Weather/Fog ~ Picture of the Day ~ Unusual Animal Sleeping Habits ~ Mashed Potatoes Casserole ~ World Kindness Day

 

 

Good 52º dark cloudy foggy morning. 

 

Yesterday the foggy morning lasted about all day and we stayed dark and cloudy. We topped at 59º.

 

 

Picture of the Day...Rose Parade in Pasadena 1962

 

The parade was cancelled in 2020 and 2021. It should return in 2022. 

 

 

 

Interesting

Unusual animal sleeping habits....

 

 Sea otters sleep in water, sometimes holding their hands

Sea otters came up with a perfect idea of how to avoid dangerous predators while sleeping: they sleep in water, floating on their backs! They really love sleeping in groups: up to 100 otters can gather in a sleeping raft. Not to get away with the currents, otters wrap themselves in seaweed or hold each other's paws – and it looks absolutely cute.

 

Giraffes sleep 30 minutes a day

Giraffes are highly noticeable animals, and living in the middle of open plains is highly dangerous for them: predators can attack giraffes at any moment. That's why these creatures can't sleep for long periods. Giraffes sleep in 5-minute intervals several times a day. They sleep standing up most of the time, but sometimes they curl up just like cats, by sitting down and resting their heads on their backs.

 

Walruses can sleep anywhere

Can you imagine that these incredible marine animals can stay awake for more than 80 hours? Moreover, walruses can be swimming all this period long. Perhaps they are so enduring because of their professionalism in the field of sleeping: walruses can do it anywhere!

Sleeping on land is easy, while doing it in water requires some resourcefulness. Just like otters, walruses sleep floating on water, sometimes filling their pharyngeal pouches with air. They also use their tusks while sleeping: with their help, walruses hang from ice floes, letting their body rest in water.

 Meerkats always sleep in heaps

Meerkats really love to cuddle: they usually sleep together in their special underground burrows. As many as 50 meerkats can live in one burrow, which is divided into several rooms. Alpha males and females usually sleep in the middle of a heap, that's how the mob protects them. During the summer months, they prefer to sleep outside – also together.

 A snail can sleep for several years

Snails are not among the fastest creatures on Earth, but they do need a lot of sleep. An average snail sleep for 15 hours, but after that it can stay awake and active for approximately 30 hours.

Anyway, when the surroundings are not inspiring enough, snails just withdraw into their shells and secrete a layer of mucous to avoid drying and starvation. Such hibernation can last for several years – the snail will wake up when the conditions improve. The longest recorded snail hibernation lasted for 4 years.

 

 

Mashed potatoes always offer stick-to-your-ribs comfort, and this Mashed Potato Casserole is a new twist on a family favorite side dish recipe. Spuds will never be duds if we make 'em this way!

 

5 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons minced onion

2 eggs

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 (2.8-ounce) can French-fried onions, coarsely chopped

 

 

Preheat oven to 325º. Coat a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray.

 

Place potatoes in a soup pot, add just enough water to cover them, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium and cook 12 to 15 minutes, or until fork-tender; drain.

In a large bowl, with an electric beater on medium speed, beat potatoes and cream cheese until smooth. Add onion, eggs, flour, parsley, salt, and pepper, and continue to beat until well blended.

Spoon potato mixture into prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with French-fried onions and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until heated through and edges are golden.

 

 

 

Historically this date.....

1956 – The United States Supreme Court declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, thus ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1982 – The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march to its site by thousands of Vietnam War veterans.

1985 – The volcano Nevado del Ruiz erupts and melts a glacier, causing a lahar (volcanic mudslide) that buries Armero, Colombia, killing approximately 23,000 people.

 Holy cow!!!!

 

 

And births this date include....

1850 – Robert Louis Stevenson, Scottish writer (d. 1894)

1917 – Robert Sterling, American actor (d. 2006)

(Played on Topper with his wife Ann Jefferies)

 

1924 – Linda Christian, Mexican-born actress (d.2011)

 

1932 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (d. 2000)

1941 – Dack Rambo, American actor (d. 1994)

1941- Dirk Rambo, American actor (d. 1967)

 

Dirk died from burns in an automobile accident and Dack died from AIDS.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6197

1947 – Joe Mantegna, American actor

 

1954 – Chris Noth, American actor

1955 – Whoopi Goldberg, American actress, comedienne, and singer

1967 – Jimmy Kimmel, American comedian and talk-show host

 

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Saturday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

On November 13th, as part of World Kindness Day, we are encouraged to spread kindness like an infectious cold. We want to share it more than usual because studies show when others observe kindness in action they are more likely to carry out an act of kindness, too.

So, imagine if you head out for the day and your neighbor’s garbage can has tipped over. Instead of ignoring it and letting the wind make a mess, you pick it up and return it to the corner. Three other neighbors notice and give you a smile and a nod on their way to work.

One of those neighbors notices a stranded driver on the side of the road on his commute to work. He remembers your thoughtfulness and offers assistance to the stranded driver. Several passersby take notice.

At a business office, a woman struggles with a paper jam. She’s had a horrible day. The customer has been waiting, but she remembers the stranded driver she passed earlier in the day. The customer lets the office worker know to take her time. Everyone has a bad day.

We each have the potential to improve each others’ lives through understanding and kindness. Whether it’s a friend, family member, coworker or stranger, our ability to show our humanity should have no limit.

WORLD KINDNESS DAY HISTORY

The World Kindness Movement started World Kindness Day in 1998 and has spread to 28 countries.

Weather ~ Picture of the Day ~ Minnesota State Bird ~ Cinnamon Apple Dumplings ~ National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day

 

 

Good 51º foggy morning. 

 

Yesterday how we started and then ......

 

Later clouds moved back in. We topped at 72º.

