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As the Silverseas Inside Passage cruise travels up the Lynn Canal, the longest and deepest fjord in North America, it stops at Haines a fascinating town with the carefully preserved Fort Seward, built there in 1901. The world’s largest hammer museum is located in Haines and this little town looks out on to some of the world’s most spectacular mountainous scenery.

Juneau is Alaska’s political capital, set at the foot of Mt Robertson. Its population is with an unusual combination of ‘suits’, part of the political scene there and the local folk, environmentally aware and keen to maintain Juneau’s integrity. Walks around this hill city are only for those with stout shoes and clear arteries. The foreshore abounds in shops catering for every tourist need.

A range of activities are available for Silverseas cruise passengers, including helicopter flight seeing over the Juneau icefield and the famous Mendenhall Glacier along with dog sledding, bear spotting, whale watching, kayaking or salmon fishing.

The thrill of a dog sledding experience high up in the icefield behind Juneau leaves its participants feeling jubilant! After landing on Norris glacier the amazing silence of the place is interrupted only by the occasional yelp of the huskies and the sound of the sled blades cutting the ice. The breathtaking scenery all around makes this whole day seem almost surreal.

Glacier watching on an Inside Passage cruise is a close up and personal way to grasp the enormity and grandeur of these ‘rivers of ice’. Nothing can prepare you for their sheer size or their impact on the temperature of the surrounding air. Despite the cold, they always seem more authentic when viewed outside so passengers are advised to dress well as they venture out.

The Silverseas cruise headed south to Ketchikan listed on the top 100 artisan communities in the US. A popular option there is a Ketchikan Walking Tour starting at the Visitors information Center and taking in the Totem Heritage Center’s impressive collection of 19th century totem poles, This is one of Alaska’s most extensive collections of totem poles most of which were rescued from abandoned native villages when this center was established in the 1970’s.

Homeward bound to San Francisco, this Inside Passage cruise was the trip of a lifetime providing the best of amazing scenery, cultural insights and wonderful service with someone else ‘doing the driving’!

If you’d like to read about other information about this Inside Passage Cruise read my article ‘What to Expect on an Inside Passage Cruise Part 1’ on my website at alaskacruisetravel4U

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French has enjoyed a life-time love affair with Alaska, returning often, ‘just once more’, to experience another aspect of this spectacular part of the world.

A Patio Vegetable Garden, Easy to Establish and Enjoy

Recently my mom moved into apartment living and found herself living above her beloved earth. Not even this has prevented her from growing a regular supply of fresh vegetables, just as she did in our family home. Now she grows vegetables on her small patio and has more than she can eat.

These are her tips for anyone thinking of establishing a patio vegetable garden.

Select an apartment with a patio facing the right direction to attract as much sun as possible. If your patio faces the wrong direction you are unlikely to enjoy the best success growing vegetables. If you have no choice about your patio's position, move your vegetable pots regularly so that they are exposed to the maximum sunlight available. If your patio is largely shaded, find another well positioned spot on your apartment’s grounds and suggest the establishment of a communal garden.

Start with vegetables that you enjoy and that are easy to grow. Mom loves tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, spinach and beans but started with tomatoes and spinach. Review your success after the first season and the consider extending the variety of vegetables you plant the following year.

Select pots large enough to accommodate your mature vegetable plants. Investigate how large each vegetable will grow to give it the best chance to reach its growth potential and its highest yield.

Make sure that your pots that are mobile enough to move to get the best access to the sun. This is one of the real advantages of a patio vegetable garden. Position pots according to the sunlight requirements of each vegetable.

Always invest in the best soil. Along with access to extended sunlight, this is a fundamental requirement for a patio vegetable garden, in fact any garden. This is the same advice mom gives land-based vegetable gardeners. Patio garden soil is financially advantageous too as you need less of it! Include plenty of compost in each pot.

Make sure that your pots are well drained. Mom places pieces of broken terra cotta pots on the base of her pots for the best drainage. Small rocks serve the same function.

