Wordless Wednesday: Visitors

Fiancée Becky (formerly Friend Becky) brought some young friends to visit.

One- to two-month-old ducks, a little on the shy side about a picture!

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.



Today is:

Agricultural Reform Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

Ask A Stupid Question Day -- teachers wanted to get students asking more questions, so they did, even if the questions were stupid; now, it's a holiday on the last school day of September each year! 

Banned Websites Awareness Day -- sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians 

Celtic Tree Month Gort begins (Ivy)

Day of Liberation of the Republic of Abkhazia -- Abkhazia (disputed territory on the Black Sea)

Do Something Wacky With A Grandparent Day -- just not the monkey bars, please; old bones don't knit fast enough

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (the Greater Mystery Rites, date approximate; mystery rites of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, one of the most sacred times of their year)

Independence Day -- Botswana

International Translation Day -- International Federation of Translatorswww.fit-ift.org

Kokkeisetsu -- Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan (Chinese National Founding Day in the largest Chinatown in Japan; through tomorrow)

Medetrinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival fruits offer to the goddess of medicine)

Monkey Bars Day -- a day to go see if you can still do tricks on the monkey bars, because the internet wants to kill us and let the machines that would never do anything so silly as get on monkey bars take over

National Mud Pack Day -- give yourself a facial

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US, sponsored by Fitness Day 

Nottingham Goose Fair -- Nottingham, England (dating back to at least 1284, what began as a fair market so people could stock up on food supplies for winter is now a fun festival with rides and games; through Sunday)

St. Gregory the Enlightener (or Illuminator; Patron of Armenia)

St. Jerome's Day (Patron of archaeologists, archivists, Biblical scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students, translators; Saint-Jerome, Quebec) 
     also an Apache celebration of Geronimo, the Native American who was named after this saint


Anniversary Today:

Haleakala National Park is established in Maui, Hawaii, 1960


Birthdays Today:

Dominique Moceanu, 1981
Marion Cotillard, 1975
Jenna Elfman, 1971
Crystal Bernard, 1964
Eric Stoltz, 1961
Fran Drescher, 1957
Deborah Allen, 1953
Victoria Tennant, 1953
Marilyn McCoo, 1943
Z.Z. Hill, 1935
Johnny Mathis, 1935
Angie Dickinson, 1931
Elie Wiesel, 1928
W. S. Merwin, 1927
Truman Capote, 1924
Deborah Kerr, 1921
Buddy Rich, 1917
William Wrigley, Jr., 1861
Rumi, 1207


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush(Publication date), 1990
"Murder, She Wrote"(TV), 1984
"Cheers"(TV), 1982
"Love Child"(Single release), 1968
"The Flintstones"(TV), 1960
"Tea and Sympathy"(Play), 1953
"The Red Skelton show"(TV), 1951
"Porgy and Bess"(Opera), 1935
Little Women(Publication date), 1868
"Les pecheurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers"(Bizet opera), 1863
"Die Zauberflote/The Magic Flute"(Mozart opera, K. 620), 1791
The Gutenberg Bible(first section, publication date), 1452


Today in History:

Rambam (Maimonides) authorizes Samuel Ibn Tibbon to translate the Guide of the Perplexed from Arabic into Hebrew, 1199
Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by Dr. William Morton, who extracted a tooth, 1846
German scientist Hermann von Meyer announces the discovery of the first fossil of an archaeopteryx, 1861
The first Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawai'i, 1878
The world's first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, 1882
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901
The first manned rocket plane flight, made by auto maker Fritz von Opel, 1929
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations, 1947
The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time, 1947
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel, 1954
James Dean is killed in a road accident, 1955
Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers, 1962
James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation, 1962
General Suharto rises to power in Indonesia after an alleged coup by communists, and massacres over a million Indonesian people suspected of belonging to the Communist Party, 1965
BBC Radio 1 is launched and Tony Blackburn presents its first show, 1967
Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation, 1980 
The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, 1990
The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo, 2004
The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 2005

Just Talk

"Where did my glass go?" Sweetie was searching high and low.  "I washed it, and I know I left it here, how could it disappear?" 

As we searched, i said, it's always something, isn't it?

To which Festus replied, "I have noted, in life, that it is always something.  In fact, it always tends to be something rather than nothing in life."

Laughing, i told him about Roseanne Rosannadanna and the line, "It's always something."

