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During the past year of spending the bulk of our days at home, many of us have picked up a new arsty hobby, whether it’s watercolor painting or knitting, jewelry making or quilting. Well, it appears one 26-year-old salmon-crested cockatoo has really honed his art skills during quarantine. Goofy, who resides at the Brevard Zoo on Florida’s Space Coast in Melbourne, Florida, has taken his talent at the canvas to new heights, with the help of trainers and some tasty treats as rewards along the way....

Set your alarm for tonight, Monday August 31, at 9/8 p.m. central and prepare to set the channel to National Geographic: The network will be debuting a must-see documentary about Queen Elizabeth II. In Being The Queen, you’ll get to know the longest reigning queen in world history (she’s been at the helm of the United Kingdom for more than 25,000 days, if you’re keeping track) like never before. The new documentary comes courtesy of Emmy and Peabody award-winning filmmaker Tom Jennings and is made in partnership with 1895 Films for National Geographic Partners....

As the coronavirus pandemic changes life as we know it, now, more than ever, we need things that provide us with a sense of comfort and hope. When you need a change of pace from streaming all those feel-good shows and movies and you’re botanical gardened out from all those virtual tours, may we suggest knitting? Research shows that knitting may help with anxiety, depression, and slow the onset of dementia....

Hoppin’ John is a fixture on Southern menus. Usually served as the side to the main course, it is—in simple terms—a blend of rice and black-eyed peas. But we assure you: it’s much more than that. History & Tradition The technique of cooking rice and beans together was brought to the South by way of enslaved Africans brought to the Americas in the 19th century. It quickly became a staple in antebellum cooking....

If you’re from the South, you’re probably pretty familiar with the meat ’n’ three. Many of us joined the throng of churchgoers making their way down the buffet line at the local restaurant during the Sunday lunch rush, filling our trays with the best comfort foods, second only to our grandmothers'. For those who weren’t fortunate enough to be raised around this Southern staple, a meat ’n’ three is a cafeteria-style restaurant that serves a rotating or seasonal menu of meats and vegetables, which often changes daily....

Sometimes, you just need to sit in a corner booth at two or three o’clock in the afternoon and have a good breakfast. And I’m not talking about a hangover breakfast—I’m too old for that foolishness. No, I’m talking about on a Tuesday. I’m a late sleeper; nothing good has ever happened to me before noon. If the phone rings, it’s bad news or a telemarketer in Sri Lanka apprising me of my car warranty....

The Olympic Winter Games may have just ended, and the Paralympic Winter Games are still underway in Beijing, but we have our sights on warmer temperatures and someplace closer to home. In July, the 2022 World Games are coming to Birmingham, Alabama. This week, organizers announced the lineup for both opening and closing ceremonies, promising a celebration of the culture and music of the host city. Opening ceremonies will be on July 7 and closing ceremonies will be July 17....

A Southern summer is like no other season, no other place. Yep, it’s hot out there. But sometime between the first chill of autumn and the last blast of winter, we forget all about the heat AND the humidity and start waxing nostalgic about summer traditions we grew up with. (Mosquitoes are a recurring theme.) Our Facebook Brain Trust just weighed in on their favorite traditions of Southern summertime. Here’s what they said....

An Alabama groundhog overslept, causing him to miss his moment in the sun yesterday. As the distinguished guest in the Birmingham Zoo’s annual Groundhog Day celebration, Jamie “Birmingham” Bill was supposed to wake up from his slumber to let us know if it’s time for spring, or if we’ll be waiting another six weeks for warmer weather. But it’s been a long winter, a long January, and a long couple of years, so we can’t exactly blame Mr....

Never abandon hope is the lesson I impart today. On a recent Grumpy Gardener page in Southern Living, I sadly broke terrible news to a reader whose lawn and garden was submerged with violets. There is no spray to kill violets, I said. The only control is getting down on your hands and knees and digging nonstop for approximately 18 years. I can hear the chorus coming from dismayed readers. “Why would anyone want to kill violets?...

