Ketchup cleans copper and brass.

Macie w domu stary ketchup? Nie warto go wyrzucać, bo pięknie czyści mosiądz i miedź. 
 Sprawdziłam i potwierdzam!                       
From the knocker on your front door to the extra-special necklace you brought home from the craft market, brass and copper goods are showing up everywhere. Over time, these shiny treasures will start to tarnish, and we heard that ketchup can help get them back in shape. But does it really work? we gave it a try...
Read more:
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-clean-copper-and-brass-with-ketchup-223741

or watch : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVzaargKfCE

People who don't like to say "no".

Ludzie, którzy  nie lubia mówić "nie"? Gdzie ich spotkać? W Tajlandii ! W języku tajskim zamiast " nie" mówi się " nie tak". Trochę to skomplikowane...
Thai people don't like to say no. This is evident even in their simplest words: “yes” is chai and the closest thing to “no” is mai chai, which translates as "not yes.” This is more than just a simple language quirk. It reflects much about Thai society that isn’t apparent to outsiders until they’ve spent some time in the country. (.........)
Thailand is famously known as the Land of Smiles, and its residents pride themselves on being gracious and accommodating. As a collective culture, Thai people are taught to be more concerned with what’s best for the group rather than what suits them personally. Perhaps this is why “no” is always tempered with a “yes”.
Read more: http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20170123-where-people-dont-like-to-say-no 

The happiest children in the world.

Ostatnio świat zachwycił się hygge - duńską sztuką szczęścia - świece, ciepły koc, kubek gorącego kakao. Teraz pora na Holendrów, od których możemy się nauczyć  gazelligheid czyli jak wychować szczęśliwe dzieci.
O tym,że holenderskie dzieci są najszczęśliwsze na świecie wiadomo od 2013 roku, kiedy to opublikowano wyniki badań UNICEF na ten temat. Na czym polega wychowanie szczęśliwych dzieci możemy się teraz dowiedzieć z niedawno wydanej książki " The Happiest Kids in The World".

For while hygge has been hijacked to flog cashmere blankets and luxury log burners, gezelligheid, according to Michele Hutchison, a British writer who moved to the Netherlands in 2004, is simply ‘a biscuit tin on a table and a mug of coffee. It’s hot chocolate or pea soup and the sound of lively chatter with anoraks drying in the hall’.

She also thinks it’s the key to explaining why a 2013 Unicef study found that Dutch children are ‘the happiest in the world’. British kids came a lowly 16th.

(..........)

‘Parents have a healthy attitude towards their kids, seeing them as individuals rather than as extensions of themselves. They understand that achievement doesn’t necessarily lead to happiness, but that happiness can cultivate achievement.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-4114466/More-chores-plus-risks-equals-happy-kids-Dutch-children-happiest-world.html#ixzz4WrA6sliX 
or watch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEk9xRX8jag

Jeśli interesuje Was, na którym miejscu w rankingu UNICEF znalazły się polskie dzieci, zerknijcie tutaj : https://www.wprost.pl/swiat/395324/Raport-UNICEF-polskie-dzieci-sa-nieszczesliwe.html

Moomin exhibition.

Do kwietnia 2017 można oglądać w Londynie wystawę poświęconą muminkom. To wspaniala atrakcja nie tylko dla dzieci. 

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/119314-adventures-moominland-201617

Adventures in Moominland charts the invention of the Moomins, and the life of their creator Tove Jansson, through archive materials and original drawings. The original 'Moomintroll', it turns out, derives from a story told to Jansson by her uncle.

Rather than presenting the story in sterile vitrines, the Royal Festival Hall makes you navigate recreations of forests, tents and seaside scenes. Each section is narrated by Sandy Toksvig — her delivery engaging as ever....Read morehttp://londonist.com/london/a-moomin-exhibition-that-is-great-family-fun

Moomins in London https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CyecykO88M

An open secret.

An open secret to po polsku  tajemnica publiczna, albo tajemnica poliszynela. Z tego wszystkiego najbardziej tajemniczy wydaje sie poliszynel. Co ciekawe a języku angielskim również używa się tego określenia " secret of Polichinelle". 
"Poliszynel (fr. Polichinelle) to komiczna postać występująca we francuskim teatrze lalek, pochodząca z włoskiej komedii dell'arte; tajemnica poliszynela - rzekoma tajemnica, znana wszystkim od dawna"( Słownik Wyrazów Obcych PWN)
Do napisania tego posta sprowokował mnie artykuł w BBC na temat pacjenta, który spędził dwa lata w szpitalu uniwersyteckim w Norfolk bez wyraźnej zdrowotnej potrzeby. Po prostu potraktował szpital jako darmowy hotel.

A patient who had been in the same ward said it had been an "open secret" at the hospital that he had been there for more than two years.The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she was "disgusted"."It's ridiculous, it's using a hospital as a hotel," she said. Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-norfolk-38680031

A self-sharpening knife .

Wreszcie coś, co ułatwi  życie, Zawsze chciałam to mieć - SAMOOSTRZĄCE SIĘ NOŻE !

There's nothing more annoying than having to saw your way through a tomato because your knife has gone blunt. 

But the days of having to sharpen your knives could soon be a thing of the past.

Nasa engineers have helped to create a knife that will almost never have to sharpened.

The cutting-edge 'KNasa Chef Knife' is twice as sharp as other blades and stays sharp for five times longer.

The brains behind it claim it is the first true innovation in knife making in over 200 years.

