Unicorn Day - April 9, 2020

DIANE'S CORNER ... Celebrate Unicorn Day

What mythological creature has been more beloved over the centuries than the unicorn? Symbols of purity and enchantment, unicorns are loved by both children and adults alike and are integral parts of many fairy tales and legends. For all the roles they’ve played in literature, cinematography, and art as a whole, unicorns more than deserve their own day!

History of Unicorn Day

Unicorns were mentioned as far back as antiquity—ancient Greek writers believed they lived in the faraway and exotic country of India, which was then largely unknown to Europeans. However, the unicorn was then thought to be a powerful, fierce animal that was not to be meddled with.

In the Middle Ages, the unicorn’s image was based greatly on Bible passages that were thought to speak of these animals, and unicorns slowly came to be seen as a symbol of strength, the purest kind of love, and the pets of virgin women. In fact, there is even a sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding a unicorn on her lap and patting it in Warsaw’s National Museum. Thus, unicorns have been appearing in works of literature for thousands of years.

The most prominent more modern examples include Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, and The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. The whole immensely popular My Little Pony franchise is also based on unicorns.

Unicorn Day was created to celebrate these majestic creatures and help adults remember how much more fun life can be when we let a little magic in sometimes.

Joke of the Day

WASHING THE CAR

Yesterday, I was washing the car with my son.

He said: “Dad, can’t you just use a sponge?”

Word of the Day

nimrodize

MEANING:

verb intr.: To behave like a tyrant.

ETYMOLOGY:

Nimrod was a great-grandson of Noah’s, according to the Bible. He was a hunter and an evil tyrannical king. Earliest documented use: 1614.

USAGE:

“And for a crowne who would not Nimrodize.”
Christopher Brooke; The Complete Poems of Christopher Brooke; 1872.

Idiom of the Day

3. Best thing since sliced bread

Meaning: A good invention or innovation. A good idea or plan.

This Day in History

1667 - In Paris, The first public art exhibition was held at the Palais-Royale.

1833 - Peterborough, NH, opened the first municipally supported public library in the United States.

1865 - At Appomattox Court House, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Confederate Army to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in the parlor of Wilmer McClean's home. Grant allowed Rebel officers to keep their sidearms and permitted soldiers to keep their horses and mules. Though there were still Confederate armies in the field, the war was officially over. The four years of fighting had killed 360,000 Union troops and 260,000 Confederate troops.

1869 - The Hudson Bay Company ceded its territory to Canada.

1914 - In London, the first full-color film, "The World, The Flesh & the Devil," was shown.

1928 - Mae West made her debut on Broadway in the production of "Diamond Lil."

1959 - NASA announced the selection of America's first seven astronauts.

1963 - Winston Churchill became the first honorary U.S. citizen.

1965 - The Houston Astrodome held its first baseball game.

1986 - It was announced that Patrick Duffy's character on the TV show Dallas would be returning after being killed off.

1989 - Hundreds of thousands marched past the White House in support of the right to abortion.

1998 - The National Prisoner of War Museum opened in Andersonville, GA, at the site of an infamous Civil War camp.

2007 - Apple announced it had sold its one-hundred millionth iPod.

thanks, Frances

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, April 9

Not easily understood, your emotions fluctuate a lot, although you tend to wear a manner of strength and will. You have very refined and particular tastes, and others might find it difficult to know how to please you as a result! The truth is that you are very sensitive to subtle issues that others might overlook. At times, you can be very frank, which can be refreshing to some, and offputting to others. You are highly competent and success-oriented. Famous people born today:

1806 Isambard Kingdom Brunel, British engineer (SS Great Britain, Great Western Railway), born in Portsmouth, England (d. 1859)

1898 Curly Lambeau, American Pro Football Hall of Fame halfback, coach (founder, first coach Green Bay Packers), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin (d. 1965)

1926 Hugh Hefner, American magazine publisher and businessman (Playboy), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2017)

1933 Jean-Paul Belmondo, French actor (Casino Royale, Magnifique), born in Paris, France

1966 Cynthia Nixon, American actress (Sex and the City), born in NYC, New York

1990 Kristen Stewart, American actress (Bella Swan-The Twilight Saga), born in Los Angeles, California

thanks, Sylvia

READERS INFO

1.

(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:

Drew Barrymore holds the distinction of being the youngest person ever to host Saturday Night Live. When Barrymore first stepped on the Saturday Night Live stage on November 20, 1982, she was just 7 years old. Barrymore's first time
hosting ‘SNL’, was certainly not to be her last. While her popularity soared because of the movie E.T. that year, she went on to have a very successful film career through adulthood. Barrymore has since joined SNL's exclusive Five
Timer's Club - a group of celebrities who have hosted the show at least five times.

The First Republican President Was Abraham Lincoln.

There are a total of four state capitals in the United States that are named after former presidents. Lincoln, Nebraska, is of course named after our 16th President Abraham Lincoln. Madison, Wisconsin is named after our 4th President
James Madison; Jefferson City, Missouri is named for our 3rd President Thomas Jefferson; and Jackson, Mississippi, is named for the 7th President Andre Jackson. In addition, our national capital Washington, D.C., is of course named
after George Washington, the 1st President of the United States.

2.

1995 -

 
On this day in 1995, the Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah
Federal Buildingin downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the bombing happened at 9:02 am 

and killed at least 168 people, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one – third of the building. 

3.

Coronavirus Style by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent

I'm on the phones again today, doing intake for the foodbank I help. My goodness, first it was toilet paper, now people are begging for masks and hand sanitizer. 

