Cat-sitting (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-ins

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Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

The pictures aren’t great, it was getting dark outside, but here are two of Ms. GA’s cats, Summer and Oliver.

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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. My favorite holiday film is ______________________________________.

2. My favorite Christmas song is  ____________________.

3. If you ask me, ’tis the season for _________.

4. _________ is a holiday memory I’ll never forget.

1. My favorite holiday film is   It's a Wonderful Life.

2. My favorite Christmas song is   O Holy Night for serious songs and O Little Town of Destrehan for silly songs.

3. If you ask me, ’tis the season for   wondering which way is up, there's so much going on.

4. The way my kids used to decorate the tree, with all the ornaments on one side and on the bottom half of the tree  is a holiday memory I’ll never forget.

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Today is:

Advocate's Day -- India

Day of Remembrance for Bogatir (Great hero) Svatogor -- Asatru/Pagan Slavic Calendar

Fairy and Goblin Taunt-and-Tease Saturnalia -- Fairy Calendar

Farmers' Day -- Ghana

Faux Fur Friday

Festival for Bona Dea -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of chastity, fecundity, the earth, and fertility; a women's festival)

Festival for Serket/Selket -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (scorpion goddess, who healed from their sting; date approximate)

Flag Day -- Saba Island, Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba

Gospel Day -- Marshall Islands (Kamolol, a day of Thanksgiving)

International Day of Persons with Disabilities -- UN

International Day of the Basque Language

Make a Gift Day -- internet generated, and go ahead, 'tis the season

National Apple Pie Day

National Ice Cream Box Day -- internet generated, for those who love ice cream that comes in the rectangular box, and being the first to dig in

National Roof-Over-Your-Head Day -- be grateful you have one

Pompaia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (procession dedicated to Zeus; date approximate)

Reinvigorate Your Brain by Reading Something Day -- internet generated, and good to do every day, don't you think?

St. Francis Xavier's Day (Patron of African missions, foreign missions, missionaries, navigators, parish missions, Agartala, India; Ahmedabad, India; Alexandria, LA; ) related observance

     San Francisco Javier -- Navarre, Spain (special observances)

Takata no Inoko -- Sakurai, Japan (offerings for peace and good harvests)

Telescope Day -- marking its invention by Galileo in 1621

Tinsel Day -- remember when this stuff used to contain lead?

Anniversaries Today:

Illinois becomes the 21st US State, 1818

Birthdays Today:

Alicia Sacramone, 1987

Amanda Seyfried, 1985

Bruno Campos, 1974

Holly Marie Combs, 1973

Bucky Lasek, 1972

Brendan Fraser, 1968

Katarina Witt, 1965

Daryl Hannah, 1961

Julianne Moore, 1961

Julianne Moore, 1960

Rick Ravon Mears, 1951

Ozzy Osbourne, 1948

Jaye P. Morgan, 1932

Jean-Luc Godard, 1930

Andy Williams, 1927

Ferlin Husky, 1927

John Backus, 1924

Nino Rota, 1911

Carlos Montoya, 1903

Joseph Conrad, 1857

Charles Alfred Pillsbury, 1842

Gilbert Charles Stuart, 1755

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Camelot"(Musical), 1960

"Troilus and Cressida"(Opera), 1954

"A Streetcar Names Desire"(Play), 1947

Alka-Seltzer, 1931

Today in History:

Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England, 1586

In an uprising over mining licenses, which came to be called the rebellion at the Eureka Stockade, more than 20 goldminers at Ballarat, Victoria, Australia are killed by state troopers in what many claim to be the birth of Australian democracy, 1854

The trial of Jefferson Davis starts with the first blacks on a US trial jury, 1868

Settlers arrive at Petach Tikvah, Israel, 1878

The Jovian moon Himalia is discovered by Charles Dillon Perrine, 1904

Neon lights make their public debut at the Paris Auto Show, 1910

The Quebec Bridge, after almost 20 years of planning and construction, opens, 1917

