Balmoral Castle - is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, 9 miles (14 km) west of Ballater and 50 miles (80 km) west of Aberdeen. The estate and its original castle were bought from the Farquharson family in 1852 by Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria. Soon afterwards the house was found to be too small and the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned. The architect was William Smith of Aberdeen, and his designs were amended by Prince Albert.  The castle is an example of Scottish baronial architecture, and is classified by Historic Environment Scotland as a category A listed building. The new castle was completed in 1856 and the old castle demolished shortly thereafter. The Balmoral Estate has been added to by successive members of the royal family, and now covers an area of approximately 50,000 acres (20,000 hectares). It is a working estate, including grouse moors, forestry and farmland, as well as managed herds of deer, Highland cattle, sheep and ponies. Balmoral remains the private property of the monarch and is not part of the Crown Estate. It was the summer residence of Queen Elizabeth II, who died there on 8 September 2022.

When discussing Balmoral Castle, it is impossible to do so without discussing Queen Elizabeth and her relationship with the estate. Queen Elizabeth's love of the Castle is well documented, and it is no surprise that she chose to spend so much time there during the year. The Queen regularly hosted guests at the castle. Both the drawing room and the study have been used to host dignitaries and special guests. The green interior of both of the rooms is well documented, and the impressive bookshelf located in the study is a real talking point for guests.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh with their children, Prince Andrew (center), Princess Anne (left) and Charles, Prince of Wales sitting on a picnic rug outside Balmoral Castle in Scotland. (Comment: This was most likely taken some time around 1960 since Prince Andrew is just a baby.)

Canadian Governor General Designate Julie Payette meets Queen Elizabeth during a private audience at Balmoral Castle (Comment: notice that even the Queen is at home, she still has her purse on her arm. I remember my grandmother doing the same type of thing.)

YouTube

Inside Balmoral Castle: Queen Elizabeth II's summer residence

Balmoral Castle, the royal residence in the Scottish Highlands where Queen Elizabeth II spent her final days as England's longest-serving monarch, is also wh...

Comedy of Manners (In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a greatly sophisticated, artificial society. The satire of fashion, manners, and outlook on life of the social classes, is realized with stock characters, such as the braggart soldier of Ancient Greek comedy, and the fop and the rake of English Restoration comedy. The clever plot of a comedy of manners (usually a scandal) is secondary to the social commentary thematically presented through the witty dialogue of the characters, e.g. The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), by Oscar Wilde, which satirizes the sexual hypocrisies of Victorian morality. The comedy-of-manners genre originated in the New Comedy period (325–260 BC) of Classical Greece (510–323 BC), and is known from fragments of works by the playwright Menander, whose style of writing, elaborate plots, and stock characters were imitated by Roman playwrights, such as Plautus and Terence, whose comedies were known to and staged during the Renaissance. In the 17th century, the comedy of manners is best realized in the plays of Molière, such as The School for Wives (1662), The Imposter (1664), and The Misanthrope (1666), which satirize the hypocrisies and pretensions of the ancien régime that ruled France from the late 15th century to the 18th century)

FYI: From my Funny Bone topic folder.....................

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Calling it a night......................

Dionne Quintuplets - born May 28, 1934, are the first quintuplets known to have survived their infancy. The identical girls were born just outside Callander, Ontario, near the village of Corbeil. All five survived to adulthood. 

The identical quintuplet girls were, in order of birth:

Yvonne Édouilda Marie Dionne (died 2001)
Annette Lillianne Marie Allard (living)
Cécile Marie Émilda Langlois (living)
Émilie Marie Jeanne Dionne (died 1954)
Marie Reine Alma Houle (died 1970)

The Dionne family was headed by father Oliva-Édouard (1904–1979) and mother Elzire Dionne (née Legros; 1909–1986), who married on September 15, 1925. They lived just outside Corbeil, in a farmhouse in unregistered territoty. The Dionnes were a French-speaking farming family with five older children, Ernest (1926–1995), Rose Marie (1928–1995), Thérèse (1929–2021), Daniel (1932–1995), and Pauline (1933–2018), who was only eleven months older than the quintuplets. A sixth child, Léo (1930-1930), died of pneumonia shortly after birth.

