The de-cera-flower (Hoya carnosa) is a perennial plant of easy cultivation. Belonging to the family of Asclepiadáceas, is a vine from China, which produces flowers during the summer durable, with a slightly sweet scent. The main attraction of this plant is just the flowers that inspired its popular name, they really have a waxy appearance, as if they were made of china.

Tips Cultivation: The milkweed is multiplied by cuttings and branch. After the changes made​​, a good tip is to plant it to grow on a trellis or arbor built up and a large pot fitted with a wire ring, where the vine can rely. Plant it in soil prepared with the following mixture: 2 shares of common garden, 2 parts humus 1 part sand.

Luminosity and temperature: The plant needs very bright, but does not tolerate direct sun. The morning sun is tolerable. It is a plant for the hot weather more, and the ideal temperature is around 20 to 25 degrees C.

Irrigation: During the spring and summer the milkweed needs regular watering, but in autumn and winter is the ideal greatly reduce the frequency, leaving the substrate surface to dry between watering and over. The fleshy leaves store water and make a "reservation ".

 

A flor-de-cera (Hoya carnosa) é uma planta perene de fácil cultivo. Pertencente à família das Asclepiadáceas, é uma trepadeira originária da China, que durante o verão produz flores duráveis, com um perfume levemente adocicado. O maior atrativo desta planta está justamente nas flores que inspiram seu nome popular: elas realmente apresentam uma aparência cerosa, como se fossem feitas de porcelana.

Dicas de cultivo: A flor-de-cera multiplica-se bem por estacas de galho. Depois de formada a muda, uma boa dica é plantá-la para que cresça sobre uma treliça ou caramanchão interno e até num vaso grande equipado com um anel de arame, onde a trepadeira possa apoiar-se. Plante-a num solo preparado com a seguinte mistura: 2 partes de terra comum de jardim, 2 partes de terra vegetal 1 parte de areia.

Luminosidade e temperatura: A planta precisa de muita luminosidade, mas não tolera sol direto. O sol da manhã é tolerável. Trata-se de uma planta de clima mais para o quente, sendo que a temperatura ideal gira em torno de 20 a 25 graus C.

Regas: No período da primavera e verão a flor-de-cera necessita de regas regulares, mas no outono e inverno o ideal é reduzir bastante a freqüência, deixando secar a superfície do substrato entre uma rega e outra. As folhas carnosas armazenam água e fazem uma "reserva".

 

I have been working on a new stickerdesign for when my second kid is born.

It will be printed next week, but you won't see it on the streets before june. :-)

Can you believe these people?!?!! They had a Rock-and-Roll themed wedding, and they said a friend had this MADE for them. Later, it doesn't go with the decore of the house. So they sell it to us at a yard sale for 3. Jerks! But man, am I happy to profit from their jerkiness.

 

guitar, skeleton sculpture.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

June 12, 2015.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 8:25AM, made it out driving by 9:00AM and went out until 1:11PM for a total of 4 hours, 11 minutes. Spent $30.50 plus ~$9.79 gas for 43.3 miles of driving (16.5 mpg @ $3.73/G), for a total cost of $40.29. We drove to 43 yard sales, stopping at 26 (60%) of them. We made 18 purchases (23 items) for a total estimated value of $187.35, leading to a profit/savings of $147.06. So in essence, we multiplied our $40.29 investment by 4.65X.

 

(Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn $~167 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $187 in cash that we saved. How long does $187 of disposable income take to earn, vs the 4.183 hrs we spent here?)

 

Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $35.15/hr as a couple or $17.58/hr per person. Kinda shabby compared to usual numbers.

 

THE TAKE:

 

* $6.00: sweater and shirt, Ann Taylor, black (EV:$4.99)

 

* $6.00: sweater and shirt, Talbots, purple (EV:$29.99)

 

* $2.50: skeleton slamming guitar down, 6.25x4.25x4.5"h (EV:$59.00)

 

* $2.50: head, ceramic, black, 11x8" (EV:$19.50)

 

* $2.00: shirt, Chico's, lime green (EV:$11.20)

 

* $2.00: shirt, Chico's, black (EV:$11.20)

 

* $2.00: shirt, Chico's, yellow (EV:$11.20)

 

* $2.00: shirt, Jones New York Sport, black (EV:$11.20)

 

* $2.00: fire extinguisher (EV:$0.00 because it was not full, oops)

 

* $2.00: camping chair, brown with white stripe, one really rough connection on the arm (the fabric is ripped), so it's not going to last long (EV:$9.49)

 

* $1.00: cloth napkins (4),white (EV:$2.84 (0.71 each))

 

* $0.25: scissors, black handle (EV:$3.49)

 

* $0.25: scissors, blue handle (EV:$3.49)

 

* $FREE: action figure, Smurf, Chef Smurf, 3" (EV:$3.99). Going to give to Paul to remind him there can never be "Too Many Cooks".

 

* $FREE: comic books (3), Walking Dead Free Comic Book Day 201305, Doctor Who #1 201506, Titan Comics 2015 Spring Preview Doctor Who, Divergence #1 201506 (EV:$0.00 since they said they were from Free Comic Book Day)

 

* $FREE: magnet, scorpion, Arizona, 1.5x1.25" (EV:$5.77)

 

* $FREE: piece of wood from a curb

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway , is a Nordic , European country and an independent state in the west of the Scandinavian Peninsula . Geographically speaking, the country is long and narrow, and on the elongated coast towards the North Atlantic are Norway's well-known fjords . The Kingdom of Norway includes the main country (the mainland with adjacent islands within the baseline ), Jan Mayen and Svalbard . With these two Arctic areas, Norway covers a land area of ​​385,000 km² and has a population of approximately 5.5 million (2023). Mainland Norway borders Sweden in the east , Finland and Russia in the northeast .

 

Norway is a parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy , where Harald V has been king and head of state since 1991 , and Jonas Gahr Støre ( Ap ) has been prime minister since 2021 . Norway is a unitary state , with two administrative levels below the state: counties and municipalities . The Sami part of the population has, through the Sami Parliament and the Finnmark Act , to a certain extent self-government and influence over traditionally Sami areas. Although Norway has rejected membership of the European Union through two referendums , through the EEA Agreement Norway has close ties with the Union, and through NATO with the United States . Norway is a significant contributor to the United Nations (UN), and has participated with soldiers in several foreign operations mandated by the UN. Norway is among the states that have participated from the founding of the UN , NATO , the Council of Europe , the OSCE and the Nordic Council , and in addition to these is a member of the EEA , the World Trade Organization , the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and is part of the Schengen area .

 

Norway is rich in many natural resources such as oil , gas , minerals , timber , seafood , fresh water and hydropower . Since the beginning of the 20th century, these natural conditions have given the country the opportunity for an increase in wealth that few other countries can now enjoy, and Norwegians have the second highest average income in the world, measured in GDP per capita, as of 2022. The petroleum industry accounts for around 14% of Norway's gross domestic product as of 2018. Norway is the world's largest producer of oil and gas per capita outside the Middle East. However, the number of employees linked to this industry fell from approx. 232,000 in 2013 to 207,000 in 2015.

 

In Norway, these natural resources have been managed for socially beneficial purposes. The country maintains a welfare model in line with the other Nordic countries. Important service areas such as health and higher education are state-funded, and the country has an extensive welfare system for its citizens. Public expenditure in 2018 is approx. 50% of GDP, and the majority of these expenses are related to education, healthcare, social security and welfare. Since 2001 and until 2021, when the country took second place, the UN has ranked Norway as the world's best country to live in . From 2010, Norway is also ranked at the top of the EIU's democracy index . Norway ranks third on the UN's World Happiness Report for the years 2016–2018, behind Finland and Denmark , a report published in March 2019.

 

The majority of the population is Nordic. In the last couple of years, immigration has accounted for more than half of population growth. The five largest minority groups are Norwegian-Poles , Lithuanians , Norwegian-Swedes , Norwegian-Syrians including Syrian Kurds and Norwegian-Pakistani .

 

Norway's national day is 17 May, on this day in 1814 the Norwegian Constitution was dated and signed by the presidency of the National Assembly at Eidsvoll . It is stipulated in the law of 26 April 1947 that 17 May are national public holidays. The Sami national day is 6 February. "Yes, we love this country" is Norway's national anthem, the song was written in 1859 by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson (1832–1910).

 

Norway's history of human settlement goes back at least 10,000 years, to the Late Paleolithic , the first period of the Stone Age . Archaeological finds of settlements along the entire Norwegian coast have so far been dated back to 10,400 before present (BP), the oldest find is today considered to be a settlement at Pauler in Brunlanes , Vestfold .

For a period these settlements were considered to be the remains of settlers from Doggerland , an area which today lies beneath the North Sea , but which was once a land bridge connecting today's British Isles with Danish Jutland . But the archaeologists who study the initial phase of the settlement in what is today Norway reckon that the first people who came here followed the coast along what is today Bohuslân. That they arrived in some form of boat is absolutely certain, and there is much evidence that they could easily move over large distances.

 

Since the last Ice Age, there has been continuous settlement in Norway. It cannot be ruled out that people lived in Norway during the interglacial period , but no trace of such a population or settlement has been found.

 

The Stone Age lasted a long time; half of the time that our country has been populated. There are no written accounts of what life was like back then. The knowledge we have has been painstakingly collected through investigations of places where people have stayed and left behind objects that we can understand have been processed by human hands. This field of knowledge is called archaeology . The archaeologists interpret their findings and the history of the surrounding landscape. In our country, the uplift after the Ice Age is fundamental. The history of the settlements at Pauler is no more than fifteen years old.

 

The Fosna culture settled parts of Norway sometime between 10,000–8,000 BC. (see Stone Age in Norway ). The dating of rock carvings is set to Neolithic times (in Norway between 4000 BC to 1700 BC) and show activities typical of hunters and gatherers .

 

Agriculture with livestock and arable farming was introduced in the Neolithic. Swad farming where the farmers move when the field does not produce the expected yield.

 

More permanent and persistent farm settlements developed in the Bronze Age (1700 BC to 500 BC) and the Iron Age . The earliest runes have been found on an arrowhead dated to around 200 BC. Many more inscriptions are dated to around 800, and a number of petty kingdoms developed during these centuries. In prehistoric times, there were no fixed national borders in the Nordic countries and Norway did not exist as a state. The population in Norway probably fell to year 0.

 

Events in this time period, the centuries before the year 1000, are glimpsed in written sources. Although the sagas were written down in the 13th century, many hundreds of years later, they provide a glimpse into what was already a distant past. The story of the fimbul winter gives us a historical picture of something that happened and which in our time, with the help of dendrochronology , can be interpreted as a natural disaster in the year 536, created by a volcanic eruption in El Salvador .

 

In the period between 800 and 1066 there was a significant expansion and it is referred to as the Viking Age . During this period, Norwegians, as Swedes and Danes also did, traveled abroad in longships with sails as explorers, traders, settlers and as Vikings (raiders and pirates ). By the middle of the 11th century, the Norwegian kingship had been firmly established, building its right as descendants of Harald Hårfagre and then as heirs of Olav the Holy . The Norwegian kings, and their subjects, now professed Christianity . In the time around Håkon Håkonsson , in the time after the civil war , there was a small renaissance in Norway with extensive literary activity and diplomatic activity with Europe. The black dew came to Norway in 1349 and killed around half of the population. The entire state apparatus and Norway then entered a period of decline.

 

Between 1396 and 1536, Norway was part of the Kalmar Union , and from 1536 until 1814 Norway had been reduced to a tributary part of Denmark , named as the Personal Union of Denmark-Norway . This staff union entered into an alliance with Napoléon Bonaparte with a war that brought bad times and famine in 1812 . In 1814, Denmark-Norway lost the Anglophone Wars , part of the Napoleonic Wars , and the Danish king was forced to cede Norway to the king of Sweden in the Treaty of Kiel on 14 January of that year. After a Norwegian attempt at independence, Norway was forced into a loose union with Sweden, but where Norway was allowed to create its own constitution, the Constitution of 1814 . In this period, Norwegian, romantic national feeling flourished, and the Norwegians tried to develop and establish their own national self-worth. The union with Sweden was broken in 1905 after it had been threatened with war, and Norway became an independent kingdom with its own monarch, Haakon VII .

 

Norway remained neutral during the First World War , and at the outbreak of the Second World War, Norway again declared itself neutral, but was invaded by National Socialist Germany on 9 April 1940 .

 

Norway became a member of the Western defense alliance NATO in 1949 . Two attempts to join the EU were voted down in referendums by small margins in 1972 and 1994 . Norway has been a close ally of the United States in the post-war period. Large discoveries of oil and natural gas in the North Sea at the end of the 1960s led to tremendous economic growth in the country, which is still ongoing. Traditional industries such as fishing are also part of Norway's economy.

