Its almost time to celebrate that iconic American holiday…Thanksgiving! And what is more synonymous with a Thanksgiving meal than turkey? Still cooking a turkey strikes fear in the hearts of many, so today we have a couple of tips… aka Savvy Secrets…for cooking a delicious flavorful, juicy bird.
Keeping your home smelling delicious and inviting during the holidays is a matter of a very simple concoction you can make easily and delight your family, your guests and yourself for that matter!
We all want our children and grandchildren to do well in school. But they may need some encouragement when they don’t. If they don’t do well on their next math test, we may need to take a second to understand that math may not be their strong suit in life or their interest, and remember what it is they are really interested in and what they may be really good at doing when they grow up.
Today is the day we honor those who have served in our armed forces. Today is Veterans Day. With each passing year there are fewer and fewer veterans from WWII still living. Many have been honored as they should be for their sacrifice and service to our country. One group of WWII soldiers is little known to the public. These were the Japanese Americans who fought for this country at a time when Japan was our enemy.
Tonight on the History Channel at 8pm you can take the opportunity to learn more about the most decorated soldiers in our history and the brave fight they gave to defend our freedom.
We honor, celebrate and thank these men, and all the brave men and women who have served to keep us and the things we hold dear, safe. Be sure to tell a Veteran today “Thank you for your service”. It is the very least we can do to honor them.
If you’ve been alive for more than, say a couple of years, you’ve no doubt experienced some pain, sadness, and disappointment. Those things are unavoidable in this life. They are not, as they say, optional. Painful circumstances are never our choice. But what we do with them is.
The holidays are upon us. Having some delicious snacks or appetizers that can be made ahead and ready for friends or family when they drop in, or before a holiday meal, or while watching a game, can make everyone’s time together a little more enjoyable and certainly more tasty! So over the next couple of weeks we will share some simple appetizer ideas.
As a woman, isn’t being thought of as beautiful something we all long for at one time or another? But what sort of beauty are we hoping to achieve? The physical kind? Yes. But what about a deeper more lasting and permanent kind of beauty?
As we’ve noted before there are a lot of angry, unkind things being said on social media and the news media alike from people who have strong and definite opinions on any numbers of current issues. We can all get carried away sometimes when discussing things we feel passionate about, with someone who sees things differently than we do. We recently came across a quote, from attorney, writer and philanthropist Bob Goff, that is such a good reminder for us all we wanted to share it with you, our chums.
Did you ever wonder what you could eat to insure you’ll wake up fully refreshed, or what could get you going better than coffee in the morning, or what simple food would give you enough energy for a 90 minute workout?
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg.
So many stories that pop up on social media sites are about bad news or of a controversial nature so when we see one that is a truly positive story, one that is about good news, we want to pass it on. This one is about a truly kind, good guy.
It is always a good idea to keep your sense of humor intact, especially as it seems the world gets crazier and crazier. So today we are offering you a little something that came to us from another of our chums. If you happen to be a person of a certain age you will immediately appreciate this. If you are a younger person, you’ll still appreciate it because you no doubt know an older person and/or you will be there yourself sooner than you think. Whether it brings you a small chuckle or finds you laughing out loud…enjoy!
If you like comfort and spice this is the dish for you. Fried chicken (the comfort food) drenched in a sweet hot sauce (the spice). This tasty delight is known as Nashville Hot Chicken.
A lot of us have been stretched and stressed over the events of the past year and those of current days as well. We came across some wise words from a national hero who was no stranger to difficult times within the country. These are the wise words of President Abraham Lincoln.
Babe Ruth about to swipe at a huge ball in 1927. Photo: Getty Images
The son of a saloon owner in a seedy section of Baltimore, as we mentioned yesterday, Ruth was sent to the St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys at age 7 to keep him out of trouble.
He developed his formidable baseball skills at St. Mary’s, playing upwards of 200 games per year between classes, but the no-nonsense Catholic monks in charge required each boarder to learn a useful vocation. And we bet you cannot guess what Babe’s “useful vocation” was!
If you are a baseball fan or live in a house with one, you know that this time of year is really important in the baseball world and you also know that Babe Ruth is a household name!
Mary had a little lamb Little lamb, little lamb Mary had a little lamb Its fleece was white as snow
Poet Sarah Josepha Hale first published a version of this poem in 1830. Around 50 years later, an elderly woman named Mary Sawyer stepped forward as the real Mary.
In the whole world there are only a handful of women and girls who legitimately hold the title of “Princess”. This one, in the estimation of your Two Chums, tops the list.
