Thursday, July 3, 2025

It Almost All Stays (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G is single, no kids of her own, plenty of nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and -nephews and cousins and cousin's kids, and she is a collector, and i get the feeling despite what she thinks few of the kids are going to want her collections even if the kaleidoscopes were the hundreds of dollars kind and the cats figurines all over the house are from a famous guy and cost a pretty penny.


Kaleidoscopes, pricey ones.

Some of the many cat figurines.


She has a 4-bedroom house stuffed to the gills, every closet full of clothes, every room full of her collections and her project this week was to trim down what's in one overstuffed chest of drawers (we're not yet to the stuff on top of it) so she could put more clothes in there.


As we went through drawer by drawer, she looked at each item and decided what to keep, what might be given away to this niece or this cousin or that other relative, what had belonged to her mother, and almost every item had a story, including the opera glasses she won't get rid of even though it's been a few years since she took the time to go to the opera.


Multiple times she stopped to take a picture and find out how much this or that was worth on Ebay these days, this bag of antique marbles, that antique candle holder, or to send a text to her sister, "Do you want mom's (fill in the blank)?"


Much of the collectible stuff she has was bought back in the days when she worked and made good money and would simply buy whatever caught her fancy, and she has a lot of very nice things all over the house.


In the end, very little went anywhere, she simply managed to condense four full size drawers and two half drawers down to two full size and one half, and leave a bunch of stuff on the guest bed for taking to family the next time she goes to visit.



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





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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:    





At Al's Used Cars we promise this,

you'll drive away in happy bliss,

but always remember the car ain't new,

if it breaks down, well that's on you!



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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 Ms. G shared some watermelon with us.






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Today is:


Air Conditioning Appreciation Days begin -- Northern Hemisphere (around here, they last until Thanksgiving!)


Compliment Your Mirror Day -- remind your mirror how great it is to have an owner like you, and look at other mirrors to meet to see if they greet you with a smile


Dipolieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus as god of the city)


Disobedience Day -- internet generated, but if you have a bone to pick, use your civil disobedience today to let it be known!


Dog Days of Summer begin (according to the almanac, but not in all cultures)


Earth at Aphelion -- @06:06 UTC (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)


Eat Beans Day -- bring the humble legume up to main dish status!


Fiesta del Fuego -- Santiago, Cuba (festival of fire, through the 9th)


Independence Day -- Belarus(1944)


International Plastic Bag Free Day -- working toward a plastic bag free world 


National Chocolate Wafer Day


Stay Out of the Sun Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; for health's sake, give your skin a break!


St. Thomas the Apostle's Day (Patron of architects, blind people, builders, carpenters, construction workers, geometricians, masons, people in doubt, stonecutters, surveyors, theologians; against blindness, doubt; Certaldo, Italy; Ceylon/Sri Lanka; East Indies; India; Pakistan)


Virgin Islands Emancipation Day -- US Virgin Islands



Anniversaries Today:


Prince Alois of Liechtenstein marries Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, 1993

Ted Kennedy marries Victoria Anne Reggie, 1992

Idaho becomes the 43rd US State, 1890



Birthdays Today:


Moises Alou, 1966

Thomas Gibson, 1962

Tom Cruise, 1962

Montel Williams, 1956

Alan Autry, 1952

Betty Buckley, 1947

Dave Barry, 1947

Kurtwood Smith, 1942

Tom Stoppard, 1937

Pete Fountain, 1930

Ken Russell, 1927

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, 1908

Franz Kafka, 1883

George M. Cohan, 1878

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, 1870

Samuel Huntington, 1731(O.S. date)



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"ITV News at Ten"(TV), 1967

"Mister Peepers"(TV), 1952



Today in History


Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792, 987

Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain, 1608

Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret, 1767

Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published, 1767

George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1775

The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens, 1819

The last pair of Great Auks is killed, 1844

Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans, 1848

Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average, 1884

Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile, 1886

The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting  by hand, 1886

World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h), 1938

The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad, 1969

First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS, 1981

The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland, 1996

Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth, 2006

New Zealand sustains a major earthquake, with minor damage reported, 2012

In El Paraiso, Peru, property developers destroy a 4,000-year old pyramid, 2013

In Belgium, King Albert II abdicates his throne to son, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, due to health reasons, 2013

Health insurance company Aetna announces that it will pay $37 billion to acquire rival company Humana, 2015

Souad Abderrahim is elected the first female mayor of Tunis, Tunisia, 2018

The worst wildfires in Cyprus' history begin in Limassol district, 2021

Sri Lanka says it has less than one day's worth of fuel remaining, as its economic crisis deepens, 2022

A study in the UK of the running pattern of the hippopotamus shows they can get going so fast they become temporarily airborne with all four feet off the ground, 2024

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Try Telling Mr. Cal He's Not Allowed on the Furniture (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.    


