The Eruption of Mount Edgecumbe

Wordless Wednesday is hosted by Dixie at French Lique. Thanks for hosting. Click on the link to go to her site and view other pictures.

In 1974, residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began to belch out billows of black smoke. People spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it was active again and might soon erupt.

Luckily it turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local practical joker named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano's crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that the volcano was stirring to life. According to local legend, when Mount St. Helens erupted six years later, a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, "This time you've gone too far!"

Did you guess? The theme this week is April Fools.

Second Time Around - March 31

I'm double posting today. I'll start with 2nd Time Around Tuesday. Diane from A Picture is worth a thousand words is hosting this event. Click on her link to check out the other treasures. This is the loot from my last thrifting trip. My favorite thrift store has everything half price on the last Wednesday of the month. I have been taking vacation time off work to go thrifting.

I found his bird cage just like you see it here with the pretty little purple silk flowers. The candle in the beautiful cut glass holder has a wonderful fragrance.

I think I will hang the birdcage outside on my porch this summer.

The two tall candle sticks had an ugly crazy design painted on them. A clean simple white looks a lot better. Thank you bloggers, for helping me see things as they could be.

Keep on reading my second post below. It is a darling idea to trick your little ones on April Fools Day.

April Fool's Day Lunch

April 1st can be filled with 'giggles and smiles', it is okay to have fun...but don't do things to "hurt" other people. Treat others as you would want them to treat you....now go and have a bit of harmless fun." :-)

These April Fools tricks were published in Family Fun Magazine. They turned out perfect. I served them to my grandson.

Mock Grilled Cheese Sandwich Cake

These look exactly like a grilled cheese sandwich.

Ingredients:

Pound cake (we used Entenmann's brand)

1 cup buttercream or white frosting (canned is just fine)

Yellow and red food coloring

Cut the pound cake into bread-like slices and toast them in a toaster oven just until they turn golden brown. Once they've cooled for a few minutes, stack two slices for each sandwich and cut the stack in half diagonally (slicing the sandwich before you fill it makes for fewer crumbs).

Now tint the frosting by stirring in a few drops of yellow and red food coloring (more yellow than red) to get a shade of orange that resembles American cheese. Carefully spread frosting between the slices of each half sandwich. If you mound the frosting on one slice, then top it with the other and gently press down, the frosting will ooze out a bit and look all the more like melted cheese. Makes one sandwich.

Meatball and Mashed Potato Cupcakes

Put meatloaf mix or a large meatball in a foil cupcake paper. You can make the meatloaf in the foil cups. I just put a large cooked meatball in the cup and heated it. Tint mashed potatoes with food coloring and “icing” the cupcake.

Other April Fool Tricks I Pulled On People:

Every single day, my boss's wife called and asked him to bring home either milk, a bread, etc. On April 1, when she called to ask him to bring something home, I gave him the message and included about 10 other things.

A couple of weeks before April 1, another boss received flowers from a florist. There was no card and he was calling people to see who sent them. All of us girls in the office thought this was a hoot. This inspired us to continue as if he had a secret admirer. Every few days he would get a gift: a box of chocolates, a balloon, a small stuffed animal, a plant, cookies, etc. You get the picture? Not such a horrible prank was it? Word got back to him what we were doing. Of course, on Secretary's Day he gave us all lovely flowers.

More April Fool Ideas:
Color The Milk: Choose a bright color of food coloring to add to the milk. Buy it in a cardboard container so nobody can see inside. Make sure you are around when they pour it on their cereal. *smile*

Mealtime idea: Serve lunch or dinner in reverse order, the dessert first, then the main dish, and lastly the starter/appetizer. Some of the food items in different dishes to confuse them further.

Office/Computer fun: Use a small post-it note and place it under someones computer mouse (covering the ball on the bottom). When they go to use the mouse, it won't do anything! Remember to write "April Fool!" on the bottom.

Earth Hour March 28, 2008, 8:30 PM to 9:30 PM

On Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 8:30 pm, I am taking part in Earth Hour, a global event in which tens of millions of people will turn out their lights for one hour to make a statement of concern about our living planet and send a message to support action on climate change.



This event is sponsored by World Wildlife Fund. Earth Hour got started just two years ago and is now the largest event of its kind in the world.


Australia, being a day ahead of us, has already experienced Earth Hour for 2009. This is Perth, Australia taken from Kings Park with lights on and during Earth Hour.









Click on this link to see a really cool slide show of before and after pictures of cities all over the world. See if your city is participating. This is Atlanta, GA last year.







Here are a few ideas for things to do in the dark…by yourself or with others:

1. Enjoy a romantic candlelit dinner with someone special using organic or sustainably grown food items.


2. Invite friends and family over for a “lights-out” party and serve green-themed snacks and drinks


3. Turn off the lights and power down the computer and cell phone. Use the quiet time to take a break from a “plugged-in” world by meditating or resting.


4. Take a bubble bath by candlelight.


5. Use the hour for practical tasks that you never seem to have time for. Test essential items in your emergency preparedness kit like flashlights, radios, and cell phones. Change out all your light bulbs to energy-efficient CFLs. Change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Think about how you would evacuate your house in an emergency in the dark.


6. Read a book set in an era without electricity. Marvel that the Romans conquered much of the world without a single cell phone and that Shakespeare wrote masterpieces without a laptop or the Internet.


