Li’l Boy Blue (Awww Monday), Thought Provoking Quote of the Week, and Shield Me (Poetry Monday)

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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!

Ms. G, who has cats and is on the board at the cat shelter, was dog-sitting while her brother and his family were on vacation.  It was nice to have Li'l Boy Blue follow me around:

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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's a Thought Provoking Quote of the Week in her honor.  This week, something Grandma sent:

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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  She and Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey take turns providing a theme each week.   Charlotte/Mother Owl almost always participates, too.  This week the theme is Masks.                   

My doctor said to wear a mask,

And it really made me blue

‘Cause as i walked by you could not

See that i did smile at you.

 

So i wore a mask as i was told

Now it's traded for a shield,

To keep myself and others safe,

On that i will not yield.

The shield is better than the mask

'Cause it's clear to me and you

Now you can see it when i smile

As i usually seem to do!

What i wear now instead of a mask.

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Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Equatorial Guinea

August Bank Holiday -- NSW, Australia; Ireland; (UK)

August Monday/Culturama -- Saint Kitts and Nevis 

British Columbia Day -- British Columbia, Canada

Carnival Monday -- Anguilla (August Monday); Antigua and Barbuda (J'ouvert); British Virgin Islands (Festival Monday/Parade)

Carnival Monday -- Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba (Saba only)

Civic Holiday -- Canada

Dia de la Bandera -- Venezuela (Flag Day)

Emancipation Day --  Bahamas; Dominica; Granada; Montserrat; Turks and Caicos Islands (Obs.)

Fairy Washing Festival -- Fairy Calendar (do the fairies wash themselves, or is everyone supposed to wash his/her fairy?  They won’t tell us!)

Farmer's Day -- Zambia

Feast of Caligo, the mother of Chaos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate, and this is as good a day to celebrate chaos as any other)

Fete National de l'Arbre -- Niger (Independence Day, 1960)

Fiesta de San Salvador -- San Salvador, El Salvador

Frídagur verslunarmanna -- Iceland (Commerce Day)

Full Sturgeon Moon a/k/a Full Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, or Grain Moon

     Native Wild Rice Harvest -- Northern Cree, Ojibwa, and Algonkian Native Americans (celebrated during the August full moon; if there are two full moons, it is during the second)

     Nikini Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka (begins at sundown)

     Raksha Bandhan -- CG, GJ, MP, RJ, UK, & UP, India; Nepal (the Hindu festival that celebrates the the love and duty between brothers and sisters)

     Waso Full Moon -- Myanmar 

Golpe de la Libertad -- Equatorial Guinea (Freedom Day)

Grab Some Nuts Day -- almonds and walnuts are especially good for you

International Friendship Day (original date proposed by Joyce Hall, founder of Hallmark Cards, back in 1935 because it is the center of the largest lull between major holidays; the UN celebrates it on July 30 and many countries celebrate on the second Sunday in August)    

Kadooment Day -- Barbados (huge carnival celebration of the end of the Crop Over festival, celebrating the end of the sugar cane harvest)

National Children's Day -- Tuvalu

National Watermelon Day

New Brunswick Day -- New Brunswick, Canada

Picnic Day -- NT, Australia

Pidjiguiti Day -- Guinea-Bissau (Colonization Martyr's Day; Anniversary of the Killing of Pidjiguiti)

St. Lydia Purpuraria's Day (Lydia the "seller of purple" who was Paul's first convert in Philippi; Patron of dyers)

St. Nicodemus' Day (member of the Sanhedrin and secret disciple who helped bury Jesus)

Youth and Children's Day -- Kiribati

Birthdays Today:

