December 2022

TUXIE CHRISTMAS ART WITH MISTY MAY

Caturday Art

I told Mom she had to do some art, if for no other reason than to remind you that we will be here tomorrow for Sunday Selfies. And it is not as if creating a little art could tax her “fuzzy” brain that much. So here I am on our new little cat tree, which Santa Claws delivered early and left for our dad to assemble.

 

Red and green rendition of a tuxie cat sitting on small cat tree with a Christmas frame.

 

I told her if she’d do this post, I wouldn’t make her write too much, so here’s the info on how she created our art. She used the Las Rusticas effect from Painnt and changed the hue and added the Lomo filter. As always, the frame is from favpng.

I also talked her into making a puzzle for you.

preview108pieceTuxie Cat Christmas Art

I will be hopping along with Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty on her Caturday Art hop. If you’d like to join in the fun, click on her badge.

 

 

That pretty much is all I have for you today. I do promise one of us Kitties Blue will be back tomorrow to host our regular Sunday Selfies hop. I sure hope you will join in the fun.

Purrs and paw pats, Misty May

p.s. If you’d like to see what this cute little cat tree really looks like, check out our Instagram account. Just click on the appropriate mousie on our sidebar. It’s the first one of the three, and if you are reading on a laptop, it should be just to the left.

 

 

CATS = WARMTH & LOVE

Sparks

Sorry to be late posting today!

 

Grey cat lying on granite cover atop a radiator with the following quote: I like the idea of being warm and secure. That's what home should be. That you have a sense of warmth, security, love, and you love the things around you and surround yourself with beauty. by Andre Leon Talley

 

I can think of nothing that brings warmth and love to a home better than a cat.

And Kitties Blue like nothing better than a radiator for warmth in the cold winter months.

Today’s Spark author, André Leon Talley was known as a fashion icon. He was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director and editor-at-large at Vogue magazine. He was the magazine’s fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, its first African-American male creative director from 1988 to 1995 and then editor-at-large from 1998 to 2013. Talley died this past January at age 73.

Sparks is the creation of Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. Sparks began as a blog hop, created by our friend. Annie stated when she began Sparks, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. 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.”

Awww Mondays

Kizmet will be participating in the Awww Mondays blog hop at Comedy Plus. You can join her there by clicking on the Awww badge.

The Adventures of Periwinkle & Stinky

Our two intrepid adventuring tabbies, Periwinkle & Stinky, will be setting off on their next adventure tomorrow from Periwinkle’s home. They always have more fun when you join them, and you can do so tomorrow at Friends Furever. So, please drop by and lend them a hand or paw in whatever they get up to!

 

BLURRY SNAGGLETOOTH SELFIE!

Sunday Selfies: Week #434

 

Blurry, snaggletooth photo of a tuxie cat with half of her ears cut out of photo.

 

I cannot believe my mom is posting this terribly unattractive selfie of me. You’d think she’d treat an old kitty like me better than this. I think I’m going to ask Santa to leave a rotten orange and some coal in her stocking and maybe even one of the mousies Cooper Murphy was dreaming about on Friday, “Cooper Murphy Dreaming of Mousies in his Stocking.”

I know each of you can do much better with your selfie. And I bet you’ll even include your ears. So I am not going to ramble on, as it will only give you more time to look at this lousy photo. I invite you to post your selfie and then link up to our hop. If you are too busy taking your easy today or helping your humans decorate or wrap gifts, the hop remains open through Thursday.

Hope to see your smiling faces.

Purrs and paw-pats, Misty May

 



CHRISTMAS CAT ART

Caturday Art

It is week two for our Christmas-themed Caturday Art. Today’s art features Kizmet and Raleigh. Kizmet is on the upper right and looks as if she’s a head without a body. The two were on a ladder staring through the window of the closed door to the sun porch where the Christmas tree, which is off limits to the cats, resides.

 

Two cats in a Christmas-themed, red and green holiday portrait.

