March 2019

PHOTOBOMBED SELFIE

Sunday Selfies: Week #242

 

Sunday Selfies - Mau and Cooper Murphy

 

I tried to convince Cooper Murphy to remove himself from my blanket, which was a gift from Allie, as well as my side before I snapped my selfie. As you can see, I was not successful. And that’s the explanation for my expression. I’ve got absolutely nothing else to say today, which in itself is probably a first for me.

So here’s that hopping stuff Mom makes us post every week.

  • The link to add your selfie to the hop is below.
  • You also will find below the code to use if you’d like the hop to appear on your blog.
  • Posting on Sundays is not necessary to join.
  • You do not need to be a cat to enter. All anipals are welcome regardless of species.
  • The hop remains open for entries through Thursday midnight.
  • Please be so kind as to display our badge and/or link to The Cat on My Head.
  • Take the opportunity to visit some of the other hop-alongs and make some new friends or reconnect with some old ones.

Thanks for hopping over to see us. If you are new to our hop, WELCOME!

Purrs and paw-pats, Mau with kisses and love to my gorgeous wife Allie

Yesterday’s Paw Guessing Game

So our art for Athena’s Caturday Art Blog Hop is the paw of one of the Kitties Blue. I said I would have a surprise for the human and anipal who correctly guessed to which cat the paw belongs. Well, we only had a pawful of visitors yesterday, and no one guessed correctly. If you want to pop back to yesterday’s post, the link is at the bottom of this post. If no one figures out who belongs to that paw, I’ll have a random drawing for a prize. We’ll let you know the winner tomorrow.

 



PAWS UP ART

Caturday Art

I was feeling nostalgic and spent some time last night looking through old photos of current and past kitties. Many I remembered, and some I did not. The photo I used for today’s art is from 2014 and is one I didn’t recall.

 

paws

 

I think it is evident that this is a cat paw but to which cat does it belong? That cat has agreed to send a surprise prize to the person/anipal who is the first to guess correctly. Leave your guess in the comments, and we’ll announce the winner on the Sunday Selfies post.

To create today’s art I went back to Painnt and used the Monash effect. In the basic edits, I changed the hue of the effect and set the transparency at 0.6. With piZap, I added the white border with an overlay. Picasa was used for the thin, green border. I am not showing the original photo, as it will give away the paw’s owner.

The cat who owns this paw is joining Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop. To join or view the art of other bloggers, click on Athena’s badge.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

Get ready to smile and show off your best self, as tomorrow is the time to hop along with us for Sunday Selfies. Your host is yet to be determined, but you can bet s/he will be ready to welcome you with open paws—maybe even that paw from above.

Until then…have a terrific Caturday.

 

 

SUNPUDDLE SIBLINGS & FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #150


As I do most Fridays, I am entering the Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop hosted by Ellen (15 and Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). Each Thursday on their blogs, they post four sentences with blanks to be filled-in. Participants complete the sentences and post on Friday. The blog hop can be entered on Lorianne’s blog by clicking on the badge at the left.

My completions are in teal italics.

1. I am allergic to opioids, stupid people and a whole bunch of other stuff.

2. My taxes __________________. (I didn’t complete this as I feel my taxes are not a particularly appropriate subject for this blog and not really anyone’s business but Tom’s and mine.)

3. I don’t tell many people but the actor, Michael Douglas, went to the same college as I did. I had a huge crush on him, but I was way too shy to act upon it.

4. When it rains, my umbrella is usually in the trunk.

Feline Friday

Mau and Misty May - Sunpuddle

 

Misty May and Mauricio are joining the Feline Friday blog hop at Comedy Plus. Though siblings, I think it is apparent that they are not particularly fond of each other. They are begrudgingly sharing this kitchen sunpuddle while successfully ignoring each other. To join the hop, click on the badge below.

A HAIKU & SILVER LININGS

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

I am joining Angel Sammy and Teddy’s poetry challenge at Two Spoiled Cats. Below is today’s inspiration photo. Once again I have opted for a haiku.

 

Congregation gone
Where did they go…to heaven
Or just out to brunch

I was not trying to flippant with my haiku for this week’s inspiration photo. It actually made me sad. It reminded me of when Dad Tom and I visited the site if our marriage—the chapel on Treasure Island (Yerba Buena Island, San Francisco). After the naval base was decommissioned, most of the buildings were demolished. When we saw the chapel in September of 2017, it was abandoned, sequestered behind a chain link fence and surrounded by mounds of excavated earth. There was a petition to save it, but I don’t believe it was succesful.

