Shades Of Purple And Blue

Yesterday was one of the most miserable days this month. It was dark and gloomy with pouring rain coming down for most of the day. According to the forecast, we should be seeing more rain today that will probably last until this evening. Bleh... I feel like crawling into bed and staying there until March.

Thank goodness for all the photos I took in my garden this past summer. They come in handy on days like today; they are a reminder that there are better days ahead. Eventually...

This week it’s all about blue and purple, two colours that I love.

There is a promise of sunshine tomorrow. Here’s hoping...

Shades Of Purple And Blue

Wednesday’s Words Of Wisdom

Wednesday’s Words Of Wisdom

Quiz-O-Mania – Product Slogans

I’ve posted product slogans on Thursday’s Trivia posts, so if you’ve read them, you should be able to do fairly well on this week’s quiz.

Quizzes by Quibblo.com

Quiz-O-Mania – Product Slogans

How Much Would The 12 Days Of Christmas Cost?

Ever wondered how much it would cost to present a loved one with a gift from the items mentioned in one of the most popular holiday tunes, ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’?

A lot...

Here’s the breakdown for 2011 (US$):

A Partridge in a Pear Tree: $184.99
Two Turtledoves: $125
Three French Hens: $150.96
Four Calling Birds: $519.00
Five Golden Rings: $645
Six Geese A’Laying, $162
Seven Swans A’Swimming: $6,300
Eight Maids A’Milking: $58
Nine Ladies Dancing – $6,294.03
10 Lords A’Leaping $4,766.70
11 Pipers Piping – $2,427.60
12 Drummers Drumming – $2,629.90

(From Wikipedia)
“These figures are maintained by the U.S. bank PNC Financial Services, which has been tracking the cost of the items in the popular Christmas carol since 1984. They compile both a "Christmas Price Index" and "The True Cost of Christmas." The "Christmas Price Index" is calculated by adding the cost of the items in the song. The "True Cost of Christmas," however, is calculated by following the exact instructions in the song (buying a partridge in a pear tree on each of the twelve days, buying two turtle doves from the second day onward, for a total of 22 turtle doves, etc.) for the complete set of 364 items.”

Below are the figures since the 80s.

Pretty amazing, huh? I guess those Lords A’Leaping are out of the question...

Pop into Wikipedia for more info.

Check out PNC’s Christmas Index site

How Much Would The 12 Days Of Christmas Cost?

Tasty Tuesday – All-American Beef Stew

There’s nothing like a warm, hearty meal on a cold day, which this stew is perfect for.

All-American Beef Stew
8 Servings
Prep: 40 min.
Cook: 1-3/4 hours

Ingredients:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided
2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-1/2 cups water, divided
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 bay leaf
4 medium potatoes, cubed
6 medium carrots, sliced

Directions:

- Place 1/2 cup flour, seasoned salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Add beef, a few pieces at a time, and shake to coat.

- In a Dutch oven, brown meat in oil in batches. Remove and set aside. Add 4 cups water to the pan, stirring to loosen browned bits. Add the onion, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, garlic, sugar, salt, paprika, allspice, bay leaf and remaining pepper. Return beef to the pan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1 hour.

- Stir in potatoes and carrots. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-35 minutes or until meat and vegetables are tender.

- Combine remaining flour and water until smooth; stir into the pan.
Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Discard bay leaf.

Source for recipe and photo can be found here.

Tasty Tuesday – All-American Beef Stew

Favourite National Geographic Photos – Part 2

Below are my next 15 favourites from National Geographic’s 2011 annual photo contest...

 

This city is surrounded by smog...wow...


 

Strange but cool photo


 

Little eyes peeking from the sides


 

Another of my top favourites. I love owls, especially white ones!


 

This is so funny...a monkey sneaking a look from between the statues




Looking cool...




Parental love...


 

Looks like an apocalyptic scene




So cold that you can see the bird's breath as he sings


 

Another 'love is in the air' photo




Great camouflage




Gorgeous colours. This would make a great poster.




Nice photo of a bird in flight




One little lone tree in the midst of all that winter scene




Peek-a-boo...I see you...


(Visit NGM’s web site to view many more entries, and to upload your own:
National Geographic Photo Contest 2011)

Favourite National Geographic Photos – Part 2

Favourite National Geographic Photos – Part 1

National Geographic is having its annual photo contest, and I just had to go over to their site and take a peek at what the editors’ favourites are so far. While I was there, I selected many a few photos that really ‘spoke to me’ that I’d like to share with you. My intention was to pick my top ten, but because it was very difficult to choose from so many beautiful photos, I ended up – so far – with 30 favourites! Oh well...

Below are the first 15 photos. The rest are featured in part 2 of this post...

(Visit NGM’s web site to view many more entries, and to upload your own:
National Geographic Photo Contest 2011)

An absolute favourite of mine

Hanging on for dear life

Love is in the air...

Very cool photo of an owl flying with a look of determination on its face

I really like underwater photos

He he he...too funny!

Beautiful winter scene

So adorable!

Very serene scene

Looks like a scene in a video game

Very cool pic

I don't know what it is about it, but this photo really speaks to me

Very impressive picture!

This photo also speaks to me

Runaway hat...

Favourite National Geographic Photos – Part 1

Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday

Snapshot Sunday

“Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.”

The lovely Lilium ‘Navona’

Is it too early to wish for spring? Sigh...

Snapshot Sunday

Saturday Silliness

It’s time for some silliness...

NOW, THAT REMINDS ME

There were these two priests who rode bikes to church every Sunday. Well one day one of the priests showed up to work without his bike. The other priest asked where his bike was so the first priest said, "I don't know, but I think it got stolen!"

The other priest said, "Well what you do is read off the Ten Commandments, and when you get to "Thou shall not steal" someone will confess to the crime."

The next time the two saw each other the priest had his bicycle back. "I see you got your bike back! Did you do what I said?" the one priest said.

The other said, "Well kind of, when I was reading the commandments and I got to Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery, I seemed to remember where I had left it."


A WORRIED FATHER

A Jewish father was troubled by the way his son turned out, and went to see his Rabbi about it. "I brought him up in the faith, gave him a very expensive barmitzvah, cost me a fortune to educate him. Then he tells me last week he has decided to be a Christian! Rabbi, where did I go wrong?"

"Funny you should come to me," said the Rabbi. "Like you I, too, brought my boy up in the faith, put him through University, cost me a fortune, then one day he, too, tells me he has decided to become a Christian."

"What did you do?" asked the father.

"I turned to God for the answer" replied the Rabbi.

"And what did he say?" pressed the father.

"God said, 'Funny you should come to me...' "


A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY

A middle aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near-death experience. During that experience she sees God and asks if this is it. God says no and explains that she has another 30-40 years to live.

Upon her recovery she decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, breast augmentation, and a tummy tuck. She even has someone come in and change her hair colour. She figures that since she's got another 30 or 40 years she might as well make the most of it.

She walks out the hospital after the last operation and is killed by an ambulance speeding up to the hospital.

She arrives in front of God again and asks, "I thought you said I had another 30-40 years?"

God replies, "Sorry, I didn't recognize you."

Saturday Silliness