 

To create today’s art, I used the Blinking Tree effect from Painnt, changed the hue, bumped up the saturation slightly and added the Lomo filter. As usual, the border is from the favpng app.

I did create a puzzle.

preview96pieceChristmas Cats

Raleigh and Kizmet will be hopping with Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty. If you’d like to do the same or just find links to art from your fellow bloggers, click on Athena’s badge.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

Christmas is just over two weeks away, which I cannot wrap my mind around. Even more unbelievable is the fact that we will soon be bidding farewell to 2022. Including tomorrow, there are only three more Sundays in the year. We’ve now been hosting this hop for more than eight years. Kitties Blue and I appreciate the support of all those who have joined us throughout the years as well as those of you who are new to the hop.

We love to see your sweet, furry faces each week and hope you’ll join us again tomorrow. I’ll be adding a bit of holiday decoration to your host’s selfie and invite you to do the same if you wish. Enjoy your Caturday, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

 

 

 

COOPER DREAMING OF MOUSIES IN HIS STOCKING

Feline/Friendship Friday

 

Large ginger tabby cat napping and showing off his tummy, toes and tail.

 

Once again Cooper Murphy is sharing his toesies, tummy and tailio while he dreams of Santa leaving him some tasty mousies in his Christmas stocking! He’s also joining the Feline and Friendship Friday blog hops at Comedy Plus and Create With Joy respectively.

Friendly Fill-Ins

Friendly Fill-Ins is a blog hop hosted by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged- Furballs). If you’d like to participate, check out either of their blogs on Thursday for the sentences to be filled in. You can join the hop by clicking on their badge

Sawyer gave me some help again this week. He is my go-to cat when I need help. I really appreciate it, as I jinxed him yesterday when I wrote about the number of days between his seizures. He had one before dinner last night, so the count begins again.

We both used teal italics for filling in. Any explanatory information is in parentheses.

1. I have a tough time choosing a gift for Kitties Blue. (They have absolutely everything any cat could want, but they are getting somme pretty good gifts this year to replace some things they have worn out.)

2. Sawyer: I can’t wait to see Noelle open the gift from me. (I cannot tell you what it is, as she reads our blog. And, of course, I won’t be there personally to see her open it. But I know she’s going to really, really like it!)

3. I’m dreaming of a quiet Christmas.

4. If my holiday season were a book or movie, it would be titled, “Christmas Arrives Late Again.”

That’s it for today. We’ll see you all tomorrow with some Christmas Caturday Art featuring Raleigh and Kizmet.

 

CAT DOOR ENCROACHMENT & THANKFULS

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

I had fun today with Two Spoiled Cats’ (Teddy and Angel Sammy) photo for their weekly poetry challenge. We had a similar inspiration photo some months ago. You can see it and our poem at, “Three’s a Crowd With Calista Jo”. Instead of Calista Jo, Raleigh joined today’s inspiration photo.

 

Cat Door Encroachment: Dog with head stuck in cat door to outside with small ginger cat standing atop the door.

Original photo is uncredited and from the uncopyrighted site, Affordable Pet Doors Melbourne: https://www.affordablepetdoorsmelbourne.com.au/reasons-pet-isnt-using-pet-door/

 

Cat Door Encroachment

Hey, get your big nose out of my door.
You know I’ve warned you about this before.
This passage is strictly for felines,
Not gigantic-nosed, slobbery canines.
If you don’t back off, I’ll give you a whap,
And it won’t feel like a friendly love-tap.
Honestly, I didn’t think you were so dumb
Or is this just a case of sheer boredom?
Whatever your problem, I say, “scram!”
I’ve got claws and I’m not afraid to use ‘em.
Now, please remove your colossal schnozz
Or get a scratch from my mighty paws!

