Riddle #9: 53 Bicycles

Here's another one:

A man was lying dead, surrounded by 53 bicycles. Why was he murdered?

If you haven't heard this one before, feel free to make a guess by leaving a comment. You may also ask me "yes" or "no" questions in the comment section.

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. See the comments section for the answer. But I'll keep my clues up anyway, just for fun. Here they are:

Obviously these were not ordinary bicycles. And (you probably already knew this) the number is significant.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Marbles

No, this isn't Misty, although it sure looks like her. This is the Lambs' cat, Marbles. There's something about those tiger striped kitties.

Science!

The girls get together with a couple other families to do science experiments. Today they were studying the four fundamental forces of creation. The funniest moment was when Mrs. Lamb asked, "What are we attracted to?" and Carmen promptly answered, "Boys!"

This force is kind of scary. Click on the picture to get a bigger view.

Lambs

I have a friend whose last name is Lamb. Many of the decorations in her home go with her last name. Here are some pictures I took at her house today:

Riddle #8: A problem

Here's my latest riddle. I think it will be an easy one:

A man has a problem. He goes into a store and asks for a drink of water. The woman behind the counter points a gun at him. "Thank you. You've solved my problem," he tells her and walks out. What was his problem?

The correct answer has been guessed. Please see the comments section for the answer.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Silly waterfowl

Click on the pictures for a closer view.

I'm curious. Do other communities have flocks of waterfowl that don't fly south for the winter? We have a large flock of semi-tame ducks and geese that never fly south. Some have said it's because they are fed too much white bread by park visitors, so they are too fat to fly south. Possibly it's because they get so much "free food" that they see no need to leave. At any rate, they spend their time flying back and forth between the various ponds and lakes in the city all winter long.

We have a creek here named Salt Creek that actually has salt water. That means it doesn't freeze at all during the winter. That is an added treat for the silly waterfowl that stick around. They actually get water to swim in, instead of sitting on top of the ice, like they would in the other bodies of water around town, which freeze at least sporadically all winter. It's so strange to see so many geese in a creek.

The bottom picture is cropped to give you an idea of the size of the flock. I can't tell for sure, but I estimate there are several hundred. Any comments? I'd love to hear if other communities have flocks like this.

RIddle #7: Which word

Here's a different type of riddle. Take a look at the following list of words. Tell me which one doesn't belong and why. Bonus question: Can you tell me any other words that could be on the list? Here goes:

job
lima
herb
polish
bill

There may be more than one correct answer, but you're trying for my answer. : ) Please leave your guess as a comment, and I'll tell you if you are correct.

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. To read it, see the comments section.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

As if I needed something else to do . . .

If you're a child of the 70's, you may have tried macrame in your youth. Remember the wall hangings (mine was an owl), the hippie necklaces, the plant hangers? Macrame has practical uses too, like purse handles and belts. My purse handle broke last week, and I decided to try to macrame a new handle. I know it would have been easier to buy a new purse, but I thought I'd give it a try.

Here's a website with more info on macrame.

http://www.elainecraft.com/instructions/instructions.html

Fruit

Carmen's going to play the part of a tropical "Madame President" for a mellodrama, and this is part of her costume.

More cats

Sally is our amazing "trick" cat. She loves her treats and will "beg" for them. She also sits on command. For more tricks, see my "Stupid Cat Tricks" video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzqDEIPrj_Q


Yes, that is a cat, not a ball of fur. Mary loves to sleep.
Here Mary looks positively regal.
Monica's been sick for several days. Here she is on the couch, with Misty behind her, comforting her.

Math

So . . . How does Carmen REALLY feel about math?

(Click on the photo for a closer view.)

Riddle #6: Taking the Elevator

Here's a classic, that some of you may have already heard:

A man lives on the 20th floor of a building. Every morning he gets up and takes the elevator down to the first floor and goes to work. When he returns home from work, he takes the elevator only to the 10th floor and then walks the stairs the rest of the way. Except when it's raining. Then he takes the elevator all the way up to the 20th floor. Why?

NOTE: The correct answer to the riddle has been guessed. Please see the comments section for the answer.

Lateral Thinking Puzzlers by Paul Sloane has lots of classic riddles, clues and answers. Click here to order it.

Evert's Model Railroad

I didn't take any pictures worth posting this week, but Evert took some pictures of his model railroad. He's been working on it for years, and it's a great hobby. You can see more of his model railroad at http://modelrr.oakviewresources.com/ . If you want to see how he created it, check out his YouTube videos at http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=thebige61&search=Search.

Riddle #5: Identical Drinks

Here's a new riddle. (I think I'll try to post one per week -- at least until I run out of riddles. LOL.)

Two people went into a restaurant and ordered identical drinks. One drank his drink quickly and lived. The other drank his drink slowly and died. Why?

NOTE: The correct answer has been guessed. Please see the comments section for the answer.

Mahoney State Park

After more than a week of bitter cold, we had a welcome January thaw. Perfect weather for a homeschool gathering for Mahoney State Park that was planned for today. The girls enjoyed ice skating with their friends. Because the rink was shaded, most of the ice was still good.





















A friend and I took a walk in the park. The paths were still snowy, so we had to stick to the roads, but it still gave us an opportunity to enjoy the sights.







OK, it wasn't THAT warm!








After skating the girls played in the indoor playland with some of their friends. That's my two on the right.













The inevitable "silly pose."

Roast Vegetables

We made roast vegetables this week. It's fairly easy. Start by cutting up several kinds of veggies. Here we used tomatoes, onions, peppers and broccoli. We have also used potatoes, cauliflower, mushrooms and zucchini.

Put the veggies in a bowl that has a lid. (I use Tupperware.) In a separate bowl, combine olive oil with an all-purpose spice mixture. We often use Misty's Seasoning, which is available locally. This week we used Weber Grill Creations Chicago Steak seasoning. Pour the mixture over the veggies, put the lid on the bowl and shake well.


Spread the veggies on a large pan. Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes.

The Loaf of glory

This week we made "the loaf of glory." It's a Caribbean banana bread that is very moist, more like plum pudding (especially since we make it with an extra banana). We let the bananas get VERY ripe before making this. Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
a pinch of salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup raisins
1 egg
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3 large bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla


In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together with a wooden spoon. Beat the egg and milk together in a cup and add to the butter and sugar mixture. In a separate bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and nutmeg. Add the raisins and pecans. Add this mixture to the first mixture. In another bowl, peel and mash the bananas, mix in vanilla. Stir the mixture into the batter. Then pour into a loaf pan. Bake for one hour at 350 degrees.

We usually eat this with a fork on a plate, because it is so moist.

Recipe adapted from The Usborne Children's World

Cookbook (with our own modifications)