second-biggest bank, and Atlantia SpA (ATL), its No. 1 toll-road company, bought the carrier's main assets in 2008 and combined them with smaller competitor Air One SpA. Air France-KLM (AF), Europe's biggest airline, owns 25 percent, with the rest in Italian shareholders' hands.
Alitalia said sales last year rose 3.3 percent to 3.59 billion euros. The airline reached break even in the fourth quarter, it said.
Shareholders on Feb. 22 approved a board proposal to raise 150 million euros in debt set to expire in 2015. Shareholders can subscribe to the bond which can be converted into shares next year, the carrier said. The majority of shareholders endorsed the move, it said.
Ragnetti said this month that he expected Air France-KLM to participate in the fundraising move, although he did not tie Alitalia's long-term future to the Franco-Dutch airline group. Consolidation in the future could also involve Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and British Airways (IAG) parent International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, he said.


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Ten Commandments of Bicycle Commuters
Inspired by the recent post "Drivers' Ten Commandments", Moe and I came up with a set for bicycle commuters. Think of it as a revised, more irreverent version of the Cyclist's 10 Commandments as published by the League of American Bicyclists:
1. Thou shall not ride on the sidewalk. The sidewalk is for amateurs.
2. Never ride the opposite way. You may crash against real bike commuters.
3. Obey all traffic laws when and where you can. It is really embarrassing to get a ticket on a bike.
4. Always carry a mini-pump. Calling your wife or walking the bike really sucks.
5. Thou shall wear a helmet. If you value anything contained between your ears, it's the smart thing to do.
6. Thou shall carry repair tools. Even if you never break down, you might be able to help someone else in need.
7. Thou shall remain visible. Make your "Technicolor Dreamcoat" out of bright colors, lights, blinkies and reflectors.
8. Thou shall not stink! Keep a spare deodorant at work.
9. Avoid angry confrontations. A little calmness goes a long way towards changing a motorist's mind.
10. Thou must smile. Remember, you're on a bike, not stuck in traffic!!


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Provide the names, experience and location of each individual that would be assigned to work on our account. Please attach resumes. Expand
Norman Clarke
Broker: Norman is the agency principal and a native of Orangeburg S.C. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Insurance and Economic Security and Finance. He went to work in New York City in 1984 and formed his own apparel company in 1988. He moved back to South Carolina in 1997, and formed Clarke & Company Benefits LLC in 1998. He started the agency out of a home office and has grown the agency every year since then. Norman represents a diverse client roster in the fields of law, medicine, accounting & finance, and many others. He directly negotiates overall costs with our carrier partners to bring the best value to our clients' workforce. He is also responsible for overseeing our account management process, human resource support/education, compliance, and wellness initiatives. The Clarke & Company Benefits service platform is based on 4 key areas of expertise: Compliance, Employee Communication, Human Resource Support, and Workplace Wellness.
Earl Cobb
Consultant: Earl is the principle contact for NWTF, and is a native of Camden,SC. He graduated from the University of South Carolina in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. He began his insurance career with Cigna Group Insurance in 2002 covering the state of SC. He moved to BCBS of SC in 2004 and subsequently began working with NWTF in 2005 when NWTF moved their Employee Health Benefits to BCBS SC. He has worked with NWTF since 2005 and in 2011 became the Agent of Record for NWTF's Employee Life, Accident & Long-Term Disability Benefits. He has 16 years' experience working with employers ranging from 50 employees to 5000 employees in multiple states.
Laura Howell
Account Management: Laura is a native of West Columbia; she joined Clarke & Company in late January 2007. Prior to Clarke and Company Benefits, she worked with a national property & casualty insurance company. Laura is a 2005 graduate of North Greenville University, with a B.A. in Political Science. Her responsibilities include managing both large and small group accounts. Laura is the primary account executive; she has several account managers who help her handle the day to day needs of her accounts.
Alex Williams
Client Advocate/CSR: Alex will assist Laura in the day to day administration of your group; this may include additions, terminations, billing audits and updates, and claims resolution.
Clarke & Company is dedicated to staff support of your benefits plan. We want your team to feel comfortable with the C&C client staff. Our philosophy is to let us take the burden off of your staff so your team can focus on other HR duties. Our staff is always available to answer phone calls from HR and employees.
What type of training does your firm provide to update and build the skills for its employees? Expand
Not only are our brokerage staff licensed insurance agents in the state of South Carolina, but also all of our account managers are licensed as agents in South Carolina. With this license our brokers and account managers are subject to 24 hours of continuing education every two years.
Clarke & Company also does in-house training on all of our tools and processes. These tools (as illustrated in the exhibits) provide Clarke & Company Benefits and its clients with access to more than 275 online training courses, live HR advice from experts, as well as insight into the latest national and industry trends and changing regulations. We also take advantage of medical and ancillary training that is offered by our partner carriers in order to learn best practices and product features.
We utilize training by our technology partners, Zywave and ThinkHR, on industry practices, compliance, and many other benefit issues. Some topics of our recent staff training in 2018 are listed below:
Sexual harassment in the workplace training (ThinkHR)
Decisions Master Warehouse (In-House & Zywave)
Data Analysis and integrating wellness education campaign (In-House)
Benefit Administration training on several platforms (In-house)
Handbook builder and compliance audit checklist (ThinkHR)
Briefly describe the turnover rate of the employees that perform the bulk of the problem-solving administration within your organization. Categorize employee turnover by large (500 or more), medium, or small (less than 100) groups. Expand


text: Dr Philip Meadows, Lecturer in Missiology and Wesleyan Studies at Cliff College will deliver the 6th MWRC Annual Lecture. The lecture title is 'A Journey into God: A Wesleyan Theology of Evangelism'. The lecture will take place on the campus on Nazarene Theological College on Monday 14th June 2010 at 5pm.


