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Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children

Post Number 37

Aspiring Millionaires

 

 
Hello Everyone

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My nephews Bill and Bob each have a piggy bank where they put their pocket money.

 

Their ambition at the moment, so they tell me, is to save up a million pounds.

 

l was trying to explain to them that that wasn’t very possible with the amount of pocket money they get.

 

l explained to them that a million really is a very big number.

 

To demonstrate this, l told them that if you counted one million seconds, it would take you over eleven and a half days; nearly twelve in fact.

 

They seemed unconvinced. So l gave them some other facts and statistics.

 

A million minutes is nearly 2 years. A million hours is over 114 years. A million weeks is over 19 thousand years.

 

lf they saved up a million coins and put them in a pile one one top of the other, the pile would reach up to nearly a third of the height of the tallest mountain in the world which is Mount Everest.

 

All of those coins would definitely not fit into their piggy banks.

 

They had an answer to this. They told me that when their piggy banks got filled up they transferred the money from their piggy banks to their building society accounts.

 

Then they had a think about how much money a million pounds really was and they decided that maybe they would buy a new football and a radio controlled helicopter first and then they would start saving up for a million pounds afterwards.

 

Then they went off to find their dad to ask him if he needed his car washed for a few more coins.

 

l sometimes have to admire their enthusiasm…

 

 

Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

 

Love and kisses

 

 

Salty Sam

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www.christina-sinclair.com

 

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Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Weekjokejoke

 

Bill: Why is lreland the richest country in the world?

 

Bob: l don’t know. Why is lreland the richest country in the world?

 

Bill: Because its capital is always Dublin!

 
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Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.

Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com

 
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 Picture Gallery

 
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Mount Everest 

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Piggy bank from Indonesia about 500 years old 

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You don’t need to smash your piggy bank with a hammer if it doesn’t have a hole with a stopper on its underside – you can get coins out again by turning your pig upside down, inserting the blade of a blunt knife into the slot and jiggling the box around

(just don’t let the piggy get too full)

 
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Toy gold bars

 
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    desk  THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESKlamp

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Miss Pringle, Bill and Bob’s teacher at the Rocky Bay Primary School, gave Bill and Bob’s class an English test at school on Monday morning last week – can you answer these questions?

 
Which phrases mean that you are rich and which mean that you are poor? 

  1. Living on a shoestring
  2. Needing to tighten your belt
  3. Can’t make ends meet
  4. Down and out
  5. Having to penny-pinch
  6. Born with a silver spoon in your mouth
  7. Doing a roaring trade
  8. Living in the lap of luxury
  9. Rolling in it
  10. Absolutely minted

 
And lastly what does ‘to coin a phrase’ mean?

 
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Bill and Bob, like most people who go to school, don’t like tests. Luckily they did get all the answers right.

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But in the afternoon they had an art lesson which they much preferred.

Miss Pringle gave all the children a screw-top jar and they spent all afternoon giving the glass part of the jar a coating of papier-mâché. On one side they created a three-dimensional scary face.

It was important that the papier-mâché did not come up too high to interfere with putting the lid back on.

The children left their sculptures to dry until the end of the week; then they painted them.

By the end of the day the paint was dry, and they were able to take their wonderful creations home to use as money jars.

Hopefully, when they put their savings into the jars the scary faces will scare off any would-be robbers!

 

 
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Miss Pringle said that learning how to save money was even more important than learning how to make papier-mâché. smile1 (2)

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☠Halloween GiF☠

 

Tomorrow is Halloween and if you would like any ideas for recipes or decorations to make, check out my pinboard at:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/festivals/

 

 

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NEWSDESK MINIMAKE

A KNITTED DOLL PAIR OF TROUSERS

 

If you have finished making all your Halloween decorations and you still need to find something to do, here is another knitting pattern for clothes to make for the doll from blog posts 21 and 22.

With winter weather on its way, your doll will be grateful for these lovely, warm trousers.

 

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TROUSERS (KNIT TWO)

Using 3½mm knitting needles and green dk yarn cast on 26 stitches

Knit 4 rows of (knit 1, purl 1) ribbing

 

Change to 4mm knitting needles

Knit 12 rows of stocking stitch

 

Cast on 2 stitches at the beginning of the next 2 rows (30 sts)

 

Knit 20 rows of stocking stitch

 

Knit 2 rows of garter stitch

Cast off

 

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TO MAKE UP

Using over-sew stitching sew up front and back seams then inside leg seams.

 

The yellow top in the photograph is from post 24.

 
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petcare

Pet Care

 
Auntie Alice gets her cats from the Rocky Bay Pet Rescue Centre.

The cats she gets are very often not kittens, they are older cats, but if you want a kitten, they do take a lot of care.

lf you bring home a new kitten, it will be very nervous at first and will probably spend most of the first day staying in a quiet corner. Just talk kindly to it from a distance.

As soon as you get a kitten, choose a vet to look after it. Get information about vaccinations from your vet and don’t let your cat outside until it has been checked by a vet.

You may want to go outside with your cat into the garden until it is six months old.

Be aware that a loose collar can catch on twigs when a cat is climbing and cause it to get stuck in a tree.

Cat food is labelled so that you can feed your cat the right food for its age.

Some cats won’t drink tap water, they prefer to drink rain water from puddles. They should always have water available so try bottled water instead.

They might like condensed milk or cream as a special treat.

