How is everyone this Wednesday it is a nice day not to cold but I have a lot of pain in my left ankle today so sitting and doing nothing is on the cards today. Being Wednesday it is have you heard of day so have you heard of: Garrett Morgan?

Garrett Augustus Morgan was an award-winning American inventor and community leader of African-American descent, he was born on the 4^th March 1877.

So what did he invent that people might have heard of or use well he invented an early version of a gas mask called a smoke hood but no that isn’t the thing that is used today, that would be the traffic light.

He created the first traffic light that included a third “warning” position which is standard today, he also developed a chemical that was used in hair-straightening products.

He was born in Claysville his parents were former slaves his father being owned by Confederate Colonel John H Morgan of Morgan’s Raiders fame, his mother was also half native American, he had one brother Frank.

He had a sixth-grade education from Branch Elementary School and at age 16 he moved to Cincinnati inn search of employment. He spent most of his teenage years working as a handyman and was lucky enough to hire a tutor and continue his studies while working.

In 1895, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio,where he began repairing sewing machines for a clothing manufacturer. This experience with repairing sewing machines was the impetus for Morgan’s interest in how things work. His first invention, developed during this period, was a belt fastener for sewing machines. Throughout this period of time, before his first patent in 1912, he was slowly building his reputation in Cleveland for his skill at fixing things.

In 1907, Morgan with nearly a decade of experience with sewing machines, finally opened up his own sewing machine and shoe repair shop. In 1908, Morgan became more conscious of his heritage and helped found the Cleveland Association of Coloured Men. In 1909, he and his wife Mary Anne expanded their business ventures by opening a shop called Morgan’s Cut Rate Ladies Clothing Store. The shop had 32 employees, and made coats, suits, dresses, and other clothing. Around 1910 his interest in repairing other people’s inventions waned, and he became interested in developing some of his own.

He was the subject of a newspaper feature, for a heroic rescue in 1916 of workers trapped within a water intake tunnel, 50ft (15m) beneath Lake Erie. He performed his rescue using a hood fashioned to protect his eyes from smoke and featuring a series of air tubes that hung near the ground to draw clean air beneath the rising smoke. This enabled Morgan to lengthen his ability to endure the inhospitable conditions of a smoke-filled room. Morgan is also credited as the first African American in Cleveland to own a car.

The smoke hood was completed circa 1912. He received his patent for it that year as well. The successful invention of the smoke hood precipitated the launch of the National Safety Device Company in 1914. It is unknown if the smoke hood brought him any commercial success. In 1913 he incorporated hair care products into his growing list of patents and launched the G. A. Morgan Hair Refining Company, which sold hair care products, including his patented hair straightening cream, a hair colouring, and a hair straightening comb invented by Morgan.

The first American-made automobiles were introduced to consumers just before the turn of the twentieth century, and pedestrians, bicycles, animal-drawn wagons and motor vehicles all had to share the same roads. To deal with the growing problem of traffic accidents, a number of versions of traffic signalling devices began to be developed, starting around 1913.

After he had witnessed a serious accident at an intersection, and he filed a patent for traffic control device having a third “warning” position in 1922. The patent was granted in 1923,though this was not the first system with a warning, a three light system being invented in 1920 by William Potts and previous systems having audible warnings.

He sold the rights to General Electric for $40,000

Later in life he developed glaucoma and by 1943 was functionally blind. He had poor health the rest of his life, but continued to work on his inventions. One of his last was a self-extinguishing cigarette, which used a small plastic pellet filled with water placed just before the filter.

He died on July 27, 1963 aged 86 and is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

Hello Tuesday, not as cold this morning, of course I am in track pants and socks on my feet, not thick songs and I only need a tee shirt. I have taken Leo to school now I am home and have no other plans for the day.

This weeks indestructible creature is the Giant Clam, in old stories and comics divers can meet with disaster when their foot is grabbed by a giant clam snapping shut but can a clam really do that………

Well giant clams do exist and they are really huge a normal size clam is about the size of a human hand but the giant clam can be bigger than a human, now that is huge.

