Green Blog

When was the last time you went berry picking? Many people don’t realize that you can take a trip to a berry picking farm, and bring home the fruit that you pick. Come late summer, many varieties of berries are ready to be picked and this is the perfect time to plan your berry picking adventure.

Bring at least one bucket per person, including kids. If you plan on picking a large volume of berries, it is better to bring more buckets than you think you will need than to need more buckets and not have enough. Most berry picking farms ask that you bring your own buckets and will not have buckets available for use.

Summer berries include the popular strawberries and blueberries that are often featured at pick your own farms, as well as blackberries and raspberries. Sometimes blackberries and raspberries grow in the wild. If this is the case, and if the bushes are not on private property, these berries are also good for picking.

Berry picking can be messy business. Berry juice stains are nearly inevitable after a day at the berry picking farm. Don’t wear nice clothing that you will regret having stained. It’s likely that you and your kids will be sitting on the ground, on dirt and berries, while picking. Even if you think you can stay clean, better safe than sorry.

After you are done picking, bring your berries home. Be sure to wash them before eating. Then, all that is left is to decide what to do with them. You have many options:

Berries freeze well if enclosed in freezer bags or airtight containers. This is good information to have, in case you picked more berries than you can use before they spoil. Freeze what you can’t use right away, and with the rest of the berries, decide how best to serve them.

You can eat many berries raw or cooked, depending on your preference. Some people like to have them plain, or with a bit of cream or milk. Other people sprinkle them on cereals, or mix them into oatmeal. Don’t be afraid to get creative with your berries. Berries can be baked into muffins and breads, be cooked down into preserves, be used as a filler between layers in a cake, and be simmered and used as a glaze for cooking some meats especially pork. Most recipe sites will have plenty of options for using up your berries.

A last word of advice to make sure that your berry picking experience is a positive one - don’t forget your sunscreen and your hat! You will be picking outside in summer. Coming home with a stinging sunburn is no fun.

In addition to summer activities, this writer also regularly shares writing regarding general ledger accounts and inventory accounting software.

For those of you who love to document your memories in the way of a book there is a new computer program to make that task easier for you. I will show the many uses including how to create scrapbooks with the family tree maker. It will help you manage your photos and biographies of each family member, and puts them in order.

This program is designed to be used alone or in conjunction with a website, and the instructions will tell you which website to go to. In order to use this software you must have windows XP, Vista or windows 7, 400 MB hard disk space and a DVD ROM drive. To access the online features you will need internet access. As long as you meet all these requirements you will have no trouble running or operating this software.

You will be able to pull all of your pictures and biographies along with any notes that go along with each family member into one place. That is most convenient because this way you will have all the information at your fingertips. There are quite a few tutorials to show you how each function works. There is a learning curve to anything new, but after you have used it a few times it will be a breeze.

What is great about this is you have your choice of memory book page layouts. If you are creative you may make your own or choose one from the program. The layout serves as a format to place different photographs on your page. There are also several fonts which to choose from. Depending on how you want your book to look you may choose one or more fonts.

The website that offers this program for sale also has internet seminars. These seminars will teach you how to use each function. It goes over basic information and tips for using the program for different projects. It even teaches you how to make a slide show with your photographs. You may add text in different fonts to your pictures and add them to the slide show.

There is a mapping system built into the program. This enables you to type the information in and then the city and state will pop up and this information can be place in your family memory book. This is great for grandchildren to see where the grand parents, uncles and aunts lived. This will help your children or grand children interested in their family heritage as well.

It is a good idea to do an online search for your relatives. You will find that there are many to choose from. All of them have about the same information, they show you how to search and find your relatives and it will give you information about them. A few of the websites charge a fee to be a member and enable you full use of their resources. You pay once a month until you have found your information.

We have only scratched the surface concerning this software. There is so much more than what I was able to share with you. This is a great tool for you to use in your search, it is more than just organizing your photographs. For those that are serious about tracing the family tree you might want to do an internet search and that will answer all of your questions.

When it comes to finding out information for the family tree maker, you can search the Net. The family tree software can be helpful you get started with completing your family tree.

This day in age, people are turning to religion in droves. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism has embedded it’s ideology in the hearts and minds of millions globally. While all these religions deserve respect and tolerance, few in the west have a grasp on the complicated concept of Buddhism.

The end all and be all of online encyclopedias, Wikipedia grabs the first slot on a Google search for the term Buddhism and the breakdown reads like this: “Buddhism is a religion and a philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha (Pali/Sanskrit “the awakened one”). The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.

He is recognized by adherents as an awakened teacher who shared his insights to help sentient beings end suffering, achieve nirvana, and escape what is seen as a cycle of suffering and rebirth. Buddhism is traditionally conceived as a path of liberation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. Two major branches of Buddhism are recognized: Theravada (”The School of the Elders”) and Mahayana (”The Great Vehicle”). Theravada, the oldest surviving branch, has a widespread following in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia, and Mahayana is found throughout East Asia and includes the traditions of Pure Land, Zen, Nichiren Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, Shingon, Tendai and Shinnyo-en. In some classifications, a third branch, Vajrayana, is recognized, although many see this as an offshoot of the Mahayana. While Buddhism remains most popular within Asia, both branches are now found throughout the world.

Various sources put the number of Buddhists in the world at between 230 million and 500 million.” After living abroad in Asia for several years I have found that Buddhist cultures are more tolerant because the focus is on the ’self’ and the meditation on the calming of the mind, concentrating on controlled breathing and the idea that meditation to bring one closer to peace is central to discovering one’s self.

If you have the opportunity to investigate the practice of Buddhism, I would highly recommend it. I’m not saying to take up the path and convert to a religion but the calming affect that is central to this religions concept will bring a peaceful serenity to your life that you may find useful. All in all respect and tolerance for all religious perspectives is something that people are beginning to make a conscious effort to practice and understanding ideas from various religions can teach us an appreciation that can bring us all closer together.

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