Wednesday Medley

We have a new person, Katsumi, running the Wednesday Medley.  Click here to go to her blog and link up.  Thank you Terri for running the Medley for so long and thank you Katsumi for taking it up now.

1. The first week of October is National Mystery Series Week. Do you sleuth alongside Nancy Drew or Miss Marple? Fan of Nero Wolfe? 
No, I've never been a big fan of reading mysteries. However, I did like Trixie Beldon as a kid.  Did anyone else read her.

2. The first week of October is also National Chili Week. Do you plan on celebrating with a bowl of red? Have a top secret recipe to share?
Hubby makes the chili at our house and it is excellent.  I do not know the recipe and as soon as it cools off a bit more, we will be having some.  He's already been talking about it. 

3. October 2nd is National Name Your Car Day. Does your car or did a family car have a name? 
Nope no names for our vehicles.  

4. Today is also National Walk To School Day. Did you walk to school with your friends? Take a school bus? Ever have someone carry your books home from school? 
I walked a few times home from school, but very few.  I was in the 5th grade and yes I did walk with my "boyfriend".  Actually, he was walking backward while we were talking and then turned around and ran into a telephone pole.  I remember I laughed (not a very good girlfriend, lol).  Mostly though I rode a bus.

5. And it is National Pumpkin Seed Day. Do you like pumpkin seeds? Do you carve the pumpkin and roast the seeds? Do you buy packaged, prepared pumpkin seeds? Or more of a pumpkin spice person?
I do not eat pumpkin seeds and I'm not a big fan of pumpkin spice.  I do like pumpkin pies and pumpkin rolls though.

6. Please tell us something interesting about your week. 
So far it's been a pretty quiet week.  Just work each day and then home in the evenings, except last night was Bible Study.  I so love our group of women.  It is always so encouraging being together.  I've also been doing a little crocheting in the evenings.  Hoping to spend a little more time tonight doing this.  I've got 2 blankets I'm working on and want to finish.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Wednesday Medley

Click here to join Terri

Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar Website.

NATIONAL RIDE THE WIND DAY 

Enjoy the last days of summer and the warm summer breezes on August 23 as you celebrate the annual National Ride the Wind Day.

National Ride The Wind Day commemorates the anniversary of the first human-powered flight to win the Kremer prize.

It was on August 23rd of 1977 that the Gossamer Condor 2,  flew the first figure-eight course specified by the Royal Aeronautical Society, at Minter Field in Shafter, California.  Slowly cruising at only 11 mph, it traveled a distance of 2,172 meters.

The Gossamer Condor 2 was built by Dr. Paul B MacCready and piloted by amateur cyclist and hang-glider pilot Bryan Allen.

The Gossamer Condor 2 aircraft is preserved at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

We all know that cooler air is right around the corner so take advantage of these nice days and get outside as much as possible. Test out those human-powered aircraft and make some history. summer breezes allow us to fly human-powered. In the event you lack a human-powered aircraft, flying a kite is always a good back plan.

Everything above this line is from the National Day Calendar.

Below are Terri's questions and my answers.

1.  Tell us about the first airplane ride you took and do you like to fly? My first flight was from Ohio to Atlanta and then to Miami.  We were taking a cruise to the Virgin Islands.  I can't say I like to fly, but I will if needed.  Mostly we just drive to where we are going and really love that.

2.  Have you ever gone hang gliding and was it on the beach with boat power, or from a mountain with only the wind and your body?  No, I have never gone hang gliding - but I love watching others do it.  I think it's so cool, but I am definitely not brave enough to do it myself.

3.  Have you ever gone kite flying and with whom? I remember flying kites as a kid some and then helping our girls fly kites.  

4.  Experimental aircraft is quite popular as a hobby where Terri lives.  Have you or anyone you know ever constructed a flying machine and did you ride in it? I personally don't know anyone that has made as flying machine and see number 2, I'd never be brave enough to ride with them.  However, we do have people in our area who do paragliding and I've photographed them.  Love watching.

We also have a lot of hot air balloons in our area.  Love to watch that too and I might possibly be brave enough to try that.

5.  Another big hobby around Lakeland is Radio Controlled Airplanes.  Have you ever seen them flying or tried your hand at it?  I have seen them flying and think they are so cool.  My brother-in-law builds them and flies them.  I understand he's really good, but I haven't seen him fly them yet.

