Who would not want to open the door and pick one of the most healthy fruits that exists on the planet?

Of course I love springtime anywhere, but I prefer it very close to me :-)

This fruit, which I am going recommend, is full of vitamin C, vitamin E, antioxidants and are warriors in the fight against various types of cancer.

If you can grow azaleas, you can easily grow… BLUEBERRIES !

Plant your seedlings in a very large pot with good soil, water well, but not too much, place the pot in a place to grab a little sunshine but not TOO MUCH sun, partial is the right word, throw mulch on top to retain moisture and it’s READY!

Keep an eye on those super hot days, because pots dry out very fast.

Your small blueberry tree will give you ornamental beauty in the winter and a vibrant color in autumn.

In garden shops, try to find the name “delite” or “tifblue” and use the same azalea fertilizer in spring and autumn.

Put the mulch on top…

Here in Conroe (TX), there is a blueberry farm you can visit called “MOORHEAD’S BLUEBERRY FARM.”

There are 15 acres of blueberries that you can go to at any time, but go comfortable and bring your sunscreen! They give you buckets put your pickin’s in.

Address: 19531 Moorhead Road – Conroe – 281-572-1265 (if you want more details how to get there I have them)

Does age poison us?

Or do we poison age…?

Yes, because D. Gertrude had a birthday this week and was 101!

So, as you can see… This old lady is still the life of many parties.

Guess why.

“Playing piano invigorates your spirit and connection with your listeners has kept her mind and heart in perfect health for all these decades.” (The words from her doctor)

Stories like hers are of great interest to Dr.Thomas Perls who seriously studies and researches thousands of people who have enjoyed good health for 100 years or more.

Dr. Perls says, “so she, like others, exceeded 100 years, because they can manage their own stress well, are more communicative and more optimistic… even about the fact of aging.”

The “escapers”, as centenarians these are called, are not thinking about and internalizing stressful things. And it is in this way in which she has ‘escaped’ from age-related diseases.

Dr. Perls believes most people have the power to extend their own lives, simply by changing their own thinking.

And Miss Gertrude sends sends her own message:

“You have to behave right and don’t smoke.”

She has been a pianist since the Great Depression (1929-1932), and says that she truly believes that music keeps her young.

“I play music I like, that has rhythm and melody.”

Thus, at the piano, she works until today, playing for two hours twice a week at a local restaurant, and only complains of arthritis. But he says “it’s not big thing “… She is still able to live alone, likes partying and dancing.

Doctors and centenarians agree on this: Doing what you love is the key to long life.

To which I add: the Guatemalan proverb that is so true…

“Each one is the age of his heart.”

How old would you be, if you didn’t know how old you were…?

(With that attitude, she was news in several newspapers and TV channels in America).

Happy Weekend!

And if you are in Houston, you still have time to celebrate this beautiful spring day at the “Sylvan Beach Festival and Crawfish Jam”… See the “Re-enactment of the Battle of San Jacinto” (in the park with the same name, also near here) or go to the “Discovery Green”, enjoy the Art Bike and watch Shakespeare at the same time.

Since I have already been to the first two in the past, I’ll go to Discovery Green.

This was yesterday, in preparation for the “Sylvan Beach Festival”.

Everything smelled wonderful, `a la BBQ! And that was yesterday, just preparations:

Oops… The entrance was so congested that I had to enter through the exit.

Do you see the vast number of cars parked on the street? This isn’t common here. What’s common is just grass and asphalt.

On this side of the park the kids burn up all their energy. Yeahh !

On the other side, the adults have fun…

Oops again…! I didn’t mean to take a picture of the backside of the “Outlaw Angel”. But you will have fun.

The day was cloudy and the humidity was already very high! But the barbecuers prepared their delight.

Show with “Band of Heathens” 8:30 and “Roger Creager” from 10:30 till ‘midnight.

These people were already camped out here. Since…?

The number of seagulls will flock around here with so many trailers selling food. Remember, they are like pidgins!

BBQ and more BBQ! But there will also be booths with arts and crafts, games…

A polite and energetic man in charge of cleaning, taking care of everything.

Miss Sylvan Beach was chosen yesterday evening. She should appear around here.

If you come before 5 pm, you’ll pay this, afterwards you’ll  pay double to hear live music.

You know what soda does to your body?

When you buy one, all you are buying is: water, loaded with sugar and a little taste… And this sugar, and that’s always the cheapest of all, corn syrup, contains 45% glucose and 55% fructose.

The glucose sugar (or corn syrup), is quickly turned into energy, while the fructose is transformed quickly into fat. Urghhss…

After you drink your soda, glucose goes straight to the bloodstream, pancreas and then immediately begins to produce the necessary insulin.

A normal level of glucose in a woman, would be about 79… With the soda ingested half an hour later, she goes up to 107! Simply because, you took in 16 teaspoons of sugar, all at once! TEN tablespoons more than recommended by the American Heart Association.

Forty minutes after drinking this soda, your pancreas starts working at max causing all this sugar to be absorbed into your bloodstream.

(Source: Dr.Mark Shutta, director of the Rodebaugh Diabetes Center at the University of Pennsylvania)

Now other sources of sugar that we have to keep an eye one when buying: yes, because the sugar comes in the name sucrose… It has several nicknames shall we say… : Maltose, dextrose (glucose), fruit juice concentrate, corn sweetener, corn syrup, high fructose, honey, maple syrup, rice syrup and brown sugar.

Don’t forget the sauces, condiments (ketchup) is also full of sugar.

Now something that I appreciate from the ‘bottom of my heart’, if it had a bottom… Do not forget to become a Fan of this blog, and http://www.facebook.com http://www.orkut.com too (look for the community Living in America).

Facebook no longer uses the word “Fan” but “Enjoy.” Invite your friends too!