Guess what it is time for another freaky creature, this week it is the Texas Horned Lizard.
It has a crown of thorns is also known as the Horny Toad because of its rounded body. This body can be puffed up when threatened. It has another form of defence; it can shoot a stream of blood from the corner of its eyes and occasionally its mouth. This liquid can go as far as 1.5 metres or 15 times the length of its body, it is a cocktail of blood and chemical that’s foul tasting to predators such as wolves and coyotes.
Its horns are bony extensions of its skull and are part of its armoury, along with its spiked scales.
It is one of about 21 North American species of spikey-bodied reptiles called horned lizards. It is mostly found in the south-central regions of the USA and northeastern Mexico.
Because it is listed as a threatened species, it is illegal to pick up, touch or possess them in Texas.
They are considered harmless to humans and pets as they are known for their docile and unaggressive nature.
Here we are on Monday yet again, this week we are back to some facts about the Earth.
Seas and oceans are constantly moved by tides, which are caused by the Moon. As the Moon travels around the Earth the force of its gravity makes the water on either side of the Earth bulge. In a 24-hour period this will cause two high tides and two low tides when the sea level is at its highest or lowest.
Rivers are formed when streams join together, flowing across the land and eventually into the sea or lake. The alter the surface of the Earth over time by eroding the rocks they flow over and by depositing rocks, pebbles, sand and slit as they go.
The Pacific Ocean is the worlds largest ocean covering around 30 per cent of the Earth’s surface.
The longest river is of course the Nile at 6,853km or 4,258 miles in length.
The shortest river is the Roe River in Montana at only 61 metres or 201 feet in length, in 1989 it entered the Guinness Book of Records as the shortest river.
I am up, washed and dressed ready for the day, the front and back sliding doors are open even though it is only 17 degrees, but I don’t like the thought of the house smelling stuffy or as my daughter would say smelling like old people and opening the doors and windows can stop that.
Apple, jelly, and custard for breakie.
It is 9am and I am drenched in sweat and my phone, and the laptop say it is only 20 degrees, so I checked the thermometer on the wall it says 21 degrees.
Ok by midday it was 26 degrees, and I was still sweating.
DAWSON’S BIRTHDAY HE IS 25 TODAY
Well, it is Monday and no school today being a public holiday, it is only 16 degrees this morning but still I opened the doors, the temp by 9am was 19 degrees. Got to a high of 27 degrees.
I finished writing letters this morning I have 8 without stamps and 5 with stamps ready to go.
Tim had me wake him at 9am as we are going shopping.
Tim and I went to Kmart, Kathy & Summer met us there, and Kathy was a help. I managed to get new undies, socks 1 top and 1 pair of pants that Tim will need to cut off for me. I have decided I will buy new shorts next Summer. I managed to walk around the shop pushing a trolley without issue, this made me happy.
Hard a hard time settling last night due to my feet moving so much but once I did get to sleep, I slept well.
It was 16 degrees when I got up, now 2hrs later it is 17 degrees. By midday it is a nice warmish 27 degrees.
By 7.30am I checked all my emails, visited a number of blogs, printed my diary entry for yesterday and now I have nothing to do, oh I also made a dental appointment inline for tomorrow at 12.15pm. I have no more pen pal letters to write, I even wrote a few yesterday to pals I haven’t heard from in a while.
Made a dentist appointment for tomorrow, then Tim tells me he will not be here and can’t take me at the same time Sue sent me a text asking how I was, and I told her, and she said she will take me.
Also sent Sandy a text asking if she wanted any of the stuff in the freezer I don’t want, and she said she does so she will come over at some point and get that.
Tim has driven Jess & Sam to Belmont hospital as Sam has an appointment with the paediatrician and Jess didn’t want to deal with the parking there.
Sam took the test to get his learners permit and passed now just to learn how to drive. Jess took Sam for a small drive and when they returned Sam walked in and said driving is terrifying.
Up, washed and dressed for the day it is somewhat cool here with a temp of only 14 degrees.
Opened the doors at least for a little bit, but it was too cold so shut them after half an hour.
By 9am it was 17 degrees, the temp got to 24 degrees.
Sue took to the dentist; she didn’t have as much trouble getting it as I thought she would.
As the numbness wears off the pain is increasing and even though I fell asleep pretty quick I was awake at 9pm with a sore mouth and got up and took more paracetamol.
Once I feel asleep after taking the paracetamol last night I settled again and slept through the night. It felt odd not brushing my teeth, but the dentist said it is better not to brush for 3 days.
It was 17 degrees when I got up at 5am.
By 7am I started to feel like shit, my mouth hurts, I have a headache and I feel nauseous and tired. I did go back to bed for a while.
Sue came over she was in a bit of state as she is having more problems with her Ex, also she got paid but after paying bills she had only $60 left for food shopping and had to cut down her shopping list. I gave her a $50 gift card for Big W and when I told Tim he was fine with me doing so.
Tim has gone into Adamstown for some appointment, the more the day goes on the worse I feel.
I slept well and woke to pain in my jaw and a headache, now I don’t feel great but not as bad as I did yesterday arvo. Another wet day with a temp of 19 degrees.
Kathy rang but we only chatted for a few minutes as I am feeling like shit still.
I walked Sam up the front using the walker in light rain and just managed to get home before it started coming down heavy, the heavy rain didn’t last long.
Tim’s physio Zoe came she is pleased with his progress, he also had a phone call from his Youi case manager. He is going to make sure the cleaners do not come back again, as well as chase up what is happening with the person who is supposed to be helping Tim with a resume and find a job.
I woke around 4am with a lot of pain in my jaw but managed to stick it out till 5am when I got up and took medication. It was 15 degrees at 5am but by 1pm it was 26 degrees.