Evangeline Lilly, 1979

Blaine Wilson, 1974

Isaiah Washington, 1963

John McGinley, 1959

Jay North, 1951

John Landis, 1950

Martha Stewart, 1941

Martin Sheen, 1940

Steve Berkoff, 1937

Tony Bennett, 1926

Leon Uris, 1924

P.D. James, 1920

Margaret "Maggie" Kuhn, 1905

John T. Scopes, 1900

Ernest Taylor "Ernie" Pyle, 1900

Elisha Graves Otis, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Primetime Live"(TV), 1989

"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)"(Single release), 1963

"Chu Chin Chow"(Musical), 1916

"William Tell"(Opera), 1829

Today in History:

Tiberius, Roman Empire general, defeats the Dalmatians at the river Bathinus, 8

Columbus sets Sail for the "Indes",departing from Palos, Spain, 1492

John Rut, at St. John's, Newfoundland, sends the first known letter from North America, 1527

Robert LaSalle builds the Le Griffon, the first known ship built on the Great Lakes, 1678

First ascent of Jungfrau, third highest summit in the Bernese Alps, 1811

Harvard defeats Yale in the first intercollegiate rowing race, 1852*

Second Maori War begins in New Zealand, 1860

The Firestone Tire & Rubber Company is founded, 1900

The nuclear submarine USS Nautilus travels beneath the Arctic ice cap, 1958

President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya of Mauritania is overthrown in a military coup while attending the funeral of King Fahd in Saudi Arabia, 2005

After last months extensive flooding, North Korea finally asks the United Nations for food aid, 2012

*In fact, it was the first American intercollegiate athletic event ever.

Like I Done Say (Cajun Joke), and Sunday Selections

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, do not expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes, especially as it has now become a habit.

Yesterday, Grandpa started the extra generator he keeps on hand in case the main one quits.  He tried to do that once a month to both test it and make sure it doesn’t freeze up.

He started it and left for the store.  As he was heading out, Grandma said, “Don’t leave it running while you are gone!”

He replied, “It’s fine, I won’t be long, nothing’s gonna happen in 10 minutes."

Of course, something happened.  There was a plastic sheeting he kept over it, and he didn’t secure it far enough away.  Grandma heard a terrible noise coming from the machine and went out to find the plastic had been sucked up into the engine.  She ripped it out, but did not know how to turn the contraption off.  

When Grandpa came home, Grandma gave him an earful.  “I told you not to leave something running while you are gone, especially if I don’t know what to do with it if something goes wrong!”

Deputy Sheriff Boudreaux done shot him de 12-foot ‘gator dat done be unner de raise house when de home owner done call ‘bout it.

A few hour later, Sheriff Thibodeaux done call him an’ say, “De wil’life ranger done want to talk to you ‘bout de ‘gator you done kill, he be at de home owner house.”

Deputy Boudreaux done get on de phone an’ de ranger ax, “Why you done kill de ‘gator?”

An’ Boudreaux say, “De home owner done say it be eatin’ his chickens.”

An’ de ranger say, “I don’ see no chickens in dis yard.”

An’ Boudreaux say, “Mais, like I done tole you!”

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  The rules have been relaxed, and it is now simply a showcase for your photos, new or old, good or bad, although nothing rude, please.  It is now hosted by Elephant's Child.    

First, Mr. BA's okra plant.  He says it is creole okra:

He hates green clover, but goes out of his way to cultivate the reddish purple variety:

Now for a few things around my own house that bring me joy.

My smiling sponge makes me smile when i do the dishes:

This coffee cup was a gift from my best friend back when i was in high school (back when Hector was a pup).  It is my favorite and i still use it:

This watercolor was purchased from my client Ms. S's estate sale when she downsized.  It hasn't been framed yet, but i hope soon:

A few items from the curio cabinet (some of which i may have shown before, but please indulge me):

Sweetie's dad who raised him used this teether, it is silver and celloid.

Grandpa's Captain's bars from when he was in the army.

My favorite cup as a child.

Sweetie's mama who raised him made potholders.

Great-grandpa won this piece of carnival glass in 1906.

Sweetie and his brother's childhood piggy banks.

