messymimi's meanderings

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of 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!

You know the baby is tired when it goes to sleep right in the middle of the floor:

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Sparks! is on hiatus, so here is an Inspiring Quote of the Week:

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Today is:

Arbor Day -- Philippines

Color TV Day -- CBS broadcast the first program in color on this day in 1951

Day of the Seafarer -- The International Maritime Organization (this year’s theme is “Seafarers' Wellbeing”)

Discovery Day -- NL, Canada

Elf Thumping Day -- Fairy Calendar (no details on what the Elves thump, and no, no one is allowed to thump an Elf!)

Feast of the Optional Holiday -- pick one, and celebrate it or don't, your option!

Festival of Ranting and Vaporing -- sponsored by The Daily Bleed

Global Beatles Day -- read about the meaning of this day, and why this date was picked, here

Gotanshin Sai -- Kitano Tenmangu, Kyoto, Japan (festival to commemorate the birth of Lord Sugawara, with ceremonies to ward off summer infections)

Independence Day -- Mozambique(1975)

Leon Day -- Noel spelled backward, the turning poing on the calendar when Christmas starts getting closer; those who make Christmas/Noel gifts need to start thinking about their projects

Ludi Taurii -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Games of the Bull, a two day festival held once every five years)

National Catfish Day

National Fried Okra Day

National Strawberry Parfait Day

Please Take My Children To Work Day -- originally sponsored by mamasaid.net; a tongue-in-cheek way to request that you give a full- or part-time stay-at-home mom a break today!

Sense of Humor in Bed Appreciation Day -- i'm not touching this one

Slovenian Sovereignty Day / National Day -- Slovenia

Solennität -- Morat, Switzerland (on Morat Commemoration Day, a Youth festival remembering the pivotal role this tiny town played in winning a battle in 1476)

Statehood Day -- Croatia

St. Eurosia's Day (a/k/a Orosia; Patron of Jaca, Spain; against bad weather)

Fiesta de Santa Orosia -- Jaca, Spain

St. Molaug's Day (Patron of Argyll, Scotland; against mental illness)

Anniversaries Today:

Virginia becomes the 10th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Scott Terra, 1987

Linda Cardellini, 1975

Dikembe Mutombo, 1966

George Michael, 1963

Ricky Gervais, 1961

Sonia Sotomayor, 1954

Jimmie Walker, 1949

Phyllis George, 1949

Carly Simon, 1945

Willis Reed, Jr., 1942

June Lockhart, 1925

Sidney Lumet, 1924

Anne Revere, 1903

George Orwell, 1903

Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold, 1886

Rose Cecil O'Neill, 1874

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Het Achterhuis. Dagbrieven van 14 juni 1942 tot 1 augustus 1944(First publication of excerpts from Anne Frank's diaries), 1947

"It Pays To Be Ignorant"(Radio), 1942

Today in History:

The Book of Concord or Concordia, the historic doctrinal standard of the Lutheran Church, is published, 1580

Elena Cornaro Piscopia is the first woman awarded a doctorate of philosophy, from the University of Padua, 1678

Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Hungary, 1741

Lucien B. Smith of Ohio patents the first version of barbed wire, 1867

Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer, 1876

Dr. Douglas Hyde is inaugurated the first President of Ireland, 1938

The Diary of Anne Frank is published, 1947

The Berlin airlift begins, 1948

The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea, 1950

CBS broadcasts the first color television signal, 1951

First live global satellite television programme – Our World, 1967

Mozambique achieves independence, 1975

Microsoft is restructured to become an incorporated business in its home state of Washington, 1981

Croatia and Slovenia declare their independence from Yugoslavia, 1991

Kim Campbell is chosen as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and becomes the first female Prime Minister of Canada, 1993

An unmanned Progress spacecraft collides with the Russian space station Mir, 1997

The Soufrière Hills volcano in Montserrat erupts resulting in the death of 19 people, 1997

The Harvard School of Health Study concludes that since 1980 the number of adults with diabetes has doubled, 2011

A portion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which protects minority voting rights, is struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling that Congress has not taken into account the nation's racial progress when singling out certain states for federal oversight, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Hello, Tuesday! It’s the day for Random Thoughts with Stacy of Stacy Uncorked, and Tuesday Fun with Sandee of Comedy Plus.

Speaking of fun, our weekend kittens are back with their other foster now, but they were fun while they were here:

When i brought them back to her, i asked what she’d named them. She said she didn’t have names yet, so i told her about how i’d nicknamed them Eenie, Meenie, Miney, and Maureen. She laughed and said she loved that, so those names might stick.

The Jalopy is home, with a new gas tank and tail light assembly, just in time for Sweetie to spend the next week house-watching and garden tending for The Big Boss. The garden is producing plenty at this time, and we’ve been told to take whatever ripens while The Big Boss and his wife are out of town so that it won’t go bad. That means home grown cucumbers and tomatoes in our future.

The borrowed Tahoe will be thoroughly washed and vacuumed and wiped down and filled with gas and returned to the wonderful client who loaned it to us. That vehicle is a tank! Someone dropped a shopping cart on the freeway a couple of days ago, and Sweetie clipped it with the edge of a tire and pushed it out of the road so no one would get hurt. Didn’t put a mark on the Tahoe or damage the tire at all, although i wouldn’t give you a plugged nickel for that shopping cart now.

We've been having trouble getting our bathtub to drain, so with great trepidation and much consultation with a contractor friend, Sweetie performed some surgery on the tub drain mechanism. It is beyond repairing, so he threw it away, put the plate back on, and bought one of those flat rubber stoppers. The tub now works, just like the one at great-grandma's house.

Daughter-in-Law Becky and Pepe the Chihuahua came for a visit, and i think Pepe is realizing the cats are all bark and no bite, so to speak. When i fed him, and Enigma SissyCat came and stood right next to him, he did not give up his food as he would have in the past. He stood his ground and kept eating, and she waited until he was done and licked the tiny bit of gravy he'd left behind. She probably was not happy that she didn't get more, but i am glad he's not letting them intimidate him.

He even helps himself to a cat bed now!

That's about all the news, i hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

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Today is:

Alexandra Rose Day -- anniversary of the tradition started by Queen Alexandra on this day in 1912, in which roses and rose emblems were sold in London and the UK, with the money going to smaller charities that are not usually in the national spotlight; also by tradition, the Lord Mayor of London bought the first rose

Alexandra Rose Charities still exists, but uses other forms of fundraising and now supports healthy eating initiatives among lower income mothers and children

Armed Forces Day -- Azerbaijan

Barcode/UPC Day -- the first scanner, at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, scanned its first item, a pack of Wrigley's gum at 8:01am this day in 1974

Beautician's Day -- on a couple of websites, while other list other days; if yours puts the "beauty" in beautician, remember her next time you go have your do tended to

Birthday of Cheng Huang -- Taiwan (the gods that are city guardians are celebrated with a procession of actors on stilts doing dragon and lion dances on this 13th day of the fifth moon)

Handing Back of Tiger-Get-By's Presents -- Fairy Calendar

Guan Sheng Di Jun Dan -- Taoism (Heavenly Sage Guan Di's Birthday [god of war])

Holiday for the Shemsu of Heru -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Madagascar[Fetin'ny Fahaleovantena]; Somalia

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking -- UN

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture -- UN

National Canoe Day -- Canada

National Chocolate Pudding Day

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

St. Pelayo's Day (Patron of abandoned people, torture victims; Castro Urdiales, Spain; Torreira, Portugal)

Sunthorn Phu Day -- Thailand (celebration of the country's best-known Royal Poet)

Ziua Tricolorului -- Romania (Flag Day)

Birthdays Today:

Jennette McCurdy, 1992

Jason Schwartzman, 1980

Derek Jeter, 1974

Gretchen Wilson, 1973

Chris O'Donnell, 1970

Paul Thomas Anderson, 1970

Sean P. Hayes, 1970

Harriet Wheeler, 1963

Greg LeMond, 1961

Chris Isaak, 1956

Claudio Abbado, 1933

Eleanor Parker, 1922

Charlotte Zolotow, 1915

"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, 1914

Colonel Tom Parker, 1909

Peter Lorre, 1904

Pearl S. Buck, 1892

Sir Robert Laird Borden, 1854

Lord Kelvin, 1824

Abner Doubleday, 1819

Arthur Middleton, 1742

Debuting/Premiering Today:

For Your Eyes Only(Film), 1981

"Absurd Person Singular"(Play), 1972

"A Hard Day's Night"(Album, US version, release), 1964

"The Valkyrie"(Opera, WWV 86B), 1870

Today in History:

Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire; General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield, 363

The legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, German, 1284

Richard III is crowned king of England, 1483

Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima, 1541

W. K. Clarkson patents the first bicycle, 1819

The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States, 1870

The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity, 1909

The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco, 1945

William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor, 1948

The Berlin Airlift begins, 1948

The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships, 1959

The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, 1974

Indira Gandhi establishes emergency rule in India, 1975

The CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, is opened to general public, 1976*

Biologists J. Craig Venter and Francis S. Collins announced that their research groups had mapped the human genome, 2000

Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, the four thousand year-old ridge-top monastery in Bhutan catches fire and is destroyed; no relics were lost in the fire because the monastery was under renovation, 2012

*It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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

This month, the prompts are being provided by Lee at Kitchen Connection.

This week’s “Words for Wednesday” are listed below:

Audacious

Angst

Narrative

Provocative

Thoughtless

Courtesy

Caricature

Undercurrent

Multiple

Dominant

Ultimate

Confident

"Are you AUDACIOUS enough to try?"

There was an UNDERCURRENT of "I dare you" in that voice, and she was perspicacious enough to pick up on it, although as a computer generated voice it was not supposed to be PROVOCATIVE in any way. It was simply supposed to give the options, and issue a challenge, THOUGHTLESS and simple.

She suspected it wasn't so simple. The challenge she'd been issued seemed keyed to her particular form of ANGST, the NARRATIVE in which the MULTIPLE options were given was couched in terms that made her feel less CONFIDENT and less competent than she actually was.

For a moment, she actually asked herself why she had chosen to even go this route. There were easier ways that took longer, that didn't put you in quite this position in quite the same way. Then she gave herself a mental shake, thinking about how her competitor would portray her in CARICATURE if she backed out.

She threw her shoulders back in a DOMINANT stance and put an attitude she did not feel into her voice.

"I will try, thank you," she said, although she knew the COURTESYwould be lost on the machine. She assumed, correctly, the powers behind the machine would catch it. They did and were impressed.

This was going to be an ULTIMATE test of her will, and she knew she would not back down.

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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 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)

Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., US (through July 1, then again July 4-8; a model of research-based presentations of contemporary living cultural traditions of people around the world)

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

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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“What manner of contraption is that?” the older woman asked with such obvious curiosity that I knew she wanted to try it out for herself.

“It’s an iPad,” I told her, “it does a lot of what your computer in there does, but I can carry it with me.”

“Oh, look, it has a keypad, and it folds up just like a laptop, and — you say you can carry it with you and get online anywhere?”

“Yes, it can use wifi or use my phone data, and I bought the bluetooth keyboard to go with it, that makes it more like a regular computer and easier to use.”

“May I try it, I need to send an email to those two young buck attorneys of mine, make sure they are keeping up with everything, and it’s too hard to do it on my tiny phone and the computer has been acting up again.”

“Sure,” I told her, and got her started on it, glad to see her enthusiasm for a new “contraption”.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Manner.

(For those who might be wondering, yes, Dr. D is 80 and loves to learn new technology.)

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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World. Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others to see what interesting fences see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

Some fences are just for decorative purposes.

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Today is:

Constitution day -- Ukraine

Festival of Terrible Poetry -- according to The Daily Bleed, and since there is some hilarious, if terrible, poetry out there, go find some, and bust a gut

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

Full Strawberry Moon / Rose Moon; related observances

Ancient Celtic month Equos (horse-time) begins

Nayon Full Moon -- Mayanmar

Poson Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka

Insurance Awareness Day -- now who do you think invented that!?!

