DIANE'S CORNER ...

Celebrate Garden Month

Spring is coming on strong, and by the calendar is technically already here. If you haven’t already begun looking at planting this year’s garden it’s time to get a move on. The changing weather promises good growing seasons to come, and Garden Month encourages you to get out and start preparing your ground! If you can’t find the motivation, then let the smell and taste of freshly grown tomatoes tempt you, or the sweet taste you can’t get from anything from home grown cucumbers, and strawberries. Garden Month is your chance to get out and start preparing the ground!

History of Garden Month
Gardens have played an important role in the history of human culture, from sources of food to locations for leisure and entertainment. They’ve even been used to produce natural medicinals for the home. The word garden traces its roots to Middle English, French, and German languages, with the word specifically meaning a small enclosed piece of land next to a building in the UK.

There are multiple types of garden, all dependent on the primary purpose and content of the garden. For instance, in arid regions you may have Cactus Gardens, or you may aim for a particular style of aesthetic, such as a Bonsai garden or a Dutch Garden rife with Tulips and an eye to efficiency and a density of foliage. Garden’s have also been used to create new habitats and resting places for bees, butterfly’s, and seasonal birds, making them both beautiful and able to aid these creatures whose natural habitats may be diminishing.

While most home gardens are incredibly Informal and relaxed, there’s also far more formal gardens that adhere tightly to a given style. French Formal and Italian Renaissance gardens adhere to a particular style, and Knot Gardens are extremely formal with specific guidelines that govern their designs. Garden Month is a great time to research gardens and learn more about them.

Word of the Day

subside

Definition:

(verb) Wear off or die down.

Synonyms:

lessen

Usage:

The doctor told me that the pain should subside during the night and that I should feel much better by morning.

Idiom of the Day

move through the gears

— To steadily increase one's momentum, as of speed, intensity, progress, or success.

History

Disgruntled Engineer Jams HBO's Satellite Signal (1986)

In the early morning hours of April 27, 1986, a Florida electronics store owner moonlighting as a satellite uplink technician decided to protest what he considered unfair programming subscription rates for satellite dish owners. Overriding the signal of the cable network HBO, he transmitted a message to be seen by anyone watching HBO at the time. "Captain Midnight," as he called himself, was eventually fined $5,000 for the stunt.

Herbert Spencer (1820)

Admired by some and loathed by others, Spencer was one of the most discussed Victorian thinkers. An English sociologist and philosopher, he was an advocate of the theory of social Darwinism. In his vast, multi-volume System of Synthetic Philosophy, he held that the physical, organic, and social realms are interconnected and develop according to identical evolutionary principles.

Vidalia Onion Festival

There are no tears during this tribute to Georgia's state vegetable, the sweet Vidalia onion, which is said to be burp-free, good for digestion, and tearless. The festival is held in Vidalia at the height of the harvest season, which extends from mid-April to early June.The celebration of the onion includes standard festival fare—music, a street dance, a fishing rodeo and expo, and a fun run. Finally, there are onion-eating contests and a Vidalia Onion Cook-Off, which produces cakes, breads, and muffins made with onions.

Scientists Can Now Bend And Stretch Diamond Like Rubber

Diamonds are famous for being the hardest natural material found on Earth, but that hasn't stopped scientists from figuring out how to bend and stretch them like a piece of a rubber. Researchers from MIT, Hong Kong, Singapore and Korea have discovered ...

READ MORE:

Scientists Can Now Bend And Stretch Diamond Like Rubber

1880 - Francis Clarke and M.G. Foster patented the electrical hearing aid.

1897 - Grant's Tomb was dedicated.

1938 - Geraldine Apponyi married King Zog of Albania. She was the first American woman to become a queen.

Image result for 1946 - The SS African Star

1946 - The SS African Star was placed in service. It was the first commercial ship to be equipped with radar.

1947 - "Babe Ruth Day" was celebrated at Yankee Stadium.

1965 - "Pampers" were patented by R.C. Duncan.

1967 - In Montreal, Prime Minister Lester Pearson lighted a flame to open Expo 67.

1973 - Opryland opened in Nashville, TN.

Image result for 1983 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) broke a 55-year-old major league baseball record when he struck out his 3,509th batter of his career.

1983 - Nolan Ryan (Houston Astros) broke a 55-year-old major league baseball record when he struck out his 3,509th batter of his career.

