World travel trip to Segovia

The Alcazar of Segovia is the nice travel destinations and a good stone fortification, located in the old city of Segovia, Spain. It is also literally called as Segovia Castle which is a famous tourist attraction and travel destination. The details of Alcazar of Segovia are explained in world tour guides below. Rising out on a rocky crag above the confluence of the rivers Eresma and Clamores near the Guadarrama Mountains, it is one of the most distinctive castle-palaces in Spain by virtue of its shape - like the bow of a ship. The Alcazar was originally built as a fortress but has served as a royal palace, a state prison, a Royal Artillery College and a military academy since then.

The Alcazar of Segovia, like many fortifications in Spain, started off as an Arab fort. The first reference to this particular Alcazar was in 1120, around 32 years after the city of Segovia returned to Christian hands. However, archaeological evidence suggests that the site of this Alcazar was once used in Roman times as a fortification. This theory is further substantiated by the presence of Segovia's famous Roman Aqueduct. The shape and form of the Alcazar was not known until the reign of King Alfonso VIII, however early documentation mentioned a wooden stockade fence. It can be concluded that prior to Alfonso VIII's reign, it was no more than a wooden fort built over the old Roman foundations. Alfonso VIII and his wife, Eleanor of Plantagenet made this Alcazar their principal residence and much work was carried out to erect the beginnings of the stone fortification we see today.

It was only in 1882 that the building was slowly restored to its original state. In 1896, King Alfonso XIII ordered the Alcazar to be handed over to the Ministry of War as a military college. Today, the Alcazar remains one of the most popular historical sites in Spain and is one of the three major attractions in Segovia. Notable rooms are the Hall of Ajimeces which houses many works of art, the Hall of the Throne and the Hall of Kings with a frieze representing all of the Spanish Kings and Queens starting from Pelagius of Asturias down to Juana la Loca after moving to El Palacio Real in Madrid, Spain.

Travel for trip to Chicken Itza

One of the most travel destination Chichen Itza is a large pre Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatan Peninsula, in the Yucatan state, at present in Mexico. The Maya name Chichen Itza meaning at the mouth of the well of the Itza. This derives from chi, meaning mouth or edge, and cheen, meaning well. Itza is the name of an ethnic-lineage group that gained political and economic dominance of the northern peninsula. The name is believed to derive from the Maya itz, meaning magic, and meaning water.

Chichen Itza was a major focal point in the Northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Post classic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called Mexican zed and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico. The ruins of Chichen Itza are federal property, and the site’s stewardship is maintained by Mexicos Instituto Nacional de Antropologia e Historic which is known as National Institute of Anthropology and History, INAH. The land under the monuments, however, is privately-owned by the Barbachano family.

The site contains many fine stone buildings in various states of preservation, and many have been restored. The buildings are connected by a dense network of formerly paved roads, called sacbeob. Archaeologists have found almost 100 sacbeob criss-crossing the site, and extending in all directions from the city. The buildings of Chichen Itza are grouped in a series of architectonic sets, and each set was at one time separated from the other by a series of low walls. The three best known of these complexes are the Great North Platform, which includes the monuments of El Castillo, Temple of Warriors and the Great Ball Court; The Ossario Group, which includes the pyramid of the same name as well as the Temple of Xtoloc and the Central Group, which includes the Caracol, Las Monjas, and Akab Dzib. South of Las Monjas, in an area known as Chichen Viejo and only open to archaeologists, are several other complexes, such as the Group of the Initial Series, Group of the Lintels, and Group of the Old Castle.

Gorgeous laminate and fitness updates

As I mentioned in my last post I needed to go source some flooring options , I would love engineered real wood but the way basements can be fickle and can even flood I hesitate installing anything costly like engineered wood and about 1000 feet to cover in the entire basement this could get pricey . I did however find a very wonderful solution , the most real looking laminate I have ever seen , and it is so very well priced too ...we just need 45 boxes...no big deal right , still quite a bit of dough.

It is my perfect floor , it looks and feels so good and it is 12mm which is fabulous too , and it is click installation, easy.

I am crazy about it , it is perfect and will make the basement look so finished , eventually .

