Wordless Wednesday: Visitors

Fiancée Becky (formerly Friend Becky) brought some young friends to visit.

One- to two-month-old ducks, a little on the shy side about a picture!

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.



Today is:

Agricultural Reform Day -- Sao Tome and Principe

Ask A Stupid Question Day -- teachers wanted to get students asking more questions, so they did, even if the questions were stupid; now, it's a holiday on the last school day of September each year! 

Banned Websites Awareness Day -- sponsored by the American Association of School Librarians 

Celtic Tree Month Gort begins (Ivy)

Day of Liberation of the Republic of Abkhazia -- Abkhazia (disputed territory on the Black Sea)

Do Something Wacky With A Grandparent Day -- just not the monkey bars, please; old bones don't knit fast enough

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (the Greater Mystery Rites, date approximate; mystery rites of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis, one of the most sacred times of their year)

Independence Day -- Botswana

International Translation Day -- International Federation of Translatorswww.fit-ift.org

Kokkeisetsu -- Chinatown, Yokohama, Japan (Chinese National Founding Day in the largest Chinatown in Japan; through tomorrow)

Medetrinalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival fruits offer to the goddess of medicine)

Monkey Bars Day -- a day to go see if you can still do tricks on the monkey bars, because the internet wants to kill us and let the machines that would never do anything so silly as get on monkey bars take over

National Mud Pack Day -- give yourself a facial

National Hot Mulled Cider Day

National Women's Health and Fitness Day -- US, sponsored by Fitness Day 

Nottingham Goose Fair -- Nottingham, England (dating back to at least 1284, what began as a fair market so people could stock up on food supplies for winter is now a fun festival with rides and games; through Sunday)

St. Gregory the Enlightener (or Illuminator; Patron of Armenia)

St. Jerome's Day (Patron of archaeologists, archivists, Biblical scholars, librarians, libraries, school children, students, translators; Saint-Jerome, Quebec) 
     also an Apache celebration of Geronimo, the Native American who was named after this saint


Anniversary Today:

Haleakala National Park is established in Maui, Hawaii, 1960


Birthdays Today:

Dominique Moceanu, 1981
Marion Cotillard, 1975
Jenna Elfman, 1971
Crystal Bernard, 1964
Eric Stoltz, 1961
Fran Drescher, 1957
Deborah Allen, 1953
Victoria Tennant, 1953
Marilyn McCoo, 1943
Z.Z. Hill, 1935
Johnny Mathis, 1935
Angie Dickinson, 1931
Elie Wiesel, 1928
W. S. Merwin, 1927
Truman Capote, 1924
Deborah Kerr, 1921
Buddy Rich, 1917
William Wrigley, Jr., 1861
Rumi, 1207


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Millie's Book: As Dictated to Barbara Bush(Publication date), 1990
"Murder, She Wrote"(TV), 1984
"Cheers"(TV), 1982
"Love Child"(Single release), 1968
"The Flintstones"(TV), 1960
"Tea and Sympathy"(Play), 1953
"The Red Skelton show"(TV), 1951
"Porgy and Bess"(Opera), 1935
Little Women(Publication date), 1868
"Les pecheurs de perles/The Pearl Fishers"(Bizet opera), 1863
"Die Zauberflote/The Magic Flute"(Mozart opera, K. 620), 1791
The Gutenberg Bible(first section, publication date), 1452


Today in History:

Rambam (Maimonides) authorizes Samuel Ibn Tibbon to translate the Guide of the Perplexed from Arabic into Hebrew, 1199
Anesthetic ether is used for the first time by Dr. William Morton, who extracted a tooth, 1846
German scientist Hermann von Meyer announces the discovery of the first fossil of an archaeopteryx, 1861
The first Portuguese immigrants arrive in Hawai'i, 1878
The world's first commercial hydroelectric power plant begins operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, 1882
Hubert Cecil Booth patents the vacuum cleaner, 1901
The first manned rocket plane flight, made by auto maker Fritz von Opel, 1929
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Yemen join the United Nations, 1947
The World Series, featuring the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, is televised for the first time, 1947
The U.S. Navy submarine USS Nautilus is commissioned as the world's first nuclear reactor powered vessel, 1954
James Dean is killed in a road accident, 1955
Mexican-American labor leader César Chávez founds the United Farm Workers, 1962
James Meredith enters the University of Mississippi, defying segregation, 1962
General Suharto rises to power in Indonesia after an alleged coup by communists, and massacres over a million Indonesian people suspected of belonging to the Communist Party, 1965
BBC Radio 1 is launched and Tony Blackburn presents its first show, 1967
Ethernet specifications are published by Xerox working with Intel and Digital Equipment Corporation, 1980 
The Dalai Lama unveils the Canadian Tribute to Human Rights in Canada's capital city of Ottawa, 1990
The first images of a live giant squid in its natural habitat are taken 600 miles south of Tokyo, 2004
The controversial drawings of Muhammad are printed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, 2005

Awww Monday: Duck in a Row

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.  It's easy to participate, just post a picture that makes you say, "Awww!"