 

Stone Age (before 1700 BC)

When most of the ice disappeared, vegetation spread over the landscape and due to a warm climate around 2000-3000 BC. the forest grew much taller than in modern times. Land uplift after the ice age led to a number of fjords becoming lakes and dry land. The first people probably came from the south along the coast of the Kattegat and overland into Finnmark from the east. The first people probably lived by gathering, hunting and trapping. A good number of Stone Age settlements have been found which show that such hunting and trapping people stayed for a long time in the same place or returned to the same place regularly. Large amounts of gnawed bones show that they lived on, among other things, reindeer, elk, small game and fish.

 

Flintstone was imported from Denmark and apart from small natural deposits along the southern coast, all flintstone in Norway is transported by people. At Espevær, greenstone was quarried for tools in the Stone Age, and greenstone tools from Espevær have been found over large parts of Western Norway. Around 2000-3000 BC the usual farm animals such as cows and sheep were introduced to Norway. Livestock probably meant a fundamental change in society in that part of the people had to be permanent residents or live a semi-nomadic life. Livestock farming may also have led to conflict with hunters.

 

The oldest traces of people in what is today Norway have been found at Pauler , a farm in Brunlanes in Larvik municipality in Vestfold . In 2007 and 2008, the farm has given its name to a number of Stone Age settlements that have been excavated and examined by archaeologists from the Cultural History Museum at UiO. The investigations have been carried out in connection with the new route for the E18 motorway west of Farris. The oldest settlement, located more than 127 m above sea level, is dated to be about 10,400 years old (uncalibrated, more than 11,000 years in real calendar years). From here, the ice sheet was perhaps visible when people settled here. This locality has been named Pauler I, and is today considered to be the oldest confirmed human traces in Norway to date. The place is in the mountains above the Pauler tunnel on the E18 between Larvik and Porsgrunn . The pioneer settlement is a term archaeologists have adopted for the oldest settlement. The archaeologists have speculated about where they came from, the first people in what is today Norway. It has been suggested that they could come by boat or perhaps across the ice from Doggerland or the North Sea, but there is now a large consensus that they came north along what is today the Bohuslän coast. The Fosna culture , the Komsa culture and the Nøstvet culture are the traditional terms for hunting cultures from the Stone Age. One thing is certain - getting to the water was something they mastered, the first people in our country. Therefore, within a short time they were able to use our entire long coast.

 

In the New Stone Age (4000 BC–1700 BC) there is a theory that a new people immigrated to the country, the so-called Stone Ax People . Rock carvings from this period show motifs from hunting and fishing , which were still important industries. From this period, a megalithic tomb has been found in Østfold .

It is uncertain whether there were organized societies or state-like associations in the Stone Age in Norway. Findings from settlements indicate that many lived together and that this was probably more than one family so that it was a slightly larger, organized herd.

 

Finnmark

In prehistoric times, animal husbandry and agriculture were of little economic importance in Finnmark. Livelihoods in Finnmark were mainly based on fish, gathering, hunting and trapping, and eventually domestic reindeer herding became widespread in the Middle Ages. Archaeological finds from the Stone Age have been referred to as the Komsa culture and comprise around 5,000 years of settlement. Finnmark probably got its first settlement around 8000 BC. It is believed that the coastal areas became ice-free 11,000 years BC and the fjord areas around 9,000 years BC. after which willows, grass, heather, birch and pine came into being. Finnmarksvidda was covered by pine forest around 6000 BC. After the Ice Age, the land rose around 80 meters in the inner fjord areas (Alta, Tana, Varanger). Due to ice melting in the polar region, the sea rose in the period 6400–3800 BC. and in areas with little land elevation, some settlements from the first part of the Stone Age were flooded. On Sørøya, the net sea level rise was 12 to 14 meters and many residential areas were flooded.

 

According to Bjørnar Olsen , there are many indications of a connection between the oldest settlement in Western Norway (the " Fosnakulturen ") and that in Finnmark, but it is uncertain in which direction the settlement took place. In the earliest part of the Stone Age, settlement in Finnmark was probably concentrated in the coastal areas, and these only reflected a lifestyle with great mobility and no permanent dwellings. The inner regions, such as Pasvik, were probably used seasonally. The archaeologically proven settlements from the Stone Age in inner Finnmark and Troms are linked to lakes and large watercourses. The oldest petroglyphs in Alta are usually dated to 4200 BC, that is, the Neolithic . Bjørnar Olsen believes that the oldest can be up to 2,000 years older than this.

 

From around 4000 BC a slow deforestation of Finnmark began and around 1800 BC the vegetation distribution was roughly the same as in modern times. The change in vegetation may have increased the distance between the reindeer's summer and winter grazing. The uplift continued slowly from around 4000 BC. at the same time as sea level rise stopped.

 

According to Gutorm Gjessing, the settlement in Finnmark and large parts of northern Norway in the Neolithic was semi-nomadic with movement between four seasonal settlements (following the pattern of life in Sami siida in historical times): On the outer coast in summer (fishing and seal catching) and inland in winter (hunting for reindeer, elk and bear). Povl Simonsen believed instead that the winter residence was in the inner fjord area in a village-like sod house settlement. Bjørnar Olsen believes that at the end of the Stone Age there was a relatively settled population along the coast, while inland there was less settlement and a more mobile lifestyle.

 

Bronze Age (1700 BC–500 BC)

Bronze was used for tools in Norway from around 1500 BC. Bronze is a mixture of tin and copper , and these metals were introduced because they were not mined in the country at the time. Bronze is believed to have been a relatively expensive material. The Bronze Age in Norway can be divided into two phases:

 

Early Bronze Age (1700–1100 BC)

Younger Bronze Age (1100–500 BC)

For the prehistoric (unwritten) era, there is limited knowledge about social conditions and possible state formations. From the Bronze Age, there are large burial mounds of stone piles along the coast of Vestfold and Agder, among others. It is likely that only chieftains or other great men could erect such grave monuments and there was probably some form of organized society linked to these. In the Bronze Age, society was more organized and stratified than in the Stone Age. Then a rich class of chieftains emerged who had close connections with southern Scandinavia. The settlements became more permanent and people adopted horses and ard . They acquired bronze status symbols, lived in longhouses and people were buried in large burial mounds . Petroglyphs from the Bronze Age indicate that humans practiced solar cultivation.

 

Finnmark

In the last millennium BC the climate became cooler and the pine forest disappears from the coast; pine forests, for example, were only found in the innermost part of the Altafjord, while the outer coast was almost treeless. Around the year 0, the limit for birch forest was south of Kirkenes. Animals with forest habitats (elk, bear and beaver) disappeared and the reindeer probably established their annual migration routes sometime at that time. In the period 1800–900 BC there were significantly more settlements in and utilization of the hinterland was particularly noticeable on Finnmarksvidda. From around 1800 BC until year 0 there was a significant increase in contact between Finnmark and areas in the east including Karelia (where metals were produced including copper) and central and eastern Russia. The youngest petroglyphs in Alta show far more boats than the earlier phases and the boats are reminiscent of types depicted in petroglyphs in southern Scandinavia. It is unclear what influence southern Scandinavian societies had as far north as Alta before the year 0. Many of the cultural features that are considered typical Sami in modern times were created or consolidated in the last millennium BC, this applies, among other things, to the custom of burying in brick chambers in stone urns. The Mortensnes burial ground may have been used for 2000 years until around 1600 AD.

 

Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 1050 AD)

 

The Einangsteinen is one of the oldest Norwegian runestones; it is from the 4th century

 

Simultaneous production of Vikings

Around 500 years BC the researchers reckon that the Bronze Age will be replaced by the Iron Age as iron takes over as the most important material for weapons and tools. Bronze, wood and stone were still used. Iron was cheaper than bronze, easier to work than flint , and could be used for many purposes; iron probably became common property. Iron could, among other things, be used to make solid and sharp axes which made it much easier to fell trees. In the Iron Age, gold and silver were also used partly for decoration and partly as means of payment. It is unknown which language was used in Norway before our era. From around the year 0 until around the year 800, everyone in Scandinavia (except the Sami) spoke Old Norse , a North Germanic language. Subsequently, several different languages ​​developed in this area that were only partially mutually intelligible. The Iron Age is divided into several periods:

 

Early Iron Age

Pre-Roman Iron Age (c. 500 BC–c. 0)

Roman Iron Age (c. 0–c. AD 400)

Migration period (approx. 400–600). In the migration period (approx. 400–600), new peoples came to Norway, and ruins of fortress buildings etc. are interpreted as signs that there has been talk of a violent invasion.

Younger Iron Age

Merovingian period (500–800)

 

The Viking Age (793–1066)

Norwegian Vikings go on plundering expeditions and trade voyages around the coastal countries of Western Europe . Large groups of Norwegians emigrate to the British Isles , Iceland and Greenland . Harald Hårfagre starts a unification process of Norway late in the 8th century , which was completed by Harald Hardråde in the 1060s . The country was Christianized under the kings Olav Tryggvason , fell in the battle of Svolder ( 1000 ) and Olav Haraldsson (the saint), fell in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 .

 

Sources of prehistoric times

Shrinking glaciers in the high mountains, including in Jotunheimen and Breheimen , have from around the year 2000 uncovered objects from the Viking Age and earlier. These are objects of organic material that have been preserved by the ice and that elsewhere in nature are broken down in a few months. The finds are getting older as the melting makes the archaeologists go deeper into the ice. About half of all archaeological discoveries on glaciers in the world are made in Oppland . In 2013, a 3,400-year-old shoe and a robe from the year 300 were found. Finds at Lomseggen in Lom published in 2020 revealed, among other things, well-preserved horseshoes used on a mountain pass. Many hundreds of items include preserved clothing, knives, whisks, mittens, leather shoes, wooden chests and horse equipment. A piece of cloth dated to the year 1000 has preserved its original colour. In 2014, a wooden ski from around the year 700 was found in Reinheimen . The ski is 172 cm long and 14 cm wide, with preserved binding of leather and wicker.

 

Pytheas from Massalia is the oldest known account of what was probably the coast of Norway, perhaps somewhere on the coast of Møre. Pytheas visited Britannia around 325 BC. and traveled further north to a country by the "Ice Sea". Pytheas described the short summer night and the midnight sun farther north. He wrote, among other things, that people there made a drink from grain and honey. Caesar wrote in his work about the Gallic campaign about the Germanic tribe Haruders. Other Roman sources around the year 0 mention the land of the Cimbri (Jutland) and the Cimbri headlands ( Skagen ) and that the sources stated that Cimbri and Charyds lived in this area. Some of these peoples may have immigrated to Norway and there become known as hordes (as in Hordaland). Sources from the Mediterranean area referred to the islands of Scandia, Scandinavia and Thule ("the outermost of all islands"). The Roman historian Tacitus wrote around the year 100 a work about Germania and mentioned the people of Scandia, the Sviones. Ptolemy wrote around the year 150 that the Kharudes (Hordes) lived further north than all the Cimbri, in the north lived the Finnoi (Finns or Sami) and in the south the Gutai (Goths). The Nordic countries and Norway were outside the Roman Empire , which dominated Europe at the time. The Gothic-born historian Jordanes wrote in the 5th century about 13 tribes or people groups in Norway, including raumaricii (probably Romerike ), ragnaricii ( Ranrike ) and finni or skretefinni (skrid finner or ski finner, i.e. Sami) as well as a number of unclear groups. Prokopios wrote at the same time about Thule north of the land of the Danes and Slavs, Thule was ten times as big as Britannia and the largest of all the islands. In Thule, the sun was up 40 days straight in the summer. After the migration period , southern Europeans' accounts of northern Europe became fuller and more reliable.

 

Settlement in prehistoric times

Norway has around 50,000 farms with their own names. Farm names have persisted for a long time, over 1000 years, perhaps as much as 2000 years. The name researchers have arranged different types of farm names chronologically, which provides a basis for determining when the place was used by people or received a permanent settlement. Uncompounded landscape names such as Haug, Eid, Vik and Berg are believed to be the oldest. Archaeological traces indicate that some areas have been inhabited earlier than assumed from the farm name. Burial mounds also indicate permanent settlement. For example, the burial ground at Svartelva in Løten was used from around the year 0 to the year 1000 when Christianity took over. The first farmers probably used large areas for inland and outland, and new farms were probably established based on some "mother farms". Names such as By (or Bø) show that it is an old place of residence. From the older Iron Age, names with -heim (a common Germanic word meaning place of residence) and -stad tell of settlement, while -vin and -land tell of the use of the place. Farm names in -heim are often found as -um , -eim or -em as in Lerum and Seim, there are often large farms in the center of the village. New farm names with -city and -country were also established in the Viking Age . The first farmers probably used the best areas. The largest burial grounds, the oldest archaeological finds and the oldest farm names are found where the arable land is richest and most spacious.