© Janet Buickerood Blue – 12/07/2022

If you haven’t been participating in Teddy and Angel Sammy’s poetry challenge, I recommend you give it a try. It’s the perfect opportunity to get creative. Check out Two Spoiled Cats, by clicking on the poetry badge, for next week’s inspiration photo. And please read Angel Sammy’s poem. He’s one of our very favorite poets.

Thankful Thursday

Thursday is also the day we share the things for which we are thankful. Then we join Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop.

It’s been ugly and rainy here where we live, but its still been a pretty good week. Several of the kitties and I have thankfuls to share.

  • Audrey is thankful to have her spay surgery behind her. She had it yesterday and came through like a champ.
  • Talk about champs…Sawyer has been eating like one and hasn’t had a seizure, that we know of, in 11 days.
  • Cooper Murphy is thankful for earning another merit badge at Cat Scouts for learning about Wild Cats. Here’s a fact, that unless you are a Cat Scout, we bet you don’t know: The Rusty-Spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) is the world’s smallest wild cat weighing only 1.8 to 3.5 pounds. It is 14 to 19 inches in length minus its tail, which is approximately half the length of its body. (Just as a side note: Cooper Murphy weighs 19 pounds!)

 

  • I am super thankful I have almost finished decorating and addressing the Kitties Blue Christmas cards, and I have finished all my shopping. Please don’t tell, but the gang are getting some pretty great gifts this year!

If you’d like to participate in Brian’s hop, post on your blog for what you are thankful. Then click on his badge to link up.

Thanks for visiting us today. We’ll be back tomorrow with some fill-ins.

 

DEFENDING BREAKFAST

A Few Words on Wednesday

 

Tuxedo cat sitting behind a wall made up of a milk carton, water bottle, packaged cranberries and other items to keep her away the human's breakfast.

 

In spite of our best efforts, Misty May broke through our defensive wall and stuck her entire face in the margarine container!

Misty May is joining the Wordless Wednesday blog hop at Comedy Plus. You can do the same by clicking on the badge below.

Looking Back

This week’s Looking Back post is from August 6, 2012. It’s entitled, “Cat’s in the Garden.” Click on the link to read it and if you enjoy it, please leave us a comment on that post. The post has some of my all time favorite photos of Kitties Blue, especially one of Angel Mau in a tree.

 

THE ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE & STINKY: PART CLXIV

Do You Remember Adventure XI?

Stinky is anxious for Periwinkle’s arrival. He’s positive she will like the adventure he’s planned. When she comes tumbling from the teleportation tunnel with the familiar whoosh, he grabs her and wraps her up in a huge paw hug. Periwinkle reciprocates and exclaims, “That sure was nice, Stinky. It’s a lot colder here than at home, and that hug warmed me up nicely.”

Before Periwinkle can even ask about their adventure, Stinky tells her, “Periwinkle, we are going to revisit a place we went on our 11th adventure. Do you remember that adventure?” Stinky asks.

Periwinkle gives him one of her famous eye rolls, which Stinky ignores. “Are you kidding me, Stinky? This is our 164th adventure. How can I remember the 11th one? When was it?”

“It was Christmas Eve of 2019,” Stinky replies.

Periwinkle is quiet for several minutes, and Stinky can tell she is thinking very hard. Finally, she asks, “Is that when we went to visit Santa?”

“No, but that was a good guess. I really thought you’d remember that adventure. It was a super special one,” Stinky says. Periwinkle can hear the disappointment in his voice and feels terrible. She grabs Stinky’s paw and heads to the teleportation tunnel. “I guess we better get going. Hopefully I will remember when we arrive,” she tells him. Stinky has his paws crossed that she does.

Rockefeller Center, New York

The two pop into their tunnel and in the blink of an eye arrive at their destination. When Periwinkle sees where they are, she immediately remembers the previous adventure, which you can read about here, “The Adventures of Periwinkle & Stinky: Part XI.” Periwinkle throws her paws around Stinky’s neck and starts giving him whisker kisses. When she finally stops, she squeals, “Oh, Stinky, how could I have forgotten this magical adventure. We went all around the world looking at Christmas lights. And when we arrived here at Rockefeller Center, we went ice skating and you asked me to be your girlfriend. That was one of the best days ever! I can hardly believe that we have been adventuring for more than three years or that we have been boyfriend and girlfriend for almost as long.”

