Wednesday, May 13, 2026

Pink! (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless WednesdayCatsynthKeith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     




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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    


This month the words/prompts are supplied by jabblog and can be found here at River's blog.


This week's words/prompts are:


1.tapestry  

2.machine  

3.apple  

4.bathroom  

5.broomstick  

6.lightning


and/or:


1. recipe  

2.order  

3.wasp  

4.explain  

5.never  

6.imagine



Charlotte's colour of the month is Gold.


use either list or both, or mix and match, just have fun.




Of course, I had to use the APPLE pie RECIPE grandmother gave us, exactly as written on the old, stained and worn piece of paper in the back of her cookbook.  None of us would IMAGINE doing anything else, as we would NEVER be able to EXPLAIN it to grandfather. 


In our family, it would be like making a TAPESTRY or quilt by MACHINE instead of by hand.  Why, it would upset the ORDER of the universe.


“Not that there’s anything wrong with other people doing it that way,” grandfather would say, “but in our family, we do it right!”


When I was very young, I asked him what would happen if we bought a store pie or machine made things, and he looked at me long and hard.  


"Well," he finally said, "one of two things would happen.  Either a WASP would follow you around for days no matter how many times you tried to swat it away with a BROOMSTICK, and it would bite you as often as it could, or you'd get struck by LIGHTNING on your bottom when you tried to use the BATHROOM, the lightning would hit the ground right next to the house and travel through the pipes right to the potty and get you!"


Chuckling to myself at the memory as I mounded the Gold heaps of apples diced just so into the pie crust, I was thankful both for modern conveniences when I needed them, and for knowing how to do things the old way and the ability to teach it to the next generation.




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Today is:


Arlington National Cemetery Day -- US (the first serviceman to be interred here was Private William Henry Christman, on this date in 1964


Bun Bung Fai (Rocket Festival) -- Yasothon, Thailand (through the 14th, teams compete to build the highest flier, with no regard for safety!)


Celtic Tree Month Huath (hawthorn) commences


Donate a Days Wages to Charity Day 2026  


Frog Jumping Day -- original date for celebrating Twain's short story


Garland Day -- Abbotsbury, Dorset, England


King Norodom Sihamoni's Birthday -- Cambodia


Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Empire (third day)


Leprechaun Day -- spread around the internet, presumably by the little people themselves, as since St. Patrick gets a day, so should they!


National Apple Pie Day


National Fruit Cocktail Day


National Nightshift Workers Day/Third Shift Workers Day -- US (remembering those intrepid souls who keep things running smoothly through the night)


National Receptionist Day -- US (because that first impression is important; National Receptionists Association)


Pilgrimage to Fatima -- Fatima, Portugal (procession, mass, and etc. to commemorate the first appearance of the Virgin of the Rosary to the three shepherd children on this day in 1917)


St Julian of Norwich's Day (Author of what is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love, around 1393)


St. Servatus' Day (3rd Ice Saint, Patron for success; against foot problems, lameness, leg problems, mice, rats, rheumatism, vermin)



Birthday Today:


Debby Ryan, 1993

Robert Pattinson, 1986

Samantha Morton, 1977

Darius Rucker, 1968

Darius Rucker, 1966

Stephen Colbert, 1964

Julianne Phillips, 1962

Dennis Rodman, 1961

Frances Barber, 1957

Stevie Wonder, 1950

Bobby Valentine, 1950

Franklyn Ajaye, 1949

Tim Pigott-Smith, 1946

Mary Wells, 1943

Ritchie Valens, 1941

Harvey Keitel, 1939

Beatrice Arthur, 1923

Joe Louis, 1914

Arthur Sullivan, 1842

Maria Theresa, 1717



Debuting/Premiering Today;


Let It Be(Film), 1970

"Paint It Black"(Single release), 1966

"The Pajama Game"(Musical), 1954

Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque for Violoncello and Orchestra (Bloch concerto), 1917

"Apollo et Hyacinthus"(opera, Mozart K 38), 1767



Today in History:


The forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother, 1568

A major earthquake in Santiago, Chile, kills 1/3 of the population, 1643

Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with eleven ships full of convicts (First Fleet) to establish a penal colony in Australia, 1787

Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia, 1830

The first performance of Finland's national anthem, 1848

Queen Victoria declares Britain neutral in the US Civil War, 1861

The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia, 1861

Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway, 1880

The Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) is established in the United Kingdom, 1912

Igor Sikorsky becomes the first man to pilot a four-engine aircraft, 1913

The first commercial FM radio station in the United States (WDRC-FM) is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut, 1939

Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons, 1940

The trade mark Velcro is registered, 1958

The Free Speech Movement is born at UC Berkeley, 1960

Dr. Zakir Hussain becomes the third President  of India and the first Muslim President of Indian Union, 1967

Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike, 1989

Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, 1994

A 33 years old British mother Alison Hargreaves, became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas, 1995

Star Trek: Enterprise broadcasts its final show in the U.S., 2005

Construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge between Romania and Bulgaria begins, 2007

In Belize, a construction company requiring road fill gravel destroys a 2,300 year-old Mayan pyramid, 2013

A 22 year old UK blogger halts the spread of a global ransomware cyber-attack by accidentally identifying its "kill switch", 2017

Undersea explorer Victor Vescovo makes the deepest dive ever to the bottom of the Mariana Trench at 10,927m (35,849ft), and finds plastic waste, 2019

The journal Nature Geoscience publishes a study showing the moon is shrinking because of moonquakes as it cools, 2019

The Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica calves the world's largest iceberg, named 'A-76,' at 1,667-square-miles (4,320 square km) , 2021

Commissioner Rob Manfred removes 17 deceased people, including "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and Pete Rose from MLB's 'permanently ineligible' list, 2025

Tuesday, May 12, 2026

A New Normal, For a While, Anyway, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  



It was odd arriving at Carl's place yesterday and no Carl there.  His room/apartment is in quite a state and i will still be going over there to clean for as long as it takes to get it deep cleaned.


Ms. V wants it to be Carl's place still, just not with as much junk and stuff in it.  She wants others to be able to use it as a guest room when needed as well.


The first thing i convinced her to let me do was throw away the bathroom rug, so old and tatty it's a trip hazard, and the shower curtain and liner, both falling apart.


I was able to Ring King the bathtub, which can only be done if the tub is totally dry, which it never was when he was there.  It took off some of the built up soap scum i've battled for years, but it's going to need more and it's now on Ms. V's purchase list.


Then i tackled the refrigerator, inside and out.  There was very little food in it, what was good got moved to the big fridge and what wasn't went right to the trash can.  


I expect to find a whole bunch of odd, weird, or funny stuff as we sort through and purge in Carl’s room.  This week, some of the fridge magnets had been on there so long they broke into pieces when i tried to remove them and had to be scraped off with a paint scraper.


Ms. V must really be trying to learn to get up earlier as she came in not long after 9am and we talked.  Among other things, she told me the room will take as long as it takes and meanwhile, since the tub and refrigerator and floor behind it were now clean and sparkly, could i suspend operations and go clean/tidy in the main house, she's having company!


Of course, i did that, and she told me about Carl.  It seems after watching pickleball the first day with his new friend, they then went to karaoke night and he got up and sang!


He's having the time of his life, apparently, making friends, trying new things, they've even worked out his schedule so he can have an afternoon nap, something he will probably revel in.  Also, they do have chapel they may go to on Sunday, and one local church sends a bus for those who want to go, but he can get up on Sunday, have breakfast, attend a service (he likes going) and then have free time until 2pm.  I'll bet he spends it sleeping!


It’s a new normal at his place for a while, cleaning, mending, tidying, making sure the room is functional and yet ready for Carl’s visits home, probably at holidays.


One thing won't change in my Tuesday posts, how about some funnies.

















Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!






