Happy Thanksgiving one and all! I imagine I will be in and out all day, and there probably will not be a lot of news today, so how about some puzzles and giggles?
Spot the differences
definitely the cranberry sauce
AMEN TO THAT!!!
I like the “little known facts” article that are posted about older television series. I found this one on amomama website.
“Little House on the Prairie” aired for a total of nine seasons until it came to a halt in 1982. Viewers and fans spent their days watching the characters, Laura, Mary, Carrie, and Grace growing up, but avid watchers only noticed some behind the scenes facts.
THE THEME SONG WAS QUITE SIMILAR TO THAT OF ANOTHER SHOW
David Rose, the composer and songwriter of the hit series, was responsible for getting the theme song stuck in the heads of loyal fans. However, the tune is quite similar to that of the show “Bonanza,” which ended a year before “Little House on the Prairie” began. It turns out; Rose is also the man behind the “Bonanza’s” theme song; hence, the close themes. An additional connection between the two shows is Michael Landon, who both starred in “Bonanza” as “Little Joe” and in “Little House on the Prairie” as Chris Ingalls.
A CLOSE DISMISSAL
Hitting their ninth season called for a celebration after the show’s almost cancellation by the time season two aired. NBC decided to move its Wednesday night time slot to Monday nights to gain more ratings. However, come the fourth season, the network was once again debating of having it canceled. Thanks to the show’s good ratings, the management decided not to push through with their initial plan.
THE OLESONS SIBLINGS ARE REAL-LIFE SIBLINGS
If fans ever noticed the last name of the actors who play Willie and Laura Oleson are the same, that’s because they are real-life siblings. Willie, played by Jonathan Gilbert, is the adopted younger brother of Laura, played by Melissa Gilbert. (((I dispute this one—Melissa Gilbert played Laura Ingalls not Laura Oleson.)))
LAURA AND NELLIE WERE REAL-LIFE BEST FRIENDS
While Nellie and Laura started their relationship as enemies, their distinct personalities later brought them together, until forming a good friendship. In fact, Nellie’s bouquet was tossed to Laura during her wedding. In reality, Nellie, played by Alison Arngrim, became close friends with Gilbert and even played games together off-screen, to pass the time on set. The manipulative character Nellie portrayed on screen was nothing close to how she was in real life.
INTENSE ADDICTIONS
As filming can be a pretty tough job that just drains the employees the entire day, many cast and crew members turned to drugs and alcohol for solace and strength; hence, seeing both on set was nothing new. On average, the crew would finish two cases of Coors beer per day, and on hectic days, which they named “three-case days,” they would finish so much more and drown out the stress can after can.
CURSE OF THE CANCER
To say it was a curse may have been just an exaggeration, but unfortunately, several cast members of the show were diagnosed with cancer at some point in their lives, with others even passing away. Among those with the said ailment were Michael Landon, who got pancreatic cancer, Victor French, Kevin Hagen, and Charlotte Stewart, who managed to survive. It is believed that the reason behind the disease was radioactively contaminated materials on set.
MICHAEL LANDON WAS A WORK OF ART – OR SO HE BELIEVED.
Michael had very high praise for his personal physique, making sure that he never passed on an opportunity for his character to appear shirtless for the audience. Sporting tight-fitting prairie trousers, the Pa Ingalls star believed the best way to go was always a natural look; free of cosmetics treatment.
NELLIE OLESON’S CURLS WAS THE RESULT OF A WIG.
The character played by Alison Arngrim sported a unique hairdo of fashionable curls. During the initial weeks of filming the show, Arngrim’s hair was masterfully styled using sausage curls coupled with heating irons. For cost and time efficiencies, it was decided that this hairdo had to be sourced from a wig. The wig had to be held in place by quite a number of hairpins, which, at times, caused Arngrim’s scalp to bleed.
MICHAEL LANDON HUMORED EVERYONE
Michael Landon was dubbed the show’s clown for his antics and constant pranks on the crew and cast members. His humor radiated a light atmosphere during taping, which made the set a little less exhausting.
LAURA AND MANLY’S WEDDING WAS NOT WHAT YOU THOUGHT IT WAS
Although portraying a 17-year-old character in Laura, Melissa Gilbert was described to be an inexperienced 15-year-old, with all the innocence of the world. Her on-screen kiss with the character Almanzo Wilder, played by Dean Butler, was considered only the third time she has ever had a lips-to-lips with a boy, even startling her a bit with his beard stubble. Romantic scenes were certainly not limited to kissing, as they also had to shoot one in bed. In an attempt to calm Gilbert down, Butler quietly sang the lyrics to “Strangers in the Night,” which resulted in a further unwanted effect. After such, Gilbert requested to limit the characters’ romantic scenes to mere hugs, and cheek pecks.
MICHAEL LANDON WAS NOT A CHRISTIAN
Despite Landon’s Christian-like character on the show, with a Christian message he was trying to get across, the actor was Jewish in real life. The different beliefs were never a setback for Landon as his mother was a Catholic.
