Friday, January 10, 2014

6 Things I Learned This Week



Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

Bones

I was shocked when I read ". . . Women who spend more than nine hours a day sitting down are 50% more likely to fracture a hip than women who sit for six hours or less in the course of one day."  (See Changes for my Bone Health that I posted this week).

Countries

From playing my "Around the World" game, I learned that Spain has a king and chocolate originated in Mexico.

Conservation Lunch

When I went to a conservation lunch yesterday, I learned that:
1 - gardeners should use native plants to the area;
2 - Butterflies don't produce caterpillars on just any plants, only certain plants will do because certain caterpillars can only survive on certain ones that they can tell with their feet (didn't even realize butterflies had feet). For monarch butterflies, it has to be milkweed;
3 - raccoons will eat pretty much anything, including turtle egg;
4 - earthworms in our area leave a chemical in the soil that keeps plants from growing and different species live in different layers of soil;

Pioneers

When reading Words From a Fearless Heart by Laura Ingalls Wilder, I learned that back in the pioneer days they thought sugar was nutritious for you and necessary for children's growth.


Forgetting

I got a couple DVDs for Christmas by National Geographic called Brain Games that are fascinating. I will be doing a post one these but for now just wanted to share one tidbit about short term memory. Our short-term memory is good for about 20 seconds before we start forgetting if we do not connect the new data to something we know.

Screwdriver

Screwdrivers can hurt you just by using them! When I was trying to screw in some wood screws to put my new lectern together, it actually tore some skin from the middle of my palm. I did a post about this: I thought It Would Be Easy!

Check out our book giveaway for Holding onto your Faith even when God Doesn't Make Sense by James Dobson. 
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4 comments:

Sandee said...

I didn't know that about butterflies either. Way cool.

Funny about sugar. You know many things used to be okay or good for you and those same things today aren't.

Have a fabulous day. Scritches to the babies. ☺

Lin said...

We used to raise monarch butterflies when the kids were young. It is amazing to watch them from mom laying her eggs on the "host" plant to seeing them off on their own.

Nectar or feeding plants are very different than "host" plants. Host plants are those that they lay their eggs on...and the instars (caterpillars) feed off of. The "milk" in the milkweed is what makes them poisonous to predators.

It's amazing what you learn when you focus on just one subject for a time. :)

Actingbalanced said...

So sorry you got screwed by the screwdriver! I knew that Butterflies needed Milkweed, but didn't realize they used their feet like that!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

We're always learning...and sometimes the hard way! Enjoy your week my friend! Hugs!

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