Speckled, brown or black, they patiently follow one another on the path to the mountain pasture. Every June, the cattle herds climb the mountain to look for rich, fresh grass. This pastoral tradition originated in the middle ages and shaped the Alpine landscapes as well as ways of life and architecture. It also gave life to a whole set of traditions, festivals and new art forms. The 'pay as, are a reflection of this heritage. Poyas were first created in 19th century Switzerland.
The name means 'the herd is leaving' in local dialect. They were carved in wood by the farmers and then painted in bright colours. The poyas showed each farm's herd and were a way of showing guests the prosperity of the farm. Denis Buchs, director of a Swiss museum with an extensive poya collection, writes: "The poya portrays the traditional farm organisation. The farm hierarchy is clearly outlined, with the shepherd at the front, then the leading cows with their big cowbells and fancy collars, after which follow the other cows with bronze bells, heifers and calves. Goats, sheep and possibly a few pigs are at the end of the procession. All necessary equipment for working up the mountain pasture is displayed on a wagon. A mountain pasture team generally consisted of five to seven men, and they all had their given place in the line, just like the animals."
Poyas have developed from exact portraits of mountain pasture procedures to a more imaginative illustration of pastoral life. They have also spread to other Alpine regions. "Poyas are very common in the Northern French Alps, but in this area, they have been quite rare, mainly because cattle farming was unusual here," explains the Briancon poya artist Penelope. She has never the less decided to start creating local poyas, as the interest for rural art and traditional decor has seen a tremendous increase in the past years.
Penelope has lived in the area since the 1980's and works as a graphic artist as well as creating her own art. She first came to Serre Chevalier because of her passion for snowboarding, and was subsequently seduced by the tranquillity of the area. She has experimented with many different art forms, such as painting on silk and on leather, pottery and working with other textiles. In 2000, she went for a painting course in the Northern Alps, and discovered poyas and other folkloric art. "I loved these naive paintings on long, wooden boards, and had always enjoyed working with wood."
No sooner was she back in Serre Chevalier than she was producing her own poyas. "I like mixing different techniques, depending on what I feel like. First I have to choose a board. I either use old larch planks or new ones that I shape with the help ofjigsaws, files and other tools. I sometimes decorate them with wood carvings as well." After this initial process, a motif has to be conceived and painted on to the boards.
Penelope draws inspiration from old art books, photos and drawings, but also from personal experience. Her early poyas were classically naive, but she now experiments with shapes and colours. She often adds mountain flowers and evocative backdrops. Her biggest ever poya was four metres long. "The Briancon area has a tradition of sheep farming, so I decided to make poyas with sheep and goats in them, to create a closer relation to the local traditions." Her poyas range in price between 85 and 1,500 euros, depending on size and style. Poyas can be hung both inside and outside, and if you keep your eyes open, you may spot a few decorating chalets in the Serre Chevalier area.
You can often see examples of Penelope's wooden poya art in the Hotel Plein Sud in Chantemerle, Serre Chevalier.
Serre Chevalier is a wonderful part of France and although known as a ski resort, Penelope proves that art and culture is alive and well in The French Alps.
The Purr
It is no longer a new concept to use cats as therapy animals in retirement homes, nursing homes or convalescent hospitals, research had proven that it makes a real difference in the lives, and reduces blood pressure especially in older people. The benefit of the human-feline bond has been documented in many ways, not least the pleasure of holding a purring cat, some purr so strongly that their entire bodies vibrate. Purring is one of the most special unique qualities of a cat.
What if we go a step further and say that this is only the beginning, a cat can be of benefit to a human as a compact movable therapy unit? Intrigued; read on...
Cat owners and handlers know that purring isn't just a sound of contentment. Cats most definitely purr when they are stressed, afraid and in pain, in short when they are experiencing any trauma. Even a cat near death or dying will purr, why? - Recent research has brought to light a new significance to this seeming anomaly.