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Carole Allsop considers the benefits of smiling.
When Jarvis Cocker tried to initiate his upper class art student girlfriend in the ways of The Common People, he took her to a supermarket, but observed 'I can't see anyone else smiling in here'. Grinning at strangers is rare in supermarkets, but the cliché of a smile being like a sudden shaft of warm sunlight breaking through a cloud-filled sky is undeniably true. So, why don't we let the sunlight of the smile break through more often? The effects on both the smiler and the smiled at are powerful.
You might smile more as you walk the city streets if you could see how your face at rest appears to others, rather than when posing in the mirror or for photos. Our faces at rest are often contorted by turned down mouths, furrowed brows, or pursed lips – a condition known by some as Resting Bitch Face. This is the unfortunate expression on some people's faces at rest that makes them look grumpy, angry or contemptuous. The misogynistic use of the word bitch in the term suggests women are more likely than men to suffer from the affliction. In fact behavioural researchers from the Noldus group found that men are equally likely to have RBF. If you are frequently chastened with 'Give us a smile darling' or 'Cheer up, love, it might never happen' check out whether you have RBF yourself by doing the Noldus online test. Of course, one reason women get reproved by chirpy workmen for the lack of a smile is that it is often unwise to smile at strange men. These interactions are on the wane anyway as more and more people walk along eyes glued to their smartphone, or lost in conversation or music on their phone's headphones.
Another reason to try smiling more often is it could make you feel happier. Richard Wiseman, the psychologist, talks about the power of a pencil in your mouth in his book '59 Seconds' – one of his suggestions for something little that will change a lot, in this case your mood.
In experiments two groups of participants were instructed to look at cartoons while holding pencils in their mouths. One group were told to keep the pencil from touching the lips, thereby inducing the shape of a smile, while the other held the pencil between their lips inducing a frown. Results showed that the participants tended to experience the feelings associated with their facial expression. The James-Lange theory – both William James, the American founding father of psychology, and Carl Lange, a Danish physician, came up with similar theories independently in the 19th century – posits that our emotions follow from physical arousal – we smile and so we're happy, rather than we smile because we're happy – and the facial feedback hypothesis – the idea of the causal relationship between facial expressions and our feelings – holds currency with many psychologists and neuroscientists today. Research on people who had had their facial expressions frozen by Botox treatment revealed that they were less inclined to feel bad when frowning, but also less likely to feel cheery when attempting a smile.
Smiles can have many meanings. William Blake's poem 'The Smile' declares 'there is a smile of love and there is a smile of deceit'.
Smiles can be welcoming, encouraging, forgiving but also superficial, smirking, insincere, while a smileless face can be unnerving, or even hostile. The general consensus among anthropologists is that smiles are universal and found in all cultures to show positive emotions but there are cultural differences around the world. I remember as a young English language teacher smiling cheerfully as I walked into a class of young East European women only to be met with frosty stares. This was very unlike the responses I had received from the Egyptian or Spanish students I'd been used to. I later learnt to my surprise that in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe, smiling is reserved for friends and family, and to smile at a stranger is to display stupidity or insincerity; those East European students may have taken me for a disingenuous moron. Like the Russians, the Chinese reserve their smiles for their own in-groups, and a stranger's smile is suspicious. Still, my dealings with students from around the world have supported the general principle that smiling is an effective way of engaging people and putting them at their ease, and my smiles have mostly been returned whatever the cultural background.
The popularity of dolphins and the compassion they inspire in humans can also be explained by the permanently radiant smiles fixed on their faces. And even our primate relatives gorillas and chimpanzees have something resembling a smile. Chimpanzees put on a smiling face as a way of showing submission to a dominant rival. One theory about the origins of the smile is that, when smiling, the teeth are revealed thus showing the stranger or would-be aggressor that they are not about to receive a ferocious bite, in other words, that we are not hostile but come in peace.
This may partly explain why men smile less than women. Males cannot afford to appear submissive or overly compliant in the rough tough world of inter-male relations. My nephews began to refuse to smile for photos around the age of 12. It seems the fear of a picture of them grinning inanely appearing on Facebook and inspiring derision from friends was the cause of this reluctance. And it is clear that smiling is rarely done by the cool – to achieve a chicly defiant look, a reluctant half-smile is the most that should ever be mustered. See the photos of the likes of James Dean, Marlon Brando and Jimi Hendrix chosen for the US National Portrait Gallery's exhibition 'American Cool'. Little boys under 12, however, have a stake in maximising their sunny cuteness while still dependent on adults to provide for their needs.
The first person to really study the smile was a French neurologist called Guillaume-Benjamin Duchenne who famously discovered the difference between a fake smile and a real one. The eyes have it. Both a fake and a real smile use the zygomatic major to broaden and raise the lips, but for a real smile, it's all about those crinkled up eyes that bring on crow's feet in later life. A genuine smile also lasts longer than a fleeting pull of the zygomatic major, and involves the eye muscle that surrounds the eye, the orbicularis oculi. American psychologist Paul Ekman has reaserched the Duchenne smile as it is known and established that positive emotions are only present when the eye muscles spontaneously react, and this is hard to fake. Genuine smiles can even make politicians look more endearing. If you want to test your own ability to spot the difference you can do an online test on the BBC website www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/
Fake smiles can be reassuring though. When being interviewed for a job, it is calming to be confronted with a smile no matter how contrived. The false smile also became known as the Pan Am smile after the now defunct airline whose flight attendants were obliged to smile winningly at passengers, a convention that continues for most airline crews. In China today trainee flight attendants are required to work towards the required state of grace and charm by holding chopsticks between their teeth to maintain a smile while balancing bottles of water on their head. Of course, modern dentistry has made it more palatable to show off our teeth in a smile, and portrait painters of the past refrained from asking their subjects to smile, no doubt with good reason. Dental health may also be the historical reason behind the custom among Japanese women of covering their mouths when they smile.
A false smile or a half-smile can offer sympathy to a stranger in trouble. In the words of Emily Dickinson:
They might not need me; but they might.
I'll let my head be just in sight;
A smile as small as mine might be
Precisely their necessity.
Obviously, false smiles given away too freely, like the free newspapers at stations today, can lose their impact. But there's always the chance of a smile returned and in that moment of warm interaction the possibility of the fake smile becoming a real one, and the pleasure of the upsurge of positive emotion – the facial feedback hypothesis in action. So, next time you're in the supermarket and nobody is smiling, try radiating a little warmth with a friendly smile at a stranger. William Blake's poem referred to the meeting of the smile of love and of deceit as The Smile of Smiles, and optimistically suggested '…. when it once is smiled, there's an end to all misery'.
All photos from Wikipedia Commons


