Garden Whimsey (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

***********************************

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

***********************************

Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.   

This month, i am providing the prompts and they are being posted on my blog and by River.

This week's prompts are:

attention

vague

orbit

game

think

insistence

and/or 

single

brand

barrel

bless

stake

cap

Charlotte's colour of the month is Steel Blue.

Folks, you can't make my life up.

I've had more than a VAGUE notion for a while now i was going to need to step up my GAME in helping out with Grandma and Grandpa.

After all, Grandpa and Uncle J can help Grandma with a lot, but not a bedbath, and it came to my ATTENTION recently Grandpa can no longer help her into the walk-in tub.

When i'm planning any kind of changes in my routine, i need to look everything over, THINK carefully about everyone in my ORBIT, and try to fit things in where i can.

For right now, where i can fit in a second trip to NOLA each week is either by doing Ms. D on Sunday after church and before taking care of Annie, then going down on Monday for the day, or doing Ms. S's house as early as i can on Monday and then driving down and spending the night until Tuesday morning, coming back early so as to take care of Annie on Tuesday.

No SINGLE thread can be pulled without pulling others.

This is how, after going to Dr. BowTie's office Monday morning for part one of my annual physical (the take enough blood to fill a BARREL, do an ECG, hearing and vision test, whiz quiz, and, at their INSISTENCE, step on a scale), i then cleaned Ms. S's house, packed and headed down to give Grandma some TLC.

Everything went pretty well, considering this was a recently concocted plan.  I did figure out while down there we will need to buy a BRAND new basin for the warm water, the old one has seen better days.  I put on my nurse assistant CAP and Grandma got her bath as well as a clean top sheet, since she'd gotten some food on it.

I also put her blankets, including the Steel Blue one, in the dryer, as she'd gotten a bit of ice water on them, and once they were dry and toasty they also warmed her up well when we were through.

All through the evening, i tended whatever she needed and fielded calls from my Sweetie.  One of them was simply about his day.  The other was about how he looked at the old lamp in the corner of the room with all his gear and thought he'd try and see if it still worked.  He shorted out the socket and blew the breaker.  He then had to flip every breaker in the box to get the right one, so i knew i was coming home to blinking clocks, as he doesn't know how to set them.

Grandma did call me late to come help, and then again early in the morning, which was fine as i needed an early start to get home.  Once i was packed, i stepped into the hall and walked past the closet where Grandpa keeps supplies, and once again, the floor was wet there.

Grandpa keeps bottled water in case we lose water pressure during a storm or have a boil water order, and he should own a STAKE in a couple of those companies, he has so much.  Some of it is old.  Very old.  A few of the gallon bottles were 20+ years old.  Of course, the plastic develops leaks over such a long period, and we'd played this game before.  He said he'd replace the old ones but had forgotten, and here i was mopping water again.  This time i got rid of them and just told him i had, he was glad.

Now i can leave, right?  Nope, Lawrence the Honda wouldn't start.  Grandpa, of course, had run an errand.  Once he got back, we jumped Lawrence and it started and i got back home, barely in time to watch Annie.

The day with Annie was going great and #2 Son diagnosed Lawrence with needing a battery, which he got and installed, but little Ben, BLESS his heart, was not feeling well.  His mama took his temp and he had a fever, so they called the doctor's office and were told any baby this young with fever needed to be in the Emergency Room.

Off they rushed, just about the time Annie and i needed to have nap time, but there's another hitch.

Did i mention Mr. BA and Ms. GA are out of town and, starting yesterday evening, i was caring for the cats before and after work?

Once Annie was up from her nap, #2 Son came and got her, took her up to the ER so i could go take care of the clowder of kitties, and while i was there he told me Ben had a UTI and they were doing a spinal tap for meningitis.

Even with a negative result, and it was negative, it means a bag IV for antibiotics which takes 24 hours to infuse, so a night in the hospital for mama and baby.  I came home, #2 Son dropped off Annie to me again and went to bring mama supper and whatever she needed for the night in the hospital, then he finally went and found something to eat, and here i am at 10pm typing this, he just came and got Annie to put her to bed.