The Christmas Tree

“Time really does seem to have a way of quickly slipping away,” responds Stinky. “Shall we go look at the tree?”

“Oh, yes please,” Periwinkle tells him.

“I’m sorry it’s raining, Periwinkle. I am happy I brought an umbrella.”

“That was a good idea.”

 

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and wire angels and two cartoon tabby cats under an umbrella.

 

“What can you tell me about the Christmas tree, Stinky. I know you researched it before we came.”

“You know me so well. I did do a little reading. The first tree went up in 1931 when workers pooled their money to buy it. It was a 20-foot tall Balsam fir. It had handmade paper garlands and strings of cranberries created by the workers’ families. In 1933 Rockefeller Center made the Christmas tree an annual tradition and held the first tree lighting ceremony. Two trees were put up at Rockefeller Center in 1936. A skating pageant was held at the ice skating rink, which had just opened on the Plaza,” Stinky tells Periwinkle.

“Wow, I had no idea trees were being set up at Christmas even before our parents were born,” replies Periwinkle. “Can we get a closer look at the tree now?”

Stinky takes Periwinkle’s paw and leads her closer to the tree.

Some Facts About the 2022 Tree

 

Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree and two cartoon tabby cats under an umbrella.

 

“Wow,” exclaims Periwinkle!

Stinky tells her about the 2022 tree. “This year’s tree is 82 feet tall and weighs 14 tons. It’s an approximately 85 to 90 year old Norway Spruce and comes from Queensbury, New York. It has 50,000 multicolored LED lights, which equals approximately 5 miles of wire. The top has a star made up of 3 million Swarovski crystals on 70 triangular spikes.”

“No wonder it is so bright,” exclaims Periwinkle. Stinky replies, “My mom would put that many lights on our tree if she could.” That makes Periwinkle giggle.  She asks, “Is this the tallest tree ever put up here for Christmas?”

Some Additional Historical Facts

Stinky tells her that the tallest tree was 100 feet in height and on display in 1999. It was a spruce tree from Killingworth, Connecticut.

He also shares some interesting facts about the tree being unlit during World War II due to black out regulations. Three smaller trees, instead of one big one, were put up in 1942 and decorated with red, white and blue unlit globes and painted wooden stars.  In 2001, following the tragedies of September 11, the tree also was decorated in a patriotic red, white and blue theme.

The original Swarovski Star was added to the tree in 2004. It weighed 550 pounds and had 25,000 crystals with one million facets. It was 9.5 feet in diameter. LED lights were added the following year. The current star was first displayed in 2018.

“Stinky, those are a lot of interesting facts about the past Christmas trees. The trees certainly have become a wonderful tradition. Shall we look at some of the other lights?”

“Good idea!”

Channel Garden Angels

“Stinky, look at these gorgeous angels. Do you know anything about them?”

 

Purple lit wire angels at Rockefeller Center with two cartoon tabby cats under an umbrella

 

“Of course. Sculptor Valerie Clarebout created the angels in 1955, and they debuted in 1969. Each have wings, robes and halos and hold a 6-foot-long trumpet. There are 12 8-foot tall angels made from 75 pounds of metal wire. To complete the celestial display, Clarebout used 76 miles of material, including 18 miles of aluminum wire and brass as well as thousands of miniature lights.”

“They really are sparkly and breathtaking. Can we go to the ice rink now?” asks Periwinkle. Stinky takes her paw and leads her there.

The Plaza Ice Rink

 

Two cartoon tabby cats wearing Christmas tree hats and ice skates on skating rink bellow Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center.

