January Diversions

 

Before you start partying, read this. You might not be able to see clearly if you wait

 

7 – Old Rock Day

This is a redundancy. All rocks are old. But go ahead and celebrate them anyway. One of the fun ways to celebrate them is to paint them up all purty and such. But as I’ve learned the hard way, if you plan on displaying them outside or around a potted plant, seal them after they are finished! The pic above shows the cactus rocks Lia and painted several years ago.

 

 

8 – Bubble Bath Day

I have always loved a nice, soothing bubble bath. Have a few candles lit and some music playing and I can lay there until the water is cold. 

 

 

10 – Houseplant Appreciation Day

I am terrible at keeping plants alive. I once got a pretty cactus in a little pot and watered that thing to death. My grandma and dad usually had African violets that they took care of religiously.

 

 

16 – Appreciate Dragons Day

I LOVE dragons! Except Barney. Barney makes me want to puke. I would love to see a real dragon wheeling across the sky. The Pern novels by McCaffrey were favorites of mine. The cute little dragon/donkeys from Shrek were adorable. In fifth grade we made a diorama illustrating a book we’d read. I chose Freddy and the Dragon by Walter R. Brooks and made a small clay dragon.

 

 

20 – Penguin Awareness Day

What’s not to love about penguins?? Wonderful creatures. Real ones, of course, but there are so many others too. I’ve always loved Opus from the comic Bloom County. Both the book and movie “Mr. Popper’s Penguins”. And then you have those crazy penguins in the Madagascar movies.

 

December Diversions

 

2 – National Fritters Day

The only fritters I have ever eaten are apple fritters, and I just adore them. They’re not terribly sweet and go so well with coffee. I’ve never had to opportunity to try vegetable or meat fritters, but I wouldn’t be averse to giving them a taste. I will never make any myself, because I don’t want to deal with deep frying. I used to have a small Fry Daddy many years ago and I enjoyed it but absolutely hated the cleanup. 

 

 7 – Letter Writing Day

Even though this is pretty much a lost art, I LOVE sending and getting real letters. That was one of the reasons I joined a post card group. I’ve sent and received post cards from all over the world. And you only have to write a little bit, because there isn’t much room on a post card. Through this group I recently gained a penpal, because she isn’t on social media at all. Check out postcrossing.com. It’s free. 

 

 

18 – Bake Cookies Day

It’s time to get cracking and make those cookies so you can share them. Spend the day making them and freeze them for when you can plate them, cover them with fancy Saran Wrap, put a bow on them and deliver them with a Christmas card. My favorite go-to recipe has always been the basic Bisquick recipe: 1 small box jello instant pudding mix, 1 cup bisquick (or any baking mix), ¼ cup oil, 1 egg. Mix all together, form into small balls, put on cookie sheet and flatten. Bake 350° for 5-8 minutes. The beauty of this recipe is that the flavor of the jello is the flavor of the cookie. You can add choc chips, colored sugar or sprinkles, M&Ms, whatever you want. 

 

 21 – Winter Solstice

Shortest day of the year. Also my Dad’s birthday. Have a nice dinner with candle light. Drink hot chocolate or a nice toddy. Scamper about outside under the moonlight. Howl at the moon. Whatever you want. I don’t judge…

 

 

26 – James Mason (not the actor) patented the first coffee percolator. Growing up, we had this exact same type of coffee maker. I remember when we got that fancy new-fangled thing – The Electric Coffee Maker!! All you had to do was prep it and plug it in!! On Christmas Day, my brother and I would get up early, but we couldn’t wake our parents until after we’d plugged in the coffee and the little red light showed that it was done.

 

September Diversions

 

13 – fortune cookie day

No clear idea when these were first made, but it WASN’T in China. I learned that you always read your fortune and add the words “in bed” afterward. Here is a site where you can get your fortune online: http://chinaunique.com/cookie/fortune.htm

 

 

15 – make a hat day

I’ve always loved hats. I got a couple of basic hats with no frills that I can add flower clips or ribbon to. When it comes to making one, my efforts tend to run to this picture…

 

 

16 – Collect rocks day

Rocks are cool. When I was young I enjoyed painting designs on them. One summer Lia and I painted several rocks that I put around our poinsettia. I discovered that Mod Podge does NOT protect against water…you have to use a good waterproof sealer if you want to do that or put them outside in a planter.

 

 

21 – Miniature Golf Day

When Marv ran the Youth Group at church we went miniature golfing all the time in Chico. There used to be one here in Oroville, too. Fun game. I don’t think there are any around this area anymore.

 

 

23 – The cartoon show “The Jetsons” premiered on TV in 1962. My brother and I watched this religiously. Of course, the flying cars were something we looked forward to having in the future, but it was the automatic food dispenser that I thought would be the most awesome thing in the world to have. And then Star Trek improved it with the replicator. I know flying cars are never gonna happen, but I sure would like a food replicator…