Getting to the Gutters (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day, and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G has become concerned about the gutters on her house as one seems to have rusted through in a spot and is dripping right where she doesn't want dripping to happen, and of course there’s no money to get them professionally cleared out, or repaired, or (heaven forbid) replaced.

Thus yesterday, in spite of the fact i am perfectly comfortable getting on a roof and cleaning a gutter (who do you think does it here?), i found myself steadying the ladder while she of the bad back and knees was up there trying to make headway with getting some of the huge amount of material which has gathered out of one particular corner.

Eventually she had me pass up the hose, and stand at the spigot to turn it on and off as she tried to float some of the material out toward the downspout.

At one point, the water spewed back at her and she looked at me with chagrin and said, "Well, I just had a bath!"

Of course, not much moved, and the downspout is now clogged making matters a bit worse, but a good bit of the material is out of the main area she wanted cleared.

Afterward, of course, it was my job to use the specially designated outdoor broom to sweep away what she had cleared by simply throwing it over her shoulder to land right on the part of the porch where she had just blown the leaves away, and i'm not so sure we did much good after all.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Float.     

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

Ready for St. Patrick's Day.

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

Gracious mercy, sakes alive!

We ordered the appetizer for five,

but this could be shared by ten,

we'll take half home to have again.

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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever  hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Today i am thankful, by the hardest, the front brakes on Slow-Moe are done.  The back brakes will be done soon, but the front were most important.

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Today is:

Arbor Day -- China; Taiwan

Donkey Appreciation Day -- formerly celebrated, but the lowly donkey is no longer as indispensable as he was; if you share my fondness for beasts of burden, celebrate it anyway

Girl Scouts Birthday -- US

Kronprinsessans Namnsdag -- Sweden (Name Day of HRH Crown Princess Victoria, the Heir Apparent; an official flag day)

Lesser Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (three day festival, dates approximate; celebrates the marriage of Kore and Dionysos)

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria -- in 415, she was murdered for the three crimes of being intelligent, female, and pagan

National Baked Scallops Day

National Equal Pay Day -- US (the date of how far into 2026 a US woman had to work to earn what a US man did in 2025)  

National Day -- Mauritius (anniversary of independence in 1968)

Plant a Flower Day -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation; now's a good time to give wildlife friendly perennials a head start, starting them indoors if you have to 

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, popes, schoolchildren, singers, stonemasons, stone cutters, students, and teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indies; against gout and plague)

     note that Pope St. Gregory is also celebrated on Sept. 3, the date he was elected pope

     Graekarismessa (Mass of St. Gregory) -- Torshavn, Faroe Islands (traditional day on which the oystercatcher, their symbolic national bird, returns)

     Gregoru Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (Gregory's Day, similar to groundhog day for weather prediction)

St. Seraphina's Day (Patron of the disabled and handicapped, and of spinners)

University Mental Health and Wellbeing Day -- UK (to focus on ensuring the positive wellbeing of people with mental health difficulties)        

World Day Against Cyber Censorship -- sponsored by Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International

World Kidney Day  

Youth Day -- Zambia

Anniversaries Today:

Mick Jagger marries Bianca Perez Morena de Macias, 1971

Paul McCartney marries Linda Louise Eastman, 1969

Birthdays Today:

Frank Catalano, 1978

Aaron Eckhart, 1968

David Daniels, 1966

Darryl Strawberry, 1962

Marlon Jackson, 1957

Rob Cohen, 1949

James Taylor, 1948

Liza Minnelli, 1946

Al Jarreau, 1940

Barbara Feldon, 1933

Andrew Young, 1932

Edward Albee, 1928

Wally Schirra, 1923

Jack Kerouac, 1922

Gordon MacRae, 1921

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1881

Simon Newcomb, 1835

Charles Cunningham Boycott, 1832

Clement Studebaker, 1821

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Moses und Aaron"(Opera), 1954

"Fervaal"(Opera; d'Indy Op. 40), 1897

"Simon Boccanegra"(Opera), 1857

Today in History:

Martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria, philosopher, 415

Witiges, king of the Ostrogoths ends his siege of Rome and retreats to Ravenna, leaving the city in the hands of the victorious Roman general, Belisarius, 538

