Ride Away

Today’s anniversary

is the patenting of the bicycle.

  Bikes sure have changed a lot!

 Way back when,

(1790) bikes were

straddled and walked…

a little like a scooter. 

You got around a little faster

 than by just walking –

 but not much,

and you had to use

 smooth pathways. 

I’d hate to dismiss

Comte Mede de Sivrac’s idea…

 but it was hardly practical!

Around 1839,

a Scotsman came up

 with a brilliant plan…

 pedals!

Kirkpatrick MacMillan’s bike

 weighed 26kilograms. 

Copycats quickly used his idea,

so MacMillan didn’t make

 any money from it.  

 Pedal into 1870

and the Penny Farthing appeared.

 This was a bloke’s bike

 because it was so dangerous

and difficult to ride…

Think of Mulga Bill

and his famous crash!

About 1885, bikes went back

to having the same sized wheels,

 which were closer to the ground.

They were much safer. 

This design was led by

J.K. Starley – around 1885. 

With inflatable tyres,

the bike ride became

more comfortable, too.

Today's bikes sure

came from interesting ideas.

Photos and Information from here.

Hungry, Hungry Caterpillar

Today is Eric Carle’s birthday.

You may be wondering

who Eric is

and what he did.

He wrote a very cool story…

about a caterpillar…

A Very Hungry Caterpillar.

He wrote this book in 1969.

 

Eric was born in Syracuse,

New York in 1929.

He moved to Germany

and completed his schooling

there before returning

to America in 1952.

He had forty bucks

in his pocket.

A lot of Eric’s books

are about animals or nature

and tell a story,

while teaching

his little readers something.

He has over 40 books

 in print and some

which are no longer

 in print.

They are printed

in several languages.

 Eric Carle’s

“The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

is his best known book.

Challenge –

Today, try to eat through

 the foods the very

Hungry Caterpillar

ate through. 

 Can you remember

what they were?

Photos from here and here.

 Foods to eat:

a red apple, two green pears, three purple plums, four red strawberries, five whole oranges, chocolate cake, ice-cream, a pickle, Swiss cheese, salami, a lollipop, a cherry pie, a single sausage, a cupcake, a whole slice of watermelon

and a single leaf.

UFO or No?

Today is UFO Day!

While it seems

I am ridiculously busy

and my mind is concentrating

on other things,

I have missed a couple of days.

It would be terrible

to miss this one…

UFO day…

I googled the most recent

sightings of UFOs

and landed myself

in Western Australia.

Ok… Still not convinced,

even after watching

the video footage. 

A cynic, I seem to be.

I checked some photos…

A little Blockbuster Movie-ish…

This is more credible.

 This was taken in 1954

by an Aussie sheep farmer

 named W. C. Hall. 

Seems there are UFOs

everywhere in Australia!

I like the idea of this one!

UFO crashes in wind turbine.

But, no…

an unmanned stealth bomber

 was being tested in the area…

 but…

there was no evidence

 of a crash left in the area…

so…

maybe it was aliens

in a UFO. 

The truth is out there,

they say!  

Photos from here.

Not All Chocolate is Good

That’s right…

Chocolate Éclair Day!

But…

To be very honest…

I don’t like chocolate eclairs

very much. 

It’s the cream. 

 There is so much of it

 stuffed in to the pastry! 

All that cream swirls around

in my guts

after I have eaten it.

If you have felt cream

swirling around in your guts,

 you know that its not

a very nice sensation! 

So, I have two choices:

 1. Eat and swirl.

2. Don’t eat… don’t swirl.

  I almost always choose

choice number two. 

If you are not a swirler,

get in and grab

a chocolate éclair! 

(This was yesterday’s post,

 but I didn’t quite

get to it!)

Photos from here.

What a Devil!

Could this be one of

Australia’s cute

and cuddly creatures? 

The Tasmanian Devil 

Hardly 

The Tassie Devil has

a devil of a temper!

It’s screams send chills

 down your back. 

It’s the world’s largest

meat loving carnivore. 

It’s size varies according

to its environment,

but they are thick,

stocky things!

Their fur is black

and some Devils have

white markings on their

chest and rump.

Males tend to weigh

up to 12kg.

They are about 30cm tall.

When the babies are born,

they attach themselves

to one of four teats

inside the pouch,

and there they stay

for about four months.

 By then, they are big enough

to start to explore

outside of their mother’s pouch.

The Tassie Devil is a scavenger

 and will eat anything

it can find, including

dead carcasses, wallabies,

small mammals, birds, reptiles,

amphibians and insects…

anything!

Their amazingly strong jaws

and teeth let them

crunch their way through

 skin, flesh and bones. 

Delicious!

The Tasmanian Devil

lives for about 8 years.

Something cool – or smelly:

when the devil is stressed,

it produces a strong stink.

If it wants to challenge

another devil,

it makes a sneezing noise.

 

Today is the birthday of Taz,

 the cartoon version

of our Tasmanian Devils.

He debuted in 1954.

 Information

Photos from here,

 here and here.

Eat ya greens!

After getting fudge belly

by over-celebrating

yesterday’s crazy day…

I am happy to settle down

 and appreciate

the healthy aspect

of today. 

It is

Eat Your Vegetables Day.

  A bit of broccoli,

cabbage and cauliflower

should ease

my fudge belly!

Any Excuse for Fudge

Tis the weekend!

Tis Fudge Day.

Enjoy!

Photos from here and here.

It's Time To Smile!

Right now, our lives

are a perfect example

of today’s special day. 

There’s not much going on

 that we can celebrate

right now…

in fact, everything

is up the proverbial creek

and no one seems

to have a paddle. 

We’re being swirled away

in the currents,

riding the rapids and

 hoping like nothing else

that we make it through

the other side

as fast as we can. 

And yet,

with all of this going on,

I have smiled each day. 

Today is

Power of a Smile Day.

Jokes and stupid,

ridiculous pictures

have kept me going.

The Power of a Smile

has kept me going. 

 

There is research and “proof”. 

Endorphins are released

when we smile. 

Endorphins are happy messages

– chemical messages that travel

 down our spine

and around our body

– spreading the happy message. 

A simple smile

can reduce our pain,

our anxiety, our stress…

Apparently, endorphins

are as powerful as morphine!

(It’s just easier to get

your hands on endorphins!)  

The Power of a Smile

is not something

to be dismissed lightly.

Use today as a reason

to smile at everyone you pass.

You never know how much

they may need one.

information

Photos from here and here.

A Bit Scratchy

China

1200s

Sandpaper was invented…

well, in kind.

Seeds and shells were crushed

 and glued to paper.

By the 1600s, sandpaper

was being called glass paper.

  Guess why…

Tiny bits of broken glass

had replaced

the shells and seeds.

By 1833, sandpaper

was being made in London. 

It was patented

in the US in 1834.

While paper is the most

common type of backing,

people use other things…

cotton, polyester and rayon.

You know, the more

I learn about sandpaper,

the less I’m interested

 in sandpaper…

It’s a pretty boring

– though very useful -

product.

Seems it's good

for art, though!

Information from here.

Photos from here.