Ragamuffins (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, and Nature Friday

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Feline Friday was originally started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude (may he rest in peace), and i'm going to believe it's because he liked cats.

He handed hosting duties off to Sandee at Comedy Plus, and now she has entrusted it to me.

Feline Friday is simple to join.  All you have to do is: Post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (they may be silly or cute).  Then add your link!

One thing for sure is this is a fun and easy meme to do.  So come and join us in Feline Friday.

What better way to start the weekend than with a feline!

These little ragamuffins turned up at someone's house and the cat shelter got them.  They're "in the hands of the law" now.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. I'd like to learn how to play _________.

2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was _________.

3. I want to design _________ for _________.

4. _________ is a special treat I get _________.

1. I'd like to learn how to play   the ukulele.  I was learning at one time, but with so much work i had little time to practice and i went ahead and gave mine to my Daughter-in-Law, as she already knows how to play and could make better use of it.  One more thing to try again if i ever get to retire.

2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was   replicas of ceiling fans of cardboard as decorations for a classroom in school.  It was a group project and it didn't go so well.

3. I want to design  easy to fill out lists   for   those of us who are not very good at making our own lists!

4. Lucky Buddha roll sushi   is a special treat I get   about once a year when i splurge on a visit to a favorite restaurant.

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Nature Friday is hosted by LLB in Our Backyard.  Simply post a picture of the natural world, and link up!   

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Today is:

Crowded Nest Awareness Day -- for those whose problem is the opposite of the Empty Nest, a day to remind you to keep your sense of humor and get support when you need it

Festival of Mut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Ghost in the Machine Day -- the internet holiday that explains everything!

Helsinki Day -- Finland

Independence Day -- Philippines

International Cachaca Day -- the once illegal cocktail now has its own day of celebration 

King's Birthday -- Solomon Islands

Loving Day -- US (commemoration of Loving vs. Virginia decision by the Supreme Court which struct down all anti-miscegenation laws) 

National Day of Prayer for Law Enforcement Officers -- on the second Friday of June, sponsored originally by Wives Behind the Badge

National Jerky Day -- begun a couple of years ago, possibly by one of the jerky manufacturers (no one can track it down, sounds suspicious to me)

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

Peace of Chaco Day / Chaco Armistice Day -- Paraguay and Bolivia (commemorates the end of a war between the two)

Red Rose Day -- found all over the internet, with June 12 as the most common date cited; may have begun with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Australia, which has Rose Days as fundraisers

Russia Day -- Russia

Sacred Heart of Jesus -- Catholic Christian

Sovereign's Day/King's Birthday -- British Virgin Islands

St. Anthony's Eve -- Brazil; Portugal

     Dia dos Namorados -- Brazil (Lover's Day, celebrated on St. Anthony's Eve)

St. Onuphrius' Day (Patron of weavers; Centrache, Catanzaro, Italy)

Work @ Home Fathers' Day -- special kudos to the dads who work from home by telecommuting, or care for house and kids while the wife works outside the home from Jeff Zbar

World Day Against Child Labour -- The UN, Education International and the International Labour Organization

Birthdays Today:

Frances O'Connor, 1969

Timothy Busfield, 1957

Marv Albert, 1941

Chick Corea, 1941

Jim Nabors, 1932

Anne Frank, 1929

Vic Damone, 1928

George H.W. Bush, 1924

David Rockefeller, 1915

Alexandre Tansman, 1897

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Doctor Doctor"(TV), 1989

Raiders of the Lost Ark(Film), 1981

You Only Live Twice(Film), 1967

Cleopatra(Film), 1963

Today in History:

Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, 1429

The French begin their colonization of Algeria with the landing of 34,000 troops, 1830

The world's first Fingerprint Bureau opens in Calcutta, India, after the Council of the Governor General approves a committee report that fingerprints should be used for classification of criminal records, 1897

Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor, 1939

Anne Frank gets her diary as a birthday present, 1942

The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional, 1967

The first man powered flight across the English Channel is performed by Bryan Allen in the Gossamer Albatross designed by Paul MacCready, 1979

At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, 1987

Russia Day – the parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty, 1990

Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London, 1997

A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to widespread protests, 2009

Ending an extensive study on the wooly mammoth, scientists conclude that they were wiped out by multiple things, including climate change, human hunters, and shifting habitats, 2012

AT&T's $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner is allowed to proceed by a US District Court Judge, 2018

Hong Kong sees violent protests as tens of thousands of protesters block and try to storm government buildings to stop the extradition law, 2019

The National Weather Service offices in Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska issue their first-ever heat advisory, warning of temperatures up to 88°F (31.1°C), 2025

In Person (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G hadn't seen Ms. Fiona in person for at least three weeks, partly because she had been ill and didn't want to take her sinus infected self to the retirement home, contagious or not, and partly because it has become an option to just send me instead, which is what she will be planning for next week.

Yesterday she could put it off no longer and we hied ourselves out to The Meadows retirement and rehabilitation home, with more cheese and peanut butter crackers for Ms. Fiona's snack stash.

We met Ms. Fiona coming down the hall to go to the dining room as it was almost time for lunch, and  Ms. G pushed her back to her room so we could visit a few minutes.

