How to pick out a Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving has come and gone, now it is time to start thinking about decorating for the Christmas holidays and since the Christmas tree is usually the main focal point, finding the right one is important. Picking out the tree has became a fun tradition for families over the years. Here are some tips on making sure you get the right tree for your family to decorate.

First you are going to want to measure your ceiling, you surely do not want to get the tree, bring it home and find it is too tall. If the tree is too tall, you won't be able to fit a star or an angel on it, also don't forget to account for the height of your stand and the area in which you plan to put your tree.

Do some research and find the right Christmas tree farm in your area. Nearly one-third of cut tree purchases are made at cut-your-own tree farms, most of these places not only has the cut your own trees but they also offer hayrides and refreshments, and several feature fresh greenery and crafts. And there may be visits from Santa.

Which are the best trees to purchase? Well the two most popular are the Fraser fir and The Douglas fir. The Fraser fir is considered the best tree to purchase. The branches are open and sturdy for decorating, needle color is a blue-green with silvery undersides. Keep in mind though the Fraser’s are the most expensive.

The Douglas fir is the second best tree. The needles are longer than Fraser fir and more green in color, but they’re soft and hold as well as Fraser’s.

Make sure you get the tree home and into water as soon as possible and always keep water in the base. Tree water additives, such as sugar, vinegar, or even specially designed additives, are not effective, use just plain water.

Keep your tree out of direct sunlight and out of the direct blow of heat, this will discolor your tree and shorten it's life.

When decorating always be safe. Make sure lights work before adding them to the tree, and unplug the lights at bedtime or when you're away from home. Do not put breakable tree ornaments or those with small, detachable parts on lower branches where children can reach them.



Merry Christmas.

The Paulding Light, Paulding, Michigan

If you are traveling through Paulding, Michigan any night of the year it is said that in a desolated spot in the backwoods of Paulding you can see what is described as circles or circular spheres of light that seem to dance around in the sky up on the horizon. Consistent reports of colors that range from white, green, red, and yellow are common among witnesses. Other colors that have been seen within the lights are blue and purple. It is said the light can take on many forms from stars shape to diamond shaped, to circular or beams.

The story that locals say go along with the lights is around 40 yrs ago a railroad switchman while holding his lantern was crushed to death between two cars while trying to signal the engineer. Another story is said that it is the ghost of a man that was killed by a train years ago as he was walking around searching for his little lost boy. Another story has been said that the area where the lights are seen to start manifesting is a portal for spirits to come and go. Others say that is religious in nature and that the beams of light are beacons from heaven. There have been reports that the light has shaped into shadow like beings of darkness. There have been some claims of paranormal activity by witnesses after leaving the site saying that something or someone has followed them. One anonymous witness claimed the digital display on her radio flashed the word good-bye.

The lights have been also been captured on film several times by different residents and tourist. A Michigan Magazine has also did a report and also caught the strange lights on camera. Experts seem to believe that the location is a phenomenon.

If you go to the location there are signs that indicate the best area to spot the lights. So far, no one knows what is causing these strange lights to appear after sundown one thing for sure is that The Paulding Lights do exist.

Skeptics say it is nothing more then headlights or even swamp gas. No matter what it is, you are still fascinated and spooked while viewing this bizarre light as it starts walking towards you!!

Signs of the zodiac, Sagittarius

Some facts about Sagittarius

Sagittarius are restless and tend to bore easily. They need to be outdoors and they love to travel, Very optimistic and often have good luck just when you need it the most. Sagittarius difficulty from putting things off and commitments. You prefer to keep all choices open. Most seem to lean toward being single.

Description
The Archer, is the ninth sign of the zodiac. and is ruled by Jupiter, the planet of fortune and good luck. It is a changeable, masculine sign. They love long-distance travel, matters of the higher mind (philosophy, religion and the law) and having a good time! They are considered the fire sign, so Sagittarius people are positive and direct communicators, and hate to take orders.

A dual sign, which has both an up and a down-side. The symbols for Sagittarius are the hunter (archer) and the centaur, a mythical half-man, half-horse. These two are symbols of the search for truth and knowledge. tend to be on a constant search for adventure and new ideas. They get bored around people who are not usually spontaneous like them.
They do not hesitate to give an honest opinion. and when sometimes this may seem rude, they are never meaning to be mean. They have a good sense of humor even when the going gets tough.

