Keeping Up With the News is Very Important (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Tractors

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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!

It's important to stay well informed, especially with the "intellectual section," as Brother-in-Law calls the funnies.  Annie and Sid the Capybara took a few moments to get where they could both be comfy.  

Then she decided she really needed more room.

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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 Tractors.

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the tractor started

a new life in drug sales he

was a farm-assist

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She was leaving her husband, a farmer

for a man she thought was better,

she did it the old-fashioned way

by sending a John Deere letter!

(For any who don't know, a "Dear John/Dear Jane" letter means a note to tell the person, "I am breaking up with or divorcing you," and John Deere is a prominent brand of tractors and farm equipment.)

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The warranty on his tractor expired,

the tractor he most admired,

and though people did scoff

when the wheel fell off

he simply had it re-tired.

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Future themes are:

Aug 3 Tractors (Today!)

Aug 10 Bluebells

Aug 17 Sunny Days

Aug 24 Photography

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

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Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Equatorial Guinea

August Bank Holiday -- ACT, NSW, Australia; Ireland; UK

August Monday/Culturama -- Saint Kitts and Nevis 

Carnival Monday -- Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba 

Carnival Monday -- Anguilla (August Monday); Antigua and Barbuda (J'ouvert); British Virgin Islands (Festival/Emancipation Monday)

Civic Holiday -- Canada

     British Columbia Day --BC, Canada

     Heritage Day -- AB, Canada

     Provincial Day -- NB, Canada

Dia de la Bandera -- Venezuela (Flag Day)

Emancipation Day -- Bahamas; Dominica; Granada; Montserrat; Turks and Caicos Islands (Obs.)

Farmer's Day -- Zambia

Feast of Caligo, the mother of Chaos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate, and this is as good a day to celebrate chaos as any other)

Fete National de l'Arbre -- Niger (Independence Day, 1960)

Fiesta de San Salvador -- San Salvador, El Salvador

Frídagur verslunarmanna -- Iceland (Commerce Day)

Golpe de la Libertad -- Equatorial Guinea (Freedom Day)

Grab Some Nuts Day -- almonds and walnuts are especially good for you

International Friendship Day (original date proposed by Joyce Hall, founder of Hallmark Cards, back in 1935 because it is the center of the largest lull between major holidays; the UN celebrates it on July 30 and many countries celebrate on the first or second Sunday in August)

Kadooment Day -- Barbados (huge carnival celebration of the end of the Crop Over festival, celebrating the end of the sugar cane harvest)

Kanto Matsuri -- Akita, Japan (a four-day festival, praying for good harvest, purification ceremonies, and feats of skill)

National Children's Day -- Tuvalu

National Watermelon Day

National Youth and Children's Day -- Kiribati

Picnic Day -- NT, Australia

Pidjiguiti Day -- Guinea-Bissau (Colonization Martyr's Day; Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti)

St. Lydia Purpuraria's Day (Lydia the "seller of purple" who was Paul's first convert in Philippi; Patron of dyers)

St. Nicodemus' Day (member of the Sanhedrin and secret disciple who helped bury Jesus)

Birthdays Today:

Evangeline Lilly, 1979

Blaine Wilson, 1974

Isaiah Washington, 1963

John McGinley, 1959

Jay North, 1951

John Landis, 1950

Martha Stewart, 1941

Martin Sheen, 1940

Steve Berkoff, 1937

Tony Bennett, 1926

Leon Uris, 1924

P.D. James, 1920

Margaret "Maggie" Kuhn, 1905

John T. Scopes, 1900

Ernest Taylor "Ernie" Pyle, 1900

Elisha Graves Otis, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Primetime Live"(TV), 1989

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)"(Single release), 1963

"Chu Chin Chow"(Musical), 1916

"William Tell"(Opera), 1829

Today in History:

Tiberius, Roman Empire general, defeats the Dalmatians at the river Bathinus, 8

Columbus sets Sail for the "Indes", departing from Palos, Spain, 1492

John Rut, at St. John's, Newfoundland, sends the first known letter from North America, 1527

Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes, 1678

First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps, 1811

Harvard defeats Yale in the first intercollegiate rowing race, 1852*

Second Māori War begins in New Zealand, 1860

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company is founded, 1900

The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travels beneath the Arctic ice cap, 1958

President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, 2005

After last months extensive flooding, North Korea finally asks the United Nations for food aid, 2012

The International Olympic Committee approves baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing and skateboarding to be included in the 2020 Games, bringing the total number of sports to 33, 2016

Singer Tony Bennet celebrates his 95th birthday with the first of two performances at Radio City Music Hall, NYC, 2021

The Ascent skyscraper in Milwaukee is certified as the world's tallest timber building at 25 stories, 2022

Researchers at Yale University bring the brains and hearts of dead pigs back to life, with tremendous implications for organ transplants and stroke sufferers, as well as bringing up ethical questions about the definition of death, 2022

American swimmer Katie Ledecky ties Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian of all time, winning her 9th individual gold medal, 2024

Krasheninnikov Volcano in Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula erupts for the first time in 600 years, possibly triggered by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Russia a few days earlier, 2025

*In fact, it was the first American intercollegiate athletic event ever.

Scratch That Idea (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.

Grandpa doesn't cook much.  Oh, he can do a few things, makes a grilled shrimp all the shrimp lovers drool over, but cooking isn't his bag.

Yesterday, Grandma wanted a grilled cheese sandwich and she told me to make it, looking at Grandpa and saying, "He doesn't make it right."  He just shook his head and let me have at it, since he only cooks things at her insistence.

Boudreaux done be pullin' de tray o' biscuits out de oven when hims fille(daughter), Aline, walk in.

"You want you a biscuit, Aline?" he ax.  "I jes' made dem from scratch!"