I thought I should give you a little weight loss update , I didn't want you to think I had given up again, actually I have conquered it, I got this. I have lost just over 30 pounds and I am feeling so much better , wearing things I have loved and saved , and that I am so glad I did not donate. I have about 6 pounds to go to reach my goal , but I will still keep going to see where my body will take me , my goal was based on my BMI so if I keep going as long as I keep with in that I will be happy and healthy and if I need to buy some news things than so be it.

I can't believe I have the nerve to show you the photo of me uncomfortably plump from last year but I've come along way baby, I know I never showed pics of me on my blog and the reason is I was embarassed of how I had changed.

I credit the Wii with my wake-up call , when the Wii calls you obese its not trying to hurt your feelings believe it or not...sure feels like it is though.

And after 15 weeks of calculating everything I eat and really paying attention to what I am eating and not eating and working out pretty much everyday doing as much cardio as my day will allow I have been able to drastically change my fitness level and my jean size , for instance when I first started to workout again my highest heart rate was hovering around 200 bpm not good at all , yesterday and my most strenuous workout it was 158 bpm.

Yesterday I decided after doing an hour of cardio on the arc , which is similar to to an elliptical machine I thought I would try to run on the treadmill for just 5 minutes, I am one of those people who has never been able to run for more than a sprint , it hurts my hips, my shins and I would always get a cramp ...painful , but I figured I have improved my fitness level greatly , and yesterday I ran 4 mph for 10 minutes I could not believe I could do it , it felt to exciting to be able to now do something that I couldn't do before, happiness.

Before here I am not healthy , not happy with myself or how my health was headed and going in very much a wrong direction , I have a couple of years to the big 40 and I want to really look as good as I can and age gracefully , I am after all completely in charge of that , no more excuses , no one else is going to take care of me but me.

Have a happy hump day all.

Pretty Storage

I have been working all week on my basement built in storage area , making doors, that was an interesting challenge , I priced out doors all over the place , but just the tall upper doors would be about $100 a piece , that seems a bit much for basement storage to me ...so I decided to just make simple door frames . I toyed with mirror in the middle but went with an easier option of using fabric to make pretty panels for the doors , to keep them light , functional and most of all gorgeous...I am so thrilled with how this has turned out ...and best of all this was discount fabric which was $30.00 a meter but with the buy one get two free deal , it was a bargain and I have lots to make into the bench cushion and most likely pillows for my bedroom .{ from fabricland canada} I made the bottom doors out of planks of pine that I had left over from another project, this project was an after thought really I had thought of buying some easy closets from Ikea , but I am so glad I went with this one of a kind storage unit, after all this is a hang out on a regular basis with Mason and Sophie and Mason's friends most often.

Here is a close up of the beautiful fabric , it is a stitched on feathering pattern.

I really need to go look at flooring options , this subfloor is just awful , I get caught on it all the time and try finding a screw you dropped on it , it is camoflage for screws.

This basement of ours is finally feeling like a nicer place to spend some time , I very excited to see it come along a little at a time.

I think I should paint my little tool peg board , black? or blue? or white?hmmmm thoughts?

Travel Destinations to Munnar

One of the most Popular Destinations in India is Munnar. It is located on the Western Ghats, situated in the Idukki district. The name Munnar is believed to be derived from the Malayalam/Tamil words Munu (three) and aaru (river), referring to the town's strategic location at the confluence of the Muthirappuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly rivers. The Munnar panchayat in the Devikulam block is the largest panchayat in the Idukki district having an area measuring nearly 557 km². Eravikulam National Park Located about 15 km from Munnar, this park is famous for its endangered inhabitant - the Nilgiri Tahr. Spread over an area of 97 sq. km., this park is also home to several species of rare butterflies, animals and birds. 

Top Station, which is about 27 km from Munnar, is at a height of 1700 m above sea level. It is the highest point on the Munnar-Kodaikanal road. Travelers to Munnar make it a point to visit Top Station to enjoy the panoramic view it offers of the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the spots in Munnar to enjoy the Neelakurunji flowers blooming over a vast area. Tea Museum in Munnar has a legacy of its own when to comes to the origins and evolution of tea plantations. Taking account of this legacy and to preserve and showcase some of the exquisite and interesting aspects on the genesis and growth of tea plantations in Kerala's high ranges, a museum exclusively for tea was opened some years ago by Tata Tea in Munnar.

