Saturday, June 13, 2026

Stop and Count, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It generally feels like i run full speed into Thankful Day, when it's about time to stop and count the good things.


Thankfully, Grandpa had agreed i could spend the night in NOLA last Saturday, as Uncle J wanted to go out with his friends to see a special band and he didn't want to spend the whole time out worrying about Grandma and Grandpa.


I was thankful i remembered everything, including supper, thankful Grandma only got me up once in the night, just after midnight, and thankful i was able to get on the road back home on time.


Once back in town, i stopped and dropped stuff at home then, as arranged, i thankfully got to church in time to meet up with Ms. A and Becca so she and i could have tea and a cookie and Ms. A could join the choir for practice.


Sunday evening, our little Annie and i stopped at Ms. D's house, where we are thankful for our weekly visit.  This one was rather warm, as her A/C had gone out, i was thankful to be there to empty her dehumidifier so she had that and the fans to take the edge off.


I was thankful to make a good bit of progress at Carl's place, then back to Ms. D's for the every-other-week cleaning.  She and i were both thankful the electrician had replaced the circuit breaker for the A/C and it was running well.


Also, i was thankful she let me do a good cleaning, since her daughter is coming this week and i want her to know i am trying to keep it up well even if Ms. D is always telling me i do too much.


I'm always thankful to spend Tuesdays with Annie.  She is reaching the age where her vocabulary is expanding fast, and she doesn't know what she wants but she wants more of it, but it's still a joy to be with her.






#2 Son got a lot done on the cars as well.  Slow-Moe the Pontiac now has an A/C fan which works on all 4 speeds, GusGus die Fledermaus, the Ford, has a fresh cabin air filter and plenty of coolant, which was low, and Lawrence the Honda has good wiper blades, a gas cap which doesn't make the check engine light go on every time you fill up, and also a new cabin air filter.


Friend West listened to Lawrence, i'm thankful to say, over Facetime, and has decreed yes, it needs a timing chain.  This will happen in the near future.


Ms. G had us running all over as always, but i'm always thankful when we get to visit Ms. Fiona.  


Usually our double work Thursdays start with a bang at Ms. SE's house, but this week it was much easier as Ms. SE and the boys are in Italy and only Mr. DE is home.  There was no overwhelm of laundry, the kitchen wasn't nearly as hard, altogether it was a much better time this week and my Sweetie and i were both thankful.


We're also thankful because it means, even after doing two places in a row, we still get home earlier.


I was very thankful on Friday to have #2 Son attend a number of small repair jobs around the house.  There are still a few more, of course, as every house is a constant project, but at least there's progress.


The cat shelter was hopping last night and not every person coming in to look and possibly adopt was properly briefed because at one point i saw a very nice lady walking around with a kitten in one hand and playing with some of the sick kittens in the off limits area with her other hand!  I'm thankful she was very accepting when i pointed out those were the sick kittens and it wasn't a good idea to have a healthy kitten around them, and i told her, gently, why we keep kittens near their own cages only.  She agreed and went right back up front, and later pre-adopted the kitten she'd been holding.


Also, i was thankful i was able to talk one couple out of adopting the blind kitten.  They have small children, and if you have a pet which is blind, it memorizes the pattern of your house and furnishings to get around.  Leaving anything on the floor it can run into is a no-no, as is moving furniture around a lot.  With their kids leaving stuff on the floor all the time, this kitten would have a hard time learning the house and trusting it could get around without knocking into who-knows-what.  Not every family is cut out to have a special needs animal and i'm thankful they understood right away.



Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his 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:


Day of the Living Children of Nut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Feast of Epona -- Ancient Celtic Calendar (Rhiannon in Wales, Macha in Ireland, guardian goddess of horses, stables, horse owners, agriculture, and transportation; date approximate, and disputed, she was the only Celtic goddess worshipped by the Romans, and they celebrated her on December 18)


Ides of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances:

     Festival of Jupiter Invictus (Jupiter the Unconquered)

     Lesser Quinquartrus/Quinquatrus Minusculae (festival for those who played flutes at religious ceremonies; through the 15th)


King's Birthday -- Tuvalu


Kitchen Klutzes of America Day


Roller Coaster Day -- the world's first "Gravity Pleasure Switchback Railway", patented by LaMarcus Thompson, opened on this day in 1884 on Coney Island, at a cost of five cents per ride