To see what Sammy wrote his week and transmitted to Teddy from the Rainbow Bridge, click on the badge at the left. I guarantee it will be a terrific poem! You also will find links to poems by other bloggers in the comments section.

Thankful Thursday

Kitties Blue and I were pretty excited to earn a badge on the Tuesday Teaser at Two Spoiled Cats by correctly identifying the Teaser. We weren’t first. That honor goes to Timmy and Einie. Nonetheless, we got this cool badge.

If you are a regular follower, you will have read in the past that I believe in silver linings. A silver lining may not be something for which you are thankful but something that makes an otherwise unpleasant thing not as bad. For example: Due to my neuro-muscular disease, I have not had to shave my legs in more than 20 years. I believe my female readers will understand just how much extra time that has given me to spend with the kitties and do other things I enjoy. With that explanation, I present this week’s thankful and silver lining.

Sawyer went ten days without a grand mal seizure and then had three (each four days apart). Dad Tom’s and my thankful is that they each stopped after a few minutes with no need for valium or a trip to the emergency vet. And I discovered the silver lining. Sawyer is Manx cat and has no tail. That makes it much easier to clean the poo off his little butt. Unfortunately, it doesn’t make him like it, which is why I have bloody arms. Forgive me if this is too much information. But this is how life is these days.

Thankful Thursday is a blog hop hosted by everybody’s friend, Brian. To join the hop, post on your blog for what you are thankful, and then click on Brian’s badge.

 

SPARKS: KINDNESS & UNDERSTANDING

Sparks

 

Sparks

 

You may be wondering why I selected this quote for today’s Spark. I started thinking about spring (which made this the perfect graphic). From there I moved to Easter, which took my mind to Lent. During Lent, most individuals fast or abstain from foods or other things they enjoy. But that is just one of three traditional practices. The other two are prayer and almsgiving. The latter is what brought me to this quote for my Spark.

Og Mandino

I was unfamiliar with Mr. Mandino, and so I suspect you may be as well. Augustine “Og” Mandino II was an American author of 19 books. He wrote the bestselling book, The Greatest Salesman in the World. His books have sold more than 50 million copies and been translated into over 25  languages. He was the president of Success Unlimited magazine until 1976. Mandino was inducted into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame.

History  of Sparks

Sparks began as a blog hop, created by our friend, Annie (McGuffy’s Reader). Annie has been taking a “break” from blogging, so there is no hop. Unfortunately, during this break, Annie has been the victim of a hacker. This has continued to keep her off-line and caused her much distress. Kitties Blue and I ask for your continued prayers for Annie and her family as they try to reconcile this mess and get their lives back to normal.

Many of us believe in Annie’s vision: “If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world!”

Happy Color

The colorful art of Mt. Fuji, which I used as the background for today’s Spark, is from the app, Happy Color. This free app offers easy to difficult, color-by-number images with eight to nine new images added daily.  I have it installed on my iPad and find it quite relaxing and satisfying, especially when I am feeling stressed and overwhelmed. if you like to color, I think you’ll enjoy it as well. (I am in no way affiliated with Happy Color or it’s developer.)

 

C.J.’S WINKY SELFIE

Sunday Selfies: Week #241

 

Sunday Selfies

 

My plan was to wink at you in my selfie, but I caught myself in mid-wink. I hope you like it anyway.

Before we start the blog hop, Mom has a question for those of you blogging on a WordPress platform.

Looking for Help in Protecting Our Content

As most of you know by now, our content is being stolen and posted on other blogs. One site has been shut down. Two (that we know about) continue to be active. I have been looking into some of the WordPress plug-ins that profess to make this copying of our content impossible. I found five potential plug-ins but few reviews of any of them. If anyone is using a plug-in to prevent their content from being scraped, could you please let me know in the comments, along with which plug-in you are using and if it is working for you. I know many others are caught up in this, and I will happily share anything I find that might stop this theft.

Time to Hop

Here’s the hopping tips we share every week for any newbies to the hop.

  • The link to add your selfie to the hop is below.
  • You also will find below the code to use if you’d like the hop to appear on your blog.
  • Posting on Sundays is not necessary to join.
  • You do not need to be a cat to enter. All anipals are welcome regardless of species.
  • The hop remains open for entries through Thursday midnight.
  • Please be so kind as to display our badge and/or link to The Cat on My Head.
  • Take the opportunity to visit some of the other hop-alongs and make some new friends or reconnect with some old ones.

Thanks for hopping over to see us and supporting me and the other Kitties Blue. Hope this first Sunday of spring is an easy one.

