Hurry Never Helps (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G, for all her wanting to do certain things very slowly and deliberately and with lots and lots of commentary, can also get in a hurry on occasion.

Yesterday, the first order of business was to get a ladder crammed into the overcrowded laundry closet so she could change the light bulb, and of course it was going to be too much trouble to haul all the clothes out so she was going to have a very hard time actually climbing on the ladder safely because we couldn't even get the doors open all of the way.

By the time she got up there, in her rush to get the light diffusing bowl off and get it done fast so she could get off the ladder, she dropped said bowl and it, being glass, obligingly shattered on the laundry closet floor, necessitating her staying on the ladder longer while i got out a broom and swept to her precise directions.

Once the ladder had been put back in its accustomed place behind the shop, it was time for me to start the regular work she wants done, but this was interrupted by a call from Ms. Fiona, which made Ms. G decide i needed to rush out to the elder care residence and help her with clothes sorting.

Of course, on the way out there i need to stop and buy Ms. Fiona some of her crackers, and Ms. G had precise instructions for where certain items in Ms. Fiona's room need to go, and here, take this extra laundry basket and see if she needs this one instead of the one they gave her which might be too big, and sometimes leaving in a hurry doesn't feel like a hurry when Ms. G is calling you when you are driving away to give you more instructions.

I arrived at the care home to find Ms. Fiona resting up for bingo, and at that moment housekeeping came in and wanted to mop the floors, so we went to sit and talk and she told me she did not need much help with the clothes, Ms. G had the wrong idea, so once we finished our chat and she went to bingo i went back to her room, took the last pile of clothes she hadn't gotten to and sorted and folded them for her and set them where she could find them, and went on my way.

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

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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!

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  Unfortunately, Angel Sammy, Teddy, and his folks are offline right now due to their internet company leaving their area and the switch to a new company hasn't gone well.  While we wait for a new poetry prompt, here's a rerun from a couple of years back.

Now Leon, I've been telling you

if you want your girl to romance,

you need to pay attention

and let me teach you to dance!

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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 for a nice visit with Ms. Fiona yesterday.

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Today is:

Dia del Nino -- Honduras (Children's Day)

Jeune Genevois -- Geneva, Switzerland (Genevan fast, dates back to the 16th century; now a flower and garden show also)

National Day -- Gibraltar

National Day of the Working Parent -- US (can't find a sponsor, but it's listed on several sites as the 2nd Thursday of September)

Saint George's Caye Day -- Belize (National Day)

Sewing Machine Day -- date of issuance of an early sewing machine patent, to Elias Howe; some sites call this "Sew Be It! Day"

Swap Ideas Day -- Robert L. Birch of Puns Corp wants people to explore ways in which their ideas can be put to work to benefit all humanity and develop incentives to encourage using our creative imaginations

St. Finian's Day (Patron of Ulster, Irland)

St. Nicholas of Tolentino's Day (Patron of animals, baby, dying people, mariners/sailors, sick animals; Albi, Italy; Cabanatuan, Philippines; Guimbai, Philippines; Lambuna, Philippines; Mati, Philippines; Tandag, Philippines; Toentino, Italy)

Teacher's Day -- China

TV Dinner Day

World Suicide Prevention Day -- a great resource is here 

Birthdays Today:

Clark Johnson, 1964

Randy Johnson, 1963

Colin Firth, 1960

Amy Irving, 1953

Joe Perry, 1950

Judy Geeson, 1948

Jose Feliciano, 1945

Stephen Jay Gould, 1941

Karl Lagerfeld, 1938

Charles Kuralt, 1934

Roger Maris, 1934

Arnold Palmer, 1929

Rin Tin Tin, 1918

Fay Wray, 1907

Adele Astaire, 1896

Elsa Schiaparelli, 1890

Franz Werfel, 1890

Ian Fleming, 1888

Isaac Kauffman Funk, 1839

Marie Laveau, 1801

Carter Braxton, 1736

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The X Files"(TV), 1993

"Gentle Ben"(TV), 1967

"The Road Runner Show"(TV), 1966

"Gunsmoke"(TV), 1955

"Benvenuto Cellini(Berlioz opera), 1838

Today in History:

The Battle of Marathon takes places between the forces of the Persian Empire and those of Athens, BC490*

An earthquake known as "The Lesser Judgment Day" hits Istanbul, 1509

John Smith is elected president of Jamestown, Va., Colony Council, 1608

Nathan Hale answers the call of George Washington for a volunteer spy, 1776

Simón Bolívar is named President of Peru, 1823

Elias Howe is granted a patent for the sewing machine, 1846

George Mary Searle discovers the asteroid 55 Pandora, 1858

Lincoln Highway, the first paved coast-to-coast road in the US, opens, 1913

Austria and the Allies sign the Treaty of Saint-Germain recognizing the independence of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, 1919

