Hitting Doubles (Cajun Joke), Sunday Selections, and Sunday Selfie from Mr. Turtle

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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.

Everyone once in so often, Grandma still talks about sending Grandpa to buy lottery tickets.  She knows he would go if she insisted, but she never really does it.  

One day Clothile done ax Boudreaux, "What if'n you buy you a lott'ry ticket an' de same day you win de million dollar jackpot, I gets kidnapped an' de random goin' be a million dollar.  What you goin' do?"

An' Boudreaux say, "Mais, I don' t'ink I kin hit de jackpot twice in one day!"

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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.  

More bits and bobs and a few sunsets.  Each week i start with good intentions to take more photos, each week, i run through the week and wonder how i could squeeze more in. 

I like this mound of pots with plants.  

These were taken for perspective.  

These were also for perspective, the tree behind Annie is big enough around to be an oak but is actually a magnolia grandiflora.  

Sunsets.

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This week, Mr. Turtle wants to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.  

In fact, i asked him:

Hey, Mr. Turtle!

Yes?
Would you like to pose for a Sunday Selfie?

Of course!

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I link to this every year.  It's been 32 years since these events, sixteen since i wrote this piece.  Warning, sensitive content.     

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Today is:

Different Colored Eyes Day -- people with heterochromia, celebrate!

Disability Awareness Day -- Walton Hall Gardens, Warrington, UK (the world's largest "not for profit" volunteer-led disability exhibition) 

Etch-a-Sketch Day -- the toy was first manufactured on this day in 1960, timed to hit toy shelves for Christmas that year

Independence Day -- Kiribati(1979; a/k/a National Day); Sao Tome & Principe(1975)

Kronia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate, a festival for Kronos, part of which included masters and slaves switching places for a meal)

Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta -- Republic of Ireland (National Day of Commemoration, honoring all Irish people who have died in war or as part of a UN peacekeeping mission)

National Paper Bag Day

National Pecan Pie Day

Orangemen's Day (a/k/a Twelfth Day) -- Northern Ireland (Battle of the Boyne commemoration)

Rainmaker Day -- Salem, Oregon (while it is understood that in Salem, you are more likely to rust than sunburn, from 1892 until 2006, no measurable rain fell on this date in this normally wet city)

Simplicity Day -- sponsored by www.doonething.org on Thoreau's birthday, highlighting the concepts in the book Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin, and advocating finding sustainable ways to live

St. John Gualbert's Day (Patron of foresters and forest workers, park services and parks)

St. Veronica's Day (Patron of laundry workers and photographers)

Vardavar -- Armenia (continuation of an ancient pagan festival that encourages people to pull pranks, especially dousing everyone, friend and stranger, with water)

Anniversaries Today

Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, 1543 (the lucky wife who outlived him)

Birthdays Today

Erik Per Sullivan, 1991

Michelle Rodriguez, 1978

Brock Lesnar, 1977

Anna Friel, 1976

Kristi Yamaguchi, 1971

Lisa Nicole Carson, 1969

Rolonda Watts, 1959

Mel Harris, 1957

Paul Guilfoyle, 1955

Cheryl Ladd, 1951

Jamey Sheridan, 1951

Richard Simmons, 1948

Denise Nicholas, 1945

Christine McVie, 1943

Bill Cosby, 1937

Van Cliburn, 1934

Andrew Wyeth, 1917

Curly Joe DeRita, 1909

Milton Berle, 1908

Pablo Neruda, 1904

R. Buckminster Fuller, 1895

Oscar Hammerstein II, 1895

George Washington Carver, 1861

George Ohr, 1857

George Eastman, 1854

Henry David Thoreau, 1817

Josiah Wedgwood, 1730

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Northern Exposure"(TV), 1990

"Family Feud"(TV), 1976

"Evening At Pops"(TV), 1970

"The Adventures of Sam Spade"(Radio), 1946

"Baseball's Sad Lexicon (Tinker to Evers to Chance)"(Publication date), 1910

Today in History

England is unified by Athelstan of England, 927

Saladin's garrison surrenders to Conrad of Montferrat, ending the two-year siege of Acre, 1191

Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatan, burns the sacred books of the Maya, 1562

Ostrog Bible, the first printed Bible in a Slavic language, is published, 1580

The United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario, 1812

The Commonwealth Franchise Act, granting women's suffrage in Australia, is given royal assent and takes effect, 1902

Pune, India floods due to failure of Khadakvasala and Panshet dams; half of the city is submerged and the death toll exceeded 2000, 1961

A fire destroys the entire 6th floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States, 1973

Boris Yeltsin quits the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1990

Israel invades Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, 2006

A ticket holder in Britain wins the largest EuroMillions jackpot in history, 161,653,000GBP, 2011