Mattupetty is known for its storage masonry dam and the beautiful lake, which offers pleasurable boat rides, enabling one to enjoy the surrounding hills and landscape. Mattupetty's fame is also attributed to the dairy farm run by the Indo-Swiss Livestock Project, where one would come across different high yielding breeds of cows. Mattupetty with its lush green tea plantations, rolling grasslands and the Shola forests is also ideal for trekking and is home to a variety of birds.

Storage happiness

I decided to tackle the built in storage I had planned for the nail room / mud room , especially since I picked up the bench piece a couple of days ago for $20.00 , it was a very rough and basic pine bookcase I found on Kijiji , it fit this wall perfectly.

I will be happy to have all of this chaos contained and hidden .

I will admit things looked a little sketchy this morning , I used our old kitchen cabinet which was over the fridge before we got the new fridge I used it to bridge the two towers of storage.

Some primer , and lots of paint makes it all looks so much better. I used MDF 12"x 8' ready cut shelves to create the two towers, I had them cut down to the length I needed and had the excess cut into 17" wide shelves , having a pinner and nail gun made this project so quick and easy , even the family said "wow that was fast". Next step is to trim it all out and to make some doors to close this all up , or maybe I will try making drawers ?

I will store my magazines, sewing machine , fabrics , linens, books and even tools and paper work the middle open area will be a little reading nook for the kids , I am so glad I finally did this project , it is a great solution , how are you supposed to keep a room tidy without a spot to store everything?

my house makes a S&C show appearance today

Your guess is as good as mine as to what I will see on the Steven and Chris show today at 1:00 and 2:00 , check your local CBC schedule for air times , I have my PVR set to record. They filmed pretty much everything , the great room , dining room , living room and bedroom , I think a lot will be cut out because of time, I am so excited to see how my home looks on television especially being toured with Cobi Ladner ...such a thrill , I hope the guys liked it too , I know they have seen it once before but a lot has changed since the 2008 visit .... do you think they will remember seeing it before?

I'll be watching , will you , it will also be online http://www.cbc.ca/stevenandchris/ probably not today though so check back , you can also look up other great house tours here as well as much more worth watching .

Lipstick and rouge

I decided I would try to pretty up the nail room ,to make the most of its current state , I installed the floating shelf that used to be above our living room sofa , I added two beautiful brackets I removed from the dining room , voila a beautiful feature for the nail room . I added some forgotten art and some pretty candle holders my cousin Sheri gave me and I think it is so much nicer now . The chairs here are extra dining chairs , I recovered them to match by using some remnants of fabric I had stored away , quick and easy update and it cost me nothing . Now to get the paint brush out to do all the touch ups and to paint the nail shelf , I sure wish I had a sprayer because I don't look forward to painting that shelf at all .

You can see here what about an hour of attention can do , click on the photo to enlarge.

Slowly very slowly

basement getaway by chriskauf on Polyvore.com

HEMNES $935 - ikea.com

BOTNE $199 - ikea.com

EKTORP $199 - ikea.com

Dash & Albert Rug Company » Zanzibar Ticking Woven Cotton $364 - dashandalbert.com

Taylor Scott Slipcovered South Hampton Chair - Layla Grayce $100 - laylagrayce.com

Edgewood Coffee Table $699 - crateandbarrel.com

Wall Art LampsPlus.com $224 - lampsplus.com

coney island photography, wall decor, large prints, beach, 20x20 :... $85 - papernstitch.com

Our attention has recently turned to our unfinished basement ...we have lots of big plans to finish the space , we plan to make a nice office space for my husband , who currently works down there often in a very cold and yucky space , we want to also create a large open room that will be open to the office but can also be closed off with a curtain 14'x29', we would be creating basically a second family room , which will be great for the kids to entertain in the basement , a space for video games and movie watching and for occasional over night guests. We will tackle it a little bit at a time. For now though I do have a plan for a build , on the wall with the red shelves this is what I will be building , to house all of the stuff you see and don't see there , I want it all clean out of sight and un-cluttered , this will have a nice bench seat that hopefully will serve as a little reading nook for the kids , since they use this room most often and daily as the nail room . Today I am picking up the lower bench part which is a pine shelf that I will build all of this off of...its going to be so cute.