The following Questions were asked:
o The ability to purr has survived through the entire development of the cat, countless generations, throughout the inception of different cat species developed and evolving in totally isolated areas over the entire world; for this to happen there has to be some very important reason for the purr, there has to be a survival mechanism to explain its continued existence.
o Accepting that the purr evolved solely as a show of contentment goes against all we have come to understand about the basic rules of evolution and natural selection.
o There would have to be a very good reason for an injured animal that needs all its reserve energy to survive to initiate a function that uses energy and does no good. The only explanation would have to be ... it is beneficial to the animal's survival.
o Could it be possible that evolution and natural selection has blessed the cat with a natural healing mechanism? Researchers at Fauna Communications in the USA believe so.
o Could the purr in any way be linked to the fact that vibration stimulation relieves suffering of persons and animals that have acute and chronic pain? Could the fact that vibration stimulation generates new tissue growth, increases wound tissue strength, improves local circulation and oxygenation, reduces swelling be linked to the purr?
The Healing Power of the Purr
Cat researchers now believe that self-healing is the purpose of the purr.
In human and animal medical treatment low frequencies, at low intensity has been proven to be therapeutic.
In 1994 Zhonghua Wai Ke Za Zhi, in this work found that frequencies of 25 and 50 hertz improve bone strength by 20%, stimulate both the healing of fractures, and increases the speed at which the fractures heal. In a study done at the Cincinnati Zoo, by Fauna Communications, who recorded many cats' purrs; it was discovered that cat purrs create frequencies that fall directly in the range that is optimal for bone growth.
I think that this research will make it plain why cats purr, here are the results:
Neuromuscular electrical stimulation treatment of Human and animals
Problem 1: Bone growth and Fractures, (Optimal Frequencies for best treatment): 25 Hz or 50 Hz;(Cats Purr Frequencies): The exact dominant and fundamental frequency of a cats purr.
Problem 2: Repair of tendons, (Optimal Frequencies for best treatment): 120 Hz; (Cats Purr Frequencies): All cats have frequencies of this range. Some even have 2 to 3 harmonics within this range.
Problem 3: Stimulation of joint mobility, (Optimal Frequencies for best treatment): 18 Hz to 35 Hz, (Cats Purr Frequencies): All cats have frequencies of this range and here again 2 to 3 harmonics within this range.
Problem 4: Generation of muscle strength, (Optimal Frequencies for best treatment): 2 Hz to 100 Hz, (Cats Purr Frequencies): All cats have at least 4 sets of strong harmonics in this range.
Problem 5: Therapeutic pain relief, (Optimal Frequencies for best treatment): 50 Hz to 150 Hz, (Cats Purr Frequencies): All cats have at least 5 sets of strong harmonics in this range.
With this information available it is not difficult to comprehend that a cat's purr is a genetically designed self healing device. It gives a cat an internal natural way to decrease healing time, and increase strength whilst sedentary. Meaning; muscles strengthen, while bones heal without any movement to endanger the knitting of bone, with the bonus of having a pain treatment while this is happening. This would explain why nature has developed an adoption like this and it has remained constant in all cats regardless of how remote or different they may be.
In Summery: Purring the Pain Away
Vibrations between a the frequencies 20-150 Hz are therapeutic for bone growth/fracture healing, pain relief, reduction of swelling, wound healing, muscle growth, strength and repair, tendon repair, mobility of joints and the relief of breathlessness. Direct contact with a purring cat is definitely beneficial to your own health. As with any frequency wave forms, oscillations move between the animal and the human and can do wonders to a person with many different types of bone, muscle and pain problems.... In short put a kitty on your lap.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Shelley Adams, Dr. John Currey, Dr. Clinton Rubin,Dr. Terry Cook, Dr. Margerie Lindeke, Jacqui Roddick, Fauna Communications Research Institute (2001); The Felid Purr: A bio-mechanical healing mechanism; 12 International Conference on Low Frequency Noise and Vibration,Bristol UK, 2006;Buch F, Jonsson B, Mallmin H, Kalebo P. The quantification of bone tissue regeneration after electromagnetic stimulation,Orthopeaedic and Trauma Surgery, 1993; Chen LP, Han ZB, Yang XZ. The effects of frequency of mechanical vibration on experimental fracture healing. Zhonghua Wai Ke Za Zhi (Chinese Journal of Surgery), 1994; Remmers JE, Gautier H. Neural and mechanical mechanisms of feline purring. Respiration 1972.
