This Little Piggy

Found a New Home

Hi! Kaya here with our first post using our blogger profile instead of google+ profile. With 1266 posts to archive that might be lost we don't want to add any more. Oh, I wanted to let you know with the whole google+ announcement we are postponing the giveaway. We are extremely disappointed about that and trying to figure out a new way to do it. 

Now on to the real news! We have a few new pets to feature and today I get to introduce you to Fiona. 

She is some pig! Just look at her unique markings.

She's humble and still terrific! Oh. My. gosh! the other day she opened the kitchen cabinets and pulled out the pans! (laughs)

Positively radiant. (giggles) Look at the sparkle in her eyes and smile.

What do you think of Fiona?

Xyra's Notes

• This is the piglet from American Girl of the Year Blair Wilson's collection.
• She's fuzzy and soft with sewn on eyes and an adorable curly tail.
• Nose and feet are adorable and somewhat realistic.
• Not pose-able, she just sits.
• I'm really happy with this addition to our collection.

Thank you for stopping by! See you again soon!

No More Google+

Well, This is Distressing

So we just found out Google+ is shutting down and all personal accounts will be deleted including comments to blogs and sites using the google+ log in. We have no idea how this affects Blogger. We are currently in the process of archiving and downloading our data. The only thing I can figure for sure is that the "followers" section and the "profile" on our sidebar will soon be empty. 

Very sad! I've read it several times and it sounds like Blogger will remain, but all the comments I've made to other blogs over the years will disappear! I've had some lovely discussions with people since 2013. Very sad indeed!

Here is the email notification:

Google+ Team <noreply@plus.google.com>	Fri, Feb 1, 6:20 PM (3 days ago)
to me

You've received this email because you have a consumer (personal) Google+ account or you manage a Google+ page.
In December 2018, we announced our decision to shut down Google+ for consumers in April 2019 due to low usage and challenges involved in maintaining a successful product that meets consumers' expectations. We want to thank you for being part of Google+ and provide next steps, including how to download your photos and other content.
On April 2nd, your Google+ account and any Google+ pages you created will be shut down and we will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts. Photos and videos from Google+ in your Album Archive and your Google+ pages will also be deleted. You can download and save your content, just make sure to do so before April. Note that photos and videos backed up in Google Photos will not be deleted.
The process of deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, Google+ Pages, and Album Archive will take a few months, and content may remain through this time. For example, users may still see parts of their Google+ account via activity log and some consumer Google+ content may remain visible to G Suite users until consumer Google+ is deleted.
As early as February 4th, you will no longer be able to create new Google+ profiles, pages, communities or events.
See the full FAQ for more details and updates leading up to the shutdown.
If you're a Google+ Community owner or moderator, you may download and save your data for your Google+ Community. Starting early March 2019, additional data will be available for download, including author, body, and photos for every community post in a public community. Learn more
If you sign in to sites and apps using the Google+ Sign-in button, these buttons will stop working in the coming weeks but in some cases may be replaced by a Google Sign-in button. You'll still be able to sign in with your Google Account wherever you see Google Sign-in buttons. Learn more
If you've used Google+ for comments on your own or other sites, this feature will be removed from Blogger by February 4th and other sites by March 7th. All your Google+ comments on all sites will be deleted starting April 2, 2019. Learn more
If you're a G Suite customer, Google+ for your G Suite account should remain active. Contact your G Suite administrator for more details. You can also expect a new look and new features soon. Learn more
If you're a developer using Google+ APIs or Google+ Sign-in, click here to see how this will impact you.
From all of us on the Google+ team, thank you for making Google+ such a special place. We are grateful for the talented group of artists, community builders, and thought leaders who made Google+ their home. It would not have been the same without your passion and dedication.
Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043
You have received this mandatory email service announcement to update you about important changes to your Google+ Page, product or account.

Best wishes! 

Groundhog Day 2019

Phil Says

Look, Kaya, no shadow!

What? But the sun is shining.

He can't see it. It's not right in front of him and he's in the shade.

Oh, well! Six more weeks of winter.

Happy Groundhog Day, everyone! Stay warm and safe! 

Lea's Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

Adventures at Providence Town Center

Hi! You guessed it! another trip to Movie Tavern. It's really a fun place. Pricey, but fun. It's Lady Webby's favorite place to see movies so when Xyra, Webby and Vanyer get together that is the place to go. It's fun to hang out with them and they don't mind when one of us tags along. the Collegeville, Providence Town Center one is a good center point for everyone, but there are other locations.