Elzire was 24 when she gave birth to the quintuplets. She suspected she was carrying twins, but no one was aware that quintuplets were even possible. The quintuplets were born premature. In 1938, the doctors had a theory that was later proven correct when genetic tests showed that the girls were identical, meaning they were created from a single egg cell. Elzire reported having cramps in her third month and passing a strange object which may have been a sixth fetus. Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe is credited with ensuring the successful live birth of the quintuplets. Originally, he diagnosed Elzire with a "fetal abnormality". He delivered the babies with the help of two midwives, Aunt Donalda and Madame Benoît Lebel, who were summoned by Oliva Dionne in the middle of the night.

Émilie and Marie shared an embryonic sac, Annette and Yvonne shared an embryonic sac, and it is believed that Cécile shared an embryonic sac with the miscarried sixth baby. All but Émilie were later discovered to be right-handed and all but Marie had a counterclockwise whorl in their hair. The quintuplets' total weight at birth was 13 pounds, 6 ounces (6.07 kg). The highest weight was 3 pounds 4 ounces and the lowest weight was 2 pounds 4 ounces. Their individual weights and measurements were not recorded. The quintuplets were immediately wrapped in cotton sheets and old napkins, and laid in the corner of the bed. Elzire went into shock, but she recovered in two hours.

The babies were kept in a wicker basket borrowed from the neighbors, covered with heated blankets. They were taken into the kitchen and set by the open door of the stove to keep warm. One by one, they were taken out of the basket and massaged with olive oil. Every two hours for the first twenty-four, they were fed water sweetened with corn syrup. By the second day they were moved to a slightly larger laundry basket and kept warm with hot-water bottles. They were watched constantly and often had to be roused. They were then fed with "seven-twenty" formula: cow's milk, boiled water, two spoonsful of corn syrup, and one or two drops of rum for a stimulant.

After four months with their family, custody was signed over to the Red Cross who paid for their care and oversaw the building of a hospital for the sisters. Less than a year after this agreement was signed, the Ontario government stepped in and passed the Dionne Quintuplets' Guardianship Act, 1935 which made them wards of the Crown until the age of 18. The Ontario provincial government and those around them began to profit by making them a significant tourist attraction. 

Ontario Premier Mitchell Hepburn with the Dionne babies in 1934

The quintuplets in 1947 with their parents and a priest in the background

YouTube

The Dionne Quintuplets At Callander, Ontario (1936)

Item title reads - The Dionne Quintuplets at Callandar, Ontario.Canada. L/S of "Olivia Dionne" shop, people mill about in front of it. M/S of a stall sellin...

Epic Cycle (was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the Cypria, the Aethiopis, the so-called Little Iliad, the Iliupersis, the Nostoi, and the Telegony. Scholars sometimes include the two Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, among the poems of the Epic Cycle, but the term is more often used to specify the non-Homeric poems as distinct from the Homeric ones. Unlike the Iliad and the Odyssey, the cyclic epics survive only in fragments and summaries from Late Antiquity and the Byzantine period. The Epic Cycle was the distillation in literary form of an oral tradition that had developed during the Greek Dark Age, which was based in part on localized hero cults. The traditional material from which the literary epics were drawn treats Mycenaean Bronze Age culture from the perspective of Iron Age and later Greece. In modern scholarship the study of the historical and literary relationship between the Homeric epics and the rest of the Cycle is called Neoanalysis. A longer Epic Cycle, as described by the 9th-century CE scholar and clergyman Photius in codex 239 of his Bibliotheca, also included the Titanomachy (8th century BCE) and the Theban Cycle (between 750 and 500 BCE), which in turn comprised the Oedipodea, the Thebaid, the Epigoni and the Alcmeonis; however, it is certain that none of the cyclic epics (other than Homer's) survived to Photius' day, and it is likely that Photius was not referring to a canonical collection. Modern scholars do not normally include the Theban Cycle when referring to the Epic Cycle)

Off to work........................

