Beautiful, Sunny Monday

It's been a very beautiful, sunny day and it was a beautiful sunny weekend. Kero and I have been having some lovely walks together at the park and by the river.

The cats have been alternating between sunbathing and sitting in the shade outside. It's funny watching them. Especially Chance. He lays on his back with his paws in the air and sort of rocks himself from side to side a bit. Then suddenly goes from being on his back kicking his legs about to laying on his side as still as can be. And he stays like that for a while then rolls back onto his back to start the whole thing again. Sakura gives him this disapproving look while he's doing it as if to say "a proper kitty should not behave in such a way!" I don't think Chance cares though. LOL! I tried to get a video of it, but when he sees the camera he comes over to me wanting me to stop playing with the camera and play with him.

Kelly went to Swansea for me today to look for some toys for Kero that Grandma said were in Pets At Home, but they didn't have them. So, Kelly got him some other toys instead. We put them aside for his birthday. He also got him a couple from us. We didn't put those aside though. I let Kero have them now to make up for the fact that I had to throw most of his toys away because Bella had chewed them to pieces.

Bella was meant to have been going to Kero's groomer tomorrow. I was supposed to phone today and cancel her appointment. I did try to call, but I didn't get an answer. There was a machine but I hate leaving messages on machines unless it's REALLY important. I figured I'd try again in a bit. Unfortunately, I was laying on the bed playing with Kero this afternoon and I guess I must have been tired or something, because, the next thing I knew it was about 4:00 pm and Kelly was home from Swansea. By the time I'd woken up enough to remember I hadn't managed to get an answer at the groomer, it was too late. I'll call in the morning before I go to town. Only, this time if I don't get an answer from a human I will leave a message on the machine.

Anyway, I've got dishes to wash, laundry to put away and the shopping list for tomorrow to write. So, I'm going to end this now, I think.

Tori

Sexing Goldfish

I know what you're thinking... "why on earth would you be posting about sexing Goldfish?" Well, the answer to that is simple. I was wondering whether our Goldfish, Kian, was really a male so I decided to try and figure out how to sex a Goldfish. Enquiring minds want to know, so, enquiring minds search for the answers... simple as that!

And this is what I found...

"Firstly, sexing young and juvenile goldfish is virtually impossible, you have to wait until the fish reach breeding age (usually one year old).

Secondly, sexing adult goldfish out of the breeding season is difficult, because the sexually distinguishing features only develop during the breeding season (in the spring time). That said, females may be deeper in the body than males.

Physical sexual characters:

During the breeding season, the following physical features develop:

• males develop breeding tubercles (white pimples) on the gill covers and on the leading edge of the pectoral fins
• females develop a deeper body as they fill with roe (eggs), and have a larger vent (just before the anal fin) than the males

Behavioural sexual characters:

Put quite simply - in the breeding season, males chase after females to induce them to spawn. Easy? No. Why? Because males will chase each other in the absence of females. Use the physical features as well as the chasing behaviour to tell the sexes apart!"

Unfortunately, this doesn't get me any closer to sexing our fish since I have no fish to compare him/her with or for him/her to possibly breed with. Although, this does tell us that whatever Kian is, Katie was too, because I don't remember seeing any of these physical or behavioral characteristics. Maybe Kelly might have though. I'll have to ask him.

Tori

Siamese & Oriental cats

Just thought I'd post this... Just 'cause I can. And, by the way, the photo in this post is a chocolate point Siamese who lives near us. Sorry it's not a great photo but it's the best we could do since it wasn't in the mood to stay still for long. LOL! Oh yeah, don't click on the photo to enlarge it, it looks better left the size it is. Trust me! LOL!

Anyway...

The Siamese is one of the first distinctly recognised breeds of Oriental cat. The exact origins of the breed are unknown, but it is believed to be from Southeast Asia, and is said to be descended from the sacred temple cats of Siam (now Thailand). In Thailand, where they are one of several native breeds, they are called Wichien-maat (a name meaning "Moon diamond"). In the twentieth century the cats became one of the most popular breeds in Europe and North America.

The Oriental Shorthair is a breed of cat. It is also called a "Foreign Type" cat. This cat combines the Siamese body with a diversity of colorings and patterns.

Castellan

"Castellan" is the prefix of the kennel where my Westie - Castellan Keroberous, or Kero for short - came from. And, I'd always wondered where it came from. So, just to see what would happen I typed it into Google and it came up with this...

A castellan was the governor or caretaker of a castle or keep. The word stems from the Latin Castellanus, derived from castellum 'castle'.

Usually, a castellan combined the duties of both a majordomo (responsible for a castle's domestic staff) and a military administrator (responsible for maintaining defences and protecting the castle's lands). This was particularly the case if there was no lord resident at the castle, or if the resident lord was frequently absent.

In France, castellans (known in French as Châtelains) who governed castles without resident nobles acquired considerable powers, and the position actually became a hereditary fiefdom. At times, there a castellan among the Officers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

In the Kingdom of Poland and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the castellans (Polish: kasztelan) were often considered to be subordinates of voivodes (with the exception of the Castellan of Cracow as Cracow was the Commonwealth capital until 1596). Castellans were in charge of a part of the voivodeship called castellany until the 15th century and from that time on their domain was divided into provinces for Greater Castellans and powiats for Minor Castellans. Chancellors were district officials and had the right to attend sessions of the Polish parliament, the Sejm.