Water your vegetables regularly as pots tend to dry out easily. Allow enough room above the soil in the pot to hold water before it drains down.

Invest in the best organic fertilizers, some slow release, others with a more immediate effect. These perpetuate healthy soil despite the regular watering necessary for pot based vegetables.

Invest in sturdy trellises or poles for vegetables that climb.

If you’re a retired gardener with limited space or if you're a busy urban dweller with limited time but a hankering for fresh vegetables, you’ll find that these tips will help you establish a healthy patio vegetable garden that will be the envy of all your neighbors!

Warm regards

Antonio Fontanes

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Antonio Fontanes is a well seasoned vegetable grower from a family of experienced gardeners. Want to learn more about how to grow great veggies? Go to my website vegetablegardens4U

Whenever I travel to the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’, I never take for granted the fact that I share this pristine environment with bears in Alaska – black, brown and polar bears.

Polar bears in Alaska are the least likely bear to be encountered by humans as they exist is in its most remote parts and sadly are diminishing in number.  Visits to polar bear country should be planned with great care as these bears are aggressive hunters.

The National Parks Service from the US Department of the Interior is the government authority on bears in Alaska and the source of this important information. It suggests that in the case of brown and black bear encounters, always assess the situation first. Does the bear see you? If not, simply move away and the encounter is over. If the bear sees you follow this advice about both non defensive and defensive encounters with bears from the experts.

NON DEFENSIVE Bear Encounters
These encounters occur when the bear is aware of you or is moving steadily along a route.

Hikers and kayakers – change your course, moving away and remaining aware of the bear’s presence.

Campers - as you cook or eat:

Keep all your gear under your direct control.

Make sure that the bear is aware of your presence and stand your ground.

Stay together if you’re in a group. Don’t block the bear’s route and allow the bear to pass peacefully.

Do not retreat if the bear approaches. Stand tall and make lots of noise by shouting and banging post and pans and wave your arm if the bear continues to approach stand your ground.

Stand your ground if a bear charges you, and make yourself look big.  Most non-defensive charges don’t end in contact but use bear pepper spray if you have it.

Fight vigorously if the bear makes contact. Kick, punch or hit the bear’s face, eyes and nose.

DEFENSIVE Bear Encounters

These occur in close quarter when bears are defending their food or offspring. They can involve snorting, huffing, jaw popping and charging

STOP and STAND YOUR GROUND if you notice any of these behaviours. Your safety lies in calming the bear

Talk calmly to the bear, move slowly away if the bear is stationary

Monitor the bear as you leave the area

Stop and stand your ground again if the bear renews its stance.  Talk calmly to the bear.

Remain non-threatening and stand your ground if the bear charges. Most non-defensive charges don’t end in contact but use bear pepper spray if you have it.

If a Bear Makes Contact during a Defensive Behavior:

PLAY DEAD IF IT IS A BROWN BEAR. Lie face down with your hands around your neck so the bear can’t turn you over. Remain still until the bear leaves.  If it begins to feed on you, fight back vigorously

DO NOT PLAY DEAD IF IT IS A BLACK BEAR. Fight back vigorously!

NEVER PLAY DEAD WITH A BLACK BEAR! Most black bear attacks are predatory.

FIGHT ANY BEAR THAT ATTEMPTS TO ENTER YOUR TENT!

Many visitors to Alaska return there often, understanding that this magnificent part of the world is home to a large number of bears and that these creatures need to be treated with caution and respect.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French has enjoyed a life-time love affair with Alaska, returning often, ‘just once more’, to experience another aspect of this spectacular part of the world.

If you want to learn more about ‘Bears in Alaska, How to Share Your Vacation with Them’ read this article on my website www.alaskatravel4U

Hi, I’m Tony and this is my first blog post at MightyDigitalDownloads. I going to write about something that my family have been passionate about over generations – growing and eating fresh vegetables.

My grandfather had a vegetable garden that fed families for miles around over many years.  Much of what I know about growing vegetables comes from countless hours with him in his favorite place in the world – his veggie garden.

