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!

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Friday Factoids

While the  ‘Things I’ve Learned This Week’ post is off on its Summer Holibobs,  I thought we could do something different on a Friday.

So … in this new ‘Summer Season’ of Friday posts, I thought we could do perhaps something different every week, but still just as enjoyable as the ‘Things I’ve Learned This Week’ posts.

So this week …  we’re going to cover:

FACTOIDS  for a FRIDAY in June

Before we move forward…  for anyone who may not have met that word (Factoids) before:

Factoids  =  a brief or trivial item of news or information.

So … now you’re edumacation is complete and you know what a factoid is…  here for your entertainment are a few Friday Factoids!

Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys?
They are: Mizaru (See no evil),
Mikazaru (Hear no evil),
and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

The first city in the world to have a population of more than one million  was London.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses.  The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

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

The Earth’s continents all start and end with the same letter.

The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

The word enchant comes from the Latin ‘incantare’, meaning to sing or chant magical words or sounds.

The Kiwi,  national bird of New Zealand,  can’t fly, lives in a hole in the ground, is almost blind and lays only one egg each year. Yet it has survived for 70 million years.

Redheads require more anesthesia to ‘go under’ than other hair colours do.  (Yes, it’s true.  I checked it out.  Apparently Redheads need approximately 20 percent more anesthesia).

The Bible,  the world’s best-selling book,  is also the world’s most shoplifted book.

The length from your wrist to your elbow is the same as the length of your foot.

There are four types of marriage:

1. Monogamy is one wife, one husband.
2. Polygyny is one husband, several wives. 
3. Polyandry is one wife, several husbands. 
4. Group marriage is by far the rarest and has never been the prevailing form of marriage in any known society.

And finally . . .

Did you know:-
That spotted bananas are sweeter, with a sugar content of more than 20%, compared with 3% in a green banana…. and the riper a banana gets, the sweeter it gets… the sugar content increases as it ripens.

And…
Carrots have zero fat content.

And not only that, but….
Watermelons are 97% water;   lettuce 97% water;   tomatoes 95% water;   carrots 90% water;   and bread 30% water.

I know a lot of  ‘carp’, don’t I.  lol. 

Wishing you a fabulous Friday.  Thank you so much for coming and having a Friday coffee with me.

May you take your smile with you wherever you go today.  And wherever you may go…  may your God go with you.

Things I’ve learned this week …

Welcome to Cobs weekly confessional about the things I’ve learned this week.. I’m going to dive straight in . . .

I’ve learned (for the millionth time) that I just am not good in hot weather.  I get terse and grumpy.

Hello God, … it’s me again.  I’m here asking for the same thing.  Could you please turn down the heat?  You know that hot weather just makes me grumpy and miserable, so please could you turn down the heat – even just a few degrees would be welcomed.  Thank you ~ Cobs. x

This week I’ve learned that there are some projects that just don’t photograph well, and because of that I can’t blog about them until I learn how to go about getting a decent photo.  [big – s.i.g.h]

I’ve been playing with some mediums which are new to me,  learning and testing them out to see how they perform and what works with them (and what doesn’t).  These products are:  Buff it, by Pinflair;  and Brusho.

Brusho = little pots of amazing Water Colour Ink Crystals (little pots of powders to you and I) which can be used in loads of different ways.

You can sprinkle a very SMALL amount onto some watercolour paper and spraying it with a fine mist spray of water.

watercolour Brusho crystals sprinkled then sprayed

You can either then just leave it to do its own thing, or you can move it around by the use of a paintbrush or even picking it up and tipping the paper to make the colours run the way you want them to.

Wet water-colour paper, sprinkled with brusho’s then dragged across the card.  The sentiment actually says: Live Every Moment. Laugh Every Day.  Love Beyond Words.  (but I stamped it in the wrong place and you can’t read the final line.  But since these are only ‘playing’ it really didn’t matter.)

You can paint with the Brusho – and the colours are wonderful!  Again, you only need to use the tiniest amount. If you add a little to some water, in a spray bottle, you can then use it as a colour spray and add a spray of droplets to your project.

Now onto my second new crafting product..

Buff It is like the most incredible wax that you’ve ever seen  BUT … it’s NOT WAX!  I would guess that a greater majority of readers have a pot or two of wax which we use in our crafting.  But … the problem with these waxes is that they smell to high heff!  Coo do they stink.  It’s Paraffin.   However  Buff it doesn’t smell at all.  You could (if you were crazy) pour a whole tub of Buff it onto your project and still not have to fling the doors open in order to get fresh air so that you don’t collapse.  Again, this is another product which you only need a tiny amount of.

