My thoughts are with my blogging friends in Hawaii, and to all the people who have been affected by the terrible fire in Lahaina.
On Monday (Aug 7) we had a storm and a tornado watch. Many of you perhaps were in the same weather system.
After the storm passed it rained for a while. I looked out periodically. Around 8.00 p.m. I saw movement on the deck. Thinking it was a squirrel I went up to the glass and peered out.
I sit beside the fire and think
Of all that I have seen
Of meadow flowers and butterflies
In summers that have been
Of yellow leaves and gossamer
In autumn that were
With morning mist and silver sun
And wind upon my hair
I sit beside the fire and think
Of how the world will be
When winter comes without a spring
That I shall ever see
For still there are so many things
That I have never seen
In every wood in every spring
There is a different Green
I sit beside the fire and think
Of people long ago
And people that will see a world
That I will never know
But all the while I sit and think
Of times there were before
I listen for returning feet
And voices at the door
I Sit Beside The Fire and Think
~J. R. R. Tolkien~
For Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, this was a poem, a song actually, sung by Bilbo Baggins. I found a great website called Tolkien's Gateway. I have provided several links which you will see below in the explanation of this poem. For non-fans I think you will still enjoy this poem.
"I sit Beside the Fire and Think" is a song by Bilbo Baggins, which he sang softly in Rivendell on 24 December T.A. 3018, the evening before the Fellowship of the Ring set out upon their quest. Bilbo sang the song in the presence of Frodo, after giving Frodo the mithril coat and and Sting. The song is a contemplative piece, sung by a now-aging hobbit recalling past events that ends in anticipation of hearing returning friends."
The poem above came from Tolkien's Gateway (this link). It has a lot more information throughout.
(The photo of the fire is from Pixabay.com)
Added note: I found an article on the dangers to wildlife when people use those spider webs all over the garden. You can read the article here.
Our son came over for one of his visits last Sunday. Always enjoyable and a few hours goes far too quickly, and am always grateful for them, never taking them for granted. One of the very best gifts can be the giving of your time, whether it's with a loved one or a friend, don't you think?
He shared these photos he had just taken, as he had stopped off at our local coffee shop to pick up a coffee for me (his Dad is not a coffee drinker). These were posted on the wall and he knew we would enjoy these dogs. He was correct and I asked if I could share them today. Thank you son!
“Scratch a dog and you’ll find a permanent job.”
~Franklin P. Jones~ (humourist)
As usually happens when I see a photo, whether I take one myself or as in this case those from our son, my curiosity goes down a very long tunnel. This one led me to finding out about the history of dogs.
The following shares are from various articles I found over a few days.
Domestic wolves, it was originally believed, appeared around 15,000 years ago in the Middle East. New evidence, however, suggests it was much earlier than that. Swedish geneticist Pontus Skoglund published a study in 2015, in the journal Current Biology, describing his findings of a 35,000-year-old Siberian wolf bone. He concluded that canine domestication may have happened 27,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Archaeological evidence and DNA analysis make the Bonn-Oberkassel dog the first undisputed example of a dog. The remains, a right mandible (jaw), were discovered during basalt quarrying in Oberkassel, Germany in 1914. First mistakenly classified as a wolf, the Bonn-Oberkassel dog was buried with two humans around 14,220 years ago.
According to genetic studies, modern day domesticated dogs originated in China, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. According to Greger Larson, an archeologist and geneticist, gray wolves were domesticated by humans somewhere in western Eurasia. He surmises people in the East were also domesticating wolves at the same time.
Scientists believe wolves were first attracted to human camps to scavenge for leftover food. Over time, some wolves started traveling with the nomadic humans and a sort of natural selection for domestication occurred, Dr. Stephen L. Zawistowski, science adviser emeritus to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), told ABC News. Women may have been the first to make these wolves a pet, according to Katherine M. Rogers, professor emerita of English from Brooklyn College, in her book "First Friend." It takes six to eight generations to domesticate a canine, according to a 40-year experiment that began in the late 1950s by Russian researcher Dmitri K. Belyaev."
