Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Sisters Can Share the Water Bowl (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Keith, Catsynth, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     





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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    


This month the words/prompts are supplied by Sean Jeating and they will appear on River's blog.



This week's words/prompts are:


1.long  

2.monk  

3.novice  

4.spiritual  

5.time


and/or:


1.ants  

2.boy  

3.compassion  

4.stream  

5.trapped


use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.


Charlotte's colour of the month is Carmine.



Like almost every BOY his age, he ran around like he had ANTS in his pants.  Today they would call it ADHD and medicate him and all his friends.  Then, no one expected someone so young to sit still for a LONG time, silent as a NOVICE MONK being trained in his SPIRITUAL practices.


His father had been put in one of those special, private schools where they wore a uniform, complete with a Carmine tie and dark jacket.  He wasn't having that done to his boy.


The child was allowed to live his LIFE the way a little guy should, not TRAPPED in a classroom all day.  They had COMPASSION on his energetic little self and he played in the woods and by the STREAM and still got his lessons done under his mama's supervision until he was almost eight.


It worked well for him and makes me wonder what would happen if we could start doing such things again.




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Today is:


Army Day -- Armenia


Data Privacy Day -- International


Festival of the Lenaia to Dionysus -- Ancient Greek Calendar, end January through early February


Jackhammer Day -- US (the pneumatic jackhammer was patented this day in 1894 by Charles Brady King of Detroit, MI)


National Blueberry Pancake Day


National Kazoo Day -- because anyone can play one!


National Spieling Day -- internet generated, and whatever your area of expertise, spiel about it today


Runic Half-month Elhaz (elk) commences


St. Charlemagne's Day (Patron of the University of Paris)


St. Thomas Aquinas's Day (Patron of academics, apologists, book sellers, chastity, colleges, learning, pencil makers, philosophers, publishers, scholars, schools, students, theologians, universities; Aquino, Italy; Belcastro, Italy; Falerna, Italy; University of Vigo; all Catholic academies, schools, and universities; against lightning, storms)


Telephone Exchange Day -- US (the first telephone exchange was set up in New Haven, CT with 22 subscribers on this day in 1878)



Anniversary Today:


Adoption of the Great Seal of the United States, 1782



Birthdays Today:


Elijah Wood, 1981

Nick Carter, 1980

Joey Fatone, Jr. 1977

Kathryn Morris, 1969

Sarah McLachlan, 1968

Harley Jane Kozak, 1957

Nicolas Sarkozy, 1955

Rick Warren, 1954

John Beck, 1943

Susan Howard, 1943

Alan Alda, 1936

Susan Sontag, 1933

Claes Oldenburg, 1929

Jackson Pollack, 1912

Robert Stroud, 1890 (The Birdman of Alcatraz)

Arthur Rubenstein, 1887

Auguste Piccard, 1884

Jean Felix Piccard, 1884

Colette, 1873

Jose' Marti, 1853

Henry Morton Stanley, 1841

Alexander Mackenzie, 1822

Peter the Great of Russia, 1775

St. Thomas Aquinas, 1225



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Fantasy Island"(TV), 1978

"Barnaby Jones"(TV), 1973

"Symphony No. 1/Jeremiah"(Bernstein), 1944



Today in History:


The Walk to Canossa: The excommunication of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor is lifted by Pope Gregory VIII, 1077

The first Crusaders begins siege of Hosn-el-Akrad Syria, 1099

Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as hostage to Charles VIII of France, 1495

Edward VI, age nine, succeeds his father Henry VIII as king of England, 1547

By the Edict of Orleans, the persecution of French Huguenots is suspended, 1561

Articles of the Warsaw Confederation are signed, sanctioning freedom of religion in Poland, 1573

Sir Thomas Warner found the first British colony in the Caribbean, on St. Kitts, 1624

The Russian Academy of Sciences was founded in St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, and implemented in the Senate decree (it was called St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences until 1917), 1724

Horace Walpole, in a letter to Horace Mann, coins the word serendipity, 1754

London's Pall Mall is the first street lit by gaslight, 1807

Pride and Prejudice is first published in the United Kingdom, 1813

The first locomotive runs from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on the Panama Railway, 1855

In a snowstorm at Fort Keogh, Montana, the world's largest snowflakes are reported, being 15 inches (38 cm) wide and 8 inches (20 cm) thick, 1887

Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent became the first person to be convicted of speeding in an automobile. He is fined 1 shilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thus exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h), 1896

The Carnegie Institution is founded in Washington, D.C. with a $10 million gift from Andrew Carnegie, 1902

An act of the U.S. Congress creates the United States Coast Guard, 1915

The first Jewish  US Supreme Court justice, Louis Brandeis, appointed by Wilson, 1916

A symbolic Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is installed beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris to honor the unknown dead of World War I, 1921

The name Pakistan is coined by Choudhary Rehmat Ali Khan and is accepted by the Indian Muslims who then thereby adopted it further for the Pakistan Movement seeking independence, 1933

The Lego company patents the design of its Lego bricks, still compatible with bricks produced today, 1958

The current design of the Flag of Canada is chosen by an act of Parliament, 1965

Tropical Storm Domoina makes landfall in southern Mozambique, eventually causing 214 deaths and some of the most severe flooding so far recorded in the region, 1984

Supergroup USA for Africa (United Support of Artists for Africa) records the hit single We Are the World, to help raise funds for Ethiopian famine relief, 1985

