20101125

Cucumbers


CUCUMBERS


  This information was in The New York Times several weeks ago as part of their "Spotlight on the Home" series that highlighted creative and fanciful ways to solve common problems. 

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon, put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours. 

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog & provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance. 

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent Undetectable to humans but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area. 

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the Collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or terrible headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential Nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Cucumbers have been used for centuries and often used by European trappers, traders and explores for quick meals to thwart off starvation.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.
9. Out of WD 40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints?  Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath. 

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm your fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Now enjoy your cucumber salad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

20101121

42 years oldest color television 'still going strong'


For 42 years Derek Wills has had the same television – and not once has he had to call out the repair man. The 22 inch TV was among the first color sets in Britain. Indeed, with an infra-red remote it was the last word in home entertainment. The set has weathered the video age, the arrival of DVDs, satellite, cable and digital and not once has it so much as blinked.

Derek Wills with Britain's oldest colour telly

Mr Wills has watched everything from the first man walking on the moon to the fall of the Berlin Wall to England's 2005 Ashes victory on his trusty 42-year-old telly It may be the oldest working color TV in Britain but, says 69-year-old Mr Wills, the picture is still so good that only HD TV betters it.
He bought the set in 1968 for more than £300 so that he could watch the likes of Dixon of Dock Green and Z Cars. The BBC had only just begun its color broadcasts in 1967.
Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon

Buzz Aldrin walking on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969
Since then, he estimates he has watched as many as 70,000 hours on it, witnessing milestones such as the fall of the Berlin Wall and the freeing of Nelson Mandela, not to mention 11 World Cups. Mr Wills, a former engineer, said: ‘It was far, far ahead of its time. It's got a beautiful picture. It takes a Free view box and gives all the stations. It was a lot of money in those days but it was really good.  ‘The neighbors used to come round to see it. We had a great big H aerial on the roof and used to get quite a good signal.
Bobby Charlton

Bobby Charlton leading out Manchester United in the European Cup Final against Benfica in 1968 ‘Obviously, HD knocks spots off it today, but for its day it was brilliant. ‘The telly's in great order. The back's never been off it.

20101116

The World's Most Unusual Plants



These are the top 4 of the most Unusual plants & flowers, enjoy! 
1. Rafflesia arnoldii: this parasitic plant develops the world's largest bloom that can grow over three feet across. The flower is a fleshy color, with spots that make it look like a teenager's acne-ridden skin. It smells bad and has a hole in the center that holds six or seven quarts of water. The plant has no leaves, stems, or roots.
Image
Image


2. Hydnora africana, an unusual flesh-colored, parasitic flower that attacks the nearby roots of shrubby in arid deserts of South Africa. The putrid-smelling blossom attracts herds of carrion beetles.
 Image
Image

3. Dracunculus vulgaris: smells like rotting flesh, and has a burgundy-colored, leaf-like flower that projects a slender, black appendage.

Image
Image
Image 

4. Amorphophallus: means, literally, "shapeless penis." The name comes from the shape of the erect black spadix.
Image
Image
Image