The first successful Technicolor movie, "Tall of the Sea," premiers in NYC, 1922

Chinese refugee ship "Kiangya" explodes in E China Sea, killing 1,100, 1948

Paul Harvey begins his national radio broadcast, 1950

At Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, a transplant team headed by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a human, 1967

Pioneer 10 sends back the first close-up images of Jupiter, 1973

In one of the worst industrial disasters ever, a methyl isocyanate leak from a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, kills thousands and injures hundreds of thousands, 1984

In Ottawa, Canada, representatives from 121 countries, not including the US, Russia, or China, sign The Ottawa treaty prohibiting manufacture and deployment of anti-personnel landmines, 1997

XCOR Aerospace makes first manned rocket aircraft delivery of US Mail in Mojave, California, 2005

The Nissan Leaf, one of the first mass marketed electric cars, is launched, 2010

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter announces all combat roles in US armed forced will be opened to women, 2015

The first pizza party in space held by astronauts of the International Space Station, 2017

The 70th anniversary of NATO is marked by a gathering of world leaders in London at a reception hosted by Queen Elizabeth II, 2019

AT&T Inc’s Warner Bros. Studios announces all its 2021 movies will stream online the same day they appear in theatres because of the pandemic, 2020

Summer: To Do or To-do?

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week the topic is, Three things on your Summer To Do List. 

One of them is on the to-done list, and that is to go on vacation.  It was a quiet, restful one this time, which is unusual for us, and a nice change of pace.

What else is up for the summer?  Frankly, once the wedding is over this weekend, not much.  Work will have to be done regularly because there are these things called "bills" that keep coming in.  Some of them also keep increasing.

Summer is spent mostly trying to stay cool and praying we do not have any major storms.

The library is a great place to go in the summer, so i may try getting there at least once a week.

When the children were young, we did VBS and were at the library 2 or three times a week and had swim team and lots planned.  Now that i'm looking at this topic, i feel old and boring.

Once autumn comes, and it's not hot enough to accidentally brand yourself with your seatbelt every time you get in the car, i wouldn't mind going to the local swamp nature center, as it's been a long time since i've been.  In fact, i'm going to plan it out and do it.  Also, i want to plan a weekend trip to visit a friend later in the year.

Summer has become a great time, i think, to plan indoor activities.  It's in the autumn that i will come alive again.

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Tuesday Random Thoughts

And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

The recent rains from Cindy were great for the blooming things.

Ms. S, my Monday lady, is having trouble and i am very concerned.  She seems more frail right now than ever before, even than right after her last surgery.

Mr. B, for whom i work every other Saturday, has taken a break from sorting all the screws and nails and bolts and etc. in the workshop and we are doing projects.  Well, he is doing projects, and i am cleaning the things he wants to work on, since most of them are covered in grime.  Last Saturday i unloaded the two storage closet floors and swept them, and cleaned and polished a wine cooler he is going to sell on Craigslist and an old dentist's cabinet he is going to convert to yet another tool storage unit.  The one thing that man has is tons and tons of is tools.

Finally, we are back in business, the kitten business, that is.  Two girls, mama was run over, they are doing well.

They never hold still for a photo, even if they are at the "rubber legs" stage.

Today is:

Canadian Multiculturalism Day -- Cananda

Day of National Unity -- Tajikistan

Day of Turkmen Workers of Culture and Art -- Turkmenistan

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (personal household gods); also

     Festival of Jupiter Stator -- Jupiter, Stayer of the Rout, god who helped soldiers especially to stand their ground

     Initium Aestatis -- three day festival for the goddess of summer, which season they saw as beginning on this day

Decide to Be Married Day -- sponsored by Barbara Gaughen-Muller; to focus n the joy of couples deciding to be married