Mr. Piggy tips his hat when you add a coin.

Have a blessed and beautiful Sunday, everyone!

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Today is:

Day of the Airborne Forces -- Russia; Ukraine

Day of Azerbaijani Cinema -- Azerbaijan (anniversary of the 1898 showing of the first motion pictures taken in Azerbaijan)

Distribution of Charity Monies -- Fairy Calendar (Imps only)

Festival of Amen and Hapi -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (offerings to the god of transcendent powers and the god of the Nile to assure the flooding of the Nile; date approximate)

Festival of Domhnach Chrom Dubh -- Ireland (also called Festival of Lughnasa or Garland Sunday, Black Chrom's Sunday, associated with the god Lugh and connected to the festival of Lammas; also connected to John Barleycorn, the personification of the grain, who is killed by being harvested at this time; many honor St. Patrick's Fast by making a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, where he fasted until he overcame the pagan deity Crom Cruach [Crom of the Reek])

Lincoln Penny Day -- US (the Lincoln Cent entered circulation on this day in 1909, and is one of the longest running coins in continual production in history)

     Take a Penny/Leave a Penny Day -- if the US is really determined to keep the littlest coins, the least we can do is pool them together in the trays so conveniently found in stores and restaurants

Loch-mo-Naire Pilgrimage -- Loch mo Naire, Scotland (tonight from midnight to 1am tomorrow is the magical hour, complete the ritual there to be healed by the waters because of magic stones in the water that a Celtic priestess put there) 

Make Some Old Fashioned Lemonade Day

National Doll Day -- US (another with its own Facebook page) 

National Friendship Day -- US (designated by Congress in 1935)

National Ice Cream Sandwich Day

Nuestra Senora de los Angeles -- Costa Rica (Feast of Our Lady of the Angels)

Shimizu Minato Matsuri -- Shimizu City, Japan (through the 4th, commemorates the reopening of Shimizu Port to international trade)

Sisters' Day® -- celebrating the bond between sisters, as begun by Tricia Eleogram; a wiki page on how to celebrate this day 

St. Elias' Day (Elijah the Prophet)  related observance

     Iliden -- Bosnia-Herzegovina; Ukraine; other Slavic countries where he is titled St. Ilia 

     Republic Day -- Macedonia

St. Eusebius of Vercelli's Day (Patron of Vercelli, Italy)

Anniversary Today:

The first US Census is recorded, 1790

Birthdays Today:

Edward Furlong, 1977

Michael Weiss, 1976

Sam Worthington, 1976

Mary-Louise Parker, 1964

Victoria Jackson, 1959

Butch Patrick, 1953

Kathryn Harrold, 1950

James Fallows, 1949

Joanna Cassidy, 1944

Wes Craven, 1939

Lamar Hunt, 1932

Peter O'Toole, 1932

James Baldwin, 1924

Carroll O'Connor, 1924

Myrna Loy, 1905

Jack L. Warner, 1892

Elisha Gray, 1835

Pierre "Peter" Charles L'Enfant, 1754

Today in History:

Philip II of Macedon leads his army to defeat the combined forces of Athens and Thebes in the Battle of Chaeronea, which secured Macedonian hegemony in Greece and the Aegean, BC338

Hannibal leads his Corinthian army to defeat the superior forces of Rome, BC216

Henry Hudson sails into what it is now known as Hudson Bay, thinking he had made it through the Northwest Passage and reached the Pacific Ocean, 1610

First United States Census, 1790

First parachute jump in the US, 1819

Japan's samurai, farmer, artisan, merchant class system is abolished as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms, 1869

Tower Subway, the world's first underground tube railway, opens in London, 1870

Andrew Hallidie tests the first cable car system in San Francisco, 1873

Wild Bill Hickok meets his death; shot in the back while playing poker, his hand, a pair of Aces and a pair of eights, is now called "Dead Man's Hand", 1876

