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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's 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!
It's a law, i think, that we have to say "Awww" to kittens.
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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's a Thought-Provoking Quote of the Week in her honor.
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Delores and her friend Jenny are taking turns providing a theme for Poetry Monday, and i am trying my hand at participating. This weeks theme is Spring Cleaning.
A long long time ago,
before we harnessed electricity,
People had to heat their homes
in winter, naturally.
They generally used a wood stove,
Or burned coal for their heat.
While some thought a fireplace in each room
Just could not be beat.
This left them a dilemma,
A problem most profound,
It happened each year by the time
Spring had come around.
The houses would be filthy,
With soot or film or ash
From all the stuff they'd burned all winter,
It left each home quite trashed.
Thus came the invention
Born of necessity
To do a big spring cleaning
Whether in country or city.
We now heat homes with other
Things like natural gas,
Or heat pumps and electricity,
So let me tell you, lass
You really do not need to
Do a big spring cleaning,
Save it for later in the year,
If you get my meaning.
It's better to do that deep clean
After summer's gone away,
To get the dirt the kids tracked in
Out before the big holidays!
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Today is:
Chemists Celebrate The Earth Day -- promoting public awareness of the important contribution of chemists
Discovery Day -- Brazil (landing of Cabral in 1500)
Earth Day
Easter Monday -- Christian; related observances
Dyngus Day
Egg Races -- Rural Northwestern Switzerland (traditional Easter Monday races with competitors carrying large numbers of eggs from village to village)
Emaishen -- Luxembourg (traditional market)
Family Day -- South Africa
Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble & Bottle Kicking -- Hallaton, Leicestershire, England (traditional celebrations dating back at least 600 years)
Memorial Day -- Republic of Georgia
Seu Harvest Parade -- Curacao
Sham el-Nessim -- Egypt (Smell the Breezes Day, a spring celebration for all religions; celebrated by getting outside, greeting neighbors, enjoying spring, and eating salty raw fish)
Festival of Jupiter and Juno -- Ancient Roman Calendar
Girl Scout Leader Appreciation Day -- Girl Scouts of the USA
Granary Offering to Renenutet -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (offering to the Lady of Granaries; date approximate)
International Mother Earth Day -- UN
Jouvert Jump-Up -- Sint Maarten (Break of Dawn Parade and Festival)
Landing of the 33 Patriots Day -- Uruguay
Lela's Holiday -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (honoring the goddess-daughter, Lela)
National Jelly Bean Day
Queen Isabella Day -- Spain and some US states (birth anniversary of Isabella I of Castille)
St. Epipodius of Lyon's Day (Patron of bachelors, betrayal victims, torture victims)
St. George's Day -- NL, Canada (obs.)
Walpurgis celebrations begin -- through May 1, Norse, Scandinavian, and Germanic celebrations (remembering the sacrifice of Odin upon the World Tree Yggdrasil
Yggdrasil Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar
Birthdays Today:
Amber Heard, 1986
Francis Capra, 1983
Daniel Johns, 1979
Kim Elizabeth, 1978
Eric Mabius, 1971
Chris Makepeace, 1964
Byron Allen, 1961
Ryan Stiles, 1959
Peter Frampton, 1950
John Waters, 1946
Jack Nicholson, 1937
Glen Campbell, 1936
Aaron Spelling, 1928
Charlotte Rae, 1926
Yehudi Menuhin, 1916
Eddie Albert, 1906
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev, 1891
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, 1870
Immanuel Kant, 1724
Queen Isabella, 1451
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"The Who's Tommy"(Rock musical), 1993
"Le Triomphe de Plutus/Money Makes the World Go Round"(Play), 1728
Today in History:
Portuguese navigator Pedro Cabral becomes the first European to sight Brazil, 1500
President George Washington attends a performance of Rickett's, the first circus in the US, 1793
Thomas Stevens sets out from San Francisco on the first round the world journey by bicycle, 1884
The Oklahoma land rush begins at noon; thousands rush to claim land, and the towns of Oklahoma City and Guthrie are formed within hours with populations of over 10,000 each, 1889
Pravda begins publication in St. Petersburg, 1912
The Germans begin using poison chlorine gas as a chemical weapon, 1915
British yachtsman Sir Robin Knox-Johnston completes the first solo non-stop circumnavigation of the world, 1969
The first Earth Day is celebrated, 1970
The Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. is dedicated, 1993
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi apologizes for Japan's war record, 2005
Four Canadian soldiers are killed 75 kilometers north of Kandahar, Afghanistan by a roadside bomb planted by Taliban militants, the worst single day combat loss for the Canadian army since the Korean War, 2006
The Pope, Benedict XVI, becomes the first pontiff to participate in a televised interview session, 2011
The Paris Agreement on climate change is signed in New York, 2016
I usually get the urge to deep clean right before winter sets in, that way I can snuggle up in bed or in my TV chair and do nothing much with a clear conscience.
ReplyDeleteI track quite a lot inside the house in spring as I work in the garden. A thorough cleaning is certainly necessary by the time summer bites.
ReplyDeleteI remember the ash/soot from open fires all too well. Shudder.
And of course kittens demand an awwww.
Never do today what you can put off until tomorrow! Happy Jelly Bean Day folks!
ReplyDeleteMy A-Z of Children's Stories
I like the idea of a Smell the Breezes Day!
ReplyDeleteMimi,
ReplyDeleteSo that's the reason behind 'spring cleaning'. I never knew that. Thanks! ;)
A2Z Little Mermaid art sketch series with 'Sebastian & Scuttle'
I am very tempted to celebrate Jelly Bean Day, but, being a native Oklahoman, I'll have opt for remembering the land run. Today Guthrie is stll only about 11,000 in population while Oklahoma City boasts in excess of 600,000 residents and the OKC metro area is about 1.3 million. Have a blessed week.
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing like a picture of an adorable kitten to start your week off write.
ReplyDeleteAwwww, what a sweet little napper! That Spark puts the fuel in your jets on a Monday!
ReplyDeleteSuch a cute kitten and a great spark. I loved the poem too. I am glad we have electricity :)
ReplyDeleteThat poem has good advice and a good excuse to avoid Spring cleaning:-)
ReplyDeleteSuch a wee cutie!
ReplyDeleteBoy did you get spammed with the escorts. Yikes. Been seeing that a lot of late.
ReplyDeleteAwww and kittens do go together.
Love your Spark.
The piece on spring cleaning is awesome. I'd not thought about that mess.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday, my friend. ♥
Awww on kitty's always! Hope your Easter was wonderful.
ReplyDeleteGreat poem, Mimi. You're so right that cleaning after the mess of spring makes a lot more sense!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the perfect excuse to put off spring cleaning. Lovely poem, sweet kitty :)
ReplyDeletesuch a precious kitten photo ~ sooooo adorable ~
ReplyDeleteHappy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
You know, that's a very sensible atdtitude to Spring Cleaning......unfortunately I was brought up with both Spring Cleaning and Fall Cleaning. There was no mercy.
ReplyDelete