My two memes delayed and combined

 For Saturday's Critters...a bit late to the table due to the holiday!

Some photos of my 3 sons and myself (with curls and a bandana) and my ex-daughter-in-law.

Not sure which grandbaby is shown here, but likely William. The kittens are Tiny Patches, Garfield and probably their mom, Patches.

Sharing with Saturday's critters!

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And for Sepia Saturday...another favorite meme that I sometimes contribute to...usually a day early, and seldom on topic...

How about free art?

A clay puzzle piece, size 14 x 22 inches. Backed permanently on a piece of board...it is rather heavy and ready to hang...with a wire attached on the back. This is more or less the true color.

But I don't want it any more. And so I gave it to the local thrift store Kiwanis.

I meet the theme of this week on Sepia Saturday by having a sepia art work in clay. Sepia, I tell you! Sepia!

In everyone's life, at some time,

our inner fire goes out. 

It is then burst into flame 

by an encounter with 

another human being. 

We should all be thankful 

for those people who 

rekindle the inner spirit.

Albert Schweitzer

The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved -- loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.

 -Victor Hugo, novelist and dramatist (1802-1885)

Savor moments big and small,

Let worries go then watch them fall.

With open heart, dear grateful soul,

In every breath let joy unfold.

                      blogger Cloudia 

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Climate Change notes:

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, we’re already well into a hot summer - and Reuters just launched Climate Monitor, an interactive globe showing how much hotter (or colder) today’s temperature is compared to what was typical on that date between 1961 and 1990.
 
I spent a few minutes on the site. Where I live in Dallas: 4.7 degrees Fahrenheit (that’s 2.6C) above normal this past week. Toronto, Ontario, my hometown: 19.6F or 11C degrees above normal. 11C above normal is incredible to me, and in case you didn’t know, Toronto’s one of the World Cup cities with an outdoor stadium! That stopped me in my tracks.

Yesterday, Philadelphia cancelled their 250 year celebration parade as the heat index soared to 118F, and in DC, temperatures 22F above normal led to the closing of the Great American Fair on the Mall.
 
This week, take just a minute and look up your city. Look up where your parents live, where your kids go to camp, or somewhere currently experiencing a heat emergency. And don’t stop there. Talk about it! Share what you find out — not as a lecture, but as a conversation starter: “Did you know it’s 6 degrees warmer than normal here right now? I just found this tool that shows you in real time.” 
 
Abstract statistics about global average temperatures are easy to dismiss. But when someone sees that their hometown is running 8 degrees hotter than usual, or that the town where their grandchildren live is having its warmest July on record, it hits differently. Climate change stops being a headline and feels personal. 

Thanks  Katharine Heyhoe