Books, a movie and Bella

The rest of my Doreen Tovey books arrived this morning. I now have the first four books. I know they are the first four, because a few pages into the books there is a list of the titles in the series. The list looks something like this:

1. Cats In The Belfry
2. Cats In May
3. The New Boy
4. Double Trouble
5. Donkey Work
6. Life With Grandma
7. Raining Cats And Donkeys
8. Making The Horse Laugh
9. The Coming Of Suska
10. A Comfort Of Cats
11. Rings Round The Door
12. Waiting In The Wings
13. More Cats In The Belfry
14. Cats In Concord

At least, that's how the list in the books say that the titles in the series go.

And, if you are interested, the books in the Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events series go like this:

1. The Bad Beginning
2. The Reptile Room
3. The Wide Window
4. The Miserable Mill
5. The Austere Academy
6. The Ersatz Elevator
7. The Vile Village
8. The Hostile Hospital
9. The Carnivorous Carnival
10. The Slippery Slope
11. The Grim Grotto
12. The Penultimate Peril
13. The End

The other thing that arrived today was a movie. I ordered it the same time as I ordered my books. And what is that movie I hear you ask? Terry Pratchett's The Hogfather. I'm thinking I might watch it later. I have seen it before but I missed the very beginning of it. So, now that I have the DVD I can watch it all whenever I want to. YAY!

Also, I just thought I should let those of you who don't know that we no longer have Bella. We had hoped to keep her for good, but things didn't work out with her being here. She's gone somewhere that she wont have to share here human with cats. I don't want to go into too much detail, but the short form of the story is, every time we thought she had settled in with our cats, she did something that made us think otherwise.

Tori

Talking Books

'Talking books', of course, could mean two things. It could mean that I am using an alternative name for audio books, or, that I am going to be talking about books. In this case it means that I am going to be talking about books.

On Monday night my Grandma mentioned some books by Doreen Tovey. They are about her cats. Her Siamese cats to be exact. So, knowing how much I love Siamese cats my Grandma thought they would be an appropriate set of books for me. I think she may be right. So, I ordered the first one late Monday night (OK, early hours of Tuesday morning) and it arrived this morning. I've had a little look through it and it looks really good. So, I have ordered the other three that were on Play (Grandma tells me there are others, but Play doesn't have others so I'll have to look elsewhere or wait for those). I should get those in a couple of days.

Of course, before I can read these I need to get through the other books in the ever-growing pile beside my bed. I'm doing a lot better with taking time to read lately though, so, I should 'hopefully' start to see the pile of books decreasing soon (yeah, right!) I'm already half way through "The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket". There are 13 books in the series and each book seems to have 13 chapters - probably due to the misfortune that is the theme of the series and the common misconception that the number 13 is unlucky - and I have just started reading chapter eight of "The Wide Window" which is book 3 in the series. I have books 4, 5 and 6 ready to read (thanks to Kelly and my Dad picking them up last week for me) but have yet to buy books 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13. I shall have to do that before I finish book 6 so that I can continue the whole series without interupting the story by reading something else. Of course, this means that when "Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows" comes out in July, I'm going to have to just add that to my pile of books to read once I have finished reading all 13 books in this series. But, that can't be helped. Of course, the Harry Potter book will have to be placed near the top of the pile (right after this series) since I've been waiting so long for it to come out.

I guess I better get reading if I'm going to get this book pile down!

Before I end this though, I'd just like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Denise for today (Friday 27th April) and also HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jackie for yesterday (Thursday 26th April). I doubt very much that Jackie will read my blog, but Elizabeth will probably see it so she can vouch for the fact that I DID say it. Not my fault if she doesn't see it. LOL!

Tori

What Is Your Animal Personality?

What's Your Animal Personality?

Frog in a basket

I'm telling you, it's true! There WAS a frog in our laundry basket. We think Megan brought it home.

It happened last night.

Megan was playing with something in the kitchen (turned out to be the basket I had in front of the dryer waiting for the clothes to go in when they were dry) so I went to investigate. A split second later I was back on my PC chair announcing to Kelly that "something" was "jumping about" in the basket. When Kelly went to see what I was talking about he found a frog hopping about in the laundry basket.

Just as he was about to pick it up it managed to hop out of the basket. He had to chase it around the kitchen and the front room before he finally managed to catch it. Megan wasn't impressed that we opened the door and let "her" frog out.

The weather people were actually right for a change! On Saturday they said the rain would arrive by Sunday evening and it did. It's been raining on and off since then. Yuck! Still, it wouldn't be Wales if we didn't get rain, would it? LOL!

Tori

Lorem Ipsum

Thanks to the link posted in the comments section of yesterday's post by ChicagoLady, I was able to find this information on the meaning - or, rather, reason for - the text I asked about yesterday.

In publishing and graphic design, lorem ipsum (or simply lipsum) is standard placeholder text used to demonstrate the graphic elements of a document or visual presentation, such as font, typography and layout. Lipsum also serves as placeholder text in mock-ups of visual design projects before the actual words are inserted into the finished product. When used in this manner, lipsum is also called greeking.

Even though using "lorem ipsum" often arouses curiosity due to its resemblance to classical Latin, it is not intended to have meaning. Where text is visible in a document, people tend to focus on the textual content rather than upon overall presentation, so publishers use lorem ipsum when displaying a typeface or design in order to direct the focus to presentation. "Lorem ipsum" also approximates a typical distribution of letters in English, which helps to shift the focus to presentation.

The most common lorem ipsum text reads as follows:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Does this mean anything?

"Lorem ipsum vim ut utroque mandamus intellegebat, ut eam omittam ancillae sadipscing, per et eius soluta veritus."

It's the piece of text that appears in the box if you go into the "templates" section of your blog and go to edit anything in the "blog posts" part in the "edit page elemnets" section. So, I was just wondering if it means something in a language I don't know.