International Body Piercing Day -- on the birthday of James Mark "Jim" Ward, "the granddaddy of the modern body piercing movement"

International CAPS LOCK DAY -- a parody holiday created by Derek Arnold, a user on Metafilter, in 2000

Mnarja / L-Imnarja Festival begins -- Buskett Gardens, Malta (folk festival for Sts. Peter and Paul, begins this evening and continues through the 29th)

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 Ceviche Day

National Handshake Day -- US; sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June, encouraging everyone to develop a good, professional handshake

National Tapioca Day

Oregon Bach Festival -- University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, US (international gathering of musicians, master classes and performances, and family events so even the youngest music fans can fall in love with the works of J.S. Bach and other masters; through July 14)

Paul Bunyan Day -- the tall tale hero of the lumberjacks; celebrated at different times in some parts of the country, but most sites cite this date

Ra goes forth to propitiate the Nun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Saint Ignace Auto Show -- St. Ignace, MI, US (parade, cruise night, and swap meet; through Saturday)

Stonewall Rebellion Day -- now seen as the start of the gay liberation movement in 1969

St. Irenaeus' Day (Patron of Mobile, Alabama)

St. Paul's Feast -- Kato Paphos, Cyprus (religious festivities with the archbishop officiating and a procession of the icon of St. Paul through the streets, through tomorrow)

St. Peter's Eve -- English Christian tradition, night of bonfires and continuation of midsummer celebrations

Telluride Wine Festival -- Telluride, CO, US (meet winemakers, celebrity chefs, experts and authors for an unparalleled educational and epicurian experience; through Sunday)

Thangka Unveiling at Tashihungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival, in which the large Thangka with the image of Buddha on it is unfolded in public) related observance

Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)

Thanksgiving for Useful Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

Vidovdan (Festival for St. Vitus) -- Eastern Orthodox Christian, based on the traditional Julian Calendar date

a recognized holiday in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Watermelon Thump with World Champion Seed Spitting Contest -- Luling, TX, US (fun for all, and lots of juicy watermelon, bring lots of wet wipes, enjoy the music and food and crafts, too; through Sunday)

Anniversaries Today:

Harry S. Truman marries Bess Wallace, 1919

Birthdays Today:

Kellie Pickler, 1986

Steve Burton, 1970

Danielle Brisebois, 1969

John Cusack, 1966

Mary Stuart Masterson, 1966

Mark Grace, 1964

John Elway, 1960

Thomas Hampson, 1955

Alice Krige, 1954

Kathy Bates, 1948

Gilda Radner, 1946

Bruce Davison, 1946

Turkan Soray, 1945

Pat Morita, 1932

Mel Brooks, 1926

Maria Goeppert Mayer, 1906

Richard Rodgers, 1902

Clara Louise Maass, 1876

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712

John Wesley, 1703

Peter Paul Rubens, 1577

Henry VIII, King of England, 1491

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Nutty Professor(Film), 1996

"Amos 'n' Andy"(TV), 1951

"Quiz Kids"(Radio), 1940

Today in History:

Fighters of the First Crusade defeat Kerbogha of Mosul, 1098

Ottomans defeat Serbian army in the bloody Battle of Kosovo, opening the way for the Ottoman conquest of Southeastern Europe, 1389

Guadeloupe becomes a French colony, 1635

The coronation of Victoria of the United Kingdom, 1838

The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique in Paris premieres the ballet Giselle, 1841

The first conformation dog show is held in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, 1859

Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife Sophie are assassinated in Sarajevo by young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip, the casus belli of World War I, 1914

The Treaty of Versailles is signed in Paris, formally ending World War I, 1919

The Irish Civil War begins with the shelling of the Four Courts in Dublin by Free State forces, 1922

Israel annexes East Jerusalem, 1967

COMECON, as part of the last vestige of the Soviet Bloc, is formally disbanded, followed by the Warsaw pact 3 days later, 1991

Slobodan Milosevic is deported to ICTY to stand trial, 2001

The Republic of Montenegro is admitted as the 192nd Member of the United Nations, 2006

The U.N. reports 10 million people are effected by the worst drought in 60 years, 2011

A SpaceX cargo rocket explodes shortly after launch; the unmanned vessel was carrying over two tons of food, provisions, supplies and equipment for the International Space Station, 2015

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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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 two Grand Dames of our cat family are the fourteen-year-olds, Little Girlie and Tripod SissyCat. Sometimes they argue with each other.

Little Girlie thinks Tripod needs to lose weight (she does) and Tripod thinks Girlie needs to mind her own business!

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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 the new cohost of the Fill-Ins, 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. Fireworks ______________________.

2. My favorite 4th of July picnic food is _____________________.

3. I begin every day with _________.

4. _________ is the best thing since sliced bread.

1. Fireworks are lovely when professionally done, and dangerous when the kids up the street are setting them off, firing at cars coming down the road.

2. My favorite 4th of July picnic food is vegan mayonnaise and home grown tomato sandwiches on a whole grain seed bread. Yes, i embrace my weirdness.

3. I begin every day with prayer and Bible study. If i read your blog (or you have read mine), you have been prayed for.

4. Internet access is the best thing since sliced bread. After all, without it we wouldn't have our online friends and communities.

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Today is:

10,000 Crestonians 4th of July Celebration -- Creston, IA, US (lots of history and fun, through the 4th)

Autonomy Day -- French Polynesia

Camera Day -- internet generated, but a fun one to celebrate

Feast Day of Saints Peter and Paul -- Christian

St. Paul, Patron of Greece, Malta, rope makers, tentmakers, upholsterers

St. Peter, Patron of clockmakers, fishermen, Russia; against fever, foot trouble, wolves

a recognized holiday in Chile; Holy See; Italy; Malta[l-Imnarja]; Peru; GR and TI, Switzerland; Wallis and Fortuna

Haro Wine Festival -- Haro, LaRioja, Spain (a festival that includes a Battle of Wines, where wine is thrown from buckets at opposing teams; on the feast day of the city's patron, San Pedro)

Rat-Catcher's Day -- often cited because some of the earliest legends of the Pied Piper claim he took the children on the Feast Day of Sts. Peter and Paul

Gettysburg Civil War Relic and Collectors Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US (featuring leading collectors and dealers; through tomorrow)

Hug Holiday -- while the National Hug Holiday Week has been moved to the beginning of May, this is the original day, and was for quite a while, so go give someone a big hug!

Independence Day -- Seychelles

Montreux Jazz Festival -- Montreaux, Switzerland (a premier jazz event for music lovers from around the world and one of the world's greatest music festivals; through July 14)

National Almond Butter Crunch Day

Oharai/Grand Purification Festival -- Shinto

Purple Hull Pea Festival and World Champion Rotary Tiller Contest -- Emerson, AR, US (the tiny town of Emerson, population 368, puts on a big show that also includes a World Cup Purplehull Pea-Shelling competiton)

Runic Half-month Feoh (wealth) commences

Waffle Iron Day -- don't know why today, but it's a great gadget, and if you have one, pull it out and use it today

Wicked Fairies Summer Debate -- Fairy Calendar (i'd love to hear this!)

Birthdays Today:

Prince Aristide Stavros of Greece and Denmark, 2008

Amanda Donohoe, 1962

Sharon Lawrence, 1962

Fred Grandy, 1948

Richard Lewis, 1947

Gary Busey, 1944

Robert Evans, 1930

Ray Harryhausen, 1920

Slim Pickens, 1919

Bernard Herrmann, 1911

Nelson Eddy, 1901

Antoine de Saint-Exupery, 1900

James Van Der Zee, 1886

William James Mayo, 1863

George Washington Goethals, 1858

Julia Clifford Lathrop, 1858

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Moonraker(Film), 1979

Today in History:

An Irish monastic chronicler records a solar eclipse, 512

Jacques Cartier makes the European discovery of Prince Edward Island, 1534

The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground, 1613

Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario, 1786

Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island, 1850

Ninety-nine people are killed in Canada's worst railway disaster near St-Hilaire, Quebec, 1864

France annexes Tahiti, 1880

The first known recording of classical music, Handel's "Israel in Egypt", is made on a wax cylinder, 1888

Street railway in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, commences operation, 1891

Doukhobors burn their weapons as a protest against conscription by the Tsarist Russian government, 1895

France grants 1 km² at Vimy Ridge "freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes," 1922

Joseph-Armand Bombardier of Canada receives a patent for sprocket and track traction system used in snow vehicles, 1937

Isabel Perón is sworn in as the first female President of Argentina, 1974

The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom, 1976

The space shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir Space Station for the first time, 1995

Two car bombs are found at Piccadilly Circus, in the heart of London, 2007

News that European Union members agree on a deal to help some struggling Eurozone members causes world stock markets to soar, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Has it been a week already? It sure has, a whole week since i wrote a Ten Things of Thankful post.

A lot has happened, most of it involving The Big Boss, Sweetie's former employer. They are both retired, yet The Big Boss keeps calling for work he needs done, which gives us another way to earn a few honest coins (and keeps a retired man busy, which can be very important).

My first thankful is that The Big Boss still uses Sweetie to do so many things.

The Big Boss and His Wife planned a week out of town, and i'm grateful Jalopy was fixed right in time for Sweetie to use it for house-sitting visits.

The Big Boss (TBB) has a way with plants, and grows an eating garden, not just a showing garden. Sweetie is watering it while they are gone, and was told to bring home anything that was ripe. We have as many home grown tomatoes as we want, and enough cucumbers that we will take the rest to church and give them away.

Then there's the fact that Sweetie has been taking care of cucumber plants and hasn't broken out in hives. He's not allergic to cucumbers, but sometimes he breaks out in hives touching the leaves of the plants, and that has not happened (he's been very careful).

His Wife forgot some medication, and Sweetie found it in the house and overnighted it to them. TBB was so thankful, he told Sweetie to take me out for a nice dinner and put it on his credit card.

When i went over there with Sweetie while we were running errands together, i went in the house to fill my water bottle (TBB used to have me clean his house sometimes before he was married, so he doesn't care if i come in). They had left in a hurry and i saw enough of a mess that i did some snooping, found still damp clothes in the dryer in danger of mildewing, water still under the bath mats that was going to cause mold, and just crumbs and a general state of disarray. So i decided to surprise them, especially His Wife, with a clean house and non-mildewed clothes. It's nice to be in a business that can actually do something that is of service to others.

In a double thankful, there was a mini-crisis when the burglar alarm went off at TBB's house. Sweetie made a beeline for the place and met the police there, and they were able to determine it was a false alarm. Not only am i thankful it was a false alarm (no one deserves to be burglarized, it must be an awful feeling), i am grateful there was an officer able to meet up there just to be safe.

Sweetie has been able to be there in time for the mail delivery both times that a package came, and the one time he needed to let the handyman in the rental house TBB owns next door. It's so nice when timing is just perfect!

TBB and His Wife are friends, and i am thankful for their friendship. When TBB went through a very bad time a few years back and was pushed out of his job and forced to retire when he really didn't want to, we stuck with him and he has stuck with us.

Besides that, i am grateful TBB found a good surgeon to take care of his back, so now he can enjoy his retirement and take His Wife on nice vacations.

It's been, all in all, a very good, very busy week.

Counting up thankfuls is a great way to come up with a post, and it's good for your mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Sharing it with others just spreads the joy. Please consider posting your own list (it does not have to be ten, we don't count and don't fuss), and linking up with our lovely hostess Kristi at Ten Things of Thankful. Never once have i heard anyone say, "I regret posting what I am thankful for!"

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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 -- Great Britain; Guatemala

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

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

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

Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June

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

Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)

Leap Second Time Adjustment Day -- if one is needed

Meteor Day -- because of the Tuskunga Event

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

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)

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

The Dam Experience -- Warsaw, MO, US (fireworks viewed from land and boat at the Truman Dam)

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 July 7)

Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)

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

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Just because Sandee, of Comedy Plus, has quit hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

Recently, i was with someone who is always finding fault and being a bit negative. This person, not a member of my family or a close friend, is the kind who would find a reason to criticize St. Paul if he showed up to preach on Sunday. She looks for faults to find and i am glad i do not have to suffer her company often.

It reminded me of what happened one time when Boudreaux an' his wife Clothile, and Thibodeaux an' his wife Marie, dey be at de beach.

Dey be jes' walkin' down by de water, talkin' an' watchin' de waves in de sunset, when dis absolute goddess come walkin' toward dem. She have de perfec' model body, an' she be wearin' de white bikini dat barely be dere.

O' course, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux done stop talkin' an' be starin', dey mouths hangin' open, an' dey watch her walk pas', an' as dey turn to keep walkin' Clothile ax, "Did you notice?"

Boudreaux ax, "Notice what?"

An' Marie ax, "You mean you din't see?"

Thibodeaux ax, "See what?"

An' Clothile say, "Mais, you din't even notice! She had flat feet!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files. It is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.

Mr. BA's garden bloomed, and many of his plants are gearing up to bust out in bloom again:

He also has a water cypress tree that obligingly produces many baby cypress trees each year, which he digs up, pots, and sells:

Big cypress, complete with tree house at the base.

Potted baby water cypress trees.

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Today is:

Canada Day -- Canada

Cherokee Green Corn Ceremony -- honoring maize goddess Selu with thanksgiving for the maize harvest; date approximate, as many towns set their own times to celebrate

Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day -- a great way to start off Ice Cream Month; try a new one and you just might find a new favorite.