6.  Please tell us something about your week.Nothing special so far this week.  Just work and time at home in the evening for chores and crocheting and binge watching Stranger Things.  Let me tell you, the name is very fitting!  lol

Thank you for visiting and I hope you are having a great week.

Cathy

Wednesday Medley

Click here to join Terri and friends for the Wednesday Medley. 

1.  I'm sure many kids today have no idea what V-J Day is all about.  Did you have a loved one who fought in WWII?

I believe 2 of my uncles were in the service during the war, but I’ve never heard any of their stories.  I wish now I had asked them.

2.  The iconic sculpture from the famous photograph of  "The Unconditional Surrender" has been defaced recently because of the #metoo movement. I know we can get very political about this subject, but just keeping it in the spirit for which it was created, what are your thoughts?

I think that statue is so cool and I really hate to see that it’s been defaced.  I have no comment I wish to make here about this movement.

3.  Terri's grandson, Tristan, loved playing a game called "Axis & Allies".  It was quite complicated, took up the entire dining room table, and was not something Terri wanted to play (Grandpa understood it and played though).  Can you name three Axis countries and five of the many Allies (okay to look it up!)?

Never heard of that game and I don’t know the answer right off the top of my head, I had to look it up.  Here’s the answer I found “World War II (1939–1945) Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria) versus Allies (U.S., Britain, France, USSR, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Denmark, Greece, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia).”

4.  Terri was surprised to learn that most historians agree that WWII began when Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Others say it started when Japan invaded Manchuria on September 18, 1931. And some scholars suggest WWII is actually a continuation of WWI, with a break in between.  Have you ever visited Pearl Harbor in Hawaii or any other WWII memorials around the world?

I was privileged to visit the World War II Memorial in Washington DC as a chaperone on a school trip with my oldest daughter. 

5.  Calvin Graham was only 12 years old during WWII when he enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He won a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart before the Navy found out how old he was.  (God bless him.) Terri doesn't know any 12-year olds today who could qualify or get away with something like that.  Times are so very different now but (in the US) we do have ROTC in high schools.  Do you know anyone who started in ROTC and went on to enlist in one of the services?

Yes, the daughter of  one of my friends is currently in boot camp after being involved in ROTC in high school.

6.  Please tell us something about your week so far.

It’s been a good week.  Church Sunday, and work on Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday too.  It’s been really nice to have time at home to relax in the evening (even in the midst of doing laundry).  I’m enjoying working on a crochet blanket I’m making for my hubby.  Plans are for it to be approximately 8’x8” when completed.  Currently it’s about 8’x1'.  Obviously, I’ve got a long way to go!  lol

 
The first picture is the truer color.


Thanks for visiting

Cathy

Wednesday Medley

Click here if you'd like to join in with the Wednesday Medley.

NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY – July 10

NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY

July 10th of each year celebrates National Clerihew Day in the United States.  Edmund Clerihew Bentley created the whimsical, four-line biographical poem.

An English novelist and humorist, Edmund Clerihew Bentley (July 10, 1875 – March 30, 1956), was a 16-year-old student when he thought up the lines for his first ever clerihew.

Sir Humphry Davy
Abominated gravy.
He lived in the odium

Of having discovered sodium

As with most poetry, the Clerihew is defined by a set of rules. It must contain four lines, rhyming couplets of AA/BB, a person’s name in the first line, say something about that person and it should be humorous. It is meant to be a funny poem, of course.

The genre of poetry wasn’t limited to Bentley. Other poets wrote and published in form as well, and still do.

• A Cluster of Clerihews by Gavin Ewart
• Excuse My Clerihews by William Hazell
• The Lost Clerihews of Paul Ingram by Paul Ingram (Though they don’t really seem lost, I guess they once were.)

Like limericks, poets poke fun at people real and imagined. As with any humor, it’s meant to draw a chuckle from the reader as well as the subject of the poem. If you can’t laugh at yourself and you’re the subject of a clerihew, it’s probably better not to read it. If you’re writing a clerihew about someone who can’t take a joke, maybe don’t write the clerihew. Or, write it about not being able to take a joke.