Calamity Jane (Martha Jane Cannary) dies, 1903

Typhoon in China kills about 60,000, 1922

The positron (antiparticle of the electron) is discovered by Carl D. Anderson, 1932

Pakistan is re-admitted back into the Commonwealth of Nations, 1989

Iraq invades Kuwait, setting the stage for the Gulf War, 1990

Two previously unknown works by Mozart - a concerto movement and a prelude, are performed in Salzburg, Austria, 2009

The U.S. Government estimates the Deepwater Horizon oil spill dumped nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, 2010

The first footage of white giraffes (giraffes with leucism) is posted by the Hirola Conservation Program in north eastern Kenya, 2017

Great Britain’s Prince Philip, age 96, makes his final solo public appearance before retiring from public engagements, 2017

Apple becomes the first American publicly listed company to reach $1 trillion in value, 2018

Archaeologists confirm they have found the oldest library in Germany, in Cologne, dating back to 2AD and possibly holding as many as 20,000 scrolls, 2018

Saudi Arabia announces it is enacting news rules for women including allowing them to travel independently abroad without a male guardian's permission, 2019

Yes, It's All For The Best (Ten Things of Thankful)

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It's Thankful Day, and my cup runeth over.

On Monday, in spite of the weather and other difficulties, i got through the day.

By the end of that day, however, i was no longer employed by Dr. D (and for her privacy, that's all i will say about it).

Thankfully, it is for the best, although it does make me sad for her.  Also thankfully, i have already found more work.

All week, i've been thankful to have had time to run by Ms. S's house every day to check on her.

Her cat has taken to "missing the box" on occasion, so i am thankful Ms. GA had a spare large one to replace the one that now seems too small for Kiki.

On Tuesday, i was thankful for a wonderful pep talk from a client/friend, i needed it.

Wednesday, Ms. G was out of town again, so i was able to really help Ms. S and Sweetie and i got the laundry done!

On Thursday, i am thankful that Sweetie was able to go work with The Big Boss and earn some extra money.

He usually helps me with Ms. SE's house on that Thursday, but i am thankful that the children are out of town with grandparents so there were not toys everywhere, there was only one small load of laundry to fold as they are able to keep up when it's just the two of them at home, her contractor husband had fixed what was ailing the dishwasher, and i was able to handle the house myself as, when it's only the two of them, it doesn't get that dirty.

Icing on the cake of the week was Friday, when there was a steady breeze while i was working outdoors in the heat, and today, when Sweetie and i are thankful to get to go to NOLA and clean for Grandma and Grandpa.  He dusts much higher than i can reach!

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Kristi and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is:

Air Force Day -- US (declared by President Truman in 1947)

Anniversary of the Founding of Scouting -- first day of Brownsea Island Camp in 1907, where Robert Baden-Powell began Scouting

Armed Forces Day -- Lebanon

Emancipation Day -- Barbados; Guyana; Jamaica; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and Grendines; Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands (Trad.)

Fast in Honor of the Holy Mother of Jesus / Procession of the Cross and Dormition Fast -- Orthodox Christian

Feast of Kamal (Perfection) -- Baha'i

Girlfriends' Day -- a day to celebrate the women who enrich your life

Harriet Quimby Day -- first woman to earn a pilot's license, this date in 1911

Homowo -- Ghana (a festival of thanksgiving and remembrance, among various groups of Ga peoples, all through August and September.)

Imps Charity Scramble -- Fairy calendar (Do they scramble the imps, or do the imps scramble for something?)

Independence Day / National Day -- Benin(1960)

International Hangover Day -- always the day after International Beer Day, which should tell you something, and sponsored by the same group that does International Beer Day, which should tell you something more!

