A Crop of Kittens (Feline Friday), Friendly Fill-Ins, Nature Friday and Pet Photo Fails

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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!

Kittens waiting for forever homes.

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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 like pumpkin _________.

2. My favorite movie to watch around Halloween is _________.

3. If I could meet any Halloween creature, I'd choose _________.

4. I'd like a Halloween treat basket filled with _________.

1. I like pumpkin   seeds, a/k/a pepitas.

2. My favorite movie to watch around Halloween is _________.  I don't watch any Halloween movies, but my Sweetie really loves Halloweentown.

3. If I could meet any Halloween creature, I'd choose   whichever one would promise not to bite, eat, haunt or taunt me!

4. I'd like a Halloween treat basket filled with   raw cacao nibs.

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

This pretty yellow butterfly stopped for just a moment.  He was in full sun, so it's the best I could get.

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Pet Photo Fails is hosted by Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries & Meows.     

Mr. Cal can be hard to photograph, especially if he won't stand still.

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Today is Hallowe'en or Beggar's Night!  Some other names for this day:

Allantide -- Cornwall, England

All Hallows Eve -- Christian

Apple and Candle Night -- Wales

Books for Treats Day -- San Jose, CA, US (give gently used books to kids, not candy -- feed their brains, not their cavities!)

Dookie Apple Night -- Newcastle, England

Duck Apple Night -- Liverpool, England

Nut-Crack Night -- England; Scotland

Sneak Some of the Candy Yourself Before the Kids Start Knocking Day

Thump-the-Door Night -- Isle of Mann

Trick or Treat Night

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.        

A couple of final Halloween pics from around here.

Cousin Itt says good-bye until next year!

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Today is:

Admission Day -- Nevada, US

Breeder's Cup World Championship -- Del Mar, CA, US (the world's best horses compete in 14 races; through tomorrow)

Chiang Kai-Shek Day -- Taiwan

Day of the Seven Billion -- day in 2011 the UN declared the world population to have reached 7,000,000,000   

Dia de las Iglesias Evangelicas y Protestantes -- Chile (Day of Evangelical and Protestant Churches/Reformation Day)

Dias de los Muertos -- Mexico, esp. Michoacan and Oaxaca (through Nov. 2; ceremonies, sand sculptures, decorated altars, and parties through the nights in the cemetaries)

Feast of Sekhmet Bast Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of Inner Worlds -- Pagan (fight between the old and new year)

Founder's Day -- Girl Scouts of the USA (Juliette Gordon Low's birth anniversary)

Frankenstein Friday -- a day to celebrate the "mother" and "father" of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff

Ghostwriter's Day

Increase Your Psychic Powers Day -- originated in England in the 19th century, some celebrated on the 30th

Makoshe's Holiday -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar (honoring Mother Earth)  related observance:

     Mokosh Day -- Ukraine (Slavic goddess of "women's work", a wanderer and spinner, still popular as a life giving force and protector of women, always associated with Friday; date approximate)

Martyr's Day -- Burkina Faso

National Bandanna Day -- Australia (to raise funds for teens with cancer)    

National Candy/Caramel Apple Day

National Knock-Knock Joke Day

     Knock, Knock

     Who's There?

     Police.

     Police who?

     Police stop telling knock-knock jokes!

National Magic Day -- Society of American Magicians (in honor of Harry Houdini, who died on this day in 1926, and who was president of the SoAM)

National UNICEF Day

Old Celtic New Year's Eve

Out of the Broom Closet Day -- Pagan, Heathen, and all earth-based and ethnic religions

Reformation Day -- Protestant Christian (trad.)

     Official Holiday -- Germany; Slovenia

Samhain (northern hemisphere) / Beltane (southern hemisphere) -- Druids, Gaels, Welsh peoples, Neopagans, Wiccans (begins at sunset)

Scare a Friend Day -- just not so much that s/he isn't a friend any more

Senior Absurdity Day -- Horace Mann School, Bronx, NY, US (a day the kids look forward to each year)

St. Quentin's Day (Patron against coughs)

St. Wolfgang of Ratisbon's Day (Patron of apoplexics, carpenters, paralysed people, stroke victims; Regensburg, Germany; against apoplexy, paralysis, stomach diseases, strokes)

Vetmaetr -- Norse Calendar (Winter Nights; beginning of winter, the New Year, and the start of Odin leading the Wild Hunt)

Youth Honor Day -- Iowa, US

Anniversaries Today:

Mt. Rushmore is completed, 1941

Nevada becomes the 36th US State, 1864

Birthdays Today:

Robert "Vanilla Ice" Van Winkle, 1967

Adam Horovitz, 1966

Dermot Mulroney, 1963

Rob Schneider, 1963

Peter Jackson, 1961

Larry Mullen, Jr., 1961

John Candy, 1950

Jane Pauley, 1950

Deidre Hall, 1947

Stephen Rea, 1943

David Ogden Stiers, 1942

Ron Rifkin, 1939

Michael Landon, 1936

Dan Rather, 1931

Michael Collins, 1930

Barbara Bel Geddes, 1922

Dale Evans, 1912

Ethel Waters, 1896

Chaing Kai-shek, 1887

Juliette Gordon Low, 1860

John Keats, 1795

William Paca, 1740

Jan Vermeer, 1632

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Car Talk"(Radio), 1987 (national debut, ten years after their start as a local show in Boston)

"Jamaica"(Musical), 1957

"Capricio Espagnol"(Rimsky-Korsakov Op. 34), 1887

"Tamerlano"(Handel opera, HWV 18), 1724

Today in History:

Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites after their return to Jerusalem from exile, BC445

First All Hallows Eve observed to honor all the saints, 834

Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door, marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, 1517

Georg Ludwig van Hannover is crowned as the English King George I, 1714

Execution of Girondins at Paris during the Reign of Terror, 1793

Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents the miner's safety lamp, 1815

A standard uniform is approved for US Postal workers, 1868

A tropical cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die, 1876

John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tire, 1888

Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", 1892

Dedication of the Lincoln Highway, the first automobile road across United States, 1913

The Battle of Beersheba of WWI marks the last successful cavalry charge in history, 1917

The first of 160 consecutive days of 100°F + temps at Marble Bar, Australia, 1923

World Savings Day is announced in Milan, Italy by the Members of the Association at the 1st International Savings Bank Congress, 1924

Mt. Rushmore sculptures are completed, 1941

The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal, 1956

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by two security guards, 1984

EgyptAir Flight 990 traveling from New York City to Cairo crashes off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, killing all 217 on-board, 1999

Yachtsman Jesse Martin returns to Melbourne after 11 months of circumnavigating the world, solo, non-stop and unassisted, 1999

Soyuz TM-31 launches, carrying the first resident crew to the International Space Station, which has been continually crewed since, 2000

Surfer Bethany Hamilton loses her left arm and 3 liters of blood in a tiger shark attack; within a month she would be back on her board, and competing again within the year, 2003

The NYSE reopens after its first weather related shut down since the late 19th century; the two-day closure was due to Hurricane Sandy, 2012

In a landmark verdict, the Pakistani Supreme Court acquits a Christian woman of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed after she has spent eight years on death row, 2018

A fire destroys most of the historic Shuri Castle, once seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, on the island of Okinawa, Japan, 2019

The world's largest solar farm goes live in Sirindhorn Reservoir, Thailand, 2021

President of Kenya William Ruto holds a state dinner for King Charles III in Nairobi at which the King gives a speech, stating, “the wrongdoings of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and the deepest regret,” 2023