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Beta (14-30 Hz) Concentration, arousal, alertness, cognition Higher levels associated with anxiety, unease, feelings of separation, fight or flight Alpha (8-13.9 Hz) Relaxation, superlearning, relaxed focus, light trance, increased serontonin production Pre-sleep, pre-waking drowsiness, meditation, beginning of access to unconscious mind Theta (4-7.9 Hz) Dreaming sleep (REM sleep) Increased production of catecholamines (vital for learning and memory), increased creativity Integrative, emotional experiences, potential change in behavior, increased retention of learned material Hypnagogic imagery, trance, deep meditation, access to unconscious mind Delta (.1-3.9 Hz) Dreamless sleep Human growth hormone released Deep, trance-like, non-physical state, loss of body awareness Access to unconscious and “collective unconscious” mind, greatest “push” to brain when induced with Holosync® When you are absorbed in a good book (or a television show) you are probably in alpha. And, as I already mentioned, alpha is often associated with what is known as “superlearning”—the ability to learn, process, store and recall large amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Slower still are theta waves. Theta is best known as the brain wave state of dreaming sleep, but it is also associated with a number of other beneficial states, including increased creativity, some kinds of superlearning, increased memory abilities, and what are called integrative experiences (in which we make broadly-based positive changes in the way we see ourselves, others, or a certain life situation). “Ah-ha!” experiences, where you suddenly “get it,” have an insight, or a great idea suddenly comes to you, are accompanied by bursts of theta waves in your brain. You can probably see why putting yourself in this state might increase your effectiveness! Here’s another exciting characteristic of the theta state: Dr. Thomas Budzynski, a noted researcher in this field, has said that critical and often self-sabotaging filters of the left brain are bypassed in a theta state, and that in terms of making positive changes in beliefs or habit patterns, “a lot of work gets done very quickly.”

]]> http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2011/01/27/brain-wave-patterns/feed/ 0 ladymaggic Image of Four Brainwave Patterns Beta Brainwave Patterns Alpha Brainwave Patterns Theta Brainwave Patterns Delta Brainwave Patterns http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/flooded-gympie-maryborough-and-queensland/ http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/flooded-gympie-maryborough-and-queensland/#comments Sun, 09 Jan 2011 23:08:28 +0000 ladymaggic https://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/flooded-gympie-maryborough-and-queensland/ ]]> The rains poured down from Tweed Heads through to Maryborough.
I stayed overnight at Stotts Island, but fully expected the rains to continue, so packed up the wet van, and drove off at sunrise.
At Gympie, the Bruce Highway was blocked at Kybong, but when I went through at 7am, the waters were down but after the recent rain, they were rising. At Gympie, a detour took me across the river. The free camps were under water, and at Tiara, there were two caravans on high ground like an island, and the road was flooded. I had planed to stay there, but drove on.
I tried to go home via Hervey Bay route but Maryborough was blocked, so I returned via Bruce Highway and the Childers road, and the rain cleared before the Howard turnoff. I stopped at the truck park next to the Caltex, and opened up the van, had coffee and toast and waited until the canvas dried. I was lucky.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/National/2011/01/09/Flash_flooding_warning_for_Qld_562283.html

Police Chief Superintendent Alistair Dawson said there had been overnight flash flooding near Gympie and Maryborough in the southeast and sudden inundations are expected elsewhere.

The Mary River at Gympie is still rising and threatens 20 businesses in the city.

At Maryborough the river is predicted to rise to 8.4 metres – under the predicted 9m – and has inundated three homes and three businesses.

Boat owners in the Mary River are being asked to check their vessels after problems at the local marina and other anchorages.

In Rockhampton, central Queensland, 138 people remain in evacuation centres.

‘Sadly, 400 homes still have water through the actual premises themselves,’ Supt Dawson said.

About 150 businesses are also affected, he said.

The Fitzroy River is holding steady and the Bruce Highway north is open.

Built in the style used by NSW colonial architect, James Barnet, Charles
Harding his successor, prepared the plans for the Cape Byron
Lighthouse. Due to the elevation of the site, a tall structure was not
required. Construction began in 1899 with the levelling of the site by
contractors, Mitchell and King. The total cost was £10,042 (pounds) to
the contractors, £8,000 for the apparatus and lantern house, and £2,600
for the road from Byron Bay township.

Tower Construction

The tower is constructed from concrete blocks made on the ground, lifted
and cemented into position and finally cement rendered inside and out.
This technique saved erecting framework.

The Lens

The eight ton optical lens was made by the French company, Societe des
Establishment, Henry Lepante, Paris. It is a dioptric first-order
bivalve double flashing lens and contains 760 pieces of highly polished
prismatic glass. The lens revolves on a bath of 7cwt mercury. The
original illuminant was a concentric six-wick kerosene burner. This was
replaced in 1922 by a vaporised kerosene mantle burner, which increased
the intensity from 145,000 cp to 500,000 cp. In 1956, the light was
converted to mains electricity increasing the intensity to 2,200,000 cd.

