Saturday, April 25, 2026

Very Good Week, a Ten Things of Thankful A to Z Post

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It’s been a very good week and i’m thankful for Thankful Day when i sit and reflect on it.  I don’t say it often enough, i am thankful for the Ten Things blog hop and that it is continuing.


My Sweetie and i were going to need a rental for NOLA last week and the whole of Friday was going to be tight, but i’m very thankful we were able to get the rental and i was still able to get Becca that evening.  Saturday went well, thankfully, including returning the rental.


I’m thankful i’ve gotten in the habit of bringing a snack to NOLA with me as it can be a long day, too.


We woke Sunday morning to the drip of rain and i was immediately disappointed on Mr. Cal’s behalf, as he so loves his walks and he loathes rain.  When i arrived at Becca’s he was in her sister’s room and i thought we would get away without him even realizing what was up but no, he barked to be let out and came zooming down the stairs so merrily and so confident he would get his walk in we couldn’t disappoint him.  


I put the leash on him knowing if he felt rain, he would come back in voluntarily, but thankfully the rain was about done for the day and while we did feel the occasional drop, it wasn’t enough to stop us and Mr. Cal was most thankful, too.


Sunday evening was spent with my little appetite, um, i mean, my little Annie.  We were thankful to visit Ms. D who is doing much better, and i was thankful i didn’t run out of food for the child.  She ate half of my salad, half of my vegan tika masala, most of a can of petit pois peas, a banana, some berries, a fruit squeeze pack, bread and butter and i do not remember what all else but it felt like she was eating the whole time.


I’m just thankful it’s all real food, unlike the unfortunate children whose parents raise them on chicken nuggets, fried potatoes and pizza.


Monday morning at Carl’s i noted an emergency vehicle at the house next to Ms. S which burned a couple of weeks ago and i wondered what was wrong now.  Turns out the homeowner, Mr. Joe, was there trying to sort and throw away and salvage and he fell and broke his hip!


We’re thankful the medics were there quickly and Ms. S and Mr. D rallied right away to get his car back to the apartment where his family is staying while the house is repaired and then get his family up to the hospital to be with him.  He’s the only member of the family who can drive, so i’m thankful to know people like Ms. S and Mr. D, who will be taking Mr. Joe’s wife and daughter anywhere they need to go while his hip heals and he relearns to walk.


I’m thankful i was able to do my work as usual for Ms. S, which takes one thing off her mind.


On Tuesday i had a very happy moment with little Annie.  She usually takes her nap on her sleep blanket on the couch, but this time she insisted she be allowed to climb up onto the pillow on the other end of the couch where i also have a bit of a lie down while she snoozes.  She’s not snuggled with me while she slept since she was a wee thing and it was precious and i’m thankful.


This one keeps you on your toes.


Last week while Ms. G was out of town, Ms. Fiona dropped her phone and it broke and she was missing it, especially as she calls her sister in another state every evening.  Ms. G ordered a new one as soon as she got back in town and had the shipping expedited, and it showed up Wednesday just as she had to leave for an appointment.  I’m very thankful i know how to get out to the retirement home so i could take it to the administrative lady who had the SIM card and by that evening, Ms. Fiona was happily back to calling everyone she could.


I’m very thankful this past Thursday was the one Thursday each month where i only have one job, with Ms. V.  It went well, thankfully, and everything was timed so Ms. V was actually able to see the kitchen in its clean and pristine beauty before Carl got up to have his breakfast and mess it again.


Friday i was thankful to get all the morning things done and then stay extra with Annie while her mama had a nap.  Working full time with a toddler and while also pregnant is exhausting and she needs all the naps she can get.





You are looking at a huge thankful, Ms. Ellen of 15AndMeowing and her niece have their book out, and she gifted our little Annie a signed copy!  It’s a delightful story and you can buy it on Amazon.


The shelter last night went perfectly, there was an adoption and one preadopted kitty was taken home, everyone got fed and watered and given scritches if they wanted them!



Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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Today is:


Adonia -- Greece (women's festival mourning the death of Adonis; date approximate)


ANZAC Day -- Australia; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Cook Islands; New Zealand; Niue; Norfolk Island; Tonga


Army Day -- North Korea


Astronomy Day 2026 / Spring Astronomy Day -- Saturday at or before the first quarter moon between mid-April and mid-May 

     sponsored by The Astronomical League; find out what your local astronomy society is doing today, and go enjoy


DNA Day -- structure of DNA first published this day in 1953; human genome project ended today in 2003; related observance

     National DNA Day -- a day for teachers, students, and everyone to learn more about genetics and genomics 

 sponsored by genome.gov and the Smithsonian


Duck Appreciation Society Day -- The Duck Appreciation Society (some sites say May 10; either way, go feed the ducks if you like them, but not stale white bread, it's no better for them than it is for us)


East Meets West Day -- Allies from the East and West finally met up this day in 1945 about 75 miles from Berlin


Festival of Robigalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (to protect against corn blight; festival of Robiga and Rogibus, the brother and sister fertility gods)


Flag Day -- Faroe Islands; Swaziland


Gio to Hung Vuong Day -- Vietnam (National Day; celebrating the founding of the nation by Emperor Hung Vuong some three millennia ago)


Hairstylist Appreciation Day -- if you have a good one, let him/her know (some sites put this on the 30th)


Hug A Plumber Day -- because when you are knee deep in it, you really need them around


Independent Bookstore Day -- US (celebrate independent bookstores and support local business!)


International Marconi Day -- a 24-hour amateur radio event annually near the birth anniversary of Marconi (Apr. 25, 1874)


Liberation Day -- Italy; Portugal


National Crayola Day -- no one claims starting this holiday, observe it with your children/grandchildren/nieces/nephews/kids down the street, and remember how fun it is to color pictures


National Go Birding Day -- US (but feel free to participate wherever you are, birding is fun!)


National Herb Day -- different from the HerbDay in May, and unsponsored


National Sense of Smell Day -- US (sponsored by the Sense of Smell Institute, encouraging museums and science centers to focus on how the sense of smell plays an important role in daily life and how it interacts with other senses; While celebrating, remember those with anosmia [diminished ability or total inability to smell])


National Zucchini Bread Day -- they hold this at a time when you are not yet sick of all that zucchini you grew in the garden


Parental Alienation Awareness Day -- raising awareness of Parental Alienation or Hostile Aggressive Parenting   


Red Hat Society Day -- first Red Hat Tea Party held this day in 1998


Sinai Liberation Day -- Egypt


Save the Frogs Day -- Save The Frogs Day is the world's largest day of amphibian education and conservation action 


St. Mark the Evangelist's Day (Patron of attorneys/barristers/lawyers/notaries, captives, glaziers, imprisoned people/prisoners, lions, stained glass workers, struma patients; Egypt; Boretto, Italy; Creazzo, Italy; Infanta, Philippines; Ionian Islands; Pordenone, Italy; Sonnino, Italy; Venice, Italy; against impenitence, insect bites, scrofulous diseases, struma)


Tag des Baumes -- Germany (Tree Day/Arbor Day)


World Healing Day / World Tai Chi and Qigong Day   


World Malaria Day / Malaria Awareness Day -- WHO and the International Community


World Penguin Day -- because they begin migrating on or around this day 


World Veterinary Day -- World Veterinary Association       


20-Something Service Day -- can't find who started this one, but it's a good idea, whomever it was, whether you are 20 or older to do some community service or volunteer work regularly



Anniversaries Today:


Theodore Roosevelt National Park is established, ND, US, 1947

The United Negro College Fund is founded, 1944



Birthdays Today:


Jacob Underwood, 1980

Emily Bergl, 1975

Jason Lee, 1970

Renee Zellweger, 1969

Hank Azaria, 1964

Jeffrey DeMunn, 1947

Talia Shire, 1946

Stu Cook, 1945

Bjorn Ulvaeus, 1945

Al Pacino, 1940

"Meadowlark" Lemon, 1932

Paul Mazursky, 1930

Albert King, 1923

Ella Fitzgerald, 1918

Edward R. Murrow, 1908

William Joseph Brennan, Jr., 1906

John Henry "Pop" Lloyd, 1884

Guglielmo Marconi, 1874



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Little Murders"(Play), 1967

"Romulus the Great"(Play), 1949

"Another Language"(Play), 1932

"Turandot"(Opera), 1926

Robinson Crusoe(Publication date), 1719



Today in History:


Lysander's Spartan Armies defeated the Athenians and the Peloponnesian War ends, BC404

German geographer and mapmaker Martin Waldseemuller publishes his Cosmographiae Introductio map in which he gives the American continents their name, 1507

Highwayman Nicholas Pelletier becomes the first person executed by guillotine, 1792

Charles Fremantle arrives in the HMS Challenger off the coast of modern-day Western Australia prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom, 1829

The last survivors of the Donner Party arrive back in civilization, 1847

The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots, 1849

British and French engineers break ground for the Suez Canal, 1859

New York State becomes the first US state to require automobiles to be licensed, 1901

First DC Comic with Batman is published, 1939

Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations, 1945

Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA, 1953

The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping, 1959

Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit, 1961

Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords, 1982

American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war, 1983

Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit, 1983

The Hubble Telescope is deployed, 1990

The Human Genome Project comes to an end 2.5 years before first anticipated, 2003

The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937, 2005

Bulgaria and Romania sign accession treaties to join the European Union, 2005

The U.S. government 'condemns' international media outlets, including 'The New York Times' for publishing confidential files, 2011

 The United Kingdom reopens its embassy in Somalia after 22 years, 2013

A fossil unearthed in China has been identified as a new pterosaur species; named Kryptodrakon progenitor, the fossil is the first of its kind to show traits of pterodactyls, giant flying reptiles, 2014

Microsoft becomes the third US firm to be listed with a market worth of 1 trillion, after Apple and Amazon, 2019

Charlotte Bronte's "A Book of Rhymes", written when she was 13, sells at auction in New York for $1.25 million to Friends of the National Libraries for the Brontë Parsonage Museum, 2022

A Japanese M1 spacecraft crashes on the moon in its attempt to become the first privately-owned spacecraft to land there, 2023

The Chinese Academy of Sciences publishes the highest-ever resolution map of the moon, the "Geologic Atlas of the Lunar Globe", 2024

Friday, April 24, 2026

Umbrage (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, Nature Friday and Pet Photo Fails, an A to Z Challenge Post

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.   



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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!


Mariposa gets picky about what she is given to eat, and if she does not approve, she takes umbrage at your incompetence in being able to please her.



Really?

I don't think so.

This is more like it.

You are dismissed 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. Have you ever noticed _____________________?


2. Would you choose ________________ or ____________________?


3. Do you think it’s possible to _________?


4. What _________ would you recommend for _________?



1. Have you ever noticed   the pickiest people are usually the ones who claim they aren't picky at all?


2. Would you choose   a golden voice (a beautiful speaking/singing voice)  or   a silver tongue (the capacity to speak eloquently)?


3. Do you think it’s possible to   change the direction of your life at any age?


4. What   car   would you recommend for   lasting the longest with the fewest problems?




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


It's nice and green here, we are thankful.










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Pet Photo Fails is hosted by Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries & Meows.     


When you take kitten photos, you get a lot of photos of kittens butts.






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It's Arbor Day in the US!  Most parts of the country are now ready for planting, and we need all the good trees we can get.


Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.       


