A collection of Chinese cups carved from rhinoceros horns has become the most valuable find in the 16-year history of the television program "Antiques Roadshow" in the United States.
The five cups, believed to date from the late 17th or early 18th century were valued at $1-$1.5 million on Saturday after being brought to the TV show at a stop in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The owner, who prefers to remain unidentified, told Asian arts expert Lark Mason he started collecting cups inexpensively in the 1970s and had no idea of the collection's current value.
Chinese antiques have been fetching strong prices in recent years, dramatically increasing the value of the collection.
Jason just took his Philosophy midterm exam and got an A!!!!!
[Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language.It is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational argument. The word "philosophy" comes from the Greek φιλοσοφία (philosophia), which literally means "love of wisdom".]
Sounds pretty deep to me. Too much for my mind to ponder!!!!!!!
Next up is a six page paper on the subject of wisdom!
I have always thought that there is something special about elephants. If you look into their eyes you will see love, kindness and gentleness.
Elephants are some of the largest creatures in the world. They are also known to be extremely intelligent. The saying that someone has the memory of an elephant means that they can remember just about anything and should be taken as a compliment. For the most part these are gentle animals but they will attack if they feel themselves or their offspring are in danger.
Elephants are known to form very strong emotional bonds. They are excellent with their offspring and they seem to get along in their herds for the most part. They haveeen seen displaying signs of distress and sorrow when one in their herd is injured or that it has died.
Sara, a friend of mine, brought the following video to my attention. It is about an elephant, Shirley, who has been in the circus her whole life. She eventually has out lived her circus life and her very caring caretaker found this wonderful sanctuary for her to live out her days. Shortly after she arrives she meets another elephant who was in the same circus years ago as a baby and they instantly recognize each other. This video is beautiful. The caretaker has such an emotional connection to Shirley and you can tell that he is very emotional about sending her away - even though he knows this is the best place for her.
Get your tissue out and watch this very beautiful, touching video of a reunion of two lovely elephants.
Our little Columbia Park here in Lafayette is a really nice park. They have done a lot of updates and have made it a great place. Here are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago when I took Leah to the zoo. The chickens and roosters just run around and are really friendly. We found that out when one jumped into Leah's stroller while we were looking at the new baby goats. The zookeeper said that this chicken likes strollers and tries to get into them as much as possible. She just wants to go for a ride! Leah found it quite amusing and would laugh whenever I mentioned it later on in the day.
Bob and I took Leah to the park last week to run out some of her endless energy since she was spending the night with us!!!!! Unfortunately we got there after the zoo closed so we were not able to see the animals this time, but we had fun anyway!!!
This was taken on the 3rd of July which is when we celebrated with fireworks. It doesn't really matter when you celebrate, right? I am still working on getting my 4th of July cards made to send out to family. They may possibly be done by August 4th. Oh well. Anyway, we had a great little show if I don't say so myself.
Leah absolutely LOVES the water! There is a pool at her daycare, so she has become very familiar with the water and is therefore not afraid. Maybe she'll become an olympic swimmer! Angela and Matt had so much fun with her in the pool last night. And what a great night to be in the water, although it felt more like bath water than refreshing pool water.
Jason & Erica in Washington, D.C. over the 4th of July. They said the fireworks were more than awesome. I guess that's one thing our government can do right!
The other night I came home and because the dog's had not been put in their room when someone left, they had a hey day roaming the house. I found this in the living room and of course they were no where around. But when I did confront them they gave me the classic guilty look. GUILTY!!
This past weekend there were two large events in Lafayette. The county fair opened and we also had Dancin' in the Streets. Here are two great photos from each of those events.
I love the "tough" little cowboy on the pink tractor. I wonder if the look on his face is because he does not want to be on a pink tractor or whether it's just his natural cool kid look - real men wear pink!
This couple, shown with their truck at Dancin' in the Streets, is the son and future daughter-in-law of one of my good friends.
The second picture was taken of them at last year's Dancin'. They look like they have walked off a movie set.