Grandpa was always at war with vegetable pests and generally won!  Before his time in many ways, he developed or adapted means of pest control that didn’t interfere with the eco balance of his garden and made sure that his veggies were healthy to eat and tasted good.

He would often say ‘If we could garden without any interference from the pests, gardening would be a simple matter’. But life in a vegetable garden is not so simple.  The most productive veggie gardeners watch out for these little creatures that can cause havoc if we don’t take effective measures for vegetable pest control in our garden.

In a healthy vegetable garden these pests need to be reduced or eliminated by strict garden cleanliness. Heaps of waste can become lodging places for the breeding of insect pests. Well cared for compost does not cause harm, but uncared waste can invite trouble.

There are a number of effective and natural ways to keep pests down in your vegetable garden. Earthworms constantly stir up the soil and this keeps soil open to air and water. Many of our common birds feed upon insects. Sparrows, robins, chickadees, meadow larks and orioles are all examples of birds which help in this way. Some insects feed on other and harmful insects. Some kinds of ladybugs do this good deed. The ichneumon-fly helps too.

Toads are wonderful sources of vegetable pest control because of the number of insects they can consume in one meal. The toad deserves very kind treatment from all of us. Every gardener should try to make his or her garden into a place attractive to both birds and toads. A good birdhouse, grain sprinkled about in early spring and a water-place, are invitations for birds to stay a while in your garden.

If you would like to ‘employ’ toads to keep your pest numbers down, fix things up for them too. During a hot summer day a toad likes to rest in the shade. By night he is ready to go forth to eat but not to kill, since toads prefer live food. How can you entice toads to stay? One thing is to prepare a retreat, quiet, dark and damp. A few stones of some size underneath the shade of a shrub with perhaps a carpeting of damp leaves are likely to attract toads.

Inviting toads and birds to linger in your veggie garden is an inexpensive way to provide effective and natural vegetable pest control there.

For more information about organic ways to control pests in your vegetable garden, read my article Eco -Friendly Vegetable Pest Control in Your Garden Part 2 on my website www.vegetablegardens4U

Warm regards

Antonio Fontanes

Antonio Fontanes is a well seasoned vegetable grower from a family of experienced gardeners. Want to learn more about how to keep your garden pest free and grow great veggies? Read my article Eco- Friendly Vegetable Pest Control in Your Garden Part 2 on my website vegetablegardens4U

Getting to work, school or day care on time can be one of every day’s greatest challenges for many families.  Breakfast, the first meal of the day, can end up being eaten in the back seat of the car!

If this is the case, and depending on the food choices you make for this kind of eating on the run, it is possible that your kids may be getting way less protein than they should from an equivalent meal at home. To improve the quality of the nutrition from breakfast-in-the-car, select from the following kinds of foods instead of standard takeaway donuts and flavored milk.

Select foods that travel well. Fruit and vegetables along with peanut butter on wholegrain bread or crackers don’t require refrigeration.

Make fruit and vegetables accessible for young eaters. Research from Cornell Food and Brands Lab reveal that kids are 12% more likely to eat an apple if it is cut up. Baby carrots and strawberries are ready to eat alternatives. Sliced low-fat cheese, rice crackers and bags of rolled oats or shredded wheat are other healthy choices.

You determine the food portion size.  Use small plastic bags and the kids will think they are getting plenty!

Think about Takeout Treats. If all else fails and you need to get breakfast to go, make sure the food selection there is always chicken not burgers, grilled not fried, and milk or water not shakes.

Going the movies with the kids may be part of your weekend family fun. If so, follow these suggestions when eating on the run there so you all stay healthy and still enjoy the movie.

Plan movie treats before you leave home. A small, individual box of raisins, trail mix or nuts can last the distance of most movies, especially if they have you on the edge of your seat.

Prepare and package your own popcorn.  Research shows that plain popcorn with a seasoning of your choice like hot chili sauce or paprika is a much healthier alternative to a tub of popcorn swamped in melted butter and seasoned with lashings of salt.