A large chunk of Indian Investors look out for Fixed Income Saving Instruments, which comprise of several products ranging from Bank Fixed Deposits, Postal Savings, Government Bonds and Public Provident Fund and Income Funds or Liquid Funds Schemes of Mutual Funds, to name the few. Of all the Fixed Income Instruments, Bank Fixed Deposits perhaps account for more than 50% of Indian Savings. During the past one and half year, Interest Rates on Bank Fixed Deposits (also called as Term Deposits) have come down drastically. Nowadays, the Interest Rates on Bank Term Deposits of Nationalized Banks and Major Scheduled Banks are in the range of 6 to 8% depending upon the tenure and the popular Postal Savings such as NSC, KVP and PPF offer 8%. It is obvious that the Investors would look out for better alternatives in the Fixed Income Products.
If you are seeking higher returns than Bank Deposits and Postal Savings and if you do not want to lock in your funds for longer durations, you might consider investments in Company Deposits, which offer returns in the range of 9% to 12%. Although the returns on Company Deposits are much better than any other Fixed Income Instruments but you must understand various aspects such as risk, liquidity, taxation and returns before you make up your mind to invest in Company Deposits. Here are few salient features of Investments in Company Deposits.
Risk: Company Deposit is an Unsecured Loan for the Company, that is, as an Investor you do not have any lien on the assets of the company. In case the company is facing financial difficulties or it is likely to become bankrupt, Lenders of Secured Assets would get the first priority and your turn comes only after all the Secured Loans have been repaid by the company. As compared to Company Deposit, Bank Deposit is much safer because the repayment of the deposit up to Rs. 100,000 is guaranteed by DICGC (Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation of India). Safety of your Deposit depends upon the overall Financial Health of the Company.
Liquidity: Although the Company Deposits are issued for the tenure ranging from 1 to 5 years but the Company Deposits are neither Listed on the Stock Exchanges nor Transferable. Generally, the conditions for premature withdrawal are not favorable and therefore, Company Deposits may be termed as more illiquid as compared to Mutual Funds and Bank Deposits.
Taxability: Interest Income from Company Fixed Deposits is taxable in the hands of the Investor and the issuing companies are supposed to deduct tax before paying interest to the investors. The interest income has to be shown under the heading "Income from Other Sources" in your Income Tax Return. You must take the decision to invest in the Company Deposits based on the Tax Bracket applicable to you.
Return: Rate of Interest varies with the companies. Many companies offer the deposits with cumulative interest option with monthly, quarterly or yearly cumulative interest in which case the interest earned gets reinvested at the same interest rate and thus resulting in better yields. Options with monthly cumulative interest provide the highest effective yield. At present, the effective yields on deposits of various companies are in the range from 9% to 14%.
How to Invest: Nowadays, many Online Stock Trading Companies and Brokerage Houses such as HDFC Securities, and ICICI Direct offer online and offline investment facility in Company Deposit.
Factors to be kept in mind while investing in Company Deposits
· Know about the financial position of the company:
· Know the Promoters and their track-record.
· Look out for the profit making companies and the ones that regularly pay dividends.
· Check out the ratings given by Credit Rating Agencies such as CRISIL and CARE.
· Keep a watch about any adverse reports or news about the company.
· Ascertain about the servicing standards such as Mode of Interest Payment and Repayment of Principal Amount, and promptness in the issuance of TDS certificates.
· Learn about the penalties and other terms and conditions for premature withdrawal
· Don't park your funds with one Company. Spread the funds and invest in the Companies engaged in different sectors.
· Risk involved in investing with smaller companies is definitely more than the risk of investing with large corporates of the likes Tata Motors, HDFC etc.