MICHAEL LANDON WAS NOT A BRUNETTE
Landon’s perfect brown curls are not so perfect after all; In fact, they aren’t even real. His hair was dyed for the role, which covered up his bottle brunette hair. As he took the job seriously, Landon sought the help of a professional colorist to get the perfect look.
CHEMISTRY BECAME A PROBLEM ON THE SHOW
A growing cause for concern amongst the producers was the lack of sparks exhibited by couples on the show. A memo was circulating highlighting the lack of chemistry between the characters of Laura and Almanzo, a gap which could not be filled even by the actors themselves. On the other hand, a memo also circulated pointing out the deranged love scenes by the characters of Nellie and Percival. While Steve Tracy (plays Percival) was, indeed, gay in real life, he and Alison Arngrim (plays Nellie) would make passionate on-screen kisses to annoy Melissa Gilbert.
WALNUT GROVE EXISTS
Walnut Grove is, in fact, a beautiful and real place. Laura Ingalls lived there for a while, and Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of the book, lived in a place called Walnut Grove, Minnesota, when she was a child.
KAREN GRASSLE, WHO PLAYED ‘MA,’ DID NOT ALWAYS USE THE SAME NAME.
Grassle is also known for her stage name, Gabriel Tree. Upon her casting on the show, Michael Landon requested that she use her original name.
THERE WAS MORE THAN ONE CARRIE INGALLS.
In casting the youngest Ingalls daughter, producers had to bear in mind California child labor laws. Rachel and Sidney Bush were only three years of age. In the opening credits, it is Sidney shown running down the hill. Before shooting the scene, it was Rachel in front of the camera.
After the director requested for a “fresh twin,” an unfortunate mistake of lacing up Sidney with opposite pairs on each foot caused her to fall down the running scene. Michael Landon decided that it was too precious to remove from the final sequence.
THE SHOW SERVED AS AN ACTING DEBUT FOR SOME.
13-year-old Sean Penn played an uncredited schoolboy on the said show. With this father, Leo Penn, directing season one’s The Voice of Tinker Jones, Sean had the privilege of being cast, together with his mother.
CHARLES INGALLS HAD A SECRET WEAPON – HIS BOOTS.
With an official height measurement of 5-feet and 9-inches, Michael Landon faced a problem in not wanting any other characters to tower above his own. As a solution, he used 4-inch inserts for his boots, allowing him to gain some height advantage. And if these insoles didn’t do the trick, Landon made sure his character was standing on something, may it be a ladder, a staircase, or just a bunch of dirt.
THE FOOD WAS ALWAYS DINTY BEEF STEW
A lot of scenes showed the family having dinner. Regardless of what Ma announced as the evening’s main course, whether chicken, rabbit, or squirrel, the correct answer was always Dinty Moore beef stew. You don’t just have to make the audience believe in the story, but with what the characters eat, as well.
CLOTHING WAS A TROUBLE ON SET
Some of the scenes were filmed in Simi Valley, California. A cool day in this place meant the temperature was in the low 90s. This reality became troublesome for some actors given that they were dressed from head to toe in heavy garments; from stockings, coats, and bonnets. Alison Arngrim, who plays Nellie passed out in the heat together with the assistant director.
Question: How much did the world’s most expensive Thanksgiving dinner on record cost?
Answer: $181,000
Old Homestead Steakhouse in Manhattan served up the most expensive Thanksgiving dinner in 2019 which was a whopping $181,000. (2 free range, edible gold-flaked turkeys were the star of the meal.)
Question: How many women were at the very first Thanksgiving celebration?
Answer: Four
Although reports vary, it’s fairly certain that there were only four (maybe five) women at the first Thanksgiving celebration — all of which were married to men who were part of the first group of settlers.
Question: Which Native American acted as an interpreter?
Answer: Squanto
Question: Which city’s Thanksgiving Day Parade ends with Santa Claus getting a key to the city?
Answer: Detroit
Question: According to the Guinness Book of World Records, how much does the heaviest turkey on record weigh?
Answer: 86 pounds
Question: What town canceled Thanksgiving because they couldn’t make pumpkin pies?
Answer: Colchester, Connecticut
A frigid bout of cold weather in the middle of October led to the Connecticut River freezing, so settlers couldn’t get their usual liquid sugar shipped on time from across the pond.
Question: What professional football team has played almost every Thanksgiving since 1934?
Answer: The Detroit Lions
Question: What city is home to the oldest Thanksgiving parade?
Answer: Philadelphia
Question: What did President Calvin Coolidge famously receive as a Thanksgiving gift?
Answer: A live raccoon
Question: What’s the only area in Australia to celebrate Thanksgiving?
Answer: Norfolk Island
Question: How long was the first Thanksgiving?
Answer: Three days
Question: What food did the colonists and Native Americans not have at the first Thanksgiving?
Answer: Turkey
Question: What area of Massachusetts still looks just like it did in the 17th century?
Answer: Plymouth, Massachusetts
Question: What president refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday?
Answer: Thomas Jefferson
Since Thanksgiving involved prayer and reflection, he thought designating it a national holiday would violate the First Amendment. He also thought it was better suited as a state holiday, not a federal one.
