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While we did get a few things done at her house, Ms. G decided our last big "project" of the year would be a visit to Ms. Fiona.
Off we traipsed to the day-old-bread store to get her a supply of her favorite treats and then to Golden Days Retirement Home.
Her story is the echo of story after story, she never had a lot of worldly wealth, her sons who only call her when they need money made sure she didn't have much left for her older years, and when she finally got to where it was not safe to leave her in her decrepit, rented mobile home with the collapsing floor, she ended up in the hospital and with no place to go to recover.
That's where her story diverges from some, as Ms. G stepped in, got her a place in this Home, and is overseeing them to make sure she's well cared for; most people who get in this situation don't have such an advocate.
It's a nice enough place as these places go, and Ms. G brought her enough of her belongings to make her room very homey and cozy; Ms. Fiona loves playing bingo and card games with other residents, goes to the events they have regularly, and is given three hot meals a day, plus all the snacks Ms. G can bring.
Ms. Fiona seems happy to be in a safe place, Ms. G has her scheduled to see the dentist early next year to have her dentures relined, the physical therapy people are working with her to keep her mobile, and as we left, she was getting ready to nap before the New Year's Eve party, i am sure she was going to have a good time.
Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Echo.
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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!
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It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day! This week's image and my poem:
"Go out for New Year's," they said.
"More champagne won't hurt!" they said.
But they aren't inside my head,
and they're no longer friends, where's my bed!?!
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Angel Brian's Family of Brian's Home - Forever hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. It's time to share something for which i am thankful.
Today i am thankful for a new battery for GusGus Die Fledermaus, my car, and it was under warranty so nothing out of pocket!
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I pray everyone has a blessed and beautiful 2026!
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Today is:
Apple Gifting Day
Bad Hangover Day
Black Nazarene Fiesta -- Philippines (through the 9th)
Bonza Bottler Day™
Buckle-Up Day -- the first US mandatory seat belt law went into effect in New York on this day in 1985
Carnival Day/Grand Parade of Troupes -- Saint Kitts and Nevis
Constitution Day -- Italy
Daydreamers' Day -- take time out today to dream, on paper, what you want this year to hold
Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic -- Slovakia
Days of Volos -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (a time to be thankful to the god Volos for pets and farm animals; through the 6th)
Eighth Day of Christmas
Feast of the Circumcision of Christ -- Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Orthodox Christian; Lutheran
First-Foot Day -- make sure an auspicious or good person is the first to set foot in your home for the New Year
Foundation Days -- Taiwan (a/k/a Republic Day, celebrated through tomorrow)
Gantan-sai (New Years) -- Shinto
Get A Life Day -- now even the internet is urging you to use the New Year wisely
Grandfather Frost Day -- Russia; Ukraine (Ded Moroz; an equivalent of Santa Claus who visits on New Year's Day and delivers the gifts in person with his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden, and fighting off Baba Yaga the witch who tries to steal them; in some areas, he comes on "Old Christmas Day", in about a week)
Hangover Handicap Run -- Couer d'Alene, ID, US (an early morning run, saluting the night before by giving out beer can trophies)
Horan Enya -- Bungo Takada City, Japan (ceremony for safety at sea and large catches)
Independence Day -- Haiti(1804); Sudan
International Get Over It Month -- urging you to let the past go and move forward
Kaapse Klopse -- Cape Town, South Africa (Minstrel Carnival, with parties and parades through February; main parade tomorrow at midday)
Kalends of January -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also
Agonalia (giving dates, figs, and honey to Janus, and gifts to family members)
Day Sacred to Janus, Juno, and Jupiter
Festival for Aesculapius (god of healing)
Festival for Vedovus (god of the spirits of ancestors)
Sacrifice to Fortuna Day (Sacrifice something to the goddess of Fortune so she will give you a good year.)
