Friday, January 23, 2009

Denmark and Castle Kronborg

Hello again from Pine Mountain. Our winter heat wave is slowly starting to end. It has been raining for the last few days and the temperatures are now in the 40’s F ( 4 C ) in the daytime and the 30’s F (- 1 C ) at night. We may even get some snow by tomorrow night if the temperature drops a few more degrees. Our temperatures are still about 10 to 20 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year. Right now the only snow is above 7500 feet ( 2286 meters ) and there is only 3 inches ( 7.62 centimeters ) even at that level.

It is 0700 and I have finished my barn chores and just finished eating breakfast. I will work on this newsletter until about 0800 then work in the greenhouse until about noon.

My little woodworking shop is nearly idle this year. Last year I had more orders than I had time to do them. The whole world seems to be slowing down. Just about all the countries in the world are having financial problems with no end in sight. Companies are laying off people right and left. Now companies have started cutting hours and wages. Most people were living from paycheck to paycheck before the economy went bad. Now even when they cut back to basic necessities of food and shelter there is still not enough to pay the bills. A lot of people now are paying for houses that are worth less than they owe on them.

Eventually people get so far behind in their payments that their house is foreclosed and they are out in the street. If this was just an isolated case it would be one thing but this is happening to whole neighborhoods. Then when there are whole neighborhoods of empty houses, the looters move in and strip all the plumbing and wires to sell for a few dollars at the scrap yards. The houses then become more costly to fix than they are worth.

The main problem is that for the last 40 to 50 years countries have built economies that are not sustainable. Everything became more and more urbanized with more and more people being crammed into smaller and smaller spaces.

The news keeps comparing the present economy to that of the depression of the 30’s but that is like trying to compare apples and oranges.
The economy of the 30’s was a rural one. Sure there were towns and cities but even most city dwellers had yards that could be turned into gardens if they needed them. Most commerce was local in nature. Things were made and consumed in a local area. The population was a lot smaller, in 1930 there were 122 million people in the United States and 2 billion people in the world.

Today there are 305 million in the United States and 6.8 billion people in the world. The majority of the population lives in the big cities. People are used to having things from around the world. Most people have cell phones and computers and can communication almost instantly with anyone just about anywhere in the world. The problem is all most people know is how to survive in the urban jungles that we have created. They count on a paycheck and if that paycheck is not there, they can not survive.

In the 1930’s when things did not work out in the city people could return to the family farm and at least survive. Today so much good farmland has been taken over by the sprawling urban cities and there are so many more people that even if people wanted to return to a rural lifestyle there is probably not enough workable land to go around. Even if people were given land for a garden they would have to be taught how to grow things since they never learned.

Here at the ranch we are lucky. Everything is paid for. We have our own Wind, solar and water power generating system so even if the grid goes down we are self sustained. As long as we can pay the property tax and total law and order does not break down so people swarm like locusts we will survive.

Well enough about the problems of the world. If you are new to our website, here is how things are arranged.


Section 1 Ranch News

Section 2 Alternative Energy

Section 3 Health and nutrition

Section 4 Travel for Less

Section 5 Treasure Hunting

Section 6 Denmark and Castle Kronburg

Section 7 Pine Mountain Evening




Now that the global economy is going into a recession, everyone needs to find ways to conserve and use renewable energy. The Alternative energy store is a place to start. They can help you design a system that will make you energy independent. If you are a person that likes to do things yourself, The Alternative energy store has a library of books and videos to show you how to do things right.


Alternative Energy Handbook

Looking for a way to use alternative energy but you do not want to spend a lot of money. The Alternative Energy Handbook is the answer. There are simple step by step projects complete with illustrations that you can build for pocket change. Go to ==>
Alternative energy and learn how you can cut your utility bill.


Hydrogen Fuel


Add an inexpensive hydrogen generator to your vehicle and increase power, reduce emissions, and increase your miles per gallon. Go to ==> Hydrogen Fuel and learn how while supplies last.


Ethos Fuel Additive


How would you like to improve gas mileage, reduce emissions, and have more power all at the same time. Ethos works by reformulating your gasoline so more air mixes with the fuel vapor. This causes your fuel to burn more completely with less emissions. More power is generated by more complete combustion of the fuel. Ethos is environmentally safe and non toxic. Go to ==> Ethos and learn more about this alternative energy supplement.