You can use it ‘as is’ … or you can add a little water to it.  A LITTLE water.  It dries quickly – so remember to take out what you need, then close the lid!  Work a little quickly with it, but if it dries out too quickly you can use a fine mister spray and add just a tiny bit of water, and it’s ready to go again!

Brusho and Buff it used together.  That’s the most incredible Gold colour not sunflower yellow as it looks in this photo.  I so wish I could have got a better photo.  Mr. Cobs saw this at this stage in the making and (in his words):  Wow, it looks like the Cosmos!  And I have to agree that when you see it with the naked eye, it actually does!

 

But … some of the projects I tried with these two wonderful craft magicals, just don’t show the real beauty which you can achieve with the products.  You can ‘see the things’ … but the camera just doesn’t pick up the magic.

Moving on …  Question for you:  When is a Sapphire not a Sapphire?  ……. [I’ll let you think about that one for a moment] ……

….. [still thinking?  —  Ready to give in?  …  ok, read on] . . .

I’ve learnt that . . . Sapphires and Rubies  . . .   are  . . .   the  same  Gem!

I know!  Surprised me, I’m telling you! 

Collectively Sapphires and Rubies are known as Corundum.  Their only difference is their colour!

Also … Sapphires don’t just come in blue.  Natural Sapphires can be found in pink,  white,  yellow,  green,  orange,  brown,  cognac,  black and purple!  (Did you know that you could get Sapphires in all these colours? It was a real eye opener to me.)  BUT …  Not only that …

Very rarely but . . . Sapphires can change colour.  Colour Change Sapphires will typically  be blue to violet in daylight, but will look purple to red indoors.

And a RARE PHENOMENON found in Sapphires is asterism.  This is where a gemstone exhibits special optical phenomena.  A six (or very rarely a twelve) pointed star will appear on the surface of the gem, that will move as the stone moves in the light.

And finally … 

I’ve learned this week …. that you don’t have to be using paper to get a paper cut, and neither do you need to be in your craft room!

Out shopping I wanted to feel the softness of a bathroom ‘rug’ (a mat for when you clamber out of the shower) – so with finger and thumb I kind of ‘pinched’ the mat so that I could get a feel for it.  But …  (be honest, you knew there was a ‘but’ didn’t you) …  in ‘pinching’ the bathroom mat, I lifted my other fingers out-of-the-way.  Now that seems like a safe enough thing to do doesn’t it?  [shakes head]  nope.  It most certainly isn’t!

The bathroom mat had a large piece of folded card over the top of it,  where a hanger was for hanging the mat up for display purposes.  In feeling the rug/mat,  I caught my middle finger (left hand) on the really thick card, and instantly felt the pain.  I looked down at my finger to see a gash with blood gently pumping out of it.

Now  come on!  Who would have thought that you could get a right ol’ paper cut from thick and chunky piece of card??  I could not believe it.

Mr. Cobs didn’t, in my opinion, take this injury at all seriously.  Do you know what he did when I showed him my life threatening injury?   He peered at my bloodied finger, pursed his lips, looked at me, made a ‘huhm’ sound, turned to walk off and as he did so he said:  “Well you won’t be doing that again, will you!”

I stopped in my tracks,  mouth agape, eyes as wide as saucers, … I called after him:  “You do know that you can be replaced, don’t you?” …  he ignored me totally, and  from the shaking of his shoulders  I could tell he was laughing at me.  The cheek of the man!

The thing is …  he knows I won’t ‘replace’ him because,  quite frankly,  I couldn’t bear to go through all that training again.  The man couldn’t boil an egg until I whipped him into shape.  He can now cook a complete Christmas dinner with very little input from me.  He’s amazing.  But look .. if you see him, please don’t tell him I said this because he’ll only get high with delight and strut around like a rooster in a hen-house!

Well that’s me done and dusted and now it’s over to you.  What have you learned this week?   Do share …  not because I’m nosey … but because … no…  actually … it’s because I’m nosey.  So do share what you’ve learned this week via a comment in the box below ….  and none of us will judge you.  We might laugh at you … or we might cry with you.  But we’ll certainly make you feel welcome.

Ohhhhh… I think The Lord may have heard my request because the rumbling of thunder can be heard.  Maybe he’s going to cool it down by watering his garden.  Oh my goodness  … BIG thunder and crashing lightning!   Ooo.. the lights have all dimmed, the TV has lost its signal ….  awww,  and the dog has come to sit on my feet as apparently I’m her best hope if something bad happens.  I’m going to get this post saved and posted before I lose the computer too!  eeek!

Wishing you a very happy Friday, and a wonderful weekend.  May your troubles be few and your happiness be high.

Oh ..  and …  be nice to each other.  Sending you squidges ~