Knowin' Boudreaux don' usually cook, Aline say, "You done made dese from scratch, Père?"

An' befo' he could say him ennyt'in', Clothile call from de nex' room, "Mais, he mean he done have to 'scratch' off de label to get the tube to pop open!"

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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 Owl, Andrew, and WiseWebWoman.  

Ms. G is finishing up with renovations on a house she will put on the market soon.  It is one of the happiest and most cheerful houses I've ever been in and i am sad i did not take pictures inside the one time i was there.  This week we went only to pick up one item in the back, so i took photos of the yard.

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This week, Mr. Cal wants to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.  He calls this his, "Peeking around the corner selfie."

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Today is:

Day of the Airborne Forces -- Russia; Ukraine

Day of Azerbaijani Cinema -- Azerbaijan (anniversary of the 1898 showing of the first motion pictures taken in Azerbaijan)

Ferry Fair -- South Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland (centuries old fair, a modern festival that was originally a way for farmers to find labour for harvest, but is now just for fun, through Saturday)

Festival of Amen and Hapi -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (offerings to the god of transcendent powers and the god of the Nile to assure the flooding of the Nile; date approximate)

Festival of Domhnach Chrom Dubh -- Ireland (also called Festival of Lughnasa or Garland Sunday, Black Chrom's Sunday, associated with the god Lugh and connected to the festival of Lammas; also connected to John Barleycorn, the personification of the grain, who is killed by being harvested at this time; many honor St. Patrick's Fast by making a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, where he fasted until he overcame the pagan deity Crom Cruach [Crom of the Reek])

Grand Magal de Touba -- Touba, Senegal (commemoration of the departure into exile of Ahmadou Bamba to Gabon, a Sufi religious festival, begins at sunset and runs through nightfall tomorrow)

Lincoln Penny Day -- US (the Lincoln Cent entered circulation on this day in 1909, and is one of the longest running coins in continual production in history)

    Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day -- if the US is really determined to keep the littlest coins, the least we can do is pool them together in the trays so conveniently found in stores and restaurants

Loch-mo-Naire Pilgrimage -- Loch mo Naire, Scotland (tonight from midnight to 1am tomorrow is the magical hour, complete the ritual there to be healed by the waters because of magic stones in the water that a Celtic priestess put there) 

Make Some Old Fashioned Lemonade Day

National Coloring Book Day

National Doll Day -- US (another with its own Facebook page) 

National Friendship Day -- US (designated by Congress in 1935)

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Nuestra Senora de los Angeles -- Costa Rica (Feast of Our Lady of the Angels)

Shimizu Minato Matsuri -- Shimizu City, Japan (through the 4th, commemorates the reopening of Shimizu Port to international trade)

Sisters' Day® -- celebrating the bond between sisters, as begun by Tricia Eleogram; a wiki page on how to celebrate this day 

St. Elias' Day (Elijah the Prophet) related observance

     Iliden -- Bosnia-Herzegovina; Ukraine; other Slavic countries where he is titled St. Ilia 

     Republic Day -- Macedonia

St. Eusebius of Vercelli's Day (Patron of Vercelli, Italy)

Worldwide Forgiveness Day -- sponsored by the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance    

Anniversary Today:

The first US Census is recorded, 1790

Birthdays Today:

Edward Furlong, 1977

Michael Weiss, 1976

Sam Worthington, 1976

Mary-Louise Parker, 1964

Victoria Jackson, 1959

Butch Patrick, 1953

Kathryn Harrold, 1950

James Fallows, 1949

Joanna Cassidy, 1944

Wes Craven, 1939

Lamar Hunt, 1932

Peter O'Toole, 1932

James Baldwin, 1924

Carroll O'Connor, 1924

Myrna Loy, 1905

Jack L. Warner, 1892

Elisha Gray, 1835

Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant, 1754

Today in History:

Philip II of Macedon leads his army to defeat the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, which secured Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean, BC338

Hannibal leads his Corinthian army to defeat the superior forces of Rome, BC216

Henry Hudson sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean, 1610

First United States Census, 1790

First parachute jump in the US, 1819

Japan's samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, 1870

Andrew Hallidie tests the first cable car system in San Francisco, 1873

Wild Bill Hickok meets his death; shot in the back while playing poker, his hand, a pair of Aces and a pair of eights, is now called "Dead Man's Hand", 1876

Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary) dies, 1903

Typhoon in China kills about 60,000, 1922

The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson, 1932

Pakistan is re-admitted back into the Commonwealth of Nations, 1989

Iraq invades Kuwait, setting the stage for the Gulf War, 1990

Two previously unknown works by Mozart - a concerto movement and a prelude, are performed in Salzburg, Austria, 2009

The U.S. Government estimates the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, 2010

The first footage of white giraffes (giraffes with leucism) is posted by the Hirola Conservation Program in northeastern Kenya, 2017

Great Britain’s Prince Philip, age 96, makes his final solo public appearance before retiring from public engagements, 2017

Apple becomes the first American publicly listed company to reach $1 trillion in value, 2018

Archaeologists confirm they have found the oldest library in Germany, in Cologne, dating back to 2AD and possibly holding as many as 20,000 scrolls, 2018

Saudi Arabia announces it is enacting news rules for women including allowing them to travel independently abroad without a male guardian's permission, 2019

SpaceX safely completes its first crewed mission when NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken splash down in the Gulf of Mexico in their Dragon capsule, 2020

Scientists confirm fossils found in the Ica desert in Peru are from a creature heavier than a blue whale, making this Perucetus colossus the heaviest creature which ever lived, 2023

In a rare podium sweep, France wins the men's BMX with Joris Daudet, Sylvain André, and Romain Mahieu going 1-2-3 at the Paris Olympics, 2024