Nutrition and Health


These days everyone is concerned about nutrition and health. Most of our food is over processed and has very little nutrient value. Our food looks great but not much more. If we want to stay healthy in today’s world we are forced to take supplements. The question is: What supplements will provide what you need for the least amount of time and money? I believe one of the best supplements out there is called acaiplus. It is a blend of vitamins and minerals plus acai to promote health and long life. They also have vitamins to help improve your long term and short term memory. They also have an energy drink that gives you steady long term energy. To learn more about these products go to ==> Acaiplus . Check out Acaiplus, Feed My Brain, and White Lightning. Here on Pine Mountain we drink Acaiplus every day.


Travel for Less

Travel Secrets

Discover how you can fly around the world on a shoestring budget. There are ways to travel for free. These ways are easy to learn if you know the secrets.. Go to ==> Bargain Air Travel to find out. You will be glad you did.


Travel Writing


How would you like to get paid to go on vacation? Travel to all the destinations that you always wanted to travel to and be treated like a VIP. Travel the world on your timetable. If you can write a simple letter about your travels then you have what it takes to be a travel writer. All you need is a little instruction and you will be on your way to a rewarding career. Go to ====> Travel Writing and learn how to be a travel writer


Adventure and Treasure Hunting


Proper Research is the Key


Do you watch movies like Indiana Jones and wish you could do that in real life? Do you like a good mystery and a good adventure? Would you like to use modern methods and tools to find long lost treasure? All this is possible if you learn from the best. Stan Grist, world renown adventurer and treasure hunter has written a course complete with step by step instruction on how to become successful. Go to ==>Treasure Hunting and check out his course “Creating Wealth Through Adventure”


Stan now has a new newsletter that tells about all his latest adventures. You can read it by going to ==> http://www.adventure-trader.com/ It comes complete with videos.



And now our feature story.

Denmark and Castle Kronborg


Denmark is a small Scandinavian country that is north of Germany and South of Norway. People have lived there for 100,000 years. The last ice age from 70,000 to 12,000 years ago drove people south into Germany but they returned when the ice melted. The country has been inhabited ever since.

We landed at Copenhagen international and the caught the train north along the east coast of Denmark.


It was an interesting journey. The train took a while with all the stops but finally we arrived at our destination, Helsingor street. We left the station and made our way to Skandia Hotel where we spent the night.

The next day we made our way to Kronborg Castle. This historic castle guards the 4 kilometer wide Oresund waterway that separates Denmark from Sweden and leads to the Baltic Sea. The Castle was built in the 1420’s by Eric of Pomerania. The castle was expanded into a magnificent Renaissance Castle by Fredrick II in 1585.


In 1629 two workmen caught the castle on fire. Only the chapel survived. Christian IV rebuilt the castle but the inside never quite regained it’s original splendor.
In 1658, the Swedes under Carl Wrangel took over the castle. After the Swedes were driven back the castle was strengthened and a new wall called the Crownworks was added. Other Ramparts and fortifications were added and the castle was considered the strongest castle in Europe.
In 1739 the fortress became a prison. It was a prison until the middle 1800’s. From January to April of 1772 , Princess Caroline Matilda of Wales was held there. Kromborg was a military fortress from 1785 until 1922. The fortress was the setting that William Shakespeare used for his famous play Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Today the castle is a UNESCO world heritage site.
We finished our tour of the castle then went back to hotel Skandia. The next morning we took the train back to Copenhagen. We checked out a few shops in Copenhagen then it was time to leave. We went to the airport boarded our plane and left the country of Denmark behind.



Pine Mountain Evening


It is evening once again at the Pine Mountain ranch. Out doors it is raining but it has not quite become cold enough to snow. Inside I am warm and dry as I sit in my easy chair next to the fire in our gas fired fireplace. Squeekers, my African grey parrot is sitting on his perch eating his favorite snack, peanuts.




I have just finished dinner of chili, salad, and dinner rolls. Now I am trying a new flavored coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com/. Tonight I am trying Tanzanian Peaberry. This is an American roast coffee with a hearty flavor, a fruity taste with a touch of zing from the lower slopes of mount Kilimajaro in eastern Africa. It goes quite well with a plate of sugar cookies.

Well my coffee and cookies are done now and it is time for bed. I put Squeekers in his cage and turn off the fireplace. Good night all see you next week. I hope everyone has a good week ahead.

googlef90539838d7357c8.html