Awww Monday: Kittens in the Kitchen

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

The view every time i step in the kitchen right now:

Feed us!  We're starving!

The view two minutes later, after i've mixed the formula:

They do love their food!

Today is:

Admission Day -- Nevada, US

Allantide -- Cornwall, England

All Hallows Eve -- Christian

All Ireland Dance Championships -- Belfast, Ireland (the world championships of Irish Dance; through next Sunday)

Apple and Candle Night -- Wales

Books for Treats Day -- San Jose, CA, US (give gently used books to kids, not candy -- feed their brains, not their cavities!)

Chiang Kai-Shek Day -- Taiwan

Day of the Seven Billion -- day in 2011 the UN declared the world population to have reached 7,000,000,000 

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (second day of the festival)
     Kukur Tihar/Kukur Puja -- Day of Dogs

Dias de los Muertos -- Mexico, esp. Michoacan and Oaxaca (through Nov. 2; ceremonies, sand sculptures, decorated altars, and parties through the nights in the cemetaries)

Dookie Apple Night -- Newcastle, England

Duck Apple Night -- Liverpool, England

Feast of Sekhmet Bast Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Inner Worlds -- Pagan (fight between the old and new year)

Founder's Day -- Girl Scouts of the USA (Juliette Gordon Low's birth anniversary)

Ghostwriter's Day

Hallowe'en or Beggar's Night

Increase Your Psychic Powers Day -- originated in England in the 19th century, some celebrated on the 30th

Jain New Year

King Father Nordom Sihanouk's Birthday -- Cambodia

Marlborough Provinical Anniversary Day -- Marlborough, New Zealand

National Candy Apple Day

National Knock-Knock Joke Day
     Knock, Knock
     Who's There?
     Police.
     Police who?
     Police stop telling knock-knock jokes!

National Magic Day -- Society of American Magicians (in honor of Harry Houdini, who died on this day in 1926, and who was president of the SoAM)

National UNICEF Day

Nut-Crack Night -- England; Scotland

October Bank Holiday -- Ireland

Old Celtic New Year's Eve

Out of the Broom Closet Day -- Pagan, Heathen, and all earth-based and ethnic religions

Reformation Day -- Protestant Christian (trad.)
     Dia de las Iglesias Evangelicas y Protestantes -- Chile
     Official Holiday -- BB, MV, SN, ST, & TH, Germany; Slovenia

Samhain (northern hemisphere) / Beltane (southern hemisphere) -- Druids, Gaels, Welsh peoples, Neopagans, Wiccans (begins at sunset)

Scare a Friend Day -- just not so much that he/she isn't a friend any more

Senior Absurdity Day -- Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY, US (a day the kids look forward to each year)

Sneak Some of the Candy Yourself Before the Kids Start Knocking Day

St. Quentin's Day (Patron against coughs)

St. Wolfgang of Ratisbon's Day (Patron of apoplexics, carpenters, paralysed people, stroke victims; Regensburg, Germany; against apoplexy, paralysis, stomach diseases, strokes)

Thump-the-Door Night -- Isle of Mann

Trick or Treat Night

Vetmaetr -- Norse Calendar (Winter Nights; beginning of winter, the New Year, and the start of Odin leading the Wild Hunt)

Youth Honor Day -- Iowa, US



Anniversaries Today:

Mt. Rushmore is completed, 1941
Nevada becomes the 36th US State, 1864


Birthdays Today:

Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, 1967
Adam Horovitz, 1966
Dermot Mulroney, 1963
Rob Schneider, 1963
Peter Jackson, 1961
Larry Mullen, Jr., 1961
John Candy, 1950
Jane Pauley, 1950
Deidre Hall, 1947
Stephen Rea, 1943
David Ogden Stiers, 1942
Ron Rifkin, 1939
Michael Landon, 1936
Dan Rather, 1931
Michael Collins, 1930
Barbara Bel Geddes, 1922
Dale Evans, 1912
Ethel Waters, 1896
Chaing Kai-shek, 1887
Juliette Gordon Low, 1860
John Keats, 1795
William Paca, 1740
Jan Vermeer, 1632


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Car Talk"(Radio), 1987 (national debut, ten years after their start as a local show in Boston)
"Jamaica"(Musical), 1957
"Capricio Espagnol"(Rimsky-Korsakov Op. 34), 1887
"Tamerlano"(Handel opera, HWV 18), 1724


Today in History:

Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites after their return to Jerusalem from exile, BC445
First All Hallows Eve observed to honor all the saints, 834
Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door, marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, 1517
Georg Ludwig van Hannover is crowned as the English King George I, 1714
Execution of Girondins at Paris during the Reign of Terror, 1793
Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents the miner's safety lamp, 1815
A standard uniform is approved for US Postal workers, 1868
A tropical cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die, 1876
John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tire, 1888
Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", 1892
Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across United States, 1913
The Battle of Beersheba of WWI marks the last successful cavalry charge in history, 1917
The first of 160 consecutive days of 100°F + temps at Marble Bar, Australia, 1923
World Savings Day is announced in Milan, Italy by the Members of the Association at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress, 1924
Mt. Rushmore sculptures are completed, 1941
The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal, 1956
Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards, 1984
EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board, 1999
Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted, 1999
Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station, which has been continually crewed since, 2000
Surfer Bethany Hamilton loses her left arm and 3 liters of blood in a tiger shark attack; within a month she would be back on her board, and competing again within the year, 2003
The NYSE reopens after its first weather related shut down since the late 19th century; the two-day closure was due to Hurricane Sandy, 2012