Parts of it look sort of French-ish to me. But for one thing my French isn't all that good really, and for another thing, there are parts that don't look French to me. Or, maybe it's Latin? I dunno. I'm pretty sure it's not German and I'm sure it's not Spanish. And, I 'know' it's not Welsh. Not that I'd expect it to be Welsh when it's an international site, I mean, it's hard enough to find Welsh stuff in Britain. Got no - or, at the very least, very little - hope of finding Welsh stuff on something based in the US. And it's DEFINATELY not English. LOL!

Tori

Yet another sunny Saturday

It's been a beautiful day today. Especially weather-wise!

Yep, that's right, I'm putting yet another post on my blog today. LOL!

I had a nice walk at the park with Wayne, Willow, Bella and Kero. Wayne and I had a nice chat and the dogs played nice and calmly and everything. And with the beautiful weather it was a prefect walk. We walked together for about an hour then I'd had enough, so, I told Wayne that I thought maybe it was time I took the dogs home and he agreed that maybe he should get Willow home before she got too tired to walk up the hill. Yeah, like that's likely to happen when we're just walking... LOL!

I spent most of the rest of the day working on chores around the house and posting stuff on my blog.

I watched a couple of fascinating shows on the history channel this afternoon and evening. One was about the ancient Egyptian book of the dead and the other was about Stonehenge. Both of them were extremely interesting. Shame Kelly's been up at my parents' place with my Dad all day, because he would have enjoyed them too. If I had a blank tape I'd have taped them for him, but I didn't have one. Oh well, I'm sure they'll be on again some time soon.

There was another show between them - something about Britain BC - but it was only an hour long show and I had to feed Kero, Sakura, Megan, Chance and Bella and get Kero and Bella walked again and since I wasn't as interested in that show as I was the other two I decided to do it while that was on.

Anyway, I'm going to go read for a bit then see about bed. Night!

Tori

I've been busy on my blog today!

There are three posts for you to read (four if you count this one)

The first is on astrology.
The second is some Zen Sarcasm.
And, the third is on astronomy.

Well, actually the first and third should be the other way around because I posted the astronomy one first, but as you scroll down you will come to the astrology one before the astronomy one.

Enjoy!

Scorpio - The Addict = Me (or, so they say)

Below are true descriptions of zodiac signs, with traits from a book written 35 years ago by an astrologist's predictions. Read your sign.

VIRGO - The One that Waits
Dominant in relationships. Someone loves them right now. Always wants the last word. Caring. Smart. Loud. Loyal. Easy to talk to. Everything you ever wanted. Easy to please. The one and only.

SCORPIO - The Addict
EXTREMELY adorable. Intelligent. Loves to joke. Very Good sense of humor. Energetic. Predict future. GREAT kisser. Always get what they want. Attractive. Easy going. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Romantic. Caring.

LIBRA - The Lame One
Nice to everyone they meet. Their Love is one of a kind. Silly, fun and sweet. Have own unique appeal. Most caring person you will ever meet! However not the kind of person you wanna mess with... u might end up crying...

ARIES - The Liar
Outgoing. Lovable. Spontaneous. Not one to mess with. Funny. Excellent kisser. EXTREMELY adorable. Loves relationships, Addictive. Loud.

AQUARIUS - Does It In The Water
Trustworthy. Attractive. Great kisser. One of a kind. Loves being in long-term relationships. Extremely energetic. Unpredictable. Will exceed your expectations. Not a Fighter, But will Knock your lights out.

GEMINI - Irresistible
Nice. Love is one of a kind. Great listeners. Very Good in the you know where... Lover not a fighter, but will still knock you out. Trustworthy. Always happy. Loud. Talkative. Outgoing VERY FORGIVING. Loves to make out. Has a beautiful smile. Generous. Strong. THE MOST IRRESISTIBLE.

LEO - The Lion
Great talker. Attractive and passionate. Laid back. Knows how to have fun. Is really good at almost anything. Great kisser. Unpredictable. Outgoing. Down to earth. Addictive. Attractive. Loud. Loves being in long relationships. Talkative. Not one to mess with. Rare to find. Good when found.

CANCER - The Cutie
MOST AMAZING KISSER. Very high appeal. Love is one of a kind. Very romantic. Most caring person you will ever meet! Entirely creative. Extremely random and proud of it. Freak. Spontaneous. Great telling stories. Not a Fighter, But will Knock your lights out if it comes down to it. Someone you should hold on to.

PISCES - The Partner for Life
Caring and kind. Smart. Center of attention. High appeal. Has the last word. Good to find, hard to keep. Fun to be around. Extremely weird but in a good way. Good Sense of Humor!!! Thoughtfull, Always gets what he or she wants. Loves to joke. Very popular. Silly, fun and sweet.

CAPRICORN - The Passionate Lover
Love to bust. Nice. Sassy. Intelligent.. Sexy. Predict future. Irresistible. Loves being in long relationships. Great talker. Always gets what he or she wants. Cool. Loves to own Gemini's in sports. Extremely fun. Loves to joke. Smart.

TAURUS - The Tramp
Aggressive. Loves being in long relationships. Likes to give a good fight for what they want. Extremely outgoing. Loves to help people in times of need. Good kisser. Good personality. Stubborn. A caring person. One of a kind. Not one to mess with. Are the most attractive people on earth!

SAGITTARIUS - The Promiscuous One
Spontaneous. High appeal. Rare to find.. Great when found. Loves being in long relationships. So much love to give. Not one to mess with. Very pretty. Very romantic. Nice to everyone They meet. Their Love is one of a kind. Silly, fun and sweet. Have own unique appeal. Most caring person you will ever meet! Amazing in the you know where.. !!! Not the kind of person you wanna mess with - you might end up crying.

Zen Sarcasm

1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me, for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much leave me alone.

