Full Moon ~ First Day of Spring ~ Geese ~ Picture of the Day ~ Cullinan Diamond ~ Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole ~ Jerome & Sandy (Todoran) Beck ~ Strange Delivery ~ Vernal Equinox

Be careful out there.... full moon!

 

Good 45º cloudy morning with rain predicted for today through Friday.

 

 

Happy First Day of Spring!

 

 

Yesterday Mr. and Mrs. Goose were on my barn roof.... and we had a few clouds appearing....

 

 

 

 

Picture of the Day ....

 

 

 

 

Interesting.....

The Cullinan diamond was found by a miner, who brought it to the surface and gave it the surface manager of the mining company. Tests proved it to be the largest gem-quality diamond ever discovered. At approximately 1 1/3 pounds, 3 7/8 inches long, 2 1/4 inches wide and 2 5/8 inches high the diamond was twice the size of any previously discovered. It was named after Sir Thomas Cullinan.

The Cullinan was sold to the Transvaal Colony government, which planned to present it to King Edward VII on his 66th birthday on November 9th, 1907.

In 1905, due to its immense value, the authorities in charge of the transportation were posed with a huge security problem. Detectives from London were placed on a steamboat that was rumored to carry the stone, where a parcel was placed in the captain's safe and guarded throughout the journey. However, this was a diversionary tactic. The package was a fake, meant to attract those who would be interested in stealing it. The actual diamond was sent to England in a plain box via parcel post.

The King entrusted the cutting of the stone to the famous Asscher's Diamond Co. in Amsterdam. The huge diamond was studied inside out for months. Mr. Asscher placed the steel cleaver's blade in a previously prepared V-shaped groove and tapped it once with a heavy steel rod. The blade broke, but the diamond remained intact! The second time, it fell apart exactly as planned, and an employee at the factory reported that Mr. Asscher had fainted.

^Diamond (replica) from the Precambrian of South Africa. (public display, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

If you want to read more about this diamond...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cullinan_Diamond

 

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole

All of the flavors of jalapeno poppers in a quick and easy chicken casserole for dinner!

• 1 pound chicken, cooked and diced or shredded
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 sup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 ounces jalapenos, sliced or diced
• 1 cup mozzarella (or monterey jack)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
• 4 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled

1. Mix the chicken into the mixture of the cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt and pepper, jalapenos, mozzarella and Parmesan and place into an 8 inch square baking pan before sprinkling on the cheddar cheese and bacon.
2. Bake in a preheated 350º oven until the cheese has melted, turned a light golden brown and the sides are bubbling, about 20 minutes.

Option: Replace the mayo with more sour cream or omit.
Option: Use whole, uncooked, boneless and skinless chicken breasts of thighs and bake 40 minutes.

 

 

Special day today, my pal from high school, Sandy (Todoran) Beck and her hubby Jerome (LASD ret) are celebrating their 37th wedding anniversary. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KIDS!

 

 

Historically this date......

1916 – Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.

1974 – Ian Ball attempts, but fails, to kidnap Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.

1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery,embezzlement, and racketeering.

1999 – Legoland California, the only Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California.

2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.

2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

 

And births this date include....

1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American bandleader and actor (d. 1975)

 

1922 – Carl Reiner, American film director

 

1928 – Fred Rogers, American TV host (d. 2003)

 

1931 – Hal Linden, American actor (the name he was born with is hilarious!)

 

1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor (d. 1996)

 

1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer and actor (d. 2008)

 

 

This is so strange. Last week I had a notice of a package at the post office. When I came home I opened it. Inside were 12 boxes of Celestial Seasonings Peppermint Tea.  ???? 

I didn't order this! I looked up the company it was shipped from, a wholesaler in Jacksonville Beach Florida! OMGOSH. What is up?

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Happy First Day of Spring! Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

Spring begins on the March or vernal equinox, which is when the amount of sunshine is approximately 12 hours long.  The amount of sunlight will incrementally increase until the first day of Summer.

The vernal equinox marks the moment the Sun crosses the celestial equator.  This is the imaginary line in the sky above the Earth’s equator, from south to north. This happens on March 19, 20 or 21 every year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, this same event marks the beginning of fall.  Meteorologists actually mark the spring from March 1 through May 31st.

In 2016, spring arrived a little earlier due to it being a leap year.  On Leap Day, there’s a little math lesson regarding the Gregorian calendar.  To keep our calendar following the seasons so that spring happens when flowers grow and winter arrives when snow falls, an additional day was figured into years divisible by the number four. This has caused the 2016 spring to occur earlier than any living human being alive had ever seen. Before 2016, the earliest spring on record took place in 1896.

For more information visit almanac.com.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Get ready for longer days and increased sunshine. Tune up the lawn mower.  More sunshine means the grass will be growing. 

HISTORY

Human beings have been following the sun and creating a calendar based on seasons since the beginning of time.