Opening Salvo (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, Nature Friday, and Flashback Friday, 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!

These are the "opening salvo," so to speak of the spring kitten season.  It hasn't hit peak yet, but more and more kittens are dribbling in to the cat shelter, and soon it will be full to the brim.

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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. If I had to choose a fictional world to live in it would be _________.

2. _________ is a book or movie that changed my life.

3. As a kid, I gave _________ the name _________.

4. If I had a parrot, I would teach it to say _________.

1. If I had to choose a fictional world to live in it would be   Narnia.

2. The Bible  is a book or movie that changed my life.

3. As a kid, I gave   our solid black cat  the name   ShadowBoxer.

4. If I had a parrot, I would teach it to say   "Forget the cracker, gimme a short beer!"

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

A spring morning near the water.

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Flashback Friday is hosted by FiveSibes.  Come hop along memory lane with us!  

Just as we are starting to have kittens at the shelter now, nine years ago, we had these little guys.

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Today is:

American Academy of Arts and Letters Charter Day

Bat Appreciation Day -- sponsored by Bat Conservation International, at the time of year when bats begin awakening from hibernation

Blah, Blah, Blah Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Ebertfest-The Last Dance/Roger Ebert's Film Festival -- Virginia Theatre, Champaign, IL (in the best show biz tradition, the show will go on this one last time, through tomorrow)

Ellis Island Family History Day -- US (by proclamation of the nation's governors and in conjunction with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, a day to celebrate the achievements and contribution of the immigrants and their descendants who came through Ellis Island; on the anniversary of the day, in 1907, when 11,747 immigrants were processed through the island, the most in one day)

Equality Day -- Canada (the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms came into force on April 17, 1985, guaranteeing equality without regard to race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability)

Flag Day -- American Samoa

Ford Mustang Day -- International (on the "birthday" of the vehicle)

Independence Day / Evacuation Day -- Syria

International Day of Peasants Struggle

Myanmar New Year -- Myanmar

National Cheeseball Day

National Haiku Poetry Day -- sponsored by The Haiku Foundation

National Pet ID Week -- the week beginning April 17, you are reminded to make sure your pets are microchipped or have an ID tag, just in case

Nosy Neighbor Appreciation Day -- to be celebrated, if you dare, by greeting and thanking your neighbor for being nosy

Nothing Like A Dame Day -- a day to pay homage to the unique wit, wisdom, style and strength of dames past and present, and to cultivate the dame in you or in your life

St. Kateri Tekakwitha's Day (Patron of ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, exiles, people who have lost their parents, people ridiculed for their piety)

St. Stephen Harding's Day (Co-founder of Cistercian Order)

Thargelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (two-day festival for the birthday of Apollon and Artemis; date approximate)

Toothbrush Appreciation Day -- think of what it would be like without one!

Tortoiseshell Cat Appreciation Day -- according to Catster Magazine  

Verrazano Day -- New York, US (Celebrates discovery of New York harbor by Giovanni Verrazano, Florentine navigator)

Women's Day -- Gabon

World Hemophilia Day

Birthdays Today:

Victoria Beckham, 1974

Jennifer Garner, 1972

Liz Phair, 1967

Lela Rochon, 1966

Norman Julius “Boomer” Esiason, 1961

Sean Bean, 1958

Olivia Hussey, 1951

Don Kirshner, 1934

Cynthia Ozick, 1928

Harry Reasoner, 1923

William Holden, 1918

Thornton Wilder, 1897

Nikita Khrushchev, 1894

Adrian Constantine “Cap” Anson, 1852

J.P. Morgan, 1837

Samuel Chase, 1741

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Caveman(Film), 1981

"McCartney"(Album), 1970 (first solo album)

"No Time for Comedy"(Play), 1939

Today in History:

Geoffrey Chaucer tells his Canterbury Tales for the first time, at the court of Richard II, ten years to the day after the pilgrimage actually began, 1397

Christopher Columbus signs his contract with Spain to find the Indes, 1492

Martin Luther stands firm and refuses to recant before the Diet of Worms, 1521

Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico in what would be one of the largest invasions of the Spanish territories in America, 1797

The first Sino-Japanese War ends with the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, 1895

A one day record 11,747 immigrants are processed at Ellis Island, 1907

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios is formed by the merger of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures, and the Louis B. Mayer Company, 1924

