Mike and Marley (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, Nature Friday, and Pet Photo Fails 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!

Mike and Marley woke up enough to snap a Feline Friday photo.

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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. _________ is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.

2. _________ is the most unusual item in my refrigerator.

3. My _________ is lacking.

4. I have more than enough _________.

1. _________ is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.   I don't believe in luck, but my biggest blessings are my children/grands.

2. Kung Pao Brussels Sprouts from Trader Joe's  is the most unusual item in my refrigerator.

3. My   dedication to get more exercise  is lacking.   I really do need and want to exercise more, but mornings are too rushed and evenings i'm generally too bushed.

4. I have more than enough   cleaning clients for the moment.

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

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

These two kittens wouldn't hold still, it was hard to clean their cage, and all the photos are really a blur.

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Today is:

Ambarvalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (purification festival to Ceres, date approximate)

Ascension of Baha'u'llah -- Baha'i

Castleton Garland Celebration -- Derbyshire, England (a Garland King and Lady ride the bounds of the parish on white horses, after which the garland the King wore is placed on the church tower; possibly dating back to Oak Apple Celebrations)

Democracy Day -- Nigeria

End of the Middle Ages Day -- considered such by many historians because of the fall of Constantinople on this day in 1453

Feast of Mars -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers -- UN

Learn About Composting Day -- can't find a sponsor for this day, but there is a week sponsored each year here; and you can learn about composting here, too 

Mount Everest Day -- Nepal (declared on the anniversary of first ascent in 1953)

National Coq Au Vin Day

Oak Apple Day / Royal Oak Day -- England (celebration of the restoration of the monarchy; no longer officially recognized, but many localities have traditions that have grown up around this date which are still celebrated)

Pink Flamingo Day -- Don Feathersone created the first one on this day in 1957

Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day -- supposedly dating back, in Europe and the Americas, to the days when you put a piece of cloth in your larder for good luck; why it became a pillow no one knows

Runic Half-Month of Odal (home, possessions) commences

Squoosh an Ice Cream Sandwich Day -- rules say you must squoosh, not squish or squash!

St. Bona of Pisa's Day (Patron of couriers, flight attendants, guides, pilgrims, travelers; Pisa, Italy)

Anniversaries Today:

Rhode Island becomes the 13th US State, 1790

Wisconsin becomes the 30th US State, 1848

Birthdays Today:

Noel Gallagher, 1967

Lisa Whelchel, 1963

Melissa Etheridge, 1961

Adrian Paul, 1959

Rupert Everett,1959

Annette Bening, 1958

LaToya Jackson, 1956

Danny Elfman, 1953

Anthony Geary, 1947

Kevin Conway, 1942

Al Unser, Sr., 1939

Francis Thomas "Fay" Vincent, Jr, 1938

Paul Erlich, 1932

John F. Kennedy, 1917

Tenzing Norgay, 1914

T.H. White, 1906

Bob Hope, 1903

Oswald Spengler, 1880

G.K. Chesterton, 1874

Patrick Henry, 1736

Today in History:

Ottoman armies under Sultan Mehmed II Fatih capture Constantinople after a siege, ending the Byzantine Empire, 1453

Charles II (on his birthday) is restored to the throne of Great Britain, 1660

Treaty of Middle Plantation establishes peace between the Virginia colonists and the local Natives, 1677

The right of Canadians to keep Indian slaves is upheld at Quebec City, 1733

In Patrick Henry's historic speech against the Stamp Act, he answers a cry of "Treason!" with, "If this be treason, make the most of it!" 1765

Present constitution of Switzerland takes effect, 1874

Chemist John Pemberton places his first advertisement for Coca-Cola, the ad appearing in the Atlanta Journal, 1886

Igor Stravinsky's ballet score The Rite of Spring receives its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot, 1913

Ocean liner RMS Empress of Ireland sinks in the Gulf of St. Lawrence with the loss of 1,024 lives, 1914

Bing Crosby, the Ken Darby Singers and the John Scott Trotter Orchestra record Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", the best-selling Christmas single in history, for Decca Records in Los Angeles, 1942

Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1953

First of the annual Bilderberg conferences, 1954

Amputee Steve Fonyo completes cross-Canada marathon at Victoria, British Columbia, after 14 months, 1985

Space Shuttle Discovery completes the first docking with the International Space Station, 1999

Olusegun Obasanjo takes office as President of Nigeria, the first elected and civilian head of state in Nigeria after 16 years of military rule, 1999

A WWII Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C., US, 2004

Scientists describe the 160-million-year-old fossil of Aurornis xui as the most basal species of Avialae, possibly shifting the evolutionary position of the Archaeopteryx as the oldest known bird, 2013

A heatwave in Karachi, Pakistan, kills 65 as temperatures soar above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, 2018

The world's smallest surviving baby, a girl, is discharged from Sharp March Birch Hospital in San Diego after being born at 23 weeks weighing 8.6 ounces (245 grams), 2019

A man disguised as an elderly disabled woman throws cake at the Mona Lisa in an unsuccessful vandalism attempt (it is behind protective glass), 2022

For the first time since apartheid ended 30 years prior, the ANC loses its majority in Parliamentary Elections in South Africa, 2024

The Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan declare states of emergency due to rapidly expanding wildfires, 2025

Your Stuff's More Fun (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

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Ms. G has a sinus infection which has sapped her energy and while she's been tested and found negative for everything contagious, she sounds as if she might be passing something around and is better off staying home.

Thus i found myself again in a store on the phone with her, detailing how much things were so she could decide which to buy, telling her what brands and flavors of things were on the shelf for her selection, and etc., and then hauling it all back.