20 African-American students enter public schools in Alabama, 1963

Hamida Djandoubi, convicted of torture and murder, is the last person to be executed by guillotine in France, 1977

Switzerland, traditionally a neutral country, joins the United Nations, 2002

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in history is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland, 2008

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres makes an urgent call for a climate change conference saying, "climate change is moving faster than we are," 2018

Researcher Martin Hairer wins Breakthrough prize for mathematics for work on stochastic analysis, 2020

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits and calls for global support for flood-ravaged Pakistan, where 33 million people are displaced, 2022

The Shem Tov Bible, completed by Rabbi Shem Tov Ibn Gaon in Soria, Spain, in 1312 and which combines Jewish, Christian, and Islamic artistic traditions, sells at auction for $6.9 million, 2024

Australia approves the first vaccine to combat the chlamydia epidemic in koalas, 2025

*actual date disputed, but it was the 9th day of the 9th moon on their calendar

Becca’s Coolest New Shoes Ever (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, River is providing the prompts on her blog.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.klutz  

2.cream cheese  

3.twilight/gloaming  

4.buzzing  

5.trouble  

6.dominoes

and/or: 

Her/My house has many rooms, some are less immaculate than others.

Charlotte's colour of the month is Vivid Tangerine.

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

Her house has many rooms, some are less immaculate than others.

This is not because of lack of housekeeping standards, hers or mine, but because after the mouse chewed through the dishwasher line and flooded several rooms, much had to be packed away for the rebuilding.  Some of it is still crammed into boxes in nooks and corners, and many of Grandma's paintings have not been put back up but instead are stacked like DOMINOES against walls in a spare room mostly used by anyone who happens to be in town to visit overnight.

Why were they not put back?  Uncle J, who had to pack them, asked to leave them down as the color of the repainted main room doesn't go with many of Grandma's paintings, which revolved around a palette of yellows and reds and oranges and Vivid Tangerine.  She loves those colors, and we love her art because we love her, not necessarily because we love those colors.

Thus the "guest bedroom" in Grandma and Grandpa's house is not exactly spotless, even with it being dusted and swept regularly and the attached bathroom cleaned well weekly.

The bed frame in there is about 80 years old and the original slats supporting the mattress no longer exist.  There are boards under there, with plywood on them, and a relatively new, good mattress and mostly it's an okay bed for a night or two.

Grandpa is having so much TROUBLE taking care of Grandma now, i am going down there twice a week, once to clean the house and once to bathe Grandma and tend to her, giving Grandpa a break.

This past Monday, once i finished with Ms. S, i packed my bags and drove to NOLA, easy enough on a holiday Monday with very light traffic, with the plan to help her get cleaned up a bit and spend the night.

We'd done the cleaning, i'd done extra loads of laundry and tidied some places which need it, and it was approaching TWILIGHT when most of us are ready for a meal.

Grandma, often content with CREAM CHEESE on toast or something else simple for supper, wanted a bit more and sent Grandpa to the store to their cooked food line to see what was on offer.  He would be BUZZING me on my phone and i would relay the menu choices to Grandma, who had taken off her hearing aids that work with her phone and was not in the mood to have them back on.

This worked well enough, her white beans and rice and macaroni and cheese were obtained, i warmed the dinner i'd brought with me, and all was well.

She and i spent the evening keeping each other company, talking some, which is not easy when she "takes her ears out," which she does not do often.  We got through.

Once i convinced her it was bedtime, i retired to the spare room and, setting my phone near so as to hear if she called, settled in.

She called just before midnight, so i went in and helped her and got her settled again, then went back to get more rest.

Normally i am not a KLUTZ but you may think me one when i tell you as i sat on the bed, one of the planks which serve to hold the boards under the bed collapsed!

I was startled but not hurt, and laughed so hard but had to be quiet and not wake anyone.  Then i lifted the mattress, realized nothing broke under there, one of the two by fours simply shifted, and had a choice to make.  Either gird up my loins and take the mattress off the bed, reposition all the wood under there, put the mattress back, remake the bed and then get some shuteye, or sleep across the bottom of the bed, which was still supported somewhat, and do it this coming Saturday when i go back over there and Uncle J can help me do it.

Of course, i went back to sleep on a mattress which sloped a bit but was tolerable, and got up with Grandma again a few hours later, then again in the morning and spend some time with her before leaving for home.