 

It is unclear whether the settlement expansion in Roman times, migrations and the Iron Age is due to immigration or internal development and population growth. Among other things, it is difficult to demonstrate where in Europe the immigrants have come from. The permanent residents had both fields (where grain was grown) and livestock that grazed in the open fields, but it is uncertain which of these was more important. Population growth from around the year 200 led to more utilization of open land, for example in the form of settlements in the mountains. During the migration period, it also seems that in parts of the country it became common to have cluster gardens or a form of village settlement.

 

Norwegian expansion northwards

From around the year 200, there was a certain migration by sea from Rogaland and Hordaland to Nordland and Sør-Troms. Those who moved settled down as a settled Iron Age population and became dominant over the original population which may have been Sami . The immigrant Norwegians, Bumen , farmed with livestock that were fed inside in the winter as well as some grain cultivation and fishing. The northern border of the Norwegians' settlement was originally at the Toppsundet near Harstad and around the year 500 there was a Norwegian settlement to Malangsgapet. That was as far north as it was possible to grow grain at the time. Malangen was considered the border between Hålogaland and Finnmork until around 1400 . Further into the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, there was immigration and settlement of Norwegian speakers along the coast north of Malangen. Around the year 800, Norwegians lived along the entire outer coast to Vannøy . The Norwegians partly copied Sami livelihoods such as whaling, fur hunting and reindeer husbandry. It was probably this area between Malangen and Vannøy that was Ottar from the Hålogaland area. In the Viking Age, there were also some Norwegian settlements further north and east. East of the North Cape are the scattered archaeological finds of Norwegian settlement in the Viking Age. There are Norwegian names for fjords and islands from the Viking Age, including fjord names with "-anger". Around the year 1050, there were Norwegian settlements on the outer coast of Western Finnmark. Traders and tax collectors traveled even further.

 

North of Malangen there were Norse farming settlements in the Iron Age. Malangen was considered Finnmark's western border until 1300. There are some archaeological traces of Norse activity around the coast from Tromsø to Kirkenes in the Viking Age. Around Tromsø, the research indicates a Norse/Sami mixed culture on the coast.

 

From the year 1100 and the next 200–300 years, there are no traces of Norwegian settlement north and east of Tromsø. It is uncertain whether this is due to depopulation, whether it is because the Norwegians further north were not Christianized or because there were no churches north of Lenvik or Tromsø . Norwegian settlement in the far north appears from sources from the 14th century. In the Hanseatic period , the settlement was developed into large areas specialized in commercial fishing, while earlier (in the Viking Age) there had been farms with a combination of fishing and agriculture. In 1307 , a fortress and the first church east of Tromsø were built in Vardø . Vardø became a small Norwegian town, while Vadsø remained Sami. Norwegian settlements and churches appeared along the outermost coast in the Middle Ages. After the Reformation, perhaps as a result of a decline in fish stocks or fish prices, there were Norwegian settlements in the inner fjord areas such as Lebesby in Laksefjord. Some fishing villages at the far end of the coast were abandoned for good. In the interior of Finnmark, there was no national border for a long time and Kautokeino and Karasjok were joint Norwegian-Swedish areas with strong Swedish influence. The border with Finland was established in 1751 and with Russia in 1826.

 

On a Swedish map from 1626, Norway's border is indicated at Malangen, while Sweden with this map showed a desire to control the Sami area which had been a common area.

 

The term Northern Norway only came into use at the end of the 19th century and administratively the area was referred to as Tromsø Diocese when Tromsø became a bishopric in 1840. There had been different designations previously: Hålogaland originally included only Helgeland and when Norse settlement spread north in the Viking Age and the Middle Ages, Hålogaland was used for the area north approximately to Malangen , while Finnmark or "Finnmarken", "the land of the Sami", lay outside. The term Northern Norway was coined at a cafe table in Kristiania in 1884 by members of the Nordlændingernes Forening and was first commonly used in the interwar period as it eventually supplanted "Hålogaland".

 

State formation

The battle in Hafrsfjord in the year 872 has long been regarded as the day when Norway became a kingdom. The year of the battle is uncertain (may have been 10-20 years later). The whole of Norway was not united in that battle: the process had begun earlier and continued a couple of hundred years later. This means that the geographical area became subject to a political authority and became a political unit. The geographical area was perceived as an area as it is known, among other things, from Ottar from Hålogaland's account for King Alfred of Wessex around the year 880. Ottar described "the land of the Norwegians" as very long and narrow, and it was narrowest in the far north. East of the wasteland in the south lay Sveoland and in the north lay Kvenaland in the east. When Ottar sailed south along the land from his home ( Malangen ) to Skiringssal, he always had Norway ("Nordveg") on his port side and the British Isles on his starboard side. The journey took a good month. Ottar perceived "Nordveg" as a geographical unit, but did not imply that it was a political unit. Ottar separated Norwegians from Swedes and Danes. It is unclear why Ottar perceived the population spread over such a large area as a whole. It is unclear whether Norway as a geographical term or Norwegians as the name of a ethnic group is the oldest. The Norwegians had a common language which in the centuries before Ottar did not differ much from the language of Denmark and Sweden.

 

According to Sverre Steen, it is unlikely that Harald Hårfagre was able to control this entire area as one kingdom. The saga of Harald was written 300 years later and at his death Norway was several smaller kingdoms. Harald probably controlled a larger area than anyone before him and at most Harald's kingdom probably included the coast from Trøndelag to Agder and Vestfold as well as parts of Viken . There were probably several smaller kingdoms of varying extent before Harald and some of these are reflected in traditional landscape names such as Ranrike and Ringerike . Landscape names of "-land" (Rogaland) and "-mark" (Hedmark) as well as names such as Agder and Sogn may have been political units before Harald.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the national assembly was completed at the earliest at the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and the introduction of Christianity was probably a significant factor in the establishment of Norway as a state. Håkon I the good Adalsteinsfostre introduced the leasehold system where the "coastal land" (as far as the salmon went up the rivers) was divided into ship raiders who were to provide a longship with soldiers and supplies. The leidange was probably introduced as a defense against the Danes. The border with the Danes was traditionally at the Göta älv and several times before and after Harald Hårfagre the Danes had control over central parts of Norway.

 

Christianity was known and existed in Norway before Olav Haraldson's time. The spread occurred both from the south (today's Denmark and northern Germany) and from the west (England and Ireland). Ansgar of Bremen , called the "Apostle of the North", worked in Sweden, but he was never in Norway and probably had little influence in the country. Viking expeditions brought the Norwegians of that time into contact with Christian countries and some were baptized in England, Ireland and northern France. Olav Tryggvason and Olav Haraldson were Vikings who returned home. The first Christians in Norway were also linked to pre-Christian local religion, among other things, by mixing Christian symbols with symbols of Odin and other figures from Norse religion.

 

According to Sverre Steen, the introduction of Christianity in Norway should not be perceived as a nationwide revival. At Mostratinget, Christian law was introduced as law in the country and later incorporated into the laws of the individual jurisdictions. Christianity primarily involved new forms in social life, among other things exposure and images of gods were prohibited, it was forbidden to "put out" unwanted infants (to let them die), and it was forbidden to have multiple wives. The church became a nationwide institution with a special group of officials tasked with protecting the church and consolidating the new religion. According to Sverre Steen, Christianity and the church in the Middle Ages should therefore be considered together, and these became a new unifying factor in the country. The church and Christianity linked Norway to Roman Catholic Europe with Church Latin as the common language, the same time reckoning as the rest of Europe and the church in Norway was arranged much like the churches in Denmark, Sweden and England. Norway received papal approval in 1070 and became its own church province in 1152 with Archbishop Nidaros .

 

With Christianity, the country got three social powers: the peasants (organized through the things), the king with his officials and the church with the clergy. The things are the oldest institution: At allthings all armed men had the right to attend (in part an obligation to attend) and at lagthings met emissaries from an area (that is, the lagthings were representative assemblies). The Thing both ruled in conflicts and established laws. The laws were memorized by the participants and written down around the year 1000 or later in the Gulationsloven , Frostatingsloven , Eidsivatingsloven and Borgartingsloven . The person who had been successful at the hearing had to see to the implementation of the judgment themselves.

 

Early Middle Ages (1050s–1184)

The early Middle Ages is considered in Norwegian history to be the period between the end of the Viking Age around 1050 and the coronation of King Sverre in 1184 . The beginning of the period can be dated differently, from around the year 1000 when the Christianization of the country took place and up to 1100 when the Viking Age was over from an archaeological point of view. From 1035 to 1130 it was a time of (relative) internal peace in Norway, even several of the kings attempted campaigns abroad, including in 1066 and 1103 .

 

During this period, the church's organization was built up. This led to a gradual change in religious customs. Religion went from being a domestic matter to being regulated by common European Christian law and the royal power gained increased power and influence. Slavery (" servitude ") was gradually abolished. The population grew rapidly during this period, as the thousands of farm names ending in -rud show.

 

The urbanization of Norway is a historical process that has slowly but surely changed Norway from the early Viking Age to today, from a country based on agriculture and sea salvage, to increasingly trade and industry. As early as the ninth century, the country got its first urban community, and in the eleventh century we got the first permanent cities.

 

In the 1130s, civil war broke out . This was due to a power struggle and that anyone who claimed to be the king's son could claim the right to the throne. The disputes escalated into extensive year-round warfare when Sverre Sigurdsson started a rebellion against the church's and the landmen's candidate for the throne , Magnus Erlingsson .

 

Emergence of cities

The oldest Norwegian cities probably emerged from the end of the 9th century. Oslo, Bergen and Nidaros became episcopal seats, which stimulated urban development there, and the king built churches in Borg , Konghelle and Tønsberg. Hamar and Stavanger became new episcopal seats and are referred to in the late 12th century as towns together with the trading places Veøy in Romsdal and Kaupanger in Sogn. In the late Middle Ages, Borgund (on Sunnmøre), Veøy (in Romsdalsfjorden) and Vågan (in Lofoten) were referred to as small trading places. Urbanization in Norway occurred in few places compared to the neighboring countries, only 14 places appear as cities before 1350. Stavanger became a bishopric around 1120–1130, but it is unclear whether the place was already a city then. The fertile Jæren and outer Ryfylke were probably relatively densely populated at that time. A particularly large concentration of Irish artefacts from the Viking Age has been found in Stavanger and Nord-Jæren.

 

It has been difficult to estimate the population in the Norwegian medieval cities, but it is considered certain that the cities grew rapidly in the Middle Ages. Oscar Albert Johnsen estimated the city's population before the Black Death at 20,000, of which 7,000 in Bergen, 3,000 in Nidaros, 2,000 in Oslo and 1,500 in Tunsberg. Based on archaeological research, Lunden estimates that Oslo had around 1,500 inhabitants in 250 households in the year 1300. Bergen was built up more densely and, with the concentration of exports there, became Norway's largest city in a special position for several hundred years. Knut Helle suggests a city population of 20,000 at most in the High Middle Ages, of which almost half in Bergen.

 

The Bjarkøyretten regulated the conditions in cities (especially Bergen and Nidaros) and in trading places, and for Nidaros had many of the same provisions as the Frostating Act . Magnus Lagabøte's city law replaced the bjarkøretten and from 1276 regulated the settlement in Bergen and with corresponding laws also drawn up for Oslo, Nidaros and Tunsberg. The city law applied within the city's roof area . The City Act determined that the city's public streets consisted of wide commons (perpendicular to the shoreline) and ran parallel to the shoreline, similarly in Nidaros and Oslo. The roads were small streets of up to 3 cubits (1.4 metres) and linked to the individual property. From the Middle Ages, the Norwegian cities were usually surrounded by wooden fences. The urban development largely consisted of low wooden houses which stood in contrast to the relatively numerous and dominant churches and monasteries built in stone.

 

The City Act and supplementary provisions often determined where in the city different goods could be traded, in Bergen, for example, cattle and sheep could only be traded on the Square, and fish only on the Square or directly from the boats at the quayside. In Nidaros, the blacksmiths were required to stay away from the densely populated areas due to the risk of fire, while the tanners had to stay away from the settlements due to the strong smell. The City Act also attempted to regulate the influx of people into the city (among other things to prevent begging in the streets) and had provisions on fire protection. In Oslo, from the 13th century or earlier, it was common to have apartment buildings consisting of single buildings on a couple of floors around a courtyard with access from the street through a gate room. Oslo's medieval apartment buildings were home to one to four households. In the urban farms, livestock could be kept, including pigs and cows, while pastures and fields were found in the city's rooftops . In the apartment buildings there could be several outbuildings such as warehouses, barns and stables. Archaeological excavations show that much of the buildings in medieval Oslo, Trondheim and Tønsberg resembled the oblong farms that have been preserved at Bryggen in Bergen . The land boundaries in Oslo appear to have persisted for many hundreds of years, in Bergen right from the Middle Ages to modern times.