Don't forget to link up and visit other Awww Monday posts, because it's great to be able to start the week with a smile!

The duckling has grown very fast, and true to duck behavior, follows its "mother," Friend Becky, everywhere.

Duckling follows here, and so does #2 Son!

Today is:

Check for Change in Every Coin Return You Pass Day -- because someone has a sense of humor and put it on the internet

Culture and Traditions Day -- Micronesia

Doctors Day -- US (begun by Eudora Almond in 1933 because she thought her husband, Dr. Charles B. Almond, deserved recognition for his hard work; www.doctorsday.org for ideas on how to thank your doctor)

Fairies of the First Wand Reunion Dinner -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Janus and Concordia -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Festival of Bast -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (cat goddess; date approximate)

Festival of Reality Fabrication  -- internet holiday to celebrate your imagination

Festival of Salus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of health)

Grass Is Always Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence Day -- remember how good you have it; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

I am in Control Day -- remember Alexander Haig's words on this date in 1981? well today, if you find the phones won't stop ringing, the kids got into the glue again, the coffee maker is on the fritz, and somebody dyed the poodle purple, stand up and declare that you are in control!

Land Day Commemoration -- West Bank/Palestinian remembrance

Limited Liability Day -- because no one can be responsible for everything

Pencil Day -- the pencil with an eraser top was patented this day in 1858 by Hyman Lipman

Runic Half-Month Ewhas (Horse) begins

Seward's Day -- Alaska, US

Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

St. Leonard Murialdo's Day (Patron of apprentices)

Take a Walk in the Park Day -- begun by someone who wanted to get out of the office

Turkey Neck Soup Day

Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day -- US (information here)


Birthdays Today:

Scott Moffatt, 1983
Jason Dohring, 1982
Norah Jones, 1979
Matt Doran, 1976
Mark Consuelos, 1971
Celine Dion, 1968
Ian Ziering, 1964
Tracy Chapman, 1964
M.C. Hammer, 1962
Paul Reiser, 1957
Robbie Cotrane, 1950
Eric Clapton, 1945
Astrud Gilberto, 1940
Warren Beatty, 1937
John Astin, 1930
Rolf Harris, 1930
Peter Marshall, 1930
Richard Dysart, 1929
Peter Marshall, 1927
Frankie Laine, 1913
Sean O'casey, 1880
Anna Sewell, 1820
Vincent Van Gogh, 1853
Francisco Jose De Goya, 1749


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Agnes of God"(Play), 1982
"Applause"(Musical), 1970
"Jeopardy"(TV), 1964
"Verkaufte Braut/The Bartered Bride"(Comic opera), 1866


Today in History:

The first recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, BC240
Ketsugan, Zen teacher, performs exorcisms to free aizoji temple, 1422
Henry VIII divorces Catherine of Aragon, 1533
British and coalition forces march into Paris after the defeat of Napoleon, 1814
Dr. Crawford Long of Georgia, US, performs the first operation with anesthesia (ether), 1842
A pencil with attached eraser is patented by Hyman L Lipman of Philadelphia, 1858
Alaska is purchased from Russia by US Secretary of State William Seward, for $7,200,000 (about 2 cents per acre), 1867
Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, 1932
Einstein announces his revised unified field theory, 1953
The Yonge Street Line, the first subway in Canada, opens in Toronto, 1954
President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., 1981
The oldest copy of Codex Holmiensis, dating from 1280, is returned to Denmark from Sweden after 300 years, and 45,000 Inca artifacts are returned to Peru's Machu Picchu after spending 100 years at Yale University, 2011

Somewhat Speechless Wednesday: Which came first?

It all started when i stepped outdoors and heard peeping.

Yes, i hear birds around here all of the time, but this was close and wasn't coming from an adult bird.  Since the cats have been known to get outdoors and occasionally chase a bird, i went to investigate.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear but this:

Chick and duckling in a cat carrier!

