Friday, July 3, 2026

What Am I, a Pillow? (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, and Nature Friday

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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!


Kittens can sleep in the strangest ways, and some of them don't seem to mind being squashed.






From this angle above, you can't even tell he's under there!






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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. I tend to forget _______________________.


2. I celebrate the 4th of July by _____________________.


3. I was a fan of _________ before it became popular.


4. I see _________ in my future.



1. I tend to forget   anything which is not written down or part of a well-established routine.


2. I celebrate the 4th of July by   working, babysitting, or, if it's on a Sunday, going to church.  Yes, i am boringly predictable in some things, and people want their houses cleaned or their kids watched even on a holiday.


3. I was a fan of   herbal or home remedies   before it became popular.


4. I see   finding a new client   in my future.




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


These two trees have grown so closely they are now intertwined, a crepe myrtle and, I believe, a water oak.








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Today is:


Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)


Air Conditioning Appreciation Days begin -- Northern Hemisphere (around here, they last until Thanksgiving!)


Compliment Your Mirror Day -- remind your mirror how great it is to have an owner like you, and look at other mirrors to meet to see if they greet you with a smile


Dipolieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus as god of the city)


Disobedience Day -- internet generated, but if you have a bone to pick, use your civil disobedience today to let it be known! 


Dog Days of Summer begin (according to the almanac, but not in all cultures)


Eat Beans Day -- bring the humble legume up to main dish status!


Fiesta del Fuego -- Santiago, Cuba (festival of fire, through the 9th)


Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands


Independence Day -- Belarus(1944)


International Plastic Bag Free Day -- working toward a plastic bag free world 


National Chocolate Wafer Day


Stay Out of the Sun Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; for health's sake, give your skin a break!


St. Thomas the Apostle's Day (Patron of architects, blind people, builders, carpenters, construction workers, geometricians, masons, people in doubt, stonecutters, surveyors, theologians; against blindness, doubt; Certaldo, Italy; Ceylon/Sri Lanka; East Indies; India; Pakistan)


Virgin Islands Emancipation Day -- US Virgin Islands



Anniversaries Today:


Prince Alois of Liechtenstein marries Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, 1993

Ted Kennedy marries Victoria Anne Reggie, 1992

Idaho becomes the 43rd US State, 1890



Birthdays Today:


Moises Alou, 1966

Thomas Gibson, 1962

Tom Cruise, 1962

Montel Williams, 1956

Alan Autry, 1952

Betty Buckley, 1947

Dave Barry, 1947

Kurtwood Smith, 1942

Tom Stoppard, 1937

Pete Fountain, 1930

Ken Russell, 1927

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, 1908

Franz Kafka, 1883

George M. Cohan, 1878

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, 1870

Samuel Huntington, 1731(O.S. date)



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"ITV News at Ten"(TV), 1967

"Mister Peepers"(TV), 1952



Today in History


Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792, 987

Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain, 1608

Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret, 1767

Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published, 1767

George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1775

The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens, 1819

The last pair of Great Auks is killed, 1844

Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans, 1848

Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average, 1884

Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile, 1886

The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting  by hand, 1886

World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h), 1938

The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad, 1969

First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS, 1981

The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland, 1996

Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth, 2006

New Zealand sustains a major earthquake, with minor damage reported, 2012

In El Paraiso, Peru, property developers destroy a 4,000-year old pyramid, 2013

In Belgium, King Albert II abdicates his throne to son, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, due to health reasons, 2013

Health insurance company Aetna announces that it will pay $37 billion to acquire rival company Humana, 2015

Souad Abderrahim is elected the first female mayor of Tunis, Tunisia, 2018

The worst wildfires in Cyprus' history begin in Limassol district, 2021

Sri Lanka says it has less than one day's worth of fuel remaining, as its economic crisis deepens, 2022

A study in the UK of the running pattern of the hippopotamus shows they can get going so fast they become temporarily airborne with all four feet off the ground, 2024

Archaeologists announce the discovery of a 3,500-year-old ancient city in Peru named Peñico, 2025


Thursday, July 2, 2026

In Their Own Good Time (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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We can hope and predict, plot and plan, then things have a way of happening in their own good time no matter what.