Pre-arranged movie food like this is always healthier for your kids. It reduces the possibility that they will join the ranks of those mindless movie munchers who eat, unaware of how much they actually consume. Healthy eating on the run at the movies can be more ‘cool’ by including an ice cream cone, lollypop or a soda.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French strives for a food, work, life balance. For more ideas about how to maintain a healthy body while eating on the run, read her other articles posted on this blog. Read her website http://findweightlosstips.com/ for more weight loss tips and to speed up your metabolism try her suggestions on http://www.speedupmymetabolism.com/

Our busy lives filled with the demands of work, family and friends, can present us with the challenge of preparing healthy and nutritious food to be eaten while we’re on the run in one of the busiest parts of our everyday – our workplace. Research at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University shows that if we plan what we eat ahead of time it is possible to eat on the go, still stay healthy or even lose weight.

As we spend a large proportion of each week at our work place, it’s worth exploring healthy ways for eating on the run there. A very large proportion of office workers eat at their desks at least two or three occasions every week. If you recognize this scenario, you can still eat healthily by preparing snacks or meals that provide energy and keep your hunger pangs at bay. Try these ideas at your workplace.

•    Store your healthy foods in the office fridge. Include low-fat cheese and whole grain crackers, low fat   yogurt, raw vegetables, natural almond butter or a fat free dip like salsa. These are likely to be popular, so make sure you keep them in sealed, named containers!

•    Include foods that are filled with protein to help you feel satisfied for extended periods of time. Canned salmon and tuna, lean meat and skinless chicken or turkey is great in sandwiches and salads. These are easy to prepare foods for those of us for whom eating on the run across lunch.

•    Heat up healthy foods from home in the office microwave. If you get to work early, start with wholegrain oatmeal for breakfast. Heat up broth later in the day. Along with apples and salads, broth contains water and is a low-cal way of filling up as part of your lunch.

•    Go armed with healthy snacks. Eating on the run between meals is often the undoing of those who need to watch their weight or actively shed extra pounds. Replace the bowl of candy on your desk with healthy alternatives

o    High in protein and tasty as well is the Japanese snack edamame made from soybean
o    Energy bars need to be high in fiber and low in fat and sugar and contain 5-10 grams of protein
o    Dried fruit contain natural sweetness, fiber and antioxidants
o    Cheese needs to low fat and eaten in small servings. It provides calcium and protein
o    Apples are easy to store, don’t require refrigeration and stave off hunger remarkably well.

These tips for healthy eating on the run at your work are easy to prepare and include foods from each of the major food families. If your work life consumes your time and energy levels, it’s important to eat wisely and fuel your body so you can continue to meet your daily challenges there. If need to lose weight, take care to limit the number of snacks you eat between meals.

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Rowena French strives for a food, work, life balance. For more ideas about how to maintain a healthy body while eating on the run, read her other articles posted on this blog. Read her website http://findweightlosstips.com/ for more weight loss tips and to speed up your metabolism try her suggestions on http://www.speedupmymetabolism.com/

Finding time for 30 minutes of moderate, regular exercise, to stay healthy doesn’t seem too much to expect most days. Or does it? How can we squeeze another moment into our lives filled with demanding bosses, kid’s soccer practice and those forever reoccurring mealtimes? Making time for exercise is tougher that it sounds and is the most common cause of the sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle in many western nations.

We can’t all afford a personal trainer or to employ staff to organize our schedules around an exercise routine but there are many busy individuals who prioritize regular exercise and stay committed to this, regardless of life’s ups or downs, its peak times or quieter moments. This is how three people include and benefit from the exercise in their lives.

Jane a physiotherapist has a husband, three kids and a physiotherapy practice of her own. She has plenty to keep her busy so exercise must be something she enjoys for it to ‘get a guernsey’ in her schedule. She tried a gym membership but was unmotivated by the indoor setting and turned to outside activities instead. Exercise there means that her children can join her on bike rides and fun runs.