 

 

Picture of the Day ... perfect timing!

 

 

Interesting .....

Minnesota state bird... Common Loon

 

The common loon has a name that's as unusual as its appearance. They have red eyes and bodies built for swimming and diving. The call of the common loon is also ghostly and otherworldly.

 

The common loon or great northern diver (Gavia immer) is a large member of the loon, or diver, family of birds. Breeding adults have a plumage that includes a broad black head and neck with a greenish, purplish, or bluish sheen, blackish or blackish-grey upper parts, and pure white underparts except some black on the undertail coverts and vent. Non-breeding adults are brownish with a dark neck and head marked with dark grey-brown. Their upper parts are dark brownish-grey with an unclear pattern of squares on the shoulders, and the underparts, lower face, chin, and throat are whitish. The sexes look alike, though males are significantly heavier than females. During the breeding season, loons live on lakes and other waterways in Canada; the northern United States (including Alaska); and southern parts of Greenland and Iceland. Small numbers breed on Svalbard and sporadically elsewhere in Arctic Eurasia. Common loons winter on both coasts of the US as far south as Mexico, and on the Atlantic coast of Europe.

 

Common loons eat a variety of animal prey including fish, crustaceans, insect larvae, molluscs, and occasionally aquatic plant life. They swallow most of their prey underwater, where it is caught, but some larger items are first brought to the surface. Loons are monogamous; that is, a single female and male often together defend a territory and may breed together for a decade or more. Both members of a pair build a large nest out of dead marsh grasses and other plants formed into a mound along the vegetated shores of lakes. A single brood is raised each year from a clutch of one or two olive-brown oval eggs with dark brown spots which are incubated for about 28 days by both parents. Fed by both parents, the chicks fledge in 70 to 77 days. The chicks are capable of diving underwater when just a few days old, and they fly to their wintering areas before ice forms in the fall.

 

The common loon is the provincial bird of Ontario, and it appears on Canadian currency, including the one-dollar "loonie" coin and a previous series of $20 bills. In 1961, it was designated the state bird of Minnesota, and appears on the Minnesota State Quarter.

 

 

 

The adult common loon can range from 26 to 36 inches in length with a 4 ft 2 in to 4 ft 10 inches wingspan, slightly smaller than the similar yellow-billed loon. On average, it is about 32 inches long and has a wingspan of 54 inches. Its weight can vary anywhere from 4.9 to 16.8 lb. Sizes vary regionally, especially by body mass, with the smallest bodied loons on average from lower-central Canada and the Great Lakes, while westerly birds are similar or mildly larger, and loons breeding further east can appear to be significantly larger.

 

If you are interested in reading a lot more about loons, go here:

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

 

 

 

From Mr. Food

 

Looking for the best way to satisfy your sweet tooth? We've got ya covered with these Cinnamon Apple Dumplings. These sure are smile inducers!

 

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 (8-ounce) package refrigerated crescent rolls
• 2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

 

 

1. Melt butter in a 7- x 11-inch baking dish; set aside.
    
2. Cook granulated sugar and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts; set aside.
    
3. Preheat the oven to 375º. Unroll crescent dough onto a board.
    
4. Combine apples, brown sugar, and remaining 3 ingredients. Sprinkle over dough. Starting with short end, roll dough up, jellyroll fashion, pressing seam to seal; cut into 10 (3/4-inch-thick) slices, and place in baking dish. Pour sugar mixture carefully over dumplings. Bake 35 to 38 minutes or until golden.

 

 

Historically this date.........

1936 – In California, the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge opens to traffic.

1979 – Iran hostage crisis: in response to the hostage situation in Tehran, US President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran.

 

 

And births this date include....

1929 – Grace Kelly, American actress and Princely consort of Monaco (d. 1982)

 

1934 – Charles Manson, American cult leader and convicted murderer (d.2017)

1958 – Megan Mullally, American actress and singer

 

 

1961 – Nadia Comăneci, Romanian gymnast

 

 

1970 – Tonya Harding, American figure skater

 

 

 

 

 

 

1982 – Anne Hathaway, American actress

 

 

 

 

All I know. Nuff said. Have a good Friday. Ciao.

xo Sue Mom Bobo

 

National Pizza with the Works Except Anchovies Day says to hold the fishes! Anchovy lovers move over on November 12th. All the other pizza lovers get their due and pile on their toppings. This annual pizza holiday gets the spotlight with olives, pepperoni, sausage, peppers, and onions. How about mushrooms, bacon, or pineapple? Approved! Just no fishy business on this national day, or no pizza for you!

Classified as an oily fish, Anchovies are a family of small, common salt-water forage fish. There are 144 species found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Oceans.  Anchovies are small, green fish. They have blue reflections caused by the silver longitudinal stripe, which begins at the base of the caudal fin.

Traditionally, anchovies are processed in a salt brine and then packed in oil or salt, resulting in a strong, characteristic flavor.  Optionally they may be pickled in vinegar, giving the anchovies a milder taste.

Pizza:

• In ancient Greece, the Greeks covered their bread with oils, herbs, and cheese. Some believe this practice is the beginning of the pizza.
• In Byzantine Greek, the word was spelled “πίτα,” pita, meaning pie. 
• The Romans developed a sheet of dough topped with cheese and honey. They then flavored it with bay leaves. 
• The modern pizza began in Italy as the Neapolitan flatbread.
• The original pizza used only mozzarella cheese. The mozzarella was produce in Naples and usually the highest quality buffalo mozzarella variant. 
• In 1997, the United States produced an estimated 2 billion pounds of pizza cheese annually.
• The first United States pizza establishment opened in 1905 was in New York’s Little Italy. 
• Americans love pizza. So much so, it’s one of our favorite meals.