Cat Saturday (Ten Things of Thankful)

(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.) 

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Saturday = Thankful Day, because there is always something for which to be thankful.

This past week, it was at the cat shelter that i particularly noticed these things.

There's the fact that there is even a cat shelter around here.  Several parishes only have their "pound" or "animal control center," and even though they do everything they can to save animals, those are just too crowded and underfunded and understaffed to make much headway.

The adoption board is full of names, always a sign that things are going well.

June on the left, July on the right.

Hibiscus hasn't bitten anyone lately.  (She is a nipper, not a true biter, or she wouldn't even be there.  Biscuits, as i call her because she is at least two biscuits shy of a Pillsbury tube, is perfect if you've always wanted to have an abusive relationship with your cat.  After all, she never means to bite, and she always promises it will never happen again...)

Andie is healing up well.  This is one of those stories to make you angry before you get thankful.  She was found with a gaping wound which turned out to be from a .22 slug.  Yes, she had been shot.  We have good veterinarians, it doesn't look like she will lose that leg.

  

While we were cleaning yesterday, there were three families with childen there, each looking to find the perfect cat.  Parents who teach children early to care for pets are being very good parents (at least most of them are).

Clean kitchen, courtesy of Sweetie:

Oh, and i'm thankful i was able to get the dusty carrot out from under the fridge with the tool we use to clean lint out of the dryer trap.  No, i didn't take that picture, and you are thankful, i promise.

Our shelter staff is a family, and we rejoice with each other.  All of us are thankful that Ms. S's granddaughter, born at only 24 weeks, is going home tomorrow.

Fresh Step company sent us a big donation of cat litter, hooray!

And of course, you have to be thankful for the cats.

Kristi of ThankfulMe is the hostess with the mostess at Ten Things of Thankful.  Work up a list (of up to ten, we aren't picky), link it up, and let's all rejoice with each other over the good things in our lives.

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Today is:

Bannack Days-- Bannack, MT, US (through tomorrow; explore the territorial capital now turned ghost town and celebrate the pioneer spirit)

Carousel Day -- Johnson City, NY, US (Kids won't want to miss all the fun at this family event, and grown-ups, come be a kid again for a day!)

Chincoteague Pony Round Up / Pony Swim -- Chincoteague and Assateague Islands, VA, US (lots going on here through the 27th, the actual swim day is the 25th)

Coldest Day Ever -- the lowest natural temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2 *C (-128.6 *F; 184.0 *K) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on this day in 1983

Feast of Damo -- Ancient Greek Calendar (keeper of secrets of philosophy; daughter of Greek sages, Pythagoras and Theano, date approximate)

Hemingway Birthday Celebration -- Hemingway Museum, Oak Park, IL, US

Independence Day / National Day -- Belgium(1830)

Kazanskaya -- Russia (Feast of Our Lady of Kazan)

La Festa del Redentore / Feast of the Redeemer -- Venice, Italy (procession of gondolas and other craft to commemorate the end of the epidemic of 1575; through tomorrow)

Lakota Sun Dance -- Lakota Native Americans (festival of the sun god Wi, with offerings to Maka (mother earth) and Haokah (father sky), both aspects of Creator Tukaskanskan; dating approximate, as outsiders are usually no longer allowed at these multi-day ceremonies)

Liberation Day -- Guam (1944; from Japan)

Long Beach Island Foundation Fine Art Festival -- Loveladies, NJ, US (juried arts and crafts show, entertainment, food and more; through tomorrow)

Lucaria -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Feast of Clearings", with prayers said as land was cleared for planting)

National Junk Food Day

No Pet Store Puppies Day -- ASPCA sponsored this day in previous years, and while i can't find a confirmation of another campaign, you can still Take The Pledge to not shop at any pet store that sells puppies, because they are almost certainly from puppy mills    

Prince Lot Hula Festival -- Moanalua Gardens, Hawai'i (through Monday)

Racial Harmony Day -- Singapore

Route 66 Summerfest -- Albuquerque, NM, US (a free celebration)

Sandcastle and Sculpture Day -- Jetties Beach, Nantucket, MA, US

Sapporo Summer Festival -- Odori Park, Sapporo, Japan (through Aug. 20, the park becomes a beer garden)

Schoelcher Day -- French West Indies; Martinique (Schoelcher worked for abolition)

Sourdough River Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (Float Fest and a big water fight! with the famous Sourdough Raft Race tomorrow)

St. Lawrence of Brindisi's Day (Patron of Brindisi, Italy)

St. Praxedes' Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through tomorrow; fast in remembrance of the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and the Second Temple in 79AD)

Touch Hammer's Birthday Bargain Day -- Fairy Calendar

Tug-Of-War Tournament Day -- if you have a problem with someone today, solve it with an old fashioned tug-of-war!

Virginia Lake Festival -- Clarksville, VA, US (fun for the family, including tethered hot air balloon rides; through Saturday)

Whitstable Oyster Festival and Blessing of the Waters -- Whitstable, Kent, England (celebrating the areas famed and protected oysers, Ostrea edulis, with the blessing ceremony at Reeves Beach, a ceremony held each year since 1657, to appease the cruel seas and give thanks for its bounty; the Oyster Festival istelf is today and Monday)

Wrong Days in Wright, Minnesota -- in honor of "Wrong Way" Corrigan (through tomorrow)

Birthdays Today

Hatty Jones, 1988

Josh Hartnett, 1978

Justin Bartha, 1978

Lance Guest, 1960

Matt Mulhern, 1960

Jon Lovitz, 1957

Michael Connelly, 1956

Robin Williams, 1951

Garry Trudeau, 1949

Cat Stevens, 1948

Kenneth Starr, 1946

Tony Scott, 1944

Edward Herrmann, 1943

Janet Reno, 1938

Norman Jewison, 1926

Don Knotts, 1924

Kay Starr, 1922

Isaac Stern, 1920

Marshall McLuhan, 1911

Ernest Hemingway, 1899

John Joseph "Johnny" Evers, 1881

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Guardians of the Galaxy(Film), 2014

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows(Publication date), 2007

Today in History

Herostratus sets fire to the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, BCE 356

A tsunami devastates the city of Alexandria, Egypt, 365

The first landing of French troops on the coast during the French invasion of the Isle of Wight, 1545

Twenty-four-year-old Scottish physician and explorer Mungo Park became the first European to see the Niger River, the third longest river in Africa, 1796

In the market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown, 1865

At Adair, Iowa, Jesse James and the James-Younger Gang pull off the first successful train robbery in the American Old West, 1873

Louis Rigolly, a Frenchman, becomes the first man to break the 100 mph (161 km/h) barrier on land, driving a 15-liter Gobron-Brille in Ostend, Belgium, 1904

In Dayton, Tennessee, high school biology teacher John T. Scopes is found guilty of teaching evolution in class and fined $100, 1925

Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first men to walk on the Moon, during the Apollo 11 mission, 1969

After 11 years of construction, the Aswan High Dam in Egypt is completed, 1970

The world's lowest temperature is recorded at Vostok Station, Antarctica at -82.9*C (-129*F), 1983

The fully restored USS Constitution (aka "Old Ironsides") celebrates her 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years, 1997

NASA's Space Shuttle program ends with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-135, 2011