Question: What do Thanksgiving and the song “Mary Had A Little Lamb” have in common?
Answer: They were both created by the same woman — sort of.
Writer and editor Sarah Josepha Hale convinced President Abraham Lincoln to officially declare Thanksgiving a national holiday after three decades of persistent lobbying.
Question: What wasn’t part of the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Balloons
Question: What is Good Housekeeping‘s tie to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: We have a Good Housekeeping illustrator to thank for the parade’s first balloons.
German-American illustrator Tony Starg, whose illustrations were featured in Good Housekeeping, also had a passion for puppetry. He used that talent to make some amazing floats come to life in 1927.
Question: Has Thanksgiving always been celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November?
Answer: No. In 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the third Thursday in November.
You might think President Roosevelt could predict the future, as he channeled a “Black Friday” mindset when he decided to move Thanksgiving during his presidency. Even though the holiday had been celebrated on the fourth Thursday since Lincoln officially recognized the federal holiday decades before, Roosevelt bumped it up a week effectively adding seven more shopping days to the holiday season to boost the economy.
Question: A Thanksgiving turkey mix-up inspired what popular meal trend?
Answer: Frozen TV dinners
In 1953, a Swanson employee accidentally ordered a colossal shipment of Thanksgiving turkeys (260 tons, to be exact). To deal with the excess, salesman Gerry Thomas took inspiration from the prepared foods served on airplanes. He came up with the idea of filling 5,000 aluminum trays with the turkey – along with cornbread dressing, gravy, peas and sweet potatoes to complete the offering. The 98-cent meals were a hit, especially with kids and increasingly busy households. Within a single year, over 10 million were sold and a whole industry was born.
Question: How many turkeys do Americans prepare each Thanksgiving?
Answer: 46 million
Question: What percentage of Americans actually eat turkey on Thanksgiving?
Answer: 88%
Question: How many grams of fat does the typical American eat on Thanksgiving?
Answer: 229 grams
Question: How many runners participated in America’s first turkey trot?
Answer: Six
The first race was hosted over a century ago by the local YMCA in Buffalo, NY and included just six runners — although only four of them made it to the finish line.
Question: What world record was set at a turkey trot in 2011?
Answer: Amount of people dressed up as turkeys
Not only are turkey trots one of the fun and unique Thanksgiving traditions, many of them also offer runners the unique opportunity to dress in fun costumes commemorating the day. On Thanksgiving Day in 2011, runners at the YMCA Turkey Trot in Dallas, Texas, dressed up in droves and set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as turkeys. In total, 661 people came wearing their feathered finest. Consider this your inspiration to do the same.
Question: What happens to the turkeys that are pardoned by the president each year?
Answer: The turkeys pardoned by the president go on to live fulfilled lives.
Question: Do turkeys actually gobble?
Answer: Only male turkeys gobble.
Question: Where do turkeys get their name?
Answer: Turkeys are (kind of) named after the country.
No, the big turkey does not really hail from the country Turkey. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, a bird called the guinea fowl — which bears a striking resemblance to the American turkey — was imported to Europe from its native North Africa. Because the birds came from Turkish lands, Europeans called them the turkey-cock and turkey-hen. When settlers in the Americas began sending similar-looking birds back to Europe, the name had already stuck!
Question: According to Americans, what’s the best part of Thanksgiving?
Answer: The leftovers.
Question: How many calls does the Butterball turkey talk line get each year?
Answer: 100,000
Question: Do other countries celebrate the holiday?
Answer: Yes! Canada also celebrates Thanksgiving — but on a different day.
Question: How many places in the U.S. bear the name turkey?
Answer: Four
Question: How much pumpkin pie do Americans eat every Thanksgiving?
Answer: An estimated 50 million pumpkin pies are devoured every November.
Question: What is the busiest day of the year for plumbers?
Answer: Black Friday
Question: How many people go shopping on Black Friday?
Answer: Over 32 million people
Question: What day is honored every last Thursday in November?
Answer: National Day of Mourning
Question: What are “Tofurky Roasts”?
Answer: Meat-free Thanksgivings
Question: What real Thanksgiving food was popularized in How I Met Your Mother?
Answer: turturkeykey
Question: What did the balloons take the place of when introduced in the 1928 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Live zoo animals
Question: Who was the first video-game character featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Sonic the Hedgehog
Question: Who was the first Manga character featured in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
Answer: Goku
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/thanksgiving-ideas/a35457/thanksgiving-trivia/
SOURCE: GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
The adult male’s forehead and crest, composed of quite rigid feathers, are cinnamon red. The back of their neck and most of the tops show a tan green color. A band varying from white to cinnamon blue crosses their upper rump. The central pair of rudders is dark bronze, the others are cinnamon-reddish with black tips.
The feathers of their chin and throat show a yellowish green color with metallic shine, and have a cinnamon-rufous base that is most evident on the sides of their throat. The underparts are metallic bronze green, with the exception of a small white spot, located just below their throat.
Their irises are brown and their legs are grayish brown. The beak varies from red to reddish with a small grey or blackish spot on the tip depending on the subspecies. Central and South American breeds have a long crest and a reddish beak, while those of Mexico have a short, bushy crest and a blackish beak.
