Throwback Thursday--Where does the water come from?

I think I'm still a bit confused about the difference between spigot and faucet. However the good news is that currently none of them are dripping. :)

Here is my attempt from a couple of years ago to understand the difference.
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2013

I Was Wondering...Spigot vs. Faucet

What is the difference between a spigot and a faucet?

In my last Thankful Sunday post, I said I was thankful for the cold water that came out of the faucet at the house I was visiting. Well, that's what I said, but not the first time I wrote it. The first time, I said that I was thankful for the cold water that came out of the spigot. I wasn't sure what to say, but I was tired and just chose one. Now that I have a little time, I thought I would figure out what was what.

And once again, I'm confused because they are synonyms of each other. Both spigot and faucet refer to atap (another synonym) or a valve that controls the flow of liquid into something. You can have a tap in anything from a cask to a water pipe. I never thought about it, but that is where the phrase "tap water" comes from that refers to water coming straight from the faucet/spigot/tap.

However, there are some US regional variations in usage. In the south, spigot is more commonly used while faucet is more commonly used in the north. Also, some use spigot to mean a tap outside and one that is more utilitarian while faucet is used for a tap inside that is fancier.

So there you have it. Use either one you want and you will be okay. After all of this talk about water, I'm thirsty. I'm going to have a drink of tap water from the faucet after I wash my hands from the spigot in the bathroom. :)

What word do you use, and do you use different words for a tap in different situations?

Want to know more?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tap_%28valve%29
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faucet

A Second Look--March 23, 2016

Spring officially started on Sunday, but not before winter had one last fling. It snowed on Saturday night and while the snow was pretty intense at times, there was no accumulation because most of it melted when it hit the warm ground. The first daffodil bloomed this week along with a couple of buds on the peach tree. My yard seems a little slow in its spring growth compared to some others around, but it's getting there and that is making me very happy. 

Here are a few things I saw this week 

during a Second Look.

Peach tree buds

Maple tree blooms, Can you say allergies?

The first daffodil bloom. There have been a few others since then.

I have seen three new calves so far in the field behind me.

Moon and Jupiter. I don't have a good enough camera to see much, but that is a gibbous moon and the little white dot is Jupiter.

Spring, summer, winter, or fall, the downy woodpecker is a faithful visitor to the feeder.

Adventurous Eating

I am not an adventurous eater. While I wouldn't call myself a picky eater because I like a lot of different things, I don't venture out of my comfort zone very often to try new things. Especially if they contain one or more ingredients that I don't like. But last night I did.

Caviar  (Photo source)

Ward and I went to a dinner at a friend's house. We thought we were going to a casual open house, but as it turns out we went to a traditional Russian birthday dinner for our friend. I say traditional, but I'm not sure. When I was in the Russian club in college, our traditional dinner was borscht and a doughnut. This was a little different. There were 30 people there and there were more dishes than there were people. We sat down to a beautifully spread table with copious choices, many of which, we weren't sure what they were. The mostly Russian crowd tried to help us as we were handed one dish after another. There were many kinds of sushi, beet dishes, salads, pate, scalloped potatoes, beef and mushrooms, meat and cheese platters, and fish, fish, fish. Everywhere you look, another fish dish. And did I mention caviar?

Ward and I and the couple of other uneducated eaters, sampled this and that until we were getting pretty full. Then one of the informed diners said that this was only the cold course--like hors d'oeuvres. The hot course was still to come. What?!! Our eyes bugged out of our head and got almost as big as our stomachs were at that point. If we'd known earlier, we would have paced ourselves a little better. But more steaming dishes of salmon, chicken, beef (tongue), pork, and vegetables came out of the kitchen to fill our plates. I had to pass on some of this because I only had so much room. However, Ward was enjoying it all.  He leaned over at one point and said that this reminded him of when we were in Japan. (That's a story for another day.)

