~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
July 18th, 2013

★~Today’s Quote:  “It always seems impossible until it’s done.”  ― Nelson Mandela

★~  Mandela Day:

As Nelson Mandela Day celebrates his 95 birthday we are all encouraged to by do our best to help others with a full, happy, [and] grateful heart (Mandela foundation)

★~ Caviar Day:

Caviar is the roe of sturgeon fish, which is eaten in its completely natural form, preserved with salt. I’m not sure who first marketed caviar, but she or he was a genus. I suspect that “hard to harvest,” “delicate,” “from the Caspian and Black Seas” and “extremely rare and expensive” were part of the first publicity campaigns to convince the rich and famous to scoop up those tiny, salty fish eggs with a mother of pearl spoon, gently place them on a cracker and then pop them into their mouths. Have you ever noticed how quickly a swig of champagne follows that cracker? Cole loves caviar (Thanks to his Aunt and Uncle). Me? I love that Cole loves caviar!

Caviar talking points….

~ The Caspian Sea produces 90 percent of the world’s caviar.

~ Black caviar is appreciated more when it has a larger and lighter grains. Red caviar, on the other hand is appreciated more when it has smaller and more finely grains

~ Caviar should be paired with vodka or champagne.

~ Usually when caviar is being served, a small sliver of butter is served on the side

~ A really true gourmet uses a special small silver ball on a very thin chain to measure the level of saltiness in caviar

~ Caviar should be accompanied by Toast or blinis (small pancakes).

~ The world’s most expensive caviar is a type of Iranian beluga called Almas. Pale amber in color, it comes from sturgeons that are between 60 and 100 years old. A 3.9-pound container will set you back $48,750.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ 0064 – Rome burned on this day — while Nero fiddled — or sang.

♥~ 1936 – Every now and then a commercial jingle becomes something other than a commercial. It becomes a part of Americana. And so it goes with the Oscar Mayer Wiener Jingle (“I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener…”). But long before the jingle/song entered our lives, Carl Mayer, nephew of Oscar Mayer, invented another quaint entry into Americana: the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. The first Wienermobile rolled out of General Body Company’s factory in Chicago on this day in 1936. For those of you who have never seen it – it’s a giant hot dog on wheels.

♥~ 1953 – 18 year-old Elvis Presley walked into the Sun Records studios in Memphis to record his to record. For $3.98, Elvis recorded two songs, My Happiness and That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.

♥~ 1976 – Nadia Comaneci, the 14-year-old star gymnast from Romania, stunned those watching the Olympic Games by executing perfect form to collect a perfect score of ‘10’ from the judges. This was the first perfect score ever recorded on the uneven parallel bars. Nadia went on to collect seven perfect scores, three gold medals, a silver and a bronze. She also won two gold and two silver medals in the 1980 Olympics.

♥~ 1980 –  Billy Joel held the top position of both the US albums and singles charts. His album Glass Houses contained his first and biggest number 1 hit, ’It’s Still Rock ’n’ Roll to Me.’

★~ Born Today:

♥~ 1918 – Nelson Mandela Nobel Peace prize-winner [1993]; South African President

♥~ 1921 – John Glenn Jr. astronaut: first to orbit Earth [Feb 20, 1962]; oldest to fly in space [oldest space-shuttle crew member: age 77: Oct 1998]; U.S. Senator [Ohio: 1975-1999]

♥~ 1961 – Elizabeth McGovern actress: Ordinary People, Racing with the Moon, The Bedroom Window

♥~ 1969 –   Elizabeth Gilbert,  best-known for her memoir Eat Pray Love, about the time she spent in Italy, India, and Indonesia after her divorce, traveling alone on a soul-searching journey. The memoir became sensationally successful when it was published in 2006. It has sold more than 7 million copies around the world and been translated into more than 30 languages.

★~ Good to Know: 

♥~ Cooling homes was not the intended purpose when Willis Carrier invented modern air conditioning in 1902. The earliest air conditioners were for industrial quality control; the comfort of the workers was incidental. However, artificial climate control made steel and glass skyscrapers practical. Home air conditioning became widely available after World War II and ushered in the age of suburban tract housing.

♥~ The oldest method of home climate control is living underground. Our cave-dwelling ancestors enjoyed temperatures in the 50s both summer and winter. This dugout house  was both inexpensive to build (but labor-intensive) and cool in the summer. We can see also see the influence of underground living in basements, split-level homes, and houses built into a hillside.

♥~ Heat rises.  Ceiling fans accentuate the effect by pulling air up during the summer, and pushing warmer air down in the winter. Older homes with more than one story took advantage of the stack effect, by using open stairwells venting heat upstairs. In these homes upper floors were only used at night, with the windows open. Some houses even had a tower or turret to act as a windcatcher or heat exhaust vent.

♥~ Shade trees planted on the east and west sides of a home block the summer sun before it warms the home exterior. They also cool down breezes slightly before they enter the porch area. Awnings and widow overhangs provide the same effect, and let more sunshine in during the winter, when the sun hangs lower.

♥~ The front porch was an alternative to hot homes, and became a means of social interaction. If you weren’t sitting on your own porch in the cool of the evening, you could stroll the neighborhood and visit other families sitting on their porch. On hot nights, the porch was also a cooler place to sleep.

♥~ Other ways of keeping cool included hanging wet laundry in doorways, and sleeping between frozen sheets. Fans and ice were used to create swamp coolers.

♥~ AC gave way to summer blockbusters. Movie theaters were among the first places most people encountered artificially cooled air. In fact, theaters would advertise their “Refrigerated Air.” Moviemakers released their big pictures during the summer because people sought out the air-conditioned buildings to escape the heat.

♥~ Vegas wouldn’t be Vegas without AC. Before air conditioning, the Northeast was the nation’s economic powerhouse. Population explosions in places like Arizona, Nevada, Florida, and Texas can be directly attributed to the introduction of air-conditioning.

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I have friends who shun artificial climate control and I think they are flat out crazy. Why choose to be miserable. They tell me miserable is relative to what you are use to….They’re crazy. I would melt without air conditioning. Melt, into a sad little puddle on the floor. Thankfully, this won’t happen,  I totally embrace and am thankful for artificial climate control every single day of summer.

It’s hot and humid in Chicago, but I won’t complain too much if the weather cools down for Cousin Carla’s visit next week. COUSIN CARLA is coming for her annual visit! Cole and I are both so excited. We always have such fun! Since Carla is coming to visit from Florida, I always hope Chicago temps will dip into the 70’s. I’ll  have to pull out a few sweat shirts for her! One of my favorite things about Carla’s visits (besides her charm and wit) is she cuts up watermelon for us! Monday can’t arrive soon enough.

Cole and I are still in the middle of our DIY project (his room). My room is next. August will be a flurry of VW Bug and DIY projects. As soon as the paint dries we will post some pictures. While the VW Bug is waiting for a few parts and for the humidity to drop I figured Cole could practice some of the skills he is learning from the DYI network! BTW have you discovered this web site: houzz.com.  Interactive and FUN. Of-course this site may be old news to you, and new news to me since I’ve just recently dipped my toe into DIY projects, but it has some great home rehab ideas!

Wishing everyone a terrific Thursday!

Odd Loves Company!