Monday, August 31, 2026

My Hat! (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Xerophyte

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.


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


Even in the hottest of hot summer, somebody loves her snow hat.  She walks in with a smile and even says, "My snow hat!"  Maybe she thinks dressing for winter will bring it sooner, who knows.











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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     








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Our dear friend Diane is taking a break

accommodations we must make

we miss her poetry and wit

so carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!


Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know.


This week the theme is Xerophyte.



Xerophyte is a rather

funny name to say,

it is a plant and you might

have or meet one someday.

It's a plant needs little water,

grows out the desert way.

If you have a plant cactus,

next time you see it, say,

"Hello, Xerophyte!" your greeting

just might make its day!



Future themes are:


Aug 31 Xerophyte (Today!)

Sept 7 My Culture

Sept 14 Beach Huts

Sept 21 Solstice

Sept 28 Bonfire


(All themes are from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and Other Arts Facebook group.)


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Today is:


Araw ng mga Bayahi -- Philippines (National Heroes' Day)


August / Summer Bank Holiday -- UK


Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Motorist Consideration Monday BK2HK.org


Day of Solidarity and Freedom -- Poland (Anniversary of the 1980 August Agreement)


Eat Outside Day -- as long as you won't pass out from the heat


Eleusinia Games -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; 3 days of games with grain as prizes)


Festal Day -- Order of the Eastern Star


Independence Day -- Kyrgyzstan(1991); Malaysia (Hari Kebangsaan/Freedom Day, 1957); Trinidad & Tobago(1962)


International Day of Blogs and Bloggers -- www.blogday.org


International Overdose Awareness Day -- prevention and remembrance


Invent A New Sandwich Day -- spread around the internet like good mayo; go ahead, have fun with this


Liberation Day -- Hong Kong (from Japan in 1945; no longer an official holiday, but still acknowledged by many)


Limba Noastra -- Moldova (Day of Our Language)


Love Litigating Lawyers Day -- yes, G-d tells us to love everybody, even litigation attorneys but He never said doing it would be easy; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays


National Trail Mix Day


St. Raymond Nonnatus' Day (Patron of babies, childbirth, children, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, infants, midwives, newborn babies, obstetricians, and pregnant women; Baltoa, Dominican Republic; against fever)


Umhlanga -- Eswatini (Swaziland) (Reed Dance Public Holiday and final day, culmination of the Reed Dance Celebration begun last week and sponsored



Birthdays Today:


Jeff Hardy, 1977

Chris Tucker, 1972

Debbie Gibson, 1970

Glenn Tilbrook, 1957

Edwin Corley Moses, 1955

Richard Gere, 1949

Itzhak Perlman, 1945

Van Morrison, 1945

Jack Thompson, 1940

Marva Collins, 1936

Frank Robinson, 1935

James Coburn, 1928

Buddy Hackett, 1924

G.D. Spradlin, 1920

Alan Jay Lerner, 1918

William Saroyan, 1908

William Shawn, 1907

Arthur Godfrey, 1903

Maria Montessori, 1870



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Alice"(TV), 1976

"The Great Gildersleeve"(Radio), 1941

"The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper"(Play), 1928



Today in History:


Traditional date upon which Ayonwentah (Haiwatha) and Deganawidah (The Great Peacemaker) assist the Iroquois tribes in establishing the Confederation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy, or League of Five Nations), 1142

Lewis and Clark begin their expedition, 1803

A nuts and bolts machine is patented by Micah Rugg, 1842

The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 1895

Edison patents the Kinetograph, 1897

Mrs. Adolph Landenburg, a horse rider, debuts the split skirt, 1902

Debut of Foghorn Leghorn, 1946

Solidarity Labor Union forms in Poland, 1980

Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris, 1997

Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police, 2006

In Sudan, the People's Liberation Army announces it will demobilize its child soldiers by the end of the year, 2010

A 19-year-old Indonesian man is rescued after 49 days at sea on his floating fishing trap, 2018

Mary Peltola becomes the first Alaskan Native to be elected to US Congress, 2022 

US life expectancy falls to its lowest level since 1996 (76.1 years vs. 79 years in 2019), with COVID-19 thought to be the main contributing factor, 2022

A major landslide in western Sudan destroys entire village of Tarasin in the Marrah Mountains, 2025

Sunday, August 30, 2026

It’s Enough to Make You Cry (Cajun Joke), Sunday Selections and Sunday Selfie

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, do not expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes, especially as it has now become a habit.



Yesterday at the grocery store, i'd gotten what i needed and was looking for Grandpa (we each take a shopping cart/trolley and get what we need).  I found him on the soda pop aisle, standing in front of the Barq's Root Beer cans.  When we were growing up, he never had a meal without a Barq's Root Beer, but he hasn't had any in years.


He said he was considering buying it, and i talked him into it, he really enjoys the taste and needs to treat himself more often.


