Quail and Dove (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill Ins and Nature Friday

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Feline Friday was originally started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude (may he rest in peace), and i'm going to believe it's because he liked cats.

He handed hosting duties off to Sandee at Comedy Plus, and now she's entrusting it to me.

Feline Friday is simple to join.  All you have to do is: Post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (they may be silly or cute).  Then add your link!

One thing for sure is this is a fun and easy meme to do.  So come and join us in Feline Friday.

What better way to start the weekend than with a feline!

Several weeks ago, two kittens came to the shelter in very poor shape, especially the tiny female.  She was half the size of her brother and had almost no fur.  They were not infected with anything, just seriously malnourished.  The tiny girl looked like a plucked bird, so they were named Dove (the boy) and Quail (the tiny girl).

After a few weeks in a foster home, they came and were up for adoption less than 24 hours.  They stole the hearts of a newly married couple and went home together after their surgeries.

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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 beverage to drink when it is hot out is _________.

2. My favorite summer activity is _________.

3. I'm grateful that I have the freedom to _________.

4. If I don't _________, I'll forget _________.

1. My favorite beverage to drink when it is hot out is   ice water, with an occasional glass of unsweetened iced tea thrown in for good measure..

2. My favorite summer activity is   keeping cool!  I'm not a fan of sweating.

3. I'm grateful that I have the freedom to   practice my faith as I see fit.

4. If I don't   write it down,   I'll forget   everything!

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Nature Friday is hosted by LLB in Our Backyard.  Simply post a picture of the natural world, and link up!   

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Today is:

Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Constitution Day -- Armenia

Earth at Aphelion -- @06:06 UTC (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Feast of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands

Graham Cracker Day -- birth anniversary of inventor of graham flour, the Reverend Sylvester Graham, in 1794

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Kirkpinar, Edirne, Turkey (since 1362, the oldest wrestling festival in the world as well as the oldest continually running, sanctioned sporting event in the world, in which men clad in leather britches and covered in olive oil wrestle; through Sunday)

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolitic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

Tynwald Day -- Isle of Man (Manx National Day; assembling of the year's session of the High Court of Tynwald, as their Parliament is called, to read the laws to the citizens; oldest continual parliament in existence)

Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)

Edie Falco, 1963

Huey Lewis, 1951

Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage, 1951

Jackie Robertson, 1944

Eliot Feld, 1942

Shirley Knight, 1936

Katherine Helmond, 1934

Warren Oates, 1928

Janos Starker, 1924

Georges Pompidou, 1911

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902

Jean Cocteau, 1889

Clara Zetkin, 1857

Cecil Rhodes, 1853

P.T. Barnum, 1810

David Glasgow Farragut, 1801

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica(Publication date), 1687

Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295

John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687

The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865

Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934

Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937

Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937

Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947

National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948

The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950

William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951

The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954

Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975

Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998

The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003

Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004

Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009

The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009

Europe's tallest, habitable, free-standing structure, The Shard, which stands at 1,016 feet (309.6 metres) officially opens in London, England, 2012

In Rome, Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII are canonized by the Vatican, 2013

Volvo Cars announces that all new models by 2019 will be either hybrids or battery powered, the first automaker to do so, 2017

The ancient city of Babylon is declared a UNESCO World Heritage site, 2019

Scientists announce the discovery, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, of one of the world's oldest pieces of art, a 51,000-year-old carved deer bone, 2021

The Mathematics Fields Medal, presented every four years to mathematicians under 40, is awarded to James Maynard, June Huh, Maryna Viazovska and Hugo Duminil-Copin in Helsinki, Finland, 2022

What Then? (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Sammy’s Poetry Day and Brian’s Thankful Thursday

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A blessed and beautiful Happy Fourth of July to all who celebrate.  To all others, a blessed and beautiful happy Thursday.

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For those who want to go off the grid and live like a hermit, a cautionary tale from another of Ms. G's ongoing adventures.

Ms. Fiona is 82, widowed, one sister older than her three states away, one son who stole from her and disappeared and has no contact with her, no other relatives in this world at all.