The original lens weight driven mechanism, which works on a similar
principle as that of a grandfather clock, was also replaced with an
electric drive motor when the light was converted to electric operation.
An auxiliary fixed red light is exhibited from the tower to cover
Julian Rocks to the north.

The Event

The installation of the lighthouse was regarded as a great event in the
district of Byron Bay. A banquet was arranged and special trains carried
visitors from Lismore and Murwillumbah for the opening. The Premier of
the day, the Hon. John See (later Sir John See), was accompanied by a
number of his colleagues who left Sydney in the Government steamer
‘Victoria’. However, bad weather prevented the vessel from arriving on
time, and when the party should have been banqueting the steamer was
some thirty miles away. She arrived in the bay just before midnight on
30 November 1901, but again, the weather made it impossible for the
party to land until dawn.

The Lighthouse Opened

After landing, the party was informed that the banquet had taken place
on the previous evening, and the necessary toast had been heartily drunk
in the absence of the Premier and his party. Mr See, after making an
acrobatic performance in landing, was cordially cheered, and later
formally welcomed at the Great Northern Hotel. Interestingly, the
lighthouse was christened with a rich and sumptuous vintage burgundy –
not dashed against the tower to waste, but sipped by the ladies and
legislators to compensate for having missed all the good things of the
banquet held the night before.

Visit our Cape Byron Headland Reserve page for more information on the Cape.

Courtesy Cape Byron Trust

With 22 cities and towns already affected by floodwaters in
Queensland, covering an area the size of New South Wales, there are
warnings the state could remain waterlogged for a month.

And
following the death of a 41-year-old Mt Isa woman,who drowned when her
car was swept into a river, police are again warning of the dangers of
attempting to cross or enter the floodwaters.

Emergency service
officials held a disaster management meeting in Brisbane yesterday
where acting commissioner Alistair Dawson warned Queensland could be
flood affected for a month.

Police say they’ll decide today if
they’ll continue their air, land and water search for a swimmer who was
reported missing in Rockhampton’s Fitzroy River early yesterday.

Authorities say 40 per cent of the city could be affected by the flood peak of 9.4 metres on Wednesday.

Meanwhile,
Bundaberg is moving on to the recovery stage after its worst flooding
in 40 years, and the flood waters are also receding in the central
Queensland city of Emerald, but it remains divided by the swollen Nogoa
River.

In private homes problems arise as well....

My unit in the caravan park was not lived in when I was away and the man next door started using my grassed area for his parking.

This created Tyre tracks, and I asked him not to park his car there, so it could dry out.

When the rains were over-flooding the back road and pouring into the gardens, my nice neighbour dug an angular ditch that not only drained his excess water, but also all the water from the road making my lower area a bog-pond. I told the caravan park about this and was told to fill it in. I did with a pot-plant and 3 bricks, so at least the water flow would be curbed. He retaliated by removing my filling and making the whole ditch deeper and wider, and bow all the waters have drained into my grass and its stale water and a bog.

The voice of a woman is weak, and I have either to accept that my area will stay a bog, or move away.

I am still angry because of the theft of all my pot-plants and purchased plants, including herbs and orchids by the neighbors and the man I asked to water the garden in my 3 month absence. Again, there is nothing I can do because,’they thought I was not returning’.

No plants and now a bog that is getting larger as the waters continue to drain into what was my garden..

Now the small grassed area and the back yard plants, which they did not steal, is dying because of draining stagnant water.

The effects of the flood affect people in different ways. I am
grateful that I still have my unit, but angry with the mentality of
Trailer residents which I now see as something out of ‘Deliverance’ with
frog-pond characteristics. all croaking about their own little lives and sleep-holes, and taking what they can find like dung beetles in cow-pads.

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/12/28/Brisbane_urged_to_prepare_for_flooding_557064.html

People in Brisbane are being urged to prepare for possible flooding as wild weather continues to plague the state.

Brisbane City Council issued a warning to residents late on Monday, with more rain predicted for the coming days.

Sandbags are being offered to those in low-lying areas and the council is also advising that possessions and equipment be moved off the ground.

It also recommends downloading a flood map for their suburb from http://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au to see how individual properties may be affected.

‘More rain (is) expected overnight and tomorrow to already sodden catchments,’ the council said in a statement.

Localised flooding has occurred over the past few days on a number of roads across Brisbane, many of which remain affected.

Motorists are encouraged not to attempt to cross flooded roads, with authorities warning flood waters can be fast-moving and dangerous.

The State Emergency Service (SES) reiterated that message after rescuing at least three people from trapped vehicles across the state within a matter of hours on Monday night.

