via Helen Wong

                                                    
   
  Beautiful and Amazing Places in the World


Preachers Rock, Pulpit , Norway

Blue Caves - Zakynthos, Greece


Skaftafeli, Iceland


Plitvice Lakes, Croatia


Turquoise Lake, Jiuzhaigou National Park, China


Hotel Four Seasons Hotel, Bora Bora


Paterswoldse Meer, Skating on the lake Paterswoldse Meer, just south of the city of Groningen, The Netherlands

Marble Cave, Chile Chico, Chile


Ice Canyon, Greenland


Valley of the "Ten peaks", Moraine Lake, Alberta, Canada


Benteng Chittorgarh, Benteng Chittorgarh, India


Capilano Suspension Bridge, Vancouver, Canada


Riomaggiore, Italy


Mount Roraima, Venezuela


Multnomah Falls, Oregon, USA


Petra, Jordan


Restaurant next to the cave above the river Yangtze Sanyou, Hubei Province, China


Seljalandsfoss, Waterfall Seljalandsfoss, south coast of Iceland


Festival of sky lanterns, Thailand


Marqueyssac, Gardens Marqueyssac, France


Alesund, Norway


Keukenhof, Netherlands


Seychelles


East Iceland


Lucca, Tuscany, Italy

 via Helen Wong

  LEGO CHURCH..........

This is amazing!  Someone certainly is talented and patient to create such a masterpiece.

A few quick facts:

How long to build it? It was about a year and a half of planning, building and photographing.

How many pieces of LEGO to build it? more than 75,000

How big is it? About 7 feet by 5 1/2 feet by 30 inches (2.2 m x 1.7 m x .76 m)

How many LEGO people does it seat? 1372

How many windows? 3976


It features a balcony, a Narthex, stairs to the balcony, restrooms, coat rooms, several mosaics a nave, a baptistry, an altar, a crucifix, a pulpit and an elaborate pipe organ

All I can say is WOW!

Have a blessed and wonderful day, today and everyday!

Dr.Jagdish Mishra - Cardiology Fellowship, Hahnnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA.   

Via  Vandana Kumar Seth

How Hugs are Proven to Help Your Health: Have You Been Hugged Today?

Hugs certainly feel good, both on the giving and receiving end, and it turns out their effects are more than skin deep. A study by University of North Carolina researchers found that hugs increase the "bonding" hormone oxytocin and decrease the risk of heart disease.

Hugs are good for your heart, they lower blood pressure, and reduce stress, so make it a point to hug someone today!

In fact, when couples hugged for 20 seconds, their levels of oxytocin, released during childbirth and breastfeeding, increased. Those in loving relationships had the highest increases.

Meanwhile, levels of the stress hormone cortisol decreased in women, as did their blood pressure. Said lead researcher and psychologist Dr. Karen Grewen, "Greater partner support is linked to higher oxytocin levels for both men and women. However, the importance of oxytocin and its potentially cardioprotective effects may be greater for women."

Hugging for Your Heart

"Scientists are increasingly interested in the possibility that positive emotions can be good for your health. This study has reinforced research findings that support from a partner, in this case a hug from a loved one, can have beneficial effects on heart health," said Dr. Charmaine Griffiths, spokesperson for the British Heart Foundation.

Indeed, a previous study, also led by Grewen, found that hugging and handholding reduces the effects of stress. Two groups of couples were asked to talk about an angry event, but one group had previously held hands and hugged, while the others sat alone. It was found that:

Blood pressure increased significantly more among the no-contact group as compared to the huggers.

Heart rate among those without contact increased 10 beats a minute, compared to five beats a minute for huggers.

What's more, Grewen suggests that warm contact such as hugs and hand-holding before the start of a rough day "could carry over and protect you throughout the day."