Huge thanks to Hilary Melton-Butcher for providing the prompts last month. 


The prompts this month will again be posted by Elephant's Child and are provided by Charlotte (MotherOwl)        



This week's prompts are:


  • Ferry
  • Determined
  • Box
  • Convey
  • Paste
  • First


And/or


  • Family
  • Astonish
  • Obtain
  • Avoid
  • Magnificent


An additional prompt from Charlotte (MotherOwl) is to use her colour of the month in your take on the prompts.  In honor of how much we all love to write, this month's color is Writing Pleasure Purple.


Have fun.



It's not true my FAMILY annoys me when they come to visit each summer.


Let's just say it's a bit hard on this unmarried lady of a certain age who went out of her way to AVOID romantic entanglements and is DETERMINED to live her life to the full as she and The Good Lord think best.


No, I don't dislike them and I do go visit them each year at the holidays, we stay in touch, we send birthday cards and have a family Zoom meeting once a month, but having them here once a year is as hospitable as I like to get.


Writing is my Passion, I'm an author after all, and I love the color Purple, so my house has a lot of it in my decor and it always causes some commentary.  I take it in stride, liking what I like and I am careful to BOX up some treasures as the younger family members are not very careful.


Maybe that will CONVEY the crux of it there.  As MAGNIFICENT as it is to have family and people you love and care about and people to turn to in a crisis, some of us want them, but don't want them too close for too long at a time.


While they're here, too, things get a little different and I don't mind admitting I'm a bit more set in my ways.  Yes, I can adapt for a week.  I always OBTAIN their favorite foods and they never cease to ASTONISH me with just how much they can eat.  I'm sure to have extra toiletries here as we once almost ran out of toothPASTE and the fuss made over such a minor thing was silly.  I even make sure they have a good time, the FIRST order of business on the first morning after they arrive is a FERRY ride to the island, where they do "all the things" as they like to say.


They don't annoy me, I love them, and I can do for them for a week.


Just remember it takes me at least two weeks to recover and I won't be ready to do it again until next year.



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Today is:


Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)


Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao


Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day -- as proposed by Beverly Beuermann-King, because you don't want to blow it when your big opportunity comes because you are afraid to speak out!


I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)


National Anisette Day


Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)


Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures


St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)


Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!


Violin Lovers' Day


World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*)


*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!



Anniversary Today:


Prince Albert of Belgium marries Paola Ruffo di Calabria, 1959



Birthdays Today:


Lindsay Lohan, 1986

Ashley Tisdale, 1985

Johnny Weir, 1984

Jose, Jr., and Ozzie Canseco, 1964

Jimmy McNichol, 1961

Ron Silver, 1946

Vicente Fox Quesada, 1942

Richard Petty, 1937

Polly Holiday, 1937

Dave Thomas, 1932

Medgar Evers, 1925

Dan Rowan, 1922

Ken Curtis, 1916

Thurgood Marshall, 1908

Jean René Lacoste, 1904

Hermann Hesse, 1877

Thomas Cranmer, 1489



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"The Andy Williams Show"(TV), 1957

"The Lawrence Welk Show"(TV), 1955

"Finlandia"(Sibelius' Op. 26), 1900



Today in History:


Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698

Vermont  becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777

Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881

Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893

Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897

The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937

The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962

North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976

The AbioCor  self contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001

Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002

Planetoid Pluto's fourth and fifth moons officially receive the names Kerberos and Styx from the International Astronomical Union, 2013

British Petroleum agrees to compensate the US government and states bordering the Gulf of Mexico $18.7 billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 2015

British divers discover 12 boys and their coach alive in Tham Luang Nang Non cave, Thailand, after being trapped for 9 days by monsoon flooding, 2018

A newly rediscovered Lewis chess piece sells at auction for £735,000 in London, 2019

The British Darts Organisation’s commercial arm, BDO Enterprises Ltd, goes into liquidation due to lack of sponsorship, 2020

Excavations at burials near Tel Yehud in Israel from the 14th century BC reveal the earliest known evidence of the use of opium, 2022

Sierra Leone bans marriage for those under 18, aiming to protect the 1/3 of girls who are forced to marry before adulthood, 2024