A Time For Everything

Meet Fiona the Hippo!

Have you heard of Fiona the Hippo who's Internet famous? She was born six weeks early but survived. She's been immortalized in children's books and news segments for years since her birth in January of 2017.

Image borrowed from the Cincinnati Zoo website.

Did you know that before 1909, scientists placed hippos in the same group as pigs? Despite their outward similarities with pigs or wild boars, hippopotamuses are closely related to whales, dolphins, and porpoises. Hippos are semi-aquatic mammals that are native to sub-Saharan Africa. They are the third-largest land mammal after elephants and rhinos.

Who knew?!

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Black or Green?

Let's learn some things about olives, shall we?

Did you know that the olive is a fruit? Because of the stone or pit inside that is actually a seed.

Did you know that about 90% of all olives are used to make olive oil, the other 10% are used as table olives (aka the ones we eat).

Did you know that all olives (color-wise) come from the same plant? It's all a matter of maturity. Green and yellow olives are at the beginning of the ripening cycle, while the purple and black coloring comes at the end of the ripening cycle. Black olives are usually artificially colored.

Did you know that olives must be cured and fermented before they can be eaten? The process can take anywhere from a few days to a few months depending on what's used to make that process happen.

I like both; how about you?

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Class of 1986

I graduated high school in 1986...which is whatever, but I came across this interesting bit of trivia:

In 1986, Oprah Winfrey became the first Black American woman to host a nationally syndicated talk show!

And sooooo many years later, she's still going strong.

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Why Christmas is Celebrated on December 25th

While doing a bit of research on holidays in medieval Scotland I learned that the reason Christmas is celebrated on December 25th is because it's exactly nine months from March 25th, the theorized date of Jesus's conception.

The church in Rome began celebrating Christmas back in 336, but the most of the Eastern Empire continued to celebrate Epiphany on January 6th for another half-century. Christmas didn't become a major Christian festival/celebration until the 9th century.

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All my babies are under one roof this week--mine!! So excited to have Sonshine and the Brown-Eyed Girl home for a few days. DD is on spring break, so it's gonna be a fun time hanging out and visiting.

Have a super week. I sure will be. Pictures to come!

Take care.