If you are new to our hop, WELCOME!

Purrs and paw-pats, Calista Jo



TUMMY & TOESIE ART

Caturday Art

I love Cooper Murphy’s belly and never tire of seeing it. Many of you feel the same, I think. As an added bonus, he’s showing off his toesies as well.

 

tummy and toesie art

 

I did very little to create this art. First, I applied the “Rick” effect with Painnt, then the scrolled border with piZap and finally, the black edge with Picasa. I didn’t want to do anything to obscure Cooper’s gorgeous gingerness too much.

The original photo is from Thursday afternoon when Cooper was napping on Dad Tom’s and my bed.

Cooper Murphy is joining the Caturday Art blog hop hosted by Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty. To join the hop or view art from your fellow bloggers, click on Athena’s badge.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

This is your usual early warning to get your selfies taken for tomorrow’s blog hop. Remember, it is open to all anipals regardless of species. We love seeing our old friends and supporters every week, but newbies are always welcome and encouraged to join in the fun.

Have a terrific first Caturday of spring!

 

 

CATS & DOG(WOOD)S

Update from Yesterday’s Post

After calling out the content thief (Giulietta told you about yesterday) both on Twitter and their blog, I am feeling a little better. Unbelievably, they stole yesterday’s post where Giulietta notified everyone of their thievery. This person is either really S-T-U-P-I-D or has some very big you-know-whats. I plan to continue doing the same until I can get all the proper forms filled out to stop this.

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #149

I managed to do the Fill-Ins all by myself this week. My completions are in teal italics.

1. I admire Michelle Obama for her grace, intelligence, style, energy and philanthropy.

2. I can’t wait for the dogwood trees to bloom.

 

Dogwood Trees in Bloom – April, 2015

 

3. I’m proud to say we have welcomed 19 Kitties Blue into our lives beginning in the mid-80s.

Here are a few pictures of past Kitties Blue. To see all those who came before the current Kitties Blue crew visit our The Felines page.

 

cats - Daphne

Daphne – Kitties Blue #3

 

cats - Chloe

Chloe – Kitties Blue #5

 

cats - Madison

Madison – Kitties Blue #8

 

4. Sawyer’s seizures make me nervous.

Friendly Fill-Ins is a weekly blog hop hosted by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). Each Thursday they post on their blogs four sentences to be completed. The hop takes place on Friday at Four-Legged Furballs. To join in the fun and let your fellow bloggers know a bit more about yourself, complete the sentences and click on the badge at the left to hop.

Feline Friday

Daphne, Chloe and Madison are joining the Feline Friday blog hop at Comedy Plus as well. To join them, click on the badge below.

 

GIULIETTA TAKES OVER

Giulietta Reporting for Kitties Blue

So, I am in charge of the blog today. I definitely didn’t expect that to happen. Here’s the scenario: Mom is feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Sawyer had two grand mal seizures in four days.

She’s also discouraged about blogging, as our posts are being stolen by Dog and Cat Pet 2000. Finding time to complete the forms needed to get these posts taken down is weighing on her.

Of course, there is the construction project. Windows, a roof and walls are in place, but days continue to slip by with no one on the job.

Her computer continues to give her problems as well. That definitely doesn’t make blogging and visiting friends much fun.

We thought with spring finally here she would perk up and maybe she will. She tells us always to believe in and look for a silver lining, We are praying she can find hers.

Today is Thoroughly Poetic Thursday at Two Spoiled Cats, but Mom’s poetry mojo continues to be on the fritz. With apologies to Angel Sammy and Teddy, we have no poem today. Please do visit them to read Sammy’s poem. It’s always terrific!

Thankful Thursday

We are participating in the Thankful Thursday blog hop, as some of us kitties have things for which we are grateful.

Thankful ThursdayPersonally, I am grateful for all the birthday wishes I received on Monday. It’s hard to have yet another birthday without Fiona here to celebrate with me, but the love and support of so many friends and supporters, especially my special friend, Clooney, made for a great day. I also got a nip rainbow and super nice brushing from Mom.

Mau and Cooper Murphy also have reason to be thankful this week. They made it through a 40-minutes video about “icky” snakes at Cat Scouts, completed their homework and received 100% on their test. They now know more about snakes than they ever wanted.

Mom has promised us that she will get herself back on track as soon as possible.

Thankful Thursday is a blog hop hosted by Brian. To join the hop, post for what you are thankful and then click on Brian’s badge below.

Purrs and paw-pats, Giulietta