Boudreaux done be at de store wit' Tee an' he reach fo' a big bag o' onions.


"Père, what fo' you use so many onions?" Tee ax.


"Dey be my favorite food," Boudreaux say.


"But, Père, dey allus make you cry when we git home an' you chop dem," Tee continue.


"Dat dey do, mon fils."


"Père, do onions be de only food dat make you cry?" Tee ax.


An' Boudreaux t'ink 'bout dat an' say, "Mais, I prolly cry if'n you t'row a coconut at me!"



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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  The rules have been relaxed, and it is now simply a showcase for your photos, new or old, good or bad, although nothing rude, please.  Our friend River is hosting, and other participants often include Charlotte/Mother OwlAndrew, and WiseWebWoman.  


This week, it was a bumble bee which caught my attention, a new hose holder in Mr. BA's garden, my little Annie with her hair up (it makes her look so grown!), and a sunset.
















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This week, Jack wants to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.  






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Today is:


Be Kind to Humankind Week: Sacrifice Our Wants For Others Needs Sunday 


Constitution Day -- Kazakhstan


Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Festival of Charisteria -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day to give thanks)


Frankenstein Day -- in honor of Mary Shelley 


Huey P. Long Day -- Louisiana, US


International Day of the Disappeared -- Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared


International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances -- UN


International Whale Shark Day -- WiseOceans has more information 


National Holistic Pet Day -- celebrating the growing interest in natural/holistic medicine for animals


National Toasted Marshmallow Day


Popular Consultation Day -- East Timor


Santa Rosa de Lima -- Peru


St. Fiacre's Day (Patron of box makers, cab drivers, costermongers, florists, gardeners, hosiers, pewterers, taxi drivers, tile makers; against barrenness, fistula, haemorrhoids, piles, sterility, syphilis, venereal disease)


Talk Intelligently Day -- holiday thought up by someone tired of non-intelligent conversations (maybe with co-workers?)


Victory Day -- North Cyprus; Turkey

     Turkey's Hellespont Swim -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes is closed so that over 300 participants can swim the Hellespont from Europe to Asia, a Victory Day commemoration of winning the Turkish War of Independence in 1922 against the Greeks



Anniversary Today:


Roman Polanski marries Emmanuelle Seigner, 1989



Birthdays Today:


Cameron Diaz, 1972

Michael Michele, 1966

Michael Chiklis, 1963

David Paymer, 1954

Timothy Bottoms, 1951

Lewis Black, 1948

Peggy Lipton, 1947

Frank "Tug" McGraw, 1944

Jean-Claude Killy, 1943

Elizabeth Ashley, 1939

Warren Buffett, 1930

Kitty Wells, 1919

Ted Williams, 1918

Fred MacMurray, 1908

Roy Wilkins, 1901

Shirley Booth, 1898

Huey P. Long, 1893

Claire Straith, M.D., 1891

Ernest Rutherford, 1871

Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1797



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Anna Lucasta"(Play), 1944



Today in History:


European leaders, in an attempt to end war "for all time", outlaw the crossbow, 1146

One of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, begins between the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, 1363

Capture of the entire Dutch fleet by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, 1799

Founding of Melbourne, Australian, 1835

Founding of Houston, Texas, 1836

Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in south Louisiana, the longest bridge over water (continuous, not aggregate) that is not also a viaduct, opens, 1956

The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation, 1963

Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1967

Guion Bluford becomes the first African American astronaut in space, 1983

NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces, 1995

A commercial expedition to raise part of the sunken British luxury liner Titanic ended in failure, 1996

Harley-Davidson celebrates its 100th anniversary in Milwaukee with a parade of 10,000 motorcycles, 2003

India and Pakistan agree to release hundreds of fishermen and other civilians in each other's jails as part of their ongoing attempts to negotiate peace between their nations, 2005

Sumatra's Sinaburg volcano continues to erupt, two people are killed and 21,000 are evacuated from the vicinity, 2010

In Chile, 33 miners trapped half a mile beneath the surface make contact with their families for the first time in three weeks since the incident, 2010

Late author Terry Pratchett’s unfinished works are destroyed as per his request, 2017

For the second time, Ukrainian amateur astronomer Gennady Borisov discovers an interstellar comet, 2019

Algeria becomes the last country to stop selling leaded petrol/gasoline, 2021

The largest water treatment facility in Jackson, Mississippi, US, fails leaving thousands without clean drinking water, closing schools and businesses, 2022

Over 100 schools in the UK are told to close buildings days before the start of the school term because of concrete in danger of collapse, 2023

The MacLean brothers, Ewan (32), Jamie (31), and Lachlan (27) of Scotland arrive in Cairns, Australia in a rowboat from Lima, Peru, setting new record for non-stop unsupported crossing of the Pacific Ocean (139 days, 5 hours, 52 minutes), 2025