"Oh, I haven't watched Saturday Night Live in a long time," he said.  "And now I am bored with the search for the glass, so I shall go do something else."

Meanwhile, the search continued, until Sweetie remembered that he had put the glass in the freezer to get nice and frosty cold.  That man needs to go live on an iceberg while there still are some around.

One more crisis averted, i said, and Little Girl came in asking, "What about the impending crisis with that lady you know who has been such a, what do you call it?  Where she's just in it with the guy for the money?"

"Don't say it in front of your mother!" Festus said.

"Gold-digger!"  That's it!" she said, and he replied, "I can't believe you said such a word in front of your mother!  That's why I won't teach you any bad words!"

Laughing at both of them, i told them that the woman's day of reckoning was coming.  You don't play around with fire without getting burned.

"Just like you don't stand too close to a saw without the risk of getting cut, right?" Little Girl noted with a grin.  She had recently heard the story of how Grandpa wouldn't stand back far enough when warned many years earlier, and paid for it with a bad cut from a saw to his knee, which he proceeded to help sew up himself at the small town ER to which he was taken at the time.

That's right, i said.  Don't cross the IRS, and don't play chicken with the 5:15 train, either.

Today is:

Battle of Boqueron Day -- Paraguay

Constitution Day -- Brunei

Davidson Fellowship Scholarship Award Reception -- Washington, D.C., US (students under 18 who have completed prodigious works in science, mathematics, technology, music, literature, philosophy, or "outside the box" are made Davidson Fellows and given large scholarships for college)

Festival of Tezcatzonctl -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (chief god of intoxication; date approximate)

Gwynn ap Nudd's Fest -- Celtic Calendar (god of the underworld; date approximate)

International Coffee Day -- and i thought this was every day!  

Inventors Day -- Argentina

Make a List of the Top Ten Happiest Days in Your Life Day -- must have been started by an optimist

Mutation Day -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

National Attend Your Grandchild's Birth Day -- attendingthebirth.com; a day to remind grandparents to be active in their grandchildre's lives (and if you need a reminder, i wonder about you; if you aren't allowed by bitter parents, i feel badly for you.) 

National Mocha Day

Quick Draw Day -- debut of Quick Draw McGraw and his side kick, Baba Looey, in 1959

Sts. Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and All Angels' Day  (Michaelmas)
     Archangel Gabriel, Patron of broadcasters, clergy, communication workers, diplomats, messengers, philatelists/stamp collectors, post offices and postal workers, radio and radio workers, secular clergy, telecommunication workers, telgraphers, telephones, television and television workers; Argentinian ambassadors; Seattle, Washington
     Archangel Michael, Patron of artists, bakers, bankers and banking, barrel makers/coopers, battle, boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, dying people, emergency medical technicians/paramedics/ambulance drivers, fencers and fencing, grocers and greengrocers, haberdashers and hatmakers, knights, milleners, paratroopers, police officers, radiologists and radiotherapists, security guards, sick people, soldiers, swordsmiths; for a holy death and safety at sea; England, Germany, and over 25 cities around the world; against danger at sea and temptation
     Archangel Raphael, Patron of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, blind people, doctors/physicians, guardian angels, happy meetings, love and lovers, mentally ill people, nurses, shepherdesses/shepherds, sick people, travellers, young people; Dubuque, Iowa; MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Northwest Territories; Seattle, Washington; against bodily ills, eye diseases/eye problems, insanity/mental illness, nightmares, sickness
     related observances:
     National Day of Remembrance for Policemen Killed -- Australia (St. Michael, Patron of police officers)
     Payment of Quit Rent by London Royal Courts of Justice -- Michaelmas is a traditional English "Quarter Day", when rents come due

VFW Day -- US (The Veterans of Foreign Wars was established on this day in 1899)

World Dairy Expo -- Madison, WI, US ("Dairy in our DNA" is this year's theme; through Saturday)

World Heart Day -- International (to raise awareness of the signs and dangers of cardiovascular disease) 


Birthdays Today:

Emily Lloyd, 1970
John Paxton, 1960
Bryant Gumbel, 1948
Patricia Hodge, 1946
Lech Walesa, 1943
Dave Wilcox, 1942
Ian McShane, 1942
Madeline Kahn, 1942
Jerry Lee Lewis, 1935
Anita Ekberg, 1931
Lizabeth Scott, 1922
Trevor Howard, 1916
Stanley Kramer, 1913
Michelangelo Antonioni, 1912
Greer Garson, 1908
Gene Autry, 1907
Enrico Fermi, 1901
Horatio Nelson, 1758
Miguel de Cervantes, 1547
Pompey the Great, BC106


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Grace Under Fire"(TV), 1993
"Thirtysomething"(TV), 1987
"Designing Women"(TV), 1986
"MacGyver"(TV), 1985
"Houdini, A Circus Opera"(Opera), 1977
"The Judy Garland Show"(TV), 1963
"My Favorite Martian"(TV), 1963
"The Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Show"(TV), 1962
"My Three Sons"(TV), 1960
"Outlaws"(TV), 1960
"The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"(TV), 1959
"Sergeant Preston of the Yukon"(TV), 1955
"A View from the Bridge"(Play), 1955
The Barefoot Contessa(Film), 1954 
A Star is Born(Film), 1954 
"Make Room for Daddy"(TV), 1953


Today in History:

Darius I of Persia kills the Magian usurper Gaumata, securing his hold as king of the Persian Empire, BC522
Battle of Salamis, at which the Greek fleet under Themistocles defeats the Persian fleet under Xerxes I, BC480
Pompey the Great Celebrates ending the Mithridatic Wars on his 45th birthday, BC61
Saladin's army marches into Jerusalem, 1187
The First Congress of the US adjourns, 1789
"Scotland Yard", London's Metropolitan Police Force, goes on duty, 1829
The first practical public electric tramway ever opens in Blackpool, England, 1885
John D. Rockefeller becomes the first billionaire, 1916
The convention establishing CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) is signed, 1954
Alouette 1, the first Canadian satellite, is launched, 1962
WGPR in Detroit, Michigan, becomes the world's first black-owned-and-operated television station, 1975
Pope John Paul II becomes the first pope to set foot on Irish soil with his pastoral visit to the Republic of Ireland, 1979
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth, 2004
The Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, the largest single-day point loss in its history, 2008
An 8.0 magnitude earthquake near the Samoan Islands causes a tsunami, 2009
The Koreas agree, for the first time in two years, to hold working-level military talks, 2010

Awww Monday: Recipe for Happy Kittens

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

We had a CATastrophe, or nearly.  We ran out of kitten food for the fosters, and they were reduced to eating the regular cat food for a couple of hours until i could go to the shelter to get more.

Empty Bowl = Sad Kitten

Full Bowl = Happy Kittens!

Today is:

Canterbury South Provincial Anniversary Day -- Canterbury South, New Zealand

Czech Statehood Day -- Czech Republic

Dominion Day -- New Zealand (Obs.)

Drink Beer Day

Family and Community Day -- ACT, Australia

Family Day - A Day to Eat Dinner with Your Children(TM) -- sponsored by The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, encouraging everyone to have a meal with the family, because all the studies show it's good for you! 

Feast of Hapi and Creation of the Nile -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fish Tank Floor Show Night -- the Wellcat Holidays people say that your fish keep you entertained all year long, so turn about is fair play, entertain your fish tonight!

Frances Willard Day -- Minnesota

Full Harvest Moon a/k/a Full Corn Moon/Indigo Moon/Wise-Crone Moon (with so much food ripe for gathering, harvesting can go on well into the night by the light of the hugely full Harvest Moon)
     Binara Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka (began yesterday evening)
     Chusok -- South Korea (Harvest Moon Festival; began yesterday, through the 20th; a harvest festival and day to give homage to the ancestors and celebrate family)
     Han'gawi -- North Korea (Harvest Moon Festival; through the 21st; a harvest festival and day to give homage to the ancestors and celebrate family)

     Navajo Sing Festival -- Navajo Native Americans festival in thanksgiving for the harvest, begins at the full moon and goes on for one week 
     Taw Thalin Full Moon -- Myanmar
     Zhongqiu Jie / Chong Chao -- China; Macau; Taiwan (Mid-Autumn Festival or Moon Festival, the birthday of the earth god T'u-ti Kung, celebrating the harvests, family, and eating moon cakes, matchmaking, sky lanterns, Fire Dragon Dances, and more)

International Right to Know Day -- FOI Advocates Network, promoting the right of access to information for all people and the benefits of open, transparent, and accountable governments 