She lives in a house trailer in a park that used to be a great neighborhood but is now dilapidated and riddled with crime, filth, and drugs; the trailer itself is falling apart and landlords do nothing to repair anything.

She had to have surgery and now is in rehab, Ms. G is feeding her stray cats which were TNRed a few months ago by a group Ms. G works with, and it is starting to look like she will not be coming home and Ms. G will be trying to find a good barn home for her cats.

My question to these modern day hermits remains, if you do everything right and perfectly, make a way to survive alone or with your one or two other favorite people, have water, can grow food and provide for all your needs, what in the world do you do when you get sick, need medical attention, get old, can't do the work needed to maintain it all any longer.

You can be a "prepper" all you want, be ready for any and every end of the world scenario, figure out how to initially survive and even thrive for a while, but the day of reckoning comes when you have to have help, and what do you do then?

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

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While Good Fences Around the World seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird, i still enjoy looking for and posting interesting fences, so i will!

They've tried to make the back fence look nicer with some plants and done a pretty good job of it.

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

I know you want to learn

the latest dancing craze

so you can impress the girls

at the ball in a few days.

I'm happy now to teach you

to be light on your feet and spry,

but once you've learned, remember,

that I danced with you, dude, I'll deny!

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

Today i am thankful for a new-to-me computer procured by #2 Son when he played with mine and saw how old and very, very slow it was.  This one is bigger, too, no more squinting at the screen.

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Today is:

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Day of Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Filipino-American Friendship Day -- Philippines; U.S.

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Independence Day -- US and Territories(1776)

Independence from Meat Day -- don't be a slave to tradition! sponsored by Vegetarian Awareness Network

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day -- you can do this anywhere that it's hot enough, but for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day (Patron of brides, charitable societies, charity workers, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, queens, tertiaries, victims of adultery, victims of jealousy, victims of unfaithfulness, widows; invoked in time of war; Coimbra, Portugal)

St. Ulrich's Day (Patron of peaceful deaths, pregnant women, weavers; Augsburg, Germany; Creazzo, Italy; against birth complications, dizziness, faintness, fever, frenzy, mice, moles, vertigo)

Stone Skipping Tournament -- Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US (open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!)

World's Greatest Lizard Races -- Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US (cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16 foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!)

Anniversaries Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881

Birthdays Today

Becky Newton, 1978

Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language, and has now taught it to her offspring)

Pamela Howard "Pam" Shriver, 1962

Signy Coleman, 1960

Geraldo Rivera, 1943

George Steinbrenner, 1930

Al Davis, 1929

Gina Lollobrigida, 1927

Neil Simon, 1927

Eva Marie Saint, 1924

Ann Landers, 1918

Abigail Van Buren, 1918

Mitch Miller, 1911

Gloria Stuart, 1910

George Murphy, 1902

Rube Goldberg, 1883

Louis B. Mayer, 1882

George M. Cohan, 1878

Calvin Coolidge, 1872

Stephen Foster, 1826

Hiram Walker, 1816

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Top 40"(Radio), 1970

"Honky Tonk Women"(Single release), 1969

"America the Beautiful"(Publication date), 1895

Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054

Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534

The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634

City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636

The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802

The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803

Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817

The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837

The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840

Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845

The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855

Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*

The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879

The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886

The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886

Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892

The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894

Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903

African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910

First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927

Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939

After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946

The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966

NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997

The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005

The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009

Discovery of a picture of the Biblical Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in the Galilee region of northern Israel is announced, 2012

Scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider announce the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson, 2012

Unesco grants World Heritage Status to vineyards in Champagne, France along with Singapore's Botanical Gardens, Diyarbakir Fortress (Turkey) and Maymand Caves (Iran), 2015

NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully enters Jupiter's orbit, 2016

North Korea tests first successful intercontinental ballistic missile into Sea of Japan, 2017

Chinese technology company Baidu announces it has begun mass production of self-driving buses, the 14-seat Apolong, 2018

Mad Magazine announces it will stop publishing new material after 67 years, 2019

Researchers reveal there are 14 living descendants of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, 2021

Australian rules player Heather Anderson, who suffered a concussion in 2017 while playing becomes the first known professional female athlete to be diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known to plague male athletes of contact sports who suffer concussions, 2023