Daughter-in-Law was unexpectedly induced Monday afternoon, and after 18 hours of labor, little Ben was safely delivered.


He defied odds and was the same weight his big sister Annie had been at birth, and was breathing just fine though low weight and not practicing the in-utero breathing sufficiently were the concerns they'd had and why they induced labor.


Meanwhile, Annie and i spent two and a half days and together and as a GG(GranGran), i gotta tell ya, having them all the time is more draining than the housekeeping i do for a living and i have no idea how i managed to raise 4 of them plus any friends who moved in.


The doctors squawked about making sure he stayed in there for 36 hours straight, "Just to be sure," which would have put them getting home close to midnight Wednesday or perhaps being delayed until Thursday morning, but they begged and the baby did so well everyone who makes those decisions relented and they were home and settled by 7pm Wednesday.


Once again Ms. G got the short end of the deal as i could not work Wednesday and they were home too late for me to get to Bible study but i'll catch the recording before next week, and never bother planning too far in advance when a baby is due is all i can say.



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





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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!






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







Today I got a really good break,

my people left an unguarded steak!

I helped myself, licked the platter clean,

and now I'm lying down to dream!



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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 #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law, and little Ben got back from the hospital a bit earlier than expected so they could settle in.  Annie is thankful they are home, too.






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Today is:


Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)


Fast of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz (Tzom Tammuz) -- Judaism (a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the tablets by Moses, the disruption of Temple services in 423BCE, and the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem right before the Temple was destroyed in 70AD; as a minor fast it begins today at dawn and ends at nightfall)


Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao


Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day -- as proposed by Beverly Beuermann-King, because you don't want to blow it when your big opportunity comes because you are afraid to speak out!


I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)


National Anisette Day


Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)


Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures


St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)


Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!


Violin Lovers' Day


World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*) 


*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!



Anniversary Today:


Prince Albert of Belgium marries Paola Ruffo di Calabria, 1959



Birthdays Today:


Lindsay Lohan, 1986

Ashley Tisdale, 1985

Johnny Weir, 1984

Jose, Jr., and Ozzie Canseco, 1964

Jimmy McNichol, 1961

Ron Silver, 1946

Vicente Fox Quesada, 1942

Richard Petty, 1937

Polly Holiday, 1937

Dave Thomas, 1932

Medgar Evers, 1925

Dan Rowan, 1922

Ken Curtis, 1916

Thurgood Marshall, 1908

Jean René Lacoste, 1904

Hermann Hesse, 1877

Thomas Cranmer, 1489



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"The Andy Williams Show"(TV), 1957

"The Lawrence Welk Show"(TV), 1955

"Finlandia"(Sibelius' Op. 26), 1900



Today in History:


Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698

Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777

Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881

Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893

Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897

The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937

The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962

North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976

The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001

Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002

Planetoid Pluto's fourth and fifth moons officially receive the names Kerberos and Styx from the International Astronomical Union, 2013

British Petroleum agrees to compensate the US government and states bordering the Gulf of Mexico $18.7 billion for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 2015

British divers discover 12 boys and their coach alive in Tham Luang Nang Non cave, Thailand, after being trapped for 9 days by monsoon flooding, 2018

A newly rediscovered Lewis chess piece sells at auction for £735,000 in London, 2019

The British Darts Organisation’s commercial arm, BDO Enterprises Ltd, goes into liquidation due to lack of sponsorship, 2020

Excavations at burials near Tel Yehud in Israel from the 14th century BC reveal the earliest known evidence of the use of opium, 2022

Sierra Leone bans marriage for those under 18, aiming to protect the 1/3 of girls who are forced to marry before adulthood, 2024