The beaver may be the national animal of Canada but the furry dam-building rodent can be found across the North American continent and Eurasia as two distinct species, but the population has been on the decline for several decades now.
International Beaver Day aims to celebrate and raise awareness of the plight of the rodent. Beavers are known for their tree-munching activities, but did you know that they use every bit of the tree that they fell? They eat the buds, bark and leaves, before gnawing the branches and trunk into smaller pieces to build with. The dams are useful in preventing floods and droughts, restoring the northern wetlands and helping to cleanse the water. The largest beaver-built dam is in Wood Buffalo National Park, Alberta, Canada and is 850m long!
International Beaver Day is a great time to hike into the woods to spot some of these noble gnawers.
Word of the Day
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| Definition: | (noun) Any of the relatively cool dark spots appearing periodically in groups on the surface of the sun that are associated with strong magnetic fields. | ||
| Synonyms: | macula | ||
| Usage: | Come, cheer up, old man; there's no use in losing your grip and going back to this child's play merely because this big sunspot is drifting across your shiny new disk. | ||
Idiom of the Day
party crasher— One who attends a party without having been invited. |
History
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 | Born Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, Mistral was a Chilean poet who combined writing with a career as a cultural minister, diplomat, and professor. She established her reputation as a poet in 1914, when she won a prize for "Sonetos de la Muerte"—"Sonnets of Death." Her passionate lyrics, with love of children and of the downtrodden as principal themes, are collected in many volumes | ||
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 | This is a national holiday in Armenia, celebrated each year on April 7. It comes not long after another national holiday, Women's Day, which is celebrated on March 8. Women's Day is meant to honor all women, but Motherhood and Beauty Day is dedicated especially to those who have become mothers. Children and adults alike show their affection for their mothers with special visits, cards, and gifts. Sending flowers to one's mother is an especially popular way to mark this holiday. Another tradition associated with the day is the gift of a twig that has fresh sprouts on it. | ||
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| The surface of Mars is a cold desert. Scars in the landscape point to a history of flowing rivers, standing lakes and possibly even planetary oceans. | |||
READ MORE:
1864 - The first camel race in America was held in Sacramento, California.
1888 - P.F. Collier published a weekly periodical for the first time under the name "Collier’s."
1930 - The first steel columns were set for the Empire State Building.
1940 - Booker T. Washington became the first black to be pictured on a U.S. postage stamp.
1963 - At the age of 23, Jack Nicklaus became the youngest golfer, up til this time, to win the Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament.
1970 - John Wayne won his first and only Oscar for his role in "True Grit." He had been in over 200 films.
1975 - Beverly Sills made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in Gioacchino Rossini's "Siege of Corinth."
1990 - At Farm Aid IV, Elton John performed "Candle in the Wind" for Ryan White. White, a young boy with AIDS, died later the same day.
DAILY SQU-EEK
If You Were Born Today, April 7
You are hungry for experience, and this trait certainly makes your life interesting. Very creative and innovative, you are forward-looking and sometimes leave things behind perhaps too easily as you find something else that captures your enthusiasm. You are not always good at listening, and you prefer to be in control. You are capable of great success. Famous people born today: Jackie Chan, Billie Holiday, Russell Crowe, James Garner, Francis Ford Coppola, John Oates.
| Picture of the day | |
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The Pena National Palace is a Romanticist palace in Sintra, Portugal, built by Ferdinand II of Portugal on the site of a ruined monastery. The palace stands on the top of a hill in the Sintra Mountains, and on a clear day it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area. It is a national monument,UNESCO World Heritage Site, and considered one of the Seven Wonders of Portugal. It is also used for state occasions by the President of the Portuguese Republic and other government officials.
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Springing Back to Life
Photograph by Jim Brandenburg
Over 93 days in 2014, National Geographic photographer Jim Brandenburg shot springtime images in his home state of Minnesota. This image of a swallowtail butterfly on a birch tree was captured on day 84 of his project.
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Oletha pattern by Julie Ferguson
Superwash Merino by Artesano DK / 8 ply 100% Merino 122 yards / 50 grams average rating from 293 votes 1191 projects stashed 680 times
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Falling leaves Onesie
There is no better way to celebrate weekend and public holiday than packing a picnic and catching up with family. For me, the best picnic spot for my family is at T...