The lights may have gone dark on Broadway, but that doesn’t mean you need to put a pause on getting a surge of inspiration and joy from the world of theater. Especially now, during a time of such uncertainty amidst the coronavirus pandemic, the message of love and hope rings louder than ever. Below, a roundup of some of our favorite Broadway musicals that you can stream whenever you please. Some are set in the South, some star some of our favorite actors, and some are simply soothing nourishment for our harried minds....

TNT’s NBA coverage on October 25 included a spontaneous spelling bee. Charles Barkley’s interesting pronunciation of the word “spectacular” during Inside the NBA inspired his friend and co-host Shaquille O’Neal to issue him a challenge. Shaq bet the former Auburn star $10,000 that he couldn’t spell “spectacular.” Barkley appeared to be thinking hard (while fighting giggles) before admitting that he needed to write it down in order to spell it....

Imagine if everyone you met suddenly felt an innate sense of warm and fuzzy kindness. That’s the aim of Elizabeth Arden’s upcoming fragrance, White Tea Mandarin Blossom—and we have to say, it couldn’t come at a better time. It’s bottled Southern charm, and it’s exactly what we want to be wrapped in now and when these times of physical distancing are over. Elizabeth Arden wants this to be your new simple pleasure....

Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) are cool season, annual flowering plants, also known as hardy annuals. They prefer cool temperatures to flower, such as early spring or a very mild winter. These flowers are called snapdragons because the individual florets resemble a dragon’s snout. Children enjoy squeezing the florets to separate the top from the bottom, like opening the dragon’s jaw. Easy to grow from seed, snapdragons have been bred extensively. There are cultivars with traditional “snap” flowers, open-faced flowers, or double flowers in all colors except for blue....

Around the time he turned 30, Grammy Award-winning musician and founding member of Mumford & Sons Ben Lovett had an epiphany. After more than a decade working in the music industry as both a promoter and an artist, he noticed a universal formula for how people talk about their favorite music memories. “The story always starts with, ‘I once saw artist x performing at y,’” he told Southern Living. “From an artist’s point of view … I think about places and the roofs over our heads as we have these moments....

If you already think Krispy Kreme doughnuts are out of this world, wait until you get a glimpse of this one. Krispy Kreme is unveiling the Artemis Moon Doughnut, a special-edition doughnut that will be available on Monday, August 29—and only on Monday, August 29. The extremely limited edition treat is being released in celebration of NASA’s Artemis I mission The Artemis Krispy Kreme has decided that the best way to mark this momentous scientific advance is with an extra-special doughnut made from a Cheesecake Kreme-flavored and filled doughnut that is dipped in Cookies ’n Kreme Icing and cookie pieces....

I was convinced the 1960s brick ranch was it the minute I walked through the door. There is a lot less stress involved in the home buying process when you let your emotions take the wheel, as long as you two have a good track record. It was a combination of the one-level living, open floor plan, large yard, and, truth be told, white walls that did me in. Now I’ve watched enough episodes of House Hunters to know you never hinge the decision on whether or not to buy a house based on paint color, wallpaper, or hardware finish....

After a few years of casually (okay, devotedly) tracking Ree Drummond’s daughter Alex Drummond’s relationship with boyfriend Mauricio Scott on Instagram, the day finally came: A bended knee, an ecstatic embrace, a sparkly diamond. Alex Drummond and Mauricio Scott are engaged! The couple met during their freshman year at Texas A&M University. They both graduated as proud Aggies in 2019. Read more about their engagement story here. Now, our hearts are warmed to see Alex’s younger sister, Paige, share her excitement on social media for Alex and her future brother-in-law, Mauricio....

Reba McEntire treated viewers to an inspirational performance of the Oscar-nominated song “Somehow You Do” at the 94th annual Academy Awards on Sunday night. The song, from the feature film Four Good Days starring Glenn Close, Mila Kunis, and Stephen Root, was nominated for best original song. McEntire was introduced by Kunis, who described the tune as a “story of hope, perseverance, and survival that celebrates the strength of the human spirit....

It seems that even sharks know when to get out of dodge during hurricane season. A growing amount of research suggests that the locations of some species of sharks could predict when tropical weather is about to strike an area. According to WFLA, one of the first indications that sharks know to flee the path of oncoming storms came from a study conducted by Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida, in summer 2001....