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Today is:


Ambivalence Day -- a holiday to tell your friends about, or not


Arbor Day -- US


Concord Day -- Niger


Feast of Eros -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)


Gathering of Nations -- Albuquerque, NM, US (the biggest PowWow in North America, with natives from every tribe welcome to participate, it includes singing, feasting, art exhibits, a horse parade, and much more, with non-Natives who want to learn more about Native culture welcome to attend; through tomorrow)


Genocide Remembrance Day / Martyrs' Day-- Armenia


Global Youth Service Day -- annual campaign to mobilize children and youth to make a difference (through Sunday)    


Hairball Awareness Day -- sponsored by Furminator (which product actually does work, by the way) and Hills Pet Nutrition


Kapyong Day -- Australia (Battle of Kapyong, 1951)


Loktantra Diwas -- Nepal (Democracy Day, celebrating the restoration of the Nepali Congress on this date in 2006)


Pigs in a Blanket Day


Spring Cat Cleaning Day -- because someone, somewhere, thinks you need to bathe your cat; ask the cat, he will refuse, and if you become insistent, be careful


St. Ives' Day (Patron of St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, England)


St. Mark's Eve*


World Day for Animals in Laboratories   


World Meningitis Day 



*A young lady may eat a boiled dove's egg sprinkled with salt and place

a tulip, sacred to St. Mark, in a vase next to her bed, and so she will

dream of the man she will marry.



Anniversaries Today:


Mary, Queen of Scots marries Dauphin of France, François, at Notre Dame de Paris, 1558



Birthdays Today:


Courtnee Draper, 1985

Kelly Clarkson, 1982

Eric Balfour, 1977

Chipper Jones, 1972

Cedric the Entertainer, 1964

Djimon Hounsou, 1964

Michael O’Keefe, 1955

Eric Bogosian, 1953

Jean-Paul Gaultier, 1952

Doug Clifford, 1945

Barbra Streisand, 1942

Richard M. Daley, 1942

Sue Grafton, 1940

Jill Ireland, 1936

Shirley MacLaine, 1934

Stanley J. Kauffmann, 1916

Robert Penn Warren, 1905

Michael J. Dady, 1850

George N. Bascom, 1836

Anthony Trollope, 1815

Robert Bailey Thomas, 1766

Edmund Cartwright, 1743



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Dancing at Lughnasa"(Play), 1990

"Die Jahreszeiten/The Seasons"(Oratorio, Haydn H 21/3), 1801

The Boston News-Letter(Newspaper), 1704 (first successful newspaper in the British colonies)



Today in History:


Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut, BC1479

Traditional date for the Greeks entering Troy using the Trojan Horse, BC1184

The appearance of Halley's Comet causes monks in England to predict evil happenings, 1066

"La Marseillaise" is composed by Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, 1792

The Boston "News-Letter" becomes the first successful newspaper in the colonies, 1704

The Library of Congress is established, 1800

A patent is granted for the first soda fountain, 1833

William Price of the Washington Star becomes the first reporter to be specifically assigned to the White House, 1897

The fathometer, which measures underwater depth, is patented, 1928

Winston Churchill is knighted by Queen Elizabeth II, 1953

Cosmonaut Vladimir Komarov dies in Soyuz 1, the first person to die during a space mission, 1967

Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations, 1968

The first Chinese satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, is launched, 1970

Gruinard Island, Scotland, is officially declared free of the anthrax disease after 48 years of quarantine, 1990

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is inaugurated as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church taking the name Pope Benedict XVI, 2005

Snuppy, the world's first cloned dog is born in South Korea, 2005

Iceland announces that Norway will shoulder the defense of Iceland during peacetime, 2007

Scientists in Kamchatka, Russia, report sighting the first adult white orca to be seen in the wild, 2012

Suffragist Millicent Fawcett is the first woman to have a statue erected in Parliament Square, London, England, 2018

According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, streaming music services overtake worldwide sales of CDs and vinyl for the first time, 2018

India surpasses China as the world's most populous country according to UN estimates, 2023

Sophie Lloyd, a female magician who tricked her way into the British men-only Magic Circle in 1991, is granted membership 34 years after being expelled, 2025