The weather was super crazy so I dressed in layers and packed extra gear in the backpack. Man, it holds a lot!

Xyra was super shocked to find a parking spot so close to the theater. It's the closest we've ever been. Third space to the right! Wow! And a super short walk inside.

I started looking at the menu while we waited for Webby and Vanyer. It wasn't a long wait and I still hadn't made up my mind when we went to get our seats. 

So much to choose from. Of course, we're getting popcorn.

Then they gave us the brunch menu when we showed our tickets! It was easier to choose off this menu. I got the fried egg sandwich. It was GINORMOUS!

Oh my goodness the previews. There were definitely a couple to add to our watch list. Shh! Shh! The movie's starting. Everyone got quiet and watched.

Sorry, this is from the end credits. 

You know we don't take photos during the film. It's not legal and too often they end up looking like this. (giggles) If you look closely you can see it was the screen noting "Special Appearance by Angela Lansbury."

We gathered our gear and asked for plastic wrap so we could take our popcorn home. We usually eat it for a day or two after the movie.

Then headed to the ladies room before heading home.

I am so glad I packed my backpack. By the time the movie ended the wind had started and the temp dropped from the mid 40s to 20s and was still going down. At home everyone asked about the movie.

My Review

Mary Poppins Returns is a very good movie. It has great themes, fun characters, music, action, adventure, imagination, generosity, and greed. I think Emily Blunt did a fine job as Mary Poppins. Lin-Manuel Miranda was fun as Jack; but his accent could be distressing. Colin Firth's character made me mad. Ellen was great and it took a few minutes to realize the actress playing her had played Molly Weasley. Jane and Michael as adults were very interesting. I read that the original Jane makes a brief cameo - she was great. The Admiral was a crack up! Willoughby was adorable, but miss named. He should have been Darcy or Brandon. Meryl Streep was priceless; sooo NOT Amanda Priestly. Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury were fabulous! The animation was smart. I really enjoyed this movie. There is a dark side to it, though, and I saw Xyra and Webby wipe a few tears in a couple spots.

[Xyra side note: I completely agree with Lea's review. Yes, parts will tug at your heartstrings.]

Have you had a chance to see Mary Poppins Returns? What did you think? If you haven't seen it, is it on your watch list?

Tchau! Até mais tarde!

Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl, Disney, or Movie Tavern. Tickets were purchased for this movie and the review completely unsolicited. The review is comprised of our own experiences, opinions, thoughts, and words. Links are provided for educational and informative purposes only; we do not receive any compensation for links clicked. No purchase is required or suggested to enjoy the post above.

#MaryPoppinsReturns

#MovieTavernProvidenceTownCenter

Birthday 2019 Part 4

Finale

Hi! Just a few more photos to share from last Monday! I can't believe it's been 8 days since my birthday already! Wow! As a side note today is great Grammy's birthday. She'd be 109 if she were still of this earthly realm.

After finishing the Vikings Beyond the Legend exhibit and tour of the Franklin Institute we talked about lunch and decided to go back to King of Prussia. Yes, there are a ton of options in Philly, but we also wanted to stay out of westbound rush hour traffic. Believe it or not that starts around 3 PM. So off we went! Westbound on the Schuylkill Expressway back to the King of Prussia Town Center. We drove the side area and noticed a restaurant called Founding Farmers.

When you go inside the first thing you notice is the fabulous aroma of the First Bake Cafe and Creamery downstairs. You can eat there too, but we went upstairs to the main restaurant. At the top of the stairs we saw this cool sculpture with pink goats!

And this great shadow box!

They took us to a lovely booth in the "living room" but we had to go through the "barn" to get there. (giggles)

Nonna ordered the turkey avocado sandwich with tomato soup. It was huge! Lots of green! Xyra and I got the New England clam chowder and split the skillet corn bread. Yummy!

Before going back downstairs we toured the rest of the rooms and saw the meeting room was open. The wall was covered in blue and white bunny murals. They depicted scenes from Revolutionary Era Valley Forge, but with bunnies instead of humans! 

Downstairs, we picked out half dozen donuts. Let me see, we chose lemon meringue, creme brulee, rum glazed, maple glazed, and chocolate iced and ordered a white Earl Grey tea to go.