2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and leaky tire.

3. It's always darkest before the dawn. So if you're going to steal your neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.

4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be promoted.

5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.

6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.

7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments.

8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.

10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

11. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

12. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

13. Some days you're the bug; some days you're the windshield.

14. Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.

15. The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it back in your pocket.

16. A closed mouth gathers no foot.

17. Duct tape is like 'The Force'. It has a light side and a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

18. There are two theories to arguing with women. Neither one works.

19. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

20. Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

21. Never miss a good chance to shut up.

22. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

What are the names of the moons of all planets?

Planet: Earth:
Moon(s): The Moon

Planet: Mars
Moon(s): Phobos and Deimos

Planet: Jupiter
Moon(s): Metis, Adrastea, Amalthea, Thebe, Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Themisto, Leda, Himalia, Lysithea, Elara, S/2000 J11, S/2003 J12, Carpo, Euporie, S/2003 J3, S/2003 J18, Orthosie, Euanthe, Harpalyke, Praxidike, Thyone, S/2003 J16, Iocaste, Mneme, Hermippe, Thelxinoe, Helike, Ananke, S/2003 J15, Eurydome, Arche, S/2003 J17, Pasithee, S/2003 J10, Chaldene, Isonoe, Erinome, Kale, Aitne, Taygete, S/2003 J9, Carme, Sponde, Megaclite, S/2003 J5, S/2003 J19, S/2003 J23, Kalyke, S/2003 J14, Pasiphae, Eukelade, S/2003 J4, Sinope, Hegemone, Aoede, Kallichore, Autonoe, Callirrhoe, Cyllene and S/2003 J2

Planet: Saturn
Moon(s): Pan, S/2005 S1, Atlas, Prometheus, Pandora, Epimetheus, Janus, Mimas, Methone, Pallene, Enceladus, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Polydeuces, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Kiviuq, Ijiraq, Phoebe, Paaliaq, Skathi, Albiorix, S/2004 S11, Erriapo, Siarnaq, Tarvos, S/2004 S13, Mundilfari, Narvi, S/2004 S15, S/2004 S17, Suttungr, S/2004 S14, S/2004 S12, S/2004 S18, S/2004 S9, Thrymr, S/2004 S10, S/2004 S7, S/2004 S16, Ymir and S/2004 S8

Planet: Uranus
Moon(s): Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet, Portia, Rosalind, Cupid, Belinda, Perdita, Puck, Mab, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, Oberon, Francisco, Caliban, Stephano, Trinculo, Sycorax, Margaret, Prospero, Setebos and Ferdinand

Planet: Neptune
Moon(s): Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, Triton, Nereid, S/2002 N1, S/2002 N2, S/2002 N3, S/2003 N1 and S/2002 N4

Planet: Pluto
Moon(s): Charon, Nix and Hydra

The IAU assigns a name to a newly discovered moon when the orbit of that moon is known well enough that the future positions of that moon can be predicted well enough that the moon can be found again.

The names of the moons of Jupiter come from Greek and Roman mythology and are taken from partners of the Roman god Jupiter or the Greek god Zeus, or their descendants. It became necessary to allow names of descendants because more moons were discovered around Jupiter than there are names of known partners of Jupiter/Zeus.

The names of the moons of Saturn are the names of giants and their descendants from the mythology of the Greeks, Romans, Gauls, Inuits, and Norse. It became necessary to allow names of descendants and from other mythologies than the Greek and Roman ones because more moons were discovered around Saturn than there are names of known Greek and Roman giants. Gallic, Inuit, and Norse names are assigned to three different groups of moons that each have similar orbits.

The names of the moons of Uranus are those of characters from the works of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

The names of the moons of Neptune are those of (lesser) gods of the sea. Neptune himself is the chief god of the sea in Roman mythology.

Sunny Friday afternoon blog

We are, I'm pleased to say, still enjoying beautiful, sunny weather and the bluest, cloud-free skies I've seen in ages!

And what am I doing? I'm sitting at the computer looking up the origins of the words 'Son' and 'Daughter' (scroll down two posts for info on them) and how the planets got their names (scroll down one post for that info).

That's not all I'm doing though. I am working on reading my book. Kelly went to Swansea with my Dad and got me books 4, 5 and 6 in the series so I can read them when I'm done with book 3. There are 13 books in the series. Not to mention about that many in the pile by my bed waiting to be read. LOL!

We have the back door open (with the gate closed though) and Bella and Kero are laying in front of the gate looking out at the sun-filled yard as if they've never been outside before. They've actually had a couple of walks today (I took them for a short one and Kelly took them for a longer one) but they obviously don't think they've had enough time outside. Mind you, I could leave the door and the gate open all day and they would still act this way when I made them come in at night. LOL! They LOVE to be outside. But then, the word "Terrier" - which is in both their breed names - does mean "Earth Dog" after all. So, I can't say I'm surprised.

OK, enough of my nonsense for today. I have dishes to finish washing and laundry to put on. Why is it that there ALWAYS seems to be dishes and laundry to wash? I swear there's an unwritten universal law that states that "under no circumstances can all laundry and dishes be clean at any given time, at least one item must always be in need of washing."

Tori

How did the planets get named?

The five planets that are visible without a telescope (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) were named in ancient times. The others were named as they were discovered.

Mercury was named after Mercury, the mythical Roman winged messenger and escort of dead souls to the underworld. It was named for the speedy Mercury because it is the fastest-moving planet.

Venus was named after the Roman goddess of love.

Mars was named after the Roman god of war.

Jupiter was named after the Roman primary god, Jupiter.

Saturn was named for the Roman god of agriculture.

