Wednesdays learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

inspissate  \in-SPISS-ayt\  ~ verb

DEFINITION: to make or become thick or thicker

EXAMPLES: "Marmalade of carrots is the juice of yellow carrots, inspissated till it is of the thickness of fluid honey, or treacle, which last it resembles both in taste and color." — From Capt. James E. Cook's 1777 book A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World, Volume 1

"Estrogen and progesterone affect direction and flow of tubal secretions, which may accumulate, inspissate, and eventually calcify." — From Gary B. Siskin's 2009 book Interventional Radiology in Women’s Health

DID YOU KNOW?  "Inspissate" is ultimately derived from Latin "spissus" ("slow, dense") and is related to Greek "spidnos" ("compact") and Lithuanian "spisti" ("to form a swarm"). When it appeared in English in the 17th century, "inspissate" suggested a literal thickening. Francis Bacon, for example, wrote in 1626 that "Sugar doth inspissate the Spirits of the Wine, and maketh them not so easie to resolue into Vapour." Eventually "inspissate" was also used metaphorically. Clive Bell once wrote of "parties of school children and factory girls inspissating the gloom of the museum atmosphere." There is also an adjective "inspissate," meaning "thickened in consistency" or "made thick, heavy, or intense," but that word is used even less frequently than the somewhat rare verb.

 

Find more great words at merriam-webster on line.

~THE REBATE~

Getting in the gift giving mode yet?  If you are planning on purchasing games this holiday season this is a great rebate.  Hasbro is offering a rebate of up to $40.00 back on many of their great games.  You can mix and match up to 12 games, but you are limited to only 4 games of one title per rebate form, but you can mail in two forms.   Even better, you can file your rebate right on line and save yourself the postage.  The games included are:

• The Game of Life (SKU# 04000)
• Monopoly (SKU# 00009)
• Scattergories (SKUs# A2861, 05721)
• Pictionary (SKU# 05713)
• Scrabble (SKUs# 04024, 37719),
• Yahtzee (SKU# 00950)
• Hungry Hungry Hippos (SKUs# 05297, 98936)
• Jenga (SKU# 53557)
• Twister (SKUs# 16965, 98831)
• Connect 4 (SKUs# 08417, 98779),
• Elefun (SKUs# 05294, 98934)
• Operation (SKU# 40198)

To maximize your savings be sure to check your local paper for game sales and Hasbro coupons as well as join their reward program for their Perks Coupons and discounts.

I hope you are all having a great day.

C.Q.
 

Wednesday's learn and earn...

~WORD OF THE DAY~

 

Halloween ~ noun (Concise Encyclopedia)

Holiday observed on October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day. Its pagan origins can be traced to the Celtic festival of Samhain, celebrated in ancient England and Ireland to mark the beginning of the Celtic new year. The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on Samhain eve, and witches, goblins, black cats, and ghosts were said to roam abroad. The night was also thought to be the most favorable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. The pagan observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows' Eve, celebrated on the same date. The holiday was gradually secularized and was introduced into the U.S. by the late 19th century. Still associated with evil spirits and the supernatural, it is celebrated by children in costume who gather candy by ringing doorbells and calling out “trick or treat,” “trick” referring to the pranks and vandalism that are also part of the Halloween tradition.

Find more great words at Merriam-Webster online.


~THE REBATE~

Today's rebate is great if you are buying gifts for a few children or a lot this holiday season.  Get up to $38.00 back from Crayola on select items including Glow Book, Jewelry Boutique, Light Sketcher and My First Crayola Color Me A Song just to name a few.  Just print off the rebate form; I had to click on "save" to download it, then open it from my own computer.  Check off the boxes of the products purchased, then mail it together with the original UPCs from the package(s) and the original cash register or online receipt(s) dated between October 15, 2012 and December 31, 2012.  There is a limit of one rebate per item as well as per household.

Happy Halloween and hope you are all having a great week!

C.Q.

 

Tastefully Tuesday...

I know, its Tastefully Tuesday, but I have something fun to share, which after yesterday will make me smile.  Don't worry, nothing tragic yesterday, just a good reminder lesson in manners.  In a nutshell, if you call on Friday to make an appointment to look at a house on Monday afternoon, don't put an offer in on a DIFFERENT house on Saturday then call on the said Monday to cancel the showing.  We spent all weekend cleaning instead of having a nice Easter. I wasn't in a really great mood yesterday, but on the bright side we have a nice clean house where you can eat off the floors if you want.

