Really Random Tuesday

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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

There’s so much going on, it’s the perfect time for linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

One of the things i hoped would happen is that we would get some rain here so that i would not have to worry about watering quite so much for Mr. BA while he is gone.

On Sunday, we got a nice bit of rain at our place and not a drop on their end of town.

Monday i got a break, and the clouds delivered.  Now i hope we continue to get one of those nice showers each afternoon.

He also asked me to do a bit of weeding, if i had time.  Not only do i have a job or two or three besides his place each day this week, i only remember some of the plants he identified as intruders (or "volunteers", as Ms. S calls them).  When i tried to get the weeds out of the iris bed, i got a new respect for the Biblical parable Jesus told about The Wheat and The Tares.

Jesus told a story of a landowner having his field sown with wheat, only to have an enemy come in and plant tares (weeds).  The workers ask if they should pull up the tares, but the landowner notes that this would just tear up the roots of the wheat as well.  He tells them to leave it to all grow together and harvest it all at the same time, separating it out then.  This is referencing the end of the world, when the evil and good will be separated.

In the same way you can’t pull up the tares without damaging the wheat, it's very difficult to pull up the "volunteers" without tugging on and maybe damaging the roots of the irises.

Big Red the new kitten is precious.  He’s very shy, i have to sit and wait a while, and once he is not scared, he comes out to visit.  It takes about an hour to get him comfortable enough to play and allow petting.  While he is not thrilled with being held, he does allow it.

He is also not using his litter box, preferring to "go" under the bed in the spare room where he is living.  When i clean the house this Friday as usual, Sweetie and i will have to move him to the bathroom, move the furniture, and try to clean the floor thoroughly.

Dr. D and i spent the morning yesterday trying to track down all of her checkbooks and get all of her purses into one place.  She has three banks, and since she orders more checks every time she misplaces the last set, we now have quite the collection.  Her purses filled three paper grocery sacks, and she wants to go through them and get all of the "important" stuff out of them.

There was a small incident yesterday evening.  Little Girl didn't have her key to the house, and Sweetie had already locked the door, as i hadn't gotten home from work yet and it was getting dark.

She knocked at the door, and he didn't hear her.  She tried to call him, but he'd turned his phone off for the evening and put it on the charger.  So she tried knocking on one of the windows.

These are old windows, the kind that shatter into long shards that will cut you to ribbons, and they shatter very easily.  #1 Son once broke one by tapping it with a wooden spoon!

When i got home from work last night, i had to cut pieces of cardboard and fit them and tape up the kitchen window.  Today, Sweetie is buying a sheet of clear plastic to go over it from the outside.  We can't replace the window, and the glass is a very odd size and very costly to get into these old frames.  Clear plastic will do for the time being.

Right now, i'm not sure what's going on with so many blogs i read.  Many times i cannot comment, no matter if it's a Blogger or Wordpress or anything else.  If you don't see me commenting on your blog, i promise i am trying.  It's like pulling teeth, especially on Wordpress blogs.

If you end up with two or three comments, it's because they are showing on my end as not publishing, so i try more than once, and sometimes with more than one ID.

Finally, today is Red-headed Alec's birthday!  He is 27.

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

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

Full Flower Moon / Corn Planting Moon / Milk Moon

    Buddha Day/Vesak/Waisak  -- Bhuddist's Buddha Day; date varies with many celebrating tomorrow, and some areas already started the celebrations yesterday; sometimes called "Buddha's Birthday"

    Heavenly Sage Bao Sheng’s Birthday -- Taoism

    Kasone Full Moon -- Myanmar

    Vesak Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

    Waisak/Vesak Festival -- Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia (on the day of the full moon, a stunning and spiritual celebration of Buddha's birthday)

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 

Lord Buddha's Parinirvana -- Bhutan

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, travellers; 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 fossile of Aurornis xui as the most basal species of Avialae, possibly shifting the evolutionary position of the Archaeopteryx as the oldest known bird, 2013