Findle-Fritter's Stoat Wheedling Event -- Fairy Calendar

"Happy Birthday to You" Day -- tune composed this day in 1859

Independence Day / National Day -- Djibouti

Industrial Workers of The World Day -- founded this day in 1905

Martyrdom of Joseph & Hyrum Smith -- Mormon

Mixed Races Day -- Brazil

National Columnists' Day -- on the fourth Tuesday of June each year, set aside some time to thank your favorite newspaper columnists, whether local or syndicated

National HIV Testing Day -- US 

National Indian Pudding Day

National Orange Blosssom Day

National Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness Day -- US (by Senate resolution) 

Seven Sleepers Day (Siebenschläfertag) -- Germany (according to legend, today's weather determines the pattern for the next seven weeks)

St. Ladislaus' Day (Patron of Szekszard, Hungary)

Sunglasses Day -- a reminder to wear those shades, protect your eyes from UV damage!

Birthdays Today:

Gabi Wilson, 1997

Madylin Sweeten, 1991

Ed Westwick, 1987

Drake Bell, 1986

Tobey Maguire, 1975

J.J. Abrams, 1976

Jason Patric, 1966

Isabelle Adjani, 1955

Julia Duffy, 1951

James Daughton, 1950

Norma Kamali, 1945

Shirley-Anne Field, 1938

H. Ross Perot, 1930

Bob "Captain Kangaroo" Keeshan, 1927

Helen Keller, 1880

Patrick Lafcadio "Koizumi Yakumo" Hearn, 1850

Charles Stewart Parnell, 1846

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Live and Let Die(Film), 1973

"Dark Shadows"(TV), 1966

"Captain Video and His Video Rangers"(TV), 1949

Today in History:

General James Wolfe begins the siege of Quebec, 1759

Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and his brother Hyrum Smith, are murdered by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail, 1844

George Dixon becomes the first black world boxing champion in any weight class, while also being the first ever Canadian-born boxing champion, 1890

The first solo circumnavigation of the globe is completed by Joshua Slocum from Briar Island, Nova Scotia, 1898

Sailors start a mutiny aboard the Russian Battleship Potemkin, denouncing the crimes of autocracy, demanding liberty and an end to war, 1905

Capt. Lowell H. Smith and Lt. John P. Richter perform the first ever aerial refueling in a DH-4B biplane, 1923

The United States decides to send troops to fight in the Korean War, 1950

The world's first nuclear power station opens in Obninsk, near Moscow, 1954

The world's first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, 1967

The President of Uruguay dissolves Parliament and heads a coup d'état, 1973

U.S president Richard Nixon visits the U.S.S.R., 1974

France grants independence to Djibouti, 1977

The current international treaty defending indigenous peoples, ILO 169 convention, is adopted, 1989

Slovenia, after declaring independence two days before, is invaded by Yugoslav troops, tanks, and aircraft, starting the Ten-Day War, 1991

Bill Gates resigns from Microsoft to focus on his charity work, 2008

The first democratic election in the history of Guinea is held, 2010

Tests show radioactive cesium is present in small quantities in residents of Iitate and Kawamata, Fukushima, towns located 25 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 2011
NASA launches IRIS, the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph, a space probe to observe the Sun, 2013

Summer Days: A Six Sentence Story

Pulling up to the red light with brakes squealing, she threw the car into park and everyone spilled out in a red light fire drill.

As they ran around the car and hopped into different seats, she popped the trunk and grabbed her CD box, getting back to her own place just in time for the light to turn green.  The CD box had landed in the shotgun seat where she had thrown it in her haste to get the car moving again, and so her cousin picked out the next CD to put in the player.

When their favorite song came up, they rolled the windows down, cranked the music louder, and sang along, neither noticing nor caring what they looked or sounded like.  Arriving at the movie theater, they fairly danced across the parking lot, anticipating popcorn and the latest release, knowing that afterward they would all spend the night at one of their houses, staying up to talk and eat and laugh until dawn.