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Today is:


Day of Purification of All Things -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Fibromyalgia Awareness Day   


Hug Your Cat Day -- another date given on many sites, and here's some advice about how to do it safely    


International CFS/ME Awareness Day -- bringing awareness about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis     


International Nurses Day -- birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale


Limerick Day -- birth anniversary of Edward Lear


National Nutty Fudge Day


Odometer Day -- actually first called a "roadometer", it measured wagon wheel revolutions, as 360 of them made a mile, and was invented and first used this day by William Clayton, Orson Pratt, and Appleton Milo Harmon, Mormon pioneers traveling to Utah in 1847


Olde May Day (Julian Calendar)


Rotuma Day -- Rotuma, Fiji


Saint Andrew, the First Called Day -- Georgia


Snellman Day/Day of Finnish Identity -- Finland


St. Diomma of Kildimo's Day (Patron of Kildimo, County Limerick, Ireland)


St. Francis Patrizi's Day (Patron of reconciliations)


St. Pancras' Day (2nd Ice Saint; Patron of children, oaths, treaties; Albano, Italy; Iserlohn, Germany; Pontevico, Italy; Sestino, Italy; against cramps, false witness, headaches, and perjury)





Anniversaries Today:


Mick Jagger marries Bianca De Macias, 1971

Eddie Fisher marries Elizabeth Taylor, 1959

Coronation of George VI of England, 1937

Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia, 1743

National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima, Peru (oldest in the Americas), 1551

Jagiellonian University is founded in Krakow, Poland (oldest in Poland), 1364

Richard I (Lionheart) of England marries Berengaria of Navarre, 1191



Birthdays Today:


Emily VanCamp, 1986

Cheryl Burke, 1984

Jason Biggs, 1978

MacKenzie Astin, 1973

Christian Campbell, 1972

Jamie Luner, 1971

Kim Fields, 1969

Tony Hawk, 1968

Stephen Baldwin, 1966

Emilio Estevez, 1962

Ving Rhames, 1961

Kim Greist, 1958

Bruce Boxleitner, 1951

Gabriel Byrne, 1950

Lindsay Crouse, 1948

Steve Winwood, 1948

Millie Perkins, 1938

George Carlin, 1937

Tom Snyder, 1936

Frank Stella, 1936

Burt Bacharach, 1929

Yogi Berra, 1925

Mary Kay Ash, 1918

Katharine Hepburn, 1907

Florence Nightingale, 1820

Edward Lear, 1812



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Lena Horne: The Lady And Her Music"(Musical revue), 1981

"Mary Had a Little Lamb"(Paul McCartney & Wings single release), 1972

"The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer"(Opera), 1936

The Symphony No. 1 in F minor(Shostakovich Op. 10), 1926

"L'elisir d'amore / The Elixir of Love"(Opera), 1832



Today in History:


Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome, 1328

Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of the Rathore clan, founds Jodhpur, India, 1459

Philip Lenzi places the first ice cream advertisement, in the NY Gazette, 1777

Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers; it later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses, 1789

The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15, 1870

US District Court Judge J. Dundy rules, in Standing Bear vs. George Crook, that Native Americans are persons within the meaning of the laws of the United States, 1879

Tunisia  becomes a French protectorate, 1881

In the North-West Rebellion, the four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian  government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat, 1885

Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, 1932

Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin, 1941

A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada, 1958

West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations, 1965

The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez seized by Cambodian forces in international waters, 1975

South Africa prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years, 1984

Amy Eilberg is ordained in New York as 1st woman Conservative rabbi, 1985

Fred Markham of the US becomes the first person to pedal a bike at 65mph unaided by wind, 1986

Ingrid Baeyens becomes the first Belgian woman to ascend Mount Everest, 1992

Russia and chechnya sign a peace agreement after 400 years of conflict, 1997

The Texas, US, legislature is brought to a standstill when 59 Democratic lawmakers go into hiding in a dispute with Republicans over redistricting, 2003

An 8.0 earthquake in southwest China kills more than 69,000 people, 2008

Queen Elizabeth II becomes the second-longest-reigning monarch in British history, 2011

Pope Francis canonizes the 813 martyrs of Otranto as Saints, 2013

Brazil declares an end to the Zika national emergency as cases decrease, 2017

The first images of the supermassive blackhole Sagittarius A that lies at the heart of the Milky Way captured by the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration are published, 2022

The US and China agree to a 90-day trade deal in which tariffs will drop significantly, 2025