A to Z & Wordless Wednesday: Estate

The church ladies met at a member's home, ah, er, estate.

Walk in the front door and you see statuary.

Turn the other way, more statuary.

Dining area where we had a simple lunch.

Artwork everywhere.

Closer view of the antique piano.

We sat near here for our meeting.

Looking into the courtyard out back.

Heading out toward the grounds.

Work barn, built on the pattern of a chapel.

Art being restored in the work barn.

So many points of interest.

Pecan tree grove, well, part of it.

Around each corner, more to explore if i'd had the time.

Down the hill and on another two miles, it's all part of their estate.

At the bottom of the hill, the pond the Army Corps wouldn't let them build, but the beavers so kindly installed for them!

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

Today is:

Act of Self Determination Day -- Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Animated Cartoon Day -- date of release, in 1908, of Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, often considered the first actual animated cartoon

Army Day -- US (by proclamation of FDR in 1942)

California Poppy Day -- California, US (state flower)

Chakri Dynasty Day and  King Rama I Memorial Day -- Thailand

Drowsy Driver Awareness Day -- please pull over and take a nap when you need to

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace -- UN (on the anniversary of the date of the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896)

Jump Over Things Day -- probably started by the same people who brought us Walk Around Things Day on the 4th; as if friends and family aren't looking at you strangely enough after that one

National Caramel Popcorn Day

National Day of Hope -- US; recognizing victims of child abuse and neglect, a day to recommit to make the world safe for children

National Student Athlete Day -- US

National Walking Day -- US (sponsored by the American Heart Association) 

New Beer's Eve -- US (unofficial celebration of the end of Prohibition; beer became legal to sell again on tomorrow's date in 1933)

North Pole Day -- Peary and Co. arrived there this day in 1909

Paraprofessional Appreciation Day -- honoring the contributions of paraprofessionals everywhere

Plan Your Epitaph Day -- figure out how you want to be remembered, and then live that way! (some sites celebrate this on Nov. 1)

President Ntaryamira Day -- Burundi (anniversary of assassination)

Sorting-Out of the Doggets Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Sixtus' Day (Patron of Alatri, Italy)

Tartan Day -- Scottish diaspora of Canada and the US (anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320)

Teflon Day --  Polytetraflouroethylene resin was developed by Roy J. Plunkett while working for  E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in 1938

Think About Spring Cleaning Day -- don't do it, just think about it

Twinkie Day -- the snack cakes that will never go away were invented on this day in 1930

Whole Grain Sampling Day -- sponsored by the Whole Grains Council



Birthdays Today:

Candace Cameron, 1976
Zach Braff, 1975
Ari Meyers, 1969
Paul Rudd, 1969
Marilu Henner, 1952
John Razenberger, 1947
Barry Levinson, 1942
Philip Austin, 1941
Roy Thinnes, 1938
Merle Haggard, 1937
Billy Dee Williams, 1937
Andre Previn, 1929
James Watson, 1928
Gerry Mulligan, 1927
Lowell Thomas, 1892
Rose Schneiderman, 1882
Butch Cassidy, 1866
René Lalique, 1860
Raphael, 1483


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Barney & Friends"(TV), 1992
Post-It Notes(first day of sale), 1980
"Entertaining Mr. Sloane"(Play), 1964
"Little Orphan Annie"(Radio series), 1931
"La Double Inconstance / Double Inconsistancy"(Play), 1723


Today in History:

Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus, BC46
The Roman army under the command of Stilicho stymies the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia, 402
Charlemagne confirms his father Pepin the Short's "Donation of Pepin," which had established the Papal States, 774
King Richard I, The Lionheart, of England dies from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder, 1199
The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath, 1320
The Italian poet Petrarch first sees his beloved Laura, 1327
At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town , 1652
An earthquake devastates Dubrovnik, then an independent city-state, 1667
Peter the Great of Russia ends the tax on men with beards in that country, 1722
Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Siam (modern day Thailand), who is overthrown in a coup d'état, 1782
The Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic in France, and the period known as the Reign of Terror begins, 1793
John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, 1808
Celluloid, the first plastic, is patented, 1869
The city of Vancouver, BC, is incorporated, 1886
The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City is dedicated, 1893
In Athens, the first modern Olympic Games are opened, 1,500 years after being banned by Emperor Theodosius I; James Connoly of the US becomes the first gold medalist of the modern games, 1896
The Kishinev pogrom forces thousands of Jews to seek refuge in Israel and the West, 1903
Robert Peary and Matthew Henson allegedly reach the North Pole, 1909
Governor Huey P. Long is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1929
Mohandas Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Thus he starts the Salt Satyagraha, 1930
Launch of Early Bird, the first communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, 1965
The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter, 1973
Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India, 1998
Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment, 2004
Scientists announce the discovery of three new animal species that spent their entire lives without oxygen, 2010
In England, lawmakers ban the display of tobacco products, hoping the move will lead to a reduction in the number of youths who smoke, 2012