How do females differ from males?
Female rufous-crested coquettes differ from their partners in that they have no crest. Their forehead is dyed reddish while their throat has a reddish-cinnamon, white-cinnamon or white color. Small dark specks at the bottom of their throat sometimes form a transverse strip. The side rectrices have reddish tips and a wide black underground band.
Central rudders are metallic green, just like the back. Belly and flanks are greyish brown and have no spots. The undertail coverts show a more or less pale cinnamon tone. Their beak has a darker tip than the male’s. Immature males resemble females, but their forehead, chin and upper throat vary from cinnamon red to opaque grey. As they get older, they acquire a crest of variable development.
Habitat
Rufous-crested coquettes live in humid or semi-humid forests with permanent leafy trees. They are also found on the edges of wooded areas and in clearings, even in mixed pine and hardwood forests, as well as in semi-deciduous stands. They tolerate highly degraded areas. Moreover, they live mainly in heights ranging from 1000 to 1500 meters. Outside the breeding season, they probably descend to lower altitudes.
Behavior
Rufous-crested coquettes often perch prominently on a well-exposed branch. When in flight, they move their tail up and down like true hummingbirds. Because of the band that covers their rump, these coquettes are often mistaken for moths, and more particularly, with sphinxes of the genus Aellopus, which have a similar size.
Coquettes have a solitary lifestyle, except during the breeding season. These birds are sedentary, but they wander in search of places with abundant and small flowers. They are often forced to move because they are too small to compete with some species of hummingbirds.
Diet
These birds find their food in 3 different sources: they feed mainly on the nectar found in the small aromatic flowers of trees, grasses, shrubs or epiphytes. These usually have vibrant colors, tubular shape and contain a high energy content.
In Central America, coquettes are attracted to legumes of the genus Inga. These trees are often used for shade in coffee and cocoa crops. They also visit the cecropias found in secondary forests, although these produce mainly pollen and little nectar.
These hummingbirds occasionally visit artificial feeders, hoping to find sweet juices there. They also catch spiders and insects that are an important resource during the nesting period due to its high protein content.
Nesting
Coquettes do not establish marriage ties. In an attempt to seduce a partner, the male performs an air show, in which they make a “U” flight in front of her. After copulation, they cease all relationships and do not participate in various tasks, such as nest construction or feeding of young. They return to their courtship activities and try to mate with a new female.
The female builds a cup-shaped nest that ties a web to a horizontal branch of a tree, between 6 and 25 meters above the ground. The laying usually consists of 1 or 2 white eggs, whose weight does not exceed 3 grams.
The female incubates alone, probably for 12 or 13 days. Chicks are born naked and blind, depending entirely on their mother to take care of them for the first few days. This heats them for the first 2 weeks and then the mother leaves them after 12 days. Finally, the chicks leave the nest about 20 days after hatching.
During the reign of King Louis XIV, a mysterious man was locked away in the notorious Bastille and other French prisons: the Man in the Iron Mask. Held captive from the end of the 17th century to the beginning of the 18th century, the enigmatic prisoner still conjures up images of political intrigue, deadly betrayal, and historical enigmas.
His unforgiving mask and threadbare cell were perhaps even more infamous than the man himself. But his anonymous face obviously led to questions about his identity later on. Was he a nobleman, a prince, a political rival, or just a valet in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Who was the Man in the Iron Mask, and why was he in prison?
The Man Behind the Mask
While we may never know the true identity of the Man in the Iron Mask, we can make a few guesses based on what we do know.
Before taking up residence at the dreaded Bastille, he was held in a small prison off the coast of Cannes called Sainte-Marguerite. It was first constructed in 1617, but it didn’t become a state prison until 1685. One of the most infamous prisoners was the Man in the Iron Mask, who was said to be held there sometime during the 1680s.
Under the watch of former musketeer Bénigne de Saint-Mars, the Man in the Iron Mask also spent time locked up in the Pignerol and Exilles fortresses.
In 1698, a Bastille official recorded that Saint-Mars finally arrived at the infamous prison with a mysterious inmate who was “always masked and whose name is never pronounced.”
Secrecy was the name of the game for the Man in the Iron Mask. Interestingly, the “iron” detail may have even been part of the legend added later, as some have claimed that the mask was actually made of velvet.
But regardless of the mask’s material, Saint-Mars refused to say a word to anyone about what his inmate did to end up in the slammer.
“You have only to watch over the security of all your prisoners, without ever explaining to anyone what it is that your prisoner of long standing did,” wrote a minister named Barbezieux to Saint-Mars in November 1697, according to The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations.
In any case, Saint-Mars achieved his goal. The true identity of the man, and the crimes for which he was punished, will probably never be known. But of course, that didn’t stop people from guessing.
The Prisoner’s Days in The Bastille
The storming of the Bastille — the prison that housed political dissidents of the powerful — is celebrated today on Bastille Day on July 14 in France. But before the Bastille became a symbol of the country’s freedom from hierarchical oppression, it was a hulking symbol of royal power.