Then the food slowed down. We wondered if there would be a dessert. We thought maybe when there was this much food in the main meal, they don't have a dessert. However, later, several kinds of cake, fruits and chocolates came out. And during the whole evening, there were many toasts made to the birthday host, who was running around coordinating everything. (Remarkably, the host put almost all of this together herself. She said that shopping for it took the longest.)

So when the evening was over, I was still walking around astonished because I couldn't imagine how someone puts together a meal like that in an average size kitchen.  I was also pleased with myself for going out of my comfort zone and trying so many new things especially since I don't like fish.  But the lure to try caviar for the first time was all the motivation I needed. I've had it now, so you can sign me up for the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous", but you better do it quick, because I didn't like it. Too fishy. :)

(I wish that I had gotten some pictures because each dish was beautifully served, but whipping out a camera at someone's dinner table seemed rude.)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

 St. Patrick's Day This and That

Irish dancers in St. Patrick's Day Parade, Washington, D. C.

I usually don't do a lot to observe St. Patrick's Day except wear green--a habit that started in elementary school days to avoid being pinched. If you didn't wear green, you were fair game. I wondered how that crazy tradition got started and found out that, most likely, it was started by Irish immigrants in this country a couple hundred years ago. Supposedly, wearing green made you invisible to mischievous leprechauns who would pinch you if they could see you. A pinch from someone reminded you to be aware that a leprechaun could sneak up on you at any time.

However, it wasn't until last year that I learned about wearing orange on St. Patrick's Day. Apparently, you wear green if you are Catholic and orange if you are Protestant. A friend, whose mother is Irish, said that she was always insistent that they wear orange instead of green on St. Patrick's Day. I think that detail was lost on most of us in this country or at least me.

Shamrocks (white clover)

I learned another new thing this St. Patrick's Day--what a shamrock is. Sarah, my special buddy, gave me a shamrock plant for St. Patrick's Day. It was in a green pot from a store and labeled as a shamrock. However, it looked just like white clover to me and was not at all like my image of a shamrock. But I was surprised when I looked into it. While there is disagreement among the Irish about which variety of clover is a shamrock, it is a clover plant. Yellow clover is what most agreed on with white clover coming in second. I have a white clover plant. I'm not sure if I'm going to let it join the rest of the clover in my yard or bring it inside. I may make it a house plant.

St. Paddy's day in New Orleans ( Photo source)

And while I usually don't do a lot on St. Patrick's Day (not green beer drinker or corned beef eater), I have been to a few parades. This was especially a big event when we lived in New Orleans. The fun part about a St. Patrick's Day parade there was they threw vegetables from the floats to make an Irish stew. That means that along with the beads, they threw cabbages, carrots, potatoes and onions. We usually took them home and did just that--made a stew.

We've been to one parade here and while it was enjoyable, it didn't quite live up to the vegetable throwing in New Orleans.

I've been thinking about St. Patrick's Day more than normal this year because I found out I'm half Irish--DNA speaking that is. As a curiosity, I had my DNA tested by Ancestry. com and found out that I am 48% Irish. I knew that there was some Irish background, but didn't realize how much. That may be because it was only recently, through the same avenues, I got a new grandfather. Meaning birth certificates don't always represent what's really going on. It's a long story.

So as I go and figure out what green thing I'm going to wear to work, I hope you have a Happy St. Patrick's Day however big or small you chose to celebrate it.

A Second Look--March 17, 2016

It rained most of last week which limited my exploration time for a Second Look. So I looked mostly around the house between showers. I found more crocus blooming, but no daffodils yet. I had a surprise when I looked out my front door yesterday and saw that one of the peris japonica bushes was in bloom. It is about a month ahead of schedule.

Otherwise, the bird activity has picked up again. For 4 days, we saw almost no activity around the feeders. I'm not sure what was going on (my theory was that there were extra hawks in the area), but the birds are slowly coming back. I thought all of the juncos had gone because they are a winter bird for us, but I've seen a few the last couple of days.

Here are some things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Crocus

Pieris japonica

Bluebird, male

Dark-eyed junco

Cardinal, female

Sunrise Sunday morning.