Kalends of August -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances

     Feast of Spes (personification of hope)

     Festival for Victoria (goddess of victory)

Lammas Day / Lammac Tide -- Christian, a Cross Quarter Day (called the Gule of August in Wales, and known as August Eve and Lady Day Eve)

Liberation of Haile Selassie -- Rastafari

Lughnassad / Imbolc -- Wicca and Pagan (based in the Northern Hemisphere on the Celtic Feast of Bread, beginning of the harvest season)

Minden Day -- British Armed Forces

National Day -- Switzerland (where it is also called Swiss Confederation Day, when Switzerland became a single unit in 1291)

National Minority Donor Awareness Week -- US (bringing awareness to the fact that there are fewer minorities who are organ donors) 

National Mustard Day -- US, sponsored by the National Mustard Museum 

National Non-Parent Day -- sponsored by The National Organization for Non-Parents and No Kidding!

National Raspberry Cream Pie Day

Parents' Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

Respect For Parents Day -- with information here 

Rounds Resounding Day -- sponsored by Rounds Resounding Society (Grab your friends and sing a few songs that go in rounds, like "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" and "Frere Jacques".)

Social Resistance Day -- North Cyprus

Spiderman Day -- he first appeared today in Amazing Fantasy #15, released Aug. 1, 1963

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori's Day (Founder of the Redemptorists, a/k/a Ligourians; Patron of confessors, final perseverence, moralists, scrupulous people, theologians, vocations; Pagani, Italy; Sant'Agata de' Goti, Italy; against arthritis, scrupulosity disorder)

World Breastfeeding Week begins -- International (the theme this year is "Support Breastfeeding for a Healthier Planet") 

World Lung Cancer Day -- International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer  

World Scout Scarf Day -- wear your Scout Scarf in public today 

World Wide Web Day -- what would become our current ability to waste time reading blogs and doing other fun stuff was begun as an idea at CERN during August back in 1990

Yorkshire Day -- Yorkshire, England

Anniversaries Today:

Colorado becomes the 38th US State, 1876

Birthdays Today:

Tempestt Bledsoe, 1973

Robert Cray, 1953

Giancarlo Giannini, 1942

Jerry Garcia, 1942

Yves Saint Laurent, 1942

Ronald Harmon "Ron" Brown, 1941

Dom DeLuise, 1933

Tom Wilson, 1931

James Hill, 1916

Herman Melville, 1819

Maria Mitchell, 1818

Francis Scott Key, 1779

William Clark, 1770

Debuting/Premiering Today:

M2(TV Network), 1996

"The Rush Limbaugh Show"(Radio), 1988

MTV(TV Network), 1981

Today in History:

The future Caesar Augustus, Octavian, enters Alexandria, Egypt, and brings it under the control of Rome, BC30

Japan sends Ono no Imoko to the Sui court in China as envoy, 607

The Swiss Confederation is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter, 1291

Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile drive the Jews out of Spain, 1492

Henry Tudor, soon to be Henry VII, sails with his army to England, 1495

The first black Americans arrive in Jamestown, Virginia, 1619

Oxygen is "discovered" for the 3rd time, by Priestly, 1774

The Act of Union is passed in which merges the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1800

Slavery is abolished throughout the British Empire, 1834

First coast to coast automobile trip, from San Francisco to New York, is completed, 1903

The first Jeep is produced, 1941

Anne Frank makes the last entry in her diary, 1944

The United States and Canada form the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD), 1957

Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967

Peat cutters discover Lindow Man, Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England, 1984

CERN physicists begin discussing building what would eventually become the World Wide Web, 1990

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Latvia, Malta, Slovenia and Slovakia join the European Environment Agency, 2001

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia dies and is succeeded by Prince Abdullah, 2005

Buddhist treasures buried during the Mongolian Communist Purge in the 1930's are rediscovered in the Gobi Desert, 2009

Russia grants NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden one year of temporary political asylum; Snowden leaves Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport, 2013

Two crowns and an orb from the Swedish crown jewels are stolen in heist from Strängnäs Cathedral, Stockholm, 2018