7. Turn off the computer and write a letter by candlelight the old-fashioned way using pen and paper.


8. Invite friends over to play charades or Scrabble by candlelight.


9. View the night sky via telescope--the reduced “light pollution” may make some stars more visible.


10. Take photos of how you spent Earth Hour and post them on your blog.

Tablescape Thursday - March 26

Susan from Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Thursday. Click on the link to see other tablescapes. Thanks for hosting this popular event.

I have a white damask tablecloth, layered with a square tablecloth embroidered with pretty spring flowers. The centerpiece is little bunnies in a bowl, flanked with brass and crystal hurricane candle sticks, I got at a yard sale for $2.00 for the pair years ago.

My mother gave me the china for Christmas one year. This set is my regular "good" dishes. It is labeled Imperial China, W Dalton, Seville. I love the dainty blue flowers. Oneida 18/8 flatware and soft blue napkins complete the setting.

For the photo, I included salad bowls, with the dinner plates and bread plates.

I can remember my grandmother keeping a bowl of spoons on her table at all times. This is an antique spoon holder I inherited from my mother. I think she inherited it from her sister.

Here we are with a wonderful rib roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans with almonds, rolls, and a glass of red. Apple pie ala mode was served for dessert. Yum.

Hand Art

Dixie from French Lique is hosting bloggers choice for her Wordless Wednesdays. Click on the link to see other photos. I would like to share the creations of Italian artist Guido Daniele. These are paintings on his hand.

Friends Award and a Game

Martha from Lines from Linderhof gave me this Friends Award. It is my very first award and I am just thrilled. I certainly have made friends in blogland. It's sweet of you to recognise me. Thank you, Martha.

The Friends Award comes with this message attached:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming.

These kind of bloggers aim to find and to be friends.

They are not interested in self-aggrandizement.

Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut,

even more friendships are propagated."

"And so to propagate more friendships, I'd like to pass this award on to:

• Becky at Hospitality Lane
• Martha at Mid-Atlantic Martha
• Catherine at Catherine de the Cups
• Domestic Designer
  

Just for Fun Name Game

Kim at My Domestic Bliss posted this fun game. Here are the Rules: Use the first letter of your name to answer each question. They have to be real places, real names, etc... Try to use different answers if you have the same initial as someone who has already done this. You cannot use you own name for the boy/girl question. Ready?... Set?... GO!!!

Since I received it from Kim, and the rules said use a different initial, I am using N for Nittany.

1. What is your name? Nana (to the grandkids)

2. A four letter word? Nice

3. A boy's name? Norman

4. A girl's name? Nancy

5. An occupation? Notary Public

6. A color? Navy Blue

7. Something you wear? Nail tips

8. A beverage? Nestle tea

9. A food? noodles

10. Something found in the bathroom? Nair

11. Movie? Norma Rae

12. Celebrity? Nick Nolte (Do I get double credit?)

13. Sport? Nittany Lions Football

14. A place? North Dakota

15. A pet? Norwich Terrier

Play along if you want!

My Spray Painted Chicken Dish

I am double posting for two memes. Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Metamorphosis Monday. Sarah at Thrift Decor Chick is hosting a Spray Paint Party. Click on the links to take you over to their blogs to see what else creative ideas you can find.

I have just recently discovered spray paint. Can you believe it? I purchased this really ugly hand painted ceramic chicken dish. I though that I liked the idea of it being a chicken dish, but not with the garish red. It was only $1.31 at the thrift shop. Then I remembered Kimba and her spray painted dishes.

Before:

I got a can of soft yellow Valspar spray paint at Lowes. I applied many light coats instead on one heavy coat. I was afraid of drips. I think it turned out real well.

After:

I'll use it to serve a tub of margarine.

Tablescape Thursday

Susan at Between Naps on the Porch is hosting Tablescape Thursday. Check out her blog to see other tablescapes.

Oops, what happened? You were went to be directed to my Easter post. Please click here. Sorry for the inconvenience.



I'm a little late in showing my St. Patrick's Day tablescape, but I didn't set that table until St. Patrick's Day.

I purchased white dinner plates and bowls at the thrift store. I figured I could add other color elements without buying a lot of different plates. I also purchased the green salad plate and tumblers at the thrift store. I had the solid green napkins which were purchased to use with a Christmas tablescape. The round placemats were recently purchased at Ross.

My centerpiece is a large real shamrock plant. The little Hat on a stake was purchased that morning at a thrift store. The green plate was a gift from my mother-in-law. In order to get my 3, I used a small decorative finial. It is made of cast iron and is very heavy for all the bigger it is.

Wordless Wednesday - Dance

Dixie at French Lique is hosting Wordless Wednesday. Click the link to take you to see other pictures of dance.

It is my very favorite video. It has been around awhile, so many of you may have already seen it. It is Carolyn Scott and her dancing dog Rookie.

I used this photo in a post before, but I thought it was great. This is the Egyptian Moon Dance Company.

My Tole Painted Ware

A Picture is worth 1,000 Words is hosting 2nd Time Around Tuesday. Check her site out for other treasures that have found new homes.

This week I am featuring my tole painted ware. All these I have found at thrift store in the last few weeks.

I use this little container on my desk to keep my envelopes, note paper, letter opener, pen and stamps in.

I had no use whatsoever for the little tray, but it was so cute, I couldn't pass it up. It lives on my counter to put my keys, etc. on. I only paid 45 cents for it.

I love the large tray. I only paid a couple of dollars for the tray and the container.

This is the large tray hung on the wall. You can't tell very well in the photo, but my walls are a soft yellow. The yellow flowers in the tray really pop.

I couldn't find one of those springy plate holders large enough for tray, so I used those Command removable tapes. They cost me more than the tray. lol