One Big Happy Family

Finally.

Mercy greeted her new siblings the other day with hisses, swats, growls, and what was probably very unholy language from a kitten her age. The 6 babies' reaction to her was to try to figure out why she didn't feed them, of course. At their age, every other cat is a potential mama.

After moving her food bowl to the top of a small box she can climb and they cannot -- it was one of her pet peeves that they would walk through "her" food bowl, and brought lots of biting -- she has decided they are friends not foes.

This is good and bad.

She was getting to where she was going to go stir crazy without more to play with that a feather toy and a few little stuffed mice. It's not good to let them play with your hands, it's not cute any more after they get big enough for their bites to hurt, and by then it is a habit. So i'd been spending time using one of my good winter leather gloves, dangling it and moving it over her and such. Yet i didn't want to continue that too long, as i really do need the glove for next winter.

Now she has playmates, and play she does. She's not growling or hissing, just playing, but she is very rough. That's because she is so much older than they are. Unless they gang up on her, she ends up getting the best of it. She's happy with that outcome, but they try to get away before she is quite done. It's going to be quite a surprise to her one day when one turns around and gives her back what she's dishing out. It's what kittens need, though, in order to learn that biting hurts, and to give them some boundaries.

The children have named the new crew BlueBoy, Alonzo, Ryan Dunn, Demeter, Bombularina, and RumTumTugger. They are eating well, growing fast, and scooting around the kitchen on their still shaky legs, getting into the corners and wondering how to get out. Soon they will be seasoned veterans and scurrying faster than the eye can follow, but for now they are mostly in their box, huddled and happy when their bellies are full.


Today is

Bannockburn Day -- Scotland (decisive battle of the first Scottish War of Independence, led by Robert Bruce)

Burning of the Lamps in Egypt at Sais -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar, a celebration of Isis and Neith

Calcio Fiorentino -- Florence, Italy (reviving 16th century style football in period costumes, through the 28th)

Carabobo Day -- Venezuela

Celebration of the Senses

Countryman's Day -- Peru

Day of the Caboclo -- Amazonas State, Brazil

Feast of Rahmat -- Baha'i

Fisherman's Day / Constitution Day -- Zaire

Fors Fortuna -- Ancient Roman Calendar

International Fairy Day

Jónsmessa -- Iceland (feast of St. John the Baptist, considered a magical night when cows can speak, seals take on human form, finding magical stones and herbs is propitious, and rolling naked in the dew is healing.)

Louisiana Peach Festival -- Ruston, Louisiana, US (the peach capital of Louisiana)

Lost Handkerchief Day -- Fairy Calendar

Macau Day -- China

Manila Day -- Philippines

Midsummer Day

Museum Comes to Life Day

National Bomb Pop Day

National Creamy Pralines Day

Purplehull Pea Festival -- Emerson, Arkansas, US (included the World Cup purplehull pea shelling competition, a World Championship Rotary Tiller Race, pea and cornbread cook-off, and a Purple Hull Pea Queen pageant for all ages!)

Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, Quebec

St. John the Baptist's Day and related Midsummer celebrations (patron of auto routes, candle makers, health spas, Quebec, road workers, wool workers)
Jaanipaev -- Estonia
Jani -- Latvia
Midsummer Day -- England
National Holiday -- Quebec
Saint Jonas Festival or Jonines -- Lithuania

Sunrise Rituals at Stonehenge, UK

Swim a Lap Day -- just for fun!

Take Your Dog To Work Day

World's Ugliest Dog Contest

Zuni Corn Dance -- Zuni Native Americans (for fertility of land and people, through the 27th)


Anniversaries Today:

Eton College is founded by Henry VI, 1441


Birthdays Today:

Sherry Stringfield, 1967
Joe Penny, 1956
Mick Fleetwood, 1947
Jeff Beck, 1944
Michele Lee, 1942
Phil Harris, 1904
Jack Dempsey, 1895
Roy O. Disney, 1893
Ambrose Bierce, 1842
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813


Today in History:

Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place, 972
A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion, 1374
John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland; the first European
exploration of the region since the Vikings, 1497
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, 1571
Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1604
The colony of New Jersey is founded, 1664
Kingston, Jamaica is founded, 1692
The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England, 1717
The first republican constitution in France is adopted, 1793
The decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain, the Battle of Carabobo takes place, 1821
First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français, 1880
The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens, 1901
Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract, 1916
The first airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto begins, 1918
Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the third prime minister, 1939
The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible, 1948
The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government, 1963
Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud completes his first mission, becoming the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist, 1985
John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history, 2010