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Piggybacking on my post about buying real honey a couple of days ago, here's another scam of which we need to be aware. Yesterday I received my monthly copy of Mother Earth News magazine. In the 'news' section, there was a brief article titled "How to Ask the Right Questions at a Farmers Market." This is in response to the problem of greenwashing, which is unfortunately becoming more and more prevalent. I first heard about this only about six months ago, but it seems that it's now a common problem. And since I frequently encourage you to buy locally from Farmers Markets, I think it's important that you know there is a dark side.
Greenwashing: "Disinformation disseminated by an organization so as to present an environmentally responsible public image."
We are becoming smarter and more selective consumers, and this means that producers have to come up with new ways to get us to buy their products. It's now quite common at the local Farmers Market to 1) have vendors who are not farmers at all and have no affiliation with the farm, 2) have produce that is grown by large commercial and conventional farms re-sold under the guise of small and local, and 3) have produce with misleading labels.
It really stinks that we have to navigate the markets, once a safe space, with a more discriminating mind, but guess what? That's how much power your food dollar has. Never think that your everyday buying habits are not making change, because they are, so much so that the big companies have to figure out ever sneakier ways to trick you.
We'll talk about other options besides the Market too, but first, the Cornucopia Institute, a non-profit out of Wisconsin ("promoting economic justice for family scale farming"), has created a handy printable guide for you to take to the Market with you. It has a list of questions for you to ask the vendor, which will help you determine whether the food is really local, if it's in season, if it's organic. As I've often said here, if you talk to the farmer, you'll learn all you need to know, and this guide will help you to do that. Real farmers are so happy to answer your questions, so happy to talk about the work they are doing, because they are proud of it and proud of their product.
By the way, local small farmers often can't afford the official organic certification. Don't let that stop you from buying from them. Many of them limit the use of chemicals because it's simply a best practice; if you talk with them, they'll be happy to tell you about it.
Remember the seasons, too. If it's December and your local market has tomatoes, you should be suspicious. However if it's May and your local market has tomatoes, that farmer just might have a heated greenhouse and a very clever touch. You'll know if you talk to them. If you don't know what's in season right now (and how could you help but be confused when you can buy most produce any time of year in any big store?), there are lots of good guides for figuring that out. For instance, you could go to The Seasonable Food Guide and type in your state to find out what's in season during each month. It says that right now, in California, in early January, there are nearly 70 items I can buy that are in season. (Granted, when I type in Minnesota, there are only 14 choices. But still! 14! Pretty amazing in that climate. Some are stored items like sweet potatoes.)
Now I have a confession to make. I actually don't love shopping at Farmers Markets. Most of it has to do with a sort of impulse I feel about wanting to buy something from everyone. I get all weirded out by the vendors watching me look at their produce and then not buying something.I've been to countless markets and I nearly always feel it, especially in the dead of January when the offerings are small (as they should be!) and farmers are probably hurting. Going in there and asking questions of them makes me even more uncomfortable. It feels like asking them to prove themselves. But here's something I know is absolutely true: If I were selling my produce at the market and someone came up and started asking me questions, I'D BE DELIGHTED. I'd be so thrilled to talk about my farm and how I do things. Goodness why do you think I write this blog? Basically to brag about what we grow here! So if a vendor is reluctant to talk to you, well then, you're right to be suspicious.
However! If all of this just makes your skin crawl and you just can't do it, there is another option; you could connect directly with the farms in your area. CSA boxes are a great way to get the produce directly from the farm, delivered right to your door (sometimes there is a pick-up location). You simply sign up with the farm to receive a box of whatever they have growing every week, every two weeks, or every month. Sometimes they ask you to purchase a few months right up front - this is good for them because it gives them the resources they need to buy seed and supplies. It gives them a guaranteed income. And you get a box of great stuff on the regular.
I'll tell you what, it'll force you to cook what's in season, with new produce that you may never have cooked before. Many of the farms include recipes in their boxes so that you have some ideas to start with. It's a fun adventure! And since these CSA farms offer visits and tours, you'll be able to see firsthand the operation and have the confidence in knowing you're buying the good stuff. You can often even volunteer work time to lower the price of your subscription, which gives you the added benefit of learning what it takes to put food on your plate.
The amount of different things you can buy from subscription is huge - eggs, wine, dairy - I even bought my parents a fish subscription one year from a local Sacramento River Fish Farm. I think they'd tell you how fun it was to get different kinds of fish every month! As I've written about here before, we even had a meat subscription for a time from a local grassfed operation. It was great.
I just ordered more wheat from a local place near us in the Capay Valley, Full Belly Farm. They aren't really set up for that kind of thing, but I've developed a relationship with them over time and they are happy to send me wheat every six months or so. It just took one phone call that first time to set that up, and they've been so accommodating. We've also been there several times, to eat a fabulous Mother's Day dinner, to pick up organic straw, and just to visit the farm. They have an open door policy. That's the kind of transparency you want! Many, many family farms are doing CSA boxes now, and one great place to figure out who is in your area is Local Harvest. Just put in your zip code and find out what farms are near you!
I'm sorry that we all have to be so discriminating when it comes to our food, and not just at big supermarkets, but also at the small Farmers Market. But it's just one more step in making sure we are eating the very best produce available, and sending a message with our purchases, too.


text: ❣ The Greatest Love of All ❣ Posted by Claude Robichaux on May 23, 2016 Posted in: Litterboxing. Tagged: Brienne, Game of Thrones, GoT, high times, humor, Tormund, Winners, Yes!. Leave a comment The BEST (and truly "LOL") moment from last night's GoT …. "I Want You to Want Me" Advertisements Share this:TwitterFacebook Posts navigation ← Clinton vs Trump: WWND? Sunday Sillies: Beef Hutchins "Frenchin the Bat" →