Some also like raw eggs, peas and the occasional olive but don’t give him/her too many olives because it will upset his/her stomach.

 

A black kitten:

 

Kittens can be very destructive for about the first two years of their life and will shred wallpaper, furniture and curtains, so you have to be prepared to put up with this behaviour and forgive them for behaving in this way.

ln Britain, vets will not declaw cats.

Be aware that when your cat’s eyes go black he/she is about to attack so jump back to avoid being grabbed. smile1 (2)

Some cats keep their claws in when they grab you and some don’t so they will scratch – remember they still love you, it’s just that they get excited easily – it is just their nature.

When you look at their cute little face you will forgive them. Hold your scratched hand under the cold tap to take the stinging away.

Some people say that you should not take your cat to bed with you and some people say that it is alright. Your cat will decide that it is a good idea.

 

beautiful black cat.:

 

Cats like lots of kisses and cuddles and chasing and catching games. They will love you if you give them lots of love and attention.

lt has been scientifically proved that stroking a cat is good for your heart. smile1 (2)

Cats must be given injections every year and have a check up. lf your cat goes missing when they are due to go to the vet, then ring the vet up and tell him/her what has happened. Vets understand their patients have different behaviour from people.

lf your cat catches fleas from birds or the grass outside, this problem can be easily treated. lf they are scratching themselves, they don’t necessarily have fleas but if they are scratching a lot, you had better check to see if they have.

Regular treatments can prevent the problem from happening in the first place; ask your vet for guidance.

lf you have cats in your house who like chewing your house plants, be careful what you grow. Some are poisonous to them.

Never have lilies in the house if you have cats.

 
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And if you are a cat lover, you will love my cats Pinterest board with lots of lovely pictures of cats – big and small:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/cats/

 

 

 

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BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!

 

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weekend

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lt’s the Weekend! image049

HOW TO GROW A MONEY TREE

 
Does your mum or dad ever say to you ‘money doesn’t grow on trees you know’ when you want a new toy?

Well, you may like to know that there is a plant called a money tree (although sadly it doesn’t actually grow money).

It is a type of succulent plant, and succulents are very easy plants to grow if you have never been a gardener before.

Auntie Alice has a very big garden but even if you are like me and you live in a lighthouse or even a flat and you don’t have a garden; only window sills, you can still grow plants.

The most important thing about gardening is that you need to give the plants you grow the conditions that they like – then they will be happy and have a chance to thrive (do well).

Succulents are house plants that originally come from deserts, and although deserts are very hot in the daytime they are also very cold at night. So putting your succulents on a sunny windowsill gives your plants exactly the same conditions.

Succulents are very brittle plants and break very easily – but the good thing is that they also throw roots out from the broken parts very easily as well; either from the stalks or the leaves.

 
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A money tree

 
So if you want to grow a succulent: a money tree or jelly bean plant or donkey’s tail or hens and chicks, all you have to do is gently push the base of one leaf into a small pot of potting compost and it will start to grow.

Or put the base in some water and that will work too. When you see roots appearing your succulent can be planted in a pot.

(Be aware that plants like aloes have very sharp pointed leaves that can stab you, so it might be better to avoid them if you have tiny children around.)

In the summer, give your succulents a good drink every two weeks, and in the winter, give them a little drink every two months. Only feed them in the summer months.

If this will be hard for you to remember, you can put a note on your calendar to remind you. It is important that the plants dry out between watering so that their roots don’t rot – remember deserts are dry places with occasional rain and you are trying to make your plants feel like they are at home.

You can put all of your plants together in one dish if you like.

Firstly, choose a shallow dish and put some gravel in bottom to create good drainage and top up with cactus potting compost. You could add some charcoal if you wanted to in order to keep the compost sweet.

If the container has holes at the bottom, you will need a saucer as well.

Your plants can grow tightly together because in the wild they might grow in rock crevices and so they are used to growing like that. If any plants break as you put them into the compost, don’t panic, just plant the broken bit and it will grow too.

Your container will look like a miniature garden when you have finished and it will last for years. And of course this little garden will stay green all through the winter as well as the summer!

If you plant a money tree in an enormous pot, it will eventually grow as big as you are!

 
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A money tree

 

If you would like to see some more pictures of succulents, check out my Nature Pinboard at:

 

https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/nature/

 

Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use or for use in classrooms only.

It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.

Use of the toys and projects on all of these blogs is at your own risk.

©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015sand

 
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Answers to the News Desk Quiz

 

The answers to the quiz are that the first five mean you are lacking money and the second five that you have lots of money.

‘To coin a phrase’ means to make a phrase up – not to use one already in existence.

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Charles Dickens a famous Victorian writer wrote a story called A Christmas Carol.

The main character is Ebenezer Scrooge who is a bitter, old miser – a miser is a person who hates spending money. When people are mean with their money we sometimes call them a ‘Scrooge’.

(This bench is to be found near St Paul’s Cathedral, London) 

 

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Black Domestic Cat, Silhoutte at Sunset with Eyes Reflecting Light Posters by Jane Burton from AllPosters.com:

 

 

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Happy Halloween for tomorrow from everyone here at the lighthouse. smile1 (2)

 

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  • Cassie says:

    What an incredible blog – very different – very well thought out

  • Dotty says:

    Hello Salty Sam
    I hope Bill and Bob achieve their ambition!

  • Hank Mantik says:

    Thanks for the great post keep up the amazing work.

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