Day to Celebrate All the World's Creatures -- commemorates the day in 1975 that endangered species became internationally protected.

Distressed Elves Day -- Fairy Calendar

Doctors' Day -- India

Ducktona 500 Family Festival & Car Show-- Sheboygan Falls, WI, US (lots of fun for everyone, culminating in the annual plastic duck race)

Eastport Fourth of July and "Old Home Week" -- Eastport, ME, US (bounded on all sides by the Bay of Fundy and Canadian islands, the celebration runs through the 4th)

Emancipation Day -- Sint Maarten

Falconry Festival -- El Haouaria, Tunisia (four days of celebrating the art of falconry, which is passed from fathers to sons in "the country of the eagle", with breeders from around the world)

Fast of Shiva Asar B'Tammuz (Tzom Tammuz) -- Judaism (a day of fasting and mourning the destruction of the tablets by Moses, the disruption of Temple services in 423BCE, and the breaching of the walls of Jerusalem right before the Temple was destroyed in 70AD; as a minor fast it begins today at dawn and ends at nightfall)

Halfway Point of the Year Day -- related observance

Half-Year Day -- China

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Establishment Day -- Hong Kong

Hug a Cowboy Day -- always on Canada Day

Independence Day -- Burundi(1962); Rwanda(1962)

Intact Day -- celebrating genital integrity, as far as possible from the Feast of the Circumcision on Jan. 1

International Chicken Wing Day -- some sites say the 2nd, celebrate today or tomorrow, your choice

International Joke Day -- as declared by many internet sites, but i can't find out why today; then again, why not?

International Reggae Day

International Tartan Day -- anniversary of the repeal, in 1782, of the Act of Proscription which banned the wearing of Tartans; celebrated especially by Scottish diaspora in Australia; New Zealand

July Morning -- Bulgaria (dates back to the '70s, young and old people hitchhike to the Black Sea in late June to greet the dawn of July 1 with Uriah Heep's hit song July Morning; began as a suble anti-communist protest, now in memory of the fall of communism and to celebrate the start of summer vacation)

Keti Koti -- Suriname (Emancipation Day)

Madeira Day -- Madeira

Marrakech Popular Arts Festival -- Marrakesh, Morocco (the country's best Folklore Festival, featuring art and music as well; through the 31st)

Memorial Day -- Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Mount Fuji Official Climbing Season begins -- Japan (through Aug. 31)

Moving Day -- Quebec, Canada

National Boating Day -- US

National Ducks and Wetlands Day -- US (presidential designation in 1990)

National Financial Freedom Day -- can't find how this one started, but it's as good a day as any to take a good look at your finances, and start learning how to better manage them.

National Gingersnap Day

Punxsutawney Ground Hog Festival -- Punxsutawney, PA, US (through next Saturday; because the groundhog is worth more than just one cold day in February!)

Rebildfesten/Rebild Festival/American Independence Day Celebration -- Aalborg, Denmark (the town dresses in red, white and blue, celebrating with BBQ, American beer, and more; through the 4th)

Republic Day -- Ghana; Somalia

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo -- Halifax, NS, Canada (through the 8th)

Skiraphoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of cutting and threshing the grain)

Sir Seretse Khama Day -- Botswana

St. Serf of Culross' Day (patron of the Orkney Islands)

Sts. Cosmas and Damian's Day -- Eastern Catholic Churches

Holy Healers' Day -- Bulgaria (a special festival for the two saints/brothers who were healers; celebrated especially by all healers, fortune-tellers, witches, sorceresses and herbalists)

Territory Day -- British Virgin Islands

U.S. Postage Stamp Day -- first US postage stamp issued this day in 1847

Vardavar -- Armenia (continuation of an ancient pagan festival that encourages people to pull pranks, especially dousing everyone, friend and stranger, with water)

Yukon Gold Panning Championships -- Dawson City, YT, Canada

Zip Code Day -- US (inaugural anniversary in 1963; when you mail that letter, zip it up! no zip, slow trip; wrong zip, long trip)

Anniversaries Today:

Prince Albert II of Monaco marries Charlene Whittstock, 2011

Haleakala National Park established, HI, US, 1961

Mammoth Cave National Park established, KY, US, 1941

Dwight D. Eisenhower marries Mamie Geneva Dowd, 1916

Birthdays Today:

Hilary Burton, 1982

Liv Tyler, 1977

Ruud Van Nistelrooy, 1976

Missy Elliott, 1971

Pamela Anderson, 1967

Andre Braugher, 1962

Princess Diana, 1961

Carl Lewis, 1961

Michelle Wright, 1961

Alan Ruck, 1956

Dan Aykroyd, 1952

Deborah Harry, 1945

Karen Black, 1942

Genevieve Bujold, 1942

Twyla Tharp, 1941

Jamie Farr, 1934

Jean Marsh, 1934

Leslie Caron, 1931

Farley Granger, 1925

Olivia DeHavilland, 1916

William James "Willie" Dixon, 1915

Estee Lauder, 1906

Charles Laughton, 1899

Thomas Andrew Dorsey, 1899

Louis Charles Joseph Blériot, 1872

Ignaz Semmelweis, 1818

George Sand, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

CourtTV(Network, now TruTV), 1991

"Nick at Nite"(TV), 1985

"The Liberace Show"(TV), 1952

"Mama"(TV), 1949

NBC(Network, first scheduled TV broadcast ever), 1941

Today in History

Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor, 69

La Noche Triste: a joint Mexican Indian force led by the Aztec ruler Cuitláhuac defeat Spanish Conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés, 1520

Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u., 1770

American privateers attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 1782

A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales, 1837

U.S. Postage stamps went on sale for the first time, 1847

In the first instance of photojournalism, a French photographer's daguerrotypes of Paris riots were turned into woodcuts so as to be published in the weekly newspaper L'Illustration Journal Universel on this date in 1848

Keti Koti (Emancipation Day) in Suriname, marking the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands, 1863

The British North America Act of 1867 takes effect as the Constitution of Canada, creating the Canadian Confederation and the federal dominion of Canada; Sir John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada, 1867

The Philadelphia Zoological Society, the first US zoo, opens; admission twenty-five cents for adults and ten cents for children, 1874

The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States, 1881

SOS is adopted as the international distress signal, 1908

Grant Park Music Festival begins its tradition of free summer symphonic music concert series in Chicago's Grant Park, which continues as the United States' only annual free outdoor classical music concert series, 1935

NBC makes the first scheduled television broadcast, 1941

Tokyo City merges with Tokyo Prefecture and is dissolved; since then, no city in Japan has had the name "Tokyo" (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city), 1943

The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family, 1949

Zip Codes are introduced for the U.S.mail, 1963

The first color television transmission in Canada takes place from Toronto, 1966

The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission, 1967

Sony introduces the Walkman, 1979

O Canada officially becomes the national anthem of Canada, 1980

German re-unification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany, 1990

The People's Republic of China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule, 1997

Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini-Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC, 2004

Smoking is banned in all indoor public spaces in England, 2007

The oldest European remains of a white man are discovered in Australia; the Manning River Skull may belong to a man born in 1650, predating the country's history that Captain James Cook was the first to land on Australia's east coast in 1770, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of 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!

#2 Son has been wanting a dog of his own, a small one to be a companion for Daughter-in-Law Becky's Pepe. They found a Chihuahua pup, and we have a new member of the family:

Jezzie, a blue Chihuahua pup, sitting in Sweetie's lap.

(This space is saved for the Awww Monday code, if i can ever find it -- somehow that page on Sandee's site is not coming up for me.)

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Sparks! from Annie at McGuffy's Reader is on hiatus while Annie takes a blogging break. In the spirit of spreading good thoughts through the internet, here is an Inspiring Quote of the Week:

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Today is:

Adonia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (date approximate, but always in July, a ritual to honor Adonis)

Caricom Day -- Guyana; Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Constitution Day -- Cayman Islands

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Day -- Fairy Calendar

Flag & Anthem Day -- Curacao

Freedom From Fear of Public Speaking Day -- as proposed by Beverly Beuermann-King, as you don't want to blow it when your big opportunity comes because you are afraid to speak out!

Hampton Court Palace Flower Show -- Hampton Court Palace, East Molesey, Surrey, England (the world's largest flower show; through Sunday)

Heroes Day -- Zambia

I Forgot Day (the day to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, or other special days that you forgot during the first half of the year)

Kirkpinar Oil Wrestling Festival -- Kirkpinar, Edirne, Turkey (since 1362, the oldest wrestling festival in the world as well as the oldest continually running, sanctioned sporting event in the world, in which men clad in leather britches and covered in olive oil wrestle; through Sunday)

Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon -- Wimbledon, England (through July 15)

National Anisette Day

Palio di Provenzano -- Siena, Italy (horse race and pageant, named after the Madonna di Provenzano, whose church is in Siena)

Remember to Feed the Hummingbirds Day -- internet reminder to be nice to these beautiful creatures

St. Swithin's Day (Patron against drought; of Stavenger, England; Winchester, England)

Try to Find Your Slinky Day -- the weird holiday of the day!

Violin Lovers' Day

World UFO Day -- unfortunately, a real day observed by many around the world (on the "anniversary" of the UFO crash in Roswell, if such a thing even happened, which i doubt*)

*i believe that if there's life elsewhere, it shows its intelligence by staying away from us!

Anniversary Today:

Prince Albert of Belgium marries Paola Ruffo di Calabria, 1959

Birthdays Today:

Lindsay Lohan, 1986

Ashley Tisdale, 1985

Johnny Weir, 1984

Jose, Jr., and Ozzie Canseco, 1964

Jimmy McNichol, 1961

Ron Silver, 1946

Vicente Fox Quesada, 1942

Richard Petty, 1937

Polly Holiday, 1937

Dave Thomas, 1932

Medgar Evers, 1925

Dan Rowan, 1922

Ken Curtis, 1916

Thurgood Marshall, 1908

Jean René Lacoste, 1904

Hermann Hesse, 1877

Thomas Cranmer, 1489

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Andy Williams Show"(TV), 1957

"The Lawrence Welk Show"(TV), 1955

"Finlandia"(Sibelius' Op. 26), 1900

Today in History:

Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine, 1698

Vermont becomes the first American territory to abolish slavery, 1777

Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually dies from an infection on September 19, 1881

Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 rebelling African slaves led by Joseph Cinque take over the slave ship Amistad, 1893

Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtains patent for radio in London, 1897

The first zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1900

Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight 1937

The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas, 1962

North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunite to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, 1976

The AbioCor self contained artificial heart is first implanted, 2001

Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon, 2002

Planetoid Pluto's fourth and fifth moons officially receive the names Kerberos and Styx from the International Astronomical Union, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Tuesday already! How did that happen? Time for Random Tuesday linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked, and Tuesday Fun with Sandee of Comedy Plus.

In the summer, things are a bit different at church. Every year, at least one pastor has a sabbatical, the others go to General Assembly or take vacations, lots of congregants are out of town, and so in July we only have one service each Sunday.

It’s every summer, and it is announced every Sunday for over a month, and it is in the newsletter for two months straight.

Every first Sunday in July, we have the same conversation. “Um, I’m guessing there isn’t going to be a 9 o’clock service?” says average-congregant-who-has-not-paid-attention-for-the-last-several-weeks.

“Sorry,” i respond, “it’s summer, we are on the summer schedule. One service each Sunday at 10:30.”

“Are we having Sunday school?” a-c-w-h-n-p-a-f-t-l-s-w continues.

This has also been addressed in the announcements and newsletters, but i add, “Not this week, the next four weeks there will be a 9:30 Sunday school hour with three choices of classes, not the usual ones. Here’s the newsletter, you can read all about them!”

Yes, i stay bright and cheery as i say it, because there will always be someone who misses the memo. Or, in this case, the several announcements and the newsletters.

Just like Sweetie misses his phone, or his glasses, or his keys. This past Sunday, it was the phone. He looked everywhere, then sheepishly took the car back home (we got there way early to set up) and managed to find it and get back before the service. It was so funny, he was running around in a panic, and the sextons and a couple of other people were looking at me as i calmly said stuff like, it will turn up, you will find it, etc. As i told them later, he loses things at least 3 times a day, maybe more, and after over 30 years of it, i’m done panicking!

The adventures of Dr. D continue. She has bought shelves to install in the closets, and what do you do when you need something to lift the shelves?

Old black computer to the left, silvery one to the right.

You use the old computers that don’t work any more, of course.

We also got her front door fixed where someone broke off the doorknob trying to break in. And she found her pickle puller,

At first, i had no clue!