Uranus was originally named in 1781 by the British astronomer William Herschel - he called it Georgium Sidus (meaning "the Georgian planet") to honor King George III of England. The name was later changed to Uranus, the ancient mythological god of the sky, Ouranos. The name Uranus was suggested by the German astronomer Johann Elert Bode.

Neptune was named after the mythical Roman god of the seas.

Pluto was named after the Roman god of the underworld, Pluto. Its symbol is the combined letters "P" and "L" either for Percival Lowell or for Pluto. The name Pluto was suggested by Venetia Burney of England, who was 11 years old at the time. She suggested the name to her grandfather, who was Librarian at Oxford. He passed her idea to the astronomers who were trying to name the newly-discovered planet.

Where do the words Son and Daughter come from?

'Daughter' comes from a Germanic family root, cognate to the modern German word Tochter, which has the same meaning.

'Son' does NOT come from the word 'Sun' as many people believe. 'Son' - like daughter - comes from a Germanic root. That the words 'Son' and 'Sun' are pronounced alike is an accident of convergent evolution of the words.

The Germanic languages are a group of related languages constituting a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. The common ancestor of all languages comprising this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the latter mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age Northern Europe. Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, is characterized by a number of unique linguistic features, most famously the consonant change known as Grimm's law. Early Germanic varieties enter history with the Germanic peoples who settled in northern Europe along the borders of the Roman Empire from the 2nd century.

The largest Germanic languages are English and German, with approximately 400 and 100 million native speakers respectively. The group consists of other major languages, such as Dutch with 22 and Afrikaans with over 16 million speakers; and the North Germanic languages including Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic and Faroese with a combined total of about 20 million speakers.

The SIL Ethnologue lists 53 different Germanic languages and dialects.

Note: SIL International is a worldwide non-profit evangelical Christian organization whose main purpose is to study, develop and document lesser-known languages in order to expand linguistic knowledge, promote literacy and aid minority language development.

Gizmo Syndrome & Test Results

"Argh! Bright light!"

That was what I said when I walked out the door this morning to take the dogs for a walk. Man is it bright out there! And HOT too! Summer is DEFINITELY on its way!!! We - Kero, Bella and I - had a lovely walk (OK, OK, I admit it, only I was walking, they ran) that, unfortunately, we had to cut short to get back in time for the doctor calling me.

And, speaking of the doctor's phone call...

The only problem the results showed is that I'm Anemic, which I not only already knew, but have been on iron tablets because of for like 5 years. So, all that fuss for nothing! She - the doctor - wants me to be tested again next month to keep an eye on my iron level and then checked "every few months" to keep an eye on it. That was meant to have been happening anyway, but for some reason they stopped doing the regular blood tests.

She also wants me to go see a dietitian to make sure that I'm eating the right things and the right amount of those things and all that. But she doesn't actually want me on any diet, she just wants me to see the dietitian for him/her to get me eating the right food for a healthy lifestyle. And she says that she is "quite sure" that the main reason I'm not loosing weight is because I'm worrying about loosing it. I guess that kinda makes sense.

If you regularly read my blog then you will know that when I have a question in my head I usually try and find the answer. No matter how stupid of a question it may seem to everyone else. Well, if you know that then you may also know - or, at the very least, not be surprised to hear - that I was curious about where the name of the Sun came from. Well, if you scroll down then you will see that the answer to that (as well as a few little bits of info on the Sun) can be found in the "Part 1 of my question answered + some Sun info" post. Of course, when I told my Dad about this last night he asked "what about the Moon?" Which led me to wondering about that too. So, today I looked that one up as well. And, if you scroll down to the "Luna lesson" post you will see the answer for yourself (as well as some other info on the Moon). Maybe next I should find out about the names of all the other planets?

Hm... I think I'll save that one for a project for tomorrow. After all, can't bore you with too much useful info at once or you might never come back... LOL!

Tori

Luna lesson

Of course, I had to find out about the name of the moon too, didn't I? So, I went and looked around and found this article...

The Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. The average distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,403 kilometres (238,857 miles), which is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon has a diameter of 3,474 kilometres (2,159 miles) - slightly more than a quarter that of the Earth. This means that the volume of the Moon is only 1/50th that of Earth. Its gravitational pull is about a 1/6th of Earth's. The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days, and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are responsible for the lunar phases that repeat every 29.5 days. The gravitational attraction, and the centrifugal forces generated by the rotation of the Moon and Earth around a common axis, the barycentre, is largely responsible for the tides on Earth. The energy dissipated in generating tides is directly responsible for the reduction in potential energy in the Moon-Earth orbit around the barycentre, resulting in a 3.8 cm yearly increase in the distance between the two bodies. The Moon will continue to move slowly away from the Earth until the tidal effects between the two are no longer of significance, whereupon the Moon's orbit will stabilize.

The Moon is the only celestial body that humans have orbited (other than the Earth) or landed on. The first artificial object to escape Earth's gravity and pass near the Moon was the Soviet Union's Luna 1, the first artificial object to impact the lunar surface was Luna 2, and the first photographs of the normally occluded far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3, all in 1959. The first spacecraft to perform a successful lunar soft landing was Luna 9 and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon was Luna 10, both in 1966. The US Apollo program has achieved the first (and only) manned missions to date, resulting in six landings between 1969 and 1972. Human exploration of the Moon ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although as of 2007, several countries have announced plans to send either people or robotic spacecraft to the Moon. On 4 December 2006, NASA outlined plans for a permanent base on the Moon as part of preparation for a voyage to Mars. Construction of the base is scheduled to take about five years, with the first preliminary missions by 2020.