Animals as Spirit Guides

• Dr. Steven Farmer
• January 21, 2012

• Text Size: A | A | A | A

(excerpted from Animal Spirit Guides by Dr. Steven Farmer)
Those spirits that are in animal form that teach us, guide us, empower us, and help us heal are called animal spirit guides or spirit animals. In shamanic and indigenous cultures they’re usually called totem animals or power animals. Often these terms are used interchangeably, although there are subtle differences in meaning.
The term totem animal has two meanings. First, a totem animal is typically one that is shared by a family, clan, or group. In indigenous cultures, the family you were born into all have a totem animal in common. In modern societies, various groups also have communal totems, such as sports teams or clubs that identify with a totem animal. A second meaning of totem animal is a representational object of a particular animal, like a small tortoise, owl, raccoon, or hawk figurines. We often give our children totem animals, like teddy bears or bunny rabbits to give them comfort.
The term power animal has its origins in shamanism. This is a specialized animal spirit guide the shaman or shamanic practitioner acquires early in their initiation into their practice. Their power animal travels with them whenever they go on a shamanic journey, which is an altered state of awareness in which the practitioner sends his soul or consciousness into non-ordinary reality—another term for the spirit world—to receive teachings, guidance, and healings. You can, however, have a relationship with a power animal even if you’re not a shaman or shamanic practitioner. They may come to you in meditations, visions, dreams, or shamanic journeys. It’s a highly personal and specialized relationship with an animal spirit guide, one where the personality and characteristics of the particular power animal that you have attracted to you are reflective of your own personality and characteristics.
Although every creature on the planet can be an animal spirit guide, in some traditions domesticated animals can’t be power animals because they’ve lost much of their wildness and are removed from the natural world. Likewise, some traditions believe that insects are to be excluded from being power animals because of their size and nature. I have, however, included both domesticated animals and some insects such as butterfly and dragonfly my book, and even two mythological animals, dragon and unicorn, to account for those who have enough of a special relationship with them to call them power animals.
However to experience the tremendous value of working with animal spirit guides you don’t need to be a shaman, have any interest in shamanism, nor be associated with an indigenous culture. For most purposes you don’t even need to be concerned as to whether an animal spirit guide is a totem or power animal. Instead, consider these wonderful beings as spiritual allies that want to reach out to each and everyone one of us who are open to their guidance and, when called with sincere intent, will respond.
One of the great advantages of working with animal spirit guides is that the actual animal is physically and symbolically present in so many ways throughout every society and culture on earth. Because of their abundant representations in third-dimensional reality, they’re continually in our consciousness. Depending on how and in what way they show up in the material world, whether in the flesh or as a symbol, their appearance can be  a representative of the spirit of that animal. When an animal shows up in an uncommon way or repetitively as spirit guide, that animal isn’t just the single animal, but is representing the entire species. The hummingbird that flits about and then hovers for several seconds directly in front of you isn’t just a hummingbird but is carrying with her the essence of all hummingbirds, and is therefore Hummingbird with a capital “H.” That’s also why when we speak of an animal spirit guide, we leave out the “a” or “an” as a way of recognizing and honoring that spirit animal. The hawk that visited me wasn’t only a hawk, but in those instances was representing the essence of all hawks, and was therefore Hawk.
Not only do these spirit animals help us in many ways, but another positive effect is that you’ll deepen your appreciation for the magic and mystery of all animals, whether they are of the air, water, or the land. Every being on this beautiful and majestic planet has its place in the web of life, and as we develop our consciousness and awareness of the unique quality of animal spirit guides, we enhance our relationships with all of our animal brothers and sisters.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/animals-as-spirit-guides.html#ixzz1kEnH2Rse

via Boonee Teoh

Health Benefits of Honey and Cinnamon

It is found that a mixture of Honey and Cinnamon cures most of the diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Ayurvedic as well as Yunani medicine have been using honey as a vital medicine for centuries. Scientists of today also accept honey as a very effective medicine for all kinds of diseases.

 

Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases. Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients.

Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, on its issue dated 17 January, 1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by Honey and Cinnamon as researched by western scientists.

HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread instead of jelly and jam and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also those who already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack.

Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heartbeat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as age the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalizes the arteries and veins.

