Every day is a new opportunity to learn. Some of which is nonsense and fun, others of it is useful and worth sharing. So today I thought I would share four things I learned (read or heard) this week.

1: From the World of Sports

The record for the youngest golfer to make a Hole in One is held by 5-year old Keith Long of Saline, Michigan. Keith was 5 years 148 days old when he aced a 140 yard hole in October 1998. A younger golfer has attained a similar feat; however, according to USGA Rules the course must measure at minimum 6,000 yards.

The young golfer was 4 year-old Harry Smith of Connecticut. To note, Tiger Woods didn’t Ace his first hole until 8 years old.

2: Kitchen Cleaning Secrets

Self-cleaning ovens are the best. However, they are not very economical, taking hours and extremely high temperatures to clean. Commercial oven cleaners are toxic and not environmentally friendly. How does one clean an oven then? I had to find the answer this week when I ended up with a baked on greasy mess.

The best way – clean it up when it happens. Since I didn’t, I found this method worked the best and was easy, economical, and environmentally friendly.

• In an ovenproof pan – pour 3 cups of water. In another, pour 1 cup of either ammonia or vinegar.
• Put the pan with water on the bottom rack and the ammonia or vinegar on the top rack.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and leave for 20-30 minutes. This creates steam that will loosen the grease and dirt.
• Turn the oven off. Leave the oven closed for 6-12 hours, then wipe out with a bit of dish soap.

3: For the Love of Books

Venice is a city of canals, bridges and sidewalks. Transportation is by gondola, water taxi or on foot. There are no autos or motorized vehicles, traffic lights or smog. This according to John Berendt’s novel “The City of Falling Angels.” Berendt paints a beautiful picture of a city I would now love to visit, when the tourists are gone.

Berendt is also the author of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil” which I have read several times. If you have never read it, give it a go. It tells an entertaining story of the eccentric and beautiful Southern city of Savannah, Georgia.

4: Pure Nonsense

Boca Raton (like the Florida city) translates in Spanish or Italian to “rat mouth.” Berendt artfully wove this bit a trivia into his story. Hint: as rat poison. There is much more interesting information in his book, but this just makes me giggle.