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Saturday, August 31, 2019

It's The Little Things (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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It's Thankful Day!  Today, i am thankful for a lot of little things.

All week i've been noticing and being thankful for the small things.  Things like paper clips, without which Dr. D would be lost.

Or alligator clips, without which i would be lost. Those suckers come in handy when the elastic on your mop head has stretched out and you just can't get the thing to stay on.

The clips from plastic hangers used to hang your pants up are amazingly helpful, too.  Whenever one side of such a hanger breaks, i snap off the other side, throw the broken hanger away, and use that clip for things like closing bread bags or clipping the plastic newspaper sleeves to my cleaning apron pocket.

That brings me to those newspaper sleeves, they make great small garbage bags to clip on and use when you are running around a house cleaning and you don't want to have to keeping running to the big garbage can with every tiny thing you find you need thrown away.  

A mini can of WD-40 is a lifesaver, and there is nothing at all like it for polishing stainless steel appliances.  In fact, it's the only thing i've ever found that actually works, and it doesn't take much so a mini can lasts a long time.

A hand sanitizer bottle that clips to your key ring is just the thing when you are eating on the run and you do not have time to get to a sink.

The smallest screwdriver in the set in Mr. BA's indoor tool kit is perfect for digging all of the packed in dust and debris out of Ms. GA's vacuum cleaner head.

Pocket combs, because sometimes you just can't stand those flyaway hairs any more and have to redo your braid.

The fifty-nine cent packet of peanuts at the convenience store, when dinner is hours away and you just need a small bite of something and you don't have much money, is heaven sent.

Lanyards, because otherwise keys have a mind of their own and they go a-wandering.

Ten little things that make a big difference and for which i am very thankful.


Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Kristi and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.  



You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!
Click here to enter



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Today is:

Aloha Festivals Royal Court Investiture and Opening Ceremonies -- Oahu, Hawai'i, US (opening events of the Aloha Festivals, a month long series of free events on every Island celebrating Hawai'ian culture)

Be Kind to Humankind Week: Speak Kind Words Saturday 

Buffalo Wing Festival -- Buffalo, NY, US (two days of celebrating one of this town's favorite foods!)

Day of Solidarity and Freedom -- Poland (Anniversary of the 1980 August Agreement)

Eat Outside Day -- as long as you won't pass out from the heat

Eleusinia Games -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate; 3 days of games with grain as prizes)

Festal Day -- Order of the Eastern Star

Fiesta de Santa Fe -- Santa Fe, NM, US (festivities include the burning of the Zozobra -- Old Man Gloom effigy -- on the first night, so bring your personal gloom written down before the burning, and watch it be destroyed, then enjoy one of the oldest fiestas in the US; through Sunday)

Hijra -- Islam (Islamic New Year Begins at the viewing of the new moon crescent, so exact time/date varies by location)

International Bacon Day -- good day for a double decker BLT with grilled onions and Swiss cheese (unless, of course, you are a pig)

International Bat Night -- through tomorrow, go enjoy these wonderful creatures; www.eurobats.org or www.batcon.org

Independence Day -- Kyrgyzstan(1991); Malaysia (Hari Kebangsaan/Freedom Day, 1957); Trinidad & Tobago(1962)


International Overdose Awareness Day -- prevention and remembrance     

Invent A New Sandwich Day -- spread around the internet like good mayo; go ahead, have fun with this

Japanese Festival -- St. Louis, MO (celebrating the history, culture, and people of Japan at the Missouri Botanical Garden; through Monday)

Limba Noastra -- Moldova (Day of Our Language)

Love Litigating Lawyers Day -- yes, G-d tells us to love everybody, even litigation attorneys but He never said doing it would be easy; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

National Trail Mix Day

Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight -- celebrating the food and drink of this beautiful land, through the 15th   

Sheep Market Fair -- Ho, Denmark (annual sheep market and family fair; through tomorrow)

St. Raymond Nonnatus' Day (Patron of babies, childbirth, children, expectant mothers, falsely accused people, infants, midwives, newborn babies, obstetricians, and pregnant women; Baltoa, Dominican Republic; against fever)

Usuki Stone Buddhas Fire Festival -- Usuki, Japan (torchlight at twilight lights the regions mysterious Buddha statues; includes a beach party!)