 

High Middle Ages (1184–1319)

After civil wars in the 12th century, the country had a relative heyday in the 13th century. Iceland and Greenland came under the royal authority in 1262 , and the Norwegian Empire reached its greatest extent under Håkon IV Håkonsson . The last king of Haraldsätten, Håkon V Magnusson , died sonless in 1319 . Until the 17th century, Norway stretched all the way down to the mouth of Göta älv , which was then Norway's border with Sweden and Denmark.

 

Just before the Black Death around 1350, there were between 65,000 and 85,000 farms in the country, and there had been a strong growth in the number of farms from 1050, especially in Eastern Norway. In the High Middle Ages, the church or ecclesiastical institutions controlled 40% of the land in Norway, while the aristocracy owned around 20% and the king owned 7%. The church and monasteries received land through gifts from the king and nobles, or through inheritance and gifts from ordinary farmers.

 

Settlement and demography in the Middle Ages

Before the Black Death, there were more and more farms in Norway due to farm division and clearing. The settlement spread to more marginal agricultural areas higher inland and further north. Eastern Norway had the largest areas to take off and had the most population growth towards the High Middle Ages. Along the coast north of Stad, settlement probably increased in line with the extent of fishing. The Icelandic Rimbegla tells around the year 1200 that the border between Finnmark (the land of the Sami) and resident Norwegians in the interior was at Malangen , while the border all the way out on the coast was at Kvaløya . From the end of the High Middle Ages, there were more Norwegians along the coast of Finnmark and Nord-Troms. In the inner forest and mountain tracts along the current border between Norway and Sweden, the Sami exploited the resources all the way down to Hedmark.

 

There are no censuses or other records of population and settlement in the Middle Ages. At the time of the Reformation, the population was below 200,000 and only in 1650 was the population at the same level as before the Black Death. When Christianity was introduced after the year 1000, the population was around 200,000. After the Black Death, many farms and settlements were abandoned and deserted, in the most marginal agricultural areas up to 80% of the farms were abandoned. Places such as Skien, Veøy and Borgund (Ålesund) went out of use as trading towns. By the year 1300, the population was somewhere between 300,000 and 560,000 depending on the calculation method. Common methods start from detailed information about farms in each village and compare this with the situation in 1660 when there are good headcounts. From 1300 to 1660, there was a change in the economic base so that the coastal villages received a larger share of the population. The inland areas of Eastern Norway had a relatively larger population in the High Middle Ages than after the Reformation. Kåre Lunden concludes that the population in the year 1300 was close to 500,000, of which 15,000 lived in cities. Lunden believes that the population in 1660 was still slightly lower than the peak before the Black Death and points out that farm settlement in 1660 did not reach the same extent as in the High Middle Ages. In 1660, the population in Troms and Finnmark was 6,000 and 3,000 respectively (2% of the total population), in 1300 these areas had an even smaller share of the country's population and in Finnmark there were hardly any Norwegian-speaking inhabitants. In the High Middle Ages, the climate was more favorable for grain cultivation in the north. Based on the number of farms, the population increased 162% from 1000 to 1300, in Northern and Western Europe as a whole the growth was 200% in the same period.

 

Late Middle Ages (1319–1537)

Due to repeated plague epidemics, the population was roughly halved and the least productive of the country's farms were laid waste. It took several hundred years before the population again reached the level before 1349 . However, those who survived the epidemics gained more financial resources by sharing. Tax revenues for the state almost collapsed, and a large part of the noble families died out or sank into peasant status due to the fall in national debt . The Hanseatic League took over trade and shipping and dominated fish exports. The Archbishop of Nidaros was the country's most powerful man economically and politically, as the royal dynasty married into the Swedish in 1319 and died out in 1387 . Eventually, Copenhagen became the political center of the kingdom and Bergen the commercial center, while Trondheim remained the religious center.

 

From Reformation to Autocracy (1537–1660)

In 1537 , the Reformation was carried out in Norway. With that, almost half of the country's property was confiscated by the royal power at the stroke of a pen. The large seizure increased the king's income and was able, among other things, to expand his military power and consolidated his power in the kingdom. From roughly the time of the Reformation and in the following centuries, the state increased its power and importance in people's lives. Until around 1620, the state administration was fairly simple and unspecialised: in Copenhagen, the central administration mainly consisted of a chancellery and an interest chamber ; and sheriffs ruled the civil (including bailiffs and sheriffs) and the military in their district, the sheriffs collected taxes and oversaw business. The accounts were not clear and without summaries. The clergy, which had great power as a separate organization, was appointed by the state church after the Reformation, administered from Copenhagen. In this period, Norway was ruled by (mainly) Danish noble sheriffs, who acted as intermediaries between the peasants and the Oldenborg king in the field of justice, tax and customs collection.

 

From 1620, the state apparatus went through major changes where specialization of functions was a main issue. The sheriff's tasks were divided between several, more specialized officials - the sheriffs retained the formal authority over these, who in practice were under the national administration in Copenhagen. Among other things, a separate military officer corps was established, a separate customs office was established and separate treasurers for taxes and fees were appointed. The Overbergamtet, the central governing body for overseeing mining operations in Norway, was established in 1654 with an office in Christiania and this agency was to oversee the mining chiefs in the Nordenfjeld and Sønnenfjeld areas (the mines at Kongsberg and Røros were established in the previous decades). The formal transition from county government to official government with fixed-paid county officials took place after 1660, but the real changes had taken place from around 1620. The increased specialization and transition to official government meant that experts, not amateurs, were in charge of each area, and this civil service meant, according to Sverre Steen that the dictatorship was not a personal dictatorship.

 

From 1570 until 1721, the Oldenborg dynasty was in repeated wars with the Vasa dynasty in Sweden. The financing of these wars led to a severe increase in taxation which caused great distress.

 

Politically-geographically, the Oldenborg kings had to cede to Sweden the Norwegian provinces of Jemtland , Herjedalen , Idre and Särna , as well as Båhuslen . As part of the financing of the wars, the state apparatus was expanded. Royal power began to assert itself to a greater extent in the administration of justice. Until this period, cases of violence and defamation had been treated as civil cases between citizens. The level of punishment was greatly increased. During this period, at least 307 people were also executed for witchcraft in Norway. Culturally, the country was marked by the fact that the written language became Danish because of the Bible translation and the University of Copenhagen's educational monopoly.

 

From the 16th century, business became more marked by production for sale and not just own consumption. In the past, it was particularly the fisheries that had produced such a large surplus of goods that it was sold to markets far away, the dried fish trade via Bergen is known from around the year 1100. In the 16th century, the yield from the fisheries multiplied, especially due to the introduction of herring in Western Norway and in Trøndelag and because new tools made fishing for herring and skre more efficient. Line fishing and cod nets that were introduced in the 17th century were controversial because the small fishermen believed it favored citizens in the cities.

 

Forestry and the timber trade became an important business, particularly because of the boom saw which made it possible to saw all kinds of tables and planks for sale abroad. The demand for timber increased at the same time in Europe, Norway had plenty of forests and in the 17th century timber became the country's most important export product. There were hundreds of sawmills in the country and the largest had the feel of factories . In 1680, the king regulated the timber trade by allowing exports only from privileged sawmills and in a certain quantity.

 

From the 1520s, some silver was mined in Telemark. When the peasants chased the German miners whereupon the king executed five peasants and demanded compensation from the other rebellious peasants. The background for the harsh treatment was that the king wanted to assert his authority over the extraction of precious metals. The search for metals led to the silver works at Kongsberg after 1624, copper in the mountain villages between Trøndelag and Eastern Norway, and iron, among other things, in Agder and lower Telemark. The financial gain of the quarries at that time is unclear because there are no reliable accounts. Kongsberg made Denmark-Norway self-sufficient in silver and the copper works produced a good deal more than the domestic demand and became an important export commodity. Kongsberg and Røros were the only Norwegian towns established because of the quarries.

 

In addition to the sawmills, in the 17th century, industrial production ( manufactures ) was established in, among other things, wool weaving, soap production, tea boiling , nail production and the manufacture of gunpowder .

 

The monopoly until the Peace of Kiel (1660–1814)

Until 1660, the king had been elected by the Danish Riksråd, while he inherited the kingdom of Norway, which was a tradition in Norway. After a series of military defeats, the king committed a coup d'état and deposed the Riksdag. King Frederik III introduced absolute power, which meant that there were hardly any legal restrictions on the king's power. This reinforced the expansion of the state apparatus that had been going on for a few decades, and the civil administration was controlled to a greater extent from the central administration in Copenhagen. According to Sverre Steen, the more specialized and expanded civil service meant that the period of autocracy was not essentially a personal dictatorship: The changing monarchs had the formal last word on important matters, but higher officials set the conditions. According to Steen, the autocracy was not tyrannical where the citizens were treated arbitrarily by the king and officials: the laws were strict and the punishments harsh, but there was legal certainty. The king rarely used his right to punish outside the judiciary and often used his right to commute sentences or pardons. It almost never happened that the king intervened in a court case before a verdict had been passed.

 

In 1662, the sheriff system (in which the nobility played an important role) was abolished and replaced with amt . Norway was divided into four main counties (Akershus, Kristiansands, Bergenhus and Trondhjems) which were later called stiftamt led by stiftamtmen with a number of county marshals and bailiffs (futer) under them. The county administrator in Akershus also had other roles such as governor. The former sheriffs were almost absolute within their fiefs, while the new stifamtmen and amtmen had more limited authority; among other things, they did not have military equipment like the sheriffs. The county officials had no control over state income and could not enrich themselves privately as the sheriffs could, taxes and fees were instead handled by their own officials. County officials were employed by the king and, unlike the sheriffs, had a fixed salary. Officials appointed by the king were responsible for local government. Before 1662, the sheriffs themselves appointed low officials such as bailiffs, mayors and councillors. A church commissioner was given responsibility for overseeing the churchwardens' accounts. In 1664, two general road masters were appointed for Norway, one for Sonnafjelske (Eastland and Sørlandet) and one for Nordafjelske (Westlandet and Trøndelag; Northern Norway had no roads).

 

Both Denmark and Norway got new law books. The wretched state finances led to an extensive sale of crown property, first to the state's creditors. Further sales meant that many farmers became self-owned at the end of the 18th century. Industrial exploitation of Norwegian natural resources began, and trade and shipping and especially increasing timber exports led to economic growth in the latter part of the 1700s.

 

From 1500 to 1814, Norway did not have its own foreign policy. After the dissolution of the Kalmar Union in 1523, Denmark remained the leading power in the Nordic region and dominated the Baltic Sea, while Sweden sought to expand geographically in all directions and strengthened its position. From 1625 to 1660, Denmark lost its dominance: Christian IV lost to the emperor in the Thirty Years' War and ceded Skåne, Blekinge, Halland, Båhuslen , Jemtland and Herjedalen as well as all the islands in the inner part of the Baltic Sea. With this, Norway got its modern borders, which have remained in place ever since. Sweden was no longer confined by Norway and Denmark, and Sweden became the great power in the Nordic region. At the same time, Norway remained far from Denmark (until 1660 there was an almost continuous land connection between Norway and Denmark). During the Great Nordic War, Danish forces moved towards Scania and ended with Charles the 12th falling at Fredriksten . From 1720 to 1807 there was peace except for the short Cranberry War in 1788. In August 1807, the British navy surrounded Denmark and demanded that the Danish fleet be handed over. After bombing 2-7. On September 1807, the Danes capitulated and handed over the fleet (known as the "fleet robbery") and the arsenal. Two weeks later, Denmark entered into an alliance with Napoleon and Great Britain declared war on Denmark in November 1807. The Danish leadership had originally envisioned an alliance with Great Britain. Anger at the fleet robbery and fear of French occupation of Denmark itself (and thus breaking the connection with Norway) were probably the motive for the alliance with France. According to Sverre Steen, the period 1807-1814 was the most significant in Norway's history (before the Second World War). Foreign trade was paralyzed and hundreds of Norwegian ships were seized by the British. British ships, both warships and privateers , blocked the sea route between Norway and Denmark as described in " Terje Vigen " by Henrik Ibsen . During the Napoleonic Wars , there was a food shortage and famine in Norway, between 20 and 30 thousand people out of a population of around 900 thousand died from sheer lack of food or diseases related to malnutrition.

 

From the late summer of 1807, Norway was governed by a government commission led by the governor and commander-in-chief, Prince Christian August . Christian August was considered an honorable and capable leader. In 1808, a joint Russian and Danish/Norwegian attack on Sweden was planned; the campaign fails completely and Christian August concludes a truce with the Swedes. The Swedish king was deposed, the country got a new constitution with a limited monarchy and in the summer of 1808, Christian August was elected heir to the throne in Sweden. Christian August died a few months after he moved to Sweden and the French general Jean Baptiste Bernadotte became the new heir to the throne with the name "Karl Johan". After Napoleon was defeated at Leipzig in 1813, Bernadotte entered Holstein with Swedish forces and forced the Danish king to the Peace of Kiel .