Sewing Machine Day -- why this day is anyone's guess, but we must admit it's a useful invention


Sovereign's Day/King's Birthday -- Pitcairn Island


St. Anthony of Padua's Day, the "Hammer of Heretics" (Patron of amputees, animals, asses, boatmen, domestic animals, elderly people, expectant mothers, faith, fishermen, harvests, horses, mail, mariners, Native Americans, oppressed people, paupers, poor people, sailors, seeksers of lost objects, starving people, swineherds, Tigua Indians, travel hostesses, travellers, watermen; Amantea, Italy; Anzio, Italy; Brazil; Cianciana, Italy; Dorado, Puerto Rico; Favara, Italy; Ferrazzano, Italy; Giano Vetusto, Italy; Lisbon, Portugal; Nocolosi, Italy; Padua, Italy; Portugal; San Antonio Tiayacapan, Mexico; San Fulgencio, Spain; Sandia Indian Pueblo; against barrenness, shipwreck, starvation, and sterility)

     a municipal holiday in Lisbon, Portugal and parts of Spain


Trooping the Colour -- UK (military celebration of the monarch's birthday, the King's official birthday parade, one of London's biggest and most colorful celebrations)


Weed Your Garden Day -- a reminder to get out there and do a little each day, so the little buggers don't get out of hand


World Wide Knit in Public Day -- better living through stitching together!   



Anniversaries Today:


Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is founded, 1798

Martin Luther marries Katharina von Bora, 1525



Birthdays Today:


Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, 1986

Raz-B, 1985

Rivers Cuomo, 1970

Jamie Walters, 1969

Ally Sheedy, 1962

Tim Allen, 1953

Richard Thomas, 1951

Ban Ki-Moon, 1944

Malcolm McDowell, 1943

Siegfried Fischbacher, 1939

Christo, 1935

Paul Lynde, 1926

Ralph Edwards, 1913

Red Grange, 1903

Dorothy L. Sayers, 1893

Basil Rathbone, 1892

William Butler Yeats, 1865

Winfield Scott, 1786



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"The Closer"(TV), 2005

Roadie(Film), 1980

"Les vĂªpres siciliennes"(Verdi opera) 1855



Today in History:


Coronation of Alexander III as King of Scots, 1249

Ibn Battuta, who was to become the foremost world traveler of his day, seeing most of the known world in his time, begins his first hadj, 1325

Rhode Island becomes the first of Britain's North American colonies to ban the importation of slaves, 1774

Mission San Luis Rey de Francia is founded, 1798

Meriwether Lewis and four companions sight the Great Falls of the Missouri River, 1803

A fire devastates much of Vancouver, British Columbia, 1886

King Ludwig II of Bavaria is found dead in Lake Starnberg south of Munich at 11:30 PM, 1886

Yukon Territory is formed, with Dawson chosen as its capital, 1898

The University of the Philippines College of Engineering is established, the largest degree granting unit in the Philippines, 1910

Mir Mine, the first diamond mine in the USSR, is discovered, 1955

The United States Supreme Court rules in Miranda v. Arizona that the police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning them, 1966

Thurgood Marshall is nominated to become the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, 1967

Fahd becomes King of Saudi Arabia upon the death of his brother, Khalid, 1982

Pioneer 10 becomes the first man-made object to leave the solar system, 1983

President Kim Dae Jung of South Korea meets Kim Jong-il, leader of North Korea, for the beginning of the first ever inter-Korea summit, 2000

The US withdraws from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, 2002

The Al Askari Mosque is bombed for a second time, 2007

A capsule of Japanese spacecraft Hayabusa returns to Earth with particles of asteroid 25143 Itokawa, 2010

The U.S. Supreme Court invalides gene patents held by Myriad Genetics when it rules that isolated human genes are not patentable, 2013

Philae, the first spacecraft to land on a comet in the European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, re-awakes after 7 months, 2015

Volkswagen is fined €1 billion (£880m) by German prosecutors over diesel emissions scandal, 2018

Archaeologists announce Scottish crannogs (fortified settlements on artificial islands in locks) are far older than first thought, as radiocarbon dating puts some of them as being older than Stonehenge, 2019

The world's largest freshwater fish, a stingray 3.98m x 2.2m is caught in the Mekong river, Cambodia, then tagged and released, 2022

G7 leaders agree to loan Ukraine $50 billion from frozen Russian assets to buy weapons and rebuild, 2024

Friday, June 12, 2026

Ragamuffins (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 has entrusted 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!