Silly Sunday: Sharing the Fun

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs.  The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!
1. Post a joke.
2. Link Up with the URL to your joke in the Linky Tools Widget.
3. Read my joke.
4. Leave a comment to tell me how much you enjoyed my joke.
5. Try and visit a few others participating in Silly Sunday.
6. Go to Sandee's site, linked above, and get the Silly Sunday code for your blog, too!

Yesterday i went to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  They are getting older, and Grandma is too frail to travel much or far.  Thus instead of them coming to see us at least once a month as in years past, my children have started going to visit them, and i went yesterday because it's been too long since i've seen them.

Grandma is still painting and crafting and doing art and singing at church.  Grandpa still has his hands in several projects.  The latest is a special residence he's helping raise money for, it will be run by nuns and is for homeless women and their children.

In fact, he had a whole garage full of furniture someone gave him that he is saving for that project.  They are waiting for a grant to come through and finish the building, then they will move furniture in.  He took me out there to look at it all, and asked me if i wanted or needed anything.  It had been given to him to do with as he wished, so he wanted to offer me first chance.

It felt like i was at a garage sale, with some very good quality stuff.  While i did thank him, i told him i didn't need any of it, the homeless families would need it more in their new place.  Grandma also kept offering me things from the house, saying, I'm trying to cut down and get rid of stuff, I have too much.

Speakin' of de garage sale an' havin' too much stuff, Boudreaux be done talkin' to Thibodeaux 'bout dem garage sales dey see ever' weekend.  Thibodeaux ax, "Boudreaux, do you ever go to dem garage sales?  I done quit goin', I's already gots me enough stuff in de house."

An' Boudreaux say, "Mais, I done figure out what to do at dem garage sales!  I go, an' I don' buy me nothin', I jes' sneak my stuff in wit' theirs!"





Today is:

A Family Halloween -- Billings Farm and Museum, Woodstock, VT, US (a great time for all)

Anniversary of the Declaration of the Slovak Nation -- Slovakia

Buy A Doughnut Day -- any wonder who started this one? (insert eye-roll here)

Checklists Day -- prevent tragedy, create great checklists; in honor of the development of the first well known checklist following a B-17 prototype's crash due to pilot error

Create a Great Funeral Day -- don't make your family choose the plans in the midst of grief, plan your sending away party now, it's more fun when it's done -- in advance!

Daylight Saving Time ends -- Albania; Andorra; Austria; Azerbaijan; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovena; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland (some areas); Guernsey; Holy See; Hungary; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Kosovo; Latvia; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Malta; Mexico (most areas); Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Western Sahara 

Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repressions -- most former Soviet Republics

Deepawali/Deepavali/Diwali/Divali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (for the next five days; local dating customs and government holidays for this Lunar New Year/Festival of Lights can vary)
     Kag Tihar/Kag Puja -- Day of the Crows (day one of the festival)

Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade -- Long Beach, CA, US (dress up your dog and have a howling good time)

Jounen Kweyol -- Dominica; Saint Lucia (Creole Day, one of the biggest and most colorful celebrations in both of these countries, celebrating the Creole language and culture)

Look in the Back of Your Refrigerator Day / Haunted Refrigerator Night (And hope the old hamburger isn't grazing on the moldy salad.)

Mischief Night, a/k/a Goosey Night, Devil's Night, Cabbage Night -- US

National Candy Corn Day

National Sleep-In Day -- for those who ended DST today, begun by those who want you to spend the extra hour gained resetting your clocks catching up on your ZZZZ's

Practice Winter Snuggling Night -- when it gets really cold, you'll be glad you practiced

Reformation Day/Reformation Sunday -- Protestant Christian (obs.)

St. Dorothy of Montau's Day (Patron of brides, difficult marriages, dying children, parents of large families, widows; Pomerania; Prussia)

St. Marcellus' Day  (as a Roman centurion who threw down his armor and refused to take part in pagan worship, he is Patron of conscientious objectors)

The Rhyne Toll -- Chetwode Manor, UK (through Nov 7) -- the Lord of the Manor may tax any cattle he finds on his Liberty (free pasture) on these days

Try on Your Halloween Costume Early Day -- to see how goofy you look, and make sure you have everything you need

Visit a Cemetery Day




Birthdays Today:

Nastia Liukin, 1989
Matthew Morrison, 1978
Gavin Rossdale, 1967
Diego Armando Maradona, 1960
Kevin Pollack, 1958
Charles Martin Smith, 1953
Harry Hamlin, 1951
Andrea Mitchell, 1946
Henry Winkler, 1945
Ed Lauter, 1940
Grace Slick, 1939
Claude Lelouch, 1937
Dick Gautier, 1937
Dick Vermeil, 1936
Robert Caro, 1935
Louis Malle, 1932
Ruth Gordon, 1896
Charles Atlas, 1893
Ezra Pound, 1885
William "Bull" Halsey, 1882
Emily Post, 1872
Alfred Sisley, 1839
Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1821
Richard Sheridan, 1751
John Adams, 1735


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Symphony No. 11 in G minor(Shostakovich Op. 103), 1957
"Panama Hattie"(Musical), 1940
"War of the Worlds"(Radio), 1938


Today in History:

Antioch surrenders to Rashidun Caliphate and his Muslim forces after the Battle of the Iron Bridge, 637
End of the 8th Crusade, 1270
King Henry VII, Tudor, crowned, 1485
Queen Isabella bans violence against Indians, 1503
The first Methodist church in the US is initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC), 1768
Dr. Richard Gatling patents the machine gun, 1862
Founding of Helena, Montana (capital city), 1864
John Willis Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first black elected to the US Congress (by special election, he was challenged by the loser, but was allowed to address Congress from the lectern), 1868
Daniel Cooper patents the time clock, 1894
Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes the first woman US Senator, 1896
The first US Automobile Show opens in Madison Square Garden, NYC, 1900
Czar Nicholas II of Russia grants Russia's first constitution, creating a legislative assembly, 1905
Benito Mussolini is made Prime Minister of Italy, 1922
John Logie Baird creates Britain's first television transmitter, 1925
Orson Welles broadcasts his radio play of H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds, causing anxiety in some of the audience in the United States, 1938
Anne Frank and sister Margot Frank are deported from Auschwitz to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, 1944
Jackie Robinson of the Kansas City Monarchs signs a contract for the Brooklyn Dodgers to break the baseball color barrier, 1945
Michael Woodruff performs the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, 1960
The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest explosive device ever detonated, nuclear or otherwise, 1961
The Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed, connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time, 1973
The Rumble in the Jungle boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman takes place in Kinshasa, Zaire, 1974
Prince Juan Carlos becomes Spain's acting head of state, taking over for the country's ailing dictator, Gen. Francisco Franco, 1975
In Japan, NEC releases the first 16-bit home entertainment system, the TurboGrafx-16, known as PC Engine, 1987
Quebec sovereignists narrowly lose a referendum for a mandate to negotiate independence from Canada (vote is 50.6% to 49.4%), 1995
The last Multics (Multiplexed Information and Computing Service) early time-sharing operating system is shut down at the Canadian Department of National Defense in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 2000
George Lucas sells Lucasfilm, Ltd., to the Walt Disney Company, 2012

How do i get into these things? Oh, yeah, i had kids.

"Mom, you'll never guess what happened when I was talking on the phone with Ms. Kay!"  Bigger Girl loves to chat when she helps me clean houses on Fridays.

What? i asked, continuing to sanitize the light switches and TV remotes as she swept.

"Well, I told her that Fran and I were walking through the pumpkin patch, and she said, 'Oh, how nice, is that a southern way of saying you're just having a nice day and a pleasant walk?' and I told her that no, we were literally in a pumpkin patch at the church, picking out a pumpkin to use to decorate for Halloween, and she just didn't know what to say!"

It befuddled her that we actually do have pumpkin patches around here, didn't it?

"Yes, it did!  So when Fran and I go to New York and meet up with Ms. Kay next week, I'm going to play up the whole 'redneck' thing, see how far I can go with it!"

That sounds both mean and fun.

"Well, I think it will be fun, and by the way, I have to be at the airport next Thursday by 4:30am, my flight leaves at 6:30am."

Am i to assume that you mean the one in NOLA, and that i am the one elected to take you?

"Yes, please!"

How can i resist helping her pull the wool over the eyes of a Yankee friend.



Today is:

Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival -- Banff, AB, Canada (40th annual; through next Sunday)

Candies Day -- they have to be kidding -- this close to Halloween we need another candy day?!

Coronation Day -- Cambodia (anniversary of King Norodom Sihamony, in 2004)

Cumhuriyet Bayrami -- North Cyprus; Turkey (Republic Day)(1923)

Emma Crawford Festival and Memorial Coffin Race -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (spooky fun for the whole family)

Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love

Hermit Day / Hide From Everyone Day -- internet generated, for those who would rather have a peaceful day today than celebrate the other holidays listed; look up how to be a hermit on wikihow

Internet Day -- it's predecessor went live today, see Today in History for detail

Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day (And end up either getting yourself and everyone around you in a good mood, or yourself being observed at the hospital in a padded room.)

Naming Day -- Tanzania

National Cat Day -- US (with the goal of getting 10,000 cats adopted from shelters today)

National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day

National Oatmeal Day

Scared Silly: Halloween in Prospect Park -- Brooklyn, NY, US (hauntingly good fun all weekend)

Second Fiddle of the Month -- Fairy Calendar (a very poorly attended event -- who wants to play second fiddle?)