INSECT BITES: Take one part honey to two parts of lukewarm water and add a small teaspoon of cinnamon powder, make a paste and massage it on the itching part of the body slowly. It is noticed that the pain recedes within a minute or two.

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured.

In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week out of the 200 people so treated practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

HAIR LOSS: Those suffering from hair loss or baldness, may apply a paste of hot olive oil, one tablespoon of honey, one teaspoon of cinnamon powder before bath and keep it for approx. 15 min. and then wash the hair. It was found to be effective even if kept on for 5 minutes.

BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

TOOTHACHE: Make a paste of one teaspoon of cinnamon powder and five teaspoons of honey and apply on the aching tooth. This may be applied 3 times a day till the tooth stops aching.

CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10% within 2 hours.

 

As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken 3 times a day, any Chronic cholesterol is cured. As per information received in the said journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.

INFERTILITY: Yunani and Ayurvedic Medicine have been using honey for thousands of years to strengthen the semen of men. If impotent men regularly take two tablespoon of honey before going to sleep, their problem will be solved.

In China, Japan and Far-East countries, women, who do not conceive and need to strengthen the uterus, have been taking cinnamon powder for centuries. Women who cannot conceive may take a pinch of cinnamon powder in half teaspoon of honey and apply it on the gums frequently throughout the day, so that it slowly mixes with the saliva and enters the body.

A couple in Maryland, USA, had no children for 14 years and had lost hope of having a child of their own. When told about this process, husband and wife started taking honey and cinnamon as stated above; the wife conceived after a few months and had twins at full term.

UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomachache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root.

GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacteria and viral diseases.

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food, relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ingredient, which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly arrests the ravages of old age. Take 4 spoons of honey, 1 spoon of cinnamon powder and 3 cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, 3 to 4 times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age.

Life spans also increases and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old.

PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of Honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root.

SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month 3 times a day.

FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon power in equal parts, are more alert and flexible.

Dr. Milton who has done research says that a half tablespoon honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3.00 p.m. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

BAD BREATH: People of South America, first thing in the morning gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water. So their breath stays fresh throughout the day.

HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder taken in equal parts restore hearing.

*NOTE:

The honey used needs to be REAL RAW UNPASTEURIZED HONEY. If it says PURE honey it is most likely pasteurized. It is best to only buy honey that says RAW or UNPASTEURIZED on the label. The difference is that the enzymes are all heated out of the pasteurized honey.

Cinnamon and Honey formula for weight loss:

This should be prepared at night before going to bed.

1. Use 1 part cinnamon to 2 parts raw honey. 1/2 tsp cinnamon to 1 tsp honey is recommended but can use more or less as long as in the ratio of 1 to 2. So 1 tsp cinnamon to 2 tsp raw honey is ok too as an example.

2. Boil 1 cup, that is 8 oz of water.

3. Pour water over cinnamon and cover and let it steep for 30 minutes.

4. Add honey now that it has cooled. Never add honey when it is hot as the heat will destroy the enzymes and other nutrients in the raw honey.

5. Drink half of this directly before going to bed. The other half should be covered and refrigerated.

6. In the morning drink the other half that you refirgerated but do not re-heat it drink it cold or at room temp only.

Do not add anything else to this recipe. No lemon, no lime, no vinegar. It is not necessary to drink it more time in a day it is only effective on an empty stomach and primarily at night.

This works for most people. Inches are lost before any measurement on the scales. This program will cause significant inches lost but you will reach a plateau and may not lose anymore. This is because the cinnamon and honey cause a cleansing effect in the digestive tract and cleans out parasites and other fungus and bacteria that slow down the digestion causing a toxic build up. (Lowers pH) Once this is all cleaned out then you will most likely have the weight loss slow down.

Other side effects from a cleansing can occur because of toxins being released if this occurs, cut back on how much you use or take a break.