 

“Stinky, I love being back here, and I am so happy the rain has stopped. I don‘t think this would be much fun in the rain.”

“I agree!”

“These fun hats you found for us are really cool as well. They definitely put me in a festive mood,” says Periwinkle.

The tabbies join paws and spend quite a bit of time skating, talking and giggling about their first visit to the rink. After several circles around the rink, the tabbies stop for a hot beverage and a snack. While nibbling, Stinky leans closer to Periwinkle and whispers in her ear, “I love you, Periwinkle.” Periwinkle smiles, gives Stinky a whisker kiss and replies, “I love you too, Stinky.”

When they finish their snack, Stinky suggests that it is time for them to return to his house, and they head back to the teleportation tunnel.

A Blue Christmas Tree

When Periwinkle and Stinky arrive at Stinky’s house, Periwinkle asks to see the Christmas tree and the kittens. Stinky leads her to the dining room to show her one of two trees to which he and and the other Kitties Blue have access. “So here’s the tree unlit,” says Stinky.

 

Unlit but decorated family Christmas tree with two cartoon tabby cats in Christmas tree hats.

 

“Stinky, this is incredible. I don’t think I have ever seen so many cute ornaments. Can we see it with the lights on?”

“Sure, let me get Mom to turn them on for us. By the way, my mom’s been collecting ornaments for 50 years, and many have been gifts,” Stinky tells Periwinkle.

 

Decorated and lighted family Christmas tree with two cartoon tabby cats in Christmas tree hats.

 

“That is stunning! Are the kittens still removing ornaments at night?” Stinky tells Periwinkle that they have been good the last couple of nights and left it alone. Then Periwinkle asks if she can get a peek at the tree with the breakable ornaments. Stinky explains that his mom hasn’t finished decorating it, and she’ll have to wait until she comes back in two weeks. He can see Periwinkle’s disappointment, but when he leads her to the kittens, it appeases her.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats with an orange tabby kitten in a Christmas tree hat and a brown tabby kitten.

 

Stinky thinks it would be funny to put his tree hat on Raleigh. After he does so, he takes off before Raleigh can get mad at him. He leaves Periwinkle to visit. When she finishes, Periwinkle joins Stinky in the kitchen where she says, “hi,” to Stinky’s mom and dad. Too soon, it’s time for Periwinkle to head home. She thanks Stinky for the adventure with paw hugs and whisker kisses before entering her tunnel. Then with a wave she is gone in a whoosh. Stinky finds a sunpuddle to nap in and dream about Periwinkle.

The End

Periwinkle and Stinky are participating in Happy Tuesday at Comedy Plus.

“CHRISTMAS IS A TONIC FOR OUR SOULS”

Sparks

From now through the end of 2022, I will be sharing Sparks with a holiday theme. I really liked this one from B. C. Forbes. It took me a while to find a photo that I thought truly represented the Spark. This is Dad Tom and Misty May.

 

Man's hand wearing a wedding ring with the white paw of a cat atop it, and including the following quote from B.C. Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine: "Christmas is a tonic for our souls. It moves us to think of others rather than of ourselves. It directs our thoughts to giving."

 

The author of today’s Spark, B.C. (Bertie Charles) Forbes was a Scottish-American financial journalist and author who, in 1917, founded Forbes magazine.

Sparks is the creation of Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. Sparks began as a blog hop, created by our friend. Annie stated when she began Sparks, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. 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.”

Awww Mondays

Misty May and her paw will be participating in the Awww Mondays blog hop at Comedy Plus. You can join her there by clicking on the Awww badge.

The Adventures of Periwinkle & Stinky

Tomorrow, our adorable cartoon tabbies will be setting off on their next adventure. As it is Stinky’s turn to plan their event, you can find Periwinkle and him right here. He hasn’t shared his plans with me, but based on the way Periwinkle and he are dressed up, I suspect it will have something to do with the holidays. But we’ll all just need to check in tomorrow to find out what they get up to! See you then.