May 17, 2012: Pack Rat Day, Cherry Cobbler Day!

~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 17, 2012

What are your favorite colors?

★~ Today’s Quote:  The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.” ~Mark Twain

★~  Pack Rat Day:

Attics and basements were meant for storing old junk. But a pack rat asks, “Why stop there? If we park the cars in the driveway, we can also fill up the garage. And while we’re at it, let’s just live on the back deck and then we can use the whole house for storage.” Some may criticize the pack rat for living a life of clutter, but the pack rat lives by the motto, “Waste not, want not.” And who knows—some of that stuff might be worth a lot of money someday if they can ever part with it.

I am not a pack rat. What about you? What is your favorite treasure to save?

★~Cherry Cobbler Day:

Yum! What’s not to like about cherry cobbler? I like this recipe, but the recipe in your Betty Crocker cookbook (the one with the red checkered cover) that uses cherry filling and Bisquick is all also pretty darn good—especially if you don’t have a kid or spouse you can wrangle into the cherry pitting job. I have an old-fashioned cherry pitter that is fun to use and makes you feel a little like Ma on Little House on the Prairie, but a paper clip will work to coax the cherry pit out…however, unless you are my sweet mother, more than likely you are going to be squirted with cherry juice. I am also told that Good Grips  makes a darn fine cherry pitter.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1792- The buttonwood agreement was signed.Twenty-four brokers sat down to fix rates for commissions on stocks and bonds. From that agreement came what has been known since as the New York Stock Exchange or Wall Street.

♥~ 1932 – The U.S. Congress changed the name ‘Porto Rico’ to ‘Puerto Rico’

♥~ 1975 – NBC-TV paid a whopping $5,000,000 for the rights to show Gone with the Wind just one time. It was the top price paid for a single opportunity to show a film on television.

♥~ 1975 – Elton John’s Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album was released and certified a platinum record on the very same day. It was the first album to be certified a million seller (in this case, a two-million seller) on the first day of release.

♥~ 1978 ~ Charlie Chaplin’s corpse, which had been stolen and held for ransom, was recovered.

♥~ 1986 – Whitney Houston became the first female singer to hit the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with three consecutive singles as Greatest Love of All reached #1. The other two were Saving All My Love For You and How Will I Know

♥~ 1989 – Vincent Van Gogh’s Portrait of Dr. Gachet was auctioned for $82,500,000.

♥~ 2004 – First US same-sex marriages . Massachusetts became the first US state to sanction gay marriage. Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples received licenses and were married.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1903~ James “Cool Papa” Bell, born in Starkville, Mississippi (1903). Cool Papa was perhaps the fastest baseball player of all times. He played baseball for almost 30 years in primarily in the negro leagues where records where statistics were not very reliable so we are not sure exactly how fast.

♥~ 1911 – Maureen (Paul) O’Sullivan actress: Tarzan films: Jane; Hannah and Her Sisters, Peggy Sue Got Married, The River Pirates; died June 23, 1998

♥~ 1936 – Dennis Hopper actor: Easy Rider, Apocalypse Now, Rebel Without a Cause, Giant, Hoosiers, Flashback, Blue Velvet, Super Mario Brothers, True Romance, Speed, Waterworld, Space Truckers; director: Easy Rider, Colors, Chasers; died May 29, 2010

♥~ 1942 – Taj Mahal (Henry St. Claire Fredericks) entertainer, songwriter: for film, Sounder; singer: urban folk-blues

★~ Did You Know:

♥~ The New York Stock Exchange is probably the most well known stock exchange in the world, but did you know it’s not the oldest in the US? The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was created two years earlier in 1790

♥~ The NYSE has its first million share day (where a million shares are exchanged) on December 15th, 1886.

♥~ Since October 10th, 1953, there has never been a sub-million share day.

♥~ In 1961, the average daily volume of the NYSE breaks 4 million.

♥~ The first stock ticker was invented by Edward A. Calahan in 1867.

♥~ The buttonwood agreement was named after the local Buttonwood tree the local name for the sycamore tree.

♥~ The longest period in which the exchange was closed occurred during WW1, when the NYSE was closed for four and a half months starting July 31st, 1914.

♥~ On December 1st, 2005, the highest price was paid for membership in the NYSE at $4 million. Thirty days later, December 31st, the NYSE moves away from seats to annual trading licenses.

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I have been cleaning my house room by room the last few weeks, using the anticipation of impending summer houseguests to help motivate me. As I clean, pitch and rearrange, I create a wish list for each room. For example, my bedroom needs new curtains, but I know this is the perfect project to save until my sweet mother arrives.