The Man in the Iron Mask spent his final years here in this Parisian stronghold, watched over by Saint-Mars. However, the jailer was no great protector of his captive. Recent documents from 2015 suggest that the former musketeer diverted most of the funds for supporting the prisoner’s cell to his own pockets.
Allegedly, the Bastille cell only contained a mat for sleeping — so it could not have been a pleasant stay.
Even after his death in 1703, the very memory of the Man in the Iron Mask was subject to erasure. His clothes were promptly burned at dawn, and his cell was scraped and whitewashed to hide any trace of his identity that he may have left behind.
The French bureaucratic system worked very hard to ensure no one ever knew the real story behind the Man in the Iron Mask. But it didn’t take long for theories to emerge.
Theories About the Man In The Iron Mask
So, who was the Man in the Iron Mask? The guesses have numbered in the hundreds over the centuries, from the plausible to the far-fetched.
Historians point to two men as the most often suspected identities behind the iron mask: Ercole Matthiole and Eustache Dauger. The former was an Italian count who had betrayed Louis XIV politically in the 1670s.
His last name was so similar to an alias that was often used for the Man in the Iron Mask — “Marchioly.” On top of that, Louis XIV’s descendants Louis XV and Louis XVI had both claimed that the famous prisoner was an Italian nobleman. No wonder Matthiole was in the hot seat.
However, Matthiole died in 1694, which was years before the Man in the Iron Mask passed away. So that’s why many experts agree that Dauger is a more likely candidate.
As for Dauger, he was reportedly a valet arrested for unclear reasons in 1669. While some say the valet was somehow implicated in a political scandal, others say he wasn’t a valet at all. He’s also been painted as a debauched nobleman or even a failed assassin.
But regardless of his former occupation, Dauger had been imprisoned in several fortresses — and he was once transported between prisons in a covered chair so that passersby would not see his face. And when he was first arrested, orders were given to jailers to “threaten him with death if he speaks one word except about his actual needs.”
Enlightenment thinker Voltaire put forth a different theory — that the prisoner may have been a brother of Louis XIV. Voltaire also specified that the mask was made of iron, describing it as such: “The chin of the mask was made of steel springs, allowing the prisoner to eat without removing it.”
Meanwhile, the Dutch people, who fighting the French during the Nine Years’ War, hoped to sow discord by spreading the rumor that the Man in the Iron Mask was the true father of the king. This rumor took root because Louis XIV was born very late into his parents’ marriage.
For some people, that was enough to convince them that his mother may have taken a lover to provide France with an heir.
This had the double effect of besmirching the king’s mother while also painting her son as a bastard, and by extension, an illegitimate ruler.
Yet another rumor suggested that it wasn’t Louis XIV’s father behind the Iron Mask, but instead his illegitimate son Louis de Bourbon.
While these theories would certainly explain why the king wouldn’t want the identity of the prisoner released, there’s never been any clear-cut evidence to prove that these ideas were true.
The Eternal Mystery
Although the iron (or velvet) mask was meant to condemn the prisoner with lifelong anonymity in his jail cell, it also gave him notoriety that still persists to this day. More than 300 years later, we still want to know the true story of the Man in the Iron Mask.
The question has inspired writers, actors, and other creatives to produce artwork illustrating their theories — to varying degrees of success.
During the 19th century, the French author Alexandre Dumas tackled the question in his historical novels. Dumas theorized that the prisoner was King Louis XIV’s twin brother Philippe, imprisoned to simplify the throne’s inheritance and keep Louis XIV in power.
Even though Dumas’ story was just based on one theory, it would eventually inspire more modern depictions of the Man in the Iron Mask — including a 1998 movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio.
In the film version, Louis XIV is portrayed as a villain interested only in money and bedding women while his country starves. In the movie, the royal is also completely responsible for the unique punishment of the mask.
The torturous device is doled out for the sin his brother commits — the sin of sharing his face.
Meanwhile, the TV series Versailles, which follows the early days of the magnificent French palace, portrays Louis XIV’s brother as being obsessed with the Man in the Iron Mask.
Actor Alexander Vlahos, who plays the King’s brother Philippe, commented, “When the writer came up to me and said that that was my storyline for the year, I thought: ‘How are we going to realize this?’ because obviously it’s so steeped in mythology, no one really knows who that person was, and why he was there.”
Vlahos hits the nail on the head. We’ll probably never know the answer to one of the most burning questions in modern history: Who was the Man in the Iron Mask? All we can do is guess.
SOURCE: ALLTHATSINTERESTING
When my kids started high school, the school had 2 “fun” fundraisers for the local Rescue Mission during the year. One, in the spring, was the egg drop. Participants paid an entry fee, (as well as spectators), and had to develop a method for their egg (supplied by the school so no fake ones allowed) to be dropped from the top of the high school and land unbroken below. (There was a metal railing and plenty of adults ensuring the safety of all involved.)
The second was the turkey toss.
Again, the school provided several frozen turkeys to be used by contestants, either singly or as a team, to fling their turkey as far down the football field as possible. The entrants and spectators, again, paid a fee and there were additional donation boxes provided to bring canned goods for the Mission. The rules were simple: your method had to be human powered—no electric anything– and you could start all the way down the opposite end of the field if you wanted a running start–but you had to “launch” your frozen turkey from the 50-yard line.
