Awwww...

A little orphan deer has adopted a Great Dane for its parent. Isaac and I agreed that it reminds us of the little orphan hippo who adopted a huge tortoise. More photos of the hippo and tortoise appear in the e-book, Owen and Mzee (a pdf file, about 1.4 MB.)

The Latham Cottages

Historic Hopkinsville homes

Originally, there were three Latham Cottages on Campbell Street in Hopkinsville. One cottage was torn down in the early 1960s to make room for a gas station that was moved in from another location.

The cottages were built by Mr. John C. Latham, Jr., as Hopkinsville's first rental houses in 1889. They're particularly noteworthy because they were the first houses in Hopkinsville with central heat, running water, and electric lights.

Virginia Park is directly across the street from the cottages. I was standing in Virginia Park when I took this picture. Mr. John C. Latham, Sr., once lived in a large, beautiful home on the site of Virginia Park. After he died, the house was moved to another location and the property was donated as a park to the city of Hopkinsville.

I read somewhere that Mr. Latham, Sr., didn't like to look at the freight depot and railroad tracks when he sat on the large veranda that encircled his house. When Mr. Latham, Jr., built the Latham Cottages, they blocked the unpleasant view.

The cottages were sadly dilapidated when we first moved to Hopkinsville, but recently, both have had new roofs and exterior maintenance. They look very nice now.

It's Not Butter

Pass the spread, please.

In our family, we have real butter for a few special occasions during the year. The rest of the year, we misapply the word "butter" to any butter substitute. We say "Please pass the butter," when there hasn't been butter in the house for months. What we really mean is, "Please pass the spread."

We like the word "butter" a bit better than "spread." I think most people do.

I've never seen a butter advertisement that claimed it tasted just like spread. However, lots of spreads claim to taste like butter. It's clear which word has a desirable connotation.

(If you wondered where this post is going, we have now arrived.)

Have you ever noticed this? With no added letters and only a slight punctuation change, the spread named "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" would be named "I Can't Believe It! Snot Butter!"

Snot butter provided material for kitchen table jokes at our house for years. A few days ago, I asked Keely to get the butter out of the refrigerator. When she found a tub of "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter," she made a scornful remark about "what you call butter."

I figured she was testing me to see if I still remembered, so I replied, "That's not butter; that's snot butter!"

She seemed oddly pleased.

By the way, a Google search reveals that quite a few people have read the words "Snot Butter" on the tub of spread!

Old Pump Organ

Thrift shop treasure

This lovely old pump organ is currently for sale at the Goodwill in Hopkinsville for just $600. It made me think of Miss Wilma Jean Mengers, who had a similar pump organ in her home when I was a child. She even let me play it once, which was very kind of her.

Heart Attack Warning Signs for Women

Recognize the symptoms.

Symptoms many women experience when a heart attack is occurring
- Chest discomfort may be mild to severe
- Pressure, squeezing, tightness, or fullness in the chest
- Pain in the arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach
- Nausea or vomiting
- Difficulty breathing
- Weakness
- Unusual fatigue
- Cold sweat
- Dizziness

Symptoms many women experience up to a month before a heart attack
- Unusual tiredness
- Sleep problems
- Shortness of breath
- Indigestion
- Anxiety or uneasiness

Sources:
"Women's Heart Attack Symptoms," published in Healthy Outlook, Spring 2008. Copyright 2008 by Aetna, Inc.
"Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest Warning Signs," on the American Heart Association website

Related Prairie Bluestem post:
Close Call with a Heart Attack