Is This Cage Empty? (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

(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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Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Is this cage empty?

Nope, just somebody playing peek-a-boo.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

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

1. I ________________on Memorial Day. 

2. I try to avoid _________________.

3. If I had a catchphrase, it would be _________.

4. _________ motivates me to work hard.

1. I work on Memorial Day. 

2. I try to avoid negative or pessimistic thinking.

3. If I had a catchphrase, it would be by God’s grace.

4. Being appreciated motivates me to work hard.

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Today is:

Aldersgate Day -- Methodism

Alma Highland Festival and Games -- Alma College, Alma, Michigan (annual celebration of Scottish heritage, with world class entertainment and fun; through Sunday)

Azalea Festival -- Brookings, OR, US (with a parade and street fair and bonsai, as well as azaleas and more; through Memorial Day)

Battle of Pichincha Day -- Ecuador

Bermuda Day -- Bermuda

Brooklyn Bridge Day -- the most often sold bridge in the US (or so i've been told) opened on this day in 1883

Brother's Day -- celebrate all forms of brotherhood, biological, adopted, fraternity brothers, or members of your labor union

Celebrate Commemorate Memorial Day -- Waterloo, NY, US (the 149th observance at the National Birthplace of Memorial Day includes a car show, crafts, food, races, a biker rally and more; through observed Memorial Day, and again on the 30th, which is traditional Memorial Day)

Day for the Naming of Rocks and Planets -- Fairy Calendar

Down East Spring Birding Festival -- Cobscook Bay, ME, US (through Memorial Day)

Don't Fry Day -- another day to raise awareness of the need for sun protection through the summer    

European Day of Parks -- Europe

Feast of Hermes Trismegistus -- Hellenistic Egyptian Calendar (thrice-blessed Hermes, patron of alchemy, date approximate)

Florida Folk Festival -- White Springs, FL, US (a true celebration of Florida's folk heritage; through Sunday)

Grubstake Days -- Yucca Valley, CA, US (parade, carnival, races, horseshoes tourney, beard growing contest, fun! through Memorial Day)

Heat Awareness Safety Day -- US (your guv'mint at work, and actually doing something right that you really should pay heed to) 

Independence Day -- Eritrea(1993)

International Tiara Day -- ladies, celebrate your powers of leadership in your life; tiara wearing is optional, it's the fact that you rule that matters 

Iris Festival -- Sumter, SC, US (fun, food, music, and beautiful flowers; through Sunday)

La Fete des Saintes Maries -- Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, France (Roma [gypsy] festival, to honor St. Sara, St. Marie Jacobe, and St. Marie Salome, their patrons; through the 25th)

Last Bell -- Russia (tradition of closing schools for the year by having a formal ceremony with the children, and a first grader rings the school bell for dismissal)

Little Lamb Day -- publication anniversary, in 1830, of the original poem "Mary Had a Little Lamb"

Lubiri Memorial Day -- Buganda Region, Uganda

Memory Days -- Grayson, KY, US ("Growing but still remembering!" is this year's theme, with a parade, art show, music, Firefighter's Dinner and more; through tomorrow)

Morse Code Day -- anniversary of Morse's first message in 1844 (Morse Code Day is also celebrated on his birth anniversary, April 27)

National Death Busters Day -- US, because the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the US is the most dangerous for driving; be careful out there!

National Escargot Day

National Polka Festival -- Ennis, TX, US (everyone is invited to enjoy this festival, through Sunday)

National Wig Out Day -- US (on the Friday before Memorial Day, don your wig and your alter ego and have fun!  there are events around the country)    

Northwest Folklife Festival -- Seattle, WA, US (ethnic and traditional arts event celebrating world cultures; through Monday)

Pitlochry Festival Theatre -- Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland (plays, concerts, exhibitions, tours and talks; early October)

Portland Rose Festival -- Portland, OR, US (over 50 events, including three parades, dragon boat races, and more celebrate a city full of roses; through June 9)

Sara-la-Kali -- St. Sara, or St. Sara the Black's Day -- patron of the Roma (Gypsy) Peoples (pilgrimage)

Spoleto Festival USA -- Charleston, SC, US (a premier performing arts festival; through June 9)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius's Day (Orthodox Church celebration; Patrons of Macedonia) related observances

    Bulgarian Education and Culture and Slavonic Literature Day -- Bulgaria

    Slavonic Enlighteners' Day -- Republic of Macedonia

St. Susanna's Day (Patron of martyrs)

Tivoli Fest -- Elk Horn, IA, US (annual celebration of the area's Danish roots; through Sunday)

Birthdays Today:

Billy Gilman, 1988

Alyson Hannigan, 1974

Joe Dumars, 1963

Kristin Scott Thomas, 1960

Rosanne Cash, 1955

Alfred Molina, 1953

Jim Broadbent, 1949

Priscilla Beaulieu  Presley, 1945

Patti LaBelle, 1944

Gary Burghoff, 1943

Bob Dylan, 1941

Tommy Chong, 1938

Lilli Palmer, 1914

"Engineer Bill" Stulla, 1911

Samuel I. Newhouse, 1895

Lillian Moller Gilbreth, 1878

Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1819

Emanuel Leutze, 1816

Abraham Geiger, 1810

Gabriel Fahrenheit, 1686

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Spy Hard(Film), 1996

Indiana Jones and Last Crusade(Film), 1989

View to a Kill(film), 1985

"Jumpin' Jack Flash"(Single release), 1968

"Mame"(Musical), 1966

"Le roi l'a Dit / The King Has Spoken"(Opera), 1873

Today in History:

The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt, 1218

Peter Minuit buys Manhattan, 1626

The English  Parliament  passes the Act of Toleration protecting Protestants; Roman Catholics are intentionally excluded, 1689

John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day, 1738

Antonio José de Sucre secures the independence of the Presidency of Quito, 1822

"Mary Had a Little Lamb" by Sarah Josepha Hale is published, 1830

The first passenger rail service in US, from Baltimore to Elliots Mill, Maryland, begins, 1830

Samuel FB Morse taps out the first telegraph message, "What hath God wrought", 1844

The Brooklyn Bridge in New York City is opened to traffic after 14 years of construction, 1883 

The United Kingdom annexes the Orange Free State, 1900

Amy Johnson lands in Darwin, Northern Territory, becoming the first woman to fly from England to Australia (she left on May 5 for the 11,000 mile flight), 1930

Igor Sikorsky performs the first successful single-rotor helicopter flight, 1940

Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha's Parinibbana, 1956

Cyprus enters the Council of Europe, 1961

FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City, 1968

The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union, 1970

The International Court of Justice calls for the release of United States embassy hostages in Tehran, Iran, 1980

Eritrea  gains its independence from Ethiopia, 1991

Israel conducts Operation Solomon, evacuating Ethiopian Jews to Israel, 1991

15-year-old Sherpa  Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest, 2001

North Korea bans mobile phones, 2004

London's Metropolitan police remove belongings and sleeping bags of homeless people as part of 'a policy of reducing the impact of rough sleepers on the community', 2013

Kaduna state in Nigeria declares a state of emergency as a moth has destroyed 80% of the tomato crops and factories are shutting down, 2016

World's largest cat-proof fence (44km) completed at Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, central Australia to protect endangered species, 2018