Your Two Chums tend to love history and, for this reason, we are sharing this recounting of Elizabeth I, the child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots.
It is a rather long recounting but well worth the read!
Beauty treatments at home can be simple and easy when you combine three very simple ingredients from nature…raw honey and coconut oil and apple cider vinegar.
Famously described by the Queen as “the one place I can truly relax”, the Royal Yacht Britannia was a home away from home for the royals from her maiden voyage in 1954 until she was decommissioned in 1997. Sailing more than one million nautical miles to 135 countries, the vessel also played a key role in Britain’s diplomatic work, allowing the Queen to serve as a host wherever she went. Now moored in Edinburgh, Scotland as a tourist attraction, the ship remains the last of 84 royal yachts, ending a tradition that first began in 1660.
While plans to build a successor to boost Britain’s trade continue to attract criticism, Britannia is once again attracting hordes of visitors after being forced to close because of COVID-19. And it’s no surprise, because from being able to look right into the Queen’s bedroom to learning about what life was like for the up to 220 yachtsmen on board, this is a boat with some fascinating stories to tell.
Town & Country went aboard to learn the secrets of this much-loved vessel. Here’s our pick of the best royal tales.
The ship was altered with royal skirts in mind.
Many photographs of the Royal Yacht Britannia show the family waving from the Royal Bridge as the vessel departed from or arrived at its destination. And the bow of the ship was specially adapted to make sure these public moments did not reveal more than was intended. “The curved teak windbreak was a later feature, added for modesty’s sake, to prevent sea breezes from lifting royal skirts,” visitors to Britannia are told.
It was a struggle to get the royal car on board.
When the 412-ft yacht was built in 1953, it was considered important that it had a garage to house the Queen’s Rolls Royce. However, getting the car on board was no easy feat. “First, the car, in its transporter, had to be hoisted onto the special track that is fitted into the deck. Even then, it could only be squeezed into the garage by removing its bumpers,” Britannia’s guide notes. Thankfully, in later years the Queen usually traveled in a car from the country she was visiting which meant that the garage was eventually used as a beer store.
Britannia was designed to avoid any peeking into the royal bedrooms.
Now, visitors to Britannia get a full view of the Queen and Prince Philip’s (separate) bedrooms, albeit through glass. However, when the ship was in use it was important that no-one could peek into these rooms. Pointing out that the windows looking into these areas are “higher than anywhere else on the Yacht,” Britannia’s guide explains: “By placing them at this height above the deck, any accidental glimpses into the royal bedrooms could be prevented.”
There were lots of people on board—but not everyone traveled in style.
One of the most fascinating things about touring the yacht is looking into the living quarters—from the relatively luxurious rooms of the Queen and Prince Philip and the ship’s Admiral, to the officers’ comfortable sitting room and dining room, to the approximately 220 yachtsmen who lived, slept, and worked, as the guide describes “in fairly cramped conditions”. Tourists are told: “Britannia was a ship in which hierarchy was strongly defined”. And there were plenty of people to accommodate. Some 45 working members of the royal household accompanied the Queen on her overseas visits.
The Queen favored neutrals while Philip liked darker colors.
As the yacht was build with their use in mind, the Queen and Prince Philip both had a say in the ship’s design and as such, it gives some insight into their taste. The Queen’s (single) bed has a specially-commissioned embroidered silk panel above it, and her room is decorated in pale and neutral colors. By contrast, Philip’s room features vibrant maroon linen and curtains and, at his request, his pillows, unlike the Queen’s “do not have lace on the borders”.
There is only one double bed.
The honeymoon suite on the yacht is opposite the Queen and Philip’s bedrooms. “This is the only room on Britannia with a double bed which was brought on board by Prince Charles when he honeymooned on the Yacht with Princess Diana,” tourists are told. “When the Royal Children were small, this bedrooms and the adjoining room were used as nursery suites.”
The royal children liked to eat jelly on board.
Food on board Britannia was prepared in three galleys—one for the yachtsmen, one for the officers and one for the royal household. Buckingham Palace chefs were flown out to prepare royal food and there was a room that, according to Britannia’s guide, was known as the Jelly Room “for it was in here that the royal children’s jellies were stored.”
There is a dance floor that hasn’t been used for 50 years.
The largest room on Britannia is the State Dining Room where lavish banquets were held. It could also be used as a cinema room. “The silver-grey carpet could also be rolled up to expose a wooden dance floor beneath, although the last time this was used was for Princess Anne’s 21st birthday celebrations,” the guide notes.