Nelly Belly ha ha
Danced to Lady GaGa.
Fell on her bum.

Cried in her rum.

HOW TO OBSERVE NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY

On National Clerihew Day, try writing a clerihew or two of your own! Post on social media using #NationalClerihewDay.

HISTORY OF NATIONAL CLERIHEW DAY

The day is observed annually on the anniversary of Edmund Clerihew Bentley’s birth, July 10th.

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Everything above this line is from the National Day Calendar.

1.  Try your hand at one of these Clerihew poems, or two or three!  

Mickey Mouse is fun
He lives in the land of the sun.
He has really big hands and feet
But I still think he's sweet.

That is it!  It's all I got!  lol

2.  Tell us something about your week so far.

I've been doing a lot of crocheting and loomknitting lately.  I've just finished these  items in the last little bit.

Hope you are having a great day!  Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Wednesday Medley

Message from our hostess, Terri.....I must admit that the National Day Calendar, at times, leaves me wondering whatever am I going to do with the choices given to us.  When I saw that it is National Paperclip Day tomorrow.... well, here we go!!  Please, please read all about this day before you skip to the questions. It really is quite inspiring!!  Seriously!
Click here if you'd like to join the Wednesday Medley.

Everything below this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

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NATIONAL PAPERCLIP DAY

National Paperclip Day is observed each year on May 29.  Yes, even the paperclip has its own day of honor. It is about that well-known piece of curved wire that keeps our papers together and helps keep us organized.

While there are much earlier claims to the invention of the paperclip, according to the Early Office Museum, the first patent for a “bent wire paper clip” was presented to Samuel B. Fay in the United States in 1867.   The original intention of Fay’s clip was to attach tickets to fabric. However, U.S. patent 64,088 recognized that it could also be used to attach papers together.

There were as many as 50 others that received patents for similar designs prior to 1899. One other notable name receiving a patent for his paperclip design in the United States was Erlman J. Wright in 1877.  At that time, his clip was advertised for use in fastening newspapers.

The Gem paperclip, which was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by The Gem Manufacturing Company, was never patented.  It is the most common type of wire paper clip and is still in use today.  It was introduced to the United States around 1892 and in 1904, Cushman & Denison registered a trademark for the “Gem” name in connection with paper clips.  Paperclips are still sometimes called “Gem clips.”

Today, paperclips come in various sizes, shapes, and colors and can make your paperwork look more fun and lively.

Paperclips are not just for holding papers together. There are many other things that you can do with them!

• Replace a zipper tab
• Unclog a spray bottle
• Unclog a single serve coffee maker
• Hem holder
• Emergency hooks for broken necklaces

The Paper Clip Project
During World War II this small, universal office supply provided a visual method of protest at a time when any outward signs of objection could be dangerous, even in familiar company.

Early in the war, Norwegians were particularly persistent in their development of symbols. The paper clip represented “sticking together” for a time until the Nazis caught on and banned the wearing of paper clips.

According to a March 5, 1941, Provo, Utah newspaper article (The Daily Herald), the Norwegians switched to new symbols as quickly as the bans could be issued.
In 1998, a group of middle school students led by language arts teacher Sandra Roberts and associate principal David Smith began a project through a Holocaust education class. The voluntary after-school class, Whitwell Middle School principal Linda Hooper’s idea, would be the foundation for developing tolerance and diversity.

Inspired by the story of the protesting Norwegians and their paper clips, the students began to collect six million paper clips – one paper clip representing one Jew who perished during the Holocaust. Adults today still wrestle with how the Holocaust could occur. Imagine middle school students trying to understand the magnitude of such an event on humanity.

The Paper Clip Project gained international attention and by 2001 the students collected more than 30 million paper clips. The school dedicated a Children’s Holocaust Memorial which displays an authentic German railcar filled with a portion of the paper clips.

For more information on this inspiring story, the book and film that followed visit www.oneclipatatime.org

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Everything above this line is from the National Day Calendar website.

1.  Wow!  Had you ever heard of the Holocaust project involving paperclips?   It is a great teaching project, for sure!  No I've never heard of that.  But it is such an interesting story.  What a horrible time in History.

2.  Have you ever created a paperclip chain?  How long did it get?  Oh I know I have, but it's been a long time and I don't believe it was especially long.

