January 2023

THE ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE & STINKY: PART CLXXII

Science Museum of Western Virginia

As usual Stinky is nervously pacing beside the teleportation tunnel waiting for Periwinkle. He’s always afraid she won’t enjoy the adventure he has planned for them. Mid pace, Stinky hears the familiar whoosh of the tunnel and is ready to catch Periwinkle as she comes tumbling out. They share paw hugs and whisker kisses before Periwinkle asks what Stinky has planned for the day.

“Today, we are staying right here in town. My mom is going to drive us downtown to Center in the Square, and we are going to visit the Science Museum of Western Virginia.”

“That sounds like fun,” says Periwinkle.

“Mom’s ready to go so let’s go get in the car.”

When Periwinkle sees the stair chair leading down to the garage, she asks Stinky if he thinks his mom would let her ride down on it. He tells her sure, and she jumps on. She’s surprised how slow it moves, but still squeals, “wheee!” on the way down.

 

 

The two tabbies hop in the backseat of Stinky’s mom’s car and fasten their seat belts.

It only takes a few minutes for Stinky’s mom to drive them into town. Stinky promises to call her when they are ready to go home.

Toy Joy

Periwinkle and Stinky discover that the museum has ten different areas to explore. They realize they won’t be able to see them all in one day and pick Toy Joy as their first stop. There they discover larger-than-life toys and games.

They begin at the giant Light Bright board and each create a heart for the other. They giggle and hug when they discover they have each made the same thing.

 

 

Next they explore the giant Lego blogs. Of course, Stinky proceeds to climb on them. Periwinkle just rolls her eyes and doesn’t say anything.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats with giant lego blocks in front of a wall that reads, Toy Joy.

 

When Stinky finally gets down, he and Periwinkle set to work creating a grey tabby cat that somewhat resembles them.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats with a huge Lego grey and white tabby cat.

“That came out great, Stinky. We’re pretty talented,” says Periwinkle. Stinky agrees and adds, “It sure was a lot of work,though!”

Next they visit Imagination Playground. Stinky tells Periwinkle that it reminds him of Tinker Toys, something his humans played with as kids. They get to work adding pieces to the wall with no particular idea or design in mind.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats among large tinker toy-type items and a building wall.

 

Healthy Bodies

“Stinky, those were all fun things to do. Which area do you think we should visit next?” Periwinkle asks. They both decide they’d like to see the Healthy Bodies exhibit. They are hoping to find out a little more about their own bodies but aren’t too disappointed when they discover the exhibit is about humans. First, they check out Amazing Arteries and see how blood vessels and arteries transport blood cells from one location to another within the body.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats in front of a red wall with large clear tubes representing human blood vessels and arteries.

 

“This may be about humans, Periwinkle, but our system works the same way,” says Stinky. That gets Stinky another eye roll from Periwinkle, which he ignores.

“Hey Stinky, lets check out that giant mouth over there,” says Periwinkle as she points across the room.” Of course, Stinky immediately hops up into the mouth, while Periwinkle stands on the stool below.

 

Two cartoon tabby cats...one standing inside a replica of a human mouth and the other sitting on stool in front of it.

 

“Stinky, please get down before we get thrown out of here.” Hearing the frustration in Periwinkle’s voice, Stinky jumps down. They discover that the “Big Mouth” is sensitive to touch and asks trivia questions about oral anatomy and health. As the tabbies don’t know any of the answers, they move on to another area.

Dino Dig

When Stinky sees the dinosaur in the Dino Dig exhibit, he hops right into the display and the dinosaur’s mouth.

 

Two tabby cats with as dinosaur replica. One is standing it its mouth.

 

Periwinkle cannot believe how naughty Stinky is being today, but figures she might as well join him in the display; though, she has no intentions of getting in the dinosaurs mouth. She tells Stinky, “I figure if you are going to get thrown out of here, I might as well get tossed as well! You certainly are misbehaving more than usual today.”

“I’m sorry, Periwinkle. When the weather is cold and I get stuck in the house, I get bored. “

“I don’t understand why. You have cat trees all over the house and tons of toys.”

“It’s just not the same as getting out and exploring new things.”

“I guess that’s true, but let’s get out of the display before someone sees us,” says Periwinkle.

“There is so much to see here, but I’m getting hungry. Let’s come back another day. There’s a restaurant just across the street that my mom likes. Do you want to get some lunch?”

“Sure, let’s go,” Periwinkle replies.

Stinky takes Periwinkle’s paw and they head to Ernie’s.

Lunch at Ernie’s

 

Two cartoon tabby cats sitting in chairs shaped like hands, one in purple and one in orange, outside a restaurant named Ernie's.

 

“Stinky these are the coolest chairs I have ever seen. We must try them out.” The two jump into the chairs and agree they are quite comfortable. After a few minutes they go inside to order.

 

 

Periwinkle orders the grilled cheese sandwich, and Stinky orders the grilled chicken breast sandwich. They get home fries to share. When they have finished their lunch, Stinky calls his mom. She arrives a few minutes later and takes them home.