Fondue - is a Swiss melted cheese and wine dish served in a communal pot (caquelon or fondue pot) over a portable stove (réchaud) heated with a candle or spirit lamp, and eaten by dipping bread into the cheese using long-stemmed forks. It was promoted as a Swiss national dish by the Swiss Cheese Union (Schweizerische Käseunion) in the 1930s, and was popularized in North America in the 1960s. Fondue is eaten by spearing a piece of bread on a fork, swirling it in the pot, and putting it into the mouth. Some writers recommend that the dipping fork be used only to transport the food from the pot to one's plate, not to eat from. There are various recommendations on the choice of accompanying beverage: some say white wine, others specify black tea. Some drink spirits during or after the meal, which supposedly helps digestion. Indeed, alcohol may provide short-term relief, but overall, it delays gastric emptying and prolongs perceived fullness. Since the 1950s, the term "fondue" has been generalized to other dishes in which a food is dipped into a communal pot of liquid kept hot in a fondue pot: chocolate fondue, fondue au chocolate, in which pieces of fruit or pastry are dipped into a melted chocolate mixture, and fondue bourguignonne, in which pieces of meat are cooked in hot oil or broth.

YouTube

How To Make Cheese Fondue By Rachael

Rach shows you how to make fondue the way the Swiss do, with garlic + a touch of brandy.

Great Lakes Region (of North America is a binational Canadian–American region that includes portions of eight U.S. states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin along with the Canadian province of Ontario. Quebec is at times included as part of the region because, although it is not in a Great Lake watershed, it encompasses most of the St. Lawrence River watershed, part of a continuous hydrologic system that includes the Great Lakes. The region centers on the Great Lakes and forms a distinctive historical, economic, and cultural identity. A portion of the region also encompasses the Great Lakes megalopolis. Participating state and provincial governments are represented in the Conference of Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Governors and Premiers, which also serves as the Secretariat to the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Compact and the Great Lakes–Saint Lawrence River Basin Sustainable Water Resources Agreement. The Great Lakes region takes its name from the corresponding geological formation of the Great Lakes Basin, a narrow watershed encompassing the Great Lakes, bounded by watersheds to the region's north (Hudson Bay), west (Mississippi), and east and south (Ohio, part of the Mississippi watershed). To the east, the rivers of St. Lawrence, Richelieu, Hudson, Mohawk and Susquehanna form an arc of watersheds east to the Atlantic. The Great Lakes region, as distinct from the Great Lakes Basin, defines a unit of sub-national political entities defined by the U.S. states and the Canadian province of Ontario encompassing the Great Lakes watershed, and the states and province bordering one or more of the Great Lakes)

and about a week ago....................

www.cbsnews.com

Unidentified flying object shot down over Great Lakes region; third mystery object in week

Laurie Perez provides the latest on the mysterious flying object that was shot down by U.S. forces while flying over the Great Lakes region on Sunday. It is the third mystery object shot down in the last week.

Off to work............................

Hawk can be a bird of prey with broad rounded wings and a long tail, typically taking prey by surprise with a short chase. 

Hawk can be a person who advocates an aggressive or warlike policy, especially in foreign affairs. John Bolton is widely considered a foreign policy hawk and is an advocate for military action and regime change by the US in Iran, Syria, Libya, Venezuela, Cuba, Yemen, and North Korea. A member of the Republican Party, his political views have been described as American nationalist. Bolton served as the National Security Advisor to President Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019. 

Hawk can be a verb meaning to offer (something) for sale by calling out in the street.

Hawk can be a verb meaning to raise by clearing the throat; to forcefully spit out (something, such as phlegm).

I don't think we need a picture for that one. 