Image result for 1989 - Student protestors took over Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

1989 - Student protesters took over Tienanmen Square in Beijing.

2006 - In New York, NY, construction began on the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center on the site of former World Trade Center.

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, April 27

You are poised and come across as calm and refined. You are not easy to get close to, and much of your nature remains a mystery to others. Nevertheless, you are charming and others tend to respect you. You are extremely observant and generally think before you speak, and you are a great listener. Famous people born today:

1791 Samuel Morse, American inventor (telegraph, Morse code) and painter, born in Charlestown, Massachusetts (d. 1872)

Union General and US President Ulysses S. Grant

1822 Ulysses S. Grant, 18th US President (1869-77) and Union general, born in Point Pleasant, Ohio (d. 1885)

1927 Sheila Scott, English aviator (completes 1st round-the-world solo flight by a woman), born in Worcester, Worcestershire (d. 1988)

1932 Casey Kasem, American radio personality (creator of American Top 40), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2014)

1952 George Gervin, American basketball player, born in Detroit, Michigan

King of the Netherlands Willem-Alexander

1967 Willem-Alexander, King of the Netherlands (2013-present), born in Utrecht, Netherlands

Image result for happy birthday dance gif

READERS INFO

1932 -

French actress Anouk Aimée captivated audiences in films from Fellini’s La Dolce Vita in 1960 to Altman’s Prêt à Porter in 1994.

Born Françoise Sorya, Aimée (born today in 1932) chose her screen name for her film debut in 1947’s La Maison sous la mer at age fourteen. She studied acting and ballet in Paris, London, and Marseilles and threw herself into films, quickly becoming an icon of French arthouse cinema. Her work with Fellini in Dolce Vita and and 1963’s 8 1/2 marked her breakout into international celebrity, followed by her stunning performances in 1963’s Lola and 1966’s Un Homme et Une Femme, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. Resisting stereotypes about older actresses, she has remained much in demand, most recently appearing in 2012’s Mince alors! Aimée won a 1967 Golden Globe and a 1980 Cannes Film Festival Award for best actress, as well as a 2002 César Award for lifetime achievement.

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour Australia 2018

Apr 8 - May 12, 2018 | Chippendale, NSW

Seymour Centre|City Rd & Cleveland St

Even though we loathe climbing stairs, we love scaling mountains. The Banff Mountain Film Festival continues its adventure in Australia under the assumption that crocodiles haven’t learned how to climb mountains. A host of mountain-themed films from the dangerous to the beautiful will show why you’d much rather be above sea-level than below.

further information: Banff Mountain Film Festival Australia - Run

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival 2018

Apr 1-30, 2018 | Mount Vernon, WA

Held during the month of April, the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival celebrates springtime and the blossoming of millions of tulips in Mount Vernon, Washington. Each year, the festival invites guests from around the country to visit the vibrant fields of flowers and witness Mother Nature at her very best.

further information: TULIP FESTIVAL

Pictures of the day

The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius is an altarpiece by Italian artist Carlo Crivelli showing an artistic adaptation of the Annunciation. The altarpiece was painted for the Church of SS. Annunziata in Ascoli Piceno to celebrate the town's self-government, granted in 1482 by Pope Sixtus IV. The painting has been housed in the National Gallery of London since 1864, when it was donated by Lord Taunton.

In Your Face

yourshot tpoy nature hm4 gross The Winners of the 2017 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

Caribbean reef sharks are usually shy so I placed my camera on a rock where I know they frequent and used a remote trigger to click away as they came in and bumped my camera around.

knit

thanks, Emily

Spiky Bangle

knit

thanks, Judith

Nuit Poncho

knit

Knitted emojis pattern by Nicola Valiji

knit

No Assembly Required - Knitted Top

knit

Double Pennant Baby Blanket

crochet

thanks, Helen

Light Alpaca Poncho

crochet

thanks, Phyllis

Picnic Blanket

crochet

Crochet Gardening Apron

crochet

Sundress

crochet

Earring jackets

Materials:
- small amount embroidery floss (I used Prism tie-dye)
- sz. 1 (one) steel hook

Directions:

Ch 7, sc in 3rd ch from hook, dc in last ch from hook, ch 3, sc in 3rd ch from hook. *dc in same ch as previous dc, ch 3, sc in 3rd ch from hook. Repeat from * 9 more times. Join with a sl st to top of beginning ch 3. End off.

Insert stud earring to wear.