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Decorating Liverpool, Painter Liverpool
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Our painter and decorators can accommodate jobs ranging from small residential painting work, right the way through to larger commercial decorating projects.
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Hola Barcelona!/
Keeping in mind that travel doesn't merely broaden the mind, it makes the mind, my friend Petra and I jumped on the train to see what we could see and eat what we could eat in Barcelona, capitol of Catalonia. We went mad and strolled (dripping with sweat – heat wave in Europe right now) to cooking classes, food tours, fashion tours, cheap tapas bars and expensive starred restaurants. Traditional Catalan recipes are based on what you find at the market – ingredients from the farm and the sea. I noticed that it was similar to the way we cook in the Roussillon and in fact it does share roots. They eat a lot of cured ham, cheese, seafood, sausages, sauces, rice and vegetables. They have tomatoes coming out their wazoos and put them on and in everything. It is really hard to go back to a tartine (baguette with butter) once you have become hooked on pa amb tomàquet – thin grilled bread rubbed with olive oil, garlic and fresh tomato. When I got home to Uzès I was overcome with the desire to repeat the flavours I had spent five glorious days tasting.
I threw a veal chop on the grill drenched in Catalan olive oil and hot smoked paprika and fried a bunch of padron peppers with lots of flakey salt. Flushed with flavour overload I bought some slightly underwhelming figs which were drastically improved with a marination in Pedro Ximénez sherry, saffron, vanilla and sugar. But I kept thinking about the tomatoes so set myself to concocting that sunshine in a bowl, gazpacho. Gazpacho soup in Spain is deep salmon pink, not red and it is very smooth and medium thick – you can add as much water as you like. Some people put vinegar in it, some don't. At the cooking class we learned to just slice the juicy ripe tomatoes in half and grate them. You chop up green capsicum, onion, garlic and cucumber and add it to the tomato pulp along with olive oil and vinegar. Then you can either blend and strain it immediately and chill for at least a few hours or chill as is and blend later. Bread soaked in milk or water and blended in thickens it. I like to serve it with an ice-cube in the bottom of the bowl and eat it with finely sliced Pata Negra cured ham. Some people decorate it with finely chopped pepper, onion and cucumber. I also did a version with a courgette and flower. Bon profit!


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Masala Flautas
Hi Masalitos!
Today's recipe is an Indian twist on an old Mexican favorite - flautas. I love that flautas can be appetizers or entrees. By the way, this was the first Mexican dish I ever cooked for Amit and he's been hooked since. The combination of spices and crunchiness makes these flautas quite addictive.
Don't you just love looking at spices? I'm always mesmerized by all the colors, smells, and textures! I try not to play favorites with my spices but as you'll see, I gravitate towards a few of them as my base and then mix it up every now and then. For this recipe, I'm introducing the delicious Pav Bhaji masala. Pav Bhaji masala is sold at most Indian grocery stores and some specialty markets. It is made with red chili, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon, mango powder, and fennel seeds and it's traditionally used to flavor a famous Indian dish: Pav Bhaji (seasoned potatoes with buttered toast). I really hope you can find this masala in your local market, because it will definitely take your dish to the next level.
To start, boil the potatoes and cook the onions and spices. Then, add queso fresco and mash everything together. If you can't find queso fresco (Mexican fresh cheese), you can substitute with your favorite soft, mild cheese. Notice I said mild. Sure! you can use a sharp cheese if you prefer, but then you'll have a lot of strong flavors competing for attention and you may miss the deliciousness that is Pav Bhaji masala.
Next, roll the filling into warm tortillas and fry them up. If the tortillas start unrolling, secure them with a toothpick, but remind yourself to remove those before eating (sounds silly, but trust me, biting into a toothpick can be quite painful). You can adjust the frying time to get softer or crispier flautas, depending on your preference. Since the filling is fully cooked, you don't have to worry about having to reach a certain temperature.
A word of caution: let the flautas cool down a little bit before digging in because there will be steam build-up inside. When I cooked these, I was so hungry (surprise, surprise...) that I threw caution to the wind and ended up with a nasty burn inside my mouth - not cool.
To finish up the dish, I added cole slaw, achar (Indian pickle), and green chutney crema (home-made green chutney + cream). The crema is very simple to make, if you'd like me to post a quick recipe for it, let me know. I hope you enjoy these vegetarian flautas as much as we do. Buen provecho!
- 3 medium (or 2 large) potatoes
- 1/3 cup white onion, chopped
- 1/4 lb queso fresco (or your favorite soft, mild cheese)
- 12 corn tortillas
- ½ tablespoon garam masala
- ½ tablespoon turmeric powder
- ½ tablespoon red chili powder
- ½ tablespoon cumin powder
- ½ tablespoon pav bhaji masala (optional, but adds lots of flavor)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper, to taste
- oil for frying (enough to cover the flautas in a saute pan)
1. Boil the potatoes until soft.
2. In a saute pan, pre-heat 1 tablespoon of oil at medium high heat. Fry the onions until lightly brown.
3. Once the onions are ready, lower the heat to medium and add the spices (garam masala, turmeric, red chili, cumin, pav bhaji masala, and garlic powder). Cook for 30-45 seconds. You will notice a difference in the smell, it should smell pleasant, not burned. Turn the heat off.
4. In a large bowl, use a potato masher to combine the potatoes, seasoned onions, cheese, salt, and pepper.
5. Heat the tortillas on a griddle until soft.
6. Add about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the potato filling to each tortilla and roll to make the flautas. If necessary, use a toothpick to secure.
7. In the same saute pan as step 2, pre-heat more oil for frying at medium-high heat.
8. Fry the rolled flautas in oil. Do not overcrowd the pan, you will need to this in batches depending on the size of your pan. It should take about 1-2 minutes per set, depending on how crispy you want them.
9. Use a paper towel to absorb extra oil once you remove the flautas from the pan. If you used toothpicks, make sure to remove them now.
I paired these flautas with cole slaw, green chutney crema, and achar (Indian pickle). Other options are rice and beans or guacamole and salad.