When a fork just won’t do to pull out a pickle from the jar.

which she can put in a drawer now that there are shelves in the cabinets for what used to be in the drawers.

The builders who didn’t finish her house and ran out on the contract really left her in a mess, but we are digging her out, one project at a time.

Today Ms. E is having me come very early. Her husband had surgery yesterday and is due home today, probably in the early afternoon, so i want to have as much done as possible as early as i can. Plus, if i finish early enough, i will drive to NOLA and clean Grandma’s house. She is having trouble with her housekeeper again.

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

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Today is:

Air Conditioning Appreciation Days begin -- Northern Hemisphere (around here, they last until Thanksgiving!)

Compliment Your Mirror Day -- remind your mirror how great it is to have an owner like you, and look at other mirrors to meet to see if they greet you with a smile

Dipolieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Zeus as god of the city)

Disobedience Day -- internet generated, but if you have a bone to pick, use your civil disobedience today to let it be known!

Distressed Elves' Creditors' Pets' Day -- Fairy Calendar

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

Dog Days of Summer begin (according to the almanac, but not in all cultures)

Eat Beans Day -- bring the humble legume up to main dish status!

Fiesta del Fuego -- Santiago, Cuba (festival of fire, through the 9th)

Grand Teton Music Festival -- Teton Village, WY, US (a summer celebration of classical music with the world's finest artists and in the spectacular setting of Jackson Hole, Wyoming; through Aug. 20)

Independence Day -- Belarus(1944)

International Plastic Bag Free Day -- working toward a plastic bag free world

Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod -- Eisteddfod Field, Llangollen, Benbigshire, North Wales, UK (Six days of the best music and folk dance, and all the world in one place; through Sunday)

National Chocolate Wafer Day

Red White and Boom -- Columbus, OH, US (the Midwest's largest fireworks display and more!)

Sata-Hame Soi Accordion Festival -- Ikaalinen, Finland (one of the worlds biggest and best accordion festivals; through Sunday)

Stay Out of the Sun Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; for health's sake, give your skin a break!

St. Thomas the Apostle's Day (Patron of architects, blind people, builders, carpenters, construction workers, geometricians, masons, people in doubt, stonecutters, surveyors, theologians; against blindness, doubt; Certaldo, Italy; Ceylon/Sri Lanka; East Indies; India; Pakistan)

Unity Day -- Zambia

Virgin Islands Emancipation Day -- US Virgin Islands

Anniversaries Today:

Prince Alois of Liechtenstein marries Duchess Sophie of Bavaria, 1993

Ted Kennedy marries Victoria Anne Reggie, 1992

Idaho becomes the 43rd US State, 1890

Birthdays Today:

Moises Alou, 1966

Thomas Gibson, 1962

Tom Cruise, 1962

Montel Williams, 1956

Alan Autry, 1952

Betty Buckley, 1947

Dave Barry, 1947

Kurtwood Smith, 1942

Tom Stoppard, 1937

Pete Fountain, 1930

Ken Russell, 1927

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher, 1908

Franz Kafka, 1883

George M. Cohan, 1878

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, 1870

Samuel Huntington, 1731(O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"ITV News at Ten"(TV), 1967

"Mister Peepers"(TV), 1952

Today in History

Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, the first of the Capetian dynasty that would rule France till the French Revolution in 1792, 987

Québec City is founded by Samuel de Champlain, 1608

Pitcairn Island is discovered by Midshipman Robert Pitcairn on an expeditionary voyage commanded by Philip Carteret, 1767

Norway's oldest newspaper still in print, Adresseavisen, is founded and the first edition is published, 1767

George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1775

The Bank of Savings in New York City, the first savings bank in the United States, opens, 1819

The last pair of Great Auks is killed, 1844

Slaves are freed in the Danish West Indies (now U.S. Virgin Islands) by Peter von Scholten in the culmination of a year-long plot by enslaved Africans, 1848

Dow Jones and Company publishes its first stock average, 1884

Karl Benz officially unveils the Benz Patent Motorwagen – the first purpose-built automobile, 1886

The New York Tribune becomes the first newspaper to use a linotype machine, eliminating typesetting by hand, 1886

World speed record for a steam railway locomotive is set in England, by the Mallard, which reaches a speed of 126 miles per hour (203 km/h), 1938

The biggest explosion in the history of rocketry occurs when the Soviet N1 rocket explodes and subsequently destroys its launchpad, 1969

First mention in the New York Times of a disease that would later be called AIDS, 1981

The Stone of Scone is returned to Scotland, 1996

Asteroid 2004 XP14 flies within 432,308 kilometres (268,624 mi) of Earth, 2006

New Zealand sustains a major earthquake, with minor damage reported, 2012

In El Paraiso, Peru, property developers destroy a 4,000-year old pyramid, 2013

In Belgium, King Albert II abdicates his throne to son, Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, due to health reasons, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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

This month, the prompts are being provided by Vest at The Daily Gaggle.

This week’s words are:

Mixture

Summer

Footsteps

Warmth

Shelter

Chilly

"Why in the world do you carry a sweater with you everywhere even in the SUMMER?" Donna asked her friend Sherilyn as she came through the door. "Here it is Fourth of July, the temperatures are sweltering, and you lug that thing around!"

"You know I get CHILLY when I go into stores and shops. Some of those supermarkets are so cold you could hang the meat in the aisles, and I need the WARMTH," Sherilyn answered.

"Well, it's not that cold in here, we can't afford to keep the A/C turned that low. Come in the kitchen and help me finish this salad dressing, the MIXTURE looks too runny to me. Do you think it needs to be thicker?"

FOOTSTEPS and a voice came from the direction they were heading, and Donna's husband Grant met them at the kitchen door. "It looked perfect to me, and tasted great, too!" he said.

"Now, honey, you know that's for the animal SHELTER volunteer picnic!" Donna protested.

"Well, I was hungry, so I had a bit of the salad, and the dressing, and it's good and you made plenty and I'm not sorry!" Grant answered, and they all laughed, then started packing up for their day of celebration.

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Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate!

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Today is:

American Independence Day Celebration -- Rebild Park, Aalborg, Denmark (yes, really, every year except during the two World Wars, they have celebrated American Independence Day here; as a way of thanking the country that has accepted over 300,000 Danish immigrants, and to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the countries)

Baal Fire Day -- Whalton, Northumberland, UK (a bonfire, Anglo-Saxon "bael", with traditional morris dancing -- originally a Moorish dance)

Boom Box Parade -- Willimantic, CT, US (dating back to 1985, when no marching band could be found for the Memorial Day parade, five weeks later, the local radio station staged the first Boom Box Parade, in which they play the march music on their station, and marchers carry boom boxes tuned in on the station; it makes for one unique parade!)

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Calithumpian Parade -- Biwabik, MN, US (clowns, hilarity and patriotism reign together as the 1,000 citizens of Biwabik put on a show for more than 15,000 guests)

Day of Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Filipino-American Friendship Day -- Philippines; U.S.

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Independence Day -- US and Territories(1776)

Independence from Meat Day -- don't be a slave to tradition! sponsored by Vegetarian Awareness Network

Jumping on the Mattress Night -- Fairy Calendar

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

Ommegang Pageant -- Grand-Palace, Brussels, Belgium (three days of recreating of the medieval entertainment at the court of Charles V)

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day -- you can do this anywhere that it's hot enough, but for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day (Patron of brides, charitable societies, charity workers, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, queens, tertiaries, victims of adultery, victims of jealousy, victims of unfaithfulness, widows; invoked in time of war; Coimbra, Portugal)

St. Ulrich's Day (Patron of peaceful deaths, pregnant women, weavers; Augsburg, Germany; Creazzo, Italy; against birth complications, dizziness, faintness, fever, frenzy, mice, moles, vertigo)

Stone Skipping Tournament -- Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US (open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!)

The North American Tournament -- Spruce Meadows, Calgary, AB, Canada (show jumping tournament, through Sunday)

World's Greatest Lizard Races -- Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US (cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16 foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!)

Anniversaries Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881

Birthdays Today

Becky Newton, 1978

Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language, and has now taught it to her offspring)

Pamela Howard "Pam" Shriver, 1962

Signy Coleman, 1960

Geraldo Rivera, 1943

George Steinbrenner, 1930

Al Davis, 1929

Gina Lollobrigida, 1927

Neil Simon, 1927

Eva Marie Saint, 1924

Ann Landers, 1918

Abigail Van Buren, 1918

Mitch Miller, 1911

Gloria Stuart, 1910

George Murphy, 1902

Rube Goldberg, 1883

Louis B. Mayer, 1882

George M. Cohan, 1878

Calvin Coolidge, 1872

Stephen Foster, 1826

Hiram Walker, 1816

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Top 40"(Radio), 1970

"Honky Tonk Women"(Single release), 1969

"America the Beautiful"(Publication date), 1895

Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054

Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534

The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634

City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636

The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802

The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803

Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817

The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837

The Cunard Line's 700 ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840

Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845

The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855

Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*

The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879

The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886

The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886

Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892

The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894

Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903

African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910

First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927

Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939

After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946

The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966

NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997

The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005

The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009

Discovery of a picture of the Biblical Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in the Galilee region of northern Israel is announced, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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"It's just like old times, isn't it?" Tim said to his mother, as they worked on a car exhaust system.

"Well, not exactly, but close enough," Marty laughed as one of the grandchildren came running in, chased by a second.

"Slow down there, boys," Tim said, "come on over here so Grandma can show you how to change out a muffler!"

"We're going to do plenty of that while they are here for two weeks this summer," Marty noted.

The elder boy shook his head and announced, "Mom said to come get you two, it's time for dinner," and then he added, "Mom says you two would live out here in the shop if you could."

Tim and Marty looked at each other and laughed, and Marty said, "Tell Grace we are washing up and will be in soon."

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Exhaust.

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Gosia, of Looking for Identity, has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World. Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit others blog to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.

This one had nice iron scrollwork.

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Today is:

Alice in Wonderland Day -- on July 5, 1862, Dodgson began writing the adventure story he had told Alice Liddel and her sisters the day before

Bikini Day -- the skimpy suit made its debut on this day in Paris in 1946

Constitution Day -- Armenia

Feast of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Graham Cracker Day -- birth anniversary of inventor of graham flour, the Reverend Sylvester Graham, in 1794

Independence Day -- Algeria(1962); Cape Verde(1965); Venezuela(1811)

National Apple Turnover Day

National Work-a-holics Day -- we will know it's you if you are all "back to business" after a holiday

Ottawa Bluesfest -- Ottawa, Canada (fabulous music through the 15th)

Poplifulgia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a ceremony to commemorate the "Flight of the People" when they had to flee enemies)

Sts. Cyril and Methodius Day -- Roman Catholics in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Apostles to the Slavs, created the Glagolithic alphabet and translated the Bible into the Slavonic language)

Sts. Grace and Probus' Day (married co-Patrons of Probus, Cornwall, England)

Tynwald Day -- Isle of Man (Manx National Day; assembling of the year's session of the High Court of Tynwald, as their Parliament is called, to read the laws to the citizens; oldest continual parliament in existence)

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

Birthdays Today

Dolly the Sheep, 1996 (first cloned mammal)

Edie Falco, 1963

Huey Lewis, 1951

Richard Michael "Goose" Gossage, 1951

Jackie Robertson, 1944

Eliot Feld, 1942

Shirley Knight, 1936

Katherine Helmond, 1934

Warren Oates, 1928

Janos Starker, 1924

Georges Pompidou, 1911

Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., 1902

Jean Cocteau, 1889

Clara Zetkin, 1857

Cecil Rhodes, 1853

P.T. Barnum, 1810

David Glasgow Farragut, 1801

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica(Publication date), 1687

Today in History

Scotland and France form the beginnings of the Auld Alliance, against England, 1295

John Guy sets sail from Bristol with 39 other colonists for Newfoundland, 1610

Isaac Newton publishes Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, 1687

The Salvation Army is founded in the East End of London, England, 1865

Police open fire on striking longshoremen in San Francisco, on Bloody Thursday, 1934

Spam, the luncheon meat, is introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation, 1937

Highest recorded temperature in Canada, at Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan: 45°C (113°F), 1937

Larry Doby signs a contract with the Cleveland Indians baseball team, becoming the first black player in the American League, 1947

National Health Service Acts created the national public health systems in the United Kingdom, 1948

The Knesset passes the Law of Return which grants all Jews the right to immigrate to Israel, 1950

William Shockley invents the junction transistor, 1951

The BBC broadcasts its first television news bulletin, 1954

Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles title, 1975

Japan launches a probe to Mars, and thus joins the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation, 1998

The SARS virus is declared to be contained by the WHO, 2003

Indonesia holds its first presidential election, 2004

Roger Federer wins a record 15th Grand Slam title in tennis, winning a five set match against Andy Roddick at Wimbledon, 2009

The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items, is found near the village of Hammerwich, near Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England, 2009

Europe's tallest, habitable, free-standing structure, The Shard, which stands at 1,016 feet (309.6 metres) officially opens in London, England, 2012

In Rome, Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII are canonized by the Vatican, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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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.