After putting everything away, she had me bring a chair to the hall to tackle the nefarious hall closet, holder of everything from spare linens to first aid, light bulbs to vacuum cleaner bags, the closet from which everything tumbles if you look at it incorrectly.

This is one of those areas where she keeps saying, "I need to get in here and deal with all this crap," but the fact we pull some things out, cram other stuff in and then she says, "I'm not dealing with the rest of it now," and it all gets chucked back in, crammed fuller than ever, tells me she really has no interest in doing it.

As much as she fusses about always being called away from her own to-do list in order to do for others, she really doesn't seem to want to tackle her own boring closets and overdue projects.

She has fun running the roads and tackling other people's projects instead, and if you meet her and let her do it, she'll try to turn you into one of her projects, too.

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

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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!

I like the way the hinges on this fence almost look like butterflies.

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

What's in the attic in Great Uncle James' box?

Is it a real treasure or just his old sweat sox?

Do we have the key so we can open the locks?

Is it mundane stuff or are we in for shocks?

Did he sail the seven seas or was he off his rocks?

Is there a diary or gold in the form of blocks?

Oh, tell me, tell me, please, what's in Uncle James' box?

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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 our Chewy autoship order came in.  Link Linker the Stinker was starting to worry he was going to starve!

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Today is:

Araw ng Watawat -- Philippines (Flag Day)

Armed Forces Day -- Croatia

Downfall of the Dergue Day/National Day -- Ethiopia

National Brisket Day

National Hamburger Day

Republic Day -- Armenia; Azerbaijan

Slugs Return From Capistrano Day -- where they spent the winter, so don't go out on the patio barefoot until the first frost; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

St. Bernard of Montjoux's Day (Founder of Alpine hospices; Patron of Alpinists, the Alps, mountain climbers, mountaineers, skiers, and travelers in the mountains)

Whooping Crane Day -- US (birth anniversary of the first crane born in captivity; because those born in captivity refused to breed after they grew up, the attempt to restore numbers this way was discontinued, but these are beautiful birds are worth saving)

Women in Trousers Day -- US (on this day in 1923, the US Attorney General announced his determination that it was indeed legal for women to wear trousers anywhere)

World Hunger Day -- The Hunger Project      

Anniversary Today:

Amnesty International is founded, 1961

Sierra Club is founded, 1892

Birthdays Today:

Joseph Cross, 1986

Carey Mulligan, 1985

Jesse Bradford, 1979

Sicily Yoder, 1969

Kylie Minogue, 1968

Glen Rice, 1967

Christa Miller, 1964

Sondra Locke, 1947

John Fogerty, 1945

Rudolph Guiliani, 1944

Gladys Knight, 1944

Annette, Cecile, Emilie, Marie, and Yvonne Dionne , 1934

Carroll Baker, 1931

Barry Commoner, 1917

Ian Fleming, 1908

Jim Thorpe, 1888

Louis Agassiz, 1807

William Pitt, 1759

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Magic Show"(Musical), 1974

"Lock Up Your Daughters"(Musical), 1959

Melody(Disney cartoon film, first ever in 3-D), 1953

"Zoo Parade"(TV), 1950

"Louisiana Purchase"(Musical), 1940

"Mathis der Maler / Matthias the Painter"(Opera), 1938

"L'Arianna / Ariadne"(Opera), 1608

Today in History:

A solar eclipse occurs, as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Cyaxares in the Battle of the Eclipse; this leads to a truce and becomes one of the cardinal dates from which other dates can be calculated, BC585

James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor are married according to a Papal Bull by Pope Alexander VI and a Treaty of Everlasting Peace (which lasted 10 years) between Scotland and England is signed, 1503

The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, sets sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel (it will takes until May 30 for all of the ships to leave port), 1588

In the first engagement of the French and Indian War, Virginia militia under 22-year-old Lieutenant Colonel George Washington defeat a French reconnaissance party, 1754

Big Ben is drawn on a carriage pulled by 16 horses from Whitechapel Bell Foundry to the Palace of Westminster, 1859

In San Francisco, California, John Muir organizes the Sierra Club, 1892

In the Russo-Japanese War, the Battle of Tsushima ends with the destruction of the Russian Baltic Fleet by the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1905

John B Gruelle patents Raggedy Ann doll, 1915

The US Attorney General says it is legal for women to wear trousers, 1923

The first all color talking picture, "On With the Show", is shown in NYC, 1929

The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California, is officially opened, 1937

Neville Chamberlain becomes British Prime Minister, 1937

The women of Greece are given the right to vote, 1952

The Palestine Liberation Organization is formed, 1964

Fifteen West African countries sign the Treaty of Lagos, creating the Economic Community of West African States, 1975

Eritrea and Monaco join the United Nations, 1993

NATO declares Russia a limited partner in the Western alliance, 2002

The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars, 2002

The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal formally declares Nepal a republic, ending the 240-year reign of the Shah dynasty, 2008

'Le Monde' reports the Assad regime in Syria continues to use chemical weapons, 2013

The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has banned 11 people after an ethics investigation; the banned officials have recently or previously been indicted for corruption by the U.S. Justice Department, 2015

The discovery of a mass grave with the remains of 215 children at the former site of Kamloops Indian Residential School in British Columbia, Canada is announced, 2022

Surgeons at NYU Langone Health complete the world's first whole eyeball transplant with a partial facial transplant, for a US veteran, 2023

Nine days after its 300 residents and livestock were evacuated, Village of Blatten, in the Swiss Alps, is flattened by a glacier collapse, 2025