The Moon has no formal English name, although it is occasionally called Luna (Latin for "moon") to distinguish it from the generic "moon" (referring to any of the various natural satellites of other planets). Its astronomical symbol is a crescent. The related adjective for the Moon is lunar (from the Latin root), or the adjectival prefix seleno - or suffix Selene (as in the Greek deity Selene). The word moon is Old English from older Germanic origins, with links back to Latin mensis, and back further to the PIE root of me - as in measure (time), with reminders of its importance in measuring time in words derived from it like Monday, month and menstrual.

Nonsensical Dribble

You know what? Before I sat down to start typing this I thought of loads of stuff I was going to say. But, guess what? Now I can't think of anything to type! That is why I'm just going to be talking nonsense. You never know, something sensible may turn up in among the nonsensical dribble. After all, stranger things have happened! LOL!

I think the pollen count is going to be high around here today. I've been sneezing all morning. I don't have a cold, I know the difference between pollen sneezes and flu sneezes. I should know by now anyway. LOL!

I've read all of the first chapter and part of the second chapter of 'Lemony Snicket - The Wide Window'. So, hopefully I'll get it finished in time for the 7th Harry Potter book coming out. Even if I don't get any of the other books I have in my book pile read in time.

I just did the spelling checker thing (after all, I'm not exactly the world's greatest speller) and it says I spelled "LOL" wrong. Apparently I must have meant either 'LIL' 'LOLA' 'LOLL' 'LL' or 'LO'. I didn't mean any of them though. Stupid spell checker thing! LOL!

The people on the radio - Angela and Bobby - were saying about people's bad habits. They even phoned Bobby's wife up and asked her what his annoying habits are. She had quite a list. LOL! So, I woke Kelly up to ask him what my annoying habits were. I half expected him to say "waking me up for stupid questions like this at stupid hours of the morning" since it was about 7:00 am this happened. But, nope, he said it was the way that when I get over tired I snore so loudly that even Kero gets up and leaves the room. Man, that must be bad for Kero to leave. Oops! LOL!

Hm... spell checker doesn't recognise the word "Kero" either. Can't say I'm surprised. Funny thing is though, one of its suggestions was "Karo"... WTF??? Who or what is Karo? Strange!

OK, I think I've bored you enough for one day.

Tori

Part 1 of my question answered + some Sun info

And here is the answer to my question about the name of the Sun. Or, as close to an answer as it seems I am going to get...

The Sun

The origin of the name "Sun" is probably at least three thousand years old, because it can be traced back all the way to the Indo-European language, which is the ancestor language to many languages of today, including English, French, German, Spanish, Greek and Persian. There is no hidden or other meaning to the name "Sun": It is just the name of that big bright light that is in the sky during the day.

Our Sun is a normal main-sequence G2 star, one of more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy.

The Sun's diameter is: 1,390,000 km.
The Sun's mass is: 1.989e30 kg
The Sun's surface temperature is: 5800 K
The Sun's core temperature is: 15,600,000 K

The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest).

Note: "1.989e30" means "1.989 times 10 to the 3rd power"

Mugs, blogs and an unanswered question

I forgot to put this up before. It's the mug I got with my Easter egg from Kelly this year. Tidy sized mug too! Kelly put his on his blog as well if you want to go look at it.

OK, so, if you saw the comment section of my main blog post yesterday then you'd know that somebody called Jessica came and posted. So, I went and looked at her blog and it looks like a cool blog. I added the link to my sidebar so I could find it easier to visit. Hope she doesn't mind. And her friend Robyn is a laugh. I took a look at her blog too and she cracked me up big time. So, I added the link to her blog to my list too. Seems like they think the way I do... I like that!

You know, nobody answered my question about who decided the sun should be called "the sun" and why. I guess I'll have to see if I can find something that will answer it for me. Off to Google we go then, eh? Failing that, maybe I can ask Jeeves? The answer has to be out there somewhere... right??? It would probably be a lot harder to answer the rest of the question (see yesterday's blog - the one called 'what beautiful weather' - for info on what the rest of the question was).

Tori

Lemony Snicket - The Reptile Room

OK, I already did my blog for today but I decided to do another one to tell you that I FINALLY finished reading 'The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket'. It's the second book in the series and I've been "trying" to find the time to sit down and read it since like July or something and I finally finished reading it some time Saturday night. And, yes, book two was just as good as book one. It has NEVER taken me that long to read a book before. How strange! I need to get some serious reading done so I can get the ever growing pile of books beside my bed read before the 7th Harry Potter book comes out in July. I've started reading 'The Wide Window' which is book three in Lemony Snicket's 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events'. But I've not got very far yet.

What beautiful weather

We've been having some beautiful weather lately! Admittedly there's been the odd time that I've moaned it's too hot and all that, but I really am enjoying this lovely weather.

I've just got back home from yet another long walk with the dogs. Ran into someone that I hadn't seen in AGES!!! Her name is Marion and she was in a writing class that I used to be in. I think it's been about a year since I saw her last - I might even have mentioned it on here back then - and had I not recognised her voice when she spoke to someone else, I wouldn't have realised who it was. I was walking along with Kero and Bella and she was sat by the river with her dogs and I stopped because my two had found a nice smell to sniff and I thought to myself "I know that voice!" Then I realised and said hello to her. We talked for almost an hour while we walked our dogs. All four dogs loved it! It was nice to catch up. Probably have to wait another year to see her again now. LOL!

Went to town this morning 'just because'. Finally found a yellow draining rack to put my dishes on after I wash them. Almost all of my kitchen stuff is now either white or yellow apart from my draining rack and our coffee machine. So, now it's just the coffee machine that I need to get in either white or yellow. It'll probably have to be white as yellow stuff isn't all that easy to find. I mean, it's taken me a couple of months to find a draining rack in yellow. LOL!