Four high school teens, let loose from school for the summer, were going to make the most of their time.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories, where the cue is Drill.


Today is:

Aizen Matsuri -- Shoman-in Temple, Osaka, Japan (celebration of Aizen Myo-oh, greatest of the 8 Buddhist guardian gods, and is also called the Yakuta Festival; through July 2)

Armed Forces Day -- Guatemala

Crab Races -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies, Elves, and some Fairies)

Day of Aestas -- Ancient Roman Calendar (culmination of the festival that begins the summer)

Dixon Petunia Festival: The Pink. The Proud. The Petunias. -- Dixon, IL, US (food, entertainment, fun, and petunias! through Monday)

Freedom Days -- Farmington, NM, US (the Four Corners region celebrates freedom and The 4th in a big way; through Monday)

Feast of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome -- remembrance of the first Christians killed in Rome by order of Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome

General Prayer Day -- Central African Republic

Independence Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire)(1960)

Lailat al Kadr (Lailat al Qadr) -- Islam (Night of Destiny; begins at sundown, through sundown tomorrow, although local observances may vary)

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

National Bomb Pop Day -- on the Thursday in June right before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops

National Corvette Day -- US (vehicle introduced this day in 1953)

National Handshake Day -- US; sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June

National Ice Cream Soda Day

Pridie Kalendas July (Day Before the Kalends of July) -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a day when dies comitiales -- citizen committees -- voted on political and criminal matters)

Revolution Day -- Sudan(1989)

Roswell UFO Days -- Roswell, NM, US (tons of stuff for the serious and those who just want to have fun with the whole concept; through Sunday)

St. Theobald of Provins' day (Patron of bachelors)

Tech Support Appreciation Day -- if you can get a hold of them, they can be great to have around

Tom Sawyer Days -- Hannibal, MO, US (frog jumping, mud volleyball, Tom and Becky Contest; parade, Tomboy Sawyer Contest, fireworks, and more, with the highlight being the National Fence Painting Contest; through Monday)

Westmoreland Arts & Heritage Festival -- Greensburg, PA, US (multicultural celebration of food, fine arts, handicrafts, and music from many nations; through Sunday)


Anniversary Today:

Greg Allman marries Cher, 1975


Birthdays Today:

Michael Phelps, 1985
Fantasia Barrino, 1984
Ralf Schumacher, 1975
Michael Gerard (Mike) Tyson, 1966
Rupert Graves, 1963
Vincent D’Onofrio, 1959
David Alan Grier, 56, 1955
Leonard Whiting, 1950
Patricia Schroeder, 1940
Nancy Dussault, 1936
Harry Blackstone, Jr., 1934
Susan Hayward, 1919
Lena Horne, 1917
Czeslaw Milosz, 1911
William Almon Wheeler, 1819


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Johnny Carson Show"(TV), 1955
"Guiding Light"(TV), 1947
"Brenda Starr, Reporter"(Comic strip), 1940



Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Berne Switzerland, 1294
The Spaniards are expelled from Tenochtitlan, 1520
Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery, Ohio, 1794
French  acrobat  Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope, 1859
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place, 1860
The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal; it arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4, 1886
Albert Einstein publishes the article "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies", in which he introduces special relativity, 1905
The Tunguska event, probably caused by a meteor or comet fragment, occurs in remote Siberia, 1908
The Regina Cyclone hits Regina, Saskatchewan, killing 28; it remains Canada's deadliest tornado event, 1912
Congo gains independence from Belgium, 1960
The first leap second is added to the UTC  time system, 1972
The Royal Canadian Mint introduces the $1 coin, known as the Loonie, 1987
East Germany and West Germany merge their economies, 1990
The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China, 1997
After nearly 7 years in space, the Cassini spacecraft becomes the first to orbit the planet Saturn, 2004
The Molecule of the Year 2011 is announced, BMP7 (Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7), a potential therapeutic utility for recurrent metastatic disease, 2012