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Friday, June 19, 2009
The Guys' Rules
The mail went like this
We always hear the rules from the female side.Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!
1. Men are NOT mind readers.
1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.
1. Crying is blackmail.
1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
1. A headache that lasts for 17 months is a Problem.
See a doctor.
1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.
1. If you won't dress like the Victoria 's Secret girls, don't expect us to act like soap opera guys.
1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really.
1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as CRICKET, the shotgun formation, or golf.
1. You have enough clothes.
1. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
In the end it said
1. Thank you for reading this.. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;
1. But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.
1. All points are marked as point no. (1), becoz all points are equally Important. There is nothing as More Important or less Important. :D
P.S : This one is forwarded mail....but that doesn't mean I don't agree with it :D
9 comments:
ha! written by a bunch of EM-SEE-PEEs!ReplyDelete
see, I'm not a total feminist, and i agree its all for fun; when I got this mail first time, even I found it funny.
but I don't agree with this post as RULES. There are no rules, there can be no rules, cz every relationship is different and no1 can tell u what to do with it.
plus, if gals have nakhras, so do guys! mind it! :D
Ido..you should have marked them in numbers atleast..Phbbt ! Even though they're 'important than each other' But the fourth one is funny..it proves guys are d-u-m-b. =DReplyDelete
And I second Exp.. guys are biiig dramebaaz ppl! =P
- AnonymousJune 19, 2009 at 8:50 PM
sab natak !!! acting ignorant :PReplyDelete
That was funny :D
*yawn* :PReplyDelete
You'll forget ALL your so-called rules... wait till you fall... arrey love mein hi... ;) no experience though...
such dumb rules! they dont work! atleast i dont think so!ReplyDelete
hmm..dat was funny...n irritatin @ tymsReplyDelete
yes i bow down to the men-hood and cheers to all the men..ReplyDelete
lets make a toast
loved it... didnt know they made forwarded mails this way these days..:)ReplyDelete


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Super excited that our friends, Matt, Jessica, and cruising kitty, Georgie (sv/Serendipity), have joined us in Georgetown! After a grueling three months of repairs to their boat in St. Augustine, FL they are finally enjoying the sunshine and clear waters of the Bahamas. Hooray! Rode Trip and Serendipity will travel the outer islands of the Bahamas together.
We began our trip on a blustery day with north-northeast winds blowing 15-20 knots. It was cloudy and chilly when we waved goodbye to the Exumas. Rode Trip set out with one reef in our main sail and the gib. We moved along nicely at 5.5 knots – 6 knots.
Here is Serendipity on their way through the North Channel cut.
Seven-hours and 37-miles later it had been a long sailing day for us compared to our Exuma half-day sails. We were refreshed that the clouds had cleared and the sun came out along our way although the temperature hadn't increased. We had a beautiful view of Long Island; rolling, green hills were a change in scenery from the brown, barren islands of the Exumas. Approaching Thompson Bay we were received by a welcoming committee of five dolphins swimming in the bow. Thompson Bay is a huge area; we were able to anchor under sail and we will be well protected from forecasted east winds.


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Prince Philip's on his way to meet Prince George
Prince Philip could see his great grandson for the first time this week.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are set to head to Balmoral with son George and are expected to arrive "within days rather than weeks".
For the first time in more than a century, three heirs to the throne are alive and the 87-year-old Queen is expected to pose for photographs with son Prince Charles, 64, grandson Prince William, 31 and great grandson Prince George, nearly three weeks old.
The last such picture was of Queen Victoria in 1894 with her son, grandson and great grandson: Edward VII, George V and Edward VIII respectively.
The black and white photo was taken at White Lodge in Richmond Park at Prince Edward's christening.
Prince Philip is keen to see George
George is likely to be christened at the end of the summer but the world is clamouring for official pictures and Balmoral seems the likely venue.
Philip is due to arrive tomorrow after an engagement in Edinburgh. A royal source said: "It's the obvious photograph that everyone wants to see and it will be of major historical importance as well as an emotional family picture. Prince Philip is also keen to see George so William and Kate are expected soon."


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Use the form on the right to contact us.
You can edit the text in this area, and change where the contact form on the right submits to, by entering edit mode using the modes on the bottom right.
828 N Central Ave
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These simple gold rings can be worn alone, or stacked together.


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Rode to Guyra and stopped at the Federation lookout, from which there are great views. Next time I'll be sure to have the coffee packed and spend more time soaking it in. Guyra has an annual sheep and potato festival and I reckon that is worth a look in the future. Anyhow, here are some photos from Guyra.
|A fully loaded V-Star 650. The little bike that could - and did!
|To the north-west of Guyra
|To the south-west


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Old And New Mazda Miatas Demonstrate Why Driving Matters
In the span of my time so far on this planet, I've seen a lot of "sporty" car models come and go. Few have lasted for more than a couple of product generations and they have often evolved into something far different than the original design brief as manufacturers have tried to appeal to a broader market. For many, the carmaker simply couldn't make the business case to justify the engineering expense to keep it around. The one exception that has somehow stayed remarkably true to its original premise despite coming from a comparatively small brand is the Mazda MX-5 Miata. I recently got to spend time with the latest Miata iteration and compare it to one of the very earliest examples, a low-mileage 1990 that I personally own.
Read the rest of this review here