Don't take a picture of me.

Hey, I said don't take a picture of me!

Meanwhile, from the other side of the hammock:

Knock it off and let her take the photo, I'm trying to sleep over here!

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Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. When it is hot, I _____________________.

2. I am looking forward to _______________________ this month.

3. The theme song of my life would be _________.

4. There is no such thing as _________.

When it is hot, i stay indoors as much as i possibly can, and feel very sorry for the yard people.

I am looking forward to #1 Son's birthday this month.

The theme song of my life would be Amazing Grace. At least, i hope it would be.

There is no such thing as too much onion, because too much is almost enough.

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Today is:

Action Mesothelioma Day -- UK (bringing "meso" cancer into the spotlight)

Birthday of the 14th Dalai Lama / World Tibet Day -- Tibetan Diaspora, to bring awareness to the cause of restoring freedom to Tibet

Buy Yourself a Toy You Always Wanted As a Child Day -- internet sites that list this suggest you then donate it to a child in need

Calgary Stampede -- Calgary, AB, Canada (The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth; through the 15th)

Day of the Capital -- Kazakhstan

Earth at Aphelion -- @17:46 UTC (Earth at its furthest distance from the sun)

Ettelbruck Rememberance Day -- Ettelbruck, Luxembourg (remebrance of Patton's 3rd Army liberating the area from the Nazis)

Feast of Isaiah the Prophet -- Roman Catholic

Fill an Aquarium Day -- they are fun and entertaining; probably spread around the internet by an afficionado who wants to share the love

Fishermen's Day -- Marshall Islands

Independence Day / National Day -- Comoros (1975)

Independence Day / Republic Day -- Malawi (1964)

International Kissing Day / World Kissing Day -- noted everywhere, but not sponsored; that doesn't matter, kiss someone you love today! (and by the way, kissing burns 2 calories a minute)

Iriya no Asagao-ichi -- Kishibo-Jin Shrine, Taito Ward, Tokyo (morning glory flower festival, buy one for good luck, through the 8th)

Ivan Kupala Day -- Belarus; Poland; Russia; Ukraine (through tomorrow; Feast of St. John the Baptist in Orthodox Churches using the Julian Calendar)

Jan Hus Day -- Czech Republic

Kilburn Feast -- Kilburn, North Yorkshire at The Square, England (dating back hundreds of years, it's no longer a horse-fair, but a great many fun events for villagers; the Mayor and Mayoress, both men in costume, are the highlight, handing out "fines" for "crimes" such as carrying an umbrella or having a moustache, with money going to a local charity; through Sunday)

King Mindaugas Day / Statehood Day -- Lithuania

Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant -- DeSmet, SD, US (get a taste of pioneer life, this weekend Friday-Sunday plus the next two weekends, in the original Little Town on the Prairie she wrote about)

Los Sanfermines -- Pamplona, Spain (bull running, through the 14th; don't be bored, be gored! a part of the San Fermin Festival)

Ludi Apollinares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first day of games in honor of Apollo; through the 13th)

Millenial Fairy Olympics -- Fairy Calendar (through the 14th)

National Fried Chicken Day

Old Albums are Frisbees Day -- if you have nothing to play them on, and they are scratched anyway, why not?

Old-Time Fiddlers' Jamboree and Crafts Festival -- Smithville, TN, US (through tomorrow; with 32 categories of old-time bluegrass music!)

Pictou Lobster Carnival -- Pictou, NS, Canada (a tail gate party and more; through Sunday)

Ra o te Ui Ariki -- Cook Islands (House of Ariki[Tribal Chief])

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)

Savonlinna Opera Festival -- Savonlinna, Finland (one of Finland's most illustrious and internationally significant cultural events; through Aug. 4)

Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Matsuri -- Shounan City, Kanagawa Prefecture (one of Japan's largest Tanabata festivals; through Sunday)

St. Godelieve of Ghistelles's Day (Patron of difficult marriages, healthy throats, in-law problems, throat diseases, victims of abuse, victims of verbal spouse abuse)

St. Maria Goretti's Day (Patron of children, teen girls, martyrs, poor people, rape victims, young people; Albano, Italy; against poverty, the death of parents)

Take Your Webmaster to Lunch Day -- because your online business depends on keeping him/her happy and well fed; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Ways with Words -- Dartington, Devon, England (The UK's most stylish literature festival, through the 15th)

Anniversary Today:

Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert (King George V) marries Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (Queen Mary), 1893

Birthdays Today

Matthew O'Leary, 1987

Gregory Smith, 1983

Tia and Tamera Mowry, 1978

Jennifer Saunders, 1958

Kenny G, 1956

Allyce Beasley, 1954

Grant Goodeve, 1952

Hilary Mantel, 1952

Geoffrey Rush, 1951

George W. Bush, 1946

Sylvester Stallone, 1946

Burt Ward, 1945

Ned Beatty, 1937

Dalai Lama, 1935

Della Reese, 1932

Janet Leigh, 1927

Pat Paulsen, 1927

Merv Griffin, 1927

Bill Haley, 1925

William Schallert, 1922

Nancy Reagan, 1921

Sebastian Cabot, 1918

Laverne Andrews, 1915

Frida Kahlo, 1907

Beatrix Potter, 1866

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, 1781

John Paul Jones, 1747

Debuting/Premiering Today:

A Hard Day's Night(Film), 1964

"Name That Tune"(TV), 1953

"Judith"(Play), 1840

Today in History

Richard I (Richard the Lionheart) is crowned King of England, 1189

Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death, 1348

Jan Hus is burned at the stake, 1415

Richard III is crowned King of England, 1483

Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River, 1484

Sir Thomas More is executed for treason against King Henry VIII, 1535

Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera, 1573

The dollar is unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States, 1785

In Jackson, Michigan, the first convention of the United States Republican Party is held, 1854

Lyman Reed Blake receives the first patent for a machine to sew the sole of a shoe on to the upper, 1958

Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies; the patient is Joseph Meister, a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog, 1885

David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, is forced at gunpoint, at the hands of the Americans, to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights, 1887

Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain, 1892

The British dirigible R34 lands in New York, completing the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship, 1919

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game is played in Chicago's Comiskey Park; the American League defeats the National League, 4–2, 1933

The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany are closed, 1939

Anne Frank and her family go into hiding in the "Secret Annexe" above her father's office in an Amsterdam warehouse, 1942

The Hartford Circus Fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut, 1944

Davis Phinney became the first American cyclist to win a road stage of the Tour de France, 1986

The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years, 2006

Jadranka Kosor becomes the first female prime minister of Croatia, 2009

Exiled Tibetans are banned from celebrating the Dalai Lama's birthday as Nepalese authorities fear they will turn into anti-Chinese demonstrations, 2011

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Here it is Saturday, and i’m writing yet another thankful post about vehicles.

Maybe my life’s theme song should be Rusty Chevrolet.

So, i am thankful that Jalopy is working.

And i am thankful that Cicero is working.

Then i am thankful that i got through work on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday without a hitch.

Sweetie and i are both thankful that Lunceford the Land Yacht, when he started to be cranky about cranking, nevertheless got us through Thursday.

He (Lunceford) even got us to the pharmacy for Little Girl.

We are so very grateful he got us all of the way to Kevin and Lenny’s garage, where i told them he was sluggish to start and they diagnosed a crapped out alternator and the need for a new battery.

No wonder — Lunceford the Land Yacht is almost 18 and still had his original alternator. We are grateful it lasted this long.

The loaner vehicle was available, and i was so happy because that meant i wouldn’t have to miss Bible study Friday morning.

The loaner ended up with an almost flat tire by morning, so i missed it anyway. But the good and thankful thing is that the garage opens early enough that i got there before work, it was just a small screw it had picked up in the tire, and it took them less than five minutes to plug the hole from the outside, refill with air, and let me get to work.

Lunceford was done before lunch, and when my morning client heard about what happened, she gave me a nice bonus that we used as the first payment on the work.

The day ended with a visit with Daughter-in-Law Becky and the granddogs, which is always a treat.

Being thankful for all the good things that happen, even in a not so good situation, helps reframe everything toward the positive and makes the days go better. Even if you have a few hiccups in your life, list the things for which you are thankful (however many there are), and see what a difference it makes.

Once you’ve listed them, link up with Ten Things of Thankful, hosted by our lovely friend Kristi of Thankful Me. The best part is sharing.

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Today is:

Abbotsford Berry Festival -- Abbotsford, BC, Canada (enjoy berries at the height of the season, as well as music, clowns, games, a "berried" treasure hunt, and more, through tomorrow)

Aphrodisia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (bathing festival of Aphrodite and Peitho [Persuasion]; date approximate)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Build a Scarecrow Day -- keep the crows out of that field of freshly growing corn out on the back 40!

Chocolate Day -- no one knows why today, so why not? Enjoy chocolate cereal with chocolate milk for breakfast, some chocolate covered raisins and nuts as a midmorning snack, chocolate milk with lunch, chocolate truffles as a midafternoon snack, chocolate liquer before dinner, chocolate cake for dessert, and sip chocolate coffee any time through the day!

Global Forgiveness Day -- encouraging "citizens of this global village" to forgive and be forgiven; sponsored by the CECA

Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day -- encouraging fathers to take some special time out with their girls today

Harrison Festival of the Arts -- Harrison Hot Springs, BC, Canada (a celebration of the world of music, dance, theater, and visual arts; through the 15th)

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

Independence Day / National Day -- Solomon Islands(1978)

International Cherry Pit Spitting Championship -- Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm, Eau Claire, WI, US

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N.

Joust of the Quintana -- Ascoli Piceno, Italy (reenactment of a medieval jousting tournament)

Macaroni Day -- it goes with more than just cheese!

National Strawberry Sundae Day

Nones of July -- Ancient Roman Calendar; celebrations on this day included:

Festival of Feriae Ancillarum -- "Feast of the Serving Women", when female servants dressed up and "attacked" men of free birth with fig boughs; in honor of the serving women who helped free the city of Rome from the Gauls

Nonae Caprotinae -- "Nones of the Wild Fig", honoring Juno Caprotina with a sacrifice under a wild fig tree

Parilia -- festival for Pales, god of the herds

Rockport Art Festival -- Rockport, TX, US (top artists from around the country line the waterfront today and tomorrow, with good music and good food to add to the fun)

Saba Saba Day -- Tanzania (literally "Seven Seven" Day, a/k/a Peasants' Day or Workers' Day, and the biggest day of the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair)

Maonyesho ya Saba Saba -- Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (Dar es Salaam Trade Fair, through July 8)

St. Willibald's Day (Patron of Eichstatt, Germany)

Tanabata -- Japan (star festival, 7th day of 7th month; some areas go by lunar calendar, but most larger cities celebrate by the Gregorian Calendar now)

Tell The Truth Day -- a yearly challenge frm Kepa Freeman of Teens Express to go the whole day without telling a lie or saying or doing anything misleading or dishonest

Tour de France -- through Sunday, July 29

Unity Factory Day -- Yemen (all workers are encouraged to play at work today, to build team and national unity)

West Quoddy Head Annual Lighthouse Day Celebration -- Quoddy Head State Park, Lubec, ME, US (music, food, artists, and also including US Coast Guard supervised lighthouse tower climbing, for the daring!)

Anniversaries Today

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, 1946

Birthdays Today

Michelle Kwan, 1980

Cree Summer, 1969

Jorga Fox, 1968

Billy Campbell, 1959

Shelley Duvall, 1949

Ringo Starr, 1940

Doc Severinsen, 1927

Pierre Cardin, 1922

Gian Carlo Menotti, 1911

Robert Heinlein, 1907

Satchel Paige, 1906

Marc Chagall, 1887

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 2(Film), 2011

The Spy Who Loved Me(Film), 1977

"Ryan's Hope"(TV), 1975

"All You Need is Love"(Single release), 1967

Waverly(Novel, publication date), 1814

"Utrecht Te Deum and Jubilate"(Canticles, HWV 278 & 279), 1713

Today in History

A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death, 1456

Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland, 1575

United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $300, 1863

An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15, 1915

Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri; it is described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped", 1928

Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident, 1947

Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere, 1959

In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government, 1969

Sharia is instituted in Iran, 1980

Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov, 1983

The Western Black Rhinoceros is declared extinct due to poaching, 2006

In efforts to avoid food shortages and political oppression, South Korea begins work on a new facility to house North Korean refugees, 2011

Tesla Motors produces its first mass-market car, the Model 3, 2017

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Just because Sandee, of Comedy Plus, is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

A couple of weeks ago, i visited Bigger Girl at her apartment and she showed me her fairy gardens. When i showed pictures of them to Grandma, she decided to make some, too. Grandma and Bigger Girl are artists, and each claims to have gotten the trait from the other!

