Blackberry Jelly

 

BLACKBERRY JELLY

- 6 cups of blackberries, washed and drained

- 4 cups of (table) sugar

- 1 cup of water

Put the sugar and the water in a pan and heat it on top of stove on low, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Add the blackberries and cook them on low, stirring occasionally. With a skimmer, remove the excess of seeds that come to the surface as the mash simmers. When the blackberries are cooked and mushy and the water has been reduced (after about 1 hour on stove), put some drops of the juice on a plate, and, if they don’t trickle out, the jelly is ready. Put the jelly on a sterilized jar or, if you prefer, keep it on the fridge.

P.S.: I’ve picked these blackberries myself, in the park.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

St. Michael the Archangel - Feast Day - September 29th

St. Michael the Archangel from Wikipedia

"Saint Michael" redirects here. For other uses, see Saint Michael (disambiguation).

For Roman Catholic views and prayers, see Saint Michael (Roman Catholic).

Michael ("who is like God?", Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל‎ (pronounced [mixåˈʔel]), Micha'el orMîkhā'ēl; Greek: Μιχαήλ, Mikhaḗl; Latin: Michael (in the Vulgate Michahel); Arabic:ميخائيل‎, Mīkhā'īl) is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans refer to him as "Saint Michael the Archangel" and also as "Saint Michael". Orthodox Christians refer to him as the "Taxiarch Archangel Michael" or simply "Archangel Michael".

Michael is mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, once as a "great prince who stands up for the children of your people". The idea that Michael was the advocate of the Jews became so prevalent that in spite of the rabbinical prohibition against appealing to angels as intermediaries between God and his people, Michael came to occupy a certain place in the Jewish liturgy.

In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of JudeMichael is specifically referred to as "the archangel Michael". Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel, and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in theEastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to vary among Christian denominations.

Selfie Fever

Hey, come back! I wanna just your camera to take a selfie.

     We are certainly on the selfie era. Almost everybody takes selfies intending to post them on the social networks. It’s been a long time that self-taken pictures exist, naturally, but the term selfie became more popular in 2012, and now we can say that we’re living in a selfie culture. When people post selfies just for fun, it’s a way of relaxing and sharing good times with friends. The problem is when they just seek approval and worry about how much Likes, or comments they get. The selfie can’t be an obsession, or, as with everything else, too much of them can become tiresome, and may mean a case of low self-esteem, or narcissism. Selfies are here to stay and to be enjoyed with common sense and sense of humor. Have you already posted your selfie today?

P. S.: To see more Comic Cards like these ones above (in English and in Portuguese), visit my other blog's additional page, at the following link:

Blog Aprendizes de Escritores/Writers' Apprentices

Cartões Cômicos/Comic Cards

July 30th Post - Photography as a Hobby

     

     I love to take pictures, but with a simple camera, as most people do. They’re pictures of an amateur, unpretentious pictures I’ve always taken the way I know, without the aesthetic considerations and techniques of the area professionals. I also enjoy creating collages and mosaics with these pictures.

     They are pictures I take during common outings, especially of landscapes, flowers, parks, or even of interesting things on the streets…  There are amazing urban landscapes. I use to photograph almost everything I think is beautiful, pleasant _ things I like to eternalize together with my memories (those memories of good times when we feel so great). Of the zoo giraffe only, for instance, I must have some two hundred pictures! But I take pictures as a hobby because I’m in the Letters area.

     It’s not the camera that takes the pictures, but the photographer. There’s, therefore, a big difference between professional and amateur photographers like me. Those who take pictures as amateurs, do it as a hobby and just for fun.

     Professional photographers are sensitive and they’ve got the gift to take the best out of an image with theirs lens and transmit it to those who see it later. They study a lot, they master the use of their equipment and use several techniques. They know the best angles, make the due framing and perfectly catch the light. Photography is an art.

     Thus, no matter how sophisticated the equipment, nothing can replace the real photographer when it comes to professional photography.

Gifs in Blogs

     I enjoy gifs, and they can be used for several things, but I think they give a special touch to e-mails and pages on the social networks, and especially to blogs. They’re heavy files and strong images so we have to use them with moderation, naturally. But there’s nothing like a well placed gif in a corner of a blog’s layout, or to go with a post once in a while, or an additional page.

     I love coffee, and, for that reason, all my blogs have a gif of steaming coffee on the top of the layout. Besides landscapes (as the one below), and captivating gifs, like this delicate white window that follows this text, coffee gifs are some of my favorite ones. We can find hundreds of them on the internet: all kinds of steaming cups, coffee with books, the rich liquid being poured, and so on. As I use to say and do believe in it, because I enjoy illustrating the things I write, images and words can complement themselves perfectly without outshining one another.

Tip: Creating Images Online for Blogs

     BeFunky ((http://www.befunky.com/) is an excellent website to add texts and frames to images or personal pictures, to apply several visual effects to your images, and to easily create beautiful and exclusive collages.

     It’s a safe, practical and complete website. And it’s enjoyable to use. I’ve been using BeFunky online for free for some years now to create great images to use on my oldest blog and I’m always there creating things for the new ones as well.

     I’ve also done all the “official” cards that belong to my blogs there. I resort to the site to create greeting cards for friends and several kinds of cards to use on the social networks too, and so on. To create cartoons with pictures on the versatile BeFunky is equally enjoyable. I’m glad to give this tip here because it’s something that has really been helping me through the years.

     Below just a few examples of all the things you can create on the worldwide known BeFunky.

Exclusive collages like this one I’ve created with my pictures:

   

You can add texts and frames to images, and use visual effects:

The text I wrote in a card for my oldest blog 3^rd anniversary with a delicate frame:

To create cartoons with my and other people's pictures is a great hobby to me too.

  

P. S: Whenever you use general images, check to see if their rights are reserved or not, and choose internet public domain images and free stock images, because there are countless ones available.