How often do you trade in Stocks and Futures and Options? Do you know that besides the brokerage charges, you end up paying substantial amount by way of statutory charges especially if you are a short term trader or a trader in Intra-Day and Derivatives? If you check the Contract Notes issued by your stock broker, you will realize that the extra charges add up significantly to your expense side and thereby eat away your profits. If you are a long term trader, it hardly matters whether you know the extra charges that you have to pay to your broker in addition to the brokerage charges. However, for traders who trade in stocks and futures and options regularly, it makes sense to know the statutory charges payable on stock and derivative trading.
When you trade in the Indian Stock Markets, you have to pay different types of statutory charges such as ST (service tax), Education Cess, STT (Securities Transaction tax), Turnover Tax, Stamp Duty and Exchange Transaction Charges. You may wonder why you should know it, as ultimately, the charges are statutory and therefore, the same must be paid. Well, with the right information in hand, you can easily assess the quantum of profit or loss before taking the decision to enter or exit from a particular trading position. Besides, if you know the statutory charges, you can verify whether your broker is billing you the right charges.
Here is a list of Statutory Charges payable on Equity and Derivative Trading in India.
1. Service Tax: 10% on the brokerage amount
2. Education Cess: 3% on the Service Tax
3. Stamp Duty: The rate varies with the State. In Maharashtra, the present rate is 0.01% of Traded
Turnover for Delivery Trades and 0.002% for Cash and Margin Intra-Day Trades, and Futures and
Options
4. Securities Transaction Tax:
Cash - Delivery Segment: 0.125% of Traded Turnover; applicable on both Buy and Sell Side transactions
Cash - Non Delivery (Intra-Day Transactions) Segment: 0.025% of Traded Turnover; applicable only on Sell Side transaction
Futures Segment: 0.017% of Traded Turnover; applicable only on Sell Side transaction
Options Segment- when not exercised: 0.017 per cent on option premium; payable by the option seller
Options Segment- when exercised: 0.125 per cent on the settlement price of the option; payable by the purchaser
5. Exchange Transaction Charges:
Cash Segment: NSE - 0.0035% of Traded Turnover; BSE - 0.00348% of turnover
Futures Segment: 0.002% of Traded Turnover
Options Segment: 0.05% of Traded Turnover
6. SEBI Turnover Tax:
Cash Segment: 0.0002% of Traded Turnover
Futures Segment: 0.0002% of Traded Turnover
Options Segment: 0.0002% of Traded Turnover
In the End:
Different brokers adopt different systems. Some of the brokers include all the charges except Service Tax, Education Cess and STT (these three components need to be shown separately in the contract notes as per the statutory requirements) in the brokerage itself whereas some brokers bill everything separately to you. Therefore, please check with your broker before opening the trading account.
It is the season of Income Tax Returns, collection of Form 16, Form 16A and other details from your employers, banks, companies and from many other institutions and organizations where you have invested your money and the investment qualifies for deduction of tax at source. In the world of online transactions, Income Tax Department has initiated some extraordinarily good steps for the common taxpayers like I and you. Apart from filing online tax returns, you can now verify the details of tax credits, TDS, tax refunds and other important details online through the website of Income tax Department.
What are the benefits of verifying tax credits online?
It enables you to ascertain the correctness of TDS and TCS claims in the Tax Returns filed by you with the Income tax Department.
You can verify TDS and TCS reported by the tax Deductors and Collectors and in case if the data does not match, you can take up the matter pertaining to any deficiencies or mismatches with your Deductor or Collector so that the corrective action can be taken by them by filing an updated E-TDS return with NSDL with your correct PAN or TDS amount. For instance, I had recently come across a case of mismatch in TDS data for my Term Deposit with a nationalized bank. The bank was issuing me TDS Form 16A since last three years but the data was not uploaded due to some technical problems. I would never have come to know about the mismatch if I were not to verify the online data about tax credit.