Menkhet Festival -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Michaelmas Eve -- Celtic celebration, bake your bannock bread tonight for eating on St. Michael and All Angel's Day tomorrow; tonight, build a bonfire and dine on roast lamb, and make sure the menfolk protect the horses, for anyone is allowed to "borrow" one for the celebration tomorrow

Monkey King Festival -- China (a celebration of this popular character in East Asian stories, with the best place to see the rituals being the Monkey God Temple at Po Tat Estate in Sau Mau Ping, Kowloon)

National Day of Awareness and Unity against Child Pornography -- Philippines

National Good Neighbor Day -- US (begun when Mrs. Becky Mattson from Lakeside, Montana, began campaigning for this National Day in the 1970's; go greet the neighbors, and be a good neighbor yourself!)

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day

Northeast Kingdom Fall Foliage Festival -- Walden, Cabot, Plainfield, Peacham, Barnet and Groton, VT, US (all 6 towns take turns welcoming visitors during the famous fall foliage season, with local food, music, culture, and more; through Saturday)

Queen's Birthday Holiday -- WA, Australia

Read a Child a Book You Like Day -- someone started this to get us to remember the books we loved as kids, and share them with children now

Runic Half Month Gyfu begins (gift)

St. Wenceslaus' Day (Patron of brewers; Bohemia; Czech Republic; Moravia; Prague, Czech Republic)

Sukkot -- Judaism (began at sunset yesterday, through sunset on Oct. 4)

Tales of Kelp-Koli's Second Visit -- Fairy Calendar (through the 30th)

Teacher's Day -- Taiwan (on the traditional Western date of Confucius' birthday, of course)

World Rabies Day 


Birthdays Today:

Frankie Jonas, 2000
Hilary Duff, 1987
Gwyneth Paltrow, 1973
Naomi Watts, 1968
Mira Sorvino, 1967
Janeane Garofalo, 1964
Suzanne Whang, 1962
Steve Largent, 1954
Jeffrey Jones, 1947
Ben E. King, 1938
Koko Taylor, 1935
Brigitte Bardot, 1934
Arnold Stang, 1925
Marcello Mastroianni, 1924
William Windom, 1923
Al Capp, 1909
Max Schmeling, 1905
Ed Sullivan, 1901
Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1856
Frances Willard, 1839
Confucius, BC551


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Ed Wood(Film), 1994
"Cosmos: A Personal Voyage"(Documentary series), 1980
"I Heard It Through the Grapevine"(Single release, Gladys Knight), 1967
"Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales"(TV), 1963
"Dr. Kildare"(TV), 1961
"Hazel"(TV), 1961
"Purlie Victorious"(Play), 1961
Radio Times(Magazine, first issue), 1923


Today in History:

Pompey the Great, member of the Triumvirate, is assassinated by order of King Ptolemy of Egypt upon landing in that country, BC48
King/Saint Wenceslas murdered by his brother, 935
William the Conqueror invades England, 1066
Sinking of the Spanish fleet during a hurricane off the coast of Florida, 1528
Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo becomes the first European to reach San Diego Bay, 1542
Publication of "Pilgrim's Progress", 1678
Divorce is legalized in Maryland, 1701
American and French forces begin the siege of Yorktown, 1781
Napoleon Bonaparte, age 16, graduates from the Military Academy of Paris -- 42nd in a class of 51, 1785
Donati's comet becomes the first to be photographed, 1858
Toronto becomes the capital of Ontario, 1867
Sir Alexander Fleming notices a bacteria-killing mould growing in his laboratory, discovering what later became known as penicillin, 1928
Indonesia joins the United Nations, 1950
Mali and Senegal join the United Nations, 1960
SpaceX launches the first ever private spacecraft, the Falcon 1 into orbit, 2008

Silly Sunday: Just Like Him

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs.  The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!

1. Post a joke.
2. Link Up with the URL to your joke in the Linky Tools Widget.
3. Read my joke.
4. Leave a comment to tell me how much you enjoyed my joke.
5. Try and visit a few others participating in Silly Sunday.
6. Go to Sandee's site, linked above, and get the Silly Sunday code for your blog, too!

Sweetie and Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, were arguing again, as usual.  Those two could argue over anything, and probably have, i'm guessing it's a twin thing.

This time it was Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, arguing that the chunks of ice were too big for the glasses, which they were not.