Space Shuttle Challenger breaks apart after liftoff killing all seven astronauts on board, 1986

Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled up the Egyptian's streets in demonstrations referred to as "Friday of Anger" against the Mubarak regime, 2011

DNA analysis confirms that the 6th C Plague of Justinian was caused by a variant of Yersinia pestis, which is the same bacteria for the Black Death, 2014

Seven survivors from the missing Kiribati ferry carrying 100 people are rescued after week at sea, 2018

A draft framework for a peace agreement to end the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan is agreed upon by US and Afghan negotiators, 2019

Bernie Sanders mittens, worn to the inauguration, raise $1.8 million for Vermont charities after images go viral, 2021

100 Ballads names "The Wandering Prince of Troy" the most popular ballad of the 17th century in a project documenting "the earliest form of commercial pop music in England," 2024

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

The Plants Are Surviving and So Is He, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus 


Look what showed up!




Yes, the white laundry basket.  It seems Ms. V has purloined it and it is now considered hers.  Oh, well.


Carl was up muttering about a confirmation number.  It seems Ms. V didn't want him working in the cold and they got through to the third party company which manages leave for his work, and now he needed that number to actually call in to his store so they could excuse his absence.


Seems like a lot of trouble just for a day off work when it turned out to be sunny and beautiful here, but Carl had no problems sleeping most of the morning away.


Most.


He came in to brush his teeth, of course.  His last course of action is to grab the floss, and i told him to be sure it got in the trash.




He did try, he went over to the trash can and shook his hand over it to drop the floss, but the floss didn't let go until it was over the carpet.




Meanwhile, i found out he does not know you are supposed to take the Pez candy out of the wrapper to load it in the dispenser.





His fridge is still almost empty and he's going to be very disappointed with the rock hard sandwich he didn't put in a baggie.




He did laundry and hung some of it up.  He also hung up dirty clothes, but if they're inside out, who can tell?


Later, he came back in the room to put on deodorant.  I asked if he wanted a shower first, and he looked at me like i was crazy, so i asked why he was putting deodorant on and he said, "So I don't smell myself when I'm sleeping."


Well, alrighty, then.


Not long before it was time for me to leave, Carl got up to have breakfast and wanted to tell me about his weekend.


"Went to church," he told me and i asked which one, as he has a couple of them he shuffles between.  He told me and said, "Couldn't go back for the evening..."


There's an evening service there and i'm sure Ms. V wouldn't let him go in this weather.


"Watched Lord of the Rings..." he said, without telling me which movie.  "Then we played a game."


Ah, a friend must have come over at some point.  He proceeded to tell me all about the game, invisible trucks doing things, bad guys, hidden passages in the mountains, weapons, and someone in the game doing something which made him laugh so much i couldn't follow what he was saying.




No, there's no need to worry about Carl, he only has work one other day this week and the weather will be warmer by then.  He and his plants are doing just fine.





And for good measure, how about a few more plant (and other) funnies.

















Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!








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Today is:


Big Snow Day -- remembering the 15-inch snowflakes that fell on in Fort Keough, Montana, on this date in 1887


Chocolate Cake Day


Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism -- Germany (anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz)


Day the Netjers of Heaven Receive Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Family Literacy Day -- Canada


International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust


Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (for the continuation of all life-sustaining things; a multi-day ceremony and feast that begins around this time of year)


Listen to Classical Music During Lunch Day -- in honor of Mozart


Mozart Day


National Speak Up and Succeed Day -- become one of those people who aren't afraid of public speaking, practice! originally sponsored by Polished Presentations International, but they no longer have a website, but i'm sure Toastmasters International can help 


St. Angela Merici's Day (Founder of the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula; Patron of the disabled and ill; against bodily ills and the death of parents)


St. Devota's Day (Patron of Corsica; Monaco)


Thomas Crapper Day -- death date, in 1910, of the perfector of the flush toilet mechanism



Anniversaries Today:


Founding of the National Geographic Society, 1888

The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870

The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785



Birthdays Today:


Julie Foudy, 1971

Jennifer LB Leese, 1970

Patton Oswalt, 1969

Alan Cumming, 1965

Bridget Fonda,1964

Cris Collinsworth, 1959

Mimi Rogers, 1956

Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948

Nick Mason, 1944

Mairead Corrigan, 1944

James Cromwell, 1942

Troy Donahue, 1936

Donna Reed, 1921

David Seville, 1919

Skitch Henderson, 1918

Hyman George Rickover, 1900

Jerome Kern, 1885

Samuel Gompers, 1850

Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), 1832

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Laverne and Shirley"(TV), 1976

"Tarzan of the Apes"(Film), 1918



Today in History:


Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98

The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661

Song Dynasty General Yue Fei is wrongfully executed, 1142

Dante Alighieri becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302

The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31, 1606

The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662

Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Istanbul, 1695

Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710

Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736

The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825

Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870

Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880

The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888

"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918

Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, 1967

More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space, 1967

Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper, 1980

The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, breaks through, 1983

American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna, 1993

Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1996

Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services, 2006

Albert II, former king of Belgium, admits paternity after a DNA test confirms he fathered a child, Delphine, with Baroness Sybile de Selys Longchamps, 2020

Australian officials launch a search effort for a small radioactive capsule dropped from a truck somewhere on a 1,400km journey through Western Australia, 2023

The world's largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, able to house 7,600 passengers, sets off on its maiden voyage from Miami, Florida, 2024Stacy Uncorked