This Blog Is Moving

Yesterday, as I was visiting other blogs, it came to me. What my new blog name will be. Ready? Okay, here it is...

Plowing Through Life

Well, what do you think?

Doesn’t it fit with what type of blog I have? About gardening and day to day living? And that I’m sort of plowing through both?

I guess it doesn’t really matter. It’s done. I’m moving. I still have some ironing out to do with my profile and some of the blog settings, but I’m packed and ready to go. The layout of my new blog is exactly the same (for now), so you won’t even notice the difference.

Anyway.

Please update links to my blog (if you’re a regular visitor):

Plowing Through Life
http://plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com

That’s where I’m headed now; see you there...

This Blog Is Moving

Ferrety Friday

It’s amazing how expensive toys are at a pet store, especially for more exotic pets such as the beloved fuzzies, a.k.a. ferrets. As if the pets care how much you pay. Or what you buy them. They don’t. Pets don’t give a flying hoot whether the toys you give them are ridiculously-priced. Or super-duper cheap. Or new. Or used. Or whatever.

If you have a ferret, don’t waste your money on store-bought toys (well, unless you have money to spare) because they’re so easily entertained that just about anything will do.

For example, cardboard boxes will literally have them ‘dooking’ with delight. Just punch a couple of holes through the boxes (that you can pick up for free at the grocery store) and watch your fuzzies tunneling through happily. And if you really want to make their day, tape some boxes together, make doorways, connect them with tubes and voila! Your ferrets will be in heaven.

Below are some photos of homemade ferret castles:


Even Nacho wants to join in on the fun.


Yes, they’re not the most visually appealing, but a little creativity will modify that.


So don’t spend too much money at the pet store. Just use your imagination and build your own playground for your fuzzies.

Homemade toys are fun. Right guys?


Ah, the sounds of a happy fuzzy...

Ferrety Friday

Suggestions Needed

Dear blog visitors (yes, you too, the ones that lurk but never leave comments), I would really appreciate your help with a couple of things.

1) For quite awhile, I maintained (and regularly updated) a website about houseplants (yes, it was called Water Roots), which I really enjoyed. But it wasn’t free (I had to pay for the domain name and web hosting), so eventually I reached a point where I didn’t want to be burdened with that expense anymore. Anyway. To make a long story short, I want to incorporate a weekly post about houseplants on my blog. I have a lot of articles from my Water Roots website that I can bring in; once all those articles are added to this blog, I can work on others.

Now, what I need from you dear readers is a catchy, creative title for a day of the work that will focus on houseplants. And I can’t for the life of me think of anything!

For those of you who visit my blog regularly, you are aware of some of the weekly topics I try to keep going regularly like:

Monday Musings (my thoughts and ideas about a variety of themes)
Tasty Tuesday (recipes)
Thursday’s Trivia (useless but interesting information)
Ferrety Friday (photos and/or information about ferrets)
Saturday Silliness (humor, jokes)
Snapshot Sunday (interesting, favourite photos)

Nothing, so far, has been dedicated to Wednesdays, although I usually write about garden goings-on. This doesn’t mean that Wednesday has to be the ‘all about houseplants’ day, unless one of you can think of a catchy title for it. And I certainly don’t mind one of the other days having a double theme, which would allow me the opportunity to write about one or the other, or both. For instance, if Monday was dedicated to the musings stuff and to houseplants, then if one week I didn’t feel like writing about my thoughts on a particular topic, I would write about houseplants. And maybe on some Mondays, when I had more time and felt very creative, I’d add two posts.

You know what I mean?

So if you have some good ideas for a catchy title (for any day of the week), I would love to hear from you.

2) I would like to change my blog’s name. Because the posts on it are so diverse, covering so many aspects of day to day living, I’d like to give it a more fitting name. Again, I can’t come up with a single thing; it seems my imagination and creativity are at a standstill. So I’m reaching out to you, my readers, for suggestions. If you can come up with an interesting blog name, please share it with me. If I like it, and it’s available, I will use it.

Thanks for reading this. I hope to hear from some of you!

Suggestions Needed

Thursday’s Trivia

This week’s trivia is all about questions and answers. See how many of the questions you can get right. Write down your answers and compare them to the ones listed at the bottom.

Good luck. And no peeking!

Questions:

1. Who was the last president of the Soviet Union?

2. What political system was gradually dismantled in South Africa, starting in 1989?

3. Where is the Suez Canal?

4. What is the first organism to grow back after fire?

5. Where is the Golden Gate Bridge?

6. Where is Broadway?

7. What's the first name of Shakespeare?

8. Where is the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

9. Where is Notre Dame?

10. Which country gave the USA the 'Statute of Liberty?

11. What is the name of the worlds highest water fall?

12. What is the smallest country in the world?

13. Where is the world’s largest supply of fresh water?

14. Where is the Highest Elevation on Earth?

15. Where is the tallest Mountain on Earth?

16. What bird was domesticated first?

17. How many glasses of milk does a cow produce in her lifetime?

18. How long does it take light from the sun to reach the earth?

19. How far is the moon from the earth?

20. How much bigger is the sun than the earth?

21. Which planet is closest to the sun?

22. What is the sun made out of?

23. What powers the sun?

24. How old is the sun?

25. How old is the earth?

26. How old is the universe?

27. Which planet spins the fastest?

28. Which planet spins the slowest?

29. How long is a Martian year?

30. Does the sun rotate?

31. What spot once registered 134 degrees, the highest temperature ever in the U.S.?

32. What is the Milky Way?

33. What are the two top selling spices in the world?

34. What is the most widely eaten fish in the world?

35. What nation produces two thirds of the world's vanilla?

36. What was the first commercially manufactured breakfast cereal?

37. Where did the pineapple plant originate?

38. What nutty legume accounts for one sixth of the world's vegetable oil production?

39. What country saw the cultivation of the first potato, in 200 A.D.?

41. What falling fruit supposedly inspired Isaac Newton to write the laws of gravity?

42. What method of preserving food did the Incas first use, on potatoes?

43. What's the groundnut better known as?

44. What sticky sweetener was traditionally used as an antiseptic ointment for cuts and burns?

45. What unit of electrical power is equal to one joule per second?

46. What planet is closest in size to our moon?

47. What measure of energy comes from the Latin word meaning "heat"?

48. What's removed from water in the process of desalination?

49. What unit of measure do you multiply by .39 to convert it to inches?

50. What method of underwater detection is short for "sound navigation and ranging"?

51. What continent is subjected to the world's largest ozone hole?

52. What sea creature can have an eye measuring 16 inches across, the largest in the animal kingdom?

53. What's the most malleable metal?

54. What was the first country to recognize Mexico's independence, in 1836?

55. What Russian cleric was poisoned, shot and finally drowned on December 30, 1916?

56. What country suffered the worst two earthquakes in history, killing 830,000 in 1556 and 750,000 in 1976?

57. What physicist's last words were not understood because his nurse did not speak German?

58. What 1947 invention by Bell Telephone Laboratories spawned pocket-sized radios?

59. What Italian astronomer invented the thermometer in 1592?

60. Who averaged one patent for every three weeks of his life?

61. What was the first organ successfully transplanted from a cadaver to a live person?

62. What do mathematicians call a regular polygon with eight sides?

63. What century did mathematicians first use plus and minus signs?

64. What's the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men?

65. What does "CPR" stand for in medical emergencies?

66. What, along with heart disease and cancer, accounts for 64 percent of U.S. deaths?

67. What virus did the World Health Organization say would infect 40 million people by the year 2000?

68. What do doctors look at through an ophthalmoscope?

69. What do leukemia sufferers have too many of?

70. What was the first planet to be discovered using the telescope, in 1781?

71. What was Friedrich Serturner the first to extract from opium and use as a pain reliever?

72. What disease is the focus of oncology?

73. How many U.S. states border the Gulf of Mexico?

74. What continent is cut into two fairly equal halves by the Tropic of Capricorn?

75. What explorer introduced pigs to North America?


Answers:

1. Mikhail Gorbachev.

2. Apartheid.

3. Egypt.

4. Moss.

5. San Francisco, California, USA.

6. New York City, USA.

7. William.

8. Pisa, Italy.

9. Paris.

10. France.

11. Angel falls in Venezuela, South America.

12. Vatican City. Population: 1,000.

13. Brazil is estimated to have the largest supply of fresh water in the world, followed by Canada and Russia. (Yay, Canada!)

14. Mt. Everest, Asia: 29,035 feet (8850 m).

15. Mauna Kea, Hawaii - 33,480 feet (rising to 13,796 feet above sea level).

16. The goose.

17. Nearly 200,000.

18. Approximately 8 minutes and 18 seconds.

19. The actual Earth-Moon distance ranges from about 360,000 to 405,000 kilometers, depending on the position in the Moon's orbit. (223,694 to 251,665 miles)

20. The Earth is about 13 thousand kilometers (8000 miles) wide, whereas the Sun is roughly 1.4 million kilometers (900,000 miles) across. If the Sun were a hollow ball, you could fit about one million Earths inside of it!

21. Mercury.

22. The Sun is at present about 70% hydrogen and 28% helium by mass everything else amounts to less than 2%

23. Fusion, the same as a hydrogen bomb.

24. About 5 billion years.

25. About 4.5 billion years old.

26. At least 15 billion years old, but probably not more than 20 billion.

27. Jupiter is the fastest spinning planet in our solar system rotating on average once in just under 10 hours.

28. Venus is the slowest spinning planet in the solar system. It rotates only once every two hundred forty-three Earth days

29. The orbital period of Mars is 686.9726 days.

30. The movements of the sunspots indicate that the Sun rotates once every 27 days at the equator, but only once in 31 days at the poles.