The first year we went, neither of my kids participated, but we had a great time! Mostly the contestants were athletes trying to throw the frozen birds like a football. Winner of the event got his picture and a write up in yearbook.
The following summer, my son and 2 of his friends spent a lot of their spare time helping a neighbor down the street from us clear out his garage. My son stored all sorts of pieces of wood and a jar of odd nuts and bolts in our garage. And then they began to tinker with it all. Whatever they were doing was a big secret and they covered it with a tarp they begged hubby for. We all promised not to peek until they were ready. One afternoon after school started, the whole thing just disappeared.
And then the mystery deepened. We got this funny “invitation” on our front door—apparently the entire neighborhood got the same invitation—to go to the wedding venue parking lot at the bend in the road this Saturday morning for the “unveiling”.
The entire neighborhood it seemed had gathered there to see what the young men had cooked up. It was their turkey toss entry…a trebuchet!
Theirs was a little cruder than the above drawing, but still looked basically the same—except theirs didn’t have its own wheels. They had theirs strapped to 2 mechanic’s dollies to transport it. We watched and cheered as they flung their frozen turkey all the way from one end of the parking lot to the other. They were a shoe-in to win the turkey toss!
On the Saturday of the contest, hubby loaded up their pieces—it came apart for easy transport—and their tools and drove them to the high school to set it up very early. They covered it and took turns guarding it till the start of the contest. When it was finally their turn, they moved it to the 50-yard line and uncovered it. The crowd was stunned…and then they launched their turkey. It CLEARED the uprights in the end zone! The judges then asked the boys if they wanted to move their contraption BACK so they could really establish a winning distance…they readily agreed! They set the school record that morning for the turkey toss. Got their names and pictures in the newspaper as well.
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FROM HOWSTUFFWORKS:
Many people routinely toss a dryer sheet or two into their dryers before pressing the start button. That’s because these small, papery sheets reduce static cling and wrinkles, soften your duds, and leave them with a pleasing, fresh scent. But dryer sheets are typically thrown in the trash once the clothes are dried. That’s a shame, because they can be repurposed to perform a wide variety of other tasks.
Dryer sheets are stiff, woven pieces of fiber, generally about 9 inches long and 6.4 inches wide. They’re coated with fabric softeners and lubricants as well as a scent like lavender, linen, musk or rain. Some sheets are also sold unscented.
When you start your dryer, these sheets do their magic when the coating melts off them and onto your clothing as they all tumble together, leaving your laundry soft and free of static. Afterward, the dryer sheets are ready for their second incarnation.
Here are 16 ways you can recycle and reuse your old dryer sheets. Some of these hacks are for new sheets, too.
That coating that dryer sheets come with is useful for picking up dust and dirt. Here are some things you can use dryer sheets for as you clean.
Dust almost anything. Take an old dryer sheet and use it as a dust cloth, running it over items such as window blinds, baseboards, ceiling fan blades and your car’s dashboard. Bonus: The sheets are great at picking up pet hair in the process, and any coating still on them will also help the surface you’ve just cleaned repel dust and lint.
Wipe up spills. Spilled some flour, baking soda or seasoning? Dryer sheets are great at cleaning up such messes, as dry ingredients will stick to the sheets. But don’t use them when you’ve spilled something on the floor, as they can make it quite slick and a slipping hazard.
Remove sap and sand. When you’re in the great outdoors, use old dryer sheets to remove tree sap from your hands — it sticks to a dryer sheet better than a wet wipe — and to easily brush sand from your feet and legs.
Scrub pots and pans. Dryer sheets are great at tackling the hard stuff. Take dirty pots and pans. If you’re not in the mood to vigorously scrub them for an indefinite amount of time, fill the pot or pan with hot water, toss in a new dryer sheet and let it soak at least an hour or overnight. In the morning, the sheet will have helped loosen the crusty food so you can more easily wipe it off.
Remove grime from oven racks. If your oven racks become grimy — a common occurrence — fill your bathtub with warm water, a half-cup of dish soap and eight new dryer sheets. Then lower in the racks and let them soak overnight. In the morning, scrub off the gunk with the dryer sheets, then rinse, dry and replace in your oven.
Clean crusty irons. Dryer sheets work well if you need to clean the bottom of your iron, where residue can accumulate from spray starch buildup and even melted synthetic fabrics.
Remove soap scum. Unfortunately, it’s easy to discover a film of soap on your shower door or bathtub. Scrub clean with a used dryer sheet.
If you’ve got scented sheets on hand, either new or just out of the dryer, they can be used to make any number of household items smell more pleasant. In general, it’s better to use new sheets for deodorizing, as their scent is stronger.
Freshen wastebaskets and vacuum cleaners. Toss a dryer sheet in the bottom of your wastebasket before adding the bag, or in your vacuum cleaner to combat unpleasant smells.