Mistakes can happen at your end as well especially in respect of the PAN and TAN. In such cases, you can identify claims made by you using invalid TAN. In all cases where TAN is invalid the "Name of the Deductor" is mentioned as "INVALID TAN" and in all such cases no match is possible. The TAN in these cases would have to rectified by you by filing a revised Return of Income with correct TAN.
You can also see the details of Tax Refunds sent to you by the Income Tax Department
How to verify tax credits online?
The entire process is very simple. Here is the step-by-step procedure.
Open the website of Income Tax Department E-Filing
Click on the Link "New User Register"
Enter your PAN and Press 'Click Me" button. Next, you will come across a page asking you to enter your date of birth, email id and password. This completes the registration procedure. Remember your password. Your login id is your PAN. Once you have successfully registered on the Income Tax site, you can go back to home page and login.
On successful login, you will see a page with various options on the top.
On the right top side, you will see "My Account", under which you will find several options. Now, click on'View Tax Credit Statement (Form 26AS) and
fill in all the details such as Assessment Year, Date of Birth and the CAPTCHA code and submit.
Next, press confirm and you will be taken to another website and webpage, which will show you Form 26AS containing all the details of Tax Credit such as TDS, TCS and Tax Refund
Summing Up:
With the easy access to online tax returns and user-friendly website of Income Tax Department, it has become extremely simple to file your returns electronically and to check your tax credits and tax refunds online. You may visit Financial Awareness Portal for a detailed procedure with screenshots
Having stayed at La Giraudiere previously for a working holiday I decided, 7 years later, to return as a paying guest. For your information, La Giraudiere is, or was, an old Charente property which is currently being renovated and converted into a holiday hamlet or tourist complex. During my second visit I came across an old discarded tourist leaflet describing a natural phenomenon - "Dune du Pyla" which also goes by the name of "Dune du Pilat".Totally absorbed by the description of this natural phenomenon, it's natural beauty and yet horrific size, I felt compelled to set off the next morning to see if it existed for myself.
After breakfast I set off early from La Giraudiere, map in hand, on my quest. From Brossac I headed north along the D731 in the direction of Barbezieux which is 18 km north of Brossac, at Barbezieux I picked up the N10 or route national 10 direction Bordeaux.
At Bordeaux I followed the signs for Arcachon which lies 8km north of my Goal - the dune. Sixty minutes or so and some 100 kilometers into my journey I entered the tall pine forest where French Kings once hunted and found myself totally surrounded by pine trees to the left, the right and as far as the eye could see. The sun was just commencing to pierce the morning mist and upon opening my window I was overwhelmed by the pungent aroma of the pine forest.
The sun was beginning to win its battle against the morning mist which was dispersing with all haste as I advanced nearer and nearer to my goal. At the same time the landscape began to change with the pine trees appearing to lean in awe of something greater and then, suddenly, there it was towering above the tall pines and standing defiantly in front of me. I approached slowly, trying not to lose sight of this magnificent phenomenon whilst keeping one eye on the road. I followed until I saw a sun burnt and wind blasted statue standing some 105 meters high and over 2500 meters wide - yet it was always moving, rising and advancing inland as though retreating from the blue ocean - yes, this natural golden phenomenon was truly awe-inspiring. I had arrived at the Dune du Pilat - the largest sand dune in Europe.
After parking my car I embarked on the climb to the peak of the Dune and with each rising step the views of the land and sea were unbelievable and on reaching the top - "Oh what a reward! - the sheer magnificence of the colours of the blue Atlantic pushing the golden sand dune ever inland into the retreating green pine forest - a sight which will remain vividly in my memory for ever. The pilat dune on the Coastline south west France is a national heritage site and is listed as the highest sand dune in europe allthougth its hieght and length is constantly changing with the westerly winds. The dune receives hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and is a favorite amoung paragliders and sand boarders. The nearest towns are Pyla sur mer, La Test De Buch and Arcachon. Take my word for it - this is a visit that should not be missed.