Additional evidence suggests that around 15,000 years ago, early dogs moved out of Southern and Central Asia and dispersed around the world, following humans as they migrated.
More recent studies suggest humans may have first domesticated dogs some 6,400-14,000 years ago when an initial wolf population split into East and West Eurasian wolves, which were domesticated independently of each other and gave birth to 2 distinct dog populations before going extinct."
A few more interesting facts:
Service and assistance dogs have proved for centuries that dogs are good for more
than hunting and protecting property. In the 1750s, dogs started to undergo
instruction as guides for the visually impaired in a Paris hospital for the
blind.
Greyhounds win the prize for being the fastest dogs on Earth: they are able to run at speeds up to 45 miles per hour. Interestingly, there are indications in tombs that Greyhounds were kept by the Ancient Egyptians.
Every Dog Has a Unique Nose Print. One of the most fascinating dog facts reveals that a dog’s nose print is as unique a pattern as a human’s fingerprint. If you take a magnifying glass and look closely at a dog’s nose, you will see a series of bumps and ridges that are completely different than any other pet. (Cats also display this unique characteristic.)
The largest breed of dog is the Irish Wolfhound which can grow to a minimum of 105 pounds (sometimes up to 180 pounds), and stands at least 2 feet, 6 inches tall. The smallest breed, on the other hand, is the Chihuahua, which is closer to the size of a cuddly toy. They typically weigh between 2 and 6 pounds and can be around 6 to 9 inches tall. A more average-sized dog weighs between 20 and 60 pounds. Their height ranges between eight inches and 27 inches. I borrowed my photo below.
The Basenji is known as the 'Barkless Dog'. While they don't bark they have been known to yodel.
Walt Disney's Dog, Sunnee was the inspiration behind Lady and The Tramp.
The most successful search and rescue dog was a St. Bernard named Barry. Born in 1800, he saved around 40 people in his 12 years and has become a Swiss National Hero!
I hope you have found these facts interesting.
“Finland is officially the world’s happiest country. It is also 75 per cent forest. I believe these facts are related.”
(These images were found at pixabay.com, when I did a search on Finland to illustrate this quote.)
Okay, here we go!
Question: Who sent the very first photographic Christmas Card?
Answer: Annie Oakley
Annie Oakley, as many of you already know, was an American sharpshooter and trick-shot specialist, who toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
On her first visit to Glasgow, Scotland in 1891, she had a special tartan outfit made and, as the show was in town over Christmas, she had herself photographed wearing it, at the Watson & Wilson Studios, in Jamaica Street. She liked this photo so much that she had the photo turned into her own Christmas Card, sending it all over the world. This card is acknowledged to be the world's first photographic Christmas Card.
My information came from this link, and Annie's biography can be read here.
And the history of Christmas cards can be found here.
Question: Which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree?
Answer: Germany
Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century, when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th-century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. To recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.
More information about the origins of the Christmas Tree can be found here.
Question: What's a baby rabbit called?
Answer: a kitten or kit
Rabbits can have up to 15 babies, but the average litter size is 7. The female rabbit is called a doe, giving birth is called kindling and baby rabbits are called kittens. Rabbit kits are born with their eyes and ears sealed shut, and completely furless.
Other names for baby animals?
A baby antelope is called a calf
A baby beaver is called a kit
A baby coyote is called a puppy
A baby eel is called an elver
A baby fish is called a fry
A baby pigeon is called a squab or a squeaker
A baby rat is called a pup
A baby spider is called a spiderling
A baby zebra is called a foal
Question: What is the smallest country in the world?
Answer: Vatican City
Vatican City is officially called the Vatican City State, an independent city state and enclave located within Rome, Italy. It became independent from Italy with the Lateran Treaty in 1929, and it is a distinct territory under "full ownership, exclusive dominion, and sovereign authority and jurisdiction" of the Holy See. It covers an area of 49 hectares (121 acres), and is the smallest state in the world by both area and population, which is about 825, according to what I read on Wikipedia on 11-26-21.