 

Colonies and slave trade

Denmark-Norway acquired overseas colonies: St. Thomas (1665), St. Jan and St. Croix (18th century). At the same time, the kingdom entered into an agreement with rulers on the Gold Coast (Ghana) regarding the establishment of slave forts, including Christiansborg in Accra . The trade was triangular from Copenhagen to the Gold Coast with weapons, gunpowder and liquor which were exchanged for gold, ivory and slaves . The slaves were transported across the Atlantic to the Caribbean, among other things to the Danish-Norwegian colonies where St. Croix was most important. The ships returned to Copenhagen with sugar, tobacco, cotton and other goods. About 100,000 slaves were transported across the sea on Danish and Norwegian ships from 1660 to 1802. About 10% of the slaves died during the crossing. At least two of the slave ships ("Cornelia" and "Friderich") were in Norwegian ownership. Engelbret Hesselberg was a fut on St. Croix and after a slave rebellion in 1759, he had some of the rebels executed, among other things, by burning them alive, hanging them by their feet or putting them naked in a cage in the sun. At the end of the 18th century, opposition to the slave trade grew in Denmark-Norway, among others the Norwegian Claus Fasting promoted strong criticism. The slave trade was banned from 1803, while slavery itself was banned in Denmark from 1848.

 

Immigration to Norway

In the 1500s and 1600s, many people moved within Europe. From Germany, France and the Netherlands, enterprising people came to Sweden and Denmark, and gave rise to influential families. Danes in particular came to Norway who, formally speaking, were not foreigners, but were probably perceived as strangers by the local population. There was some immigration of ethnic Germans, some from areas under the Danish crown and others. Some immigrated from the Netherlands, England and Scotland. For example, half of those who applied for citizenship in Bergen in the 17th century were foreigners and they were often founders of new businesses. Immigrants from the Netherlands brought knowledge of line fishing and the preparation of herring; the Scot came with knowledge of the production of cuttlefish ; and Germans engaged in mining. Some foreigners ran large farms they bought near the cities, for example Frogner near Christiania and Lade near Trondheim. A large part of the country's leading echelon of officials and merchants were around 1,800 descendants of immigrants, and family names of foreign origin had a higher status. According to Sverre Steen, it was special for Norway that the immigrants and their descendants were given such a much stronger position than other residents.

 

Social and cultural conditions

Around 1800, most people, both women and men, in Norway could read and many could write. Foreigners traveling in Norway were surprised at how well-informed and interested Norwegian farmers were about the situation outside the country. In the 17th century, Peder Claussøn Friis translated Snorre Sturlason's royal sagas from Old Norse, and in a new edition this book became important in nation-building in later centuries. Early in the 18th century, Tormod Torfæus wrote Norway's history to 1387 in 4 volumes in Latin ; the preparation is considered to be scientifically unsustainable. In the 1730s, Ludvig Holberg wrote the popular scientific Danmarks Reges Historie , which is considered to maintain a high standard. According to Holberg, Norway emerged as a kingdom after the "nomenclature union in 1380". Holberg was the most important Norwegian cultural figure in the Danish era. Gerhard Schøning wrote Norges Reges Historie (in Danish) in the 1770s ; Schøning claimed that the Norwegians were a separate people from the dawn of time and had immigrated from the north-east without visiting Denmark.

 

1814

Norway remained the hereditary kingdom of the Oldenborg kings until 1814 , when the king had to renounce Norway at the Peace of Kiel on 14 January 1814 after being on the losing side during the Napoleonic Wars . Greenland, the Faroe Islands and Iceland were not included in the transfer to Sweden. The King of Sweden undertook to maintain the laws and freedoms the Norwegians had and Norway was to take over its share of the national debt. At the same time, the Swedish king ceded Rügen and Swedish Pomerania as well as 1 million dalers. Norway was ceded to the king of Sweden and the Treaty of Kiel established that Norway was a separate kingdom. Prince Christian Frederik traveled to Trondheim to calm the mood. Sixty leading citizens of Trondheim signed a letter in which they supported the prince's policy of independence and at the same time asked that a congress should be convened to lay the foundations for Norway's future constitution. On his return from Trondheim, he gathered 15 civil servants and 6 businessmen for the Stormannsmøetet at Eidsvoll 16-17. February where it was agreed on a constitutional assembly in the same place from 10 April. Until then, the prince was to rule the country as regent with the support of a government council. After the meeting, the prince announced that the Norwegian people had been released from their oath to Frederik VI and, as a free and independent people, had the right to decide their own government constitution.

 

Sverre Steen describes these as revolutionary ideas: It involved a transition from princely sovereignty to popular sovereignty as was known from the US Constitution and from the French Revolution. Georg Sverdrup stated at the nobles' meeting in February that the Norwegian krone had thus "returned home" to the Norwegian people and that the people could, by their own decision, transfer the krone to whoever was deemed most suitable. The transition was not prepared in Norway except as an idea as individuals. In the previous years, there had been dissatisfaction (especially in Eastern Norway) with the Danish government, but no stated demands for secession from Denmark. When the rumor spread in 1813 that Denmark would probably have to cede Norway, there was talk of independence. At the elders' meeting, it was agreed that the congregations should gather in the churches and swear allegiance to Norway, as a simple referendum on independence and against union with Sweden. At the same time, the priests organized elections for the National Assembly, which was to convene later.

 

In public, there was overwhelming support for independence, while those who wanted union with Sweden advanced their views in silence. The mood of the people was for full independence.

Yesterday, my firstborn son was born.

Made this sticker in his honour; soon on a lamppost near you.

Free hats!

 

It was a really good haul this week. A guy had sooooooo much comic book stuff that he was giving away for free because he didn't want to take it back inside.

 

We accidentally ended up at an estate sale for a dead friend. That was kind of dark.

 

We saw a yard setting up a bunch of chairs and we were wondering what that was about. Turns out, it's a Burner Peace Love & Ice Cream yearly party where they play music and have about 70 of their friends over. We didn't know the people there, but they knew of MakePeace Manor.

 

Spanker Drive is a funny name for a street.

 

Darth Vader hat, Spider-Man hat, Spongebob, Superman hat, chrome skull, digital picture frame, head massager, horseshoes, kit box, party light.

comics: Superman. movie: Star Wars.

 

upstairs, Clint and Carolyn's house, Alexandria, Virginia.

 

June 3, 2017.

  

... Read my blog at ClintJCL at wordpress.com

... Read Carolyn's blog at CarolynCASL at wordpress.com

 

... Read my yard sale-related blogposts at clintjcl dot wordpress dot com/category/yard-sales/

  

BACKSTORY: Got up around 6:35AM, made it out driving by 7:39 AM and went out until 1:28, and then again from 2:07 to 2:36 for a total of ~6 hours. Spent $143.15 plus ~$5.53 gas for 64.3 miles of driving (25.8 mpg @ $2.22/G), for a total cost of $148.68. We drove to 65 yard sales, stopping at 39 (60%) of them. We made 115 purchases (150 items) for a total estimated value of $1,400.57, leading to a profit/savings of $245.74. So in essence, we multiplied our $148.68 investment by 9.58. (Also, if you think about it, the profit counts for even more when you consider that we have to earn $1,400.57 on the job, pre-tax, in order to take home the $1,228.72 in cash that we saved. How long does $ of disposable income take to earn, vs the 6 hrs we spent here?). Anyway, this works out to a *post-tax* "wage" of $245.74/hr as a couple or $122.87/hr per person.

  

THE TAKE:

 

* $30.00: outdoor heater (EV:$99.98)

 

* $15.00: cymbals, 14" hi hat, Pearl CX300, (EV:$9.99), 18" crash/ride, Pearl CX300 (EV:$24.99)

 

* $12.00: tote bag of assorted body washes. Tote bag has 6 divisions 10x10x7.625", Suave cocoa butter & shea 15 fl oz (2), St Ives Indulgent coconut milk 13.5 fl oz, Johnson's Body Care Forever fresh 20.3 fl oz (2), Olay Body age defying 23.6 fl oz, Yardley London English Lavender 12 fl oz., Olay moisturinse 15.2 fl oz, Old Spice body spray 3.75 oz, John Frieda Frizz-Ease hair serum 1.69 fl oz. (2), John Frieda Shine Shock leave-on perfecting glosser 2.4 oz, Escada Sentiment lotion 1.7 fl oz (2), TRESemme no frizz shine spray 4.25 fl oz. (EV:$15 if you get the stuff from the Dollar Store)

 

* $10.00: metal box, silver colored, Promaster, with shoulder strap, foam inside, 18x13.5x6 (EV:$21.99)

 

* $5.00: digital picture frame, Omnitech 15242-US, 13" screen, power supply: Accurian cat no 12-200 model DSA-15P-12 (EV:$11.27)

 

* $5.00: toy, mechanical construction digger, rideable and controllable (EV:$44.99)

 

* $4.00: shelves (2), blue, 31x11.5x12" (EV:$14.39)

 

* $4.00: party light, Discobeams, Spencers, 5x1.25" (EV:$29.99 price tag)

 

* $4.00: shelves, wire, white: 12x12x47.25", 5 shelves, green: 10.75x12x23.75" 8 4x2 shelves (EV:$17.99), but ours is not modular like this. They're just one unit.

 

* $3.00: horseshoes, molded PVC, Sportcraft Model 08017 (EV:$22.49)

 

* $3.00: lava lamp, silver, magenta lava (EV:$9.97)

 

* $3.00: power strip surge protector, 6-outlets, circuit breaker (EV:$3.24)

 

* $3.00: light, portable track light, model 1953, issue no bh-49 880, including flood lightbulb (EV:$19.99)

 

* $3.00: boom box, Sanyo, M7130K (EV:$14.95 price tag)

 

* $3.00: nails/screws (3), 3 boxes of assorted nails and screws (EV:$~6.00 (~$3 each))

 

* $2.50: costume, Playful Pirate, size M/L, barcode 023168251343 (EV:$27.99 price tag)

 

* $2.00: power strip, GE, 6-outlets, black, smaller than most (EV:$3.24)

 

* $2.00: power strip, 6-outlets, white (EV:$3.24)

 

* $2.00: lamp, clip, green, model # 30011-GRN, manufacture date: 200503 (EV:$7.97)

 

* $2.00: electronic fly swatter, yellow, item 62540, serial number 2215-36747 (EV:$9.99)

 

* $2.00: step stool, off-white, Rubbermaid, 12.5x15.5x9.5", LS-4200-P3-BISQU / barcode 071691224204 (EV:$11.96)

 

* $2.00: bathmat, for the tub, dark gray, 30.5x14.75" (EV:$8.98)

 

* $2.00: solar light, OnTel Ever Brite, As Seen On TV, 2016, EBMOPKG10116-CCC, barcode 735541008207 (EV:$6.00)

 

* $1.00: game, roleplaying game, Gamma World (EV:$39.99 price tag)

 

* $1.00: hula skirt, Aloha Hawaii Lei, Natural Raffia, Adult: 31" waist, 28" length, barcode 747448310307 (EV:$3.99)

 

* $1.00: extension cord, 6-feet, gray (EV:$4.29)

 

* $1.00: belt, black with small silver studs (EV:$15.00)

 

* $1.00: coasters, mirror (2), square, 4" (EV:$5.98 ($2.99 each))

 

* $1.00: horseshoes, foam, Aviva, only one stake with base (EV:$14.47)

 

* $1.00: hat, top hat, SuperGirl, Pink, plushy, with pink faux fur rim, Six Flags (EV:$8.00)

 

* $1.00: milk crate, brown, Borden Orlando (EV:$3.82)

 

* $1.00: milk crate, red, Shenandoah's Pride (EV:$3.82)

 

* $1.00: shelf, wood color (unpainted), 31x11.5x12" (EV:$14.39)

 

* $1.00: storage unit, white, 2-drawers, Itso, 14.625x14.625x15" (EV:$24.97)

 

* $1.00: toy, tank, camouflage, 11x6x5", Hasbro, 1998, United States, 5 SXT25507-HD USA, C001-D (EV:$27.90)

 

* $1.00: fitted sheet & 4 pillowcases, Queen size, burgundy color (EV:$14.35)

 

* $1.00: storage unit, drawer, cloth, green, 15.125x9x15.375" (EV:$3.20)

 

* $1.00: guitar, First Act Discovery, missing a string, 31.25" long, 14.125x10.250x2.250" body, red finish with orange flames, FG3087 (EV:$18.71)

 

* $1.00: toy guitar, flat plastic, red & black, Wowwee Paper Jamz Pro Series guitar, 2010, 6288, has USB and a phone jack? maybe that's for the separate amp. (EV:$29.65)

 

* $1.00: toy guitar, flat plastic, white, WowWee Paper Jamz Instant Rockstar, 2009, this one does not have the USB or phone jack hookups (EV:$29.65)

 

* $0.75: lightbulb, Sylvania Soft White 3-way lightbulb 30-70-100W (EV:$3.98)