St. Mary of Edessa's Day (Patron against sexual temptation)

World Psoriasis Day


Birthdays Today:

Gabrielle Union, 1972
Winona Ryder, 1971
Joely Fisher, 1965
Randy Jackson, 1961
Finona Hughes, 1960
Kate Jackson, 1948
Richard Dreyfuss, 1947
Melba Moore, 1945
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 1938
Dominick Dunne, 1925
Bill Mauldin, 1921
Fanny Brice, 1891
Charles Hercules Ebbets, 1858
Daniel Decatur Emmet, 1815
James Boswell, 1740 (wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson)
Edmund Halley, 1656 (O.S. Date) (yes, that Halley, found the comet)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Internet, 1969 (the first connection between computers that would become the Internet someday was made on this date when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute; this grew into ARPANET, and is now the Internet we know and yell at.)
"Let's Face It"(Musical), 1941
"Don Giovanni"(Mozart K. 527), 1787


Today in History:

Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon, BC539
First trial for witchcraft in Paris, 1390
Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, writer, and courtier, is beheaded, 1618
A severe earthquake shakes New England, 1727
Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague, 1787
The first Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans, 1811
Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia, 1889
The first intercity trucking service, from Colorado City to Snyder, Texas, begins running, 1904
Turkey declares its independence as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, 1923
Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal, 1956
Cassius Clay wins his first professional fight, 1960
Syria exits from the United Arab Republic, 1961
Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors, 1967
The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid, 1991
In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities, 1998
Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space, 1998
In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution, 2004
The 3G wireless transmitters at Mt. Everest make coverage available to the summit, 2010
Random House and Penguin merge to become Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the world, 2012
Turkey opens the first underwater rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia, 2013

Feline? Friday and Fill-Ins

Feline Friday is hosted by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.
Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is..
1) post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (They may be silly or cute)
2) go to Steve's page, linked above, then on the menu bar click on the Feline Friday tab to get the code
3) paste the code under your cat picture
4) add your name and link
That’s all there is to it! Be sure to check back every so often and visit all the Feline Friday bloggers. Also, please leave a nice comment on their blogs. Nasty comments will be deleted!

A typical day at the shelter:

We love to nap!

It's time to relax!

In the rooms, they nap.

Just chillin'!  Yes, it's a Pomeranian.

One of the shelter workers found him in the parking lot, and the vet next door gave us some food.  He was hungry, needed brushing, and had no ID or microchip, and no one on Lost Pets was looking for a purebred Pom.  He is now in the hands of a dog rescue, and he will find a good home, i'm sure!

************************************************************

Friendly Fill-Ins are four fun and easy statements to complete. Ellen of 15andmeowing provides the first two statements and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader.  They try to make sure they will be fun to both answer and share. On Friday, the linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM. Please head to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

Week 25: October 28, 2016

1. The first thing I check when I go online is __________________________.

2. My signature dish is _____________________.

3. My Halloween night is usually ____________________ .

4. Trick or treaters ____________________ .




1. The first thing i check when i go online is if the internet is still there.  In this house, i have gotten up to nothing there and had to start the process of figuring out what's wrong.

2. My signature dish is -- it depends on who asks; my friends would say gumbo, Sweetie likes my banana pudding best.

3. My Halloween night is usually watching Sweetie have fun giving out candy.

4. Trick or treaters are so much fun!  It's great to celebrate the Great Neighborhood Candy Exchange.



Today is:


Bring Your Jack-O-Lantern to Work Day -- just check the fire code before you light that candle

Celtic Tree Month Negetal (Reed) begins

Chicago International Children's Film Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (the largest annual festival of films for children ages 2-18 in the world; through Nov. 1)

Dia do Servidor Publico -- Brazil (Civil Servants' Day)

Flying Baby Day -- celebrating the first baby born on an airplane on this day in 1929

Frankenstein Friday -- a day to celebrate the "mother" and "father" of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff

French Food Festival -- LaRose, LA, US (local specialties, dancing, music, and fun; through Sunday)

Fyribod (or Forebode) -- Ancient Norse Calendar (announces the beginning of winter; date approximate)

Hari Sumpah Pemuda -- Indonesia (Youth Pledge Day)

Independence Day -- Czechoslovakia (from Austria-Hungary in 1918; still celebrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia)

International Animation Day -- ASIFA (to honor the day Emile Reynaud presented the first animation to the public)

Isia -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (dates approximate; first day of the 6 day Isis festival)

London Bridge Days -- Lake Havasu City, AZ, US (come celebrate London Bridge, which was disassembled and moved here and put back together, with a parade and festivities; through tomorrow)

Makoshe's Holiday -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar (honoring Mother Earth)

Milvian Bridge Day -- Christain (day to reflect on the interrelationship of religion and government)

Mokosh Day -- Ukraine (Slavic goddess of "women's work", a wanderer and spinner, still popular as a life giving force and protector of women, always assoociated with Friday; date approximate)

National Bandanna Day -- Australia (to raise funds for teens with cancer) 

National Chocolate Day

Okunchi Matsuri -- Karatsu, Japan (with floats that date back to the 1800s; through the 30th)

Oxi Day -- Greece (Sometimes "Ochi" or "Ohi", literally "No Day", celebrating resistance to Mussolini.)