Prince Philip kept a reminder of his naval career in his office.
Just like their separate bedrooms, the Queen and Philip had separate offices on board Britannia. Philip’s had a “specially designed display case,” the ship’s guide notes, in which he kept “a model of HMS Magpie, His Royal Highness’s first naval command.” The Duke of Edinburgh famously gave up his active naval career in 1951 to support his wife in her duties when King George VI’s health was ailing.
The ship was ready for stormy seas.
The royal family and their guests relaxed in the drawing room, which featured a grand piano. The instrument was played by members of the family and even some of their famous guests, including composer Noel Coward. “The Welmar baby grand piano cost £350 when it was supplied in 1952, and is firmly bolted to the deck to stop it taking off in choppy seas,” tourists are told.
Once the royal laundry turned blue.
Walking through the laundry at the end of the tour provides an insight into what was once a “hot and noisy environment”. Some 600 shirts could pass through the laundry in one day, with the royal family’s washing done on separate days to that of the crew. Britannia’s audio guide recounts “one occasion when the royal washing turned a delicate shade of blue, and Her Majesty’s Dresser was less than amused. The cause, it turned out, was a chemical reaction in the copper pipes, which was quickly remedied by adjusting the pH value of the water.”
What a very fun tour! The next time you are in Scotland, you should go and tour!
If you are a regular here at Two Chums, you will recognize that this week’s posts have been about pushing on, not giving up, or as in the case of yesterday’s post, tuning a blind eye to be able to continue when proverbial wisdom would say to quit. Today’s post is another word of encouragement along those same lines.
Twenty years ago Saturday, on September 11th, 2001 this man changed the course of history. With his act of courage and bravery he lost his own life in the process of saving countless others.
We were asked by one of our chums to do a post on “The Royals” and we thought this would be a great one to explore! After all, who does not love jewels?
The Crown Jewels are a collection of treasures, including coronation regalia, crowns, orbs, medals, and insignias from English monarchs whose history dates back nearly a thousand years. Their total worth today is estimated between $3-6 billion dollars. Famous gemstones like the Koh-i-nûr and Cullinan diamonds help comprise the collection.
Much of the original collection was made for the coronation of Charles II in 1661. The Crown Jewels are still worn by the monarch during the Coronation Service and the State Opening of Parliament. For 600 years, they have been stored and protected at the Tower of London, where over 30 million people have caught a glimpse of them.
Today’s Crown Jewels are real, but those from before 1661 are not the originals. After the end of the British Civil Wars in 1649, Charles I was executed, and the winning side, the Parliamentarians, had them destroyed as a symbol of the end of a corrupt monarchy.
St. Edward’s Crown
At the heart of the Crown Jewels collection is At. Edward’s Crown. It is solid gold and was made for Charles II as part of his coronation, replacing the previous crown, which had been destroyed. Until 1991, the gems in the crown were rented and returned after the coronation ceremony. The coronation of George V had semi-precious gems set into this famous crown.
Jeweled Sword of Offering and Sovereign’s Orb
The coronation’s Investiture section includes the Jeweled Sword of Offering and Sovereign’s Orb. The sword is from 1820 and symbolizes the king’s nature of chivalry. Made of gilt steel and silver, a cruciform gold hilt is set with diamonds, rubies, and emeralds and decorated with national emblems. It is presented as an ornament along with bracelets and spurs. In this part of the ceremony, the king promises to protect good and punish evil, upon which the sword is placed around the king’s waist. Queens are not adorned with this sword during coronation ceremonies.
The Sovereign’s Orb represents the monarch’s power over the Christian world. It is a gold globe with a cross on top adorned with rose-cut diamonds. Emeralds, rose-cut diamonds, rubies, pearls and sapphires separate it into three sections. During the medieval period, the three sections represented the three known continents at the time. The monarch takes the orb in his or her right hand during the coronation service. Just before the crowning, both the jeweled sword and the orb are put on the altar.
The Imperial State Crown
The Imperial State Crown was added to the collection of Crown Jewels in 1937 and is decorated with renowned historic jewels. At the front is the Black Prince’s Ruby. The story goes that this semi-precious stone (not truly a ruby, but a spinel) belonged to Pedro the Cruel, King of Castile. In 1367, he bestowed it upon Edward, Prince of Wales to thank him for his help in a battle. Aside from the Black Prince’s Ruby, the Imperial State Crown includes over 2,000 diamonds, over 200 pearls, 17 sapphires, 11 emeralds, and four actual rubies. The monarch wears this crown leaving the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey as well as during other formal occasions.