In the bathroom, I two light fixtures one of each side of the vanity mirror that don’t fit properly.I knew these light fixtures would not work the moment Joe showed them to me, but he insisted they were perfect. It’s amazing how you will go from agonizing over buying a brushed nickel showerhead, as opposed to a silver one, to accepting cheap poor-fitting light fixtures in order to wrap up a two-year bathroom renovation project that was supposed to take six weeks. Of course, after they were installed and the bathroom was finished, Joe saw the error of his ways and promised to fix the lighting fixtures. However, the idea of anyone walking back into my bathroom with a wrench and a drill brought me to near hysteria, so I tried to ignore the fixtures as they got worse. Fate had the last word, and I am still living with the fixtures. Yesterday, one slid down and cracked at the base, so the problem can no longer be ignored. However, I have no idea who to call or how to go about solving the problem. Care to enlighten me if you have any ideas?

I must get on with my rat killing and knock a few things off my list. The birdhouses were hung yesterday, the iris still flourishes, and today I might spend some time outside tidying up! When I mentioned to my neighbor that her walkways were cleaner than my kitchen floor, she told me it was a “Polish thing.” I think I might do the Irish thing and just sweep, spit and swear a bit at my walkways.

Hope you have a terrific Thursday.

 

My Cherry Pitter…

Good Grips….

14 thoughts on “May 17, 2012: Pack Rat Day, Cherry Cobbler Day!

  1. Back to coffee time! It’s Thursday all down hill now. Cherry Cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. My sis makes a great cobbler.

    I use to be a pack rat but my ex helped me with that trait when we divorced. Almost everything stayed with her. I’m not complaining tho because I actually like living with less to dust and clean. The kids are always good at making sure we both have pictures. Over the years I have collected stuff I really like and use and best of all it’s MINE.

    Ya know you may need to find a handy man to marry or co-live with (is that what they call it?). I would volunteer but I’m old and committed to life alone and golf. You deserve better.

    Have a good one.

  2. Cherry Cobbler Day again so soon? The years fly by… My problem is my family starts collections for me. If I buy one tea pot everyone sends me tea pot for Christmas. One elephant lead to 25 elephants. I don’t want to hurt my families feelings but I try to encourage things that can be used. Groupon has been a great gift because they feel like they are giving me more than a gift card.
    I’m off tomorrow and heading off for a three day weekend. Life is good.

    • How funny! Twenty-five elephants! And doesn’t it seem that your hard to find collectable immediately becomes available once people know you are collecting it? That happened to my sweet Mom and unicorns! They were so hard to find at first and then they were a dime a dozen.
      Hope you had a great weekend!

  3. Great old cherry pitter. I save some and toss some. Technology has helped me part with a lot of things. I scan a lot and my books are all on kindle. The kids give me gift cards now instead of knick knacks.
    Not sure about your lights. I guess you are kind of stuck with what will fit since I am assuming you don’t want to retile that area of the bathroom. If only our husbands would listen to us.
    😀

  4. Your fixtures are lovely, sorry they are leaving the wall. Task Rabbit for a handyman. You will probably have to replace the whole fixture. We had a bathroom sconce break and could not find a replacement ANYWHERE. Ergo, new sconces. I always thought a cherry pitter was a luxury item, until I had to pit a bunch. Cool Papa is Pat’s name too!

    • Cherry pitter’s are the best! A paper clip does work–it’s just very messy!
      I will have to replace the whole fixture. I could buy the same fixture again it was very inexpensive (CHEAP!) but why buy something you hate twice!

  5. If you can figure out how to get the fixture off and then post another picture of what the mounting bracket looks like, we can probably be more help. Except for the crack – you need a magician for that part!. I suspect the mounting brackets are loose – you should be able to tighten them with a handy-dandy screwdriver. No promises.

    • Taking the fixture off! How slow am I…Great idea. It can’t be tightened but if I take it off it is possible to take it a large lightening store for advice.

      Thanks!!

  6. The only thing I packrat is memories. I’ve got boxes of cards, letters, souvenirs, etc., all of which remind me of memorable people and occasions. Sorry I’m no help on your light — if it’s any comfort, I, too, would be frazzled over a six-week project that lingered for two years! The Irish cleaning plan works for me!

    • It was awful. I am not a “re do” sort of person. Joe promised it would finally be done by Thanksgiving when my mom, and her sister were coming to visit and I had a house full of company as well as campers over Thanksgiving. It was not done. Tools were everywhere, the plumbing was backed up, my phone was ringing off the hook… I will say in that moment I learned how value of a sense of humor and a large hefty bag.

  7. You would probably be better off to have lights above your mirror instead of beside it. You get better vision with it over head. Worth a thought. I have mine above now and really like it a lot better. Just sayin’

    • Thanks Carol. I think I have to stick where I have the holes unless I want to retile and I really, really don’t. I would have preferred overhead light and had it in the plans…..

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