Refresh camping gear. Even outdoorsy people don’t enjoy unpleasant smells. Before you pack away your camping equipment, toss dryer sheets into items like your tent, sleeping bag and backpack. They’ll smell much better the next time you use them.
Get rid of car odors. Tuck a few dryer sheets under your front seats and you may be able to get rid of that pine tree deodorizer hanging from your rearview mirror.
Freshen up workout gear. Stick dryer sheets into your gym shoes and gym bags to keep nasty smells at bay.
Remove stale odors from your suitcase. Travelers should place dryer sheets in their suitcases to avoid the stale smells that can develop when they’re closed up for a while.
Eliminate smells in your home. If a room in your house smells a little funky, tape a dryer sheet to the back of a vent or two so that the air flowing through them will pick up their pleasant scent. If you do this, though, make sure to replace the sheets weekly so no dusty build-up will impede the air flow.
Bet you never thought of using your dryer sheets for the following:
De-squeak shoes. Have a squeak in your shoe due to orthotics or insoles that are rubbing against the bottom? Place a new or used dryer sheet in between the bottom of the shoe and the orthotic or insole, and the squeak will disappear. If it comes back, it may be because the sheet has slipped out of place; simply readjust. Or it may be time for a new sheet.
Sharpen scissors. Scissors dull? Then use them to cut up a dryer sheet or two and that should restore some of their cutting ability.
Repel insects. If you enjoy hiking but flying insects keep circling your head, tuck a new dryer sheet into the back of your ball cap, leaving several inches hanging out. Both the scent of the sheet and its movement as you walk may keep insects at bay. (Studies have shown that linalool, a popular floral-scented chemical in cosmetics, perfumes and dryer sheets, repels fungus gnats and some types of weevils. But linalool didn’t seem to have much value at repelling mosquitoes.)
SOURCE: HOWSTUFFWORKS
Since it’s November, today’s offering is my recipe for the perfect turkey breast. (Although, these tips work just as well for a whole turkey.)
We love white meat, so I rarely make an entire turkey for our get togethers. However, as is our custom, I will make the entire turkey dinner 2 days in a row because we seldom have many leftovers and I love the way the turkey dinner makes the house smell. I begin with about a 7 or 8 pound turkey breast. Butterball was always my first choice, but one year out of necessity I had to purchase a different brand—Honeysuckle White—and it was just as delicious!
Clean the breast and pat dry. Rub the entire breast with unsalted butter and season. I use salt, coarse ground black pepper and onion powder. The breasts available here are “restaurant style” turkey breasts which means they have the rib portion and stand upright in the roasting pan. This makes them easier to carve in my opinion.
Place in a roasting pan—I do not use a rack since hubby prefers gravy like his mom made—from a jar—so I do not need to collect the juices. I roast my turkey breast uncovered in a 350* oven until the internal temperature reaches 160*. I will check the turkey roughly an hour after putting it in the oven. If the skin is sufficiently brown and crisp, I will remove the pan from the oven and cover the turkey with reynold’s wrap to finish the roasting. My turkey breasts usually roast to 160* in an hour and a half to 2 hours. But a meat thermometer is invaluable! I got mine from Pampered Chef ages ago.
It’s important to remove the bird when it hits 160* because the turkey should stand—COVERED—for at least 15 minutes before you attempt to carve it—allowing the bird’s juices to settle. During this time, the internal temperature will continue to rise to the desired 170*. My turkey breasts are always moist and tender. Can’t wait till Thanksgiving! Bon Appetit!
From: House & History
As you make your way through Wyoming’s Wapiti Valley, perched upon a hill just outside of Cody is a strange looking building known to locals as ‘Smith Mansion.’
The home was built over eighteen years by local man Francis Lee Smith. Smith, who worked as a full-time engineer in Cody, made the property in his spare time.
Francis Lee Smith, designed and built ‘Smith Mansion’ from scratch.
Unfortunately, the house didn’t have a fairy-tale ending one would hope for. In 1992, disaster struck, and construction on the property came to an end, forever.
THE HISTORY OF THE SMITH MANSION
In the 1970s, Smith was inspired by an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. After a huge fire on the nearby Rattlesnake Mountain, much of the timber was left up for grabs for anyone willing to lug it away.
Smith had a truck and two willing associates who helped him start loading up. Yet it appears Smith could never stop!
At first, Smith wanted to build a comfortable home for him and his family. But once the house was completed, the project just kept growing. Over the years, what was supposed to be a small family home, became a large tower featuring balconies and viewing platforms.
In the lower floor living spaces, you had named rooms, such as the “hot room” and “cold room.” Through the colder months, they would spend their time in the “hot room” which featured a wood-burning stove. In warmer months, they would use the cooler temperatures of the “cold room.” The house had no running water, and no plumbing or electricity, except for that provided by a small generator.
Unfortunately for Smith, the family home wasn’t to be. Despite living there with his family for some time, his obsession with it became a strain on his marriage, which lead to divorce. His wife, son, and daughter moved back into the nearby town of Cody.
This however, only drove Smith to focus more on completing the building. However, it wasn’t to be, one day in 1992, the 48-year-old was working on one of his slanted roofs when he fell (not for the first time) and died. Smith’s body wasn’t found until two days later.