Part Your Hair Crooked Just To See If Anyone Will Say Anything About It Day -- internet generated, celebrate at your own risk

Peniamina Gospel Day -- Niue (celebration of the conversion of the islanders to Christianity)

Plush Animal Lovers' Day -- internet generated; celebrate your love of stuffed animals today

Runic Half-month Hagal (hailstone) begin

Sea Witch Halloween & Fiddler's Festival -- Rehoboth Beach/Dewey Beach, DE, US (parade, costume contest, Sea Witch Hunt, horse show on the beach, and more; through Sunday)

St. Jude Thaddeus' Day (Patron of desperate or hopeless cases -- the reason Danny Thomas chose this saint to invoke as patron of the hospital he helped found.)

St. Paraskevi of Iconium's Day (Patron of fairs and traders; in Russia, patron of marriage; associated in Ukrain with Mokosh, the ancient women's divinity, and celebrated on the final Friday of the month)

St. Simon the Zealot's Day (Patron of curriers, sawmen, tanners)

Wild Foods Day -- as in, grown or caught in the wild (please be careful if you like mushrooms and want to gather your own!)



Anniversaries Today:

Statue of Liberty dedicated, 1886
Maimonides College is founded, 1867 (first Jewish college in the US)
R.H. Macy & Co. in NYC opens, 1858
Founding of Harvard University, 1636
Universidad Santo Tomas Aquino is established, 1538 (first university in the New World)


Birthdays Today:

Matt Smith, 1982
Joaquin Phoenix, 1974
Brad Paisley, 1972
Jeremy Davies, 1969
Julia Roberts, 1967
Andy Richter, 1966
Jami Gertz, 1965
Daphne Zuniga, 1962
Lauren Holly, 1963
Bill Gates, 1955
Annie Potts, 1952
Bruce Jenner, 1949
Telma Hopkins, 1948
Dennis Franz, 1944
Jane Alexander, 1939
Charlie Daniels, 1936
Cleo Laine, 1927
Jonas Salk, 1914
Francis Bacon, 1909
Edith Head, 1907
Howard Hanson, 1896
Georges Auguste Escoffier, 1846
Desiderius Erasmus, 1467


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Jack Benny Program"(TV), 1950
"Dead End"(Play), 1935
Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathetique(Tchaikovsky Op. 74), 1893


Today in History:

Constantine the Great defeats Maxentius, 312
Battle of Yaunis Khan in which Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza, 1516
Battle of Amba Sel, in which Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia; the southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control, 1531
Peruvian cities of Lima & Callao are demolished by an earthquake, 18,000 die, 1746
Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, 1793
The first railroad in Spain, between Barcelona and Mataro, is opened, 1848
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, and celebrated by the first ticker tape/confetti parade in NYC, 1886
An earthquake strikes Mino-Owari, Japan, kills 7,300, 1891
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Pathétique, receives its première performance in St. Petersburg, only nine days before the composer's death, 1893
The St. Louis police try a new investigation method -- fingerprints, 1904
Czechoslovakia gains its independence in the break up of Austria-Hungary, 1918
The Volstead Act, passed by Congress over Wilson's veto, starts Prohibition, 1919
The first coast to coast radio broadcast of a football game, 1922
U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt rededicates the Statue of Liberty on its 50th anniversary, 1936
The Alaska Highway (Alcan Highway) is completed through Canada to Fairbanks, Alaska, 1942
Swiss chemist Paul Müller is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the insecticidal properties of DDT, 1948
The modern Kingdom of the Netherlands is re-founded as a federal monarchy, 1954
Nikita Khrushchev announces that he had ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, 1962
Nostra Aetate, the "Declaration on the Relation of the Church with Non-Christian Religions" of the Second Vatican Council, is promulgated by Pope Paul VI; it absolves the Jews of responsibility for the death of Jesus, 1965
Britain launches its first satellite, Prospero, into low Earth orbit atop a Black Arrow carrier rocket, 1971
The centenary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty is celebrated in New York Harbor, 1986
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner becomes the first woman elected President of Argentina, 2007
The US celebrates the 125th anniversary of the dedication of the Statue of Liberty, 2011

Six Sentence Story: Progress?

"I think we're making great progress with this place," his wife said, smiling up at him from the picnic blanket where they had just enjoyed a lunch al fresco.

"We sure are," he responded, then added, "it really does feel more like home, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does, and the children love it.  By the way, any time you want help with all the stuff in the attic, you just have to ask, you know."

"I know, but it's so hot and stuffy and dusty up there, I think I'll just tackle it a bit at a time, bring things down out of there to deal with, that sort of thing."