The Rolling Stones, English rock band, celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its first performance at the Marquee Club in Oxford Street, London, 2012

Malala Yousafzai addresses the United Nations, calling for worldwide access to education, 2013

A giant iceberg, about 6,000 sq km in length, breaks away from Larsen C Ice Shelf in Antarctica, 2017

Shrinkhar Chillal, holder of the world's record for growing the longest fingernails (909.6cm/29.84ft), has the nails cut off after growing them for 66 years, 2018

Netflix's drama "Squid Game," a South Korean series, becomes the first non-English series to be nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Drama, 2022

The NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, ends with Turkey agreeing to membership for Sweden and Ukraine when certain conditions are met, 2023

New Caledonia is declared a state by France in a historic autonomy deal but remains within the Republic, 2025

Where to Start, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It's been a week of changes in some things and i've hit Thankful Day wondering where to start.

How about the beginning, or actually, late last week.

Because my Sweetie's phone died and had to be replaced last month, we'd put off our annual generator servicing, and i finally bit the bullet and called, making an appointment for the next afternoon.

The next morning, when i thought i had time to shop, i got a call, Mr. O was on his way!  My Sweetie was working for The Big Boss, so i was thankful #2 Son answered his phone and agreed to get the guy started until i could get there.

We pay a small monthly fee for them to monitor the generator through our wifi (man, what they can't do these days!) and i found out, very thankfully, it includes the annual service!  Oil changed, new oil filter, new spark plug, and it's all good, and no extra money out of pocket.

On the way home from NOLA Saturday, the A/C in Lawrence the Honda was struggling.  I was thankful it worked well enough, and i'm thankful #2 Son now knows what's wrong and it will be fixed.  Another reason to be thankful the generator did not cost, it's going to be eaten up by the A/C in the car!

Ms. A was out of town and Mr. J had a Sunday off work so he took Becca to a church in NOLA and they went to the zoo.  I missed her but was thankful to sleep a half hour later Sunday morning and still have time to do a few things around the house before going to church.

I'm very thankful i was called upon for grandchild duty Sunday night, not just with Annie, and not just for our usual playtime and visit with Ms. D, but also i got to hold our little Ben for quite some time.  He's a snuggler!

On Monday, i was thankful to first be able to get to the laundromat and get some big items i can't do at Grandma's house in the wash and started drying before i met with Ms. H, the head of the cat shelter.  They are moving to a new facility at the end of August and are looking for a once a week janitor to do the break room and bathrooms.  I'm thankful she showed me around and offered me the job.  This means, come September, i will have work again on Monday mornings.

After meeting with Ms. H, i went to Ms. D and i was thankful she let me so some dusting and cleaning blinds.  While there, #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law, and both kids stopped by so she could meet the baby and so #2 Son could talk to her about her "honey-do" list she wants someone to tackle.  They agreed he would do the work over the next few weeks, a few items at a time, and they agreed on pay, and i was thankful because sometimes the handy people you hire around here can be a bit questionable if you don't get the right one.

Tuesday is where a few things started to go sideways again, after a thankfully delightful morning with Annie, #1 Son called in the afternoon, someone speeding illegally down a left turn lane demolished his car.

We're thankful no one was hurt, and i'm thankful #2 Son has GusGus running well again so at least #1 Son has transport to work until we figure out what to do next.

Ms. G and i were both thankful i was back on duty Wednesday as Ms. Sassy Floofypants and Mr. Gray have been redecorating the whole house with long gray and black floofy fur, so the vacuuming was much needed.

I was most thankful not to miss our summer Bible study this week, and thankful Reba Rambunctious dog was there waiting, such a sweet pup.

Ms. SE's boys are doing much better about helping around the house, doing their own clothes and making our job easier, and we're very thankful.  Also, i'm thankful Emmie and Cookie both behaved, well Cookie dog always behaves but Emmie had peed on the couch the night before but she was a very good girl for us (it helps to take her outside every two hours like clockwork).

I was thankful to lie down for a short rest when we got home after doing Ms. SE's house and then Ms. GA's house.  Doubles always make me a bit shaky by evening now.

#1 Son was thankful his brother loaned him one of their cars with A/C for him to go out of town, as GusGus is fine for work but not much else in this heat.

Friday evening at the shelter went very well, we were thankful for an extra volunteer when my usual Friday evening volunteer partner, Ms. M, wasn't able to come.  There were even two adoptions!

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 All American Pet Photo Day!