Cartoon characters Daffy Duck, Elmer J Fudd & Petunia Pig, debut, 1937

At midnight, 26 Irish counties officially break with the British Commonwealth and form the Republic of Ireland, 1949

The Bay of Pigs Invasion fiasco begins, 1961

Ford Motor Company unveils the Mustang, 1964

Jerrie Mock becomes the first woman to circumnavigate the world by air, 1964

The ill-fated Apollo 13 spacecraft returns to Earth safely, 1970

Patriation of the Canadian constitution in Ottawa by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, 1982

The Three Hundred and Thirty Five Years' War between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly ends, 1986

NJ Devil Martin Brodeur becomes the 2nd NHL goalie to score in a playoff game, 1997

The 5th Summit of the Americas takes place in Port of Spain; Trinidad, thirty-four heads of government attend, 2005

An explosion at a fertilizer plant in the city of West, Texas, causes 15 deaths and major damage to nearby buildings, residences, a nursing home and middle school, 2013

Jazz composer and musician John Coltrane is awarded a posthumous Special Citation by the Pulitzer Prize board, 2015

A report from St. Jude Children's Research Hospital says that 10 children with SCID-X1 (Bubble Boy Disease) have been cured by gene therapy, 2019

The funeral of Prince Philip, Consort of Queen Elizabeth II, is held under Covid restrictions at Windsor Palace, 2021

Research of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch shows it now has coast creatures living and breeding in it, including jellyfish, sponges and worms, raising concerns about the spread of invasive species, 2023

Nice to Go at My Own Pace (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday, an A to Z Challenge Post

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Ms. G has been promising a friend in another state she would come visit, and had finally settled on this week to keep said promise, so i am on critter duty Monday, Wednesday and again tomorrow, Friday, as well as expected to do the usual cleaning things on Wednesday.

The difference is, when she's out of town, i can go at my own pace, which i enjoy, and i can often shuffle around what i do both on Wednesday and with the days of the week when i am on duty.

My usual plan is to go do my main grocery shopping on Friday mornings, but because of the freedom with my schedule i instead went on Wednesday, when i was near the store i like, and my plan Friday is to instead go to another place i enjoy but don't get to often as it's out of my way (i'm generally in such a rush to get to the next job, i stop at places i'm closest to when i'm on the way and let that be that).

I'd made the mistake of letting her know Ms. Sassy, one of the cats, tried to get out on Monday, thus Ms. G insisted i had to call her when i arrived at her house Wednesday to do the critter tending and the usual chores, and i knew she was going to try to micromanage, from an 8 hour drive away and by phone, my every move between the indoor and the outdoor critters due to her worry about the cat possibly escaping.

Yes, i do get it, she's worried as Ms. Sassy is 16 and only moved here over a year ago, has never been outdoors here and doesn't know the territory, and there's a nasty cat next door that picks fights, but if Ms. G thinks making me stay on the phone, with it in my hand, while juggling supplies in and out of the door is going to help me be free to block Ms. Sassy's egress, it's not, it would just make things worse.

So i called her when i arrived all right, and immediately told her i was going straight to the back yard through the fence to use the hose directly for watering the critters, not bothering to get the pitcher from indoors she generally has me use and i would use whatever supplies were already in the sealed metal cans out there; thus i preempted her attempt and she simply sighed, said she agreed that was the best way to do it while she is gone, and after trying to cast around in her mind for something else to manage from an 8 hour drive away and not finding anything, went back to her visiting and leaving me to work in peace and at my own pace.

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

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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!

This one is wobbly, i wouldn't bet on it holding through any major storms.

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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

When we got the job as film extras

we thought it would be a good hitch,

instead we look like idiots

and the costume's making me itch!

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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. Sassy didn't get out, it could have been a disaster.

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Today is:

Dronningens Fodselsdag -- Denmark (Birthday of Queen Margrethe II)

Emancipation Day -- Washington, D.C., US

Get to Know Your Customers Day (celebrated the 3rd Thursday quarterly)

Holiday of Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Jim Thorpe Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation in 1973)

National CPA's Goof Off Day -- US, the day after tax day because they deserve it!

National D.A.R.E Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation)

National Eggs Benedict Day

National Healthcare Decision Week begins -- US (to inspire, educate & empower the public & providers about the importance of advance care planning; "It always seems too early, until it's too late.")   