As always Periwinkle spends time visiting with Stinky’s fursibs. She finds several of them enjoying a sunpuddle on their mom and dad’s bed.

 

 

Unfortunately, it is soon time for Periwinkle to head home. She and Stinky spend several minutes whisker kissing and paw hugging. Finally, Periwinkle enters the tunnel, and with a wave and a whoosh she is gone.

Stinky joins his fursibs in the sunpuddle on the bed where he naps and dreams of Periwinkle.

The End

Periwinkle and Stinky will be joining the Happy Tuesday blog hop at Comedy Plus. You can do the same by clicking on the badge below.

Periwinkle and Stinky thank you for joining them on today’s adventure.

 

FRIENDS: AUDREY & SAWYER

Sparks

 

Two tabby cats lying on a bed in the sun with a quote from Paramahansa Yogananda.

 

Audrey likes Sawyer and spends lots of time near him, especially when we all go to bed at night. Of course, this is during the day. I am always happy when our newbies make friends with the other Kitties Blue. I wanted a Spark about friendship, as my friends are so important to me. I like how this quote tells us how to be a friend.

The author of today’s Spark, Paramahansa Yogananda (1893 – 1952), was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru. He introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India. The last 32 years of his life were spent in America.

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

Audrey and Sawyer will be participating in the Awww Mondays blog hop at Comedy Plus. You can join them there by clicking on the Awww badge.

The Adventures of Periwinkle & Stinky

 

Those two fun-loving tabbies, Periwinkle & Stinky, will be setting off on their next adventure tomorrow. You can join them right here, and they certainly hope you will. They always have more fun when you tag along. So, please drop by and lend them a hand or paw in whatever they get up to! They’ll be waiting for you.

 

 

 

A QUARTET OF TUXIE SELFIES

Sunday Selfies: Week #441

Today is one of three special days to celebrate tuxedo (tuxie) cats. I guess that speaks to how popular they are. This is Tuxedo Cat Appreciation Day.

 

And if one tuxie cat is good, then four must be GREAT! So today I am sharing selfies of our four tuxies, two angels and two current Kitties Blue. On the left are Daphne and Mau, and on the right are Lisbeth and Misty May. Dad Tom calls Lisbeth a cow cat, as she is more white than black, but that’s just how he sees her.

 

A collage of four photos of four different tuxedo (black and white) cats.

 

Just in case you missed the opportunity to honor your tuxie(s) today, here are the dates for the other two celebrations: September 9 is Tuxie Appreciation Day and November 29 is known as National Tuxedo Cat Day!

Remembering Emmy

As we often do on our Sunday Selfies posts, we’d like to remember a special friend who recently received her angel wings—Emmy from 15AndMeowing. Being a tuxie girl herself, this day is meant to celebrate her as well.

 

 

If you haven’t had the opportunity to visit Emmy’s human mom and dad, Ellen and David, click here to go to 15AndMeowing.

Hopping Time

Now it’s the time when you get to share your selfie with all of us as well as your other friends. You can link up below anytime now through Thursday. And thanks so much for joining us. Each of you are special, and we totally appreciate you being our friends and part of the hop.

 

 



RAINBOW TABBY CAT & KITTEN

Caturday Art

I created today’s art by taking a screen shot of a three second video of Cooper Murphy, Audrey, Misty May and Raleigh. Only Cooper and Audrey remain in the photo along with a lion toy from Cat Lady Box in Audrey’s paws.

 

A tabby cat and a tabby kitten lying on a rug in an art rendering in rainbow colors with a rainbow frame made up of triangles.

 

To create the art I used the Heavenly Garden effect from Painnt. I changed the hue slightly. I added the Flux filter from piZap at about 20 percent. The frame is from favpng.

Here is a puzzle for all our jigsaw fans.

preview108pieceTwo Tabby Cats Art

Cooper Murphy and Audrey are joining the Caturday Art blog hop hosted by the lovely Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty. To do the same, click on Athena’s badge.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

Oh boy, it’s already the last Sunday in January and that much closer to spring. We are very fortunate to have made it this far through winter with no snow. Hallelujah! We know some our friends haven’t been as fortunate.

The weather prediction for today in our area is for above normal temperatures, and Kitties Blue are looking forward to some catio time. Maybe one of them will be kind enough to take a moment out their bird watching and napping to snap a selfie. I certainly have my fingers crossed. And we all hope you will take a short break from your day’s activities to do the same.  You know all your friends, including Kitties Blue, will be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Have a great Caturday. Thanks for stopping by to see us.

 

 

THE EXPLORER AND THE OBSERVER

Feline Friday

 

Two orange tabby cats on a catio - one on the table observing and one exploring empty boxes.

 

Raleigh is exploring boxes ready for recycling as Cooper Murphy observes. Just in case you’re thinking we deprived the gang from playing in the boxes, I can assure you that all the Kitties Blue did have the opportunity to play in many of them.

