The Friday Post

Aaaand … here we are again.  I’m beginning to get a very regular feeling of deja vu around this time on a Friday, every single week.  Don’t know why that would be.  🤓

I trust this week has been good for you, and that no ‘disasters’ have happened to you or yours personally.  I’m still having some problems with blog posts not appearing in my ‘Reader’, so I’m having to do a combination of two things:  1. try to go down the list of blogs I follow to ensure that I’m caught up… and  2.  Trust to luck that I’m not missing something vital that any one has posted.  However .. if I have, poke me with the sharp end of a pencil and show me the way to what I should have been reading. (i.e. give me a link)t

So anyhoo … you’re here to have a little Friday Fun, so let’s get on with that shall we?   Because the Factoids were so enjoyed by folks a few weeks ago, I thought I’d re-visit that subject matter again and  share some more of the stuff I have (uselessly) stored in my one brain cell).

Do you have your Seat Belt on?  Air Mask fitted correctly?  Medication taken?  Incontinence Pants on?  (‘Depends’ for some of you)...  and finally … Please Leave Your Mobile/cell Phone and your watch, and your Earrings at Reception.  You’ll be given a clear sealable bag to put it inside, and you will fill out your name in the special box on the outside of the bag, – in order to collect your phone after the ride.    **ENJOY!  (**that’s an order by the way!)

FACTOIDS   –   Did you know:-

Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women.

A mole can dig a tunnel 300 feet long in just one night!

Carrots have zero fat content. (but you can get an unattractive orange tinge to your skin if you eat too many of them.)

Watermelons are 97% water, –  lettuce 97% water, –  tomatoes 95% water , –  carrots 90% water, –  and bread 30%

Ernest Vincent Wright’s 1939 novel ‘Gadsby’ has 50,110 words, none of which contains the letter “e.”

Don’t believe that a novel could be without any e’s?
Here’s an excerpt from page one of Wright’s  ‘Gadsby’:
“If youth,  throughout all history,  had a champion to stand up for it;  to show a doubting world that a child can think;  and, possibly, do it practically;  you wouldn’t constantly run across folks today who claim that “a child don’t know anything.”  A child’s brain starts functioning at birth;  and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adults act, and figuring out its purport.”

Great Britain was the first county to issue postage stamps, on 1 May 1840. Hence, UK stamps are the only stamps in the world not to bear the name of the country of origin.

And from the movies:

In “Father of the Bride”,  Annie and Bryan marry on January 6.  But in the opening montage of “Father of the Bride 2” there is a framed invitation of their wedding which states that they were married on October 9.

Towards the end of the Forrest Gump, Forrest narrates that his wife died on a Saturday. When he is at her grave in the next scene, the tomb stone shows her passing on March 22, 1982, which is a Monday.

The movie with the most ‘extras’, (minor people who make up the background scenes) – was the 1982 British movie Gandhi,  which featured 300,000 extras.

Mel Blanc, who played the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots.

Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia  ….  is a REAL word and not one of my infamous made up ones.  It means:  A fear of long words.  Yes. Really.  Honestly.  Truthfully.  I think that’s irony at it’s best.

On average, you speak almost 5,000 words a day – although almost 80% of speaking is *self-talk  (i.e. *talking to yourself ).  . . . . . .*parents would know  about this feeling – LOL

Diamonds they say, are a girls best friend.. here are some factoids about diamonds:

Impurities lend diamonds a shade of blue, red, orange, yellow, green and even black. A green diamond is the rarest.

A diamond is the hardest natural substance on earth, but if it is placed in an oven and the temperature is raised to about 763 degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish, without even ash remaining.  Only a little carbon dioxide will have been released.

However... diamonds are brittle. If you hit one hard with a hammer, it will shatter

A diamond carat differs from a gold carat.  The gold carat indicates purity – pure gold being 24 carats.  One diamond carat is 200 milligrams (0.007055 oz).  The word carat derives from the carob bean.  Gem dealers used to balance their scales with carob beans because these beans all have same weight.

A diamond is 58 times harder than the next hardest mineral on earth, corundum, from which rubies and sapphires are formed.  It was only during the 15th century that it was discovered that the only way to cut diamonds was with other diamonds.

The tradition of a diamond engagement ring started in 1477 when Archduke Maximilian of Austria gave a diamond ring to Mary of Burgundy.  The modern tradition is the result of a clever advertising campaign designed by N.W.Ayer in the 1940s.

Los Angeles’s full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río Porciúncula and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size:-  L.A.

and finally….

After I made up that pile of pooh about Snails having a SatNav  (although I did rather like the idea…  and the ‘magical quality’) …  I thought I’d perhaps better find out the truth and share it with you so that you’d be able to quote your knowledge and show people how educatinamalised you are….

Snails have something like a flat foot located on the bottom side of their slime-like body’s.  There are muscles within the ‘foot’ that are constantly contracting and expanding to create movement.  It’s actually the ‘foot’ that creates the slippery trail commonly seen with snails.  It’s a special gland that excretes the slime which hardens when it comes into contact with the air.

(I still prefer my Sat Nav idea.  It sounds far more magical and special!)  lol   😊

Well … while you drink the last gulps of your coffee I’ll wind up this blog post with a few jokes.  Now be careful.   No choking on your coffee,  or spraying your computer screen/tablet  (or the woman sat in front of you on the bus – if you’re reading this on your cell phone) . . .

What kind of bagel can fly?  —->A plain Bagel<—-click, hold the click and drag it to the right to reveal the answer.

Where do animals go when their tails fall off? —>The Retail Store<—click, hold the click and drag again to reveal the answer.

How does a Train eat? —>it goes CHEW CHEW<—click, hold and drag again.

I Tried to take a photograph of some Fog.—–>MIST<—click, hold and drag.

Just before I go …  a wee update on the little Robin I told you about on July the 8th [click here to be taken to the post if you missed it].  I’m filled with happy bubbles to be able to share with you that this darling little bird finally gathered up all of his courage on Wednesday this week and visited not one but both bird feeders and spent a little time enjoying everything which was on the menu. 

And with that …. I shall quote one of my most favourite Gaelic blessings:  May the road rise up to meet you.  May the wind be always at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face;  the rains fall soft upon your fields,  … and,   until we meet again, …  may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Be good to yourself,  and to others you meet today. 

Sending buckets of love your way ~  ❤️ 💛 💚 💙 💜 🖤  ~  in Rainbow colours!