• Animal

    Slugs & Snails

    SnailsThere are around 120 species of snail in the UK. These range from 1mm Dot snails (punctum pygmaeum) to the Roman Snail (Helix pomatia) which has a 5cm shell and is good with garlic butter. Some of these species are specific to geographical areas so not all will turn up on your plot. The main one we are interested in is the European Brown Garden Snail (Helix aspersa) – a terrestrial gastropod mollusc. These Gardens Snails have a life span of 2 to 6 year. They can produce up to six batches of eggs in a single year, and each newborn will take one to two years to mature. SlugsSnail_slug_on_broom_handleSlugs…

  • History,  Inspiring Stories

    Janis Joplin story

    American singer-songwriter Janis Joplin (born January 19, 1943, Port Arthur, Texas, U.S.—died October 4, 1970, Los Angeles, California) was an American singer, the premier white female blues vocalist of the 1960s, who dazzled listeners with her fierce and uninhibited musical style. After an unhappy childhood in a middle-class family in southeastern Texas, Joplin attended Lamar State College of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin before dropping out in 1963 to sing folk songs and especially the blues in Texas clubs. After a long sojourn in San Francisco (during which she abused alcohol and amphetamines), she went back to Texas, only to return to San Francisco in 1966 to…

  • Inspiring Stories

    Today is a day I’ll not soon forget..

    Today is a day I’ll not soon forget.. As I was combining today, I was unloading into the auger cart and I saw a vehicle go by a couple times slowly and then pull over and stop. I had a minor repair to make and the vehicle stayed… I was a little concerned until I happened to catch 3 little sets of eyes looking out windows. I went over and they rolled down the window and I asked if they needed anything and the lady explained their grandchildren were visiting from Florida and had never seen “farmer stuff” up close. There were 2 boys and a little girl.. I’d assume…

  • Inspiring Stories

    Faris Tuohy, who fought in WWII , is holding a photo from 1944 .

    Faris Tuohy, who fought in WWII , is holding a photo from 1944 . That’s him on the left, holding a cup of coffee, after one of many hellacious battles. He will be 95 this April. Faris Tuohy is certainly lucky to still be here, especially after the battles he’s been through. During World War II, Tuohy fought with the 3rd Battalion, independent 22nd Marine Regiment. On this day he’d just finished a two day battle for Engebi in Eniwetok Atoll where they went toe to toe with Japanese soldiers. During the battle Tuohy’s battalion killed 736 Japanese soldiers, and reportedly only 19 of the soldiers surrendered. The photo that…

  • Inspiring Stories

    An old man meets a young man who asks

    An old man meets a young man who asks: “Do you remember me?” And the old man says no. Then the young man tells him he was his student, And the teacher asks: “What do you do, what do you do in life?” The young man answers: “Well, I became a teacher.” “ah, how good, like me?” Asks the old man. “Well, yes. In fact, I became a teacher because you inspired me to be like you.” The old man, curious, asks the young man at what time he decided to become a teacher. And the young man tells him the following story: “One day, a friend of mine, also…

  • Inspiring Stories

    Why This Dad’s Post About His Daughter’s Tantrum Is Going Viral

    I love this picture. Two totally calm men are waiting for the tantrum of the little girl to pass. The two men are the father and grandfather of the two-year-old girl, who lay on the floor and started Throwing a tantrum in the middle of the mall. Neither of the men loses patience or yells at her. They just wait quietly. They have decided to not give her what she wants – when it doesn’t make sense. Yet they are letting her express her emotions, in this case her anger, at not getting what she wants. Nobody feels embarrassed about the show the little girl is putting on. The father’s…

  • Animal,  History

    ‘Ghosts’ of the Coal Mines

    The human race has long had a love affair with coal. Coal is a fossil fuel that started forming in the Carboniferous Period 359 million to 299 million years ago during the Paleozoic Era. Stone and Bronze Age flint axes have been found embedded in coal, evidence that people were using it for fuel long before the Roman invasion. In the 13th century, coal seams were found along shorelines of northern England, and settlers dug them up then followed them inland under cliffs or hills, the earliest beginnings of drift mining. But with the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, coal mining exploded, providing fuel for steam engines, transportation, and…

  • History

    Vietnamese Mossy Frog.

    Cold Moving MossMany reptile and amphibian species have cryptic coloration that allows them to blend into their surroundings. A few species even have textured skin to help them completely disappear into their surroundings. Mossy Frogs are one of the species that combine both cryptic coloration of greens, browns, and reds, with bumpy textured skin to make them one of nature’s best camouflage artists. These semi-aquatic frogs spend the majority of their lives in flooded caves and tree hollows on the walls and in the water. They can also be found along the edges of cold mountain streams blending into the moss and vegetation. HabitatThe Vietnamese Mossy Frog comes from the…

  • Animal

    How Big is a Blue Whale’s Heart?

    The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived. One urban legend says that its heart is as big as a Volkswagen Beetle! For the first time, scientists have tested this claim. Is it true?No. A Volkswagen Beetle measures about 14 feet long, 6 feet wide, and 5 feet tall. It weighs about 3,000 pounds. A blue whale’s heart is about 5 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 feet tall. It weighs about 400 pounds.One researcher said the blue whale heart was actually the size of a small golf cart—but that’s not really true, either. It looks like most golf carts weigh at least 500-600 pounds. The…

  • Animal

    Ugliest Fish in the World

    Blobfish This ugly fish, 30 cm long, made up of a gelatinous mass, is only found in the abyss between 600 and 1200 meters deep. Therefore, you won’t be able to meet this horrible fish while scuba diving. Its strange appearance comes from the pressure of the depths, a hundred times greater than in the surface. Its anatomy allows it to float without having to spend energy while swimming. The best known photos of blobfish are not really representative of its original form. Indeed, the fish returned from the depths to the surface, undergoes a very strong decompression which profoundly modifies its appearance giving it a crushed appearance. Wolf fish…