When they do get together to do something artistic, they are a sight to behold. It's always wonderful when the elders and youngers in a family have fun together.

When Boudreaux an' Clothile's daughter, Aline, be little, she love her learnin' to cook, and she love goin' to see her Grand-mère Boudreaux. Ever'one say dey be jes' alike, an' Aline be like a li'l shadow to her Grand-mère, especially when dey be cookin'.

One time, after dey done cook a big meal fo' de whole fam'ly, Aline say, "Grand-mère, don' you wish we could start cookin' again, it be so much fun!"

An' Grand-mère Boudreaux say, "Oh, no chile, cookin' one big meal a day be 'nuff fo' me, I be's gettin' old!"

An' Aline say, "Mais non, Grand-mère, you don't be old, only you hair be old!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files. It is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.

No, i won't keep you in suspense, here are the pictures of the fairy gardens.

Bigger Girl's:

Grandma's:

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Today is:

Blessing of the Boats -- Whitby, North Yorkshire, England

Buxton Wells Dressing -- Buxton, Derbyshire, England (preserving the 650+ years of traditional "dressing" wells in foliage to thank the patron saint of that well for blessings, now with parades and carnivals; through the 10th)

Celtic Tree Month Tinne begins (Holly)

Feast of St. Sunniva (Ancient Norse solar maiden Sunna's worship around this time of year was merged with the story of this medieval saint; Patron of Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian west coast)

Lá Cuimhneacháin Náisiúnta -- Republic of Ireland (National Day of Commemoration, honoring all Irish people who have died in war or as part of a UN peacekeeping mission)

Math 2.0 Day -- celebrating the intermingling of math with technology

Nagoya Sumo Tournament -- Nagoya, Japan (one of the 6 major tournaments; through the 22nd)

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

Old Crafts Day -- it's listed in a few places, but i can't find the history; Old time crafts, or old crafts you've had sitting around the house and never gotten done? If you have the latter, do them or toss them!

Olive Branch Petition Day -- the final attempt, by the 13 Colonies, to avoid a complete break with England in 1775

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama) -- a good habit, on every day

Soapy Smith Wake -- held simultaneously in 5 locations from this evening through noon tomorrow, local time: 1.) Eagles Hall, Skagway, AK, US; 2.) Magic Castle, Hollywood, CA, US; 3.) The Tivoli Club (a reproduction of Soapy's Saloon in Denver, Colorado), Whitehorse Ranch movie lot, Landers, California; 4.) The Wizard's Club, Chicago, IL, US; 5.) The Lumber Baron Inn, Denver, CO, US (held by Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith, preserving the memory of one of the Wild West and Alaskan Gold Rush's most notorious con men, killed in a gunfight this day in 1898)*

Sts. Aquila and Prisca's Day

St. Kilian's Day (Patron of people with gout or rheumatism, whitewashers; Bavaria, Germany; Paderborn, Germany; Tuosist, Ireland; Wurzburg,Germany)

Video Games Day -- do they really need a day?

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (when Vitula was given the first fruits of the earth)

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- his first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day

*If you cannot make it to the Soapy Smith Wake in one of these locations, please at 9:15pm, your local time, have a glass of something grown-up and offer the traditional toast: "Relatives and friends, raise your glass. Here's to Soapy's Ghost!"

Anniversary Today:

Prince Richard of Gloucester marries Birgitte Eva van Deurs, 1972

Birthdays Today

Jaden Smith, 1998

Sophia Bush, 1982

Milo Ventimiglia, 1977

Kathleen Robertson, 1973

Beck Hansen, 1970

Billy Crudup, 1968

Toby Keith, 1961

Kevin Bacon, 1958

Christopher G. Moore, 1952

Marianne Williamson, 1952

Anjelica Huston, 1951

Wolfgang Puck, 1949

Kim Darby, 1948

Raffi, 1948

Cynthia Gregory, 1946

Jeffrey Tambor, 1944

Steve Lawrence, 1935

Marty Feldman, 1933

Roone Arledge, 1931

Billy Eckstine, 1914

Nelson Rockefeller, 1908

Louis Thomas Jordan, 1908

Philip Cortelyou Johnson, 1906

Alfred Binet, 1857

John D. Rockefeller, 1839

Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838

Etienne De Silhouette, 1709

Today in History

Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India, 1497

Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island, 1663

Battle of Restigouche – British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France, 1760

The Olive Branch Petition is drafted by the Second Continental Congress as the Congress' last attempt to get King George III of Great Britain to reason with them, 1775

The Declaration of Independence has its first public reading, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is rung, 1776

Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom, 1822

Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, 1853

The initial force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin their March West, 1874

The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published, 1889

St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22, 1932

The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF), 1948

Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act, 1970

The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1992

NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance, membership to become effective in two years, 1997

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, 2011

Pope Francis condemns the 'global indifference' to the plight of immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe, 2013

The mission of the NASA Curiosity Mars rover begins, 2013

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of 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!

Jezzie keeps her big brother, Pepe, hopping:

Hey, pay attention to me!

I'm going to eat your ear!

Come this way, big brother!

Then she drags a piece of newspaper from the floor into the cat bed for a nap:

Three guesses why there's newspaper on the floor!

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Sparks! from McGuffy's Reader is on haitus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week:

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Today is:

Call of the Horizon Day -- can't find any history on this one, but if the idea of following your dreams over the Horizon has ever called you, take the time to follow today!

Carnival Monday -- Saint Vincent and Grenadines

Central Maine Egg Festival -- Pittsfield, Maine (more fun with eggs than you ever thought you could have; through Saturday)

Constitution Day -- Australia; Palau

Constitutionalist Revolution Day -- São Paulo, Brazil

Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Omelet Day

Feast of Our Lady of Chiquinquira (Patron of Colombia; the Venezuelan National Guard)

Gospel Day -- Kiribati

Independence Day -- Argentina(1816); South Sudan

International Town Criers Day

Kaustinen Folk Music Festival -- Kaustined, Finland (the largest international music festival in the Nordic countries; through Sunday)

Martyrdom of the Bab -- Baha'i

Muffler Appreciation Day -- if you've ever had a loud vehicle, you will understand why someone started this one

National Sugar Cookie Day -- what could be simpler or more versatile? make them plain or make them fancy, but be sure you make enough!

Nunavut Day -- NU, Canada

Offerings to Heru and Amun -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (day Heru hears prayers in the presense of the Netjers; date approximate)

Sempach Battle Commemoration -- Lucerne, Switzerland (remembrance of the battle in 1386 includes a solemn procession to the battlefield and services in the chapel)

Shiman Rokusen-nichi -- Sensou-ji Temple, Asakusa, Tokyo (Day of 46,000; a visit to the temple on this day through tomorrow credits you the same as visiting 46,000 times on ordinary days)

St. Mary Hermina Grivot's Day (Patron of martyrs)

Anniversary Today:

Steven Cauble marries Lisa Whelchel, 1988

Birthdays Today

Mitchel Musso, 1991

Kiely Williams, 1986

Fred Savage, 1976

Jack White, 1975

Courtney Love, 1964

Kelly McGillis, 1957

Tom Hanks, 1956

Fred Norris, 1955

Jimmy Smits, 1955

Margaret Gillis, 1953

John Tesh, 1952

Chris Cooper, 1951

Mitch Mitchell, 1947

O.J. Simpson, 1947

Richard Roundtree, 1942

Brian Dennehy, 1938

David Hockney, 1937

Vince Edwards, 1928

Ed Ames, 1927

Mathilde Krim, 1926

Ottorino Respighi, 1879

Elias Howe, 1819

Anne Ward Radcliffe, 1764

Today in History

Roman military commander Avitus is proclaimed emperor of the Western Roman Empire, 455

Henry VIII annuls his marriage to Anne of Cleves (his 4th wife), 1540

In Versailles, the National Assembly reconstitutes itself as the National Constituent Assembly and begins preparations for a French constitution, 1789

The Act Against Slavery is passed in Upper Canada and the importation of slaves into Lower Canada is prohibited, 1793

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified guaranteeing African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law, 1868

In Provident Hospital on Chicago’s South Side, black surgeon Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open-heart surgery, 1893

Queen Victoria gives royal assent to an Act creating the Commonwealth of Australia thus uniting separate colonies on the continent under one federal government, 1900

Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the 'minute barrier', 1922

The Russell-Einstein Manifesto is released by Bertrand Russell in London, 1955

In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opens at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1962

Margaret Thatcher begins her second term as British prime minster, 1982

South Africa is readmitted into the Olympic movement after 30 years of exclusion, 1991

The African Union is established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2002

South Sudan gains independence and secedes from Sudan, 2011

During his visit to Bolivia, Pope Francis asks for forgiveness for the Catholic Church for its offenses against indigenous peoples of the Americas, 2015

Atthaya Thitikul becomes the youngest winner on the Ladies' European Golf Tour at age 14 years, 4 months, winning the Thailand Championship, 2017

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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It's time once again for a random and fun Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Well, let's see, what has happened this past week? Lunceford went in for work again, as noted on Saturday. You just can't trust an 18-year-old alternator, can you?

Grandma had me come and clean her house. Her housekeeper took a week off because of a serious cut on her hand, and then skipped again because of Independence Day. (Yes, i worked on Independence Day.)

The whole time i was there, every time i would pick something up to clean under it i would mutter under my breath, i wonder when was the last time this got cleaned. One time Grandpa heard me and said he often wondered the same thing.

In the end, the place was clean, even Grandpa's room that he tries to put off limits. It's easy, i just wait until he is busy in his office or running an errand and then i sneak in. He doesn't like it, but i got my stubborn from him, so he can't complain.

Sunday was another session with the grand-dogs. That little Jezzie just goes and goes until she flops down to sleep. Pepe has taken to hiding from her when they are here, she can't climb the stairs yet so he runs up to get away. He's going to be one sad dog when she figures out how to climb.

Dr. D put me to work researching alternative pain therapies, including low level light therapy. It turns out she has one of the infrared heat lamps the book she bought was talking about, so we hauled it out of storage and cleaned it up, and she is going to use it. It certainly can't hurt is what i figure.

We also had a discussion about having some things "hanging over your head," and how you live with that. We both came to the conclusion that in life, it's always something, and the sooner you get used to that and learn to live with it, the better.

Besides, we will have all eternity in heaven trouble-free, what do we expect down here?

After spending so much time cleaning other people’s houses, this is rather how i feel:

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!

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Today is:

Alpenfest -- Gaylord, MI, US (a Swiss inspired festival for the whole family that includes "The World's Largest Coffee Break"; through Saturday)

Armed Forces Day -- Mauritania

Carnival Tuesday -- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Clerihew Day -- in honor of the poetic form he invented, the clerihew:

Edmund's middle name was Clerihew

A name possessed by very few

But verses by Mr. Bentley

Succeeded eminently!

Cow Appreciation Day® -- sponsored by Chick-fil-A; wear any kind of cow apparel and get a free entree!

Don't Step On A Bee Day -- Wellcat Holidays wants to remind you, when going barefoot this time of year, watch out!