After dropping Nonna at her car we sped off to the mall and the LEGO store. Last time Xyra was there she picked up two Harry Potter blind bags and they turned out to be duplicates of ones we already had. Well, one was a triple! So we asked the associate if he could help choose anyone but Queenie and Flitwick. 

Without opening the blind bags he was able to find Dean, Neville, Professor Trelawney, Tina, Jacob, and NEWT! Sorry no photos of them yet. BUT (giggles) I have a feeling they will pop up in a calendar build this year. 😉

It was getting really close to the start of rush hour so we took off. We got home and decided to pop the Twilight movie in the DVD player. Hey, it's Jacob's birthday too. (giggles) We watched until Franz got home then went out to Red Lobster for dinner. 

Yes, we finished the movie when we got home. Overall, it was a lovely birthday! 

Do you have any special birthday memories? How do you like to celebrate?

Best wishes,

Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl, The Franklin Institute, Founding Farmers restaurant, LEGO, Summit Entertainment, or Red Lobster. All links are provided for educational and informative reasons. No purchase is required or suggested to enjoy the post. We receive no compensation from any links.

#VikingsBeyondtheLegend

#TheFranklinInstitute

#FoundingFarmers

#LEGOStore

#TwilightSaga

#RedLobster

Birthday 2019 Part 3

On to the Second Section of the Exhibit

Hello! Did you know hi and hello come from Old Norse? Don't go berserk if your google search doesn't say the same thing; I googled "hello in old Norse" and saw the drop down "how do Vikings say hello." Then I found the site omniglot that had audio files. It's all pretty cool. Let's look at the rest of my field trip!

Picking Up Where we Left Off

Yesterday I took a break when we headed down the ramp to the next section of the Vikings Beyond the Legend exhibit.

The first thing we came across was the second ship. This is the biggest of the three. The metal frame was constructed as an outline of the ship would have been in size and shape. Inside were a few original timbers.

Behind the screen showed a similar ship on a stormy sea. I don't know how they made it to the places they did in these little boats! At least the S.S. Minnow had a below deck area. Nonna got this great shot. You can see it is a big boat, but still not a ship like the the US Navy has or even the cruise lines.

This ship had an interactive screen that acted like a small holo deck. As you moved it you could get a glimpse of section of the boat filled with Viking rowing or with the sail raised. The sail made me laugh because it blocked the view. I mean, all you saw was sail. (giggles) When you finished learning about this ship, you could try rowing yourself. I took the middle bench.

This also had an interactive pad. The screen showed me standing next to a Viking commander. Here's a look at the things you could do with the pad. 

If you touched action he would turn toward me and speak. If you touched "take a screenshot" it would email you a photo of you and the Viking. If you touched language you'd get a lesson in Old Norse. Here's my screenshot keepsake.

Speaking of language, (giggles) another interactive area let you type in words and see what they would look like in runes. The runes appeared from bottom to top. Nonna did my name!

So then I started with Tea Time with Melody Q. You might have to zoom in on the photo to really see the runes.

Then Kirsten.

Can you guess whose mane this is? (giggles)

Vikings like miniatures too. check out these tools and dress pins.

This is really cool. It's a reproduction of the Jelling Stone. This three sided stone marked the birth of Denmark, the move to Christianity, and more. Check out this link to learn more and see photos of the original.

At the very end was a quiz to see how much you learned. That was fun. 

Outside we saw the third ship hanging over main entry.

Of course we toured a few more spots throughout the Franklin Institute. The pendulum staircase is amazing. I could watch it for hours!

Looking up...

Across from the staircase is Benjamin Franklin Hall. Ben is pretty cool.

There are three levels of cool sites. 

Should we go up or down?

We went down to the space section. Check out this telescope!

Then we went to the train factory section. Did you know that if you visit a tourist train or train museum in your state and the locomotive is a Baldwin that it came from Philadelphia.

Of course, we hit the gift shop! This looks like an interesting book. And the astronaut is pretty cool!

DRAGON! His name is Torbjorn and he went home with us.

Such a wonderful morning!

Thank you for coming to visit! As the Vikings say, "Takk."

I'll tell you about lunch later.

Best wishes!

Note: Tea Time with Melody Q is not affiliated with American Girl or the Franklin Institute. All links are provided for educational and informative purposes. No purchase is suggested or required to enjoy the post. 

#TheFranklinInstitute

#VikingsBeyondtheLegend