These little ragamuffins turned up at someone's house and the cat shelter got them.  They're "in the hands of the law" now.










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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'd like to learn how to play _________.


2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was _________.

3. I want to design _________ for _________.

4. _________ is a special treat I get _________.




1. I'd like to learn how to play   the ukulele.  I was learning at one time, but with so much work i had little time to practice and i went ahead and gave mine to my Daughter-in-Law, as she already knows how to play and could make better use of it.  One more thing to try again if i ever get to retire.


2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was   replicas of ceiling fans of cardboard as decorations for a classroom in school.  It was a group project and it didn't go so well.

3. I want to design  
easy to fill out lists   for   those of us who are not very good at making our own lists!

4. 
Lucky Buddha roll sushi   is a special treat I get   about once a year when i splurge on a visit to a favorite restaurant.




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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:


Crowded Nest Awareness Day -- for those whose problem is the opposite of the Empty Nest, a day to remind you to keep your sense of humor and get support when you need it


Festival of Mut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)


Ghost in the Machine Day -- the internet holiday that explains everything!


Helsinki Day -- Finland


Independence Day -- Philippines


International Cachaca Day -- the once illegal cocktail now has its own day of celebration 


King's Birthday -- Solomon Islands


Loving Day -- US (commemoration of Loving vs. Virginia decision by the Supreme Court which struct down all anti-miscegenation laws) 


National Day of Prayer for Law Enforcement Officers -- on the second Friday of June, sponsored originally by Wives Behind the Badge


National Jerky Day -- begun a couple of years ago, possibly by one of the jerky manufacturers (no one can track it down, sounds suspicious to me)


National Peanut Butter Cookie Day


Peace of Chaco Day / Chaco Armistice Day -- Paraguay and Bolivia (commemorates the end of a war between the two)


Red Rose Day -- found all over the internet, with June 12 as the most common date cited; may have begun with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Australia, which has Rose Days as fundraisers


Russia Day -- Russia


Sacred Heart of Jesus -- Catholic Christian


Sovereign's Day/King's Birthday -- British Virgin Islands


St. Anthony's Eve -- Brazil; Portugal

     Dia dos Namorados -- Brazil (Lover's Day, celebrated on St. Anthony's Eve)


St. Onuphrius' Day (Patron of weavers; Centrache, Catanzaro, Italy)


Work @ Home Fathers' Day -- special kudos to the dads who work from home by telecommuting, or care for house and kids while the wife works outside the home from Jeff Zbar


World Day Against Child Labour -- The UN, Education International and the International Labour Organization



Birthdays Today:


Frances O'Connor, 1969

Timothy Busfield, 1957

Marv Albert, 1941

Chick Corea, 1941

Jim Nabors, 1932

Anne Frank, 1929

Vic Damone, 1928

George H.W. Bush, 1924

David Rockefeller, 1915

Alexandre Tansman, 1897



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Doctor Doctor"(TV), 1989

Raiders of the Lost Ark(Film), 1981

You Only Live Twice(Film), 1967

Cleopatra(Film), 1963



Today in History:


Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, 1429

The French begin their colonization of Algeria with the landing of 34,000 troops, 1830

The world's first Fingerprint Bureau opens in Calcutta, India, after the Council of the Governor General approves a committee report that fingerprints should be used for classification of criminal records, 1897

Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor, 1939

Anne Frank gets her diary as a birthday present, 1942

The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional, 1967

The first man powered flight across the English Channel is performed by Bryan Allen in the Gossamer Albatross designed by Paul MacCready, 1979

At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, 1987

Russia Day – the parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty, 1990

Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London, 1997

A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to widespread protests, 2009

Ending an extensive study on the wooly mammoth, scientists conclude that they were wiped out by multiple things, including climate change, human hunters, and shifting habitats, 2012

AT&T's $85.4 billion takeover of Time Warner is allowed to proceed by a US District Court Judge, 2018

Hong Kong sees violent protests as tens of thousands of protesters block and try to storm government buildings to stop the extradition law, 2019

The National Weather Service offices in Fairbanks and Juneau, Alaska issue their first-ever heat advisory, warning of temperatures up to 88°F (31.1°C), 2025