Orvieto, Italy, rules it will behead and burn Jewish-Christian couples, 1350

Jews are expelled from Syria, 1496

New Jersey becomes an English colony, 1664

The first steam engine in America installed, to pump water from a mine, 1755

Andrew Watson makes his Scotland debut as the world's first black international football player and captain, 1881

In Vicksburg, Mississippi, Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time, 1894

The first main line electric train in UK, from Liverpool to Southport, begins running, 1904

The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts of the USA) are founded in the United States, by Juliette Gordon Lowe, 1912

The foundation stone of the new Australian capital in Canberra is laid, 1913

Mohandas Gandhi begins 200m (300km) march protesting British salt tax, 1930

The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism, 1947

The Church of England ordains its first female priests, 1994

Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO, 1999

Financier Bernard Madoff plead guilty in New York to scamming $18 billion, the largest in Wall Street history, 2009

The U.S. Census Bureau reports the world now has 7 billion people, 2012

JOGMEC becomes the first to successfully extract methane hydrate from seabed deposits, 2013

Research shows Chinese cites have decreased pollution by 32 percent on average in just four years, 2018

Tens of thousands of farmers from Indian state Maharashtra end protests over loan waivers, prices and land rights after promises from state officials and walking 167km to Mumbai, 2018

Researchers claim more births are resulting in twins than ever before in history, with almost 1 in 42 pregnancies resulting in multiples, 2021

After forming on Feb. 6, Cyclone Freddy makes landfall for a second time in central Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi, setting records as the longest-lasting cyclone in the southern hemisphere, 2023

A Very Cheerful Neighbor (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, 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 prompts are being provided by River on her blog.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.trembling  

2.bobbing  

3.rescue  

4.green  

5.redhead  

6.potato

Charlotte's colour of the month is Ocean Twilight for March.

After a very long week, it was finally going to be my time to sit around like a couch POTATO for a while.

Best laid plans, right?

Little Sis came running in wearing her Ocean Twilight rain boots and a worried expression.  I call her Little Sis even though she doesn't like it as she's not so little any longer, call it an older brother's privilege to do at least a little bit of ribbing of a younger sibling.

"What's going on, Little Sis?  Are you late for a phone call?"

Her expression got more worried and she said, "No, I think there's a REDHEAD in trouble out on the near end of the lake."

"A duck?  What kind of trouble can a duck get in?"

"I think it's got one of its webbed feet caught in a GREEN fishing net one of the fishermen lost.  It's BOBBING and pulling, trying to get out of the water and TREMBLING, and I think it needs someone to RESCUE it."

I let out a big sigh.  Little Sis is a bright kid and is going to be an animal rescuer/wildlife veterinarian/something-to-do-with-animals when she grows up, and I knew if she said the duck needed help, it probably did.

There went my couch time.

We went down to the lake, although the part nearest our house is more like a little pond offshoot of the bigger body of water, and sure enough there was a redhead duck, and it did seem to be in trouble.

I'd gone ahead and put on my hip boots I use when I fish, and while she stood as close as she dared in her regular boots and spoke to it, I gently approached.  Little Sis has good eyes, there was a piece of net on its webbed foot and the other end caught by the outcrop of a stump.

Lifting the duck out of the water, I slid the netting off of its foot and held it closer to where Little Sis was standing.  "Does it look like it was cut or bleeding?" I asked.

"No," she said, "I think it was just caught."

I nodded and set the duck back down on the water and grabbed the net, loosening it and wading out of the water with it in my hand.  No sense leaving it for something else to get wrapped up in.

Meanwhile, the duck knew he was free and beat a hasty retreat, which made both of us smile, although to get Little Sis to laugh, I said, "What, not even a thank you quack?"

Little Sis did thank me, though, and we went back to the house and I still got some couch time, for which I was thankful.