They prefer to be the boss in any situation , and usually a tendency to speak first and ask questions later. they are always full of energy with great bubbling personality and enthusiasm. They cannot be pinned down for to long that is why they tend to like the single life. Even married Sagittarians make sure they keep some personal independence.
Sagittarians have a passion for sports and exercise. They love good food and may sometimes feel like going on a diet, a natural gambler and a big risk taker but they usually always come out on the winning side. You love music, art, dance, and have a lot of talent in these areas.

Sagittarius colors are tan, navy, orange and cobalt blue. The Sagittarius color sign is Turquoise which means that they are very adaptable, a double personality can easily associate itself with both gems. Sagittarius flowers are huge mums, hydrangeas, dahlias, and peonies.

A Victorian Christmas

A Victorian Christmas

Tips on having a charming Victorian Christma holiday

I am fascinated with the 1800’s Victorian era, everything about it is charming to me.

Content Source: Bukisa - A Victorian Christmas

Haunted Houston

Halloween is approaching us soon and I don't know about you but I love a good ghost story or to go visit an alledged haunted spot. Doing some research over the last couple of years while investigating the paranormal I came across some pretty cool places to visit.

Im going to start of with one of my favorite places Galveston, Ashton Villa is has been reported being haunted by the former resident Betty Brown, [www.galvestonhistory.org] 2328 Broadway Street. Her ghost has been seen standing at the top of the staircase, and heard playing the piano as though she were playing at one of her famous music recitals.

The Bishop's Palace Galveston, Texas, 1402 Broadway Street It is said that the former owner Walter Gresham's ghost has been seen, checking on thethe exterior of the building when Hurricanes are threatening town.

The Bolivar Lighthouse, Bolivar Penninsula in Galveston as said to be haunted by a young boy that killed his parents, the boy is seen thru the windows of the old lighthouse.

The Flying Dutchman Galveston Bay, Texas. a ghost ship has been seen sailing in Galveston Bay.

Michel B Menard House In Galveston, Texas [www.galvestonhistory.org] 1604 33rd Street, is said to be haunted Mr. Menards wife, Clara Menard she haunts the house where she died from a broken neck occurring while she fell down the stairs.

The Battleship Texas located in LaPorte Texas, 3527 Battleground Road is said to be haunted by a red-haired, sailor who was said to have died while on duty, occasionally appears on the second deck.[http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/battleship_texas/

The Civil War Museum, Sprin, Texas [www.oldtownspring.com] 200 Noble Street the ghosts of Civil War soldiers are said to appear among the actors during civil war battle reenactments.

Bowden Road or "Demon Road" as locals call it, Huntsville, Texas Phantom handprints will show up on cars. It is just a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. Noone knows why this place may be haunted, but supposedly lots of satanic rituals have occured here. It is a very dark and scary place.

Houston Library ( the Julie Ideson Building ) [www.houstonlibrary.org] in Houston, Texas, 500 McKinney, is said to be haunted by a former janitor and his dog, you can hear him playing his violin late at night.

Oakwood Cemetery in Huntsville, Texas 9th Street and Avenue I, there is a statue of Jesus that reported has been slowly closing his hands over a period of several years.

Sam Houston Memorial Museum [www.shsu.edu] Huntsville, Texas 1402 19th Street people have reported handprints showing up at the Steamboat house.
(I think this was debunked, just tourist touching the glass) hello?! :)

Spaghetti Warehouse, Houston, Texas [www.meatballs.com] 901 Commerce Street, is said to be haunted by a former warehouse owner that had died when he fell down the elevator shaft.

Zwink House, Spring Texas, 100 Main Street, said to be haunted by a woman who was killed by her jealous husband on their own front porch steps of there home.

Galveston, Texas. Sept 8th 1900. A night of horrors

Galveston, Texas today is a beautiful place to go, the beaches, the entertainment, the history, one can go and relax and forget about their problems for awhile. But on Sept 8th 1900, that was not the case for Galvestonians, that night the worst hurricane ever to hit the gulf coast tore apart a thriving town and killed thousands of people, it is one of the most important meteorological events in history.



The day started out as any other day in Galveston, it was warm and sunny, people walking the streets taking on their every day duties, kids and adults soaking the sun in the warm ocean, Isaac Cline the local meterologist even stated it was "one of the most beautiful days the island has ever seen". Unfortunatley, it was also one of the most tragic.