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

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Today is:

Advice-to-the-Lovelorn-Day -- date, in 1896, the New Orleans Picayune first published the advice column of Dorothy Dix, Mother Confessor to Millions; it eventually ran in 300 papers for 55 years

Bald In - Bald Out Day -- sponsored by Bald Girls Do Lunch; if men can be bald and brazen, then women and children who cannot grow hair should bring bald INto their lives, and never feel on the OUTs!  

Bonfire Night -- Northern Ireland (precursor to The Twelfth a/k/a Orangemen's Day)

Bowdler's Day

Carver Day -- George Washington Carver National Monument, Diamond, MO, US

China National Maritime Day -- People's Republic of China

Convenience Store Day -- the first Seven Eleven opened on this day in 1927 in Dallas, TX; it was open 7am to 11pm, thus the name

Day of the Flemish Community -- Flemish community of Belgium, commemorates the Battle of the Golden Spurs of 1302

Feast of Theano, Philosopher, Mathematician, wife of Pythagoras, patron of vegetarianism (date approximate, supposedly when she was born)

Feast of Min -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Free Slurpee Day at Seven-Eleven -- if you have these stores where you live, stop by between 11am and 7pm to get a free 11.7oz. Slurpee (TM) today

Galicnik Svadba -- Galicnik, Macedonia (wedding festival, when one lucky couple gets to be married in a traditional "Galichka" style wedding, through tomorrow)

Imamat Day -- Ismailism

Naadam Festival -- Mongolia (a/k/a Revolution Day/National Day, traditional sporting events nationwide, but best at Ulaanbaatar, through the 13th)

National Blueberry Muffin Day

National Cheer Up The Lonely Day -- begun by Francis Pesek of Detroit, Michigan; he chose to spend his birthday as a day to promote kindness, especially the forgotten at nursing homes and shut ins who have no visitors

Reading Guilt Day -- the day you are supposed to start reading that book you only read the Cliff's Notes on in school

St. Benedict's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, cavers/speleologists/spelunkers, civil engineers, coppersmiths, farm workers/farmers, Italian architects, monks, people in religious orders, people who are dying, school children, servants who have broken their masters belongings, students; Europe; Heerdt, Germany; Norcia, Italy; Subiaco, Italy; against erysipelas, fever, gall stones, inflammatory diseases, kidney disease, nettle rash, poison, temptations, and witchcraft)

World Population Day -- UN

Birthdays Today:

David Henrie, 1989

Marie Sernehold, 1983

Michael Rosenbaum, 1972

Justin Chambers, 1970

John Henson, 1967

Greg Grunberg, 1966

Rod Strickland, 1966

Al MacInnis, 1963

Lisa Rinna, 1963

Richie Sambora, 1960

Richie Sambora, 1959

Suzanne Vega, 1959

Mark Lester, 1958

Sela Ward, 1956

Leon Spinks, 1953

Stephen Lang, 1952

Bonnie Pointer, 1951

Beverly Todd, 1946

Giorgio Armani, 1934

Tab Hunter, 1931

Harold Bloom, 1930

Yul Brynner, 1920

E.B. White, 1899

John Quincy Adams, 1767

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Space Oddity"(Single release), 1969

"The Newlywed Game"(TV), 1966

To Kill A Mockingbird(Publication date), 1960

Today in History

Admiral Zheng He sets sail on his first exploratory expedition for the Ming Dynasty, 1405

Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec, 1616

Jews are expelled from Little Russia, 1740

Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire, 1750

Captain James Cook begins his third voyage, 1776

Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille, 1789

French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons made his first comet discovery (he discovered 36 over the next 27 years, more than any other person), 1801

Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel, 1804

Waterloo railway station in London opens, 1848

Tijuana, Mexico, is formally founded, 1889

The Lumière brothers demonstrate film technology to scientists, 1895

Babe Ruth makes his Major League debut, 1914

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, 1960

The first U.S. space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, 1979

According to the UN, the Earth's population crosses the 5,000,000,000 mark, 1987

The United States announces it will reestablish full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, 1995

Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called "Barefoot Bandit", is caught in the Bahamas after a 2 year manhunt, 2010

The oldest stone tools outside of Africa are discovered in Lantian country, western China, estimated to be 2.12 million years old, 2018 

Japan’s Hayabusa2 spacecraft lands on the Ryugu asteroid 300km (185 miles) from earth for a second time to collect samples, 2019

The final Volkswagen Beetle cars roll off the assembly line in Pueblo, Mexico, ending worldwide production of the vehicle after 80 years, 2019

Rare mass anti-government protests in Cuba because of economic hardship and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic lead to widespread arrests, 2021

NASA reveals the first image from the Webb Space Telescope, cluster of galaxies called SMACS 0723 four billion light-years away, 2022

Tijuana, Mexico, sets new Guinness World Record for largest margarita at 34,419 liters (9,092.5 gallons), 2025