THE SMITH MANSION TODAY
After the death of Francis Lee Smith, the Smith Mansion passed on to his family. The home is now looked after by Smith’s daughter Sunny Larsen, who was just 12 when her father died but still remembers living in the property as a child.
She said: “His original intent was to build a home for his family, and it just took on a life of its own.” It was only in later years that she realized her father had no blueprints, every addition was off-the-cuff. “He never knew what his next step was going to be.”
His daughter also rejects the idea that mental illness played a part in her father’s obsession. “He built,” she said. “He was an artist in every sense of the word.”
The property has been empty now for almost 30 years, exposed to the elements the wooden structure has begun to decay slowly. Teenagers from the nearby town of Cody routinely visit the property on the weekends and vandalize it.
This decay hasn’t stopped Ms. Larsen from trying to sell the property though. In August 2018, Smith Mansion was listed on the market for $750,000, as of yet it still has no buyer.
How a half-finished wooden structure with no plumbing or electricity on a hill in Wyoming could fetch $750,000 we don’t know. However, it would be a cool property to finish if you had the cash burning a hole in your pocket.
SOURCE: HOUSE & HISTORY
What Is Citrine?
Citrine is a transparent variety of quartz with a yellow to orange color. Its attractive color, high clarity, low price, and durability make it the most frequently purchased yellow to orange gem.
Citrine is also a modern birthstone for the month of November. Its designation as a birthstone contributes to its popularity and drives a large number of sales.
Citrine’s color ranges from yellow, to orangey yellow, to yellowish orange, to brownish orange. The name citrine is used for any transparent quartz in that color range – regardless of its saturation. Stones with a faint color and stones with a rich color are all called “citrine”.
The quality of a stone’s color has an enormous impact on its price. Stones with a faint color are abundant and inexpensive. Stones with a rich, uniform color are rare, valuable, and preferred by buyers.
Reddish orange and reddish brown are rare colors in quartz. Gems of these reddish colors are often called Madeira citrine. The name is after wines of similar color made in the Madeira Islands, an autonomous region of Portugal, located in the North Atlantic Ocean about 450 miles southwest of Portugal.
Birthstone of November
Citrine and topaz both serve as birthstones for the month of November. Topaz was one of the original modern birthstones selected by the National Association of Jewelers in 1912. Citrine was added to the modern birthstones list in 1952.
Citrine and topaz are both available in the yellow to orange color range, but citrine generally has a much lower cost. Citrine has a Mohs hardness of 7 and topaz has a Mohs hardness of 8. That information might make some people believe that topaz has a higher durability than citrine. However, topaz is a brittle mineral that easily breaks by cleavage. It has little, if any, durability advantage over citrine.
Citrine Geodes
One of the most impressive specimens of citrine that you might encounter is a large citrine geode from Brazil. These are often offered for sale at major gem and mineral shows. Gem hunters find these geodes in the Brazilian basalt fields, then clean and prepare them to stand as a crystal tower in your living room. They can be two, or four, or six feet tall – or taller.
Surprisingly, they are not filled with orange to orangy brown citrine when they are found. Instead, most are filled with purple amethyst crystals. Somewhere between discovery and the consumer, a decision is made to heat the geodes in industrial ovens to convert the original purple amethyst into an orangy brown citrine.
Why convert a beautiful amethyst geode into a citrine geode? Because many people who will not buy an amethyst geode will buy a citrine geode because they enjoy the orange color or because citrine is their birthstone.
Natural, Treated, Synthetic
Five categories of citrine exist in the gem and jewelry market. These are:
| 1. citrine with a natural color 2. citrine with a natural color, but enhanced by treatment 3. citrine produced by heating light amethyst 4. synthetic citrine (a man-made product) 5. imitation citrine (a man-made product that is not SiO2) |
All of these are legitimate products; however, sellers should always inform the customer when they are selling gems that have been treated, gems that might have been treated, and especially when they are selling synthetic or imitation materials. Here are a few reasons why…
Natural Color Citrine
Quartz with a natural citrine color is rare. Some people want this natural-color citrine and are willing to pay a premium price for it.
Sources of Citrine
Small quantities of naturally colored citrine are found at many locations throughout the world. The frequency of its occurrence is demonstrated by the locality maps at mindat.org.
The most important commercial source of citrine with a natural yellow to orange color are the pegmatites of eastern Brazil. Other countries where citrine has been produced include: Argentina, Bolivia, Madagascar, Mexico, Russia, Spain, and Uruguay.
The most important source of amethyst that is heat treated to produce a citrine color is also eastern Brazil. Russia is the most important source of synthetic citrine.
Ametrine
Ametrine is a bicolor quartz that has zones of golden yellow citrine and deep purple amethyst in contact with one another in a single crystal. The origin of the name is a combination of AMEthyst and ciTRINE to yield “ametrine.”
Ametrine is a rare gem, with most of the world’s commercial ametrine production from the Anahi Mine in southeastern Bolivia. The mine produces a variety of ametrine, amethyst, citrine, rock crystal, and bicolor gems.
Sew Colorful 