31. Death Valley.

32. The Milky Way is a spiral galaxy.

33. Pepper is first and mustard is second.

34. The Herring

35. Madagascar.

36. Shredded Wheat.

37. In South America. It didn't reach Hawaii until the early nineteenth century.

38. The peanut.

39. South America.

40. The plum tree.

41. An Apple.

42. Freeze-drying.

43. The peanut.

44. Honey.

45. The Watt.

46. Mercury.

47. The calorie.

48. Salt.

49. Centimeters.

50. Sonar.

51. Antarctica.

52. A squid.

53. Gold.

54. The U.S.

55. Rasputin.

56. China.

57. Albert Einstein's.

58. The transistor.

59. Galileo.

60. Thomas Edison.

61. A kidney.

62. An octagon.

63. The sixteenth.

64. Prostate cancer.

65. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

66. Stroke.

67. HIV.

68. The eye.

69. White blood cells, or leukocytes.

70. Uranus.

71. Morphine.

72. Cancer.

73. Five.

74. Australia.

75. Christopher Columbus.

So? How did you do?

Thursday’s Trivia

Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs

Did you honestly think I wasn’t going to plant any bulbs this autumn. And not post about them when I did?

Not a chance.

Of course I added bulbs to my garden. Lots and lots of bulbs that will grace my garden come next spring.

I planted a large amount of daffodils and tulips near my kitchen window:



And I planted crocus, hyacinth, daffodils and tulips near my living room window:


When all the bulbs were buried in the soil, hubby cut up some netting and covered them up so that Mr. Squirrel (that pest!) won’t get to them.



If everything goes well, I will be enjoying spring blooms from the front and back of the house. I’m really looking forward to that.

So I’m happy.

The gnomes, on the other hand, aren’t as thrilled. This is what they have to say:


Ah, gnomes...always complaining about something. You should never take them too seriously. They’ll feel much better after a long winter rest.

Bulbs, Bulbs, Bulbs

Tasty Tuesday – Pan-Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops

If you like lamb chops, you will love the awesome recipe below. The marinade will make the meat tender, juicy and delicious.

Pan-Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops

(Original recipe can be found here.)

Ingredients

- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Four 8- to 12-ounce lamb shoulder chops

Directions

To make the marinade: whisk the lemon juice, mustard, rosemary, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of the salt together in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the oil and season with pepper.

Transfer the marinade to a large sealable plastic bag. Put the lamb chops in the bag, seal, and shake vigorously to evenly coat the meat. Marinate at room temperature for 1 hour or in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 12.

Remove the chops from the marinade and transfer them to a plate. Discard the marinade. Using a spoon, lightly scrape the remaining marinade off the chops and pat them dry.

Preheat a large cast-iron grill pan over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-high. Season the chops with salt. Place 2 chops on the grill pan, and cook until the chops have distinctive grill marks, about 3 minutes. To make crosshatched grill marks, re-position the chops, moving them about 45 degrees on the ridged pan, and continue to cook about 3 minutes more. (The chops will have only cooked on one side at this point.) Set the chops aside and repeat with the remaining 2 chops. Return the first set of chops to the pan to cook them on the other side. Reduce the heat to medium low, and cook the chops until medium-rare, about 2 minutes. Repeat with the other chops. Let the chops rest for about 5 minutes and serve.

(Cook's note: This is the perfect workday-week recipe. In the morning before work, shake the lemony marinade and lamb chops in a plastic bag, and then store it in the refrigerator for the day. When you come home, you'll have ready-to-grill lamb chops waiting for you.)

(My note: I marinade the chops for at least 6 hours. And although I usually fry them (I just use a regular frying pan), I also grill them during the months when we have our BBQ out, and they're equally delicious.)


Enjoy!

Tasty Tuesday – Pan-Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops

Monday’s Musings

It is extremely rare that I’m ever moved by a politician’s speech. In fact, I don’t much like politicians. But this video on YouTube pulled at the strings of my heart:



I applaud Mr. Burns for giving hope to all teens, and particularly to the gay ones. Because being a bullied teenager is hard enough, but being a gay teen that is being bullied is even harder. And I don’t know what Mr. Burns’s stances are on the political spectrum, some of which may likely differ from mine, but if more politicians showed this kind of courage, compassion and raw emotion, it would renew my faith in our leaders. And if more people were as concerned as this man is, the world would be a better place. He makes me appreciate humanity a little more.

Bullying in schools has become a big problem, and it seems to be getting worse as time goes on. And I’m afraid that until we, the parents, get involved in our children’s lives and teach them to respect, to be kind and to be compassionate, teens committing suicide because of severe bullying and harassment will continue to rise. Until we, the parents, teach our children to live and let live, many kids will keep on taking their own lives. And the next one might be your son or daughter.

You don’t have to like everyone. You don’t have to agree with their beliefs or choices. You don’t have to be keen on their lifestyle. And you’re certainly entitled to your opinion and the freedom to express it. But what you cannot do is use aggression and violence (physical or verbal) against another human being – any human being – just because you don’t like them. Or agree with their opinion. Or define the world in the same way. Every human being has the right to a safe and harmonious life, and to be respected and valued.

(I thank one of my favourite bloggers, Mr. Subjunctive, the author of the blog ‘Plants Are the Strangest People’, for bringing this heartbreaking speech to my attention.)

More of my thoughts on bullying can be found here.

Monday’s Musings