That information and much more came from here.
According to Greek mythology, who was the first woman on earth?
Answer: Pandora
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. Her other name - Anesidora - "she who sends up gifts" ('up' implying "from below" within the earth). As Hesiod related it, each god cooperated by giving her unique gifts.
Pandora's box I have known of since childhood, when I first became interested in Greek mythology, sometimes taught at school. It is an artifact connected with the myth of Pandora in Hesiod's "Works and Days". He reported that curiosity led her to open a container left in care of her husband, thus releasing physical and emotional curses upon mankind. Stories are varied and have focused more on the contents than on Pandora herself. "A present which seems valuable but which in reality is a curse."
My information came from this link.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I hope you enjoyed the quiz. Have a great weekend!
I will always begin by saying that there is no pressure and this is only for fun. I don't always know the answers. Some I may have known but are long forgotten, and I enjoy the refresher, or learning something new.
As I am in the middle of writing Christmas Cards, I thought I would start off this month with a related question.
Question: Who sent the very first photographic Christmas Card?
Question: Which country started the tradition of putting up a Christmas tree?
Question: What is a baby rabbit called?
Question: What is the smallest country in the world?
According to Greek mythology, who was the first woman on earth?
Thanks so much for joining me today. I will be posting the answers tomorrow.
"One kind word can warm three winter months."
~Japanese Proverb~
You may remember this little guy as I have shared him before in my years of blogging, but not for a while.
I have had him since I was a year old. My parents gave him to me on my first birthday. I named him simply, "Teddy". He is worse for wear but I still love him dearly, a connection to my special loved ones. He is carefully stored in a box now, dusted off and cleaned every so often.
I took Teddy everywhere and as I got older when my parents thought that I was ready to let him go (I certainly didn't tell them that), they coaxed me into giving him to the child of a visiting friend. I was about eight or nine and I was not happy.
Before that visit was over I quietly went to said child (while adults were elsewhere no doubt) “Can I have my Teddy back?” and quietly bribed him with one of Mum's chocolate bars. (I seem to remember my Dad giving me a talking to about that chocolate bar a few days later. I gave mine up for two weeks to pay Mum back and no pocket money, tried to be extra good, did extra chores, and tried my best to keep my bedroom tidy. But I looked at Teddy and was happy.)
I was so thankful said child preferred the chocolate bar. I would have given ten chocolate bars if one didn't work. IOU if I had to, no problem. I was determined and when Teddy reappeared a few days later from out of my special hide-away place, my parents never said a word. My chat with Dad came later.
Teddy was my constant companion and would go with me everywhere. When I was sad or mad, off we would go to my hide-away place upstairs. I climbed up to the second shelf, which was a big, wooden, slatted rack, where all the linens and towels were kept over the hot water tank. It seemed high to me, but I was a climber and it was my Mount Everest. I would hear Mum’s voice saying loudly. “Hmmm....I wonder where Denise is?” She had always been in the know about my special hide-away place.
While I think about it I should tell you about the window cleaner's ladder. What an adventure that was, climbing up to the second floor at three years' old, with several more grey hairs for my Mum, and the window cleaner she told me. "You were always a climber." She and the window cleaner would probably have had a strong cup of tea afterwards. I was a climber, did I mention that already? My Mum told me that story for years and years. "You were always a climber" as she shook her head slowly from side to side and smiled. "You gave me many a grey hair when you were little. The window cleaner and I had to have an extra strong cup of tea with lots of sugar after that escapade." Sorry Mum!
Anyhow, I digress, in my hide-away place I would tell Teddy all my joys and woes.
He has been with me for a lifetime. At this age I don't really care if people think I am too old for Teddy, or his many companions I have collected over the years. The circle of life is coming around, and I find other ways to be kind.
A very cute photo that seemed to fit the theme. I found it at pixabay.com. When I found this photo it reminded me of my own dear Teddy, and I went on a search for the old photo above. Hence the trip down memory lane.
Thanks for stopping by friends, and have a great weekend.