Edmonton International Street Performers Festival -- Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (the finest street performers anywhere; through Sunday)

Feast Day of Knut the Reaper, Hela, Holda, and Skadi -- Norse deities whose celebration this day is due to their later association with Danish King Canute the Great

Independence Day -- Bahamas(1973)

Lady Godiva Day -- tradition says she took her famous ride on this day in 1040

National Pina Colada Day

Pick Blueberries Day -- variously set on different days in July depending on the website; with blueberries being so good for you, find a day to go gather or buy some soon

Silence Day -- followers of Meher Baba

St. Amalburga's Day (Patron of people with fever; Ghent, Belgium; against arm pain, bruises, and fevers)

Teddy Bear Picnic Day -- no idea why today, especially when the author of the song, Jimmy Kennedy, was born on July 20

Uniwaine / Unaine Day -- Kiribati (Senior Citizens' Day, specifically Elderly Men's Day / Elderly Women's Day)

Anniversaries Today

Wyoming becomes the 44th US State, 1890

Birthdays Today

Jessica Simpson, 1980

Andre Nolan Dawson, 1954

Arlo Guthrie, 1947

Sue Lyon, 1946

Ron Glass, 1945

Virginia Wade,1945

Arthur Ashe, 1943

Lawrence Pressman, 1939

Jerry Herman, 1933

David Norman Dinkins, 1927

Fred Gwynne, 1926

Jean Kerr, 1923

Jake LaMotta, 1921

Eunice Kennedy Shriver, 1921

David Brinkley, 1920

Don "Mr. Wizard" Herbert, 1917

John Gilbert, 1897

Edmund Clerihew Bentley, 1875

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune, 1875

Marcel Proust, 1871

Nikola Tesla, 1856

Adolphus Busch, 1839

James Whistler, 1834

George Mifflin Dallas, 1792

William Blackstone, 1723

John Calvin, 1509

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Fox And The Hound(Animated film), 1981

"Your Hit Parade"(TV), 1950

Today in History

Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia at the Battle of Dyrrhachium, BC48

The most severe of several early fires of London burns most of the city to the ground, 1212

Lady Jane Grey takes the throne of England, 1553

Alexander Mackenzie reaches the Mackenzie River delta, 1789

The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company, 1806

The United States takes possession of its newly bought territory of Florida from Spain, 1821

Big Ben, the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, rings for the first time, 1859

The eruption of Tarawera volcano destroys the famous pink and white calcium carbonate hot-spring terraces of North Island, New Zealand, 1886

Meher Baba, self declared Avatar of the Age, begins his silence of 44 years; his followers observe Silence Day on this date in commemoration, 1925

In Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called "Monkey Trial" begins with John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher accused of teaching evolution in violation of the Butler Act, 1925

Howard Hughes sets a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world, 1938

Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, is launched into orbit, 1962

Boris Yeltsin begins his 5-year term as the first elected President of Russia, 1991

In London scientists report the findings of the DNA analysis of a Neanderthal skeleton which supports the "out of Africa theory" of human evolution, 1997

Spain opens its first mosque since the Moors were expelled in 1492, in Granada, 2003

France O'Grady is appointed the first female General Secretary by Britain's Trade Union Congress, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday.

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

This month, the prompts are being provided by Vest at The Daily Gaggle.

Words this week are:

Observation

Enjoying

Dining

Capacity

Manufacture

Embarrassed

Or and

Journey

Business

Baptism

Subject

Loudly

Surprised

"It's been quite the JOURNEY, getting this product from idea to MANUFACTURE," Kylie said.

From the OBSERVATION deck of the skyscraper, she and Jaime were ENJOYING the view while waiting for the DINING area to open.

"More like a BAPTISM by fire if you ask me!" Jaime responded. "I knew it wouldn't be easy going into BUSINESS for ourselves like this, but now that we are here I'm almost EMBARRASSED to admit how much I didn't know when we started!"

"Me, too," Kylie said. They paused, each lost in her own thoughts for a moment, until they were SURPRISED by the doors that LOUDLY clicked open.

Once seated, they ordered drinks and an appetizer, then turned back to the SUBJECT that was never far from either of their minds.

"I'm so glad we finally found a company with the CAPACITY to fill the first orders," Kylie noted.

"Which first orders were much bigger than I ever dreamed, thanks to you!" Jaime responded, always willing to give her friend and business partner the lion's share of the credit.

The server set a glass of wine in front of each of them and both said "A toast!" at the same time, which set them laughing.

"To many years of success!" Jaime said when she caught her breath, to which Kylie responded, "And continued friendship!"

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Today is:

Advice-to-the-Lovelorn-Day -- date, in 1896, the New Orleans Picayune first published the advice column of Dorothy Dix, Mother Confessor to Millions; it eventually ran in 300 papers for 55 years

Bonfire Night -- Northern Ireland (precursor to The Twelfth a/k/a Orangemen's Day)

Bowdler's Day

China National Maritime Day -- People's Republic of China

Convenience Store Day -- the first Seven Eleven opened on this day in 1927 in Dallas, TX; it was open 7am to 11pm, thus the name

Day of the Flemish Community -- Flemish community of Belgium, commemorates the Battle of the Golden Spurs of 1302

Feast of Theano, Philosopher, Mathmatician, wife of Pythagoras, patron of vegetarianism (date approximate, supposedly when she was born)

Feast of Min -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Free Slurpee Day at Seven-Eleven -- if you have these stores where you live, stop by between 11am and 7pm to get a free 11.7oz. Slurpee (TM) today

Imamat Day -- Ismailism

Naadam Festival -- Mongolia (a/k/a Revolution Day/National Day, traditional sporting events nationwide, but best at Ulaanbaatar, through the 13th)

National Blueberry Muffin Day

National Cheer Up The Lonely Day -- begun by Francis Pesek of Detroit, Michigan; he chose to spend his birthday as a day to promote kindness, especially the forgotten at nursing homes and shut ins who have no visitors

National Culture Day -- Kiribati

Phyang Tsedup Festival -- Ladakh, India (Buddhist festival, through tomorrow)

Reading Guilt Day -- the day you are supposed to start reading that book you only read the Cliff's Notes on in school

St Benedict's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, cavers/speliologists/spelunkers, civil engineers, coppersmiths, farm workers/farmers, Italian architects, monks, people in religious orders, people who are dying, school children, servants who have broken their masters belongings, students; Europe; Heerdt, Germany; Norcia, Italy; Subiaco, Italy; against erysipelas, fever, gall stones, inframmatory diseases, kidney disease, nettle rash, poison, temptations, and witchcraft)

World Population Day -- UN

Worshipful Company of Vintners (Winemakers) of the City of London Annual Procession -- after electing their new guild master, the company processes from Vintners Hall to the Church of St. James Garlickhythe for a church service

Wyandotte Street Art Fair -- Downtown Wyandotte, MI, US (over 250 seasoned and emerging artists display and sell their wares, with music and entertainment; through Saturday)

Birthdays Today:

David Henrie, 1989

Marie Sernehold, 1983

Michael Rosenbaum, 1972

Justin Chambers, 1970

John Henson, 1967

Greg Grunberg, 1966

Rod Strickland, 1966

Al MacInnis, 1963

Lisa Rinna, 1963

Richie Sambora, 1960

Richie Sambora, 1959

Suzanne Vega, 1959

Mark Lester, 1958

Sela Ward, 1956

Leon Spinks, 1953

Stephen Lang, 1952

Bonnie Pointer, 1951

Beverly Todd, 1946

Giorgio Armani, 1934

Tab Hunter, 1931

Harold Bloom, 1930

Yul Brynner, 1920

E.B. White, 1899

John Quincy Adams, 1767

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Space Oddity"(Single release), 1969

"The Newlywed Game"(TV), 1966

To Kill A Mockingbird(Publication date), 1960

Today in History

Admiral Zheng He sets sail on his first exploratory expedition for the Ming Dynasty, 1405

Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec, 1616

Jews are expelled from Little Russia, 1740

Halifax, Nova Scotia is almost completely destroyed by fire, 1750

Captain James Cook begins his third voyage, 1776

Jacques Necker is dismissed as France's Finance Minister sparking the Storming of the Bastille, 1789

French astronomer Jean-Louis Pons made his first comet discovery (he discovered 36 over the next 27 years, more than any other person), 1801

Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr mortally wounds former Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in a duel, 1804

Waterloo railway station in London opens, 1848

Tijuana, Mexico, is formally founded, 1889

The Lumière brothers demonstrate film technology to scientists, 1895

Babe Ruth makes his Major League debut, 1914

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is first published, 1960

The first U.S. space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean, 1979

According to the UN, the Earth's population crosses the 5,000,000,000 mark, 1987

The United States announces it will reestablish full diplomatic relations with Vietnam, 1995

Colton Harris-Moore, the so-called "Barefoot Bandit", is caught in the Bahamas after a 2 year manhunt, 2010

Neptune completes its first orbit of the sun since its discovery on September 23, 1846, 2011

Greece continues negotiations with its creditors after refusing proposed austerity measures, 2015

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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“I can explain!” his words were a desperate plea as the people he would call a rabble closed in on him.

“We’re tired of explanations from suits!” the leader of the workings spat back at him.

“We’re tired of words, and endless work, and no changes, and we don’t want an explanation, we want action!”

Workings surrounded the suit, who had unfortunately stepped out of the protected area to check the report of a non-functional door at the wrong moment, when they were changing shifts.

They had been plotting for a long time, what they would do if a suit ever came within their grasp; rigging the door to malfunction and the shift change warning light to not come on at the same time had taken a feat no suit thought a working could pull off.

It was the last time this suit would make that mistake, or any other, for that matter.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Explain.

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This one i caught from inside the car, i like it and i hope to get a better picture of it someday:

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Today is a rather sad anniversary. Please only follow the link if you are prepared to read straight talk.

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Today is:

Bear Lake Days --Bear Lake, MI, US (the fun even includes a Venetian boat parade; through Sunday)

Different Colored Eyes Day -- people with heterochromia, celebrate!

Dinosaur Roundup Rodeo -- Vernal, UT, US (one of the top rodeos in the country; through Saturday)

Etch-a-Sketch Day -- the toy was first manufactured on this day in 1960, timed to hit toy shelves for Christmas that year

Hodag Country Festival -- Rhinelander, WI, US (at the Hodag "50" Track, a large open-air country music festival; through Sunday)

Hot Dog Nite -- Luverne, MN, US (free hot dogs to all comers!)

Independence Day -- Kiribati(1979; a/k/a National Day); Sao Tome & Principe(1975)

Kronia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate, a festival for Kronos, part of which included masters and slaves switching places for a meal)

National Pecan Pie Day

Orangemen's Day (a/k/a Twelfth Day) -- Northern Ireland (Battle of the Boyne commemoration)

Oregon Trail Days -- Gering, NE, US (the oldest continuing celebration of the Oregon Trail; through Sunday)

Rainmaker Day -- Salem, Oregon (while it is understood that in Salem, you are more likely to rust than sunburn, from 1892 until 2006, no measurable rain fell on this date in this normally wet city)

Simplicity Day -- sponsored by www.doonething.org on Thoreau's birthday, highlighting the concepts in the book Voluntary Simplicty by Duane Elgin, and advocating finding sustainable ways to live

St. John Gualbert's Day (Patron of foresters and forest workers, park services and parks)

St. Veronica's Day (Patron of laundry workers and photographers)

Anniversaries Today

Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, 1543 (the lucky wife who outlived him)

Birthdays Today

Erik Per Sullivan, 1991

Michelle Rodriguez, 1978

Brock Lesnar, 1977

Anna Friel, 1976

Kristi Yamaguchi, 1971

Lisa Nicole Carson, 1969

Rolonda Watts, 1959

Mel Harris, 1957

Paul Guilfoyle, 1955

Cheryl Ladd, 1951

Jamey Sheridan, 1951

Richard Simmons, 1948

Denise Nicholas, 1945

Christine McVie, 1943

Bill Cosby, 1937

Van Cliburn, 1934

Andrew Wyeth, 1917

Curly Joe DeRita, 1909

Milton Berle, 1908

Pablo Neruda, 1904

R. Buckminster Fuller, 1895

Oscar Hammerstein II, 1895

George Washington Carver, 1861

George Ohr, 1857

George Eastman, 1854

Henry David Thoreau, 1817

Josiah Wedgwood, 1730

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Northern Exposure"(TV), 1990

"Family Feud"(TV), 1976

"Evening At Pops"(TV), 1970

"The Adventures of Sam Spade"(Radio), 1946

"Baseball's Sad Lexicon (Tinker to Evers to Chance)"(Publication date), 1910

Today in History

England is unified by Athelstan of England, 927

Saladin's garrison surrenders to Conrad of Montferrat, ending the two-year siege of Acre, 1191

Fray Diego de Landa, acting Bishop of Yucatan, burns the sacred books of the Maya, 1562

Ostrog Bible, the first printed Bible in a Slavic language, is published, 1580

The United States invades Canada at Windsor, Ontario, 1812

The Commonwealth Franchise Act, granting women's suffrage in Australia, is given royal assent and takes effect, 1902

Pune, India floods due to failure of Khadakvasala and Panshet dams; half of the city is submerged and the death toll exceeded 2000, 1961

A fire destroys the entire 6th floor of the National Personnel Records Center of the United States, 1973

Boris Yeltsin quits the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, 1990

Israel invades Lebanon in response to Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers, 2006

A ticket holder in Britain wins the largest EuroMillions jackpot in history, 161,653,000GBP, 2011

The Rolling Stones, English rock band, celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of its first performance at the Marquee Club in Oxford Street, London, 2012

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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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.

These kittens were all asleep when i tried to quietly open their cage and take a photo.

Of course, little missy had to wake up and see what was going on.

The tag around that orange one means he's been preadopted and will go home after his surgery.