National Stress Awareness Day -- sponsored by the Health Resource Network (always on the first workday after paying taxes)

Offering to Demeter Khloe -- Ancient Greek Calendar (honoring Demeter as goddess of green shoots; date approximate)

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (Patron of people ridiculed for their piety, poor people, shepherdesses, shepherds, sick people; Lourdes, France; against bodily ills, poverty, sickness)

St. Padarn's Day (Celtic peoples traditionally begin weeding crops on this saint's day)

Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day -- US (the day after you pay your taxes, bring the comforts of home to the office; sponsored by PajamaGram) 

World Elephant Day/Save the Elephant Day -- created by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation of Thailand

World Entrepreneurship Day

World Voice Day -- if you've ever had laryngitis, you know how important it is to protect your voice   

Anniversaries Today:

Harry Connick, Jr. marries Jill Goodare, 1994

Founding of the University of Queensland, 1910

Birthdays Today:

Lilliana Mumy, 1994

Lucas Haas, 1976

Selena Quintanilla, 1971

Martin Lawrence, 1965

Jon Cryer, 1965

Ellen Barkin, 1955

Jay O. Sanders, 1953

Kareem Adbud-Jabbar, 1947

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, 1940

Dusty Springfield, 1939

Bobby Vinton, 1935

Herbie Mann, 1930

Edie Adams, 1929

Pope Benedict XVI, 1927

Henry Mancini, 1924

Kingsley Amis, 1922

Peter Ustinov, 1921

Barry Nelson, 1920

Merce Cunningham, 1919

Charlie Chaplin, 1889

John Millington Synge, 1871

Wilbur Wright, 1867

Jose De Diego, 1866

Anatole France, 1844

John Franklin, 1786

Hans Sloane, 1660

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Brown Sugar"(Rolling Stones single release), 1971

"Fibber McGee and Molly"(Radio), 1935

"Mazeppa"(Symphonic poem, Liszt' S 100), 1854

"The Contrast"(Comedy), 1787 (First play by an American author, Royall Tyler, to be professionally produced on stage)

Today in History:

Calculated date of the return of Odysseus from the Trojan War, BC1178

The Jewish fortress of Masada falls to the Roman Army, ending the Jewish revolt, 73

Martin Luther is called before the Diet of Worms, 1521

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Lerma founds the settlement of Salta, Argentina, 1582

The United States Senate ratified the Rush-Bagot Treaty, establishing the border with Canada, 1880

The first passenger rail opens in India, 1853

Ebenezer Bassett, the first African-American diplomat, begins his service in Haiti, 1869

US Marshal Bat Masterson fights his last gun battle, in Dodge City, 1881

Harriet Quimby becomes the first female pilot to cross the English Channel, 1912

Gandhi organizes a day of "prayer and fasting" in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British, 1919

Annie Oakley shoots a record 100 clay targets in a row, 1922

Dr. Albert Hofmann first ingests LSD, thus discovering its effects, 1943

Bernard Baruch coins the term "Cold War" to describe the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, 1947

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pens his Letter from Birmingham Jail while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama for protesting against segregation, 1963

The Katina P. runs aground off of Maputo, Mozambique and 60,000 tons of crude oil spill into the ocean, 1992

The Queen Mary II embarks on her first transatlantic voyage, 2004

President of Côte d'Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo declares the First Ivorian Civil War to be over, 2007

Elizabeth Holmes, American entrepreneur, inventor, and founder and CEO of Theranos, is named one of TIME's "100 Most Influential People" of 2015, 2015

Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper and non-classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his album "Damn", 2018

The journal Science publishes a new study which claims a multi-year megadrought is already underway in the Western US, 2020

Raul Castro confirms he is resigning, ending his family's six decade rule of Cuba, 2021

As part of a social isolation experiment, Spanish extreme athlete Beatriz Flamini exits a deep cave in Granada, Spain, after spending 500 days isolated underground, 2023

For the first time since 2002, Mount Ruang Volcano in North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia, erupts. 2024

A juvenile colossal squid (11.8 inches long) is filmed in its natural environment in the South Atlantic Ocean at 1,968 feet deep for the first time since its discovery in 1925, 2025

Chinese chess grandmaster Ju Wenjun wins her 5th consecutive Women's World Chess Championship, 2025