An'way, it bring me to mind o' de time Boudreaux an' Clothile get to arguin', an' arguin', an' Clothile still be mad when she meet up wit' Marie at de grocer later.

She be tellin' Marie all about dat arguin', an' she look over at ol' Bergeron de grocer an' den she say, "Mais! I wish my Boudreaux be more like ol' Bergeron -- divorced!"

Today is:

Ancestor Appreciation Day -- sponsored by the Ancestor Appreciation Day Association of Ann Arbor, MI, US

Banned Books Week begins -- US (sponsored by the ALA; Celebrating the Freedom to Read, It's Everybody's Job; celebrate your right to read what you want!)

Crush a Can Day -- internet generated, so have fun seeing how many (safe) ways you can crush a can, and how flat you can get it!

Feast of Mashíyyat (Will) -- Baha'i

Fun and Fancy Free Day -- go out and have a great day, in honor of the release on this day in 1947 of the Disney film Fun and Fancy Free

French Community Holiday -- French community of Belgium

Gold Star Mother's Day 2015 -- US (the day to honor mothers who have lost a child who was serving in the US Armed Forces)

Hug a Vegetarian Day -- i'm open!

Indra Jatra -- Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (the biggest religious street festival in Kathmandu, celebrating of the founding of Kathmandu, with several days of chariot processions, masked dances, and tableau; today is the municipal day off for the festival)

Kshamavani -- Jain (Forgiveness Day)

Meskel -- Ethiopian/Eritrian Orthodox Christian (True Cross Day)

National Milk Chocolate Day

National Corned Beef Hash Day

Shut Up and Let Somebody Else Talk Day -- begun by someone with an overly verbose spouse, perhaps?

St. Vincent De Paul's Day (Patron of charitable societies/charitable workers, charities, horses, hospital workers, hospitals, lepers, prisoners, spiritual help, volunteers; Brothers of Charity; Saint Vincent de Paul Societies; Sisters of Charity; Vincentian Service Corps; Madagascar; Richmond, Virginia; for finding lost objects; against leprosy)

Sukkot -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through sundown Oct. 4)
Thanksgiving Day for Disappearance of Kelp-Koli Again -- Fairy Calendar

World Rivers Day -- International 

World Tourism Day -- World Tourism Organization


Anniversary Today:

Google is founded, 1998


Birthdays Today:

Avril Lavigne, 1984
Gwyneth Paltrow, 1972
Bello Nock, 1968
Sophia Milos, 1965
Shaun Cassidy, 1958
Mike Schmidt, 1949
Marvin "Meat Loaf" Aday, 1947
Delores Taylor, 1939
Claude Jarman, Jr., 1934
Greg Morris, 1934
Wilford Brimley, 1934
Sada Thompson, 1929
Arthur Penn, 1922
William Conrad, 1920
Jayne Meadows, 1919
Thomas Nast, 1840
Raphael Semmes, 1809
George Muller, 1805
George Cruikshank, 1792
Samuel Adams, 1722


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Tonight Show"(TV), 1954
Strike Up The Band(Film), 1940
"Rip Van Winkle"(Bristow opera), 1855


Today in History:

Severe earthquake in the Gulf of Chili, China; reports of 100,000 killed, 1290
Jesuits founded by Ignatius Loyola, 1540
John Adams negotiates peace terms with Britain, 1779
Constitution submitted to the states for ratification, 1787
Jean-Francois Champollion announces that he has deciphered the Rosetta Stone, 1822
The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens, and begins operation of the world's first service of locomotive-hauled passenger trains, 1825
The physics journal Annalen der Physik published Albert Einstein's paper "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc²,1905
The first production of a Ford Model T automobile rolls off the line at the Piquette Plant in Detroit, Michigan, 1908
First test of a twin engine airplane, in France, 1910
Native American Day is first celebrated, 1916
Democratic National Committee votes to allow female members, 1919
The first Santa Clause Training School opens in Albion, NY, 1937
The Balinese tiger is declared to be an extinct species, 1937
Sierra Leone joins the United Nations, 1961
Richard Stallman announces the GNU project to develop a free Unix-like operating system, 1983
East Timor joins the United Nations, 2002
CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7, 2008
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity discovers direct evidence of a fast-moving stream bed, showing a prior water source on the Red Planet, 2012