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RECIPE
CROCKPOT RECIPE
CRAFT
Spring Baby Grass Wreath
pattyschaffer
Wiggle your piggies in the soft, green, baby grass. Ahhhhh. It's very relaxing. :-)
Today I'm going to show you how I made this cute wreath ~ and it is SO SIMPLE!!!! I have mine hanging in my kitchen and I love it. I stop and touch the soft 'grass' and think to myself Spring starts SOON!!!
Let's get started!
....You will need a foam wreath form (I used an 8" green foam wreath), yarn (I used one skein of Lion Brand Yarn Fun Fur in Lime Green, article #320-194), a daisy trim (I used Wright's trim, but you could use any you like), and long pearlized pink pins (1 1/2").
Start by wrapping the yarn around the wreath and tying a knot to secure the end. Then start wrapping...
...and wrapping.... I kept the strands very close together, pushing them closer if needed...just work at a table and pass the skein of yarn through the center of the wreath with each wrap around..... keep wrapping....
...and wrapping.... Look! We're growing baby grass!!!..... keep wrapping....
...we're getting there!.... keep wrapping... almost done......
....yea!!!!!! we have a baby grass wreath! So cute!
Now to add a few spring daisies sprouting up in the baby grass. Cut the daisy trim apart between the flowers.....
Push a pink pearlized pin through the center of the daisy.....
And insert the daisy pin into the foam wreath....
Grow as many daisies in your baby grass as you would like.....
It would look beautiful just sitting on a table as is.
I added a wide pink satin ribbon to mine to hang it, and then a cute little sign that says 'bare feet welcome'......
CHILDREN'S CORNER ... craft
Recycled Bird Feeder Mobile
FYI I suggest using a stick that has three branches minimum so that a bird can actually land on it and get to the birdseed. My first version was truly a balancing mobile and I saw a poor blue jay dive bombing it to knock the seed off since he couldn’t land on it!
Recycled Bird Feeder Mobile
Materials
- Small branch or sturdy twig
- Cardboard tubes, cut into strips
- Cheerios
- Light Corn Syrup
- Paintbrush
- String
- Bird Seed
- Wax Paper
- Hole Punch
- Scissors
Instructions
- Step One Punch a hole in the top and bottom of each of your cardboard tube strips.
- Step Two Pour the corn syrup, Cheerios, and birdseed into three separate bowls.
- Step Three Using a paint brush, paint the outside of a cardboard tube with corn syrup, the more the better! Alternatively you can roll the tube in the corn syrup to coat the outer surface, this is a quicker way to do it.
- Step Four Dip your sticky tube into the birdseed. If you use a Tupperware container you can put the lid on it and shake the birdseed and tube around to cover the tube. Once covered, place the tube on the wax paper to dry.
- Step Five Repeat corn syrup and birdseed steps with more tubes.
- Step Six Cut a length of string and thread a Cheerio on it. Pull string through the bottom hole of one birdseed covered tube. Thread on 5-10 Cheerios then thread the string through the upper hole. You can add more tubes onto this string or move on to another string. Repeat this until you have about 6 strings completed.
- Step Seven Now it’s time to start putting the mobile together! Cut three long strings. Tie one string around one branch and repeat with the other two strings/branches. Gather the three strings together and knot at the top. Tie a loop with the excess string. If you don’t use a loop at the top your mobile will overturn if any weight is put on it. Hang it up in an easy to reach spot.
- Step Eight Tie your birdseed covered tube strings to the branches. Make sure they are secured tightly.Try not to dangle them too far from the branch or it will be hard for the birds to get to the seed.
- Step Nine Trim all your excess string and hang the mobile in it’s final position.
Now enjoy watching the birds flutter around it and attempt to eat birdseed off a swinging mobile….if they can’t do it, they will knock the birdseed off the tubes and eat it from the ground. Hey, sometimes design is pretty not practical!
Apparently the birds in my neighborhood are talented enough to pull off the balancing feat, see my action shots below.
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Nymphaea Kabuki Jigsaw Puzzle
Nymphaea Kabuki Jigsaw Puzzle, 67 Piece Classic. Water lily Kew's Kabuki. Water lilies are a genus of hardy and tender
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QUOTE
CLEVER
EYE OPENER
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GOODBYE, AMERICAN IDOL
Today's pattern for the dishcloth, http://eloomanator.eloomanation.com/docs/Eloomanator_Diagonal_Knit_Dishcloth.pdf , is my neighbor's favorite. I just knit one for her Tuesday night. I discovered I am not allergic to Premier's Home Cotton with 15% polyester. I can knit dishcloths again!!
ReplyDeleteNot quite barefoot weather yet...but nice to think about:)
ReplyDelete