Turquoise Butterfly

 

To clean my toilets, I use the Scrubbing Bubbles Fresh Brush system. It’s essentially a reusable wand with a removable (and disposable) disinfectant scrubby on the end. I’ve been cleaning this way for decades, and it’s a huge improvement over the disgusting stinky wire bowl brushes that used to live in every bathroom I grew up with. Lately, I’ve felt like I was running through the disposable scrubbies faster than I should have, but I never stopped to wonder why. The other day, I was sweeping cobwebs from the hallway bathroom ceiling, and I thought to run the duster under the bathroom cabinet. I discovered eight boxes (!) of toilet scrubbies hiding under there. The boxes are exactly the right size and shape to slip into the gap when a drawer is opened. The cabinet in the master bathroom is identical, so I dusted there and found even more boxes; some half empty, some full. Mystery solved. 

Not Kitten Around

 

When Riley Blake introduced their monthly door banners, I didn’t immediately jump on board. By the time I realized I wanted to make all twelve, some of the kits had become hard to find. But I did eventually make them all. I even made a few extras to donate. I paid to have them quilted, and I bound them all. Then the twelve table top banners came out, and I knew they’d look terrific on the console in my living room. These quilts are much smaller, so it seems silly not to quilt them myself. Also, they need hanging sleeves – not my favorite thing. This October top is the last, so I’ve pieced all twelve table top banners, but I haven’t quilted or bound (or sleeved) any of them. I’d better get my act together soon, because in a few months the first of Riley Blake’s monthly table runner kits will come out.

Nine Rail Fences

 

More unlikely but true facts:

Wombats poop in cubes. It may have something to do with their 10-meter-long digestive tract.  It takes roughly two weeks for matter to travel the entire length of their intestines, while all the moisture and nearly all the nutrients are absorbed.

Orcas (killer whales) are most likely evolved from a land mammal. Whales and dolphins have a more recent common ancestor with deer than they do with any fish in the sea. The flip side of this: Camels, giraffes and boars are more closely related to whales than they are to horses.

More people are killed by vending machines than by shark attacks. Of course, if people were in the habit of shaking great whites back and forth because they REALLY need a Snickers bar, that statistic would be different. Then there’s the fact that people are far more likely to be in close proximity with a vending machine than a shark.

Twenty-Three Friendship Stars

 

“He knows we must grow in spiritual cleanliness and stature to be able to live in His presence. To make that possible, Heavenly Father gave us a Savior and power to choose for ourselves to keep His commandments and to repent and come unto Him.” – President Henry B. Eyring

“I plead with you, as disciples of Jesus Christ, to pray to see others as He sees them and to treat them accordingly.” – Rosemary K. Chibota

“As we choose faith in Christ, He blesses us with courage, sometimes in very difficult situations, to choose the right, and as we manifest our courage to choose the right, our faith in Christ strengthens.” – Elder Neil L. Andersen

“We do not need to perfect ourselves to come to Christ. We come to Christ to be perfected.” – Elder Edward Dube

“Integrity, virtue and on-going repentance are the answer in a world where coarse language and serious challenges are so prevalent.” – Elder Quentin L. Cook

Half a Dozen Rail Fences

 

Unlikely, but true:

Fred Astaire took up skateboarding in his 70’s. He slipped while practicing in his driveway and broke his wrist at 78. “Gene Kelly warned me not to be a damned fool,” he said.

The average number of skeletons inside human beings is more than one, primarily because of pregnant women. There’s also the phenomenon called “vanishing twin,” in which one twin dies in utero and is absorbed – partially or completely – by the surviving twin.

If you’re a wife diagnosed with cancer, you’re six times more likely to have your spouse leave you than if you were a husband diagnosed with cancer.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929; the same year as Anne Frank. Marion Ross is a year older. Mel Brooks and Dick Van Dyke are three years older. So, if bigotry and hatred hadn’t killed them both, Anne Frank and Martin Luther King Jr. might still be living.  

Four Floating Pinwheels

 

One of the world’s most secure diamond vaults was beaten by a man who rented an office upstairs. Leonardo Notarbartolo moved into the Antwerp Diamond Center and posed as a gem importer for three years. He became friends with the center’s staff, learned the building’s routine, and mapped every layer of security. Then, in February 2003, Leonardo and his small team bypassed sensors, drilled into the vault, and made off with over 100 million dollars in diamonds, gold and jewelry. On their way out of the city, they dumped a bag of rubbish in the woods. A local landowner found and reported it: a video tape, a half-eaten salami sandwich, and crumpled paper. The trash led police straight to Leonardo and his allies; three years of planning foiled by a bag of garbage. Leonardo served ten years in jail, his friends half as long. Most of the haul was never recovered.

Pink Butterfly

 

My ballot arrived in the mail yesterday, and within hours I’d filled it out. I’d made up my mind who and what I was voting for, so it didn’t take long. There are three ballot drop-boxes near my home (the library, the senior center, and City Hall) and I’ll deposit mine in one of them today. I could have just returned my ballot to the mailbox for the postman to pick up. The League of Women Voters recommends mailing ballots back at least a week before Election Day, and I’m way ahead of their deadline. I’m so glad mail-in voting is an option. I remember an election day when we waited in line for hours – with hungry, bored kids in tow – to cast our votes in person. I got my flu shot last week, and won’t be fully protected for another week or so. Now is not the time to cue up with several dozen sniffling, coughing strangers.