~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
August 9, 2014

★~ Today’s Quote: “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.”  ― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

★~ National Book Lovers Day:

Book Lovers Day encourages us to kick back and relax with a great book. From shaded spots under arching trees to being tucked up warm in bed, there’s no better way to celebrate Book Lovers Day than to while the hours away lost in a book. Here is a short list of some of the books I’ve enjoyed this summer.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands  (Chris Bohjalian)

The Cuckoo’s Calling: A Cormoran Strike Novel   (Robert Galbraith)

The Silkworm: Cormoran Strike Book 2 (Robert Galbraith)

What books have you enjoyed recently?

★~ Polka Day:

The polka is a snappy dance that originated in Bohemia in the 1800s. Some believe a peasant girl named Anna Slezak actually “invented” the dance in 1834. The dance quickly spread to ballrooms around the world and the rest, as they say, is history.

The basic step consists of a continuous series of triple “step-close-steps” accompanied by polka music.

Some may be inclined to poke fun at the polka, but don’t knock it till you try it. Grab the accordion, put on those dancin’ shoes, and party down polka style.

★~Rice Pudding:

Almost every region of the world has its own take on rice pudding. Some versions are sweet while others are savory, and some are thick while others are thin. In the United States, most people serve their rice pudding sweetened with a sprinkle of nutmeg and raisins.

Not My Grandma’s Rice Pudding Recipe

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 10 min. Bake: 45 min. MAKES: 4-6 servings
Ingredients
1-1/2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup raisins
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Additional milk, optional

Directions:
Place rice and raisins in a greased 1-qt. casserole. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, milk, sugar and nutmeg; pour over rice.

Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool. Pour milk over each serving if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 4-6 servings.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 1944 – Smokey Bear, an advertising character by the U.S. Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council, made his debut on a poster promoting forest-fire prevention. Remember, “Only you can prevent forest fires.”

♥~ 1975 – New Orleans, Louisiana was celebrating– and it wasn’t even Mardi Gras time. The Superdome was opened as the hometown Saints met the Houston Oilers in an exhibition football game. The Oilers won handily, 31-7, in what was described as “a very lackluster” game. The Superdome cost $163 million to construct .

♥~ 1999 – 14-year-old Ryan Tripp of Beaver, Utah, finished mowing the lawn at the Hawaii state Capitol and announced his retirement. He had mowed the lawns at all 50 state capitols, except Alaska where the capitol had no lawn, so he mowed at the governor’s house.

♥ ~ 2005 – NY radio station WQHT Hot 97 was fined a whopping $240,000 (£134,480) for running an on-air contest where young women were encouraged to slap each other silly to win cash and other prizes. The money went to a domestic awareness charity.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1593 – Isaac (Isaak) Walton author:  A long, long time ago — several centuries, to be exact — Isaac Walton (often spelled Isaak Walton) was born in Stafford, England. It was 1593 and his parents had no idea that they were going to raise a fishing expert, and a knighted one, at that.

When Isaac was growing up he spent a lot of time studying the art of fishing. By the time he was seventy years old, he had written the masterwork on angling, titled, The Compleat Angler. Sir Isaac Walton was pretty clear about the fact that no matter how many years you’ve spent fishing, you’ll never quite get it right, even if you read his book. He said, “Angling may be said to be so like the mathematics, that it can never be fully learned.” Gone fishing.

♥~ 1944 – Sam Elliott actor: Gettysburg, Lonesome Dove, Mask, Tombstone, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, TVs Mission Impossible

♥~ 1957 – Melanie Griffith actress: Working Girl, Night Moves, Smile, A Stranger Among Us, Born Yesterday, Mulholland Falls, Lolita [1997], Crazy in Alabama; actress Tippi Hedren’s daughter

★~ Book Lovers Gallimaufry:

[youtube]http://youtu.be/iZIME4mqpyo[/youtube]

Meet Philani Dladla, a 24-year-old book lover who lives on the streets of Johannesburg, South Africa. Instead of panhandling to survive, the so-called “Pavement Bookworm” reads, reviews, and sells books in order to earn a living. Dladla deep appreciation for the value of books was sparked when he managed to rescue himself from drug addiction by reading self-help books. Now, Dladla acts as an unlikely book ambassador and role model for young people.

#

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Fs49p5z3TW8[/youtube]

It’s really hard to stay focused on finishing things when your friends send you cool things like this dog video and you start planning with your teen where to build it in the yard!  I feel a little like the person who goes on a diet and is gifted a dozen donuts. But we will stay strong to our current creed – Finish before you start.

I broke up with the Container Store this week.  I’ve decided it’s easier to get rid of stuff then organize it.  If we don’t love it or use it; we are rehoming it or pitching it. The egg cooker? Gone. However, I’m not totally blowing the Container Store off, we’ve meant too much to one another for too many years. We’ll have a brief holiday fling in the gift wrap aisle.

Randomly speaking,  we were given some fresh Salmon this past week. Cole cooked it, I tasted it and liked it, but I couldn’t eat it. I kept picturing it swimming happily in the ocean or wherever Salmon swims before it took the bait and bit it. It was just too fresh for me. I like Salmon sealed cryogenically from Cosco. My teen on the other hand enjoyed every fresh bite, “Mom, it’s over for the Salmon might as well do him justice.”  Let justice ring, I passed him my Salmon.

Odd Loves Company!

♥