Ms. G rather treats Ms. Fiona the way a daughter would treat her aged mother, which makes sense because, although they are not related, Ms. G likes to manage and boss people and Ms. Fiona has no living relatives near enough to help her and she has given Ms. G legal permission to do everything for her you'd expect her son to do if he even spoke to his mother any longer, which now she has no money to give him, he does not.

Thus they went back and forth over whether she was comfortable in those socks, and let me take your other pair of slippers home to wash them, and show me your arms, how's your rash, oh, good, it's gone, your orchids are lovely, what is this, here, mimi, this vase is dirty please wash it for us and other such things.

Finally, it was time to wheel her to the dining area and say good-bye, and Ms. G and i were off to shop at the bulk club and then go home to do various and sundry chores since Ms. G will be busy next week and is sending me to help Ms. Fiona sort out her mountains of laundry, probably with her on the phone the whole time to direct the process.

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

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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!  This week's image and my poem:    

Celebrate life!

Don't slow down!

Kick up your heels!

Get out of town!

Go do something!

Make it count!

Making life worthwhile

is paramount!

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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 the Ford Focus, called GusGus die Fledermaus, is finally running properly!  No A/C still, but #2 Son replaced the fuel valve whatchamacallit which was keeping the check engine light on all of the time and making it run rough and threaten to not start after putting gas in it.  Now we can get it inspected!  Also, he changed the cabin air filters in GusGus and Lawrence (the Honda) and a relay in Slow-Moe (the Pontiac).  It's such a blessing to have a child who is mechanically inclined.

Extra note to Mr. Terry at Brian's Home - Forever:  i have tried commenting on the blog and it keeps telling me my nonce is invalid, whatever that means.  If i don't get to comment, i am not ignoring you, i just don't know how to get that nonce to behave itself, much less where it is hiding right now.

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Today is:

Arrephoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (ceremony for the two girls chosen to weave the new robe for Athena's Statue and care for her sacred olive tree during the next year; date approximate)

Career Nursing Assistants' Day -- and the start of CNA Week 

Corn on the Cob Day

Fandens Fodselsdag(The Devil's Birthday) -- Denmark (traditional date when contracts between masters and servants expired, making them free to renew or renegotiate or sever ties; it was also considered The Devil's Birthday because taxes and rents came due!)

Hug Holiday -- some internet sites have this one, and since hugs are good for mental health, indulge!

King Kamehameha Day -- Hawaii, US

National German Chocolate Cake Day

Rites of Matralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (honoring of Mater Matua, goddess of dawn and childbirth, by women who had been married once) related observance:

     Day Sacred to Fortuna Virgo (Fortune the Virgin, the day marriage robes of girls were dedicated to this goddess)

St. Barnabas the Apostle's Day (Patron of Antioch; Cyprus; Marbelia, Costa del Sol, Spain; Marino, Italy; invoked as a peacemaker; against hailstorms) a/k/a Barnaby Bright Day or Long Barnaby*

*Under the Julian calendar, June 11, St. Barnabas' Day, was the longest day of the year --

Barnaby Bright, Barnaby Bright,

The longest day

And the shortest night

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon, 1509

Birthdays Today:

Shia LeBeouf, 1986

Joshua Jackson, 1978

Caroline Quentin, 1961

Dr. Mehmet Oz, 1960

Hugh Laurie, 1959

Joe Montana, 1956

Peter Bergman, 1953

Adrienne Barbeau, 1945

Jackie Stewart, 1939

Chad Everett, 1936

Prince Henrik of Denmark, 1934

Gene Wilder, 1933

William Clark Styron, Jr., 1925

Vince Lombardi, 1913

Jacques Cousteau, 1910

Jeannette Pickering Rankin, 1880

Richard Georg Strauss, 1864

John Constable, 1776

Ben Jonson, 1572

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Idol"(TV), 2002

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(Film), 1982

"Main Street Electrical Parade"(Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida), 1977

"Rock 'n' Roll Music"(Beatles' UK album release), 1976

A Day at the Races(Marx Brothers film), 1937

Today in History:

Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes, BC1184

Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía, 1594

The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence, 1776

Russian explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska, 1788

The first American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick, 1793

The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia, 1892

New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands, 1901

Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown, 1919

Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island, 1962

Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington become the first women to receive the rank of general in the U.S. Army, 1970

Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe, 200

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes an official apology to Canada's First Nations for residential school abuse that isolated native children from their homes, families, and cultures for a century, 2008

Ancient Korean royal books looted by French troops in 1866 are returned to South Korea; 1,000 officials and locals celebrate the return of the 297-volume 'Oegyujanggak' books, 2011

Winds in southwestern Western Australia of up to 140km/h batter the area and leave more than 170,000 homes without power, 2012

Japan passes a law that will allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate, 2017

“The New York Times” reveals that the fire on the back lot of Universal Studios in Los Angels eleven years earlier had destroyed over 500,000 original master recordings, including many by Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald, 2019

A US lobsterman survives being swallowed by a humpback whale off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, 2021

Estonian Biobank opens its portal allowing 200,000 Estonians to access their genetic information, including disease risk and ancestry markers, 2024