Mr. Spicy (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!

Pepper Jack is a very spicy cat.  He's been an office cat at the shelter for over a year, wandering around with a "caution" collar on most of that time.  If he's grumpy, stressed, or just not feeling it, he can turn and swat or bite.  With him, though, there are always signs, and if you follow his cues, all is well.

A very likely permanent home has finally been found for him.  Another volunteer, who loves Pepper Jack and sits on the floor with him and reads him like a book, knowing just when to pet him and just when to hold back, wanted to adopt him but couldn't because of her living situation.

Her situation has changed and Pepper Jack is with her on a "foster to adopt" basis.  If all is going well after a fostering period, he'll be considered hers!

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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 don’t _____________, but I appreciate those that do.

2. Lately, I can’t get enough ___________________.

3. _________ scared me away from _________.

4. _________ forced me to learn how to _________.

1. I don’t   write books,   but I appreciate those that do.

2. Lately, I can’t get enough   mango and avocado.  While mangos are affordable, it's time to appreciate as many of them as i can eat.

3. Having a minor heart condition   scared me away from   ever trying "recreational pharmaceuticals."

4. Moving away to go to school   forced me to learn how to   budget.

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

We have so many blooms right now.

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Today is:

Alamo Day -- Texas, US

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Friday:  Middle Name Pride Day, established by Jerry Hall as a day in which to tell at least 3 people who don't know it what your middle name is, and be proud of it

Dress in Blue Day -- US, for colorectal cancer awareness

Employee Appreciation Day

Feast of Excited Insects -- China; Korea (sometimes called Chinese Groundhog Day, the day insects are supposed to awaken for spring; date approximate)

Foundation Day -- Norfolk Island, Commonwealth of Australia

Headache Relief Day -- aspirin was patented today in 1899

Independence Day -- Ghana(1957)

Kirishima Jingu Otaue-sai -- Kirishima Jingu Shrine, Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan (rice planting festival)

National Day of Unplugging -- powered by Reboot/Sabbath Manifesto, encouraging recharging your spiritual life by unplugging your technology from sunset today to sunset tomorrow       

National Dress Day -- founded by fashion designer Ashley Lauren in 2016 to celebrate the cultural significance of the dress

National Frozen Food Day

National Salesperson Day

National White Chocolate Cheesecake Day

Oreo Cookie Day -- no history found on why this day, but if you like Oreos, do you need a reason?

Stoneware Pottery Appreciation Day -- internet generated by those who love stoneware

St. Colette's Day (Patron of Corbie, France; against the death of parents)

St. Rose of Viterbo's Day (Patron of exiles, people rejected by religious orders, tertiaries; Viterbo, Italy)

World Day of Prayer -- International and Ecumenical; a day for Informed Prayer and Prayerful Action, this year's theme is "I Will Give You Rest: Come"; this year's call to prayer was written by the women of Nigeria  

Birthdays Today:

Ryan Nyquist, 1979

Shaquille O'Neal, 1972

Amy Pietz, 1969

Connie Britton, 1968

D.L. Hughley, 1963

Tom Arnold, 1959

David Gilmour, 1946

Rob Reiner, 1945

Kiri Te Kanawa, 1944

Dave Gilmour, 1944

Ben Murphy, 1942

Willie Stargell, 1941

Valentina Tereshkova-Nikolaeva, 1937

Lorin Maazel, 1930

Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, 1928

Alan Greenspan, 1926

Ed McMahon, 1923

Will Eisner, 1917

Lou Costello, 1906

Bob Wills, 1905

Ring Lardner, 1885

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1806

Anna Claypoole Peale, 1791

Cyrano de Bergerac, 1619

Michelangelo Bounarroti, 1475

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lend me a Tenor"(Play), 1986

"Deep Blue Sea"(Play), 1952

"Both Your Houses"(Play; Pulitzer Prize for Drama), 1933

"La Traviata"(Opera), 1853

"La Sonnambula"(Opera), 1831

Today in History:

Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Guam, 1521

The First Fleet arrives at Norfolk Island (an external territory of Australia) in order to found a convict settlement, 1788

York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto, 1834

After a thirteen-day siege by an army of 3,000 Mexican troops, the 187 Texas volunteers defending the Alamo are defeated and the fort is captured, 1836

Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata receives its premiere performance in Venice, 1853

Dmitri Mendeleev presents the first periodic table to the Russian Chemical Society, 1869

Bayer registers "aspirin" as a trademark, 1899

The trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg begins, 1951

United Kingdom colonies Gold Coast and British Togoland become the independent Republic of Ghana, 1957

After 19 years of presenting the CBS Evening News, Walter Cronkite signs off for the last time, 1981

Michelangelo computer virus begins to affect computers, 1992

A referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania, 1994

Picasso's painting Tête de Femme is stolen from a London gallery, and is recovered a week later, 1997

Microsoft is fined €561 million for not providing E.U. residents with an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer, 2013

The Crimean parliament votes unanimously to make the Crimea part of Russia, 2014

NASA's Dawn space probe enters orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres, 2015

The world's oldest message in a bottle is found in Western Australia, thrown from the German ship Paula 132 years ago (12 June 1886), 2018

On his first visit to Iraq, Pope Francis meets with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the Shiite cleric's home in Najaf, 2021

Nikki Haley withdraws from the presidential race, leaving Donald Trump as the Republican candidate, 2024