I recently re-configured the storage area I created a couple of years back , it wasn't working so I rejigged it to have hanging storage , and now I finally have a spot to hide my vacuum.

This area needs a lot of help as well I think I will make a base for the table that will provide more closed storage as well it just needs some pretty too . I think I may need to part with some of the items I hang onto that are taking up space , obviously I need to paint the nail polish shelf white

Oh and we need walls , floors I think I am going to go ahead with the brick veneer floors in this room and the laundry area too , I think it will look great .

Sounds like a lot doesn't it ...it is over whelming

Trip to Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the nice travel destinations of prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 3.2 kilometers or 2.0 miles west of Amesbury and 13 kilometers or 8.1 miles north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of earthworks surrounding a circular setting of large standing stones. It is at the centre of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists had believed that the iconic stone monument was erected around 2500 BC, as described in the chronology.  One recent theory, however, has suggested that the first stones were not erected until 2400-2200 BC, whilst another suggests that bluestones may have been erected at the site as early as 3000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

A new landscape investigation was conducted in April 2009. A shallow mound, rising to about 40 cm or 16 inches was identified between stones 54 inner circle and 10 outer circles, clearly separated from the natural slope. It has not been dated but speculation that it represents careless back filling following earlier excavations seems disproved by its representation in 18th and 19th century illustrations. A shallow bank, little more than 10 cm or 4 inches high, was found between the Y and Z whole circles, with a further bank lying inside the Z circle. These are interpreted as the spread of spoil from the original Y and Z holes, or more speculatively as hedge banks from vegetation deliberately planted to screen the activities.

Cautionary tale

I am feeling a bit dissapointed today , wishing I could go to the filming of the Steven & Chris episode where my segment will be , I can't wait to see how it all comes together and wonder what the boys will say ....nervous and excited I guess...but I must work this afternoon so I couldn't go , its fine . Oh it will air this Friday at 2:00pm on your CBC station in Canada and in the US check your local listings.

How funny is this comparison photo , the one on the left is me at probably 10 or so at my friends house for one of our many sleepovers, and then Mason at about the same age , I sure see the similarities , I tell you it startles me everyday when she comes walking in and is now taller than me at 12 years old , almost 13 in a couple of months , I have definately noticed the changes that go on with teens , the annoyed looks , rolling eyes , not wanting to be with us too much in public, I love to embarass her so much I try to refrain when in public I swear, so far things are going really well in this dept , so thankful for this, we are very open and honest about everything ...

You know I always warn my kids about predators in life and online , we did have an experience with a creep on Youtube recently with one oh my daughters friends , a creep asking for a 12 yr old to expose herself , please don't under estimate the importance of teaching safe computer use with your family , we have our computer in the kitchen for just this reason ...I can keep tuned into everything the kids do on the computer . Web cam's please why do we need those ?, I don't think we do , if you have far away family I see the point but for kids and teens , no way, it only takes a moment to make a major bad choice .

When I have those talks with the kids about pediphiles and inappropriate behaviour and even have warned about proper behaviour for teachers I get the "OK Mom !" I often wonder if they take me seriously , I don't think they think these things would really happen in their world.

Sadly Friday afternoon we all got word and it was all over the news that a teacher who taught at my kids school last year, which is an amazing award winning school that we love, was arrested for many counts of inappropriate behaviour including making child pornography, luring , posing as a girl on Facebook and online convincing boys to expose themselves via webcam and through photos , this is truly devastating to all of us. It is a nightmare , for all of those affected and decieved by this man .

I would like to say that our local police did a great job catching him , so happy to hear he was locked up and the school relieved him immediately of his duties.

This is a great lesson for our kids , we weren't just blowing smoke , this can and does happen , anywhere and every where. Such a betrayal of trust .

I wish we could just protect all our children of harm but sadly that is impossible but we must give them the tools to listen to their intuition and to know what is right and wrong to expect, and that just because someone is an adult doesn't mean that you need to do everything they ask of you , and most of all encourage them to speak up when something feels wrong and keep talking to your kids ...about everything because knowledge is power.

I apologize for an spelling errors my spell check wouldn't work