National Iguana Awareness Day - September 8, 2020

DIANE'S CORNER ... 

Celebrate National Iguana Awareness Day

What’s not to love about an aggressive, cold-blooded, reptile with nasty bite and a powerfully strong tail? Learn all about these cute critters and how to care for them on National Iguana Awareness Day.

As with so many pets, not all new owners realise what they are committing to when they first take home their baby iguana. That little bundle of scales could one day grow to six feet in length. With very specific dietary needs and a rather reptilian personality, iguanas are said to be easy to love, but hard to care for.

National Iguana Awareness Day is the ideal opportunity to learn about keeping your iguana tame and friendly, how to care for its health and personal grooming, and how to house it comfortably. With the proper care and attention, an iguana can be a wonderful and rewarding pet for many years.

Joke of the Day

MY WORDS

I was really angry at my friend Mark for stealing my dictionary!

I said, “Mark, my words!”

Word of the Day

griselda

One of Griselda’s children is taken away from her 

Illustration: H.R. Haweis, in Chaucer for Children, 1877

MEANING:

noun: A meek and patient woman.

ETYMOLOGY:

After Griselda, a woman in various medieval tales, who suffers without ever complaining as her husband puts her through various tests. The name Griselda is from Germanic roots meaning “gray battle-maid”. Talk about misnaming your character (see below)! Earliest documented use: 14th century.

NOTES:

Griselda has appeared in many stories over the years, including Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, and was the inspiration for Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. The best-known version of the story is the one told by Giovanni Boccaccio, c. 1350.

In the story, Gualtieri, Marquis of Saluzzo, marries a peasant girl named Griselda. After some time when a daughter is born, Gualtieri decides to test his wife and declares that the newborn is to be killed and sends her away supposedly to be killed. Griselda accepts her husband’s will without ever complaining.

A son is born a few years later and again: lather, rinse, repeat.

For the final test, he leaves her. After a few years he announces he’s remarrying and asks Griselda to come work as a servant in the wedding. She meekly complies.

The woman he’s supposedly marrying is their daughter who is now grown up, all of 11 years old. Seeing Griselda remain steadfast and loyal through all this, he finally declares: It has been a test. Only a test. Congratulations, you passed!

The whole family reunites. Happy ending. Good old times!

USAGE:

“Quite evidently she is not a Griselda, but possessed with a shocking desire to exculpate herself and her friends.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe; Lady Byron Vindicated; Boston, Fields, Osgood, & Co.; 1870.

Idiom of the Day

Across the pond

(UK) This idiom means on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, used to refer to the US or the UK depending on the speaker's location.

This Day in History

1565 - A Spanish expedition established the first permanent European settlement in North America at present-day St. Augustine, FL.

1664 - The Dutch surrendered New Amsterdam to the British, who then renamed it New York.

1866 - The first recorded birth of sextuplets took place in Chicago, IL. The parents were James and Jennie Bushnell.

1892 - An early version of "The Pledge of Allegiance" appeared in "The Youth's Companion."

1893 - In New Zealand, the Electoral Act 1893 was passed by the Legislative Council. It was consented by the governor on September 19 giving all women in New Zealand the right to vote.

1945 - Bess Myerson of New York was crowned Miss America. She was the first Jewish contestant to win the title.

1965 - The television trade publications "Daily Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" ran an ad seeking "Folk & Roll Musicians-Singers for acting roles in new TV series." The final four choices became the stars in the television show "The Monkees."

1966 - NBC-TV aired the first episode of "Star Trek" entitled "The Man Trap". The show was canceled on September 2, 1969.


1971 - In Washington, DC, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts was inaugurated. The opening featured the premiere of Leonard Bernstein's "Mass."

1988 - Elton John sold some of his costumes and concert memorabilia at an auction in London for $6.2 million.


1998 - Mark McGwire (St. Louis Cardinals) hit his 62nd home run of the season. He had beaten a record that had stood for 37 years by Roger Maris. McGwire would eventually reach 70 home runs on September 27.


2015 - British researchers announced that evidence of a larger version of Stonehenge had been located about 2 miles from the Stonehenge location. There were 90 buried stones that had been found by ground penetrating radar.

Made your coffee strong enough?

DAILY SQU-EEK

If You Were Born Today, September 8

You are not only creative, but you are also able to channel your vision into practical avenues of expression. You are not well-suited to routine work. Your mind is always busy, and if you’re not using it productively, you are given to worrying and overanalyzing. Some worrying is good–you are strong at organizing. Too much, and you fret over the small stuff. Overall, however, you are hopeful and fresh, and you have a wonderful spin on life that intrigues others. You are hard-working, inventive, and talented. Your ideas are gold--you can generally turn a brainchild into something lucrative. Famous people born today: 

1830 Frederic Mistral, French Provencal poet (Nobel 1904), born in Maillane, France (d. 1914)

1897 Jimmie Rodgers [James Charles], American country singer and singing brakeman, born in Meridian, Mississippi (d. 1933)

1925 Peter Sellers, English actor and comedian (The Goon Show, Bobo, Pink Panther), (d. 1980), born in Portsmouth, Hampshire (d. 1980)

1932 Patsy Cline [Virginia Henlsey], American country singer ("Crazy"; "I Fall To Pieces"; "Walkin' After Midnight"), born in Winchester, Virginia (d. 1963)

1941 Bernie Sanders, American politician and Senator (Independent - Vt), born in Brooklyn, New York


1979 Pink [Alecia Beth Moore], American singer (Get the Party Started; Try; Just Give Me A Reason), born in Abington Township, Pennsylvania

thanks, Nina

READERS INFO

1.