Birthdays Today:

Jeff Hardy, 1977
Chris Tucker, 1972
Debbie Gibson, 1970
Glenn Tilbrook, 1957
Edwin Corley Moses, 1955
Richard Gere, 1949
Itzhak Perlman, 1945
Van Morrison, 1945
Jack Thompson, 1940
Marva Collins, 1936
Frank Robinson, 1935
James Coburn, 1928
Buddy Hackett, 1924
G.D. Spradlin, 1920
Alan Jay Lerner, 1918
William Saroyan, 1908
William Shawn, 1907
Arthur Godfrey, 1903
Maria Montessori, 1870


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Argo(Film), 2012
"Alice"(TV), 1976
"The Great Gildersleeve"(Radio), 1941
"The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper"(Play), 1928


Today in History:

Traditional date upon which Ayonwentah (Haiwatha) and Deganawidah (The Great Peacemaker) assist the Iroquois tribes in establishing the Confederation of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy, or League of Five Nations), 1142
Lewis and Clark begin their expedition, 1803
A nuts and bolts machine is patented by Micah Rugg, 1842
The first professional football game is played in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 1895
Edison patents the Kinetograph, 1897
Mrs. Adolph Landenburg, a horse rider, debuts the split skirt, 1902
Debut of Foghorn Leghorn, 1946
Solidarity Labor Union forms in Poland, 1980
Diana, Princess of Wales, her companion Dodi Al-Fayed and driver Henri Paul die in a car crash in Paris, 1997
Stolen on August 22, 2004, Edvard Munch's famous painting The Scream is recovered in a raid by Norwegian police, 2006
In Sudan, the People's Liberation Army announces it will demobilize its child soldiers by the end of the year, 2010
A 19-year-old Indonesian man is rescued after 49 days at sea on his floating fishing trap, 2018

Friday, August 30, 2019

Arceneaux (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.

Arceneaux at the shelter looks a lot like our Dansig:







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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. My favorite Peanuts character is ______________________.

2. I knew I was no longer a child when ____________________.

3. I was shocked when I learned that _________.

4. I always feel frustrated when I try to _________.


1. My favorite Peanuts character is Snoopy.  Snoopy for President!

2. I knew I was no longer a child when i stepped into a voting booth for the first time.

3. I was shocked when I learned that i was pregnant the first time.  The doctors had said, “No way.”

4. I always feel frustrated when I try to understand some people.  There are a few that there’s just no fathoming what they are doing and why.


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Today is:

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Forgive Your Foe Friday 

Blackpool Illuminations -- The Promenade, Blackpool, Lancashire, England (five miles of spectacular lighting; through Nov. 3)

Chatter Champion Announced -- Fairy Calendar

Constitution Day -- Kazakhstan

Day of Satisfying the Hearts of the Ennead (Nine Major Gods) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Charisteria -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day to give thanks)

Frankenstein Day -- in honor of Mary Shelley (Interesting, when juxtaposed to the next entry.)

Huey P. Long Day -- Louisiana, US

International Day of the Disappeared -- Latin American Federation of Associations for Relatives of Detained-Disappeared

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances -- UN

International Whale Shark Day -- WiseOceans has more information 

National College Colors Day -- US (win money for your favorite college by sporting your colors today and following the rules on this site

National Holistic Pet Day -- celebrating the growing interest in natural/holistic medicine for animals

National Toasted Marshmallow Day

Popular Consultation Day -- East Timor

Puyallup Fair -- Puyallup, WA, US (one of the top ten fairs in attendance in the world; through Sept. 22nd)

Santa Rosa de Lima -- Peru

St. Fiacre's Day (Patron of box makers, cab drivers, costermongers, florists, gardeners, hosiers, pewterers, taxi drivers, tile makers; against barrenness, fistula, haemorrhoids, piles, sterility, syphilis, venereal disease)

Talk Intelligently Day -- holiday thought up by someone tired of non-intelligent conversations (maybe with co-workers?)

Victory Day -- North Cyprus; Turkey
    Turkey's Hellespont Swim -- one of the world's busiest shipping lanes is closed so that over 300 participants can swim the Hellespont from Europe to Asia, a Victory Day commemoration of winning the Turkish War of Independence in 1922 against the Greeks

Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw And Festival -- Prairie du Sac, WI, US (come try to break the state record of 248 feet; through tomorrow)

World Championship BBQ Goat Cook-Off -- Brady, TX, US (through Sunday)

Zucchini Festival -- Obetz, OH, US (family fun and zucchini; through Monday)

Labor Day, shmabor day!
What a dumb day!
You hire some jerk,
Then send him away,
To celebrate work,
By playing all day!