They are thought to live up too 100yrs and can grow to 1.2 metres or 4ft across, their enormous thick shells have zigzag edges that fit together like teeth. Their shell is pretty indestructible but the clam inside does get eaten by other animals such as eels, fish and starfish. Humans hunt and eat giant clams as well and they are now in danger of dying out.

However, since they can’t chase you or even move at all because as adults they stay in one place stuck to the seabed and feed on passing plankton, there is no reason to fear them so they are not as tough as they look or as scary as in the old stories.

Hello all it is Monday afternoon here now it was another cold start to the day but it has warmed up no aqua class this morning went with Jessica to sort out her rent and then to the shops before home again.

So here is this weeks five did you know facts:

The thumb is such an important part of the human body that it has a special section, separate from the area that controls the fingers, reserved for it in the brain.

Liechtenstein used to have the world’s smallest army, there was one soldier, yes one. He served his country until his death at age 85.

Abraham Lincoln’s mother died from drinking milk from a cow which, when foraging in the woods had eaten some poisonous snake root.

In 1955 a borrowed book was returned to Cambridge University Library that was 288 years overdue

Cambridge University was established in the year 1209

This Thursday has been a busy day for me I did not want to get up when my alarm went off this morning but get up I did and after taking Leo to school I went and picked up his mum and the two of us went and did some Mother’s Day shopping.

Leo had me get something for his mum for Mother’s Day, it had to NOT PINK and something that just said Jessica, I got her a long (in length) light weight winter cardigan black in colour and it met with his approval.

The day started out cool and ended up warm, by the time I got home I had enough time to eat lunch have a nap and go get Leo from school again.

We are now home and I will soon go have a bath.

Thursday is now photo day and here is this weeks photo…………………..

Hello Wednesday still Wednesday morning here for another16 minutes, I did not want to get up this morning but of course staying in bed was out of the question. So it is have you heard of day and today I am asking if you have heard of Edson Arantes Di Nascimento….yes/no…..I have heard of him when I was watching “The Chase” but know nothing about him.

Anyway he was a football player aka soccer player, he was better known as Pelé, he was a Brazilian and considered the greatest World Cup player of all time, his Brazilian team won three World Cups, although he missed one of the finals through injury.

He scored twelve goals in finals tournaments, his first against Wales in 1958, He started club football with Santos at just 15yrs of age and played for Brazil at 16yrs of age, when he scored after just ten minutes against Argentina.

He scored his first thousand goals in only 909 games, at the end of his career he played for New York Cosmos in the U S A. In his last game against his old club Santos he played for both sides during the match and he scored, of course.

In 1999, he was voted World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and was one of the two joint winners of the FIFA Player of the Century award. That same year, Pelé was elected Athlete of the Century by the International Olympic Committee. According to the IFFHS, Pelé is the most successful league goal-scorer in the world, scoring 1281 goals in 1363 games, which included unofficial friendlies and tour games. During his playing days, Pelé was for a period the best-paid athlete in the world.

Good morning Tuesday, yesterday I went to my aqua class and it went ok, getting out of the pool I had to take it slow and make sure I placed my left foot flat on the step to protect the achilles tendon.

Well being Tuesday means it is Indestructible Creatures day, today’s creature is something called a Limpet, another creature I have not heard of.

They are a type of snail with super strong, thick shells which make them near impossible to budge. Inside their shells they have special tongues covered with tiny teeth, which they use for scraping algae. These teeth are strengthened with iron and look like miniature daggers and they hold the record for being the hardest material known to be made by any animal or plant.

Their teeth are so hard that as they feed they actually scrape lines into the rock itself, you can spot where a limpet has been by the rows of little grooves. They cling to rocks using their powerful muscles and a kinda gluey slime.

When the tide is in they crawl around underwater and feed, when the tide is out they clamp themselves to a rock to stay damp and safe from predators.

Good morning, haven’t heard from me for a few days, as I don’t blog on a weekend generally speaking.

Saturday I did a casserole for lunch and Jessica, Leo, Kathy-Lee & Summer came for lunch, Tim doesn’t work Saturdays so he was here as well and even though he says he doesn’t like casseroles he ate it. After lunch Tim & I went to the square (local shopping centre) to do a bit of shopping and I was able to hire a motorised scooter so had no problem getting around.