The knife is made from an ultra-hard alloy developed by scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and has been tested by engineers at Nasa.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4136080/Nasa-creates-KNIFE-never-need-sharpened.html#ixzz4WDTnJ5Rk 

Go the way of the dodo.

Dodo, to podobny do gołębia, duży ptak nielot opisany pod koniec XVI wieku przez holenderskich żeglarzy. W krótkim czasie gatunek całkowicie wyginął, ale pozostał nieśmiertelny w idiomach;
AS DEAD AS A DODO
oraz GO THE WAY OF THE DODO czyli zaniknąć, przejść do historii.

WHY DID THE DODO DIE OUT?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83YiYnH3DB4

Blue Monday

Podobno dziś jest najbardziej depresyjny dzień roku - BLUE MONDAY. Przypada on zawsze na trzeci poniedziałek stycznia. Wierzycie w to?  
W Wielkiej Brytanii ma być nawet smutniej niż gdzie indziej....

Blue monday could be most depressing ever because of celebrity deaths, anxiety over Brexit, and fears about a Donald Trump presidency in the US, the expert who coined the phrase has warned.In 2005 Dr Cliff Arnall, formerly of Cardiff University, came up with a light-hearted formula for predicting the gloomiest day of the year based on factors including weather, debts, time since Christmas and motivation. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/01/15/blue-monday-2017-could-bluest-ever-says-expert-behind-equation/

Pop-up books.

Pop-up books to trójwymiarowe książki - rozkładanki, bardzo lubiane przez najmłodszych czytelników. Pierwsze powstały już w trzynastym wieku i były adresowane do dorosłych.

http://www.marthastewart.com/918284/history-and-art-pop-book

Niektóre pop-up books to prawdziwe dzieła sztuki.

We often think of pop-up books as a simple way to entertain the little ones (or at least we did before the iPad came along!) but they can be so much more than that. When done well, pop-up books can be engaging, imaginative, and even works of artistic brilliance.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/65074/10-pop-books-are-works-art

A moze chcecie sami zrobić pop-up book?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2dJWVVE6XY

Have eggs for breakfast.

Chcesz zdać egzamin? Jedz jajka na śniadanie ( i ucz się oczywiście).

Want a healthy brain? Have eggs for breakfast (and don't worry, they won't cause dementia)

• Previous research has linked eggs to both heart attacks and high blood pressure
• These are widely known to increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease in adults
• But now scientists say eating eggs only slightly raises blood cholesterol levels  
• Researchers also found consuming them can help people perform better in tests.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4108906/Want-healthy-brain-eggs-breakfast-don-t-worry-won-t-cause-dementia.html#ixzz4VTkEufVA

Kamil Stoch is 4-Hills-Tournament winner

O wspaniałym zwycięstwie Polaka możemy sobie poczytać także po angielsku. Polecam!
What a dramatic final of the 65th 4-Hills-Tournament in Bischofshofen. Double Olympic champion Kamil Stoch of Poland won the final event and also took the overall title of the 4-Hills-Tournament. Stoch jumped on 134.5 m and 138.5 m (289.2 points) and won the competition ahead of Austria's Michael Hayboeck (130.5 m and 142 m; 283.3 points) and Piotr Zyla (131 m and 137 m; 275.8 points). In the overall ranking Stoch won ahead of his teammate Piotr Zyla and Norway's Daniel Andre Tande.
Read more:
http://www.fis-ski.com/ski-jumping/news-multimedia/news/article=kamil-stoch-hills-tournament-winner.html

BISCHOFSHOFEN, Austria (AP) — Olympic ski jump champion Kamil Stoch became the first Polish winner of the Four Hills Tour in 16 years on Friday.

Stoch won the final stop to overtake Daniel Andre Tande, who led the competition after winning in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Innsbruck. The Norwegian dropped to third in the standings after losing his balance due to a problem with the binding of his right ski and nearly crashing on his final jump Friday.

Stoch's Polish teammate Piotr Zyla also passed Tande to place second.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-4095762/Olympic-champion-Stoch-wins-final-stop-takes-4-Hills-title.html#ixzz4V4pqN9IQ 

Winter is here!

"The winter here's cold, and bitter
it's chilled us to the bone...."

Lady With an Ermine

Na temat zakupu przez polski rząd słynnego obrazu Leonarda da Vinci piszą sporo anglojęzyczne media.

•   The State Treasury bought the 1490 "Lady with an Ermine" along with thousands of other pieces of art from the aristocratic Czartoryski Foundation for the equivalent of just over 100 million euros ($105 million). "It is a fraction of the market price of the collection," Piotr Glinski, Poland's minister of culture told journalists.  http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-poland-davinci-idUKKBN14I1XN
• The Polish government has bought a world-famous art collection, including a rare Leonardo da Vinci painting, for a fraction of its market value.The Czartoryski collection was sold for €100m ($105m; £85m) despite being estimated at about €2bn. It includes Rembrandt and Renoir works, and Leonardo's Lady with an Ermine.http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38462474
• Painted at the end of the 15th century, "Lady with an Ermine," the most famous painting exhibited in Poland, is part of a two-century-old collection estimated to be worth $2 billion. Owned by the princely Czartoryski family, the collection is currently housed in the National Museum in Krakow, run by the Polish Culture of Ministry and National Heritage.http://www.dailysabah.com/arts-culture/2016/12/16/polish-government-intends-to-purchase-da-vincis-lady-with-an-ermine