I have been in the habit of saving TP for years now by simply washing myself after peeing (being a single mother will do that kind of cost-saving to ya) so it's nothing new to me now. But hand sanitizing is something that is easily solved, but you will have to mask up an make a trip to the drugstore. You will need a squeeze bottle, though, so you might want to hit the dollar store, too. But let me say here at the beginning...essential oils will not sanitize your hands, and those products that claim they will are comprised of high amounts of alcohol. Remember, you cannot use these oils without diluting them, and every crop, let alone batch, are different in their constituents. So use a few drops in your final product, but do not rely on them for disinfecting your surfaces the way their retailers lead you to believe. Here's your formula:

Hand Sanitizer

200ml    70% isopropyl alcohol
10ml        3% hydrogen peroxide
5ml                 glycerine
25 drops essential oil or blend (optional; see blend below, if you are into this)

Place these in a very clean squeeze bottle and mix well. This formula is to the WHO standard and will give you the over-60% alcohol necessary to kill the virus. And soap and detergents will break down the viral sheath, so wash well and then rinse well.

Now this is the Thieves Blend I researched many years ago, way before the retailers found out about it, and it is quite nice. I have always made an alcohol mist at 100ml of alcohol with 5ml of the blend, it to carry with me for use in public washrooms, door handles, telephones when colleagues have been sick, and have suggested people spray it around them on flights and carry it with them when they travel. I know it's helped me greatly. And you should smell the elevator when I go downstairs to collect my mail!

Marseilles Four Thieves Blend

100 drops / 1 t. Cinnamon Bark Oil
200 drops / 2 t. Clove Bud Essential Oil
75 drops / ¾ t. Eucalyptus Essential Oil
175 drops / 1-3/4 t. Lemon Essential Oil
50 drops / ½ t. Rosemary Essential Oil

Put these into a sterile 2-oz. glass bottle, amber or cobalt if possible, and keep in the medicine chest.

Pictures of the day

Thysanozoon nigropapillosum, the yellow-spotted flatworm, is a species of marine flatworm in the family Pseudocerotidae.  The species is native to the tropical Indo-Pacific region, where it lives in shallow reef habitats. Flatworms are hermaphrodites, each being able to act as either male or female. As a donor of  sperm, it can grip the margin of the recipient's body, using its  two penises in a chopstick-like manner, and deposit sperm on  the surface of the skin of the recipient, even while it is actively  swimming. This picture shows a yellow-spotted flatworm  photographed in Manta Ray Bay, on the island of Yap in the  Federated States of Micronesia. The flatworm is seen swimming  to the right at a depth of 12 metres (40 ft) by undulating the  margins of its body. The pseudotentacles at the front have simple eyes and sensory receptors to enable the flatworm to find  tunicates on which it feeds.

A Confidence Man Swindled a Town into Buying the World's Smallest Skyscraper

In 1919, a smooth-talking businessman swindled investors into buying a skyscraper that was designed in inches, not feet.

knit
thanks, Rae

Knitted Baby Romper made with garter stitch

knit, vintage
thanks, Amber

Polka Dolly Teacosy

knit

Rebecca's Slouch

knit

Rainbow Kippah pattern by Alyssa Coffey

knit

Triangles on Point

Stay Inside

Crochet Pattern of the Day: 

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Dalla Afghan

Trinket Bowl

crochet

thanks, June

DIY crochet face mask

crochet
thanks, Rae

Cluster V Stitch Shawl

crochet

Mini Romi Summer Dress

crochet

Swish Mens Vest

crochet

Fun Floor Pillow

RECIPE

thanks, Denise

PASSOVER KISHKA

2 cups grated carrots - packed

1/2 cup grated onion

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup matzoh meal

1 stalk celery grated

1/4 teaspoon pepper

dash garlic powder

1/2 Tablespoon sugar

1 stick margarine melted - I use Earth Balance Vegan

Combine all ingredients

Place on foil and shape into a loaf

Fold foil around loaf and twist ends closed

Bake on cookie sheet @ 400 degrees for 1 hour

Reheat 15/20 minutes @ 400 degrees

I might take this time in lock-down to learn some new recipes and brush up on my cooking.

CROCKPOT RECIPE

thanks, Joanne

Slow Cooker Whole Chicken

Getting dressed up to go stand outside for a few minutes and then go back inside

SWEETS

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

Bananas Foster Recipe

ADULT COLORING

CRAFTS

thanks, Kay

My Posh Hens - new papier mache craft

So our wedding has been postponed for obvious reasons and we had 115 chocolate Lindt bunnies as wedding favours - time for a bunny wedding of course!

CHILDREN'S CORNER ... art

thanks, Iris

Picasso Faces

PUZZLE

Barn Owls Jigsaw Puzzle



WORD SEARCH

acid alight archive author bitter cheat colt customer

daily drink electric empire every hokum

inane insight laundry leader lissome listen node

order past planets pray prude psychology rivals rune

sails same shorten structure tabernacle through token

I’ve done it. I’ve bought the last tin on the shelf. No label. The mystery tin. What do we think is in it? Place your bets now, this is the most excitement we can have right now.

SUDOKU ... easy

solution:

QUOTE

thanks, Anna

CLEVER 

thanks, Helen

Face Mask Patterns

EYE OPENER 

HAPPY PASSOVER

Happy Passover! A musical greeting from the Israel Philharmonic

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything -- anything -- be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in. -Sam Harris, author (b. 9 Apr 1967)

OPTICAL ILLUSION

Baker creates incredible optical illusion

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