The children and their half-grown puppy rushed up at that point, the children laughing and breathless from chasing the pup and his stick; all of them wanted the stick thrown again -- the ultimate game of keep away.

And I have to keep everyone away from that attic, he thought, at least until I figure out how to either get rid of or hide a Djinn.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is stick.



Today is:

American Beer Day

Big Bang Day -- London, England

Boxer Shorts Day -- ???????

Cernova Tragedy Day -- Slovakia

Cranky Co-Worker's Day -- because we all have occasional bad days; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Feast of Osiris in Abydos -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Good Bear Day -- on Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, celebrating the stuffed toy created in his honor

Independence Day -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines(1979); Turkmenistan(1991)

National Potato Day

National Tell A Story Day -- Scotland; UK (preserving the heritage of traditional stories)

Navy Day -- US (on T.R.'s birth anniversary)

Punkie Night -- Hinton St George, Somerset, England (a celebration for children and adults who carry candle-lit punkies -- the best one wins a prize -- made out of mangel-wurzels, a type of beet, and sing old punkie songs asking for money or treats)

Radio Day -- US (US Commerce Dept. issued the first broadcasting license this date in 1920)

St. Frumentius' Day (Patron of Abyssinia; Ethiopia)

Sylvia Plath Day

Tunch Puddling -- Fairy Calendar (a contest of throwing twigs in a pond -- awards are for artistically thrown twigs and throwing style, among other things)

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage -- International (2016 theme:  It's Your Story, Don't Lose It)

World Occupational Therapy Day


Anniversary Today:

The NYC Subway begins operation, 1904


Birthdays Today:

Zadie Smith, 1975
Marla Maples, 1963
Simon LeBon, 1958
Roberto Benigni,1952
Jayne Kennedy, 1951
Fran Lebowitz, 1950
Carrie Snodgrass, 1946
John Cleese, 1939
Ruby Dee, 1924
Roy Lichtenstein, 1923
Bette Babray, 1920
Nanette Fabray, 1920
Dylan Thomas, 1914
Emily Post, 1872
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858
Niccolo Paganini, 1782
Captain James Cook, 1728


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lettice and Lovage"(Play), 1987
"Beyond the Fringe"(Revue), 1962
"Walt Disney/Wonderful World of Color/Wonderful World of Disney"(TV), 1954 (the show had several different names over the years, but even when it switched stations, it was still the same show)
"You Bet Your Life"(Radio), 1947
"Nocturnes"(Debussy orchestral compsition), 1901(first performance of all three parts together)



Today in History:

Constantine the Great is said to have received his Vision of the Cross, 312
Founding of the city of Amsterdam, 1275
Founding of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1682
US Navy forms, 1775
Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs issues the Extermination Order, which orders all Mormons to leave the state or be exterminated, 1838
R.H. Macy & Co. opens its first store, on 6th Ave. in NYC, 1858
Boss Tweed is arrested, 1871
The first underground New York City Subway line opens, 1904
The first published reference to "jazz" appears, in Variety, 1916
Chuhei Numbu of Japan sets the long jump record at 26' 2 1/2", 1931
"You Bet Your Life," with Groucho Marx, premiers on ABC radio, 1947*
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force, 1954
Mauritania and Mongolia join the United Nations, 1961
The British government suddenly deregulates financial markets, leading to a total restructuring of the way in which they operate in the country, in an event now referred to as the Big Bang, 1986
The U.S. prison population tops 1 million for the first time in American history, 1994
Gliese 229B is the first Substellar Mass Object to be unquestionably identified, 1994
Stock markets around the world crash because of fears of a global economic meltdown, 1997
The Boston Red Sox win the World Series for the first time in 86 years, 2004
The SSETI Express micro-satellite is successfully launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, 2005
Thousands in Madrid, Spain protest proposed budget cuts, 2012


*(Ultimate result of this a few years later is, of course, the funniest line ever on TV, when a man with 8 kids admitted to Mr. Marx that he did indeed love his wife, and Groucho countered with, "I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth sometimes!")

Wordless Wednesday: Crazy Cat!

In our house, never leave your umbrella on the table.

Link says, "I know I left my toy mousie in here somewhere!"

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.


Today is:

Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security Summit -- Accra, Ghana (theme, "Investing in Food Systems for Improving Child Nutrition:  Key to Africa's Renaissance"; through the 28th) 

Angam Day -- Nauru ("Day of Fulfillment"; a celebration of overcoming hardships)

Armed Forces Day -- Benin

Children's Day -- Australia

Day of the Ancients -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar

Day of Mourning -- Libya

Exaltation of the Shellfish -- Pontevedra, Spain (can confirm they celebrate this each year, cannot find confirmation on this specific date)

Ludi Victoriae Sullanae -- Roman Empire (celebration of the victories of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, through Nov. 1)

Lung Health Day -- US (on the Wednesday of Respiratory Care Week; some sites to explore about lung health are here and here)

Mule Day -- anniversary of the first importation of donkeys to the US, which George Washington used to breed the first mules in the Americas