The islanders had gotten word of a storm coming, most didn't think anything of it they had gotten storm warnings before and nothing more but a few high tides came through, they had been through this before they would do it again, but that afternoon, the rain really began to fall heavily, the ocean started to come into the town up into peoples hard, The water rose at a steady rate from 3pm-7pm, the wind was snapping the trees, debrie was flying everywhere, the winds were lastly noted at 145mph before the weather barometer was blown off the Levy Building, 20 ft waves came over the island swallowing everything in its path, houses were town town, buildings were destroyed, families torn from each other swept away by the flood waters.



St Marys Orphanage right on the beach was destroyed and ten nuns and 90 children were killed when the orphanage collapsed.



By the end of the night, the storm had passed leaving a trail of death and destruction, About 3000 which was almost half of the residence of Galveston had been swept completely away. The storm of 1900 literally demolished the town of Galveston, after all said and done, 8000 people were killed.



The clean up was almost just as terrible as the hurricane itself, men of the town were forced to go through town and look for bodies, of course they could not bury them in the grave yards so they would take them far out to sea, just to realize a couple of days later bodies were washing back up on the shore, the men had to pile bodies up were they found them and burn them.



Galveston came back strong, they built a 15 ft hight seawall to protect the island from something like this ever happening again, in 1915 a hurricane with almost the same force of the 1900 storm came through, the seawall protected Galveston this time.



Another closet corrects the cry.

Thinking of becoming a Ghost Hunter?

I love the paranormal, things that go bump in the night scare me, but I also have to know what it was...as a kid I always loved spooky movies, ghost shows, things like that.. As I grew up it never left me, my fascination grew stronger and I wanted to know more.


When I was in my 20's, having my first experience, I wanted then to "track ghosts" but there was nothing like that online for me to read or study into.. so now I am going to write a few things everyone should know if wanting to get into Paranormal Investigating. There are hundreds of articles out there, so I am going to add one more.



By definition, Paranormal indicates phenomena that are understood to be outside of science's current ability to explain or measure.



Investigator, A detailed inquiry or systematic examination, or somebody who seeks facts about somebody or something on a professional basis



Paranormal Investigator, Someone who examines or investigates the phenomena that is outside of science's current ability to explain or measure.(sounds good to me )



So first let me tell you that yes, all the shows on TV are awesome to watch, I love most of all of them, each shows team brings something different and has a different approach to the field, but its not all what it seems on TV, They show the highlights usually, like some shows seem to always have activity going on which is NOT usually the case, sometimes it is boring, and you sit around waiting all night and you think the night is never going to end, and then again you do have the nights when you remember yeah, this is why I do this!! That is why you have to really love what you do to be able to get through the long nights.



Get online look up all you can on Ghost Hunting, read what other people do and you can also find some cool places to go.



Never go on your own, remember there is safety in numbers, going alone can be dangerous make sure you have at least one person with you, not just because of ghosts per say, but doing this can be dangerous, if your in a cemetery at night, sometimes the grounds are usually unkept and you could fall. If you go into an abandoned house, it could be unsturdy, plus you never know who hangs out at these places, so always take a friend, someone with the same interest as you.



Now that you have your friend what do you take, well I can tell you it is not like the movie Ghostbusters, you do not need big expensive equipment, if you find this is something you really like to do more in the future, then you can go and get a few small things to help in your investigation, but for now, grab a digital recorder these are used to record EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) Most often, voices are difficult to understand with the human ear, a digital recorder purchased at Radio Shack or some other electronics store will work well. A flashlight, A digital camera, extra batteries and a pen and paper to write anything down you might come across, also later, if you do join a team there will be people there that will have equipment also.



Where do you investigate?, Well ask around your town, ask about peoples experiences, every town has a couple of ghost stories, local haunted house or spooky old cemetery. Try these first, but make sure you get permission before just going on or around private property you don't want to get the cops out there, most of the time owners or people in charge will have no problem with you going in to investigate.



~Last but not least, here are a couple of Do's and Don'ts you may want to follow:



If you are going ghost hunting, don't drink, you must have a clear head.



If you think you hear or see something, Don't jump to conclusions. You always want to make sure to consider all possible explanations.



Where ever you go, make sure to do some history on the place so you know where and what you are walking into.



Walk around and talk to the spirits, tell them you want to talk with them or take their picture, make sure you tell them you mean no disrespect and that you are there to understand them.



Have fun, but be respectful, no running around loud and obnoxious or making fun.. remember this is not your place.



No Ouija boards.



This is just a guide a few tips and pointers, so go on have fun, be safe and remember if you think you are hearing bumps in the night, go see!! It just might be a ghost!