That's why this Saturday's cleaning activities will include rebuilding a bed!

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Today is:

Blessed Father Jacques Leval Day -- Mauritius (physician turned priest who lived among and ministered to the poorest of the poor in Mauritius; people of all faiths make a pilgrimage to his tomb today)

Bonza Bottler Day

Chrysanthemum Day or Kiku no Sekku -- Japan

Day of the Victims of Holocaust and of Racial Violence -- Slovakia

Festivity of Our Lady of Aranzazu -- Oñati, Basque

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Day -- spreading the word about the very preventable problem of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders 

Independence Day -- Tajikistan(1991)

Karasu-zumo -- Kamigamo-jinja Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (a distinctive local festival where the Shinto priests imitate crows)

Liberation Ceremony -- Petange, Luxembourg

National Day -- North Korea(1948)

National Sports Day -- Indonesia

National Steak Au Poivre Day

St. Peter Claver's Day (Patron of African missions, inter-racial justice, race relations; Colombia; Lake Charles, LA; Shreveport, LA; Witbank, South Africa; against slavery)

Synaxis of Ss. Joachim and Anna -- Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches

Teddy Bear Day -- internet generated, but since it's so much fun to have one, celebrate your old friend

Wienerschnitzel Day

Wonderful Weirdos Day -- we all have a few in our lives, they remind us to be true to ourselves, so thank them today; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Anniversaries Today:

California becomes the 31st US State, 1850

Birthdays Today:

Michelle Williams, 1980

Michael Buble, 1975

Goran Visnjic, 1972

Rachel Hunter, 1969

Adam Sandler, 1966

Hugh Grant, 1960

Mario Batall, 1960

Angela Cartwright, 1952

Michael Keaton, 1951

Tom Wopat, 1951

Joe Theisman, 1949

Billy Preston, 1946

Otis Redding, 1941

Sylvia Miles, 1934

Cliff Robertson, 1925

James Hilton, 1900

Colonel Harland Sanders, 1890

Alf Landon, 1887

Leo Tolstoy, 1828

William Bligh, 1754

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Welcome Back, Kotter"(TV), 1975

"Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids"(TV), 1972

Imagine(Lennon album release), 1971

Today in History:

William I, The Conqueror, dies in a horse-riding accident, 1087

The New England colonies declare war on the Wampanoag Tribe, 1675

The first steam engine arrives in the US colonies, 1753

The first recorded black to graduate from a US college, Alexander Lucius Twilight, receives a BA from Middlebury College, 1817

Charles Durant, the first US aeronaut, flies a balloon from Castle Garden, NYC to Perth Amboy, NJ, 1830

The first plate glass photograph is taken by John Herschel, 1839

California becomes the 31st state and the territories of New Mexico and Utah are created, 1850

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is finalized, 1886

Orville Wright makes the first one-hour plane flight, 1908

J. Verdrines becomes the first person to fly at over 100mph, 1912

First actual case of a computer bug being found: a moth lodges in a relay of a Harvard Mark II computer at Harvard University, 1947

Hurricane Betsy makes its second landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, becoming the first hurricane to do over $1billion in actual unadjusted damages, 1965

The four-day Attica Prison riot begins, 1971

The Palestine Liberation Organization officially recognizes Israel as a legitimate state, 1993

At exactly 01:46:40 UTC, the Unix billenium is reached, marking the beginning of the use of 10-digit Unix timestamps, 2001

The "Ophel Treasure", about 1,400 years old, is discovered near the foot of Temple Mount in Jerusalem, 2013

Queen Elizabeth II becomes Great Britain's longest-reigning monarch at 63 years and seven months, beating the previous record set by her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, 2015

Egyptian archaeologists announce the discovery of the 3,500-year-old tomb of a goldsmith and his family in Draa Abul-Naga, Egypt, 2017

In what could be world's most important modern literary discovery, Jason Scott-Warren finds poet John Milton's own copy of Shakespeare's First Folio of 1623 complete with Milton's own notes and annotations in a Philadelphia library, 2019

Scientists reveal evidence of the earliest milk consumption from cows by humans, 6,000 years ago from the dental plaque of teeth of prehistoric farmers from Britain, 2020

Tom Brady becomes first player in NFL history to start 300 regular season games, 2021

The world's first whole-eye and face transplant is declared successful for a 47-year-old Arkansas man more than a year after the operation, 2024

A 500-pound World War II bomb is found in Bratislava, Slovakia, prompting evacuations and public transportation halts until it can be dealt with, 2025