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Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. As a child, I feared ______________.

2. Friday the 13th _____________________.

3. I think _________ is my best quality.

4. You can’t go wrong with _________.

1. As a child, i feared getting lost or being left behind.

2. Friday the 13th is just another day, unless it's the first Friday the 13th of the year. Then it is officially Blame Someone Else Day, the only day of the year you have a free pass to blame someone else. We had that back in April this year.

3. I think the fact that i try to work hard is my best quality.

4. You can't go wrong with praying about a situation before making a decision.

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Today is:

Anne Hutchinson Memorial Day -- Portsmouth, RI, US (honoring Anne Marbury Hutchinson, co-founder of Portsmouth, in 1638)

Arts in the Park -- Kalispell, MT, US (juried arts and crafts show, with food and entertainment; through Sunday)

Barbershop Music Appreciation Day -- anniversary of the founding of Sweet Adelines International

Beans and Franks Day

Blissfest -- Harbor Springs, MI, US (three music stages, workshop areas, and the preservation of folk and roots music; through Sunday)

Collector Car Appreciation Day -- brought to you by the SEMA Action Network

Embrace Your Geekness Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, celebrate your love of online dungeon games, comic books, or dressing up like a vampire

Feast of Kalimat (Words) -- Baha'i Faith

Fool's Paradise Day -- a day to figure out how a fool can achieve paradise? or how it can be paradise if it is full of fools?

Gentse Feesten -- Ghent, Belgium (a ten day music and theatre festival)

Go West Day -- commemorates Horace Greeley's "Go West, young man, and grow up with the country."

Gruntled Workers Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays; those of us who are gruntled, as opposed to the disgruntled, should unite and pass along some "great work" compliments to those doing a good job

International Carthage Festival -- Tunis, Tunisia (the country's biggest arts event and music festival, through Aug. 15)

International Puzzle Day -- some sites say Jan. 29, but today is Erno Rubik's birthday

La Retraite Aux Flambeaux -- France (night watch, before Bastille Day)

Lindenfest -- Geisenheimer, Rhineland, Germany (a new wine festival in the shade of a 600 year old linden tree; through Monday)

National French Fries Day

Obon (Ulambana) -- Buddhist; Shinto (Festival of the Lanterns, a time of honoring the ancestors, a reunion of them with the living; through the 15th, although Obon festivals are held on various dates in July at temples throughout the world)

Rainforest World Music Festival -- Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia (music in the jungle, featuring local and international artists performing wild music and dance in the mud and tropical rain; through Sunday)

Statehood Day -- Montenegro

St. Henry the Emperor's Day (Patron of childless people, disabled people, dukes, handicapped people, kings, people rejected by religious orders, physically challenged people; Bamberg, Germany; Basel, Switzerland; Benedictine Oblates; against sterility)

St. Joel the Prophet's Day (Old Testament prophet of the Book of Joel)

Targhee Fest -- Grand Targhee Mountain, Alta, WY, US (food, games, fun and tons of music in the beautiful Grand Teton mountains; through Sunday)

Three Rivers Festival -- Ft. Wayne, IN, US (Fort Wayne's biggest summer party; through the 21st)

Turkey Rama -- McMinnville, Oregon (family fun on "Oregon's Favorite Main Street" that includes the "World's Largest Turkey BBQ"; through Sunday)

Vancouver Folk Music Festival -- Jericho Beach, Vancouver, BC, Canada ( folk music from around the globe, performed in a beautiful outdoor venue; through Sunday)

Wayne Chicken Show -- Wayne, NE, US (this year's theme is "Welcome to Fabulous Wayne America", and the family friendly fun includes a rubber chicken chuck and National Cluck Off; through Sunday)

Birthdays Today

Anthony Jerome “Spud” Webb, 1963

Cameron Crowe, 1957

Jane Hamilton, 1957

Michael Spinks, 1956

Louise Mandrell, 1954

Cheech Marin, 1946

Erno Rubik, 1944

Harrison Ford, 1942

Roger McGuinn, 1942

Robert Forster, 1941

Patrick Stewart, 1940

Jack Kemp, 1935

Wole Soyinka, 1934

David Storey, 1933

Bob Crane, 1928

Dave Garroway, 1913

Nathan Bedford Forrest, 1821

Julius Caesar, BC100

Today in History

Capt James Cook begins 2nd trip (Resolution) to South Seas, 1772

William Wordsworth, on a walking tour through the Wye Valley, visited the ruins of Tintern Abbey and a few miles further on composed a poem about them, 1798

Greek War of Independence: Greeks defeated Ottoman forces at Thermopylae, 1822

Henry R Schoolcraft discovers the source of the Mississippi River, 1832

After 9,957 unnumbered patents, the U.S. Patent Office issues Patent No. 1, for locomotive wheels, 1836

Queen Victoria becomes the first British monarch to live at Buckingham Palace in London, 1837

First day of the New York Draft Riots in response to President Abraham Lincoln's Enrolment Act of Conscription, 1863

Horace Greeley publishes his editorial advising young men to "Go West, young man, go west and grow up with the country," 1865

PT Barnum's American Museum was destroyed in one of the most spectacular fires in New York City's history, 1865

Gold was discovered near Cochrane, Ontario, Canada, 1909

The British airship R34 lands in Norfolk, England, completing the first airship return journey across the Atlantic in 182 hours of flight, 1919

Alexander Butterfield reveals the existence of the Nixon tapes to the special Senate committee investigating the Watergate break in, 1973

The Live Aid benefit concert, a telecast fundraising concert for famine relief in Ethiopia, was held in London and Philadelphia, as well as other venues such as Sydney and Moscow, 1985

American Thoroughbred racehorse Cigar wins his 16th consecutive top-class race, the first horse to do so since Triple Crown winner citation, 1996

Researchers reveal two studies showing the antiretroviral drugs prescribed to treat AIDS can also prevent HIV infections, 2011

(Because some people like Blogger and some like WordPress, i am putting the same content at both. If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked here.)

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So, what is the key to a great day? Keeping your perspective on keys and other stuff is a big part of it.

Last Tuesday, i was working at Ms. B's house. Both of my Tuesday clients' homes are in a "dead" zone -- sometimes phone calls and texts come through, and sometimes not. It can be quite frustrating for Sweetie, especially when he has a problem.

We are both thankful one of his calls did come through, he had managed to leave the house to do some work for The Big Boss and didn't have his key to the house. It was one of the few times he left for work before i did, so all he had was his car key. After telling him to meet me at the laundromat at 2:30, i got back to work.

While i was at the laundromat, he called and said he couldn't find the laundromat on that street. It made me thankful for the NAPA Auto Parts store next door, he couldn't miss that.

Then i was grateful i found the set of spare keys i had in my big bag, so i didn't have to give him my keyring key and possibly be locked out later myself.

Once he was content with his means of getting back in the house and gone, i finished the laundry, looking forward to going home to put my feet up.

#1 Son called. At this time he, like his parents, is having more than his share of car trouble. He doesn't have a car right now, as his old one is not worth fixing. He needed help and a ride, and i'm very thankful i was only a couple of miles away.

He had walked to the closest place to get a money order for a bill, and of course their money order machine was out. We are both thankful another place is only a short drive away and that i could take him, as it was close to 100 degrees that day and he could not have walked.

Once we had the money order, i took him back to the apartment where he, too, discovered he didn't have his key. At this point, i am thankful we both have a sense of humor and we couldn't stop laughing about how preposterous it was.

How convenient that his roommate works at the same place he does, which is not that far, and i am thankful i could take him there to get a key from roommate.

Now he was safely in his apartment, and i am very thankful he found his own key, because our next order of business would have been to go get keys made.

It was getting late, traffic was getting thick, and i'm very thankful there is a "back door" to the highway from his apartment that most people don't think to take, so it actually didn't take me long to get home.

Finally, i was so grateful to get home and put my feet up after the day of keys.

Have you ever had an adventure, with keys or anything else, and you are thankful it all worked out in the end? Write it up, or anything else for which you are thankful, and link up with Ten Things of Thankful.

Kristi of ThankfulMe is our excellent blog host, and none of us count if you have ten things or make demands, we just rejoice with you in whatever made you thankful. Even if it's just keys.

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Today is:

Art Fair on the Square -- Madison, WI, US (one of the Midwest's largest juried art fairs; through tomorrow)

Bald In - Bald Out Day -- sponsored by Bald Girls Do Lunch; if men can be bald and brazen, then women and children who cannot grow hair should bring bald INto their lives, and never feel on the OUTs!

Barn Day -- celebrating barns, old and new, and their history and importance

Bastille Day / National Day -- France, French Territories and some former Colonies (Quatorze Juillet/Fete Nationale)

Birthday of Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden -- an official Flag Day of Sweden

Bohemian Club Annual Rites begin -- Bohemian Grove, CA US (if you are into conspiracy theories, this is supposedly when and where the male movers and shakers of the world meet for two weeks and decide the fate of the world for the next 12 months; the members of the club, including former presidents and other high level officials, do meet for a couple of weeks this time of year to have, among other things, a Cremation of Care ceremony)

Canada's Parks Day -- Canada (showcasing Canada's beautiful parks and historic sites, it's worth traveling to a park near you!)

Carver Day -- George Washington Carver National Monument, Diamond, MO, US

Celebration of the Horse -- Charlotte's Saddlery, Houston, TX, US (in honor of the human/equine bond; through tomorrow)

Children's Party at Green Animals Topiary Garden -- Portsmouth, RI, US (annual party for children and the young at heart)

Circus City Festival -- Peru, IN, US (did you ever want to run off and join the circus? This is the week kids age 7-21 get to do just that, so go watch and have fun with them! through the 18th, when they have the big circus parade)

Concours D'elegance -- Forest Grove, OR, US (one of the premier vintage auto shows in the US; through tomorrow)

Feast of St. Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain

Festival of Millennial Fairy Olympics -- Fairy Calendar (Closing Ceremonies)

Galicnik Svadba -- Galicnik, Macedonia (wedding festival, when one lucky couple gets to be married in a traditional "Galichka" style wedding, through tomorrow)

Macaroni Day

M&Ms Argument Day -- which are best? plain? peanut? almond? minis? spend the day in a heated discussion with friends and end with an M&M feast

Nachi Himatsuri -- Kumano-Nachi Taisha, Nachi-Katsuura, Japan (one of Japan's 3 largest fire festivals, a grand summer festival and purification ritual, through tomorrow)

National Grand Marnier Day -- on Bastille day, to show the friendship between France and the US

National Nude Day -- New Zealand (although now it's often called International Nude Day, and celebrated everywhere as a day to enjoy your beautiful human form)

National Woodie Wagon Day -- paying homage today to this great American symbol of freedom and the casual lifestyle

Omaha Railroad Days -- Omaha, NE, US (sponsored by the Union Pacific Railroad and celebrating all things track and train, through tomorrow)

Pandemonium Day -- internet generated; don't let the crazy things that happen in your life get you down, celebrate instead!

Pori Jazz Festival -- Pori, Finland (a major international music event with world class performances; through the 22nd)

Rath Yatra & Bahuda Jatra-- Puri, India (the first is the Chariot Festival, pilgrims pull huge chariots across the city, and the second is 8 days later, the Return Festival; one of the most awaited Hindu festivals in the state and country)

Republic Day -- Iraq

Runic Half-Month Ur begins (primal strength)

Shark Awareness Day

Sodbuster Days -- Fort Ransom, ND, US (learn how rural North Dakotans lived in the early 1920s; through tomorrow)

St. Kateri Tekakwitha's Day ("Lily of the Mohawks", first Native American proposed for canonization; Patron of ecologists, ecology, environment, environmentalism, environmentalists, exiles, people ridiculed for their piety, people who have lost their parents)

Stone House Day -- Hurley, NY, US (tour of several 250+ year old stone houses within 150-yards of each other)

Stroud International Brick and Rolling Pin Throwing Contest -- held simultaneously in the 4 cities called Stroud: Gloucestershire, England; Oklahoma, US; Ontario, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia (results are compiled internationally following the event)

Tape Measure Day -- the first modern spring tape measure was patented this day in 1868 by Alvin Fellows of New Haven, NJ, US

Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day -- write down all the "could have" and "should have" things in your life, then toss them in the trash! Resolve from this day to live in the present, not the past.

Birthdays Today

Missy Gold, 1970

Robin Ventura, 1967

Matthew Fox, 1966

Jackie Earle Haley, 1961

Jane Lynch, 1960

Joel Silver, 1952

Tommy Mottola, 1949

Steve Stone, 1947

Roosevelt "Rosie" Grier, 1932

Polly Bergen, 1930

John Chancellor, 1927