3.  I use paperclips as hooks at Christmas time to put ornaments on the tree.  Works like a charm!! What is something you used a paperclip for, other than holding papers together?  I've used it for ornament hooks also and I've unbent them some and used them with a cloth to clean between my keyboard keys.

4.  I am amazed at the shapes and colors of paperclips available.  I found my favorite... share your favorite with us here!  I found these on the internet and think they are cute.

5.  Say goodbye to May on this last Wednesday of May.  Be poetic if you will, or simply bid it adieu. May you've been a really good month, but I suppose it is time for you to go.  See you next year.

6.  Tell us something about your week so far, please!  It's been a good week so far and I'm enjoying it.  Monday we went to Plain City and had lunch at an Amish Restaurant and then came back and decorated my parents' grave.  I've also had time to do some loomknitting and binging on NCIS in the evenings.  I think we're maybe in the about the 6th or 7th season now.  We also paid off our van, which is always a good think.  So yes, I think it's a pretty good week. 

Hope you are having a good week too.  Thanks for visiting.


Cathy

Wednesday Medley

NATIONAL ROAD TRIP DAY – Friday Before Memorial Day

1.  Have you ever done a spur-of-the-moment road trip?  Yes  Where did it take you? We take spur of the moment day trips quite often.  We've gone to Amish Country in Ohio and many other places in Ohio, Indiana, KY.  We love road trips.  In fact, hopefully we'll do one on Monday.

2.  If time and money wasn't an issue, what roads would you choose to travel and how long would you be gone?  I would love to take a month and travel out west and see as much as I could.  

3.  When you go on a long road trip, what snacks and beverages do you take?Typically, we don't pack snacks and beverages.  We'd rather stop along the way and get something to snack on or drink.  We enjoy the stops.    Do you pack a picnic?  No Does the back seat turn into a nest? Well, if you mean does it get messy, yes.  But we do try to straighten it up each day.  I usually have craft stuff to work on and hubby has pillows.  So yes, I guess you could say we turn it into a nest.  

4.  Please tell us about something interesting or strange you have seen on the side of the road. One of the funniest things we saw was the "World's Largest Peanut" just off I-75 in southern Georgia.  My husband planned for us to stop with the girls and kept telling us about it and then when we got there, it was just so funny.  Not at all what I expected.  But the girls still talk about it today!

5.  Who does the driving when you head out in the car? Hubby does most of the driving, but I take the wheel some too.  Do you stop in the rest areas along our Interstate highways when you have to use the facilities, or do you choose a fast-food restaurant or gas station instead?  Not TMI... inquiring minds want to know!    Yes, we do stop in rest areas, especially love to stop in the Welcome Centers.   We also use restaurants and gas stations for the facilities too.  Just depends if we need gas or it's meal time, where and when we stop.

6.  Please share something with us about your week so far.  Hubby and I went to our nephew's jazz band concert last night.  It's been a long time since we've been to a school concert.  Loved it.

 If you choose to join the Meddlers, you can link up here.

Thanks for visiting.

Cathy

Wednesday Medley

Click here to join in with the Wednesday Medley

1.  Haiku poetry is actually pretty easy to write.  Give it a try right here...

Am not a poet

But giving it a try

Still not a poet

2.  Haiku poetry aside, have you ever written a poem?  Will you share it with us?

Nope, see the above.

3.  Do you have a favorite poet or does poetry usually make you yawn?

I'm not a big fan of poetry.

4.  April 17  is National Ellis Island Family History Day, too,  Did any of your ancestors or relatives immigrate through Ellis Island from another country? 

Yes, my great grandfather and his brother immigrated from Germany.  I've always heard one of them was a stow-a-way.  Never verified for sure.

5.  We also celebrate National Cheeseball Day on April 17th.  Do you have a favorite cheeseball recipe to share with us or have cheeseballs basically disappeared from parties today?

My sister makes a really good cheeseball and that's about the only one I ever get.  I do not have a recipe with me, although I have made it before.

6.  If you want to share, please tell us something random about your week.

After church Sunday we are leaving on a trip to Florida and Texas to visit our girls.  I can't wait!  Although, I haven't even started packing yet.  lol

Cathy