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Travelers frequently ask if they need to go to the bank in the U.S. to get Costa Rican colones (the local currency) before traveling. Not only is it quite unlikely that any U.S. bank would have so much as a single colón to exchange but if they order them the commission is very high.
The airport exchange counter at SJO or LIR is another place to wait in line to pay a huge commission and get a horrible exchange rate but it's completely unnecessary.
U.S. Dollars are Accepted in Costa Rica
There's no reason to change money in advance because U.S. dollars are commonly used in Costa Rica. The taxis out in front of the airport, the restaurants and hotels all accept dollars.
Bring $20 bills or smaller (larger denominations are hard to spend because there problems with counterfeit 50s and 100s) and make sure they are in good condition with no tears. If you do have large bills you can usually spend them for things that cost more. For example you can usually give a one hundred dollar bill and two twenty dollar bills for a $130 hotel room more easily than you can pay for a $30 bar tab with a one hundred dollar bill.
Normally when you spend dollars you'll receive your change in colones at a fair exchange rate (approximately ¢600 per dollar). After a day or two you'll have plenty of colones and will never have to visit a bank or exchange office.
To avoid exchange costs, pay for things priced in U.S. dollars with dollars (typically higher cost items like tours, hotels, negotiated fares for long taxi rides, restaurants). Pay for things priced in colones with colones (typically local sodas and fast food, taxis using a meter, and sometimes bar tabs). One exception is modern supermarkets (not little mini-supers or pulperias) where things are priced in colones but it does not matter what currency you use to pay because the computerized cash registers are programmed to give the current bank rate for exchange.
Sometimes the exchange rate is rounded down to ¢500 per dollar when spending dollars on things priced in colones. This is equivalent to paying a 10% commission which is a very bad rate. You should either pay in colones or ask for a fair exchange rate.
Start spending the colones where you can because if you still have them when you get ready to leave you may find yourself waiting in line to pay a huge commission and get a horrible exchange rate to convert them back to U.S. dollars. Your bank back home is not going to want them…
Canadian Dollars and Euros
Canadian dollars and Euros are not accepted in Costa Rica (except for exchange in banks). It's probably cheaper faster and easier change them to U.S. dollars at home in Europe or Canada if you want some spending cash in hand before you leave home. European and Canadian banks rarely have colones on hand and will have to order them. Because of this they typically charge higher fees or commissions when selling colones than they do when selling dollars.


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Na Forbacha is a settlement with a population of around 800 in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland. It lies along the coast between Barna and Spiddal. It is a Gaeltacht area where Irish is the main language used in the school, church and at community meetings. The figure for those who self-report as speaking Irish daily is 39%. Furbo is the first village after Galway City where Irish is a community language which becomes more stronger when you get to An Spidéal. The headquarters of the Gaeltacht Authority, Ãdarás na Gaeltachta, is located in Furbo.
It has a typical Gaeltacht style of settlement with no village street or centre, but rather comprises around fourteen townlands, most of which run North to South from the bog to the foreshore. Although the settlement is approximately 12 km from Galway city centre it has maintained its rural nature quite successfully in recent years due to strong opposition to large scale development from locals. Due to its proximity to Galway, and consequential pressure from property developers, housing developments generally have an Irish language clause applied. Currently housing developments have a requirement that 80% plus of housing units are reserved for Irish speakers.
The settlement consists of the following townlands: Cnocán an Bhodaigh, an Straidhp, an tSaoirsin, Baile na hAbhann, na PoillÃnÃ, Doire Uachtair, Aill an Phréacháin, an Coisméig Mór, na Forbacha Garbha, Seanadh Fhréachóg, and Cnoc na Gréine.
Furbo also boasts a very large community pitch which is used by the local Hurling Club, Football club, and by the nearby Bearna Soccer Club.
Trá na bhForbacha is a pleasant and safe beach for bathing. However, as reported in the Irish Examiner in May 2008, the water off Furbo failed to meet EU bathing standards due to fecal coliforms. It is understood that the pollution problem has been resolved but that Blue Flag status must await clean reports during 2008 and 2009. See also[edit source | edit] List of towns and villages in Ireland. References[edit source | edit] ^ Placenames Database of Ireland ^ Ãdarás na Gaeltachta ^ Bearna-Naforbacha
The above text is an extract from a recent revision of the Wikipedia article Furbo, County Galway, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
On this page you can see a map of Furbo, see what's on in Furbo, find out how to get to Furbo, visit local websites for Furbo, find Hotels in Furbo, find Bed and Breakfasts (B&Bs) in Furbo, browse restaurants in Furbo.
Tell us about any upcoming major events in Furbo and we can add to our website!
Furbo, Galway, Co. Galway
This hotel is on the shores of Galway Bay, 10 minutes from the West's most vibrant city, offering spectacular views over unspoilt sea, landscapes and the hotel's own extensive grounds.
See all Hotels in Furbo > >
Main Street, Furbo, Co. Galway
On Furbo Beach overlooking Galway Bay, Padraicins provides bright rooms and a unique, maritime-themed restaurant and lounge where guests can relax beside the sea. Guests can enjoy live weekend music, free WiFi and free parking.
Connemara Coast Hotel, Furbo, Co. Galway
Connemara Coast Hotel, Furbo, Co. Galway
See all Restaurants in Furbo > >


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Inspired by Checks Mix from designer Sarah Maxwell of Designs by Sarah J
Quilt tester: Laura Boehnke
• 3⁄8 yard solid white (blocks, inner border)
• 1⁄2 yard each four mottled prints: green, purple, blue, and pink (blocks, outer border)
• 3⁄8 yard binding fabric
• 2-2⁄3 yards backing fabric
• 48" square batting
Finished quilt: 39-1⁄2" square
Finished block: 15" square
Yardages and cutting instructions are based on 42" of usable fabric width.
Measurements include 1⁄4" seam allowances. Sew with right sides together unless otherwise stated.
Press seams in directions indicated by arrows on diagrams. If no direction is specified, press seam toward darker fabric.