The Immortal Count (Is it possible for a person to live forever? That is what some people are claiming about a historical figure known as Count de Saint-Germain. His origins are still unclear. Some records date his birth to the late 1600s, although some believe that his longevity reaches back to the time of Christ. He has appeared many times throughout history – even as recently as the 1970s – always appearing to be about 45 years old. He was known by many of the most famous figures of European history, including Casanova, Madame de Pampadour, Voltaire, King Louis XV, Catherine the Great, Anton Mesmer, George Washington and others. He has also been linked to a number of occult movements and conspiracy theories. The date of birth for Saint German is unknown, although most accounts say he was born in the 1690s. A genealogy compiled by Annie Besant for her co-authored book, The Comte De St. Germain: The Secret of Kings, asserts that he was born the son of Francis Racoczi II, Prince of Transylvania in 1690. What we do know for certain is that he was an accomplished alchemist, which means he could turn heaps of metal into pure gold. If that wasn’t a neat enough trick already, the count also claimed to have discovered the secret of eternal life! Between 1740 and 1780 Saint-Germain, who was quite a celebrity in those days, traveled extensively throughout Europe – and in all that time never seemed to age. Voltaire, the 18th century philosopher, perhaps best summed up the Count of St. Germain: this is “a man who never dies, and who knows everything.”)

another Immortal Count..................

A book about Bela Lugosi...............

Off to work............................

Janet Evanovich - (née Schneider; April 22, 1943) is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The novels in this series have been on The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debut at #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list and eleven of them have hit #1 on USA Today Best-Selling Books list. She has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, and her books have been translated into over 40 languages. She has also co-authored several series with other writers, such as the Fox and O'Hare series, the Knight and Moon series, and the Lizzy and Diesel series.

Comment: I've read all but the latest Stephanie Plum books.

The first book in the Stephanie Plum series - One for the Money - was made into a movie starring Katherine Heigl as Plum.

KunstHausWien (is a museum in Vienna, designed by the artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser. This museum in the Landstraße district houses the world's only permanent exhibition of Hundertwasser's works, and also hosts regular temporary exhibitions of other artists. The KunstHausWien operates as a private business and does not receive any government aid.[1] In 2009 the KunstHausWien received 174,000 visitors. The museum was created through the renovation of the 1892 building which housed the Thonet furniture factory (creator of the iconic bistro chair), in a style commensurate with Hundertwasser's art. It stands less than half a mile from the Hundertwasserhaus, a municipally owned apartment block also designed by Hundertwasser and completed in 1986. The renovation was planned by Hundertwasser himself and carried out from 1989-91 with sponsorship from BAWAG P.S.K. The museum was opened in April 1991. The KunstHausWien has a total exhibition area of 4,000 square meters. The two lower floors house the permanent exhibits. Temporary international exhibitions are held on the third and fourth floors. The entire building is designed in typical Hundertwasser style, with wavy, undulating floors and a notable lack of straight lines. Bright, glaring colors are used throughout, and foliage abounds. There is a fountain in the foyer, and a restaurant with abundant plant life reminiscent of a winter garden. An unevenly winding staircase leads to the main part of the exhibition on the upper floors. To keep the rooms flooded with daylight, Hundertwasser, who was said to be fond of sunlight and therefore windows too, had a glass frontage built in front of the facade. The museum was built in a traditional manner, but decorated with enamelled, checkerboard mosaics on the facade and adjacent sections. In contrast to Antoni Gaudí, Hundertwasser used symmetrical mosaic stones, carefully arranged. The size of each stone is likewise not accidental, which is rare for building-mounted mosaics that are not industrially manufactured. The mosaics cover only certain (non-load bearing) parts of the surface and contribute to the trademark features of the building: the incorporation of nearly every part of the facade into an overall picture, and the very deliberate concealment of the boundaries between floors. In 2003 Hunderwasser's colleague and co-author professor Joseph Krawina initiated a lawsuit against the museum board, claiming violation of his rights to jointly created art. The national Supreme Civil Court (OGH) issued an injunction in favor of Krawina and, according to 2003 publications, both parties were advised to resolve the dispute out of court)

FYI: From my Architecture topic folder......