The Sovereign’s Scepter and Rod
In the moments before the crowning, the monarch receives the Sovereign’s Scepter and Rod, one in each hand. Their significance has a history that dates back to 1066, when William the Conqueror declared that the scepter would control uprising, and the rod would rein in constituents who may stray.
There is more than one Sovereign’s Scepter. Usually, both are offered to the new monarch during coronation. The Cullinan I diamond was added for George V in 1910. This diamond weighs 530.2 carats, the largest of its kind and quality in the world. This scepter is a symbol of temporal power. The Sovereign’s Scepter with Dove is the second scepter. It includes an enamel dove on top, and his wings are spread as a symbol of the Holy Ghost to represent the spiritual role of the monarch.
The coronation ring
Before the scepters are presented to the monarch, the coronation ring is placed on his or her right hand. The ring’s place in the ceremony began in 1831, symbolizing dignity. In its center is an octagonal sapphire set in gold and overlaid with four rectangular rubies in the shape of a cross, all surrounded by 14 diamonds.
Thank you to Trivia Genius for this historical information. Love to learn all about it!
You may think of Labor Day, as so many of us do, as marking the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year. But that was not how Labor Day started or what it celebrated. According to History.com, Labor Day is an “annual celebration of workers and their achievements, that was originated during one of American labor history’s most dismal chapters.”
Some people call this delicacy, Neiman Marcus Dip, some call it Million Dollar Dip, some call it Almond Bacon Cheese Spread, but everybody calls it YUMMY!
If you are like most of us, you have no doubt at one time or another heard someone use the phrase “riot act” in a context similar to “he read me the riot act” or “I was about to read them the riot act”. But did you really have any idea where that phrase came from or what it meant? We thought not…
We could not let this day go by without acknowledging and honoring those 13, who in service to their country and their follow man, yesterday gave their last full measure of devotion…they gave their very lives.
To them and to their grieving families we say a very insufficient “Thank you for your service”. We honor you. Rest well. You are not forgotten.
We all know the proverbial saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”…or can you? In this case the “old dog” is any of us who has been accustomed to adorning a present for someone with traditional paper gift wrapping. The “new trick” is a Japanese method for gift wrap called “furoshiki”.
If you like a good book, having a cozy place to curl up and read is always a joy. But it isn’t just adults who can enjoy such pleasures. Children too, can travel to distant places in their imaginations when they are encouraged to spend time reading.
When you look up into the sky, you may see one or two stars, maybe no stars. But you KNOW they are there so you keep looking and the more you look, the more you see.
Have you ever stopped to realize that there are so many things all around us that we so easily take for granted? But even the ordinary, the everyday things, can be extraordinary. It’s in the details.
Remember the good ole days of summer? The ones they called the lazy, hazy days of summer? This Summer Freeze tastes like that. What’s a freeze you ask? A freeze is basically a float that has been blended. And this one is delicious!
In the colonial era, the most prestigious jobs were reserved for well-off white men, who secured appointments as colonial governors and military leaders. But there were many other types of jobs in Britain’s 13 American colonies.
Benjamin Banneker, a free Black man born in Maryland in 1731, was a farmer and writer who, after the American Revolution, assisted in the land survey to establish the District of Columbia. Elizabeth Freeman, who successfully sued for her freedom in Massachusetts in 1781 (becoming the first person to win her freedom this way), worked as a midwife and nurse.
Here are six common types of jobs that people held in the 13 colonies and what they produced.
Its nearly the weekend. We thought maybe you could use a good chuckle. Here’s what can happen when someone takes your instructions a little too literally!
We all face challenges. No one who has ever walked on this earth has escaped them. Challenges aren’t a question, they are a certainty. We came across a wonderful reminder regarding those life challenges we wanted to share with our chums to start your week.
Though most aspects of the United States Secret Service live up to the agency’s name, some details are public information. The most enjoyable of these would have to be the code names assigned to the Secret Service’s protection detail, which extend beyond the President and his or her family. Vice President , cabinet members, presidential candidates, and high-profile visitors like the Pope and Queen Elizabeth II (aka Halo and Kittyhawk, respectively) fall under their purview as well.
At midday on July 10, 1040, Lady Godiva famously rode on a horse naked to protest the crushing taxes levied by her husband on the peasants of Coventry, England.
As everyone who enjoys a good cup of coffee knows, it is often referred to as a “cup of Joe”. But who is “Joe” anyway and why is he associated with coffee?