 

* $0.50: Spongebob Squarepants, vibrating, Burger King, 2002, 4x3.25" not including cloth feet, 5x3.25" including feet (EV:$4.03)

 

* $0.50: mask, Batman, glasses style, McDonald's (EV:$1.29)

 

* $0.25: train whistle, wood, Durango Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Summerton, CO (EV:$4.99)

 

* $0.25: gold twigs (EV:$6.99)

 

* $0.10: Slinky, plastic, rainbow, butterfly shape, 3" (EV:$21.64)

 

* $0.10: stirrer, Fusionbrands Stirstik, 2011, gray plastic paint-stirrer with purple rubbery coating, item # 8038-147, barcode 891078001590 (EV:$6.95)

 

* $0.10: Smurf, rubbery, Grumpy, big head, little body, 1.5x2", 2012, lafigb.vimps tech4kios.com onl4w257 Canada (EV:$1.00)

 

* $0.10: paint, orange, Krylon, Industrial Tough Coat, (EV:$1.99 price tag)

 

* $FREE: Mr. Beer home brewing kit, makes 2 gallons of beer, keg, bottles, mixing kit for Bewitched Amber Ale 2.86lbs that expired on 20150627 (EV:$29.99)

 

* $FREE: hat, Spider-Man, BabyGap, size S/M (EV:$29.95)

 

* $FREE: head massager, Crafted Imports, handle: 2.7x0.3", short arm: 5", long arm: 6.5", Walgreen, WIC#: 950094 2302030, barcode 049022918207 (EV:$1.99)

 

* $FREE: hat, Dare Devil/Punisher reversible (EV:$16.95)

 

* $FREE: hat, Star Wars, Darth Vader (EV:$8.54)

 

* $FREE: skull, metal, flat, tin, Terminator 2, T2 (EV:$6.75)

 

* $FREE: hat, Iron Man (EV:$7.98)

 

* $FREE: ice mold, 20 Sided Die, LootCrate Exclusive, ~3" (EV:$5.82)

 

* $FREE: window (2), mirrored, 22.75x32.625x.75" (EV:$12.59)

 

* $FREE: mirror (2), 24x30" and 18x24" (EV:$22.55)

 

* $FREE: toy rocket, Stomp Rocket JrGlow air powered rocket, The D&L Company, www.stomprocket.com, 2008, barcode 795516200050 (EV:$14.75)

 

* $FREE: poster, Star Wars 7 The Force Awakens, RP1401 Pick 40, shrinkwrapped, barcode 882663040148 (EV:$8.99)

 

* $FREE: poster, Marvel Heros, Reinders, shrinkwrapped, A30/234/18023 234 PP31736 130312 (EV:$5.47)

 

* $FREE: poster, Star Trek Into Darkness, Imax (EV:$17.99)

 

* $FREE: drum, First Act Discovery, blue, 8.5" (EV:$25.65)

 

* $FREE: viewfinder, View-Master 3-D, blue, Fisher Price, 1988, T5410 0682T1, including viewmaster inserts: Dora The Explorer 2008 Viacom, The Space Shuttle B: 34079-9039, The Space Shuttle C: 34079-9029, Toy Story 3 T3982 (NRFB), Cars W2131 (NRFB) (EV:$12.97)

 

* $FREE: Brita filter pitcher, large size, white, top is a little warped (EV:$9.79)

 

* $FREE: Brita filter (2) (EV:$11.98)

 

* $FREE: toy, magnetized Spider-Man gyro spinner (EV:$3.98)

 

* $FREE: tin, butter cookies, 5.125x2.75", Christmas (EV:$7.56)

 

* $FREE: container, plastic, clear with white lid, 2.5x2.125x1.5"(EV:$0.27)

 

* $FREE: trading cards, Marvel Iron Man 3 movie, www.upperdeck.com, KA040913, barcode 053334807784 (still in pack) (EV:$2.86)

 

* $FREE: stickers, Tetris, 147 stickers, Paladone, PP2274TT, barcode 5032331036156 (NRFB) (EV:$4.90)

 

* $FREE: baby mirror, Munchkin, gray suede edges, 12.25x9.375" (EV:$7.99)

 

* $FREE: bucket, pink with hearts, 1-800-Flowers.Com, 4.25x5" (EV:$3.64)

 

* $FREE: carpet pad, gray 26x13.5", 24.5x13.5" (EV:$3.56)

 

* $FREE: poster, Beyond, 11x17" (EV:$7.95)

 

* $FREE: door stop alarm, Radio Shack, 490-0427, barcode 040293167707 (EV:$10.91). Got from Lynn, from BlondeJamesBond's estate sale.

 

* $FREE: toy, Iron Man, Hasbro, 2012, 7 moveable joints, 5"4.875", #A4180 (EV:$11.96)

 

* $FREE: toy, Snoopy & Woodstock, The Peanuts Movie, McDonald's, #10 (NRFB) (EV:$4.17)

 

* $FREE: toy, Mario Brothers, Luigi, 2013, McDonald's, 3.5x2.5" (EV:$17.25)

 

* $FREE: toy, Mario Brothers, Mario with wall, 2013, McDonald's, 3.5x2.5" (EV:$17.83). Ours is missing the coin and stand.

 

* $FREE: toy, candy fan, M&M's Star Wars, Boba Fett (EV:$3.09)

 

* $FREE: napkins, The Amazing Spider-Man, Decorata Party, 2051101, barcode 5201184804711 (NRFB) (EV:$2.02)

 

* $FREE: fork, construction vehicle, Constructive Eating, Fork Lift Fork (EV:$7.50)

 

* $FREE: spoon, construction vehicle, Constructive Eating, Front Loader Spoon (EV:$7.10)

 

* $FREE: toy, Avengers, Iron Man, Tri-Power Repulsor and 4 missiles, PN 7221430001(EV:$37.15)

 

* $FREE: ice cube tray, Marvel, The Thing's face, Hulk's fist, CaptainAmerica's shield, Iron Man's face, item #09922, barcode 674449099224 (EV:$7.43)

 

* $FREE: toy, Marvel Spider-Man Adventures, Playskool Heroes, Spider-Man & Lizard (NRFB) (EV:$12.42)

 

* $FREE: stickers, cars, 13 stickers (EV:$1.64)

 

* $FREE: dishwasher cages (4), 2 white: 9x6.5x5" and do not have a middle insert, 2 white with blue insert: 9x5.5x4.5" (EV:$23.96 ($5.99 each))

 

* $FREE: poster, Star Trek Beyond (EV:$13.35)

 

* $FREE: figure, The Fifth Element, Korben Dallas, Reaction Figures, 2015, 3.75", 5 moveable joints (EV:$7.49). We have the figure and the backing to the package.

 

* $FREE: figure, The Fifth Element, Leeloo (straps costume), Reaction Figures, 2015, 3.75", 5 moveable joints (NRFB) (EV:$7.95)

 

* $FREE: note book, Comic Note Book, 64 pages, barcode 81422904479 (NRFB) (EV:$3.39)

 

* $FREE: canvas (2), Spider-Man, Spider Sense, Canvas Art, 9.75" (shrinkwrapped) (EV:$20.42 ($10.21 each))

 

* $FREE: ball, bouncy, The Hulk, Headstrom, A1355, ~4.5" (EV:$6.99)

 

* $FREE: puzzle, Thomas & Friends, Ravensburger, 3x2' (EV:$8.97)

 

* $FREE: trivia box, Star Wars, Cardinal, 60401ary, code LIV-STW, SKU: 118-2686, barcode 047754188028(EV:$2.59)

 

* $FREE: metal tin, mailbox shaped, Avengers Tin Mail Box (EV:$2.97 price tag)

 

* $FREE: toy, Iron Man, beanbag hands, 5.5x8 (EV:$7.12)

 

* $FREE: toy (2), Peanuts, Charlie Brown, 2015, McDonald's, talking, 4x2.25" (EV:$$7.48 ($3.74 each))

 

* $FREE: canvas (1), Spider-Man, Spider Sense, 15.75x11.625" (EV:$8.48)

 

* $FREE: place mat, Spider-Man, Spider Sense, 17x13.5", 3-D effect(EV:$4.15)

 

* $FREE: place mats (2), Avengers, 17.75x12" (EV:$5.67)

 

* $FREE: giant sticker activity pad, Marvel, 18602, 19x14" (EV:$12.95)

 

* $FREE: candle, red, American Greetings, (EV:$4.00 price tag)

 

* $FREE: toy, My Little Pony, Fluttershy, McDonald's, hard mane, real tail, 2.375x2.75" (EV:$4.24)

 

* $FREE: toothbrush, travel, blue (EV:$0.97)

 

* $FREE: trains, Thomas The Train, blue, wood and plastic, wheels (EV:$0.29)

 

* $FREE: toy, Darth Vader, 8 movable joints, waist twisting action, 4.25x2" (EV:$2.38). Ours is missing the light saber.

 

* $FREE: Pez dispenser, Superman, (EV:$2.99)

 

* $FREE: collectible metal pin, Marvel, Hydra symbal, EFX Collectibles (EV:$3.66)

 

* $FREE: candle, gray, Pacifica, Moroccan chamomile apple 3x6" (EV:$3.90)

 

* $FREE: action figure, Wolverine, 2.5", 4 movable joints (EV:$5.00). Ours is not exactly like this one.

 

* $FREE: Iron Man, Flying RC Extreme Hero, foam airplane, EB Brands, item number: mv7170im (EV:$19.99, but I'm going to only say $5.00 because ours is in bad shape and doesn't have the remote.)

600K volts derived from 6 C cell batteries.

 

The final 10x up-conversion comes from the Marx generator on the right. 10 round capacitors are charged in parallel to 60K volts and then connected in series by nine spark gap switches, ideally producing a voltage multiplied by the number of capacitors stages.

 

At this brief moment of discharge, all nine of the metal balls in the middle tower spark simultaneously, shifting the parallel charging circuit to a series discharge (the spark across the air gap sees about 1 ohm). You can see a light source in this moment from each of the balls.

 

The Monastery 'Ayos Nicolaos con Gaton'(St. Nicholas of the Cats) lies in Southern Cyprus, on the "Akrotiri" penninsula.

I never have seen something like that. It is not only a beautiful Monastery, it is a Paradise for numerous cats.

They are everywhere - in good health, very trusting and shepherded by the nuns.

 

According to tradition, the monastery was founded in the 4th century by Agia Eleni, mother of Constantine the Great. At the time, the island was experiencing a severe drought, forcing many people to leave the island. Snakes multiplied and life in Cyprus, particularly at Akrotiri penninsula was unbearable.

 

According to the medieval historian Stephen Lusignan, after Agia Eleni's departure, Constantine the Great sent governor Kalokeros to Cyprus who brought thousands of cats to the island to exterminate the snakes.

 

This tradition might be the reason why people all over the island are so friendly and respectul to cats.

______________

 

Das Kloster 'Ayos Nicolaos con Gaton' (St. Nikolaus zu den Katzen) liegt im Süden Zyperns, auf der Halbinsel Akrotiri. Es ist nicht nur ein schönes altes Kloster, sondern auch ein Paradies für Katzen.

Ich habe so etwas noch nicht gesehen - sie sind so zahlreich, jedoch bei guter Gesundheit, sehr zutraulich und umsorgt von den Nonnen des Klosters.

 

Der Geschichte nach gründete die hl. Helena, die Mutter des römischen Kaisers Konstantin, das Kloster im 4. Jhdt. Zu dieser Zeit wurde die Gegend von einer goßen Dürre heimgesucht, die viele Menschen dazu zwang, die Insel zu verlassen. Besonders auf Akrotiri war es unmöglich, zu leben, da sich die Schlangen zahlreich vermehrten.

 

Nach Abreise seiner Mutter sandte deshalb der Kaiser den Statthalter Kalokeros samt einem "Heer" von Katzen nach Zypern, um die Schlangenplage zu lindern, wie es der Historiker Stephen Lusignan in seinen Aufzeichnungen beschreibt.

  

Diese Überlieferung mag mit ein Grund sein, warum überall auf der Insel die Menschen so freundlich und respektvoll mit Katzen umgehen.

  

photo: Rafael Fazano

www.rafaelfazano.com

Mille volti di me, un gioco, un'immagine che si spezza su 2 specchi, ma sempre e comunque sulla stessa linea.

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement yesterday. It means so much.

via KrakyLand.net Emperor Legend APK MOD Damage Multiplier, Mana www.krakyland.net/2015/12/emperor-legend-apk-mod.html

Modèle : Sarah

styling and make up : made by me

 

light :

One flash argentic

Map of Alaska with old paper style background using "Multiply" blending mode to combine map and background. Map labels use different spacings between characters.

 

Find the instructions to recreate this map at anitagraser.com/2013/07/29/vintage-map-design-using-qgis/.