It is a somewhat coldish morning well with the doors open it is I will have to close the front door because of the cold.
Tim has taken Sam for a driving lesson, in Jess’s car.
I am shaking a lot this afternoon and sweating of course.
Tim asked me this afternoon if my condition will get worse, answer, yes over time it will. He then asked me if I would end up in a nursing home, all I said was that is a long way off, if it at all. I don’t know what the future holds and all we can do is take life one day at a time.
Friday has arrived, so it is time for another post about Parkinson’s disease and this week we are looking at memory.
Now every man and his dog have memory problems which with age can get worse and having Parkinson’s and memory problems is just one more issue to deal with. Now I am not talking about having Parkinson’s dementia or Alzheimer’s but just normal memory issues which can be significant for someone with Parkinson’s.
It is seldom bad enough to cause a handicap, but we need to do the usual things when one has a bad memory such as writing things down, having a notepad handy is a must. I have one on my desk and one in my bedroom, as I often thing of things I want to do the following day just after going to bed and will get up and jot things down.
A usual and annoying symptom is when we are talking to someone and suddenly can’t remember what we were saying and just stop talking. If you are talking to someone with Parkinson’s and they suddenly stop talking don’t snap at them, just give them a few moments and usually it will come back to them, and they will continue the conversation.
Even though this thought block is annoying and frustrating, it is not considered a serious symptom from a medical point of view. As, it does not indicate any progressive mental deterioration or psychological abnormality.
Unfortunately, there is bugga all treatment for this and we just have to learn to deal with it.
Hi, everyone let’s look at the celebrations of work because that is where I am up to in this book I am using for these posts.
It seems the union movement promoted the making and painting of banners to represent its organisations at grand processions proclaiming the dignity of labour. This practice dates back to the medieval time when craft guilds marched behind banners in church processions. These early British Trade Union banners were modest pieces of work made by a member of the branch.
However, by the 1830’s they were made by one company, George Tutill Limited and it was Tutill who was a former travelling showman who seems to have set the pattern of artwork that later appeared in Australian banners.
After making banners in Buckinghamshire for some time he set up business in East London in the late 1850’s. His banners were made from silk often with a woven patterned border, about 3 metres by 3 metres in size so not a small thing.
The banner would have a central square painted in oils depicting symbols of the craft union and scenes of the workplace. Outside the border a sign writer would paint the name of the union, its branch, and various slogans.
Tutill patented a method for treating materials for the manufacture of banners and flags. This involved a thin coating in India rubber to give flexibility and waterproofing to the banner.
Like the British which saw banners brought out for many occasions throughout a year, Australian banners would be brought out on days other than Eight Hour Day what we call Labour Day.
During the 1890’s these banners would be brought out during protest demonstrations, these bright banners were seen as a respectable face of unionism.
Hello everyone since the last couple of Wednesday post have been about our Prime Minister and his Deputy, I thought this week we would look at the Governor-General.
The office of Governor-General was established on 1 January 1901 and has been held by 27 people since. All but one have been men, with our only female Governor-General being Quentin Bryce who was sworn in as our 25Governor-General on 5 September 2008. As the first woman to take up the office she was seen as a pioneer in contemporary Australian society, yet one who had more than forty years of experience in reform, community building and leadership.
The Governor-General is the representative of the monarch of Australia who is King Charles 3rd and preforms many constitutional, ceremonial and community roles in our political system. Their powers I include summoning, proroguing, and dissolving Parliament, recommending appropriations, assenting to Bills, issuing writs for general elections and appointing and dismissing Ministers. They also submit proposals for referendums, make proclamations and regulations and establishing departments of state and making statutory appointments.
Sounds like a lot but really most of these things are not done daily.
The first Governor-General was the Earl of Hopetoun who had been a governor of Victoria at some point, he was paid the sum of 10,000 pounds an amount that would not increase till 1974. Our current Governor-General is paid $495,000.
Our current Governor-General is David Hurly who was born in Wollongong, New South Wales in 1953 his father was a steelworker and his mother worked in a grocery store.
One thing I remember a Governor-General doing was when Sir John Kerr sacked our Prime Minster Gough Whitlam on the 11 November 1975, I was in year six of school and someone heard about it on the radio and all the teachers were talking about it.
Hello everyone, hope you all had a good Easter, here we are at Tuesday so that means it is creature day and this week we have the Star-Nose Mole.
So, this mole looks like a cross between a rat and an octopus with a unique snout which it uses to find food. It has 22 tentacles which together have a diameter of just 1cm they ring the nostrils and work as a tactile eye, feeling for food.
They work so quick that they earned the mole the award for fastest eating mammal. They take only one-tenth of a second to identify and consume a piece of food.
Because of its nose it can smell underwater, it blows bubbles that mix with the scent of a small fish or earthworm, it then sucks them back in and its mealtime.
With its large, scaled feet and long, thick tail it fits comfortably on an adult hand, well maybe not my hand I have small hands.
It lives in the wetlands of eastern Canada and the northeastern part of the United States.
Here we at another Monday and since it is Easter this week’s facts are about Easter.
The Easter Bunny legend began in Germany.
The holiday was named after the Anglo-Saxon Goddess, Eostre
More than 1.5 million Cadbury Creme Eggs are produced every day.
The act of painting eggs originates from a Ukrainian tradition.
The world’s largest Easter egg weighs in at 5000lbs. Standing 31ft tall and 18ft wide is the world’s largest Easter egg. Found in Vegreville, Alberta, Canada, the egg weighs a hefty 5000 lbs and took 12,000 hours to complete, it’s
named the Vegreville Pysanka, the world’s largest Easter egg is actually more of a jigsaw than a sculpture, as it is made from 3500 pieces of aluminium.
Jo-AnneRamplings 