There has also been instances of retaining and rock walls on private property failing because of the saturated ground, and caution is urged around such structures, the council said.

The local SES unit attended more than 30 jobs on Monday, mostly for leaking roofs and sandbagging, and 48 volunteers are assisting residents.

Flash-flooding is affecting a large swathe of central, southeast and southwest Queensland and a severe weather warning remains in place, with heavy falls expected to drench southern and inland areas over the next few days.

The Bureau of Meteorology says the immediate concern is for Chinchilla in the state’s southwest, Dalby, Warwick and further north at Theodore and Rockhampton in central Queensland.

Residents in some of those rural areas are on evacuation alert and towns have been cut off by near record-breaking flood levels.

]]> http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/floods-in-brisbane-and-queensland/feed/ 1 ladymaggic http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/make-your-own-soup-mixes/ http://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/make-your-own-soup-mixes/#comments Sun, 26 Dec 2010 22:24:58 +0000 ladymaggic https://ladymaggic.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/make-your-own-soup-mixes/ ]]>
http://www.yhwhswordoffaith.com/WAS/Soup.htm
when I cook in a canteen, I fill the canteen up to about an inch from the top to allow for adding the flour and your choice of seasoning and or wild edibles. I am going to write “bouillon” in the recipes, but I’ll show you how to make your own “bouillon” too.

All of the “flour” is made by using my hand grinder with the exception of the corn chowder… For that I use my electric coffee bean grinder. See below

*IMPORTANT*
When making soups with flour, I’ve tested all different ways and would like to share with you the way soup making works best for me.
I put my pea/bean flour into a cup, add water (warm is best NOT BOILING HOT) into the cup. Whisk this (fork or spork works best) until you have a paste that resembles peanut butter. Now add a little more water enough to make it runny enough to pour into your boiling water. Be sure to continue to whisk until your paste and boiling water is well blended. As it comes back to a boil it will begin to thicken. I’ve noticed different brands of peas and beans use more or less flour. So it helps to have extra pea/bean flour in case you need to thicken up your soup.
What works great for me is to test my soups inside to find the perfect balance, then make up baggies of pea/bean flour with the correct portion to make a thick soup.

First the two soups done on the video.

Corn chowder

Approx. 3 1/4 c. hot water or 3/4 of your canteen of hot water

1/3 c. rounded fine corn flour or Masa (here’s what I do. I put cornmeal in my coffee bean grinder and grind it until it’s flour, quick and easy!!)

3 Tbsp. pea flour

1 Tbsp. chicken or vegetable bouillon

Hot sauce or cayenne pepper is awesome in it too!

Whisk flour paste and bouillon into your water (*SEE ABOVE) and cook, stirring, for 1 minute over medium high heat. Cover and turn heat to low; cook 2-3 minutes. Serve with broken corn chips. Makes 2 hearty bowls full.

Lentil Soup

(Regular or Curried)

4 c. hot water

Recipe For Bulk Soup seasonings to keep in your pantry

6-8 Tbsp. salt

2 1/2 Tsp. garlic powder

3 Tbsp. black pepper

7 Tbsp. parsley flakes

5 Tbsp. dried chives

3 Tbsp. onion powder

3 Tbsp. paprika

Combine and store in airtight container (Keep in your kitchen and EDC kit)

ANOTHER recipe:

4 Tablespoons dried parsley

2 Tablespoon dried thyme

1 Tablespoon dried marjoram

1 Tablespoon dried basil

1 Tablespoon dried chervil (lemon-anise flavor)

1 Tablespoon celery seed

2 Teaspoon dried rosemary

2 Teaspoon dried savory

1 Teaspoon dried lemon zest (this is important!)

Mix all herbs well, and store in an airtight container,
away from heat and light.

Use in place of bouillon in soups. Awesome and has no sodium!

When making Curried soups… (Add in addition to Soup mix seasonings 1 Tbsp. Curry and 1/2 Tbsp. Cumin)

I put my seasoning into tiny crafter’s Ziploc bags, and place them into my Ziploc bag with flour in my soup mixes, when making these ahead to retain the best flavor.

You can choose to use healthy MSG free bouillon or mix your own spices like I do.

Instant Pea Soup (This is for half a canteen)

2 c. boiling water

2 Tsp. Chicken or Vegetable bouillon

3 Tbsp. Pea flour – green or yellow

Using dried peas (whole or split), grind to fine flour. (This can be made in large quantities, then be frozen until ready for use.) In medium saucepan over medium-high heat, whisk chicken or vegetable soup base and pea flour into boiling water, stirring for about 1 minute. Turn heat to low, cover and cook 2 minutes. Serves 2. For thicker soup, use up to 1/3 cup pea flour.If you have the room to take along with you, take along some liquid smoke and bacon or bacon bits.