(Not So) Totally Useless Facts of The Day:

William Henry Harrison was the ninth United States President and his term of office lasted for only 32 days, from March 4, 1841 to April 4, 1841. Harrison gave a nearly two hour speech at his inauguration on March 4. It was a rainy and cold day. Harrison chose to ride on horseback and wore neither an overcoat nor a hat. Thirty-Two days later, he died of pneumonia.

If you go back far enough in time, almost everyone is your direct ancestor.

Here's the math:

You have two biological parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and so on. The number doubles every generation – after six generations, for example, you have 2⁶, or 64, ancestors. This number grows so quickly that it hits roughly a billion ancestors by the time you get 30 generations down the line. But world population didn't reach a billion until the 1800s, and that is far fewer than 30 generations back in time. Essentially, as you go back in time, you rapidly reach a point at which everyone who was alive at a given point is the ancestor of either everybody (if they had children, and their children had children, etc) or nobody (if their line died out).

A small Austrian village in the municipality of Tarsdorf has something of an odd name from an English speaking point of view.  The town is Fucking, Austria (pronounced fooking).  The town is thought to have been founded around the 6th century by a Bavarian nobleman by the name of Focko.  The name evolved from there with various spellings until the 18th century when it became as it is today. The name essentially means “(place of) Focko’s people.”

2.

Coronavirus Style by Sylvia, CAN DO Correspondent

Go to a tree trunk and take a piss.
If it attracts a lot of ants you have high glucose levels.
If it dries too fast you have high sodium.
If it smells like meat, you have high cholesterol.
Forgot to open your pants to pee, Alzheimer’s.
Had trouble aiming at the tree, Parkinson’s.
If you pee on your feet, prostate.
Couldn’t smell the pee, definitely CoVID.

Pictures of the day

Peter Martyr Vermigli (8 September 1499 – 12 November 1562) was an Italian theologian. Born in Florence, he entered  a Catholic religious order, but through study, he came to accept  Protestant beliefs about salvation and the Eucharist, and to  satisfy his conscience and avoid persecution by the Roman  Inquisition, he fled Italy for Protestant northern Europe. The  Latin inscription in this 1560 oil-on-canvas portrait of Vermigli by Hans Asper translates to: "Florence brought him forth, now he  wanders as a foreigner, that he might forever be a citizen among those in heaven. This is his likeness, but a painting cannot  reveal his heart, for integrity and piety cannot be represented by art." The painting is now in the collection of the National Portrait  Gallery in London.

In the Scottish Borders

Starlings glide effortlessly above autumnal leaves during a murmuration prior to roosting. 

knit
thanks, Patty

Cats Paw Scarf

knit
thanks, Emily

Knit and Purl Stitch Patterns

knit

Nibelungen Shawl pattern by Sabina Grau

knit

Fremont Street Hat

knit

Banana Crew pattern by J Strizzy

Knit Pattern of the Day: 

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

Beach Glass Shawl

Ten Stitch Blanket pattern by Frankie Brown

crochet
thanks, Helen

Fluttery Fritillary Shawl

crochet
thanks, Joy

Pretty Floral Trinket Box

crochet

Häkeltasche

crochet

striped booties

crochet

Pretty Bobble Pillow

Quarantine Cooking Recipes

thanks, Debbie

Pizza Potato Toppers

RECIPE

thanks, Valerie, Canadian Correspondent

There are two obstacles involved in getting your hands on Mario Carbone's famous spicy rigatoni. First, you have to snag a coveted reservation at Carbone, and second, you'll have to shell out over $30 for a bowl. Or, of course, you could just try making it from scratch

Carbone Spicy Rigatoni Vodka Recipe

CROCKPOT RECIPE

thanks, Shelley, New York Food Correspondent

Slow-Cooker Beef and Scalloped Potatoes Casserole

VEGAN/ VEGETARIAN RECIPE

Both vegetarian and vegan diets may provide health benefits, including reduced body weight, lower cholesterol levels, and decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, it is important for vegetarians and vegans to ensure that they are meeting all of their nutritional requirements.

thanks, Alice

15 minute Vegan Creamy Mushroom Ramen

COPYCAT RECIPE 

thanks, Jenny

Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce Latte

SWEETS

thanks, Sara

Banana Cinnamon Rolls (Without a Dehydrator!)

ADULT COLORING

FUN

thanks, Joan

Can you find the objects which are hidden in the image below?

answer:

CRAFTS

thanks, Zoey

Cross Stitch U.S.A.

CHILDREN'S CORNER

thanks, Mindy

Create an animal mask



PUZZLE

Candy Fruits Jigsaw Puzzle




WORD SEARCH

actually additional affect allot basis brand break burr

complement concern crave damage deputy dirt discussion

freak glass himself impact

most opportunity project public region

sets silage site slap slice source speed start storage

SUDOKU ... very hard

solution:







QUOTE

thanks, Wren

CLEVER 

thanks, Agnes

Interactive Tours .. select a city to visit (since we are in isolation .. why not?)

60 Second Cities Presents: The World Your Way

Meanwhile in Ireland

EYE OPENER 

thanks, Beth

50 Things You Need to Do Before the Fall

Seagull keeping social distance

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

If more politicians in this country were thinking about the next generation instead of the next election, it might be better for the United States and the world. -Claude Pepper, senator and representative (8 Sep 1900-1989)

OPTICAL ILLUSION

The common housefly is not known to be a giant creature, but that may all change now because of today’s optical illusion.  This poor man was walking down the street when he was attacked by a giant fly and had to defend himself! 

The giant fly was killed, but was it even real at all? Well, you all can breathe a sigh of relief because it was just a chalk drawing, but it looks real does it not?

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