National Day -- Austria

National Gospel Day -- Cook Islands

National Mincemeat Pie Day

Pretzel Day

Pumpkin Day -- time to get one for the 31st, if you haven't already

St. Demetrius of Thessaloniki's Day (Patron of soldiers; Thessaloniki, Greece)
     Greek day to broach the wine barrels and taste the new season's wine in honor of this saint

Sts. Lucian and Marcian's Day (Patrons of converts, possessed people)

Toping Wagglegammon -- Fairy Calendar (no human knows what this means, but it sounds intriguing)

Workaholic Stop and Smell Something Day -- internet generated day to encourage workaholics to stop and consider what they might be missing

Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night -- some organizers even have howling parties


Anniversary Today:

Grand opening of the Erie Canal, 1825


Birthdays Today:

Sasha Cohen, 1984
Keith Urban, 1969
Tom Cavanagh, 1968
Natalie Merchant, 1963
Cary Elwes, 1962
Dylon McDermott, 1962
Jeff Probst, 1962
James Pickens, Jr., 1954
Lauren Tewes, 1954
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1947
Pat Sajak, 1947
Jaclyn Smith, 1947
Ivan Reitman, 1946
Pat Conroy, 1945
Bob Hoskins, 1942
Jackie Coogan, 1914
Mahalia Jackson, 1911
Abby Greene Aldrich Rockefeller, 1874
Joseph Hansom, 1803
Georges Danton, 1759
Domenico Scarlatti, 1685


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"St. Elsewhere"(TV), 1982
Doonesbury(Comic strip), 1970
The Village Voice(newspaper, first issue), 1955
"Mourning Becomes Electra"(Play), 1931


Today in History:

Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Tempel-Tuttle) approaches 0.0229 AUs of Earth (2.1 million miles and 3.4 million kilometers)--marking the third closest approach of any comet to our planet in recorded history, 1366
First use of lead pencils, 1492
William Penn accepts the area around the the Delaware River from the Duke of York, 1682
The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, and the Minute Men begin to organize in the colonies, 1774
King George III goes before Parliament to declare the American colonies in rebellion, and authorized a military response to quell the American Revolution, 1775
Benjamin Franklin departs from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution, 1776
The first of the "Federalist Papers" are published, calling for ratification of the US Constitution, 1787
The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created, 1795
Hamilton Smith patents a rotary washing machine, 1858
Soccer football rules are standardized and rugby starts as a separate game, 1863
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral takes place at Tombstone, Arizona, 1881
First use of a "getaway car" after a robbery in Paris, 1901
The first Soviet (worker's council) formed, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1905
Margaret Sanger arrested for the obscenity of advocating birth control, 1916
The Maharaja of Kashmir agrees to allow his kingdom to join India, 1947
Mother Teresa founds her Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, 1950
Pan American Airways makes the first commercial flight of the Boeing 707 from New York City to Paris, France, 1958
The world sees the far side of the Moon for the first time, in pictures taken earlier in the month by the Soviet Luna 3, 1959
The last natural case of smallpox is discovered in Merca district, Somalia, 1977
"Baby Fae," born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, receives a controversial heart transplant from a baboon, dies of kidney infection 21 days later, 1984
The Charlottetown Accord fails to win majority support in a Canada wide referendum, 1992
Jordan and Israel sign a peace treaty, 1994
Britain's House of Lords votes to end the right of hereditary peers to vote in Britain's upper chamber of Parliament, 1999
The water level at Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest water control and utilization project, reaches full capacity, 2010
The World Health Organization classifies processed meat as carcinogenic, 2015

Tuesday Coffee Chat: Is It Time Already?

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question,  It's now only a month until Christmas!!   Panic now.   If you are the calm and collected type, do please share some of your secrets to surviving holiday stress.







Yes, the season is coming, they hid it in December again this year, and i don't know why that always takes me by surprise.  Yes, that means the "season" starts in one month, even if the "day" is two months away.

This year, i am Taking Steps, as someone famous once said, but Mr. Google won't confirm who it was for me, and right now i cannot find my copy of that book.  Steps are being Taken just the same.

The one thing that generally catches me off guard is sending out greeting cards.  This year, i am already addressing them, one or sometimes even two in a day, so i will be finished well ahead of time.  A run to the post office to stand in line for an hour and buy stamps is being planned.  After being in line for an hour, i will demand to see the book that shows all the stamps they have available, and i will pick what i want.  If i'm going to all the trouble, i'm going to have my stamp moment.

Celebrating on the day of Christmas is usually easy.  Everyone goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house, and i make gravy (first, you make a roux!) and mashed potatoes and bring a pumpkin pie for Sweetie, who adores a very heavily spiced pumpkin pie.  He does not like anything else to be pumpkin flavored, however. 

Grandma cooks because no one else can do it right.  A lot of it she makes ahead.  She tried ordering from a supermarket that caters once, and everything was too salty for her liking, so she now pre-prepares a dish or two each of the three days leading up to the big day, then adds the last ingredients and cooks it all that morning.