Via Brent Binder

on Nov 28, 2011

Start your day with water & lemon ~ Dr. David Jockers

         

(NaturalNews) Clean water and fresh squeezed lemon is one of the most well tested energy boosters around.
Most people in America rely on caffeinated beverages like coffee to get aroused in the morning. These adrenal stimulants produce dirty energy in the form of blood sugar swings and oxidative stress. Water with lemon produces clean energy by hydrating and oxygenating the body to extraordinary energy and mental clarity.

After sleeping through the night the bodily tissues are dehydrated and need clean, pure water to filter out toxins and improve energy production in the cells. Most individuals turn to stimulants like coffee in the morning to give them a jump start. Unfortunately, coffee is a diuretic that depletes your body of water reserves and essential minerals and electrolytes like sodium, potassium, calcium & magnesium.
People feel energized by coffee due to the effects of caffeine on the adrenal glands. Coffee stimulates these organs to pump out instant energy hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones stimulate the body to breakdown stored sugar and release it into the bloodstream. This process causes abnormal blood sugar that increases oxidative stress, free radical formation and overall tissue damage.
This is called dirty energy because it produces a rampant amount of damage to the body in order to activate energy formation. Clean energy produces cellular energy without an excessive load of oxidative stress.

Food as Bioelectrical Energy

The food and beverages we eat provide electrically charged molecules that initiate energy production in our body. An ion is part of a molecule that carries an electrical charge. Positively charged ions are called “cations,” while negatively charged ions are called “anions.”
Most of the food we put into our bodies comes in a cationic form, while our natural digestive processes (hydrochloric acid, digestive enzymes, saliva) are anionic. Lemon is one of the only anionic foods on the planet. This means that it carries a very strong negative charge and is extremely electrically active.
Fresh lemon helps oxygenate the body and maximizes enzyme function. Lemon is known to stimulate the liver’s natural enzymes. This assists the liver in the process of dumping toxins like uric acid and of liquefying congested bile ducts.

Citric Acid Cleanses the System

Citric acid can also play a very important role in chelating out abnormal calcium stones. It has a unique ability to form soluble complexes with calcium that many have used to eliminate pancreatic stones and kidney stones. This mechanism can also help prevent calcium deposits from building up in the arteries that promote cardiovascular disease.
Clean water with lemon provides the body with hydration, anti-oxidants and electrolytes. Lemon is a rich source of the immune boosting vitamin C. It also has good quantities of electrolytes such as potassium, calcium and magnesium. Lemon is a tremendous source of citrus bioflavonoid anti-oxidant phytonutrients that have been given the label Vitamin P.
Vitamin P consists of the flavonoid glycosides hesperetin and naringenin among others. Studies have shown that vitamin P enhances the anti-oxidant capability of vitamin C. These bioflavonoids also improve capillary permeability and overall blood flow. This is especially important for oxygenating tissues and maintaining normal blood pressure. These anti-oxidants have also been shown to reduce swelling, venous backup and edema.
Upon rising take 1 full lemon and squeeze it into 16-32 oz of fresh clean water and drink. Be sure to eat out the membranous parts of the lemon where the majority of the pectin fiber and citrus bioflavonoids are located. Stevia can be added to form sugar-free lemonade. Apple cider vinegar and various herbs can be used to boost enzymatic and anti-oxidant potential.
Sources for this Article Include
http://www.quantumbalancing.com/new…
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/le…
http://www.naturalnews.com/033649_c…
About the author:
Dr. David Jockers owns and operates Exodus Health Center in Kennesaw, Ga. He is a Maximized Living doctor. His expertise is in weight loss, customized nutrition & exercise, & structural corrective chiropractic care. For more information go towww.exodushc.com

  
  One stone equals  fourteen pounds
 PETS Meet  George the Great Dane The  first time we saw George, our beloved Great Dane, he was  no More than a tiny, cowering  ball of fuzzy fur. As my wife Christie Opened the door of the crate he’d travelled in, he  teetered to a standing position  and looked out at us, moving his head slowly from  side to side, taking in the wonder of it  all. Finally, as if weighing us up and deciding we were acceptable, he tentatively  pushed his little Nose forward  and gave Christie her first lick.