Tomorrow, cat shelter, the clowder for Ms. GA, Ms. G, back to the clowder, and Bible study, but i'm also on call and will have to drop everything if they need help for any reason with Ben.  The rest of the week looks the same.

Once again, it may be a day or two before things settle enough for me to visit other blogs.

***********************************

It's World Dog Day!  This began as National Dog Day, started 21 years ago by the Colleen Paige.  

  

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

***********************************

Today is:

Be Kind to Humankind Week:  Willing to Lend a Hand Wednesday 

Birthday of Set -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Heroes Day -- Namibia

Ilmatar Day -- Finland (Water Mother, goddess of the heavens)

La Tomatina -- Buñol, Valencia, Spain (annual citywide food fight festival in which around 30,000 people take to the streets to pelt each other with tomatoes)

Make Your Own Luck Day -- for those who refuse to sit around and wait for it

Mawlid an Nabi -- Islam/Muslim (Prophet's Birthday, began sunset yesterday; celebrated over the next several days, depending on which country)

National Cherry Popsicle Day

National Day of Repentance -- Papua New Guinea

Onam -- Hindu (start of a 14-day Hindu harvest festival observed by Malayali Hindus celebrating the legendary King Maveli/Mahabali)

St. Adrian of Nicodemia's Day (Patron of butchers, prison guards, soldiers; against plague)

Women's Equality Day -- US (commemorates Women's Suffrage)

Yoshida no Hi Matsuri -- Yoshida, Japan (fest to mark the end of Mt. Fuji climbing season; through tomorrow)

Birthdays Today:

Chris Pine, 1980

Macaulay Culkin, 1980

Christopher Burke, 1965

Branford Marsalis, 1960

Leon Redbone, 1949

Ben Bradlee, 1921

Mother Teresa, 1910

Albert Bruce Sabin, 1906

Christopher Isherwood, 1904

Peggy Guggenheim, 1898

Lee de Forest, 1873

Albert "Bertie" von Saksen-Coburg-Gotha, husband of queen Victoria, 1819

Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier, 1743

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, 1740

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Cincinnati Reds vs. Brooklyn Dodgers Doubleheader(first MLB games televised), 1939

"Lightnin'"(Play), 1918

"Elijah"(Mendelssohn Op. 70 MWV A25), 1846

Today in History:

Michelangelo is commissioned to carve the Pieta, 1498

The Pennsylvania Ministerium, the first Lutheran denomination in North America, is founded in Philidelphia, 1748

John Fitch is granted a US patent for his working steamboat, 1791

Charles Thurber patents a typewriter, 1843

The first news dispatch by telegraph is made, 1858

Major eruption of Krakatoa, 36,000 dead, 1883

19th Amendment to the US Constitution, granting women the vote, takes effect, 1920

The first Major League Baseball game is telecast, 1939

The USSR announces the first successful test of an ICBM, 1957

The Charter of the French Language is adopted by the National Assembly of Quebec, 1977

John Paul I is elected Pope, 1978

The agreement on how to divide the Czech Republic and Slovakia is signed, 1992

Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia, 2008

Israel requests that Germany arrest Klaas Carel Faber, a Nazi war criminal who killed 20 Jews at Westerbork concentration camp, 2010

Burger King agrees to purchase Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion, 2014

Half a million people take part in a peace march in Barcelona after terrorist attacks, 2017

Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, age 29, becomes the youngest to win the International Booker prize for the debut novel "The Discomfort of Evening", 2020

The longest alligator ever recorded in Mississippi, at 14ft, 3in (4.3m) and weighing 802.5 pounds (364 kilograms), is captured in the Sunflower River, 2023

Boston Red Sox catcher Danny Jansen becomes the first MLB player to play for both teams in the same game; the game against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 26 is suspended due to weather, and he is traded prior to the resumption, 2024

Clowder Friends (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Tur...tles (Poetry Monday)

 *****************************

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

While catsitting this past week, i got to see the last 3 remaining ferals of the outdoor clowder being sweet with each other.  They really are good friends, rubbing against each other and purring while waiting to be fed, all about 11-14 years old.