Of course, I came home with treats for the dogs and cats too. I always do. Yes, I know, they're spoiled, aren't they? But I don't care. I love them to bits and I love to bring them presents home. Though I'm sure they think the best present I bring home is myself.

Right, well, I have to find me some dinner and get the dishes washed. I ought to put some laundry on too...

Tori

Note - added 8:30 pm: Who decided it should be called 'the sun' anyway? And why? Also, why are the words 'sun' (as in the ball of fire in the sky) and 'son' (as in some one's male child) so similar?

Morning all

Good morning. Hope you're having a great weekend. And, how has your week been?

Much to Kero's delight, we had Shireen from Thursday morning to Friday morning. Kero absolutely loved having her here. And so did I. Shireen and I took the dogs for some nice walks and after lunch I took Shireen to the park for a bit. And before she went to bed all of us - Shireen, Kelly and I - watched the movie 'Flushed Away'. Which, by the way, was excellent!

Got Shireen to bed about 9:00 pm and was in bed myself by about 11:00 pm because I was so tired. Slept right through to 6:35 am. Haven't slept that long in I don't know how long! I think having Shireen did me some good because I slept well Friday night and last night too.

Had to get up early Friday anyway because I had to have Shireen ready for my Mam to pick her up at 8:30 am to take her back home to Jackie. Plus, I had to be at the doctors office by 10:30 am.

Turned out the only thing they did Friday was do some more blood tests. Apparently the doctor is calling me "some time after noon" on Thursday "in order to discuss the results". So, I guess I'm waiting until Thursday to find out anything. Still, at least this time they stopped my arm bleeding properly before they let me leave. I also found out when I was there that I have an appointment to see the nurse at the asthma clinic for an annual check-up on April 23rd. I can't remember what time though, so, I'll have to call them up closer to find out. I should have gotten a repeat prescription while I was there, but I forgot. Damn! Guess I'll have to call them and sort that out tomorrow (Monday) so I don't run out of anything.

I watched the movie 'Zathura: A Space Adventure' on Friday. It was really good. I missed the very beginning of it though.

Anyway, that'll do for now. Got to sort dinner and such.

Tori

Inner Strength

If you can start the day without caffeine
If you can get going without pep pills
If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains
If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles
If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it
If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time
If you can take criticism and blame without resentment
If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct him
If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend
If you can conquer tension without medical help
If you can relax without liquor
If you can sleep without the aid of drugs

Then You Are Probably The Family Dog!

Bella's 3rd Birthday

Today is Bella's 3rd birthday.

As you can see by the fact I already have photos to post, she's already had her card and presents. She seems to be very happy with the two squeaky toys (a bone and a pork chop) that we got her. I think the pork chop has already been stopped from squeaking. LOL!

Kero was a bit upset that Bella got presents and he didn't, so, we gave him a Bonio and a doggy all-sort to make him feel more included.

Tori

Bouncing in to say "Good Morning!"

Hellooo! And how is everyone today?

It's barely after 6:00 am but I've been up for hours! I've found some energy from somewhere this morning I think. Wonder if it will last all day? Doubt it! I'll probably run out of energy about the time I'm meant to be doing my grocery shopping. LOL!

So, did you all enjoy your Easter weekend?

I got a few eggs. Kelly and I got each other an egg with a mug and we literally got the mugs out of the package, washed them up and started using them. LOL! I don't bother putting mugs up on shelves as collectors items. I have a few ornaments (most of them animal themed) on shelves, but if I get a mug from someone I use the mug. I mean, I don't use a dishwasher so it's not like the dishwasher is going to take the picture off. Besides, if I put all my mugs that could be collectors mugs on shelves, what would I have my cups of tea in??? LOL!

For anyone interested in a World Of Warcraft character update... Zararose - my rogue - is still level 40 but I'm doing some work on her with Kelly and his level 65 rogue, so, she should start to move up in the level department pretty soon. My druid is still 22, but I'm not concerned about moving him up any more right now. And my mage (the one who was level 13 and I wanted to get up some levels) is now almost level 30. Yeah, I know, I need a life! LOL!

OK, going back to real life... Bella is finally grasping the idea that cats are NOT play things and that sometimes it's OK to let a cat walk past you without having to chase it and pin it to the ground. And Sakura, Chance and Megan - yes, I did say Megan too, lol - are learning that if you don't jump on Bella's head and then run away, Bella is a lot less likely to chase you. LOL!

Oh yeah... today is my friend Corinne's birthday! Don't know if she's going to see this, but... HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORINNE!!!

Anyway, I think I've said enough for now.

Tori

Easter 2007 & dog photos

OK, first of all... HAPPY EASTER to everyone!

I hope you all enjoy your day - however you choose to spend it - and that you get lots of chocolate! LOL! I've got a few chocolate eggs, but I specifically asked not to have too many since I'm meant to be watching my intake of dairy stuff. My Mam is buying me a present after she comes back from visiting Jackie instead of getting me an Easter egg and Carl and I agreed we'd buy ourselves something from each other rather than messing about with posting money or chocolate or whatever. Saves money on postage plus means we can get whatever we want, be it chocolate or something else entirely.

Anyway...

We had a great time on Friday night. Nicola never managed to make it, and Kelly (Mam's friend, not my hubby) wasn't feeling too good so went home after like an hour or so, but Mam, Jackie and I had a great time. Mam was a bit worse for ware afterwards though. LOL! She did manage to make me an egg sandwich though. LOL! I don't know what it is about going into a pub, but it always makes me hungry for some strange reason.

Alright then, moving on...