 

Paper background from lostandtaken.com/gallery/antique7.html

Data from QGIS sample dataset and Natural Earth project.

bfb2009.multiply.com/

Caloosahatchee River

Did I really have to do the famous 10-second timer run? No. Why didn't I use my remote instead? I have no idea. Is it slightly ridiculous to do the run only to pretend to be gazing peacefully out into the distance? Um....go away.

 

The view from above Skógafoss is worth the heart-pounding climb up. Do it, do it!

 

And Photoshop method for the day, or week, or something...I don't see other people use this technique much at all and it's one of my favorites, so I thought I'd share it. I love layer blending modes in Photoshop, but Multiply and Screen just aren't that useful to me since they respectively darken/lighten even the areas that are already dark/light enough.

 

So, several years ago I created what I called my "Multiply without black" action. What you do is this:

 

1) Duplicate background layer

2) Set new layer blending mode to Multiply. Everything is too dark but we'll fix that.

3) Double-click on layer

4) Blending mode option panel pops up. Under the Blend If section, Alt-click on the black slider under This Layer. This splits the black slider in half.

5) Drag the right half of the black slider all the way to the right.

6) Click okay. Tada! Your layer is now darkening everything except the blacks that would be clipped. Adjust opacity to desired effect.

6.5) Optionally, use the same method to lighten everything except whites by setting the blending mode to Screen and splitting the white slider instead.

 

I hope that helps some people...it's certainly helped me balance exposures over the years, especially skies. Enjoy!

  

500px | Blog | Facebook | Tumblr

Toronto Animal Services' small animal room (where my daughter volunteers) is full to bursting at the moment. There are 10 rabbits who need homes, plus a guinea pig. This is especially bad because Easter (notorious for rabbit dumping in the aftermath) is next weekend! So we're assaulting you with cuteness.

 

Fred & George (above) have been at the shelter for SIX MONTHS. The poor brothers were abandoned in an apartment when their owners moved out. They are super-friendly and cuddly and are getting tired of being at the shelter.

7 star strategies for your child's future

 

How can you put a price on the expression of pure bliss on your four-year-old's face

 

as she enjoys an ice-cream? When your 17-year-old whoops on hearing the news that

 

he has secured admission to his dream college, would your brain tick away at the

 

amount of money this is going to cost you?

 

These are non-questions to any parent. Parental love is unconditional and largely

 

unaccountable. It's heartless and clinical to count your child as a cost centre, and we

 

are not suggesting you do that.

 

Understanding expenses does not imply condemning them. On the contrary, it is only a

 

first step towards gaining an advantage over them. In fact, if you do manage to chip

 

away at the warm, fuzzy feeling of pride and accomplishment and examine the costs

 

of raising a child, you would be able to do a far better job of being the provider.

 

The dichotomy of spending on your children is a conflict between the present and the

 

future. Should you cave in and buy the Rs 25,000 Playstation 3 that your son has

 

been nagging you for? Will it come from the money you have been saving for his

 

graduation? Will that Barbie-themed Rs 50,000 party you threw on your daughter's

 

birthday be the reason she will have to do her hotel management in Goa instead of

 

Geneva? The only way to solve these dilemmas is to plan ahead and start investing.

 

Now.

 

Two big-ticket costs that all parents have to provide for fall under the heads

 

education and marriage. Post-graduate education is expensive, and in this globalised

 

world, if you want to give your child the advantage of an international education,

 

multiply the cost by 10 times, often even more. A grand celebration to mark your

 

child's wedding is a great Indian dream and something that all parents would like to

 

put some money away for.

 

1. Second baby

 

Most couples can afford one child and want to do the best for him or her. As financial

 

decisions go, the second child is usually one that swings the balances. The thought of

 

having to keep away double the amount of what you need for a child can be daunting.

 

Often, when the kids are young, one plus one does not add up to two - you could

 

re-use and recycle and keep your expenses slightly lower. But, as they grow older,

 

two children can be a real strain on finances. Guitar lessons for one, football coaching

 

for the other, science tuitions for one and mathematics for the other can add up to a

 

tidy sum every month.

 

A second child had always featured in Jayant Bhadauria and Kamalika Nandi's life

 

plans. It's just that they did not really have the time to have one. Jayant works in a

 

multinational software company in Mumbai and Kamalika looks after marketing for an

 

outsourcing company.

 

Between work, their travelling schedules and looking after Kamini, their four-year-old

 

daughter, the second child remained something to be done sometime in the future.

 

Which was why, in September, when Kamalika discovered she was pregnant, for a

 

minute she didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

 

"Of course, money was not the first thing I thought about," says Kamalika. "Once the

 

news sank in, I did realise that we would have to start looking at our expenses. So

 

far, if I have seen something and liked it, I have ended up buying it if I felt the price

 

was fair. Now, I feel, there would be a little bit of a compromise there. I do want the

 

best for my kids, but that does not necessarily mean the most expensive."

  

7 star strategies for your child's future

 

The baby is due in May and, for now, they are figuring out the expenses related to

 

having him - delivery and hospitalisation are just two of the heads. A normal delivery

 

in a reasonably good hospital costs about Rs 35,000. If there are complications, the

 

fee could be substantially higher. Kamalika reckons their monthly expenditure would

 

increase by at least Rs 7,000 for the first year of the new baby.

 

A substantial portion of the large expenses they incurred for Kamini would not have to

 

be repeated. Expensive baby paraphernalia like the cot, stroller, rocker and high chair

 

can be reused for the second baby.

 

Jayant has a couple of insurance policies. The rest of his investments are all in equity.

 

He has an employee stock option in his company. Besides this, he has also opted to

 

buy the equity of his employer, listed in the US, with a certain percentage of his

 

salary every month.

 

The rest of his portfolio is in various Indian companies. While equity investment is the

 

ideal route to create wealth for his young family, Jayant should also look at

 

diversifying his portfolio. A major chunk of his money is invested in one stock - that of

 

his employer.

 

Jayant is also evaluating a couple of child policies from insurance companies. He

 

wants to use these as vehicles to save for his kids' higher education and marriages.

 

He is confident that as the expenses of the kids increase, so will his wife's and his

 

own salaries and that there will not be a situation of having to face a financial crunch.

 

Kamalika plans to return to work once her maternity benefits expire. When she was

 

expecting Kamini, she had given up her job and stayed home till her daughter turned

 

two. "I will try and enjoy the baby more since this is the last one I will have, but it

 

might be difficult because I plan to go back to work," she says.

 

"My career has suffered because of the break I took the last time and I don't want to

 

do it again. But, my company is employee-friendly and I feel that I would be able to

 

get leave in case I need to spend more time at home."

 

For now, they are not thinking about late night feeds and diaper changes. They have

 

chosen to focus instead on Tahitian weddings and exotic holidays for their kids.

 

2. Nascent dreams

 

When Simran Kumar thinks about her kids' future, she is not worried about which

 

school they will secure admission in or how big a wedding they will have. But, as a

 

modern, aware mother, she does get anxious about the world they will occupy, what

 

with environmental pollution, global warming and the rest. "I am concerned about

 

security issues, about violence against women, childhood respiratory diseases from

 

living in a polluted and crowded city," she says.

 

Simran and her husband, Zafar Baig, have two children under the age of two -

 

daughter Ananya is 22 months, and son Vivan is four months old.

 

Simran is an anchor for a television channel and Zafar works for an export house. With

 

two well paying jobs, they have not been worried about spending on the luxuries, so

 

far. But as their young family grows, they want to make sure they get started on

 

laying the foundation for a sound financial future.

 

"Now, we do not spend carelessly and have cut out a little bit of our frivolous

 

expenses. I want the best for my kids," she says.

 

One of the dreams Simran and Zafar have for their children is to offer them an

 

opportunity to follow in their footsteps and study abroad. "We are not very

 

money-savvy, but now want to invest in our kids' future. We do not really know

 

where to start," says Simran.

 

7 star strategies for your child's future

 

They have, however, opened bank accounts in both kids' names and all the money

 

they have received as gifts has gone into them. Zafar has bought a couple of

 

insurance policies and invested a bit directly in equity, as well as in some mutual

 

funds.

 

He recently invested Rs 50,000 in HDFC Standard Life's Young Star Plan. Even as they

 

try and cope with the 'now and here' expenses of a family of four, as well as investing

 

in their dreams for their kids, Simran and Zafar would also like to buy a house.

 

They are not alone in wanting to do several things at once. Most couples are in the

 

early stages of their careers when they start their families. Often, the need to put

 

away for a rainy day is lost in the euphoria of youth and its maxim of living for the

 

day.

 

When the kids come, several priorities tumble out of the financial closet -- a house,

 

some means of protecting income and insurance against unforeseeable events, buying

 

things for the baby, hiring someone to help look after them. Often, with this, also

 

comes a drastic drop in income levels if the mother chooses to stay back home and

 

look after the kids for a few years.

 

The key here is in being able to prioritise and not trying to do everything at once. The

 

important goals of higher education and marriage of children are quite far away and

 

even putting away a little sum of money starting right away would be enough.

 

What is key is getting into the discipline of saving, the amounts can be large or small.

 

As the goals are far away, most investments can be directed into equities. Systematic

 

investment plans (SIPs) of good funds, with a long-term view, are ideal here.

 

Short-term expenditure can be rationalised and reduced if there are opportunities.

 

Simran reckons she spends about Rs 10,000-15,000 a month now on the kids. This

 

includes diapers (about Rs 500 for a pack of 50), food and household help.

 

Simran works three days a week, and that leaves her with enough time to spend with

 

her children. Once they start school, she can go back to working full time. Simran is

 

optimistic about her future. "It's all there somewhere, I am a positive person in that

 

sense," she says. "For now, I want to focus on enjoying my babies," she adds.

 

3. Wonder years

 

The five years when the child has started school but is not yet in a higher class that

 

warrants private tuitions is the ramp up stage for the finances of parents. The goals

 

of higher education and marriage are some distance away, yet well within view.

 

Even though the primary schooler's ambitions vary widely from day to day, you could

 

still get a sense of the direction in which he is likely to head. This is the stage where

 

you could build your savings. If you have SIPs, you could increase the amount you

 

invest every month.

 

On the expense side, this is perhaps the easiest stage. You do not have the

 

heavy-duty everyday requirements of diapers and baby food, nor have you reached

 

the stage where you have to spend Rs 300 for one hour of mathematics tuition.

 

School fees, books, birthday parties and expenses on outings and excursions would be

 

areas of high spends. A birthday party can cost anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs

 

20,000.

 

In Kolkata, nine-year-old Arkatapa wants to be an archaeologist one day and a

 

teacher the next. She attends classes on ancient mathematics, Bharatnatyam, singing

 

and drawing. But her mother, Arpita Roy, feels when it comes to choosing a career,

 

Arkatapa will pick an academically-oriented one.

 

7 star strategies for your child's future

 

Arkatapa's father, Barun Kumar Roy, is an officer in the West Bengal government. His

 

money mantra is that investments should be made for the short term and loans should

 

be taken for the long term. He spends 60 per cent of his salary and saves the

 

remaining 40 per cent.

 

Barun invests with a three-to-four-year view. His first priority is insurance policies, so

 

that in case anything happens to him, his family does not suffer financially. He has life

 

insurance policies and Ulips with accident covers. He also has some investments in

 

Prudential ICICI Mutual Fund. These are in both equity and debt funds. Child plans do

 

not attract him, he has not taken any for Arkatapa.

 

An ideal asset allocation at this stage of your child's life is to have 75 per cent of your

 

investments in equity. This implies that in the intervening years between 0-4 and

 

5-10, you move some part of your money from pure equity to balanced or debt funds.

 

Arpita never wanted a career, she was always keen on staying home and looking after

 

her family. But her advice to her daughter would be to be self-reliant and have the

 

financial ability to look after herself.

 

Arpita finds her joy in her daughter's accomplishments. "When she scores 15 out of 15

 

in a test, I feel very happy. Even though it is a little silly, I do feel happy," she says.

 

"My daughter is not a very brilliant student, but she is still young. I am not worried

 

about her career now, water will flow where it will."

 

Her husband agrees that it is too early to predict what their daughter will grow up to

 

be, but he is certain that he must invest in her future. "Whenever she makes her

 

choice of education or career, it should not get stuck because there is no money for

 

it," he says emphatically.

 

"Every moment as a father has been a proud one." His dream for his daughter is that

 

she grows up to be honest, respectful and a good human being. "Everything else is

 

extra," he says.

 

4. Early teenage mayhem

 

As Rishab Nanda grows tall and lanky, his parents, Manisha and Manish, are beginning

 

to anticipate the mood swings and door slamming that will start as their

 

soon-to-be-12-year-old grapples with adolescence. Already, there are arguments and

 

high drama about pretty much everything -- from walking the dog to going on trips

 

with friends.