 Puppy love: A young George with  Dave's wife Christie. Even as a pup he had  comically large paws .
He came  into our lives in January 2006, just a few months after  we had married and set up home  in Arizona. We both had busy jobs, Christie selling medical equipment while I was a  property developer, but she had  always planned that, once she had a house of her  own, she would also have a  dog.
She wanted a Great Dane as they make great family  pets, so we tracked down a  litter of 13, born 1,000 miles away in Oregon.  Their owner emailed us a photo showing a  chaotic jumble of paws, snouts  and tails. Twelve were entangled with one another, but  our eyes were drawn to one pup  standing apart from the rest. He was clearly the runt, endearing him to Christie  immediately.
 Though it didn’t really register, George’s  paws were comically large even  then. But all we saw was this cute puppy. We certainly  never dreamed he would one day  become the biggest dog in the world, standing nearly 4ft high at the shoulder, 7ft long  and weighing nearly 18 stone.  Right now, he just looked bewildered.
George made the long  journey from Oregon to Phoenix by plane and  we picked him up from the freight area,  tired but unshaken.. As soon as  George settled into our home, we discovered our plans to be  fair but firm parents were  wishful thinking. All the things that make  Great Danes wonderful pets — their lack of  aggression and their attachment  to humans — make them more emotionally sensitive  than other dogs. They need to  be with their ‘pack’ at all times and at night the cute pup with intensely blue eyes turned  into a caterwauling banshee  whenever we tried to leave him alone in the kitchen.
No matter how much we  reminded ourselves that he had every home comfort (warm dog bed, warm blanket, warm  kitchen, squeaky bone), each  whimper created a picture in our heads of a  tragic, abandoned pup, desperate for his  mother. Eventually, we gave in  and shunted George’s dog bed into our bedroom.

 Magnificent: George measures more than  7 ft from nose to tail and weighs 18 stone and is the world's biggest dog, but he's  terrified of chihuahuas...
In the coming months,  Christie really threw herself into being a  mum to George. As well as a photo album,  he had a growth chart — we were  soon reading it in awe. At five months he still acted like  a puppy, chasing his tail and  playing games of fetch and tug-of-war with his favourite bit of rope. But he was already  the size of a fully-grown  Labrador. He was putting on more than a pound a day  and he bounded around like Bambi,  skittering on our wooden floors and hurling himself at everything he fancied,  including us humans. His  displays of affection could leave you pinned temporarily  against a wall or a piece of furniture.
His size did not go  unnoticed in the outside world. Our local park  had a section for puppies but we were  bullied out of it by other owners, who were scared George would hurt their pups  — but the opposite was  true.
The smaller dogs ran around and under him, and he’d  be constantly sidestepping them, obviously anxious and  jittery. Slowly we realised that our enormous puppy was a big softie. Besides  his terror of being left alone,  he had a fear of water. He’d growl anxiously at the side of  our swimming pool, alarmed that his ‘pack’ members would so  willingly place themselves in danger of drowning.
If the pool  was his most-hated place, his favourite was our bedroom.  Eventually he outgrew the single mattress we placed there for  him and preferred instead the  comfort of our king-sized bed — sprawling between us like some over-indulged prince  while we spent half the night  clinging onto the edges.