***********************************

Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

source

***********************************

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog poetry break and her poetry is sorely missed, we hope she comes back soon.   Charlotte/Mother Owl participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let Diane know!

This week the theme is Turtles.                         

(First, a haiku.  The spacing is so you will read it at the correct pace, slowly.)

Hi,

   my

      name

         is

            Tom

I

   am

      a

         tur...

                 tle

                    work-

                           ing

For

       the

             Post

                    Off-

                          ice

*******

(With apologies in advance, i couldn't help myself, nor did i want to.)

Sam the Clam and Tom Turtle were

the very best of friends,

though they were very different

and they came to different ends.

They spent much time together,

Tom was slow and Sam was quick,

that really didn't matter to these

friends through thin and thick.

One day, well it happened

before anything he could do,

Sam was run over by a dune buggy,

poor Tom left alone and blue.

A turtle's life is long, you know

but even their life goes by,

and one day old Tom woke up

with the Pearly Gates right nigh.

He got up to the portal just

as quickly as he could go,

and yelled to St. Pete, "Where's 

my friend Sam!" with nary a hello.

St. Peter looked at Tom and

with sadness in his eyes,

said, "Tom, I hate to tell you this,

though it should be no surprise.

"Your best friend Sam was a fast one

in all ways, both good and bad,

he didn't make it up here,

it makes all of us sad."

Tom stood there quietly as

he got halo, harp and wings,

then St. Peter told him news

to make his heart just sing.

"Tom there's an elevator

that goes from here down there,

you can go and visit, but

 you really must beware.

"The last elevator back here

starts up exactly at five,

don't get caught down there at night,

to be prompt you must strive!"

Tom turned to the elevator and

without any hesitation

tried his wings and bumped around

getting used to the gyrations.

He practiced a bit of flying while

in the elevator going down,

he didn't become an expert but he

didn't feel like such a clown.

Once he got to the nether world,

he garnered plenty of looks,

but he was determined to find

his friend no matter what it took.

He asked a group there standing,

"Is my friend Sam the Clam around here?"

They began to snicker and then to laugh,

they guffawed and started to cheer.

"Just fly down that road there,"

one said when he was able,

Tom simply flew they way they said,

their other words uninterpretable.

As he went he asked others,

"Do you know where Sam I can find?"

They all just laughed, pointing down the road,

Tom so intent, their laughs he didn't mind.

Then suddenly around a curve he came,

he couldn't believe what he saw,

a huge sign on big building,

"Sam Clam's Disco!" the place's biggest draw!

Tom flew right in as fast as

those wings could him now carry,

he called, "Is my friend Sam in here?"

despite the doorkeepers scary.

An office door burst open,

Sam came out in a stew,

"Who's making all that racket?"

Then, "Tom! Is it really you?"

The friends they hugged a good while,

then sat down to a meal and a chat,

Tom told what happened since 

Sam had gone, tales of this and that.

They'd been having such a good time

reminiscing, catching up, it was great

then Sam suddenly looked at the clock

and said, "Tom, you're gonna be late!"

Tom jumped up from the table,

Sam said, "Come visit tomorrow,

but don't you get caught here at night,

or it will be to your sorrow!"

Tom went flying back down

the road as quick as he could,

got through the door right before it closed,

just like they said he should.

When he got back up, the doors opened

and he saw St. Peter waiting there,

The saint breathed a huge sigh,

"Tom, you gave me quite a scare!

"I thought you'd lost track of time

and wouldn't be there for five sharp.

It's great to see you made it, but

Tom, where is your harp?"

Tom looked dazed for a moment,

then he burst into song,

and if you know the tune then

you all can sing along:

I Left My Harp In Sam Clam's Disco!