It seems this Rhode Island Red chick and the duckling of as yet unknown parentage were at the tractor supply place, and Little Girl and Friend Becky couldn't resist.  Friend Becky has raised ducks, and lives with her parents on some acreage, so will take the duckling with her, but the chick, named Sandra Bullock because she seems so clueless, is Little Girl's.  Festus is building a coop for it, and they are being fed crushed up cat food!

Now there is talk of getting Sandra a companion.  As it turns out, we can actually have up to three chickens, as long as we have less than an acre of land, we build a coop that is 4'x4', we keep it 10' from the property line and far enough from other houses not to cause a nuisance, and we have no roosters.

The answer to the question, at least here, is the chicken came first, and very unexpectedly, and eggs will follow.

Today is:

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Wednesday:  Learn What Your Name Means Day, go look it up, it's probably very interesting

Charter Day -- St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada (1881)

Courageous Follower Day -- because leaders have to have someone to lead, and it can take as much courage to follow a great leader as to be the leader

Feast of Ra in His Barge at Heliopolis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Holy Experiment Day -- try something religious today

Hug a GI Day -- just don't get in trouble sneaking on base to do it

International Scrapbooking Industry Day -- can't find proof the industry actually set this day, but if you love scrapbooking, celebrate

March Dryads' Festival -- Fairy Calendar

March Forth - Do Something Day

National Grammar Day -- sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar on March 4th, which is both a date and an imperative

National Poundcake Day

St. Casimir's Day (Patron of bachelors, kings, princes, single layment; Lithuania; Poland; against plague)

Tavern Day -- US (the first tavern in the US, a Puritan public house in Boston, MA, opened this date in 1634)

Toy Soldier Day -- Dr. Steel's Army, building a utopian playland and embarking on a worldwide mission of fun

Waltz Day -- some say National Waltz Day, and some Dance the Waltz Day, but no one says why this day; i say, waltz if you want to

World Maths Day -- International 


Anniversaries Today:

Hot Springs National Park is established, 1921
Vermont becomes the 14th US state, 1791


Birthdays Today:

Patsy Kensit, 1968
Jason Curtis Newsted, 1963
Stephen Weber, 1961
Patricia Heaton, 1958
Catherine O'Hara, 1954
Emilio Estefan, 1953
Kay Lenz, 1953
Chris Squire, 1948
Mary Wilson, 1944
Paula Prentiss, 1938
Miriam Makeba, 1932
Joan Greenwood, 1921
Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr., 1906
Knute Rockne, 1888
Garrett Morgan, 1877
Casimir Pulaski, 1747
Antonio Vivaldi, 1678
Prince Henry the Navigator, 1394


Debuting/Premiering Today:

People Magazine(Publication), 1974
"The Dick Cavett Show"(TV), 1968
Nosferatu(Horror Film), 1922
"Pénélope"(Fauré Opera), 1913
"Swan Lake"(Tchaikovsky Op. 20), 1876


Today in History:

Croatian Duke Trpimir I issued a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources, 852
Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam, 1351
Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, from his first voyage, 1493
Hernan Cortez arrives in Mexico in search of Aztec gold, 1519
The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a royal charter, 1629
John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England, 1675
France is divided into 83 départements, which cut across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land, 1790
The first Jewish member of the US Congress, Israel Jacobs of Pennsylvania, takes office, 1791
A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario), 1791
In the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times, John Adams is sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington, 1797
In the Castle Hills Rebellion, in New South Wales, Australia, Irish convicts (some of whom had been involved in Ireland’s Battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798) lead the colony’s only significant convict uprising, 1804
Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia, 1848
The day without a US president -- Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in on the Sabbath (Sunday), so there is, technically, no president on this day, 1849
The longest bridge in the Great Britain, the Forth Bridge (railway) (1,710 ft) in Scotland is opened, 1890
The great fire of Shanghai damages over 1,000 buildings, 1894
Victor Berger of Wisconsin becomes the first socialist congressman in the U.S., 1911
Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives, 1917
Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia's renunciation of the throne is made public, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia publicly issues his abdication manifesto, 1917
Frances Perkins becomes the United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet, 1933
Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant, 1954
The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90, 1957
The United States Atomic Energy Commission announces that the first atomic power plant at McMurdo Station in Antarctica is in operation, 1962
The first Cray-1 supercomputer is shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, 1976
Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister, 1980
Bertha Wilson is appointed the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, 1983
The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Comet Halley and the first images ever of its nucleus, 1986
The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex, 1998
No response is received in the final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network, 2006
Approximately 30,000 voters take advantage of electronic voting in Estonia, the world's first nationwide voting where part of the votecasting is allowed in the form of remote electronic voting via the Internet, 2007