Kwanzaa, Day 7, Imani (faith)
Liberation Day -- Cuba (a/k/a Triumph of the Revolution)
London New Year's Day Parade -- London, England (one of the best New Year parties in the world)
Mary, Mother of God -- Catholic Christian (Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Octave Day of Christmas)
Mummer's Parade -- Philadelphia, PA, US
National Bloody Mary Day
National Tree Planting Day -- Tanzania
New Year's Day
New Year's Dishonor List Day -- Lake Superior State University announces the misused and overused words from the previous year which should be banished from the Queen's English
Polar Swim Day / Polar Bear Swim / Polar Bear Plunge -- various locations throughout Canada, Netherlands, and US
Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State -- Czech Republic
Sacrifices to the Wind Gods -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)
Scout's Day -- Burma (celebration of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Burma)
Shogatsu -- Japan (New Year, most important holiday of the year)
Shusho-e Matsuri -- Buddhists in Japan go to temple on the first day of the year for a special ceremony
Snake Eyes Day -- no, i won't, it's too obvious
Sovereignty Day -- Iraq
St. Basil's Day / Basil the Great -- Eastern Orthodox (Patron of education, exorcisms, hospital administrators, Liturgists, monks, reformers, and of Russia and Cappadocia; bringer of gifts and inspector of livestock in Greece)
St. Clarus' Day (Patron of tailors)
St. Zedislava Berka's Day (Patron of difficult marriages, people ridiculed for piety)
Tewa Turtle Dance -- Tewa Native Americans (celebration of life and the first Creation; through the 4th)
Tournament of Roses Parade -- Pasadena, CA, US
Vienna New Year's Concert -- Vienna, Austria
Z Day -- for all the people whose names begin with Z and always have to wait to be last; sponsored by Tom Zager
Anniversary Today:
Establishment of Bryce Canyon National Monument, UT, US, 1923
Ellis Island opens, 1892
Birthdays Today:
James McAvoy, 1979
Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer, 1969
Michael Imperioli, 1966
Kathleen Casey, 1946
Don Novello, 1943
Helmut Jahn, 1940
Frank Langella, 1940
B. Kliban, 1935
J. D. Salinger, 1919
Hank Greenberg, 1911
Barry Goldwater, 1909
Xavier Cugat, 1900
J. Edgar Hoover, 1895
E.M. Forster, 1879
Betsy Ross, 1752(O.S.)
"Mad Anthony" Wayne, 1745(O.S.)
Paul Revere, 1735
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Profiles in Courage(publication date), 1956
"Modern Times"(Film), 1936
Traveler's Checks(first issued by the London Exchange Banking Company), 1772
Today in History:
The Julian Calendar takes effect for the first time, BC45
Origin of the Christian Era, 1
The last gladiator competition in Rome, 404
Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with his army, 630
Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services, 1430
Portuguese navigators become the first Europeans to see the Guanabara Bay, which they thought was the mouth of a river and first called Rio de Janeiro (River of January), 1502
Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25, 1600
German astronomer Simon Marius first sees Jupiter's moons (he did not report them, though, Galileo did, on July 10 of the same year), 1610
Samuel Pepys makes his first diary entry, 1660
The first traveler's cheques go on sale in London, for use in 90 European cities, 1772
The Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1801
The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi, 1801
Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tay San Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, 1803
Haiti gains independence from France (National Day), 1804
Import of slaves into the US is banned, 1808
The first homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebraska, 1863
Japan begins using the Gregorian Calendar, 1873
England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India, 1877
Twenty-five nations adopt Sanford Fleming's proposal for Standard Time and Time Zones, 1885
The first Tournament of Roses is held, 1900
The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia, 1901
Vancouver, BC starts driving on the right side of road, 1922
Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian), 1927
Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god, 1946
The European Community is established, 1958
United States Navy SEALs established, 1962
The Internet's Domain Name System is created, 1985
The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone, 1985
A single market within the European Community is introduced, 1993
The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect 1994
The World Trade Organization goes into effect, 1995
The European Central Bank is established, 1998
The Euro currency is introduced in 11 countries, 1999
Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states, 2002
Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei, 2002
The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty officially comes into force, 2002
Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometer peaked at 45 °C (113 °F), sparking bushfires and power outages, 2006
Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, 2007
Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries, 2008
Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the seventeenth eurozone country, 2011
Portuguese politician and diplomat Antonio Guterres becomes United Nations Secretary General, replacing South Korean Ban Ki-Moon, 2017
Qatar withdraws from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after 57 years of membership, 2019
The African Continental Free Trade Area, signed by 54 countries, comes into effect, with full implementation expected to take years, 2021
A state funeral is held in Cape Town, South Africa, for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2022
Croatia adopts the Euro and joins the Schengen Area, 2023
Ethiopia makes a controversial deal with Somaliland to lease part of its coastline, including becoming the first country to recognize it as a separate country from Somalia, 2024