Note: If you want to get fancier, add 1/4 c. each grated carrots, grated potatoes and minced celery to boiling water and cook 3-4 minutes or until crunchy/tender and then add your pea flour and continue with the above recipe.

Baby Lima Bean Soup

2 cups water (half a canteen)

3-Minute Cream Of Chicken Soup (serves 2)

3 c. boiling water

When using beans, it’s fun to use spices as listed below if you are in the mood for a more Mexican flavor

Campfire Bread & Ghee

• Items you’ll need
• butter or margarine
• 1 small coffee can
• 2 large coffee can2
• 2 1/2+ cups of flour
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup warm water
• pinch of salt

The first thing you need is to build a good fire, you’ll be baking the bread inside a bed of coals.

Take a small bowl, put one cup warm water with a bit of honey or sugar of your choice in it. Sprinkle about 1tsp of quick yeast on top of the water.

While the yeast is activating,

I head back outside and check that my fire is burning well and beginning to form a good bed of coals. Once I see you have a good hot fire with plenty of fuel to make my bed of coals, I head back in.

Now it’s time to pour my yeast mixture into a bigger bowl, add my whisked egg and a pinch of salt along with 2 cups of flour and whisk it with a fork.

At this point I add another 1/2 +cup of flour and I begin to knead the dough. I work the dough until it doesn’t stick to my fingers or hands. (Add the 1/2cup+ of flour slowly, adding enough but not too much, the dough should be elasticy and smooth and not sticky )

The dough is ready to take outside now. Break off about 1/3 of the dough. We do that here as we love making ash cakes and stick bread as shown on the video. The dough is too much for one small coffee can, but you can break it in half and make two loaves, you’ll just need more cans to do it in

Now I rubbed butter all over the inside of my one pound coffee can. I prefer to use ghee (a type of clarified butter)

((((Instead of making a video, I’ll share it below as it is very simple!)))

Next we need to push the dough into the bottom of the coffee tin.

Cover the can with loosely with tin foil and set by your campfire (not too close) to rise up till doubled in bulk. That foil hat will rise up above the can showing you the dough has doubled.

Once that dough forms a nice head out of the can, put this can of dough into a large coffee can. This coffee can needs to have a smooth layer of small rocks on the bottom.

We moved the coals into a circle, placed the large can with the small one inside it, into the center of the coals. Building about 2 inches of coals around it all.

We then took another large coffee can that had some holes in it, squished it a bit so that we could turn it upside down and put it on top of the other large can without tipping over.

We let this bake for about 25 minutes, we added small tinder to keep the coals from dying out.

I check after 15 minutes and if the bread is very brown I push away any wood with flames leaving only coals to be sure the bread cooks in the center.

We took the remainder of the dough and rolled out long strands of dough. We twisted the dough over sticks, and roasted some. Made an ash cake, placing dough directly onto hot ash..as well as baking a few pieces on the tin foil, placing the foil over the hot ash after the bread was baked.

We took the rest of the bread inside and enjoyed it with Tuscan White Bean soup.

Ghee Recipe

Ghee is made by removing the moisture and the nonfat milk solids

A few facts on Ghee:

It starts to solidify below 63° F

It melts above 99° F

Smoking Point 375° F

The advantages of using Ghee over butter or margarine is that there is no splattering when you fry/saute items. If using it in pastries, the pastries are much more “puffy” And it lasts way longer than butter on the counter. It’s much easier to get an even coating of ghee in your coffee tin than butter. The spots with too much butter will tend to burn. Just wipe with a paper towel dipped in ghee.

To make Ghee

Take 1 pound of un-salted butter

In a heavy stainless steel pan, melt butter on low heat. Once the butter is melted you can turn up the heat to medium. Just let it simmer. You will notice the butter begin to foam. This is okay! The reason it is foaming is due to the moisture evaporating. The oil will begin to clarify now. You need to skim off the foam. Keep on cooking until all that remains is a light yellow colored oil, and the moisture is removed. This all takes up to 45 minutes. Don’t do this in a rush, take your time! You will notice brown pieces on the bottom of your pan. That is just the milk solids. Once complete, remove from heat and pour through a seive with a few layers of cheese cloth in it. The result will be …..Ghee!

1 pound of unsalter butter makes about 1 ½ cups of Ghee.

You can safely store your ghee at room temperature for about six months (up to a year in the fridge if you don’t use it often)

Christmas in 2010 is on Saturday, the 25th of December.

Christmas Day is preceded by Christmas Eve on December 24, and in some countries is followed by Boxing Day on December 26.

The Armenian Apostolic Church observes Christmas on January 6, while certain old rite or old style Eastern Orthodox Churches celebrate Christmas on January 7, the date on the Gregorian calendar which corresponds to 25 December on the Julian Calendar.

Swimmers brave cold in Germany

Swimmers in Germany have braved the cold to celebrate Christmas in a truly unique way.