 

Although Rishab is yet unsure of exactly what he wants to grow up to be, the options

 

are getting clearer by the day. His parents do not want to get caught on the wrong

 

foot at the last moment and are now quickly squirrelling away as much money as

 

possible to fund his dreams.

 

Rishab's school offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme and his parents

 

expect that once he finishes his class 10, he would opt for this. Not only is the IB

 

course more expensive than a regular school, the chance that a child going for it

 

would ultimately pursue his graduate programmes abroad is also high. A two-year IB

 

course costs about Rs 4 lakh, compared to Rs 1 lakh that you would pay for a regular

 

CBSE or ISC school.

 

Manisha and Manish know that this would be an expensive proposition. They would like

 

to save enough to fund the full cost of his foreign degree, but are not entirely sure

 

they would be able to. The actual amounts they would need would depend on the

 

course, college and country.

 

When the child is between the ages of 10 and 14, regular day-to-day expenses are

 

also high. School fees in secondary classes are higher than those in primary, and

 

children also need a lot of academic and non-academic stimulation outside school.

 

This would mean a mixture of tuitions and lessons. Rishab takes lessons in playing the

 

drums, speech and drama. These add up to Rs 18,000 a year.

 

7 star strategies for your child's future

February 26, 2008

This is also the age of having to make large-ticket purchases. Gameboys,

 

Playstations, the latest skating boards and other 'toys' cost quite a packet, some

 

starting upwards of Rs 25,000. You can manage to spin some yarn and convince your

 

eight-year-old that the Barbie she has is better than the Barbie she wants, but there

 

is no talking reason, logic or threat to a 13-year-old.

 

The Nandas have made several investments in equity mutual funds. They also have

 

two child-specific plans -- one from LIC and the other from UTI. Ideally, the Nandas

 

should move their portfolio more towards debt and balanced funds. One, they would

 

need a large sum of money to pay the IB fees after Rishab completes his 10th

 

standard.

 

Also, since he is likely to go abroad for his undergraduate studies, their requirements

 

of funds would be sooner than usual. In case the stockmarket enters a lull phase after

 

four years, the largely equity portfolio of the couple could prove a problem.

 

Right now, Rishab is keen on pursuing his athletics and art. The Nandas know that

 

these are unconventional choices, but if Rishab does stick to either of these and

 

decides to pursue a career in it, they would encourage his choice.

 

Manisha was an advertising executive who switched careers to become a teacher.

 

She wants Rishab to have the guidance that enables him to discover his aptitudes so

 

that he doesn't waste years working in a profession he does not really want to be in.

 

"But," she says proudly, "at the end of the day, I think he is a survivor. Like me."

 

5. Terrible teens

 

In Delhi, Priyanka Verma is one busy 16-year-old. She is in her 12th standard and

 

preparing for her board exams pretty much takes up all her time now. She has opted

 

for the science stream and is studying physics, chemistry, mathematics and computer

 

science at Shriram School in Gurgaon.

 

Her mother, Sarika Verma, is an arts teacher and had noticed, very early, Priyanka's

 

creative bent of mind. "But," she says, "my husband had the foresight to advise her

 

that even if she wanted to subsequently pursue a career in arts, it would benefit her

 

to opt for the science stream at this level." Priyanka's father, Ashutosh Verma, works

 

in the Indian Trade Promotion Organisation.

 

Priyanka has now found a career that will allow an artistic expression of her science

 

education - she wants to be an architect. Not only that, Priyanka also decided on a

 

foreign language early on, and now she is learning French at an advanced level. This

 

means that she could opt to study architecture at a good college in France, where

 

the cost of education would be lower than in the US or the UK.

 

The Vermas are self-confessedly not very money-savvy. They decided early on that

 

Priyanka's education would have the first claim on their finances; everything else

 

would be secondary. Right now, these education expenses are high. Priyanka takes

 

tuitions in a couple of subjects and these cost Rs 300-400 an hour. This, added to

 

school fees, the bus charges of going to school and coming back home and other

 

expenses aggregate to a neat Rs 20,000 a month.

 

"There was no room to splurge or go on binges. We knew we had limited resources

 

and, for us, spending was not a way of living. We set our priorities and refused to

 

worry about anything else," Sarika says.

 

The Vermas have left what they managed to save in their saving bank account. They

 

will have to drum up the funds once Priyanka secures admission in a college of her

 

choice. They are looking at the option of taking an educational loan to augment their

 

reserves.

  

7 star strategies for your child's future

 

When the child is between 14 and 18, the first big goal draws close. The money

 

needed for higher education should be ready and ideally, a large chunk of it should be

 

moved into debt and balanced funds. A 50 per cent exposure to equity is sufficient at

 

this stage.

 

Those sending their children abroad - for undergraduate or post-graduate studies -

 

should be in a position to provide for at least the first couple of years. If you do not

 

have enough saved up, you can seek an educational loan from a bank. Usually, kids

 

find part-time work that helps fund a part of their education or, in the least, provides

 

for their living expenses once they settle down in their new country and campus.

 

Ideally, earmark your investments for your needs. If the monthly SIP of Rs 7,000 is

 

going into junior's college fund, the Rs 4,000 one could be the marriage resource. As

 

the event draws close, you could switch the investment from an equity to a debt

 

fund. This would allow it to continue earning higher returns than a bank account while

 

being absolutely liquid.

 

Sarika is certain that her daughter is a bright spark. "My only dream is that in her life

 

she should be able to get opportunities to use her many talents," she says.

 

As for her marriage, it is still far away. "Even if I am rich, I wouldn't splurge on her

 

wedding; I am totally against that kind of fanfare," she says.

 

6. Action!

 

It all comes to pass now, the years of swinging between anticipation and hope. Now

 

is when your constant refrain of "go to your room and study" goes through its test.

 

And the money you have put away finally finds its purpose.

 

Bina Sharma's older son Prabhat is doing his electronics and communications

 

engineering in Bangalore. As he prepares to finish this and zone in on an area of

 

specialisation for his post-graduate course, Bina feels a mixture of relief and anxiety.

 

For one, Prabhat is bright enough to have got through a better college. But, she did

 

not want him to stay home for a whole year and prepare for the engineering entrance

 

exam. So, he joined the college where he got admission. This means that if he does

 

not get through to an IIT for his post-graduate degree, it is best that he go abroad

 

for it. By the time that would be happening, the younger son would be starting his

 

first year of college, seeking a medical degree in all likelihood. Bina is remarkably calm

 

for someone who is juggling so much.

 

"Prabhat is in two minds and has not decided whether he wants to do a Master's in

 

Engineering or an MBA," she says. "My sense is that he'll stick to the technical line. If

 

he does, he might choose to pursue his Master's in aeronautical engineering or

 

continue in electronics and communications. Either way, if he does not make it to a

 

top rung college in India, he would go abroad."

 

A postgraduate degree abroad is much easier to manage compared to an

 

undergraduate one. All said, it would cost about Rs 40 lakh (Rs 4 million) a year to

 

study in the US. This means an outlay of Rs 80 lakh (Rs 8 million) for a postgraduate

 

course, compared to Rs 1.6 crore (Rs 16 million) for an undergraduate degree. Bina

 

has started planning and has put away a part of this. By the time Prabhat finishes his

 

degree, she should have the rest of the money on board. If her resources fall short,

 

the Sharmas may have to take an educational loan.

 

The Sharmas have been forecasting their finances towards these goals. While they

 

meet their monthly expenses from the money generated by the business of Bina's

 

husband, Vipin, her salary is saved in its entirety. They have invested in equities,

 

mutual funds, fixed deposits and provident funds. They also have bought some real

 

estate with the express purpose of liquidating it to meet the kids' college expenses.

 

7 star strategies for your child's future

February 26, 2008

A 25 per cent equity allocation is ideal at this stage. While the remaining money is

 

invested in lower-risk debt instruments, this 25 per cent would give the kicker of

 

higher returns.

 

College expenses cannot be calculated to the last rupee in advance as various factors

 

come into play on securing admission. Prabhat is planning to pursue a technical

 

degree, so the possibility of getting sponsorships and fee waivers is higher. However,

 

the couple needs to peg a basic minimum and work towards it.

 

The current expenses of the family are also high. Bina paid Rs 150,000 for the first

 

year of Prabhat's engineering. Over this, he incurs a monthly expense of Rs 8,000.

 

Bina is focused on her kids having a sound base in education. Once they graduate,

 

they are free to choose any career they want. She feels that Prabhat's rational

 

expectations would hold him in good stead through his education and career.

 

After the stress of steering two boys through their teens, Bina is looking forward to

 

the final satisfaction of seeing them settle down. "I will then put up my feet and

 

finally relax," she crystal gazes.

 

7. The last mile

 

Sumona Gupta did not want to make the career decisions of her daughters for them.

 

Snigdha, 23, works in advertising in Google for Hyderabad, and Shaila, 16, is an

 

aspiring fashion designer. Now that Snigdha is 'settled' professionally, Sumona is

 

certain that like her choice of an occupation, she would also let her daughter choose

 

who she wants to marry.

 

Sumona exudes the confidence of a successful parent -- one who has done the right

 

thing for her daughters and who can now take it easy and enjoy their success.

 

Sumona freelances in real estate, helping in renting, buying and selling of property.

 

Her husband, Sumit, has a shore-based job in a marine operations company in Dubai.

 

Together, they have set aside some money for their daughters. Most of this is in the

 

form of equities.

 

"When my daughter does get married, I would like it to be a big wedding; not overtly

 

so, but within our budget," Sumona says. A wedding dress for a bride would cost

 

between Rs 5,000 and Rs 60,000. Of course, if you have the resources you can even

 

spend a couple of lakh for an outfit. Food for guests sets you back by Rs 50-2,000 a

 

plate. Ideally, the funds for the kids should be moved out of equity at this stage.

 

If you have set aside enough, you could leave a small portion, about 5 per cent of the

 

portfolio, in equity to improve your returns. Investments in gold, ideally in bars and

 

coins or units of a gold exchange - traded fund, would also come into use now. There

 

are hardly any expenses you have to incur on behalf of the child now, they have their

 

own salaries to pay for most of their needs.

 

Sumona would rather worry about her daughters' financial stability than who they

 

would marry and when. "There is nothing very secure in a married life," she says. In

 

fact, she would like Snigdha to go for a postgraduate course, such as an MBA, than

 

find a man and settle down immediately.

 

Parenting is full of paradoxes. Even as we wait for the child to cross her next

 

milestone, we begin to miss the precociousness of the earlier stage. As they wean

 

themselves away, all we can do is gather all the special moments we have had and air

 

out their warmth every now and then.

 

When they grow into adults - people with careers, aspirations and points of view - we

 

can only wonder how they were ever so small that they fitted into the crook of our

 

arm. If we have planned ahead and made our children's journey to adulthood that

 

much easier, that is a job well done, a life well lived

 

bfb2009.multiply.com/

Jinnan Acrobatic Troupe, VivoCity, Singapore, Nikkor 75-240/4.5-5.6

[this is the school I teach in, not the school I study in...]

© Gorki Wildlife Photography 2014. You are not authorized to use my artwork.

@ faktum-flakturm.de.vu/

© Brian Morin Photography 2014

bfb2009.multiply.com/

Messing about with an old multiple exposure.

I just solve the problem for a busy shift at the hospital!

One for acute transfers, one for codes and traumas, one for staffing, one for complains, one for doing rounding one for PR..... cool!

Wait a minute....oh man! I need another clone..... darn...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

¡Acabo de resolver el problema para los atareados turnos del hospital!

Uno para la transferencia de pacientes graves, uno para los códigos y traumas, uno para Personal, uno para quejas, uno para pasar visita y uno para Relaciones Publicas…..¡Perfecto!

¡Pero espera…… se necesitan seis… necesito otro clon!

  

bfb2009.multiply.com/

ODC2 - Photoshop terms. This could be several, but I think Multiply and Layers are most appropriate. I had so many ideas for this subject, but I thought I needed to practice these.

The image in the main altar of the Church of Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur.

 

(Apologies for the quality of the photograph as it was extremely dark and this was all my flash could do. Also, I couldn't come any closer as I was already right in front of the altar crucifix.)

 

See also rally65.multiply.com/journal/item/23

luigipica.com - Facebook Profile - Facebook (official page) - Twitter

  

• Press (F) if you Like this Photo.

• View on Black (L)

  

• Premi (F) se ti piace la foto!

• Guarda a schermo intero (L)

  

© Image by Luigi Pica All rights reserved Images may not be used, copied or multiplied without my written permission.

 

During the shooting of a short movie.

Buenos Aires

I forgot that I had one more from Pekin. I'd missed this place on the several times I was here in the past.

 

For more of my kind of Holiday fun-

youtu.be/abEQ8WoNyCo

 

New Christmas joke!!

 

When four of Santa's elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.

 

Then Mrs Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more. When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where?

 

Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.

 

Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.

 

Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree. The angel said very cheerfully "Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn't this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?"

 

And so began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree. Not a lot of people know this.