Wednesday Reader August 31 | Flamingos

WEDNESDAY READER | August 31

Well here we are.  Last day of August.  How time flies.  I’m already looking forward to the Fall season.  Changes of season – I love all.  I present to you the last Wednesday Reader of August.  Enjoy!

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POP Quiz

POP QUIZ

    1. WHICH QUARTERBACK IS THE ONLY PLAYER INDUCTED INTO THE PRO FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME AND THE CANADIAN HALL OF FAME?
      a) Doug Flute
      b) Joe Kapp
      c) Warren Moon
      d) Joe Theismann
    2. SCOTUS” AND “POTUS” HAVE BEEN AROUND SINCE THE 19TH CENTURY, BUT “FLOTUS” FIRST CAME INTO USE IN THE 20TH CENTURY AS AN ACRONYM FOR WICH U.S. FIRST LADY?
      a) Barbara Bush
      b) Hillary Clinton
      c) Betty Ford
      d) Nancy Reagan
    3. WHAT STYLE OF SLEEVE A LOOSE FITTING ARMHOLE IS NAMED FOR A NOBLEMAN WHO LOST AN ARM IN BATTLE?
      a) Bell
      b) Dolman
      c) Raglan
      d) Mahoitres
Wednesday Reader August 31 2022

QUICK QUESTION

WHEN DID YOU LAST TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS?

Wednesday Reader August 31 2022

POP QUIZ ANSWERS

  1.  c) Warren Moon
  2.  d) Nancy Reagan
  3.  c) Raglan
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DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL

You’ve failed many times, although you might not remember:

  • You fell down the first time you tried to walk.
  • You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim, didn’t you?
  • Did you hit the ball the first time you swung a bat?
  • Heavy, hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also strike out a lot.
  • R.H. Macy failed 7 times before his store in New York City caught on.
  • English novelist John Creasey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books.
  • Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs.

Don’t worry about failure.  Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.

~ from an old newspaper article, circa 1980s

DON’T TRUST EVERYTHING YOU SEE. EVEN SALT LOOKS LIKE SUGAR.

(( Starve the Landfills.  Recycle.))

RIDDLE ME THIS

WHAT HAS 13 HEARTS BUT NO OTHER ORGANS?

Wednesday Reader August 31 2022
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CONFETTI SLAW

Replace the tired, old coleslaw recipe with this exciting one.  Thank you Luci for the recipe!  Hippie Cowboy customers were wild about this side.

In a large bowl:
6 cups, shredded cabbage
2 oranges, peeled and cut into bite size pieces
2 red apples (Delicious or Gala), chopped
2 cups red, seedless grapes – halved
1/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Mix all together with a spoon or clean hands.

Confetti Slaw Dressing:
1/2 cup good quality mayonnaise
1/4 cup milk
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Whisk dressing until well combined.

Add dressing to cabbage + fruit and mix well.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Serves 6-8

~ Hippie Cowboy Recipe Box

RIDDLE ANSWER

A DECK OF CARDS

Wednesday Reader August 31 2022
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THE PERFECT PET

We knew we weren’t ready for a dog.  The search for the perfect pet began there.

“Cat?” my husband suggested.

“I’d rather not invite something into my home that would immediately begin plotting my death,” I said.  “How about a rabbit?’

“Why would we get a pet that needs to stay in a cage?”

I saw his point.  We were getting our first pet as a step into our adulthood.  We had just bought our first home.  The itch driving us into pet ownership was a clear precursor to pending parenthood.  At that point in our relationship, we had only ever tried to care for one thing, a houseplant named Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart didn’t survive the summer and we were fairly traumatized.  But it had been a few years.  We were married now and living on a different coast from the one where Wal-Mart had been underwatered and then overwatered to his early demise.

We were ready for a pet, but finding a cage-free animal that could live in an urban neighborhood and was not a dog or a cat was challenging.  After months of research, we settled on getting a pig.  We were pretty excited about it and told everyone how we were about to become proud pig parents.  However, prior to purchasing one, I came across a pig advocacy site warning pigs can be aggressive toward babies.  Deal breaker.

It was around this time I learned about a breed of rabbit called Flemish giants.  Known as gentle giants, they make great family pets, and because they can be trained to go in a litter box, can live outside a cage, roaming freely around the house like a cat.  We picked up our Flemish giant a month later, and staying true to our assertion that we would be pig parents, named him Pig.

