Continuing Smoke ~ Ice Chips ~ Picture of the Day ~ Speed Limits ~ Loaded Baked Potato Salad ~ Museum of Illusions ~ National Lighthouse Day

Good 54º smokey morning.

 

 

Ok, so the smoke was heavy again and covered up my mountain. Yesterday afternoon.....

 

Don't think it is going to change much, especially with the heat rising this week.

 

 

 

One of my favorite things is Ice Chips Candy. The company was started by 2 grandmas. The candy is really good for you, because it's made with Xylitol (substantiated by my dentist!) . 5 calories per two pieces. No soy, wheat, sugar, gluten, or dairy. I buy the cinnamon ones and they really help when I get a cough or tickle in my throat.

 

With my recent order they also sent me a sample of the new salted caramel flavor. OMGOSH. SOOOOOOOOOOO Good!!!

If you are interested they are in Olympia Washington   https://www.icechips.com

and they have so many flavors. You can order a 3 pack or a 6 pack. You can mix and match them with all the flavors you'd like. Free shipping.

 

 

Picture of the Day

Ravens on the Tower of London.....

 

Interesting

 

As of January 2018, the highest posted speed limit in the world is 99 mph on a highway in the United Arab Emirates. This 4 lane high speed portion of the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Highway was built at a cost of $1.4 billion.

Texas has the highest speed limit in the western hemisphere, at 85 mph.

In the eastern United States, most states top out with a maximum speed limit of 70 mph. Western states allow up to 75 mph.

Germany's autobahn (the official German term is Bundesautobahn which translates as "federal motorway") is not one road but rather the highway system of 8,075 miles as of 2016. While there are no federally mandated speed limits for some classes of vehicles, cars and motorcycles, without trailers, there is an advisory speed limit of 81 mph.

There are posted limits in areas that are urbanized, substandard, accident-prone, or under construction.

Australia's Stuart Highway, often referred to as "The Track", is the main north-south highway. It is a 1,761 mile highway through mostly unpopulated areas. Prior to 2007, there was no speed limit on this road, but as of November 2016, a speed limit has been instated, with the maximum speed now being 81 mph.

The standard speed limit is 70 mph for U.S. rural interstates, a 45 mph minimum speed limit, 65 mph  for other 4 lane divided highways, and 55 mph for all other highways.

 

 

For summer picnics, get-togethers, bbqs, etc. The main course, often grilled meat, gets all of the focus but it is also important to have a few good tasty sides on hand! The potato salad is a classic summer side that is easy to make and always goes over well! One favorite winter side dish is a loaded baked potato or a baked potato with all the fixins including cheese, bacon, sour cream and green onions but it is too hot to have the oven on in the summer so why not make a loaded baked potato salad? This baked potato salad is as easy to make as boiling the potatoes. You really cannot go wrong with creamy potatoes, cheese and plenty of bacon and this loaded baked potato salad is sure to be the first dish to disappear from your summer get-together!

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

 

 

• 1 1/2 pounds potatoes, diced (optionally peeled)
• 1 cup sour cream (or Greek yogurt)
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 strips bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 green onions, sliced
• salt and pepper to taste

 

1. Boil the potatoes in water until just fork tender, about 15-20 minutes, drain and let cool completely.
2. Meanwhile cook the bacon and set aside on pepper towels to drain.
3. Mix everything and optionally, though highly recommended, let it chill in the fridge to allow the flavors to mingle before serving.

 

 

 

 

Historically this date......

1782 – George Washington orders the creation of the Badge of Military Merit to honor soldiers wounded in battle. It is later renamed to the more poetic Purple Heart.

1959 – The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design, and was minted until 2008

1965 – The infamous first Reyes party between Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters and motorcycle gang the Hells Angels takes place at Kesey's estate in La Honda, Californiaintroducing psychedelics to the gang world and forever linking the hippie movement to the Hell's Angels.

1970 – California judge Harold Haley is taken hostage in his courtroom and killed during in an effort to free George Jackson from police custody.

.............Jackson a Black Panther a-hole! .....

2007 – Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants breaks baseball great Hank Aaron's record by hitting his 756th home run.

.........major controversial player...like ARod! .....

 

 

 

And births this date include...

1944 – David Rasche, American actor

 

 

1960 – David Duchovny, American actor

 

 

1975 – Charlize Theron, South African model and actress

 

 

 

 

Sunday my Kristen went to the Museum of Illusions in Hollywood....Right on Hollywood Boulevard...

 

The red circle is where my grandmother and aunt used to live and where I'd go and stay often. That area so changed now, but was fun back then and you did see Hollywood actors out and about!

Anyway, that museum looks interesting....

 

Apparently these Illusion Museums are a franchise and are in many places in the world...

Hollywood, CA        Saudi Arabia
New York, NY         Serbia 

Kansas City,           Slovenia

Toronto, Canada     Oman

Austria                  United Arab Emrites

Croatia                  Quatar

Germany

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Happy Tuesday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo 

Observed annually on August 7, National Lighthouse Day honors the beacon of light that for hundreds of years symbolized safety and security for ships and boats at sea.  At one time, the beacon of light could be found across almost all of America’s shorelines.

A lighthouse is described as a tower, building or any other type of structure that is designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. 

Lighthouses:

• Mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, safe entries to harbors.
• Assist in aerial navigation.
• Have declined due to the expense of maintenance and replacement by modern electronic navigational systems.
• Has a source of light called a “lamp” (may be electric or oil fueled).
• Were originally lit by open fire and then candles.
• Differ depending on the location and purpose but have standard components.
• Has a lantern room which is a glassed-in housing at the top of a lighthouse tower.
• Has a Watch Room or Service Room beneath the lantern room.
• Has an open gallery outside the Watch Room or Lantern Room.
• Development accelerated in the 17th century with Britain’s Trinity House constructing its first in 1609.
• Earliest in North America was in St. Augustine, Florida.  Printed on a 1791 map, it had been built by Menendez after his landing in 1586.
• America’s next lighthouse was Boston Light on Little Brewster Island in 1716.
• The oldest existing lighthouse in the United States is the Sandy Hook Lighthouse in New Jersey.  Built in 1764, this lighthouse is still in operation.
• At the end of the 19th century, the United States had the most lighthouses of any nation.
• The 9th Act of the first Congress created the US Bureau of Lighthouses in 1789, which placed lighthouses under federal control.
• The United States Coast Guard took over on July 7, 1939.
• Visiting and photographing lighthouses has become a popular hobby as well as collecting ceramic replicas.

HISTORY

On August 7, 1789, the United States Congress approved an act for the “establishment and support of Lighthouse, Beacons, Buoys, and Public Piers.”  It was two hundred years later that Congress designated August 7 as National Lighthouse Day.