~ Garfield the Cat

While i may not agree with his assessment of the importance of Labor Day, Garfield is right in that this weekend has become a time for play, as evidenced by the following celebrations that always occur on this weekend around the US*:

Benton Neighbor Day -- Benton, MO
Britt Draft Horse Show -- Britt, IA
Bumbershoot: Seattle's Music & Arts Festival -- Seattle, WA
Cal Farley's Boys Ranch Rodeo -- Boys Ranch, TX
Central City Rock 'n' Roll Cruise-in & Concert -- Central City, KY
Cleveland National Air Show -- Cleveland, OH
Clothesline Fair -- Prairie Grove, AR
Colombia River Cross Channel Swim -- Hood River, OR
Colorado Balloon Classic -- Colorado Springs, CO
Commonwheel Labor Day Weekend ARts and Crafts Festival -- Manitou Springs, CO
Daniel Boone Pioneer Days -- Winchester, KY
Eastern Idaho State Fair -- Blackfoot, ID
Fort Bridger Rendezvous -- Fort Bridger, WY
Great Bathtub Race -- Nome, AK
Great Grove Bed Race -- Coconut Grove, FL
Harvest Wine Celebration -- Livermore, CA
Hog Capital of the World Festival -- Kewanee, IL
Hoisington Celebration -- Hoisington, KS
Hopkinton State Fair -- Contoocook, NH,
Iroquois Arts Festival -- Howes Cave, NY
Johnson City Field Days -- Johnson City, NY
Jubilee Days Festival -- Zion, IL
Lifelight Outdoor Music Festival -- Worthing, SD
Mackinac Bridge Walk -- St. Ignace, MI
National Championship Chuckwagon Races -- Clinton, AR
National Hard Crab Derby and Fair -- Crisfield, MD
National Sweetcorn Festival -- Hoopeston, IL
Oatmeal Festival -- Bertram/Oatmeal, TX
Odyssey - A Greek Festival -- Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church, Orange, CT
Old Threshers Reunion -- Mount Pleasant, IA
On the Waterfront -- Rockford, IL
Oregon Trail Rodeo -- Hastings, NE
Payson Golden Onion Days -- Payson, UT
Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Colonial Festival -- Greensburg, PA
Santa-Cali-Gon Days Festival -- Independence, MO
Scandinavian Fest -- Budd Lake, NJ
Sta-Bil Nationals Championship Lawn Mower Race -- Delaware, OH
Snake River Duck Race -- Nome, AK
Taste of Colorado -- Denver, CO
Taste of Madison -- Madison, WI
Totah Festival -- Farmington, NM
Waikiki Roughwater Swim -- Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, HI
West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival -- Clarksburg, WV
Westfest Czech Heritage Festival -- West, TX
Wisconsin State Cow-Chip Throw -- Prairie du Sac, WI
Woodstock Fair -- Woodstock, CT
World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-Off and Arts & Crafts Fair -- Brady, TX

*Note:  Some of these begin today, some begin Saturday or Sunday, and all go through US Labor Day, this upcoming Monday.


Birthdays Today:

Cameron Diaz, 1972
Michael Michele, 1966
Michael Chiklis, 1963
David Paymer, 1954
Timothy Bottoms, 1951
Lewis Black, 1948
Peggy Lipton, 1947
Frank "Tug" McGraw, 1944
Jean-Claude Killy, 1943
Elizabeth Ashley, 1939
Warren Buffett, 1930
Kitty Wells, 1919
Ted Williams, 1918
Fred MacMurray, 1908
Roy Wilkins, 1901
Shirley Booth, 1898
Huey P. Long, 1893
Claire Straith, M.D., 1891
Ernest Rutherford, 1871
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, 1797


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Twelve Years a Slave(Film), 2013
"Anna Lucasta"(Play), 1944


Today in History:

European leaders, in an attempt to end war "for all time", outlaw the crossbow, 1146
One of the largest naval battles in history, during the last decade of the ailing, Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty, begins between the forces of two Chinese rebel leaders, 1363
Capture of the entire Dutch fleet by British forces under the command of Sir Ralph Abercromby and Admiral Sir Charles Mitchell, 1799
Founding of Melbourne, Australian, 1835
Founding of Houston, Texas, 1836
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901
The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in south Louisiana, the longest bridge over water (continuous, not aggregate) that is not also a viaduct, opens, 1956
The Hotline between the leaders of the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union goes into operation, 1963
Thurgood Marshall is confirmed as the first African American Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1967
Guion Bluford becomes the first African American astronaut in space, 1983
NATO launches Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb forces, 1995
A commercial expedition to raise part of the sunken British luxury liner Titanic ended in failure, 1996
Harley-Davidson celebrates its 100th anniversary in Milwaukee with a parade of 10,000 motorcycles, 2003
India and Pakistan agree to release hundreds of fishermen and other civilians in each other's jails as part of their ongoing attempts to negotiate peace between their nations, 2005
Sumatra's Sinaburg volcano continues to erupt, two people are killed and 21,000 are evacuated from the vicinity, 2010
In Chile, 33 miners trapped half a mile beneath the surface make contact with their families for the first time in three weeks since the incidentally, 2010
Late author Terry Pratchett’s unfinished works are destroyed as per his request, 2017

Thursday, August 29, 2019

At Least (Six Sentence Story), Fancy (Good Fences), Sammy's Poetry Day, and Brian's Thankful Thursday

(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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"Look," he said excitedly, "I did all the dishes, not just the ones I dirtied!"