Decorations around here are easy -- i don't.  When the children were small, i would tell everyone that it's very simple, we have three elderly, neurotic cats and four children and i don't want to have to haul the tree back upright several times a day.  The children were shipped off to Grandma and Grandpa's house to decorate their tree, and that was plenty.

Now, it's just a habit not to do so, and we have grown kids with cats of their own, and i can guarantee that seven cats would make short shrift of any large tree we tried to decorate.  We used a small, almost dead Charlie Brown tree on top of the fridge one year, but now we use the green bookcase that's shaped like a pirogue. It is quite in keeping with where we live and is the right color.  The few unbreakable decorations i have go on that, along with cards we want to display.  Gifts have to stay hidden because the cats will eat them.

Gifts, well, i knew we would get to that.  Grandma and Grandpa get whatever they ask for, and if they don't ask then Grandma gets a gift card for her favorite craft store and Grandpa gets his all-time favorite goodie, a fried confection called hojaldras.

The children get cash, because that's what they want.  The cash envelope has been squirreled away in a hidey-hole so secret, i hope i can still -- wait just a minute, please.



Yes, it's still there.  Yes, i have to check, i am a messy mimi, after all, and sometimes Things Happen when a mess piles up.  Only a small amount left to save, and then all of them are covered.  Four by birth, one by marriage, and a foster child.

Sweetie and i do not exchange gifts.  Life is much less complicated if we divide the little bit we have evenly and then each go get a small something for ourselves to enjoy.

My suggestions, then, are simple.   Keep it simple.  Plan a day to go see Christmas lights and get coffee and beignets. Use unbreakable decorations that fit your house and lifestyle.  If the children are old enough, give cash.  If not, take them to Grandma and Grandpa's house, where they will get gifts to open.

And start addressing those cards now, one or two per day.  It will be done before you know it, and you won't be screaming banshee crazy trying to chase the mail truck down the street on the last possible day to get the cards there on time.  (No, i've never done that, at least not with cards, and i don't want to start.)


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On a totally unrelated note, if you want to read a fine blog and possibly win a beautiful painting for your home, check out The Chubby Chatterbox.  If you've never read his posts or seen his work, it's worth it.


Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Romania

Constitution Day -- Lithuania

Day of the Basque Country -- Basque Country

Feast of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales -- Roman Catholic

International Artist Day -- invite an artist to lunch, buy that painting that you've wanted for so long, go to an art gallery or the symphony or a play -- celebrate how art adds to your life daily! 

Munzipan Feast -- Fairy Calendar (a fairy delicacy, and you don't want to know how it's made)

National Greasy Foods Day

Punk-for-a-Day Day -- internet generated; if you've always wanted to be a punk, try it out for a day

Republic Day -- Kazakhstan

Retrocession Day -- Taiwan

Sourest Day -- as a balance, because we have so many days that emphasize sweet

Sts. Crispin and Crispian's Day (Patrons of cobblers/shoemakers, glovemakers, lace makers/lace workers, leather workers, saddle makers, tanners, weavers)

Thanksgiving Day -- Grenada

World Pasta Day -- as established by the first World Pasta Congress in 1995


Birthdays Today:

Katy Perry, 1984
Midori, 1971
Tracy Nelson, 1963
Brian Kerwim, 1949
Jon Anderson, 1944
Anne Tyler, 1941
Helen Reddy, 1941
Bobby Knight, 1940
Marion Ross, 1936
Billy Barty, 1924
Minnie Pearl, 1912
Leo G. Carroll, 1892
Pablo Picasso, 1881
Georges Bizet, 1838
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1800


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Victor/Victoria"(Musical), 1995
"Newhart"(TV), 1982
"Le Repetition"(Anouilh play), 1950
"The Time of Your Life"(Play), 1939


Today in History:

Seljuk Turks defeat the German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum, 1147
Battle of Agincourt, in which the Welsh longbow defeats armored knights, 1415
Christopher Columbus, aboard the Santa Maria, lands at the Dominican Republic, 1492
Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog makes second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at the later-named Dirk Hartog Island off the Western Australian coast, 1616
Governor Bradford of the US colony Plymouth disallows sport on Christmas Day, 1621
Wedding of future US President John Adams and Abigail Smith (the marriage lasted 54 years), 1764
Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay, 1813
Opening of the Erie Canal, 1825
Battle of Balaclava, memorialized as the "Charge of the Light Brigade", results in the deaths of 409 troops, 1854
The Toronto Stock Exchange is created, 1861
Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution in Russia, which corresponds to November 7 on the Gregorian Calendar, 1917
The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces swing  music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell", 1938
Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba, 1962
Uganda joins the United Nations, 1962
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to five years in prison, 1962
The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China, 1971
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague, 1980
Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, 1991
Fidel Castro announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned in Cuba, 2004
Sony removed the original cassette Walkman from the market, 2010
Scientists announce that the completion of the nuclear genome study of a 24,000 year old Siberian boy's remains shows 2/3 of today's Native Americans are of Eastern Asia origin, and the others from Western Eurasia, 2013