Pig came to us after his previous owners returned him to his breeder at 13 weeks.  They had discovered he was a runt and would not be able to compete in rabbit shows.  Our runt grew to a measly 18 lbs.

We nick-named him Piggy Smalls.

The first few months, Pig didn’t stray far from his litter box.  He seemed scared in the big house, not used to a life outside a cage, not used to a life dedicated to little more than daily brushings.  I had just about given up on the idea that Pig would socially connect with us, when he hopped over to the couch to be near us for the first time.  He wasn’t ready to be touched but was ready to be near.

By end of year one, our first born, as we lovingly referred to Pig, had taken full control of our house.  He would hop over to greet us as soon as we came home from work.  He would place his front two paws on my shoulders to give me kisses on my lips.  He would nudge us with his head, stamp his back foot or even give a small nip if he was in the mood to be petted and we weren’t bending to his bunny demands.

In the early years, our lives revolved around Pig.  We told everyone about his hilarious antics, how he would pull pillows off the couch and create obstacle courses for himself.  About how each time he shed, new black zigzagging designs would appear on his gray coat.  How gorgeous he was.  When he exclusively chewed on my leather shoes and bags, we were impressed by his high-end taste.

He was a family man.  After we brought our son home from the hospital, Pig inserted himself into caretaking.  He would run at full speed from the kitchen to the nursery whenever he heard the baby crying, standing up on his hind legs to check on his new brother.  He adapted to a life of being pulled, tugged and hugged too tight by little people who loved him.

Over the years, Pig slowed down.  He didn’t jump as high or run as fast.  But he was always up for snuggling.  Even in his last days, Pig would force his head under our hands for a pet and would nudge stamp or nip if we didn’t show him his due affection.

This week, we laid our fur baby to rest.  Pig loved fluffy rugs, computer cords and bananas.  He loved us more.  And we him.

We had been in search for the perfect pet.  We got so much more.  Rest in peace, Piggy.

~Katiedid Langrock archives, copyright 2017 Creators

Fascinating Stuff

  • A hungry Asian fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) taps the water’s surface with its paw to attract fish.  When the fish pop up to investigate the hubbub, the cat dives in and grabs them.  Fishing cats are naturally adapted to this un-catlike hunting behavior.  Their feet are webbed, their heads compact and their tails short.  But their most distinctive adaptation is a dense, water-resistant under layer of fur that protects their skin when they hunt in the water.  They’ll even swim under unsuspecting waterfowl and tug them down by the legs.
  • Paraguay is the only United Nations member country whose national flag has designs on its front and back.  The obverse, or front, of the flag shows a yellow star symbolizing independence surrounded by palm and olive leaves and the words, Republica del Paraguay.  The reverse shows a lion facing east, a staff, a Phrygian cap and the word, Paz y Justicia (Peace and Justice).  In the United States, Oregon is the only state whose flag has different sides on either side: the state seal on the front and a golden beaver on the back.
  • Elmer the bull, mascot of Elmer’s adhesive products since 1947, is the husband of Elsie the cow, mascot of Borden’s dairy products.  Elsie appeared first, in ads encouraging people to drink milk.  She and Elmer married in 1940 and later became the parents to Beulah, Beauregard and the twins Larabee and Lobelia.  The cartoon Elsie was so beloved, Borden chose a fawn colored Jersey cow to be the real life Elsie in 1939 at the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City.  When that cow died, her obituary was published in the New York Times.
  • Starting in early October and ending December 5 each year, a team of 40 gardeners plant 7 million bulbs by hand!  … in the meticulously planned beds of Keukenhof garden in the Netherlands.  Mainly a showcase for Dutch commercial flower growers, the 79 acre Keukenhof garden is open to the public for just eight weeks a year (March22 to May 13 in 2018) when the hyacinths, crocuses, daffodils and tulips are blooming.
  • Soft, creamy ricotta, used in lasagna, manicotti and Italian cheesecake, is made from the whey left over cheese, such as mozzarella is produced.  Technically, ricotta isn’t a cheese, it’s a dairy by-product.  Its name is Italian for recooked.

~ Leslie Elman archives, Trivia Bits trademark

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