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Opinions vary greatly on whether opening study should be emphasized at all for players below the professional level, so getting into a philosophical debate over the question is probably not going to be of great use, nor would it resolve anything. Rather, I'd like to offer some practical observations and guidelines that have helped me in making effective repertoire and study choices. Regardless of the emphasis you may choose to place on opening study, everybody has to have something prepared for the opening phase of the game.
The primary objective for me out of the opening is to get a playable middlegame position, not to try to achieve a winning advantage. This is not the most aggressive approach, but it's not a bad one in terms of results, either. The goals of all my opening lines are therefore to: 1) avoid losing to forced tactics in the opening, and 2) reach a middlegame where I evaluate my chances are no worse than my opponent's.
Goal #1 (not to lose!) is of course the most important limiting factor. Regardless of your opening choices, there will be at least a few (sometimes many) lines where the opponent can sacrifice material or undertake a provocative maneuver that gives them an early attack. For example, if there is a tactical sideline with forcing threats that eventually ends up equal after 12 moves into the game, but you only know through move 7, your preparation is both incomplete and risky. At the Class level, opponents are typically not "booked up" and will play interesting-looking or aggressive moves in the opening rather than "knowing" they ultimately do not work or end up in equality. This forces us to be prepared not just for lines that theory considers best and popular, but for threatening sidelines. Examples:
- Slav Defense, Geller Gambit. This pawn sacrifice normally gives White an initiative until around move 16-17 and Black can easily misstep if he does not understand the line. You can see my simul against GM Alex Yermolinsky (Annotated Game #4) for an illustration of how the opening can be prepared (and how the endgame should not be played) in this line.
- Budapest Gambit (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5). This whole opening is designed to be aggressive and trappy and is not easily dealt with by White. In my tournament career, I've more than once been seated at a board next to a game where this gambit had been played and personally observed Black obtaining a won game in less than 10 moves, while White was completely bewildered by what had happened.
Goal #2 (reach an at least roughly equal position) is more flexible but also requires more judgment and evaluation. With non-tactical sidelines or offbeat openings where there is no immediate threat from your opponent, sometimes just a basic idea of how to proceed can be enough, or perhaps knowing a sequence of 5-6 moves will set you up well for the middlegame after some additional standard developing moves. In more complex cases, especially in whatever the main line is considered to be, there is more danger of your opponent (especially when you are Black) being able to emerge from the opening with at least a slight advantage. Greater depth of move knowledge - and knowledge of why the moves are being made - is more critical here. Examples:
- 1. b4 (Sokolsky Opening). The standard advice I've seen is simply to play a Queen's Indian Defense setup against it as Black. This worked out well in the one game I've ever played against it.
- Colle System. I used to stop at move 3 with my preparation, which simply involved playing 3...Bf5 and then exchanging off the light-squared bishop. This seemed to take most of the potential sting out of the system. Following my game analysis here, my preparation has been extended out to move 5, for example as in Annotated Game #80, following the recognition from Annotated Games #75 and #78 that Black had to watch the b7-pawn more closely early on.
- Caro-Kann, Advance Variation. Most recently shown in Annotated Game #74, there are several early sidelines to know and the main line of the variation is considered the most challenging to Black.
The last big factor I take into account in determining "how much is enough?" is my ability to retain and understand opening lines - which, like everyone's, is limited. This naturally affects overall repertoire choice, choice of lines and also how far we will study a line until it is considered "enough". Take the Colle System example above: if I know it will be a more frequent choice of my opponents, then for practical purposes I will devote more time to looking at effective ideas for Black. However, I am satisfied that I can reach an equal position with my current knowledge level. So, in the absence of another motivating factor, I am able to safely concentrate on other openings. I've also deliberately limited the amount of theory to know in the Caro-Kann Advance by choosing the 3...c5 sideline, but it is still a critical variation to know and understand, so requires more attention during opening preparation time.
I look for practical results from opening preparation more than anything else and this approach has worked well, to the point where I can (and should) concentrate on other aspects of my game. It is also important to highlight that opening study methods can (and should) go far beyond identification and memorization of lines, if you want to truly improve your game.


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First-look picture and further casting announced for BBC One's "A Very English Scandal"
Filming on Russell T Davies' major three-part drama for BBC One A Very English Scandal has begun.
Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as Norman Scott will be joined by Alex Jennings (The Queen, Victoria), Patricia Hodge (Miranda, Maxwell), Monica Dolan (Appropriate Adult, Strike), Adrian Scarborough (On Chesil Beach, The King's Speech) and Jason Watkins (The Lost Honour Of Christopher Jefferies, W1A), with Eve Myles (Torchwood, Victoria), Michele Dotrice (Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, Starfish) and Blake Harrison (Trust Me, The Inbetweeners).
As previously announced, A Very English Scandal is the shocking true story of the first British politician to stand trial for conspiracy and incitement to murder.
Hugh Grant is to return to British television screens for the first time since the early 1990s as the disgraced MP Jeremy Thorpe, who in 1979 was tried but acquitted of conspiring to murder his ex-lover Norman Scott, played by Ben Whishaw.
The drama will be produced by Blueprint Television for BBC One in the UK and Amazon Prime Video in the US.
Further cast include Fisayo Akinade, David Bamber, Patrick Barlow, Lucy Briggs-Owen, Paul Hilton, Jonathan Hyde, Alice Orr-Ewing, Steffan Rhodri, Paul Freeman and Susan Wooldridge.
It is the late 1960s, homosexuality has only just been decriminalised and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party and the youngest leader of any British political party in a hundred years, has a secret he's desperate to hide. As long as his ex-lover Norman Scott is around, Thorpe's brilliant career is at risk. Thorpe schemes and deceives - until he can see only one way to silence Scott for good. The trial of Jeremy Thorpe changed society forever, illuminating the darkest secrets of the Establishment. The Thorpe affair revealed such breath-taking deceit and corruption that, at the time, hardly anyone dared believe it could be true.
Written by the BAFTA winning writer Russell T Davies and directed by Academy Award nominee and BAFTA winner Stephen Frears, the BBC One three-part drama (3x60) is executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Graham Broadbent and Pete Czernin for Blueprint Television and Lucy Richer for the BBC and produced by Dan Winch (Broadchurch, Philip K Dick's Electric Dreams). The drama was commissioned by Piers Wenger, Controller of BBC Drama, and Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content, and will premiere on BBC One in 2018.
This will be the first production from Sony-backed Blueprint Television, which launched last June. Headed by Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and former EastEnders Executive Producer Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Blueprint Television is sister company to Blueprint Pictures, which produced The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and the upcoming Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.
Filming is underway in the UK. The drama will be distributed by Sony Pictures Television.