He appeared to be so proud of himself that she had to stifle a smile.

"And just why," she asked, pretending to be perturbed, "is that such a big deal, something a woman does regularly, every day.  You are acting as if you deserve a gold medal!"

His crestfallen look almost made her laugh.

Then he nailed it and made them both howl with laughter when he stuck out his bottom lip and said, "Could I at least have a cookie?"


Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Howl.     


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Gosia at Looking for Identity has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.    

This place has one fancy fence bordering the road:

This part of their fence that leads to the carport even has a fountain!


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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    



Do, re, do, re, do, re, mi,
Do, re, do, re, mi, re, do.
The lessons start small,
You hold your fingers just so.
Soon parents look up and see
That you really do understand
What you are doing up there:
Enjoying, letting the music 
That is in come through --
It's really your spirit you are playing
Not just simple notes.


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Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

Grandma and Grandpa took us out to eat recently, so today i am grateful for restaurant leftovers!


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Today is:

According to Hoyle Day -- death anniversary of Edmond Hoyle

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Thoughtful Thursday 

Birthday of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Blue Hill Fair -- Blue Hill, ME, US (beautiful "down to earth" country fair; through Labor Day)

Chop Suey Day

Day of Loose Talk -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, convulsive children, cutters, epileptics, farmers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; over 70 cities and countries around the world; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, spasms)
    Head Day -- Iceland (a weather omen day; whatever today's weather, it will stay the same for at least 3 weeks)

Individual Rights Day -- on the birth anniversary of John Locke, the first philosopher to argue that a human being has basic rights based on his status as a sovereign human being, and that people are not slaves of their government, but their human rights should be protected by government

International Day Against Nuclear Testing -- UN

Judgment Day -- according to "The Terminator"

Lemon Juice Day

Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival and Fair -- Morgan City, LA, US (celebrating the importance of the shrimping and petroleum industries in Louisiana, it includes one of the most unique children's villages among such events and a Blessing of the Fleet; through Labor Day)

More Herbs, Less Salt Day

National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day -- US (by presidential proclamation in 1991)

Runic Half-Month Rad begins (Motion)

Slovak National Uprising Anniversary -- Slovakia

St. Medericus' Day (also called Saint-Merri or St. Merry, acclaimed as the Patron of the Right Bank of the Seine River in Paris)


Birthdays Today:

Lea Michele, 1986
Rebecca De Mornay, 1962
Mark Morris, 1956
Michael Jackson, 1958
`Richard Gere, 1949
Robin Leach, 1941
William Friedkin, 1939
Elliot Gould, 1938
John McCain, 1936
Richard Attenborough, 1923
Charlie "Bird" Parker, 1920
Isabel Sanford, 1917
Ingrid Bergman, 1915
Preston Sturges, 1898
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 1809
John Locke, 1632


Today in History

Era of Diocletian (Martyrs), the last major time of persecution for the early Christian churches, begins with Gen. Gaius Aurelius V Diocletianus Jovius becoming emperor of Rome, 284
Japan mints its first copper coins, 708
The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, is executed by order of Francisco Pizarro, 1533
The first Indian "reservation" is formed by the New Jersey Legislature, 1758
Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction, 1831
The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire, 1833
Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War, 1842
The first motorcycle is patented in Germany by Gottlieb Daimler, 1885
The chef of a visiting Chinese Ambassador invents "chop suey" in NYC, 1896
The Goodyear tire company is founded, 1898
The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers, 1907
Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California, 1911
The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, 1949
Speedy Gonzales makes his debut, 1953
The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, 1966
Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party, 1991
Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, 2005
Sumatra's Sinabung volcano erupts for the first time in 400 years, killing one and causing Indonesia to evacuate thousands of people, 2010
London holds the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 2012
Austrian researchers announce they successfully grew 'cerebral organoids' or mini-brains, containing several distinct regions of the brain; the mini-brains will help scientists understand how brains develop, and what causes schizophrenia and autism, 2013
Hurricane Harvey sets a rainfall record of 51.88 inches in Cedar Bayou the most ever from a tropical cyclone in continental US, according to US National Weather Service, 2017