Oh...HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, TM!

Heading out for a walk and brunch with Jean and Chuck. I will check back with clues mid-afternoon.

Cynthia

I have a couple of ideas but will wait for clues.

Annette

Hmmm...world's largest salt lake? Yes, I have an idea as well, but will wait before embarrassing myself, as I usually do when I think I know.

And Tm - Happy Father's Day! And to all the other fathers out there.

Nancy.

Thank you for the Father's Day wishes, Cynthia and Nancy. Fishing in the morning and gardening in the afternoon for me today. I don't know how you get any better than that. At my age. :-)

I'm guessing the answer today isn't Great Salt Lake, which is not good for me, since that's the only one I know. Although ... I have thought of something else that might fit the bill, maybe due to a technicality.

TM

I think I know this but will need a nudge or two to get the memory to the surface.

I think this is best known as a Sea.

Well, Jean has left and we both completely forgot several little things I had for her. No memory any more.

It is just such a perfect day and the yard is so green and lush (lots of that is weeds, but from afar, I can't tell-ha). I feel like I am in a fantasy world. It has been a long time since I read the Narnia series, but this yard of ours belongs in someplace like that. Better yet Middle Earth, except that gets me away from the clue! ;)

Cynthia

Middle Earth makes me think of Asia....

Nancy.

Near Russia?

Annette

I think it's very salty, so I was thinking maybe the Dead Sea was technically a lake, but I don't know if it fits with the Narnia clue. I read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to my daughters many years ago, but can't remember any mention of a sea in it.

TM

Asia or Middle East would both work. Middle Earth was not my real clue there. The Chronicles of Narnia is a series that could give this away completely if you are familiar with the titles in the series.

Alexander the Great found it in 330 B.C., but it was thought to be part of the northern oceans until the late 2nd century A.D.

Since I am so late, I will add another hint/clue here: are you a fan of caviar? Most comes from here.

Cynthia

O.K. I'm going to go with the C.S.

Annette

After rain last night and this morning I've been rushin' around trying to get more plants potted and a few in the ground before the next rain. Chances of rain showers all week. Also did lots of weeding, mostly oxalis. Don't want to see those tiny yellow flowers.

Celebrating Fathers' Day tonight with gourmet pizza. DH deserves it,. He is a prince.

Yes, I think C.S. is correct.

nancy.

So clever you smarties. Did you also pick up on the initials of the author being the same as the first letters of the words in the name of this lake?

TM, if you stopped after that first book, you may not know this, but Bobbie included a clue to show she knows both the book and the lake. Looks like the ladies have it, but in honor of fatherhood, I will delay the bestowing of stars until I get home from school tomorrow, so you are allowed to enjoy your special day without worrying about Lewis or geographic features!

Cynthia

Yes, the Caspian Sea is the largest salt lake or inland sea in the world. Here is some information on it:

The giant Volga River empties into the Caspian and controls its various levels during the year. The sea has no outlet, and therefore accumulates dissolved salts. Yet its salinity is low, except for the water in its land-locked gulf, Kara-Bogaz-Gol, where salt deposits build up through evaporation and create mirabilite, or Glauber's salt.

Because of seepage and evaporation, the Caspian shrinks a few inches every year. Since 1930 its level has dropped more than 8 ft., leaving fishing villages and port facilities high and dry and cutting fish catches in half. Soviet scientists, alarmed over the loss, have begun plans to connect the north-flowing Pechora River to the south-flowing Kama River, a tributary of the Volga, in hopes of getting more water into the sea. They conducted a test in 1971 in which they detonated three 15-kiloton nuclear charges to determine how effectively they could blast a 70-mi. canal. The explosions produced very little radiation. The proposed ditch between the Pechora and Kama rivers calls for about 250 devices in the range of 100-200 kilotons. American scientists have warned the Soviets that diverting the Pechora's warm water would reduce the Arctic Ocean's temperature and cause major climatological repercussions.

The North Caspian and South Caspian are very different. The North freezes from December to March. Vegetation is sparse, and marshlands preclude any serious agriculture. The South, on the other hand, has luxuriant, almost tropical vegetation and a bustling sugarcane industry.

Alexander the Great found the sea's southern extremity in 330 B.C. Cartographers thought the Caspian was part of the northern oceans till the 2nd century A.D. Czarist expansion into Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries secured Russian control of the Caspian, but only in the past 100 years has the sea been developed. Now huge oil tankers ply their trade from the massive Baku oil complex on the Caucasus shore to the cities of western Russia up the Volga River. The sea provides Russia with a first-rate fishing industry. Most sturgeon, from which caviar is obtained, comes from the Caspian Sea.

So, for Annette, Bobbie, and Nancy, four (salt cellar) stars!

Have a lovely week. Our delightful weekend has turned into a sweltering week with temps in the 90s (94 expected on Thursday) and high humidity. Ugh. Hope you all have better to look forward to this week. Thanks for playing.

Cynthia

I love salt cellars - I mourn the loss of the days when we had special dinners and used these!! Thanks for the fun Cyn!!

Nancy.

Oh, salt cellars, how cool. Thanks for the question and interesting info.

I don't have salt cellars and keep my kosher salt in an old sugar bowl on a tray that came with the set. Instead of the creamer there is a pepper grinder also on the tray. Years ago when my bread baking group was here one of the younger gals made tea and added "sugar". She told her mom that it tasted terrible. We all had a good laugh when I found out and explained about the salt in the sugar bowl.

More storms tonight and rain expected each day/night until the weekend. I do a little weeding and deadheading when I can. Not much planting getting done. Hoping this weekend to get some annuals in the mailbox bed.

Now I see the Narnia connection -- Prince Caspian. I don't know if we ever had that book when my daughters were kids, but I saw the name somewhere. There was just enough memory to recognize it when I saw it, but not enough to come up with it.

You stumped me, but it was still fun and informative. As always, thanks for the fun, Cynthia. You must be getting close to the end of the school year.

TM