If you have a lawn, or some grass or access to a patch of green, you have a nightcrawler farm. All through the fishing season night crawlers are an indispensable bait to the fisherman. Even though very few fish swim through the earth, they all recognize a worm and will happily gobble it up or at least give it a taste.
Fishermen here in Maine usually pay $2.30 to $3.50 for a dozen crawlers of average size. Why? because they catch fish. Most fishermen also don't take the time to pick them or keep them.
With a little bit of effort, you can have plenty of big fat crawlers all season long.
Most likely someone in your home drinks coffee. With this and a patch of lawn you are ready to start picking worms and crawlers. If you have kids, give them a bucket and re-write your lemonade stand to read "Crawler stand" its surprising how many fishermen are probably living in your neighborhood. More amazing is how many will prefer to buy bait from your kids.
Keep collecting your coffee grounds in a can. Every time you brew a pot, just dump the grinds in. Once every couple of days spread your grounds out in a 10 x 10' or so area on your lawn. This won't hurt anything and will feed the lawn. If you forget to rake a few leaves in this spot... well thats all the better. Early in the spring, after the thaw, night crawlers are hungry. You will find them all summer long though, so don't stop after the spring. If its possible, keep your target hunting ground in a place on your lawn that tends to hold more water than other areas.
Pick a night after a bit of rain during the day, grab your bucket and head out to your patch a couple of hours after dark. You have to walk quietly. Tip toe even. The slightest thump or heavy step will make the night crawlers pull back into their hole with surprising speed.
Shine your flash light on the grass and watch for a creepy crawly shiny crawler. You need to aim and grab quickly. Crawlers are light sensitive. This means once you have one in your light, don't move it. Usually after you move the light off they will pull back in. Worms are full of instinct and darn fast when they think they might get caught. sometimes its hard to tell the front from the back. The more fleshy color is toward the rear, darker color toward the head. When in doubt, just grab the middle. Before long, finger and thumb will be pecking the ground like a quick little Robin. Once you get hold of one, slowly keep pressure, easily pulling the crawler out of his hole. If you pull too fast or too hard you will rip them in half. Down in that hole is a buch of cillia and a big paddle tail holding it in. A crawler will survive if it breaks, so they will forfeit half a body if they think they are going to lose their fight.
If all is quiet, occasionally you get this creepy realization that there are crawlers all around you. you can literally hear them like a slimy rustling of wet spaghetti. Occasionally they will move a leaf or a stick. If you wave the light around too much, many will pull back into their hole. It's a little unnerving to realize you are surrounded by big fat worms. Then you get excited imagining what kind of large mouth bass or catfish would swallow up a 12" crawler.
Before long you will have a pound or so of crawlers and be completely ready for fishing the next day, or setting up your crawler stand. I Picked up an old rubbermaid tub for a few bucks, tossed in a few spade fulls of rich loose topsoil and some more coffee grounds. Followed by my crawlers.
Worms and crawlers are very easy to keep. feed them your coffee left overs, corn meal, lawn clippings or even newspaper. Worm food can be bought from many places that sell fishing supplies or sporting goods. Worms will also enjoy other biodegradables. Too much salad or left over brussel sprouts though, and it will mold or rot before the crawlers get through it all. Turning the soil on occasion will help as well. There should be a few little air holes in the top of your lid. Obviously too small for them to crawl out. Most won't bother the crawl the sides anyway.
Very little attention is required to keep crawlers happy and healthy. Life in a cool cellar will suit them just fine. With very little effort you can have crawlers for fishing or selling year-round. Even in ice fishing season you will find fish seeking these tastey fellows out.
It truly is amazing how big some night crawlers get. in excess of 12 inches in some cases. Even getting to 1/4+ inch thick. I'm sure they get bigger when fed and kept fat and happy. I have just never really kept one that long.
So if you like to fish, or want to give your kids a new project. Let them set up shop at your next yard sale. Set them in motion, when their done...take them fishing.
They say when a person is fishing, they aren't always trying to fish for fish. When you take your kids fishing,you're doing something much better.