~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
May 7, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote: Love is energy of life. ~ Robert Browning

★~Roast Leg of Lamb Day:

People have been eating lamb for more than 10,000 years. During the Middle Ages, farmers learned that sheep wool could be used for clothing , skins for parchment, milk for butter and cheese, and hearty flavorful meat so sheep were considered very economical to raise.

I’m told you can cook lamb a variety of different ways, but roasting is one of the most popular methods. The dish pairs beautifully with seasonings like rosemary, oregano, thyme, or lemon zest.

I don’t eat lamb but if I did my sweet mother would remind me not to forget the mint jelly. Bon appétit!

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1966 – The Mamas & The Papas made the climb to the top of the Billboard pop music chart with Monday, Monday. For three weeks Monday, Monday stayed at the top of the pop music world. The tune was the second hit by the group — just two months after their first, California Dreamin’. These two songs would be the only number one hits for the group, though they made it to number two with Dedicated to the One I Love.

♥~ 1952 – Geoffrey W.A. Dummer, a radar scientist, first presented the concept of the integrated circuit, also known as the microchip, which is the basis for all modern electronic equipment. We rely on integrated circuits to run our computers, our phones, our watches, and our calculators. They’re also used in microwaves, TVs, stereos, cars, refrigerators, and kids’ toys. Pretty much anything you plug in is going to have at least one microchip in it.

♥~ 1992 – Endeavour, the $2 billion replacement for the Challenger, was launched on its maiden voyage. During shuttle mission STS-49, astronauts set new records for duration of spacewalk and the number of astronauts outside the craft.

♥~ 1998 –  A Pasadena, California, couple returned from vacation to find over a thousand birds inside their home. The flock of small migratory swifts had flown down the chimney. Firemen helped the couple clear the birds out in about two hours, but cleaning up the mess took a lot longer.

♥~ 2000 – Mike Hennessy of West Springrfield, Massachusetts, celebrated his 50th birthday by jumping out of an airplane 50 times. Hennessy had logged more than 5,800 jumps in his life, and spent 46 hours free-falling. But he had never done more than 19 jumps in a single day.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1812 – Robert Browning poet: Pauline, Men and Women, The Ring and the Book, Pippa Passes: God’s in His Heaven – All’s Right with the World; married to poet, Elizabeth Barrett; died Dec 12, 1889

♥~ 1946 – Bill Kreutzmann musician: drums: group: The Grateful Dead: Dark Star, Anthem of the Sun, Touch of Grey, Workingman’s Dead, Skulls and Roses, American Beauty

♥~ 1952- Amy Heckerling director: Clueless, Look Who’s Talking series, National Lampoon’s European Vacation, Johnny Dangerously, Fast Times at Ridgemont High

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ Sheep and wool have been woven into the fabric of human civilization for more than 10,000 years beginning in Asia Minor, which is now basically the country of Turkey. After all these millennium wool is still a major textile cornerstone for clothing, bedding, carpeting and household furnishings.

♥~ Wool is a natural insulator to keep you warm in winter and naturally breathable to keep you cool in summer

♥~ Wool fiber is the original wicking fiber. Its coil-like shape pulls excess heat and moisture from your skin while you sleep. Wool fabrics can absorb up to 30% of their weight without feeling heavy or damp.

♥~ Wool’s natural resistance to mildews and molds comes from the way it repels moisture, and lets moisture pass through it’s fibers without holding the moisture

♥~ Tiny overlapping scales encase the wool fiber like tiles on a roof. This allows wool to repel rain, snow and liquid spills with ease.

♥~ Wool is safer to wear having natural fire-retardant properties. It can resist flame without the chemical treatment involved in fireproofing.

♥~ Wool fabric doesn’t collect much static because of its absorbent fibers. Static attracts lint, dirt, and dust. Wool fabrics also clean easily because dirt sits on the surface of the fiber.

♥~ Wool is a renewable resource that can be shorn from sheep annually. It is biodegradable and kinder to the environment than oil-based synthetics, which contribute to global pollution

♥~ The itchiness of wool that some people experience is related to fiber diameter. Finer fibers, such as pure Merino wool, give greater comfort. The comfort limit for garments worn next to the skin is 28 microns. Many people experience discomfort if more than 3 to 4 percent of the fibers are over 28 microns thick.. Finer, thinner wool fibres bend more easily than thicker fibres. Instead of pushing against the skin, they simply bend and buckle when the fibre comes in contact with skin. So finer is definitely better if you want to avoid the itch.

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El Morno has an Odd flow today, going from leg of lamb to facts about wool, but I didn’t have a lot to work with in the way of holidays, so I thought I would share about wool. I find wool to be very itchy, which I thought was because I was allergic to wool, but I guess that wool allergies are extremely uncommon and the itch factor has more to do with the quality of the wool you are wearing. Nothing worse than cheap wool.  My other issue with wool is it looks hot. It’s supposed to be the perfect cold and warm insulator but doesn’t it look hot to you? Cotton looks nice and cool and wrinkled and wool looks hot and stuffy..

When Cole was little he had a huge issue with “pants that went down.” It took me a while to figure out that this did not mean long pants. Motivated by tears and tantrums I quickly doped out that he wanted to wear pants that hugged the legs. For the next 3 years, he wore tight-fitting athletic pants that did not go down and a cape. Always a cape.

Joe loved a pair of faded navy blue Dockers with a hole in the seat. He insisted these were his “dress pants.” I tried to explain that the only place those pants should be seen was in the in the rag bin. I grew up with a Dad that worked for IBM and I knew these things but Joe loved those pants and just wore a shirt long enough to cover the hole in the seat of his pants. Eventually the pants fell apart in the dryer (add another sin to my long list).

I think part of the reason I choose a Waldorf school for Cole was that when we went for an admission interview, I noticed lots of kids running around in tie dyed, organic wrinkled cotton, and very few moms wearing twin sets or dads dressed in suits and ties during drop-off. The community seemed to be a good fit for my family.

What about you? Do you have strong clothing preferences? Odd Loves Company!

Hope your Monday, Monday is Merry!