I saw the GP on Friday afternoon and he said that I have torn my achilles tendon (which I knew) and to stay off it as much as possible. He also said I should have physio which I am not keen on, the ankle is healing the pain level has gone from an 8 to around a 2. I am going to my aqua class this morning so we will see how that goes.

Well it is Monday so that means it is “did you know” day, so here is this weeks facts

The longest period of time that has a name is Para, a Hindu word meaning the length of the life of Brahma. It is said to be 311,040,000,000 years which is about 70,000 times the age of the Earth. What the hell how would they know that………….

A violin is made of 70 separate pieces of wood

A lightning bolt generates temperatures five times hotter than those found at the Sun’s surface

A lightning bolt travels at about 72 million miles per hour

Scientists have determined that a human baby is less intelligent than a chimpanzee baby

Good morning world, here I am on this cold Thursday morning, I didn’t get around to doing a post yesterday, I was either busy or tired and just not up to it but here I am this morning doing a post before I go visiting blogs.

I just had to go and get dressed, I am not one for staying in my nightie for ages maybe when I hit my 70’s that will change, mum spends pretty much all day ever day in her nightie but that has come about during the last decade only.

When I say I have been tired, I mean fall asleep tired, yesterday while ironing Tim’s work shirts I found myself falling asleep and had to stop and go have a lay down, I slept for 1hr 30mins. This is becoming a worry on Tuesday morning I had to come home after I took Leo to school and go back to bed for 2hrs.

Some good news is that mum got a letter yesterday telling her that she has her hip replacement done on the 30^th now that is good news. She has her appointment with the pre opp people on Tuesday so fingers crossed all goes well.

Yesterday after I took Leo to school I had to go to the chemist and get Leo’s Webster pack and take it to the school, all that walking didn’t help my ankle. Yes I followed the doctors advice and didn’t go to my aqua class, he said I shouldn’t go till after I have been back to see my GP.

That’s it for today’s post

Well hello Tuesday, I am up and dressed, Leo is here and in around 90 minutes I will drive him to school. He is naturally looking forward to school.

So yesterday I went and had the ultrasound of my ankle done and yeah I have torn my Achilles tendon not a complete tear around 80-90%, now I have to wait for my GP to get the report and asks to see me to tell me what next.

So being Tuesday that means it is indestructible creatures day and this week it is the “Seed Shrimp”

heard of it, nope, you are not alone.

These very tiny creatures are about the size of a pinhead, now that is tiny………………

They are tiny little crustaceans that are related to crabs and lobsters and live in water near the, bottom or as part of a plankton which is a mass of tiny living things that float around in the water and are usually eaten by other animals, but not humans.

To help them stay safe each Seed Shrimp lives inside its own little shell, which it can clamp tight shut, making it look just like a seed. In their shell they are often able to pass safely through the body of whatever has eaten it such as a frog, then they carry on with whatever they were doing.

Seed Shrimps have very tough eggs, one species lives in ponds that often dry up, its eggs can survive sitting on the dry ground for weeks and then they can hatch when the water returns.

In tests they have survived being frozen, blasted with radiation and deprived of oxygen, that’s bloody tough.

Good morning world, or good evening, depending on where in the world you are. This morning I overslept , I don’t remember the alarm going off at all, Jessica dropped Leo of at around 8.45am she had an appointment at the Royal Newcastle Medical Centre at 9.30am she had to have an MRI done.

It is a cold wet day and Tim wanted to take the car to work so she is going to take me to my appointment at 12.30pm I am having an ultrasound done of my left ankle which is much better and really I think it is a waste of time.

Anyway here is today’s did you know facts:

The Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is roughly the same size as San Francisco

There is a chemical called “Scrooge” which is specially designed to smell bad, much like a skunk’s smell but worse. A typical use of Scrooge is to spray it in doorways to unguarded inner city buildings to keep tramps away.

The oldest city in Britain is Ripon, which received its original charter in AD 886

A balloon released into the jet stream would take two weeks to travel completely around the globe

A baby Blue Whale gains 200 pounds per day while drinking 50 gallons of milk