Monday, June 29, 2026

A Cow? (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Northern Lights

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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!


Our little Annie is getting better about saying words properly, but she will still sometimes say something which leaves us scratching our heads.  The other day she asked me for what sounded like, "A cow."


A cow? i asked her.


"A cow!" she emphatically nodded.


Show me what you mean, i said and she led me to the fridge, which i opened, and pointed to a drawer from which, when also opened, she plucked and avocado.


"A cow!" she said with glee.


She then proceeded to devour two "acows" in short order.












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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 Northern Lights.


I rather have some envy

of those who get to see

the Northern Lights above them

with some regularity.


I've visited many places,

from ruins to cathedrals to palace,

but never gotten up north to see

the aurora borealis.


So i'll put it on my bucket list

to try to get some views

when someday I hope to plan

a lovely Alaska cruise!



Future themes are:


June 29 Northern Lights (Today!)

July 5 Moody

July 12 Bonsai Tree

July 19 Telescope


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


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Today is:


Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia


Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian

     St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers

     St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves

     a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna

     Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)

     Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul


Full Strawberry Moon / Rose Moon; related observances

     Ancient Celtic month Equos (horse-time) begins

     Nayon Full Moon -- Mayanmar

     Poson Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka


Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!


Independence Day -- Seychelles


Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Kirkpinar, Edirne, Turkey (since 1362, the oldest wrestling festival in the world as well as the oldest continually running, sanctioned sporting event in the world, in which men clad in leather britches and covered in olive oil wrestle; through Sunday)


National Almond Butter Crunch Day


National Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate


Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto


Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences


St. Mary Salome's Day -- mother of John Mark, writer of the Gospel According to St. Mark, owner of the home where the Last Supper was held and the Apostles gathered after the Crucifixion


Thangka Unveiling at Tashihungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival, in which the large Thangka with the image of Buddha on it is unfolded in public; also celebrated as Amitabha Buddha Day, or the birth anniversary of the Buddha) related observance

    Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)


Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today



Birthdays Today:


Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008

Amanda Donohoe, 1962

Sharon Lawrence, 1962

Fred Grandy, 1948

Richard Lewis, 1947

Gary Busey, 1944

Robert Evans, 1930

Ray Harryhausen, 1920

Slim Pickens, 1919

Bernard Herrmann, 1911

Nelson Eddy, 1901

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900

James Van Der Zee, 1886

William James Mayo, 1863

George Washington Goethals, 1858

Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858



Debuting/Premiering Today:


Moonraker(Film), 1979



Today in History:


An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512

Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613

Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786

Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850

Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864

France annexes Tahiti, 1880

The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888

Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891

Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895

France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922

Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937

Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974

The Seychelles  become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976

The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995

Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007

News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

The Beijing Times reports that up to 30% of the Great Wall of China has disappeared, partly due to natural forces of decay and partly due to people stealing bricks, 2015

Iraqi forces retake the remains of the destroyed Great Mosque of al-Nuri from the Islamic State; it was the symbolic site where their leader had declared a "caliphate", 2017

Lytton, British Columbia, records Canada's highest-ever temperature of 49.6C (121.3F), before being destroyed by a wildfire the next day, 2021

Earth records its shortest day since scientists began using atomic clocks to measure its rotational speed, concluding one spin in 1.59 milliseconds less than the standard 24 hours, 2022

In a 6-3 ruling, the US Supreme Court finds race-based admissions programs used to  increase diversity are illegal under the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, 2023

Sunday, June 28, 2026

Well Slept (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.



Grandma always loved telling or hearing a good joke.  Now it's very seldom she has one to tell, but she's always up for being cheered up and we like to oblige if we can.


Clothile done be tellin' Boudreaux she be needin' a joke to tell at de book club, since dey allus be tryin' make each other laugh.


An' Boudreaux say, "Why don' you go take you a nap an' maybe you wake up wit' de joke?"


An' Clothile say, "Mais, I's only goin' be wakin' up wit' de joke if'n you come take de nap wit' 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.  


These days, i get what i get and i can't let it get me upset.


It's hard to get good pictures of the wiggle-worm that is Emmie.  





I really like seeing new trees being planted and nurtured.  






This metal welcome sign made me smile.  





I like looking for unique mailboxes.  




They have a nice front porch on which to sit and watch the world go by.  






Getting closer, i noticed a pollinator friend.










Sky shots.









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This week, Cookie and Emmie want to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.  






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Today is:


America's Kids Day -- founded to encourage parents to teach their children the value of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness


Constitution day -- Ukraine


Descendent's Day -- on the final Sunday of June each year, an encouragement for all the world's citizens to take an accounting of their activities during the prior year and how those will affect those who come after us


Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut


Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!


International Body Piercing Day -- on the birthday of James Mark "Jim" Ward, "the granddaddy of the modern body piercing movement"


International CAPS LOCK DAY -- a parody holiday created by Derek Arnold, a user on Metafilter, in 2000


Log Cabin Day -- The Log Cabin Society, dedicated to preserving log cabins and the old-fashioned ways of life; many places that have historic log cabins plan big events the last Sunday in June to celebrate


Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)


Mother's Day -- Kenya


National Ceviche Day


National Tapioca Day


Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date


Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969


St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)


St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus (religious festivities with the archbishop officiating and a procession of the icon of St. Paul through the streets, through tomorrow)


St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations


Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian, based on the traditional Julian Calendar date

     a recognized holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina



Anniversaries Today:


Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919



Birthdays Today:


Kellie Pickler, 1986

Steve Burton, 1970

Danielle Brisebois, 1969

John Cusack, 1966

Mary Stuart Masterson, 1966

Mark Grace, 1964

John Elway, 1960

Thomas Hampson, 1955

Alice Krige, 1954

Kathy Bates, 1948

Gilda Radner, 1946

Bruce Davison, 1946

Turkan Soray, 1945

Pat Morita, 1932

Mel Brooks, 1926

Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1906

Richard Rodgers, 1902

Clara Louise Maass, 1876

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712

John Wesley, 1703

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577

Henry VIII, King of England, 1491



Debuting/Premiering Today:


The Nutty Professor(Film), 1996

"Amos 'n' Andy"(TV), 1951

"Quiz Kids"(Radio), 1940



Today in History:


Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098

Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389

Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635

The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838

The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841

The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914

The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919

The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922

Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967

COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991

Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001

The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006

The U.N. reports 10 million people are effected by the worst drought in 60 years, 2011

A power company uncovers a Neolithic wooden trackway 2,300 years old in Suffolk, England; it will become one of the largest archaeological digs in Europe at 16,000 square meters, 2018

For the first time since the position was created in 1343, Amsterdam elects a woman mayor, Femke Halsema, 2018

Due to lack of rainfall dropping the water level in the Mosul Dam reservoir, a 3,400-year-old Bronze Age palace from the Mittani Empire is uncovered on the banks of the Tigris River, 2019

AirCar, a prototype flying car capable of flying 1,000km (600 miles), at heights of up to 8,200ft (2,500m), completes a 35 min test flight between Nitra and Bratislava airports in Slovakia, 2021

Rocket Lab launches NASA's CAPSTONE from Mahia peninsula, New Zealand, to orbit the Moon, research for future Gateway and Artemis missions, 2022

A US Supreme Court decision clears the way for states to place bans on homeless people sleeping in public, 2024