With no extended family living nearby and without a nanny Jane needs to schedule the delivery and collection of her kids to and from school, ballet, soccer and swimming. She and her husband share child care so that they both get a chance to exercise, even if its not always together. Time for regular exercise is prioritized in the same way as any of the other occasions that are part of their week. Both parents enjoys modeling a healthy lifestyle to their kids and Jane is fitter than she has ever been.

Rob is a flight attendant. On a succession of long distance plane flights he gained weight over two years. He wanted to regain his previously healthy body. Regular exercise seemed the way to do this but with irregular living arrangements in different parts of the world, Rob couldn’t join the soccer, tennis or basketball team.

He chose instead, individualized exercise and took up running and swimming. He used hotel gyms or walked around local parks. He doubled his aerobic capacity over time by establishing low running expectations and then exceeding these. He has reached his goal weight and if he hasn’t run for a while these days, he follows the C25K program ‘Couch to Five Kilometers with an alternating schedule of running and walking to regain his fitness.

Marco owns a popular restaurant. As a chef he contends with the double dilemma of a demanding work schedule and being surrounded by tempting food each day. Marco schedules lifting weights and running at the gym near his home three mornings a week en route to work. This is a more successful arrangement than the gym near his work as he could never get away from the restaurant to make gym sessions. Sometimes he books a personal trainer to challenge and motivate him. Marco doesn’t like exercising alone but he values time on the treadmill away from others and his cell phone.

None of these exercisers are exercise ‘nuts’ but they have each learned to accommodate it as an important part of their lives. Is then, the answer to the challenge of regular exercise and better health the capacity to settle for less than perfect lives?

Jane and her husband balance what was previously joint time with their family. Rob works out alone away from home when he’d prefer to play sport with friends and Marco gets up earlier than he’d like three times a week. Despite this, each person interviewed works, takes care of their families and stays healthy.

If they can settle for life a little less perfect life to accommodate exercise and a healthier future, can you?

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Transforming Lives, One Person at a Time

Contact: theteam@mightydigitaldownloads.com

Rowena French counts regular exercise as one her greatest achievements after many past failures. She power walks her neighborhood daily listening to downloaded podcats on her iPod! Want to learn more about the benefits of exercise for weight loss and healthy living? Read more about regular exercise and healthy eating on my website www.findweightlosstips.com

The opportunities for negotiating the best deals for Alaskan cruising are worth pursuing. Follow these basic steps and enjoy cruise discounts that will make this vacation of a lifetime affordable as well as breath taking!

1. Consider arranging a cruise during the off-season. Avoid wherever possible the peak seasons of cruise vacations and schedule your time three to four weeks away from peak season. Alaskan cruising normally has its peak season in July and September. Planning an Alaskan vacation cruise outside these dates generally saves a lot of cash.
2. Choose a cruise line that meets your budget. Research these carefully and avoid being cajoled into a cruise that is too expensive. Some travel agencies push a specific line for different reasons. Careful comparison of the shipping lines fees and services will save a lot of money.
3. Avoid travel agencies that promise the world for nothing. Talk to more than one travel agent and to find one that will work within your budget. The right Alaska travel agency can give very important information that can result to significant savings.
4. Find an Alaskan cruising quote that includes the port fees and tax revenues. If the traveling agency doesn’t provide this information, look for another agency. Avoid hidden fees and uncertain collections as port fees can be a much as couple of hundreds of dollars each for each person.
5. Get an inside cabin. Usually, an inside cabin is the cheapest and can be more comfortable especially of the temperature takes a dive.

Remember to avoid the stresses in Alaskan cruising by always book at least two weeks before your departure. Check out for a list of the Alaska cruise trips and spend time examining the best offers and locating a reliable travel agent to help you with planning and the most affordable payment.

Follow these tips and then enjoy your vacation of a lifetime to this unique part of the world that wont break the bank!

For more information about Alaskan cruising go to my website http://www.alaskacruisetravel4u.com/

Warm regards

Rowena French

For theteam@MightyDigitalDownloads.com

Rowena French has enjoyed a life-time love affair with Alaska, returning often, ‘just once more’, to experience another aspect of this spectacular part of the world.