THREE WAYS TO PRONOUNCE S 

Say S in estuary.  Say Z in easy.  Say C in erase.

Greek mythology tells us that Hercules constructed two pillars near the Straits of Gibraltar to mark the edge of the then known world.  These pillars bore the warning “Ne plus ultra” or “No More Beyond”.  They served as a warning to sailors and navigators to go no farther, essentially shutting the door on possibility.  In the 1400’s, the belief that there was nothing more to discover was so prevalent that “Ne Plus Ultra” was written on the edges of their maps.  It even became Spain’s national motto, and was seen everywhere their Standard flew.  In 1492 Columbus set sail into unknown waters to an unknown destination.  Upon discovering new lands and new opportunities Spain dropped the “Ne” from its motto and minted coins with their new motto "Plus Ultra."  http://www.morebeyond.co.za/about-more-beyond/

ne plus ultra in American  the ultimate; esp., the finest, best, most perfect, etc.  Webster’s New World College Dictionary, 4th Edition. Copyright © 2010 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.  All rights reserved.

ne plus ultra in British  the extreme or perfect point or state  Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers

Jean Auel is an American author best known for her Earth's Children® books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals.  As of 2010 her novels have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.  The series consists of The Clan of the Cave Bear (1980), The Valley of Horses(1982), The Mammoth Hunters (1985), The Plains of Passage (1990), The Shelters of Stone (2002), and The Land of Painted Caves (2011).  Ms. Auel lives in Portland, Oregon.  She holds four honorary degrees from universities, and was awarded the French government's Ministry of Culture "Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters" medal.  How to pronounce Jean M. Auel:  OW(-uh)l  https://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm/author_number/753/jean-m-auel

A Boiled-Down History of Porridge and Gruel in 7 Facts by Janet Burns   Porridge-like preparations of grass-borne cereal grains, pseudocereals (like quinoa and buckwheat), and other crops have a long and varied history as meals.  Quinoa, for example, “has been used in porridge for more than 3,000 years,” while congee, a rice porridge prepared throughout Asia, has reportedly been eaten in China “since 2500 BC,” BBC News points out.  "When farming was invented and cereals were grown, charred, ripened and mashed into a pulp—porridge—it could be spooned into the mouths of infants and was extremely nourishing.  And it allowed women to stop breast-feeding after one or two years and so the birth interval halved and the population rocketed."  Read more and see graphics at http://mentalfloss.com/article/70649/boiled-down-history-porridge-and-gruel-7-facts

topsy-turvey  adverb  1520s, "but prob. in popular use from an earlier period" [OED]; compare top over terve "to fall over" (mid-15c.); likely from tops, plural of top (n.1) "highest point" + obsolete terve "turn upside down, topple over," from Old English tearflian "to roll over, overturn," from Proto-Germanic terbanan (source also of Old High German zerben "to turn round").  Century Dictionary calls it "A word which, owing to its popular nature, its alliterative type, and to ignorance of its origin, leading to various perversions made to suggest some plausible origin, has undergone, besides the usual variations of spelling, extraordinary modifications of form."  It lists 31 variations.  As an adjective from 1610s.  https://www.etymonline.com/word/topsy-turvy

5 recipes for radish leaves  When you get a bunch of radishes do you toss the greens?  Stop it.  They’re edible and tasty. by Robin Shreeves   Link to recipes at https://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/blogs/5-recipes-for-radish-leaves

A buoy is a floating device that can have many purposes.  It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with ocean currents.  The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is in British English most commonly pronounced /ˈbɔɪ/ (identical to boy, as in buoyant).  In American English the pronunciation is closer to "boo-ee."  See types and pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buoy

In the mid-1800s, canals crossed Washington and ran alongside the Mall, carrying boats filled with cargo and people between the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.  A lockkeeper and his family of 13 children lived in the small stone house at Constitution Avenue and 17th Street between 1835 and 1855.  He collected tolls and operated the lock of the Washington City Canal.  Nationwide, canal traffic declined by the 1850s with the rise of railroads.  In 1855, the lockkeeper was no longer needed and the canal became neglected and polluted.  The city filled in the canal 1872.   The lockkeeper's house was abandoned in 1855, and squatters lived in it for many years.  For a short time, the Park Police kept prisoners in the house.  After nearly 20 years without barge service on a very dirty waterway, the city filled the canal to make way for the new Constitution Avenue.  The Lockkeeper's House remained as a visible remembrance of the city's early commercial dreams.  http://mallhistory.org/explorations/show/lockkeepers-house

October 16, 2017  Dating as far back as circa 1836, the Lockkeeper’s House is the oldest structure on the National Mall and the the last remaining lock-keeper's house of the C&O Canal Extension.  As part of the Constitution Gardens revitalization project, the Lockkeeper’s House recently underwent a move.  The developers behind the project are Rogers Partners and PWP Landscape, who won a national design competition in 2012.  This D.C. structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.  Michelle Goldchain See picture and link to video at https://dc.curbed.com/2017/10/16/16482804/lockkeepers-house-national-mall-move-video

What's the difference between a crisp, crumble, cobbler, slump and buckle? by Marge Perry   Find generally accepted definitions and note that sometimes crisps and buckles are also called crumbles.  Link to recipes at http://www.myrecipes.com/how-to/cooking-questions/difference-cobbler-crisp-crumble-buckle

Fort Jefferson was built to protect one of the most strategic deepwater anchorages in North America.  By fortifying this spacious harbor, the United States maintained an important “advance post” for ships patrolling the Gulf of Mexico and the Straits of Florida.  Nestled within the islands and shoals that make up the Dry Tortugas, the harbor offered ships the chance to resupply, refit, or seek refuge from storms.  The location of the Tortugas along one the world’s busiest shipping lanes was its greatest military asset.  Though passing ships could easily avoid the largest of Fort Jefferson’s guns, they could not avoid the warships that used its harbor.  Poised to protect this valuable harbor was one of the largest forts ever built.   Nearly thirty years in the making (1846-1875), Fort Jefferson was never finished nor fully armed.  Yet it was a vital link in a chain of coastal forts that stretched from Maine to California.  During the Civil War, Union warships used the harbor in their campaign to blockade Southern shipping.  The fort was also used as a prison, mainly for Union deserters.  Its most famous prisoner was Dr. Samuel Mudd, the physician who set the broken leg of John Wilkes Booth.  Abandoned by the Army in 1874, the fort was later used as a coaling station for warships.  In 1898, the USS Maine sailed into history, departing the Tortugas on its fateful mission to Havana, Cuba.  Though used briefly during both world wars, the fort’s final chapter as “Guardian of the Gulf” had long since closed.  See pictures and link to information on the National Park at https://www.nps.gov/drto/learn/historyculture/fort-jefferson.htm

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1925  July 27, 2018