 Paws for thought: George's giant feet  dwarf Dave's hand
In the summer of  2006, we solved this problem by buying him his  own queen-sized mattress, which he still  sleeps on today at the bottom  of our bed. But soon we encountered another challenge  as George reached doggie  puberty. Once he had grabbed life by the lapels, now he was grabbing onto legs — table legs,  chair legs, human legs, he  wasn’t picky — and doing what all male dogs do with  the vigour of a canine  giant.
He calmed down in the furniture department after we  had him neutered, but then he  took up a new hobby, eating as if it were an Olympic sport. A sausage on the barbecue was like  a siren to a passing sailor.  You couldn’t turn your back for a minute. And he  was so tall that he actually  had to bend down to pinch food off kitchen  counters.
He could reach the  high shelves as well, so we had to hide everything  away in cupboards. Soon, he was getting  through around 100lb of dry dog  food every month.
 As he approached his first birthday in  November 2006, weighing about  14 stone, it was getting physically impossible to make him  go anywhere he didn’t want to —  including the vet’s surgery. He had not forgotten the time he went there in possession  of his manhood — and came out  less than whole. As soon as he recognised the  entrance, he  refused to  move. So I had to take him around to the less  familiar back door  instead.
For all these troubles, George gave us plenty in  return, not least the following  year when Christie lost the baby she was carrying.  Evidently tuned in to her grief, George  was a constant presence at her  side. When she sat, he sat too. When she stood, he stood  and padded alongside her to  wherever she was going.
His personality grew  more delightful the bigger he got. A male Great Dane typically weighs from nine to 11 stone,  but by Christmas 2007 George  weighed 15 stone — bigger than most men. At this  point, he loved being chauffeured around  in my golf cart and would sit  in it, his haunches on the seat and front legs on the  floor. By Christmas 2008, our  canine colossus weighed 18 stone. A friend  suggested he might be a contender for the  Guinness Book of Records, but  we had other things to think about: Christie had  discovered that she was pregnant  again.

 With size comes problems: George the  giant barely fits in the back of his owner's SUV
The trouble was, when  our daughter Annabel arrived that September  George made it clear he wanted nothing to  do with this interloper. He was  used to spending nights in delightful oblivion at the foot  of our bed. Annabel’s  high-decibel presence simply wasn’t on. When she cried, he’d wake, harrumph and then turn  over in annoyance. Once it was  clear the racket was going to continue, he’d exhale  heavily again, till one of us finished  that mysterious feeding thing we did with the noisy intruder.
But while he might  not have cared much for Annabel, George loved  her dolls, especially a stuffed green one  that played a nursery rhyme  when squeezed. Whenever he could, he placed it  between his paws and pressed it  so he could hear the tune. It was like a security blanket. It was a period of such big  adjustment for him that if it  made him happy, then it was fine by us and our patience  was rewarded.
Slowly,  George understood that Annabel was our pack’s  youngest member and in need of  his affection and protection. And on Christmas morning, he ended his three-month sulk,  acknowledging her presence with  a lick of her hand. It was the best present we  could have had — although the beginning of  2010 brought more good news.
 A doggone miracle: George the Great  Dane with the Nasser's daughter Annabel at home in Arizona
Over the  previous weeks, while Annabel slept, Christie had  applied to the Guinness World  Records people on George’s behalf. That February, one of their adjudicators came to watch  George being measured in the  presence of a vet. He was officially declared not  just the world’s tallest living dog (43  inches from paw to shoulder) but the tallest dog ever.
The following week we  flew to Chicago to appear on the Oprah Winfrey Show and were put up in one of the city’s  most luxurious hotels. We had a  huge sitting room, dining area and even a bar —  but there was just one problem. There was  nowhere for George to sleep.
 As we enjoyed a gourmet meal and a bottle  of red wine that night, he  struggled to settle on two roll-out divans provided for  him. Infuriatingly, they  wouldn’t stay together. So he had his head on  one and back end on the other, but his  stomach was sagging onto the  carpet.
‘You know what we need to do,’ I joked. ‘Give George  our bed to sleep on and have the divans
in this room ourselves.’
Christie looked at me  with a telltale gleam in her eye and I knew  immediately my joke had been a fatal  error. An hour later, our boy was sprawled in splendour in our huge, fluffy  king-size bed.
 ‘Well,’ whispered Christie, ‘George is the  star here, after all.’  She was right, of course, and since his appearance on  TV, Giant George has built a  following around the world, with his own fan club,  website and 70,000 fans on  Facebook.
None of this, of course, means anything to George.  He still spends his days doing  what he has always liked best: eating, playing and  sleeping. Our cherished pet may have  become a global celebrity — but  really, he’s just one of the family.

 Man's biggest friend: Devoted owner  Dave Nasser with George.
George  weighed 18 stones which is 252 pounds.