Welcome to this week’s edition of Saturday Snippets…it has been quite a hot, humid week this week so not much opportunity to test out how my new ceilings are functioning…will they leak or stay dry?

Let’s have a look and see what has piqued my interest this week…I am always happy when I hear of animals which are thought to be extinct which suddenly turn up again…The long-lost Elephant Shrew has been rediscovered in Africa after 50 years…

After not a whisker having been seen scientists were happy to report that this little insect-eating creature which is neither a shrew nor an elephant is quietly thriving in the Horn of Africa.

The size of a mouse, with powerful legs that allow it to run at speeds of nearly 30 kilometres (20 miles) an hour…This tiny elusive mammal can certainly move…it also loves peanut butter…and Marmite…

The Global Wildlife Conservation group even included it on its “25 most wanted lost species” list.

Get your chopsticks ready!  National Chop Suey Day recognizes this American Chinese culinary cuisine each year on August 29.

As with all popular dishes, there are many tales which often are just that as to the origins of the dish and Chop Suey is no different…

One such tale tells how in the 1860s a Chinese restaurant cook in San Francisco. Thought quickly to avoid a beating when drunken miners arrived after hours, the chef threw leftovers in a wok, providing a makeshift meal to the miners. The miners loved the dish, asking him for the name of the entree. To which the chef replied, “Chopped Sui.”

Although I cook lots of stir-fries I couldn’t honestly say that I make an authentic chop suey...I found this recipe online and it looks pretty good and I will probably will make it just not today as tonight we have a Thai Duck Curry…

Most of us go ahhhh when we hear the good news of a baby arriving… fur babies are no different and gorillas are known for being such loving mothers…

A tiny infant was just born at Bristol Zoo Gardens in England, helping secure the future of the critically-endangered species.

Momma Kala gave birth naturally overnight with dad Jock just a few meters away and the rest of the family troop nearby. The new gorilla joins a troop of six at the zoo, which are part of a breeding program to help safeguard the future of western lowland gorillas.

Keepers found the little gorilla nestling in the arms of its nine-year-old mother, who came from Germany in 2018.

Lynsey Bugg, of Bristol Zoo, said the baby arrived in the early hours of Thursday.

 

Wellness Corner. .. Lets now pop over to Sally’s for her health column…

The health supplement industry is worth billions of dollars and pounds annually. However, there is a danger that we will turn to the magic of pills or sprays to provide us with the nutrients that should be provided by foods as we restrict our diets in line with the latest official edicts.

The reality is that your body absorbs the nutrients that it requires from food because, over the last few hundred thousand years, that is how we have evolved. Not just humans but every animal across the millions of species has also evolved that way. Which is why however enriched a dry dog or cat food might be, it can never take the place of real meat, fish, fowl and some plants that animals would consume in the wild.

https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2020/08/26/smorgasbord-health-column-nutrients-that-work-better-together-part-one-vitamin-c-d-k-calcium-and-magnesium-by-sally-cronin/

Music….

I remember this band well it seemed that it was the only tunes my sons played on the highest volume for most of their teenage years or maybe it was just when mum was home as they knew that it wasn’t to her musical taste…it was on the 29th August 1994 that the forever feuding Gallagher brothers released their debut album titled “Definitely, Maybe” it became the fastest-selling album in the UK.

Just nearly a year later to the day ...14 August 1995…what became a battle of the bands…or the Battle of Brit-pop… Oasis  (Roll with It) and Blur (Country House) release singles on the same day.

The winner’s Blur took the No1 spot and Oasis the No 2 spot…

Of course depending on where in the world you live…

In the northern hemisphere, August is considered to be the last month of summer. In the southern hemisphere, it’s the opposite of course, so it’s the last of the winter months!

Do you know what a murmuration of starlings is?

This is the most fascinating video…such synchronisation…

You will most probably have noticed that I didn’t choose either Oasis or Blur for my music today…The reason is that… I don’t very often get too political..I know I rant about manufacturers etc and chemicals but anything else I have my opinions ..no surprise there…hehe…

However, I am getting exceedingly p…..d off with much which occurs today in certain sectors of society…I also love tradition and for me, the Last Night of the Proms is just that…It seems Auntie known as the (BBC) has got her undercrackers in a twist…

Land of Hope and Glory played but NO LYRICS!

Orchestral versions of Rule, Britannia! and Land Of Hope And Glory will be performed at the Last Night Of The Proms, the BBC has confirmed.

It had been reported the songs could be dropped over concerns of associations with colonialism and slavery.

The pieces are usually sung but will be performed without lyrics this year, although they are expected to be back in full when the pandemic is over.

I for one am not sure I believe that…Anyway, there has been a concerted effort and Land of Hope and Glory has topped the iTunes charts…The Brits have spoken!

 

Thank you for joining me today I hope you are all keeping safe and well…x

About Carol Taylor: 

Enjoying life in The Land Of Smiles I am having so much fun researching, finding new, authentic recipes both Thai and International to share with you. New recipes gleaned from those who I have met on my travels or are just passing through and stopped for a while. I hope you enjoy them.

I love shopping at the local markets, finding fresh, natural ingredients, new strange fruits and vegetable ones I have never seen or cooked with. I am generally the only European person and attract much attention and I love to try what I am offered and when I smile and say Aroy or Saab as it is here in the north I am met with much smiling.

Some of my recipes may not be in line with traditional ingredients and methods of cooking but are recipes I know and have become to love and maybe if you dare to try you will too. You will always get more than just a recipe from me as I love to research and find out what other properties the ingredients I use contain to improve our health and wellbeing.

Exciting for me hence the title of my blog, Retired No One Told Me! I am having a wonderful ride and don’t want to get off, so if you wish to follow me on my adventures, then welcome! I hope you enjoy the ride also and if it encourages you to take a step into the unknown or untried, you know you want to…….Then, I will be happy!

Thank you once again for reading this post I hope you all have a fabulous week and stay safe these are troubling times xx