***********************************

Today is:

Ancient Roman Festivities today:

     Festival for Vulcan -- god of fire, volcanos, and smiths

     Rosalia -- rose festival

     Tubilustrium -- ceremony to purify the trumpet used in sacred rituals

Bluebell Day -- Fairy Calendar

Declaration of the Bab -- Baha'i

Go For A Walk in Your Swim Fins Day -- no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, and i don't want to

Linnaeus Day -- Stenbrohult, Sweden (birth anniversary of Carolus Linnaeus on the OS calendar)

Lucky Penny Day -- just a fun one, see if you find a penny today

National Labour Day -- Jamaica

National Taffy Day

Sacrifices to Leto, Pythian Apollon, Zeus, Hermes and the Dioscuri in the deme of Erchia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk's Day (Patron of Belarus)

Students' Day -- Mexico

St. William of Rochester's Day (Patron of adopted children)

Victoria Day -- Canada

World Crohn's and Colitis Day

World Turtle Day -- sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue    

Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 8th US state, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kelly Monaco, 1976

Ken Jennings, 1974

Jewel, 1974

Mitch Albom, 1958

Drew Carey, 1958

“Marvelous” Marvin Hagler, 1954

Charles Kimbrough, 1936

Robert Moog, 1934

Joan Collins, 1933

Barbara Barrie, 1931

Rosemary Clooney, 1928

Helen O'Connell, 1920

Scatman Crothers, 1910

Artie Shaw, 1910

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., 1883

Belle Aurelia Babb Mansfield, 1846

Margaret Fuller, 1810

Franz Mesmer, 1734

Carolus Linnaeus, 1707

Emperor Qinzong of China, 1100

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Tommy"(Album), 1969

"Shuffle Along"(Musical comedy revue), 1921

"Il bugiardo / The Liar"(Comedy), 1750

Today in History:

Joan of Arc is captured by the Burgundians while leading an army to relieve Compiègne, 1430

The marriage of King Henry VIII to Catherine of Aragon is declared null and void, 1533

The Netherlands declare their independence  from Spain, 1568

The Second Defenestration of Prague precipitates the Thirty Years' War, 1618

After being convicted of piracy and of murdering William Moore, Captain William Kidd is hanged in London, 1701

Benjamin Franklin announces his invention of bifocals, 1785

Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned King of Italy, 1805

South American independence leader Simón Bolívar enters Mérida, leading the invasion of Venezuela, 1813

The Báb announces his revelation, founding Bábism (the Baha'i Faith), 1844

Organization of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Battle Creek, Michigan, 1863

The Canadian  Parliament establishes the North West Mounted Police, the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, 1873

The fist transcontinental train arrives in Vancouver, BC, 1887

The first talking cartoon of Mickey Mouse, "The Karnival Kid", is released, 1929

American bank robbers Bonnie and Clyde are ambushed by police and killed in Black Lake, Louisiana, 1934

Tibetans sign the Seventeen Point Agreement for the Peaceful Liberation of Tibet with the People's Republic of China, 1951

Prime Minister of Israel David Ben-Gurion announces that Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann had been captured, 1960

The first version of the Java programming language is released, 1995

The Good Friday Agreement is accepted in a referendum in Northern Ireland with 75% voting yes, 1998

The fastest roller coaster in the world, Kingda Ka, opens at Six Flags Great Adventure, 2005

Alaskan stratovolcano Mount Cleveland erupts, 2006

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) awards Middle Rocks to Malaysia and Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) to Singapore, ending a 29-year territorial dispute, 2008

Fifteen months after President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in Egypt by a revolution, voters go to the polls for a presidential election, 2012

Chinese archaeologists announce findings of earliest use of barley in China to make beer, in Shaanxi province from about 3400 BC to 2900 BC, 2016

Hamburg, Germany, becomes the first city to ban diesel cars on some roads, 2018 

The prototype of new high-speed train that will float above the track is unveiled by Chinese Railway Rolling Stock Corporation in Qingdao, 2019