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Today is:

Charter Day -- Pennsylvania, US

Debunking Day -- internet holiday possibly started by someone tired of internet myths

Feast Day of Hercules/Herakles -- Ancient Roman and Greek Calendars

Frankenstein's Birthday -- Mary Shelley's famous tale was published today in 1818

Johnny Appleseed Day / Apple Appreciation Day -- death anniversary of John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman; some say March 18

King Moshoeshoe I's Anniversary -- Lesotho

Mi-Careme -- Guadeloupe; Saint Barthelemy; Saint Martin (Mid-Lent) 

National Decoration Day -- Liberia

National No Smoking Day -- UK (for help quitting, go here) 

National Oatmeal-Nut Waffles Day

Reestablishment of Independence -- Lithuania (independence from the USSR)

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day -- US   

St. Eulogius of Cordova's Day (Patron of carpenters, coppersmiths)

World Day of Muslim Culture, Peace, Dialogue and Film -- International

Worship of Tools Day -- begun by someone who knew we would be nowhere without tools

Anniversaries Today:

Romeo & Juliet's wedding day, according to Shakespeare, 1302

Emperor Napoleon married by proxy to Archduchess Marie Louise, 1810

Birthdays Today:

Terrance Howard, 1969

Alex Kingston, 1963

Curtis Brown, Jr., 1956

Douglas Adams, 1952

Bobby McFerrin, 1950

Jerry Zucker, 1950

Dominique Sanda, 1948

Charles W. Swan, 1942

Antonin Scalia, 1936

Sam Donaldson, 1934

Rupert Murdoch, 1931

Ralph Abernathy, 1926

Mercer Ellington, 1919

Ezra Jack Keats, 1916

Harold Wilson, 1916

Lawrence Welk, 1903

Robert Treat Paine, 1731

Torquato Tasso, 1544

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Cops"(TV), 1989

"A Raisin in the Sun"(Play), 1959

"Don Carlos"(Opera), 1867

"Rigoletto"(Opera), 1851

"I Capuleti e i Montecchi"(Opera), 1830

"The Daily Courant"(Newspaper; first British daily paper), 1702

Today in History:

Thutmose III, Pharaoh of Egypt, dies (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty),BC1425

Volcano Etna in Italy erupts killing 15,000, 1669

The first English daily newspaper "Daily Courant," begins publishing, 1702

Queen Anne withholds Royal Assent from the Scottish Militia Bill, the last time a British monarch vetoes legislation, 1708

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is published, 1818

Unhappy with translational differences regarding the Treaty of Waitangi, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Māori tribe members chop down the British flagpole for a fourth time and drive settlers out of Kororareka, New Zealand, 1845

Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government, 1848

The Great Sheffield Flood: The largest man-made disaster ever to befall England kills over 250 people in Sheffield, 1864

The Meiji Japanese government officially annexes the Ryukyu Kingdom into what would become the Okinawa prefecture,1872

The Great Blizzard of 1888 begins, lasting 4 days, 1888

The first confirmed cases of the Spanish Flu are observed at Fort Riley, Kansas, 1918

The Bank of Canada opens, 1935

Reginald Weit became the first African American to play in the US Tennis Open, 1948

Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," the first Broadway play by a black woman, opens, 1959

Mt. Etna in Sicily erupts, 1974

Pakistan successfully conducts a cold test of a nuclear weapon, 1983

Mikhail S Gorbachev replaces Konstantin Chernenko as Soviet leader, 1985

Infosys becomes the first Indian company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, 1999

Michelle Bachelet is inaugurated as first female president of Chile, 2006

An earthquake measuring 9.0 in magnitude strikes 130 km (81 mi) east of Sendai, Japan, triggering a tsunami killing thousands of people and triggering the second largest nuclear accident in history, 2011

England retains the Six Nations Rugby Championship with a 61-21 win over Scotland at Twickenham; this is England's 11th consecutive Six Nations win and equals NZ's record of 18 consecutive international wins, 2017

China's National People's Congress approves removal of term limits for a leader, which will allow Xi Jinping to retain the presidency for life, 2018

Covid19 is declared a pandemic by the WHO, 2020

The journal Nature reports on the smallest dinosaur ever discovered; its skull was preserved in a piece of amber smaller than an average human fingertip, 2020

After news agencies issue a "kill" notice over digital manipulation, Catherine, Princess of Wales, apologizes for "confusion" caused by releasing an edited family photo, 2024

The shipwreck of "The Great Western," a steel steamer which sank in 1892 with the loss of 27 lives, is rediscovered in Lake Superior after 132 years, 2025

Astronomers announce the discovery of 128 more moons orbiting the planet Saturn, bring the planet's total to 274 moons, 2026