So here is the part to share, Bernie over at One Mixed Bag and I were chatting one night about awards and how fun they are to get but that they are a bit of work and we giggled that it would be fun to get one that required the recipient do nothing in particular, totally their choice, then it hit us, well gosh, why can't we make that happen?  So here is it folks, the No Hoops Award.  We are giving it to the blogs we read a lot, and in my case some I read but don't comment on a lot because I have been so busy.  When you get your award you MUST do what ever you feel like, you could sing a little diddy, whistle a little tune, dance the happy dance or nothing at all, its your choice.  You can pass it along or just post it on your blog, or you can ignore it, anything goes.

So here are the blogs I would like to give this award to, in no particular order (OK you caught me, they are alphabetical), and if your new here today feel free to grab the award and pass it on to someone or just keep it for yourself.

A Long Way From Texas (She makes me want to move to Ireland... most days)
10 Steps to Finding Your Happy Place (and staying there) (I do try but some days its hard, she helps)
Bags Books and Bon Jovi (Even the name is great)
Cat Chat (I know she is an award free blog space but I wanted her to know I was thinking of her and Cody)
Cat Thoughts (Who's reading is making me sooooo jelous!)
Dogs, Cats and Other Crap I Talk About (One of the best advocates I know for animal rights)
Egg and Twig (Who is causing me to drool almost everyday I read her posts!)
Facing 50 with Humor (I am right on her heels!)
Housecat Confidential (Fin is a great author, and I can't wait for the next book!)
Its a Keeper (Another blog trying to keep my weight up, they even weed out the bad recipes!)
Kat Happy Haven (Because she works harder than anyone I know to take care of injured critters)
Life with Dogs (Who doesn't need a little unconditional love?)
Meet Virgina Designs (Fashionista extraordinaire and fun to read!)
Never Growing Old (Best blog hop host-er ever!)
Photographing New Zealand (I love seeing places I have never been in beautiful pictures)
Shibley Smiles (Great coupons and blog hops!)
Simply Beautiful Veg. (I love reading the adventures of College life and a new appartment from such a nice lady)
The Thrift Shop Romantic (She makes me want to go looking for treasure!)

Have a great Tuesday everyone!!!

C.Q.

Sunday's media madness...

When I was visiting a friend in Montana we all decided to check out the local thrift stores, something I love to do because you always find some gem of a treasure.  This expedition was no exception when I stumbled across a book called Celebration; A Year of Parties, Extravaganzas & Gatherings with Friends and Family by Susan Branch.  The book is no longer in print but can still be found at Amazon new for $19.99.  I was also able to find a copy at AbeBooks.com for $7.81 with $3.99 shipping in brand new condition.  The premise for the book is  "A great deal of the joy brought about by any event or celebration is in the remembering. With that in mind, Susan created this keepsake book as a place where family and friends can share impressions, expressions of love, words of wisdom and friendly advice. Included are wonderful handwritten quotations and beautiful watercolor illustrations in Susan’s lighthearted style – with lots of room to record the memories that will truly make this book a keepsake. Every season has its events, from Spring flings and Summer celebrations to Fall festivities and Winter revelries. This keepsake book is designed to be a record of all the fun!" ~ Amazon  As always, with this or any out of print book be sure to check on Ebay as well, you may find a one cent deal with shipping under $3.00.

  

  

In doing this article today I found that even though this book is no longer in print, Ms. Branch does have other books available and I am excited to find them because I love to document important moments in life, Holidays, weddings, vacations, milestone birthdays etc.  A few currently in print are Christmas Joy : A Keepsake Book from the Heart of the Home, Days from the Heart of the Home, Girlfriends Forever and Baby Love: A Keepsake Book from the Heart of the Home. all of which look like really fun books and would make great gifts for Birthdays, Baby Showers and the holidays.  You can check out the Susan Branch web site for information about the author, more great books that are on the way as well as some great recipes, you can even order books and calenders direct from the author as well as some really fun stuff for sewing and baking as well as things for the home, including one of my favorite sections, the vintage area.

Have a great Sunday everyone!

C.Q.

Be sure to check out some other great blogs on the blog hop!