We are still having BEAUTIFUL weather here. If it wasn't for the fact I know better I'd say Summer is starting a month early. But, of course, we are in Wales after all and the rain will come soon. It always does. So, we've been taking the dogs on lots of nice walks. We took them all - Bella, Kero and Willow - to the park yesterday and had a great time. I even remembered to take my camera... finally! LOL!

I took the balls too, but for the most part the dogs were more interested in chasing each other than playing with the balls. My Mam and Wayne had a great time playing with the balls though, and when Bella and Kero got tired of playing, Willow decided she'd play ball with Mam and Wayne.

Poor Bella still can't quite keep up with Kero and Willow, bless her! She sure does try though! She's just not used to all this running, poor baby! Kero goes like a streak of lightning and Willow is a big dog who can cover a lot of ground without using too much energy. Where as Bella... she's a tiny little thing who has had to be kept on a lead when out because of where she lived before. When she gets more used to running around with the other two she'll be keeping up with them no bother though. I know she will!

They were all VERY interested in the treats I took with me though. LOL! I can't say I'm surprised at that one though. Although, I was surprised that Kero ate his while we were out, because he doesn't usually like to eat in public. Maybe having Bella at home with us has changed his opinions about eating with others watching?

Anyway, that'll do for now. There are more photos in the dogs' photo albums if you want to take a look at them.

Tori

Tips From The Easter Bunny

Dropping in on Good Friday

We've been having some beautiful weather! That cold wind we had has even gone now leaving us with beautifully warm and sunny days. The kinds of days where long walks with the dogs are so pleasurable that they happen several times a day! I keep forgetting my camera though. Damn! I did get a few photos with my phone - and Mam got a few with hers too - but the quality of the phone cameras isn't as good as the quality of my big camera. And with dogs like Bella and Willow who can't stay still for a second you need a good quality camera to get a photo of a dog instead of a blurry black blob. LOL! We're meant to be going to the park together again tomorrow, so, hopefully tomorrow I will FINALLY remember my camera. LOL! Whether I do or not, I'll see about posting the photos I have on my phone over the weekend.

I'm going out tonight. I don't go out all that often really. I usually stay home while everyone else goes out. But, anyway, I'm going out with my Mam and a couple of friends... Jackie, Kelly (not my hubby Kelly, a friend called Kelly) and, I think, Nicola. I'm not entirely sure where we're going because my Mam is deciding. All I know is I have to dress 'tidy', which is Mam's way of telling me not to come dressed in joggers and a baggy t-shirt... LOL! And my Kelly is spending the evening up with my Dad and Dave (Jackie's partner) while Wayne (my brother) is watching Bella and Kero for me.

Now, I know some people don't get why I have 'puppy sitters' when I go out. But, I do it because I choose to. For one thing, Kero suffers from separation anxiety and can't be left alone for more than a few minutes without getting distressed. For another thing, I don't feel very kind going out "just because" and leaving my dogs at home all by themselves while I'm off having fun. I know sometimes people do have to leave their dogs while they go out. But, since I can avoid doing so, I prefer to avoid doing that. Besides, I'm pretty sure Wayne loves having free run of the TV channels and getting paid to watch TV and play with the dogs. Sure, he has to take them out for a pee and such, but that's about all he has to do.

Anyway, I better see about dinner so that I can get showered and changed to go out. Especially since it's getting close to 5:00 pm and Dad is dropping Wayne off and picking Kelly and I up at about 6:45 pm ish.

Tori

A salesman calls Little Johnny's house

A salesman is trying to call a client. The phone rings and their little boy, named Little Johnny, answers and says in a whisper, "Hello."

Salesman: "Is your mommy there?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "Yes."
Salesman: "Can I speak with her?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "She's busy."
Salesman: "Is your daddy there?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "Yes."
Salesman: "Can I speak with him?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "He's busy."
Salesman: "Is there anyone else there?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "The fire department."
Salesman: "Can I talk to one of them?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "They're busy."
Salesman: "Is there anybody ELSE there?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "The police department."
Salesman: "Well, can I talk to one of THEM?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "They're busy."
Salesman: "Let me get this straight... your mother, your father, the fire department AND the police department are ALL in your house, and they're ALL busy? WHAT are they doing?"
Little Johnny (whisper): "They're looking for me."

Weigh-In - April 4th 2007

Weight today: 16 stone 10.25 lbs (233.25 lbs)
Weight lost: 0 lbs
Weight gained: 3 lbs
Weight lost so far: 0 stone 13.75 lbs (13.75 lbs)

I'm not overly shocked that I put on 3 lbs in the last two weeks because of the doctor taking me off the diet until we figure out what's wrong. I know I have eaten some things that were definately not good for me.

weather & doctor related topics

We've had some beautiful weather! Some days it's been kinda chilly, but for the most part it's been sunny and warm. The kind of weather where every one's outside enjoying the fresh air and you get to see all those people you didn't see all winter. LOL!

So, anyway, on Saturday I got a letter from the doctor asking me to call between 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm. Couldn't do it until Monday because we only have the 'emergency doctor' on weekends. When I called them Monday the only thing they'd tell me was "based on the results of the tests, the doctor wants to do more tests" and they made me an appointment to see the doctor the end of next week. They wouldn't tell me any more than that for some reason.

Tori

Zararose made it to level 40!!!

Awesome! I got Zararose - my main rogue on the main realm we play on - to level 40 yesterday! AND she has her mount now too! Sure, it cost me 81 gold for her riding skill and a further 10 gold for her mount (bet your glad that a paladin gets theirs free through a special paladin quest, Grandma... lol) but it was worth it! Characters move much faster on a horse than on foot! Besides, this is the closest I'm ever going to get to owning a horse of my very own. LOL!

Shame we can't name the mounts like we can name the pets our hunters tame.

Tori