Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Happy Random Independence Tuesday!

Stacy Uncorked

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

In case you are wondering Tuesday Coffee Chat is on summer break.

However, i am not.

It is Independence Day for us, and i am independently working.  Sometimes it's nice to be self employed.  Ms. C is a great person to work for on a holiday, she's not picky about when i come and when i finish, as long as the work is done.

Ms. S, my regular Monday client, had me doing some extra work yesterday.  Her son and granddaughter came over and cleared out some things from her house, about 15 large black trash bags worth.  That meant i was able to get into and behind some places in her house that haven't seen the light of day in a while and vacuum and mop them.

Mr. B took yesterday off from his regular job and i went and helped in his workshop, too.  Several of the piles of scrap wood (he's as much a hoarder as Ms. S, only of wood and nails and parts) are now in neater piles in places more protected from the elements.  He also built three trellises yesterday, and had me wash the front of the house and the porch.

These two kittens are making me crazy, although i say that with all the bottle babies.  These don't want the bottle, they want canned food.  They will be four weeks old tomorrow, i've never had kittens try to refuse the bottle at such a young age.  As long as they drink formula from a bowl and eat canned food, though, they should be fine.

This is one i'm not so sure i want to say out loud.  We haven't been having too much rain lately!  Having enough is a blessing, not having it all of the time is also a blessing.

#1 Son's workplace lost 3 employees in one day last week, and he's been mostly working double shifts to cover things as they try to train new people.  He's good with that, it means he gets overtime pay.

Bigger Girl had a very difficult weekend, there was a funeral for a friend that she went to right before she headed to NOLA for the wedding.  There were some tense moments, but she got through it all.

#2 Son and Daughter-in-Law Becky have been coming by more, i think to see the kittens.  Her mother won't let them have a cat at the house, so i think they come here to get their cat fix.

Little Girl has been by daily to see to the kittens as well.  She's trying to get a job as an ER tech at the hospital so she can quit food service.

That's really about all there is for news.

Happy Independence Day to those who celebrate it! 


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

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

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

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 Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

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

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!)

Unity Day -- Zambia

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

8 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, 15 bags. Isn't that much? Have a great 4th of July my friend, Mimi. See ya.

    Cruisin Paul

    ReplyDelete
  2. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Fourth of July holiday.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lots going on in your neck of the woods. I'm glad you work for good people. That's a huge plus.

    Have a fabulous day and Independence day. ☺

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sorry your daughter lost a friend, that is hard.
    Happy 4th!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Happy Independence Day! Some clients are a joy to work for. I am glad your kids are doing great and that you are seeing them more often now.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Happy 4th of July! Wow! What a list of great information about the 4th, birthdays, and so on. I bet it takes a while to find all of that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Mimi,

    I spent yesterday with DH since he had it off. We took a drive. Rain clouds hung over us when we left but the sky got pretty. We stopped at the store before coming home to get some important provisions - ice cream! Yeah, I had to have my chocolate ice cream fix for the 4th. lol We had hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner. We always share them. I certainly can't eat both not even half of each, so this works out great. We're not big eaters. I should say, we won't allow ourselves to pig out too often. It's easy to pack the pounds off but a devil of a job to get off and being in our 50s makes that job even more difficult. We got to watch the PBS special, A Capitol Fourth which is always nice. Some of the neighbors sit off fireworks. The booming continued for a short time even after we went to bed around 9pm. I didn't mind, though. It was actually kind of nice to hear the celebration continuing. Have a good week and thanks for visiting!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for meandering by and letting me know you were here!
Comments on posts more than a week old are moderated.
If Blogger puts your comment in "spam jail," i'll try to get it hauled out by day's end.