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Supermarket chain Albert Heijn is to cover up the displays of tobacco products at the check-outs in 15 of its stores.
The move is an experiment to find out the most effective method of hiding cigarettes and rolling tobacco from sight, broadcaster Nos reports.
Banning tobacco products from display in all supermarkets is one of a number of measures the government is considering in an effort to tighten up its anti-smoking laws.
By experimenting with ways of doing this, Albert Heijn is anticipating the new measure.
Tobacco products will be covered in various different ways in the 15 stores, for instance with doors or blinds, to see what works best for customers and staff.
The supermarket plans to offer the results to the food retailers' association CBL.
The cancer charity KWF welcomed the test. 'That Albert Heijn is already testing various methods of keeping tobacco products out of sight is a positive sign,' a spokesman told the Nos.
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Review: Maddie's Choice – Joyce Zeller
For as long as she can remember, Maddie Taylor has wanted nothing more than to write books to her heart's content. It's the only thing that keeps her sane. She's good at writing romance novels, and does her best to engage her readers. Bringing new worlds to life is something that never gets old for her, until the moment she develops writer's block. It's then that everything changes.
Maddie's world is further turned topsy-turvy when she discovers that the late Jonah Spartman has left her half of his Arkansas cattle ranch. In her mind, his doing so is just what she needs to kickstart her brain, and get the writing flowing again. Granted, she doesn't quite understand as to why he willed her half of the ranch to begin with. Never-the-less, it's a blessing in disguise. One she aims to make the most of.
Arriving at her new destination, Maddie soon realizes that life on a ranch is far from what she's used to. Not to mention, that everyone sees her as some sort of threat. Determined to not let her current obstacles bring her down, she dives head-first into the situation. Her goal is to make everyone see that she's not the bad woman they've made her out to be.
As her life starts taking on a different turn, Maddie comes to accept the changes cropping up around her. She can definitely get used to living on a ranch, most especially when there's so many nice people around to share her life with. Yet there's one thing she never counted on. Gideon Spartman makes her feel things she never felt before. Things she wants so desperately to experience, even though she won't admit that to herself. Still, there's something about him that draws her interest, and she's intent on finding out just what it is before she ends up going back home once her time in the country is said and done.
A heart-warming story, Maddie's Choice is one of those books that will make its way deep into your heart. Wound with such emotion, Joyce has created a story that definitely captures the reader's interest. We're thrust in Maddie's turbulent world as she tries to make sense of who and what she is. The character's plights are certainly believable, and the feelings injected throughout the story pour off the page. I enjoyed the story very much, and look forward to more of Joyce's stories soon enough.
Available for purchase via the following retailers:
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Joyce-Zeller/e/B005N0BVCS
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/maddies-choice-joyce-zeller/1116805477
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/352701
Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1603819592
Romance writer Maddie Taylor is fed up with New York City. She is getting nowhere with her latest manuscript and does not believe true love exists outside of her imagination. When a friend, Jonah Spartman, dies and wills her half of his Arkansas cattle ranch, she sees the chance for a new beginning. Jonah has also left behind two orphaned great-grandsons desperate for affection and an accounting book in the red.
The other half of the failing ranch belongs to Gideon Spartman, Jonah's grandson, who believes all capacity for love was torn from him during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Rugged and sexy, Gideon is the enthralling physical manifestation of the hero in Maddie's current manuscript. He is far from happy to be sharing an inheritance that is rightfully his. As she senses the need behind Gideon's rough and unwelcoming exterior, Maddie acknowledges her own yearning for love and family.
Jonah's will requires Maddie to stay on the ranch for three months. When that time is up, will she return to her comfortable but emotionally barren existence or embrace the challenges of her new life, which include cattle rustlers and drug dealers? Maddie's choice proves to be far from simple.
About The Author:
Joyce Zeller has written articles for a magazine and a cooking column for a chain of suburban newspapers north of Chicago. She has written five books and published two, The Hidden History of Eureka Springs, and Accidental Alien, a work of science fiction, both available on Amazon. Her short story, "Love is a Seed," is featured in Embrace: A Romance Collection, (2012 Goldmine Press).
Joyce has served in the United States Army. As a professional perfumer (School of Perfumery, London, England) and an aroma-therapist, she made custom fragrances in her store. Her creation, Mountain Air, was declared the Arkansas Sesquicentennial Fragrance in 1965. Her latest achievement was getting elected as Alderman to the Eureka Springs City Council.
Maddie's Choice is a romance with her favorite theme, that being human is a lonely business, but for everyone there is somebody to love. It's a matter of finding them. There will always be kids and animals in her books, and always, humor, "because life without humor is unthinkable."
Connect With Her Online:
Website: http://joycezeller.com
Blog: http://joycezeller.blogspot.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyce.zeller
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jzeller9847
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6060540.Joyce_Zeller
Maddie's Choice Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18369023-maddie-s-choice


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|My inspiration: Cruciani bracelets
lace trim - I bought mine at Walmart (check their fabric section)
small sew-on snaps
needle and thread
Casual and formal. Works both ways. Here is Nina wearing bracelets to my friend's wedding. By the way, the daisy headband in the photo above is also DIY (for this, you need lace trim and elastic). Hope you are having a great summer!


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Prestige Pressure Cleaning
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This winter has been brutal on your concrete, we do minor repairs saving you from doing total replacements.


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Tree Planting
Planting a tree is an investment in the future. Our tree planting service ensures that your new tree gets the best start possible. We will transport the tree to your site, excavate the proper sized hole, amend the soil (if required), place the tree (pruning roots as required), fill the hole, provide support (if required) and clean up. All you need to do is water regularly according to our instructions and your tree will thrive.
Looking for a large tree? Through our partnerships with tree moving companies we can install very large specimens that suit your site and budget.
Pricing is based on the size of pot so give us a call or stop by to discuss your options.


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Hotel Los Tadeos – Zahara de la Sierra
The Hotel Los Tadeos is located in a unique environment, with a quiet and friendly atmosphere. Most rooms have spectacular views of the mountains of the Sierra de Lijar and from most corners of the hotel you can see the beautiful medieval village of Zahara de la Sierra.
Recently completely renovated, the rooms are in the style of "Andalusian farmhouse" and rustic in wood with typical details of the region. It features a high-quality equipment to ensure maximum comfort to guests.
There was an elevator installed, equipped the room with a new soundproofing and air conditioning.
Various rooms are fully equipped and most have a Jacuzzi and a terrace or balcony.
Since the hotel is located in the heart of the Sierra de Cadiz, you can reach all national parks and starting points for activities shortly. You can also take the opportunity to relax by the pool and enjoy a unique view.
We also encourage you to visit the restaurant and try one of the traditional dishes that are prepared with ecological products.