Today, Cooper Murphy and Raleigh are joining the Feline Friday blog hop. The hop has moved from our friend, Sandee’s, Comedy Plus blog to messymimi’s meanderings. To participate click on the Feline Friday badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

Time again to let you know a bit more about Kitties Blue and myself by completing the weekly fill-ins. Friendly Fill-Ins is a blog hop hosted by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). On Thursday they each select two sentences to be filled in by hop participants, and you can find those on both blogs. Enter the hop by clicking on the graphic.

I had to enlist the help of Sawyer to complete this week’s fill-ins. He’s my go-to guy when I cannot think of something to complete the sentence. We both used teal italics for our fill-ins.

1. I always forget to charge my cell phone.

2. Sawyer: I never forget to ask for treats.

3. Sawyer: Nothing makes me pout more than Mom or Dad forgetting it’s treat time.

4. It might sound outrageous, but I am very happy to be old.

Thanks for stopping by. Please join us tomorrow for some Caturday Art.

 

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

It’s Thursday, so that means it is time to participate in Angel Sammy and Teddy’s (Two Spoiled Cats) poetry challenge.

My poem is total silliness, just like the inspiration photo. I did not include any of the Kitties Blue. I could picture them sitting among the stuffed animals but could not come up with an accompanying scenario to explain their presence.

 

Car covered in stuffed animals except for windows, wheels and tires.

 

Imagination or Obsession

All I can think of is: What would happen if it rains?
Would all the stuffies come unglued
And need to be a attached all over again?
Or would the owner throw the soggy mess away
And begin gluing new bears and bunnies the very next day?
I admire anyone with imagination but what about common sense?
Surely they would have considered the possibility of a mess.
Or maybe this person leaves their silly car at home,
Unless the day is bright, sunny and free from storms,
Tucked up in a nice garage safe and dry
Protecting the car they spent so much time to “beautify.”
I bet, if I was a kid, I’d think this auto was super cool
And want to share it for show ‘n tell at school.
But it doesn’t pay to spend all this time in speculation.
Everyone is entitled to their particular fascination…
Whether it be vintage clothes or a ceramic pig collection
Or a car covered in stuffed animals of every description!

© Janet Buickerood Blue – 01/25/2023

Just like last week, I had no idea where this poem was going when I started it. Some poems like that are more successful than others. I’d say this is one of the “others.”

If you’d like to try writing some poetry, check out Two Spoiled Cats (by clicking on the poetry badge) for next week’s inspiration photo. And, as I always suggest, please read Angel Sammy’s poem when you visit. He sends it to Teddy each week from the Rainbow Bridge, and he is a wonderful and masterful poet.

Thankful Thursday

Thursday is the day for poetry and thankfuls. We have a short list this week.

  • I am thankful that a day of heavy rain was not one of snow.
  • I also am thankful that once again I was close by when Sawyer had a seizure. (He recently has been having a seizure every eighth day, so I had been anticipating one the entire day.)
  • Kitties Blue and I are thankful for those of you who have been reading the “Looking Back” posts and commenting.
  • And, as always, we are thankful for all our friends, followers and supporters.

Note from Misty May

The tub she was licking yesterday was empty. It had been filled with margarine that is made with yoghurt. It only had tiny remnants of margarine remaining. She’s spoiled rotten, but we do draw the line when it comes to giving the gang people food, except for a possible taste of something that won’t hurt them. Misty May normally is banished from the kitchen at mealtime, as she will not stay off the island while we are eating.

Thankful Thursday is a blog hop hosted by Brian. To participate, post on your blog for what you are thankful and then click on his badge to join the hop.

SPOILED ROTTEN CAT!

Wordless Wednesday

 

Old, tuxedo cat licking the sides of an empty margarine container.

 

Misty May is joining the Wordless Wednesday blog hop at Comedy Plus. If you’d like to participate, click on the WW badge.

Looking Back

“Kitties Blue Hiding” is this week’s Looking Back post. It is from September 2012 and loaded with some super cute photos (mostly of our angels). I think you’ll enjoy reading it and seeing the photos. Click on the title to check it out.

 

MISS PHOTOGENIC

Sunday Selfies: Week #440

Not since Mauricio have we had a cat who enjoyed posing for the camera as much as Kizmet. All the other Kitties Blue turn away as quickly as possible. It doesn’t hurt that she is a very attractive young lady. She hopes you like her selfie!

 

Portrait of a grey cat in an ornate gold and pink frame.

 

Now it’s your turn to share your selfie. I am certain you will take one that rivals Kizmet’s for adorableness. And I know we and all your other friends want to see it. Don’t worry if you cannot join our hop today, however, it remains open through Thursday.

On behalf of Kitties Blue and myself, thank you so much for participating in our hop. Amazingly, this is week number 440. I truly do not know how those weeks and years passed so quickly!

Wishing everyone an easy Sunday!

 

 



DILUTE TORTIE SUNPUDDLE CATURDAY ART

Caturday Art

 

Dilute tortoise shell cat in an art photo in green, blue, aqua and peach with an aqua frame with stars in the corners.

 

Calista Jo was enjoying a sunpuddle in this photo. That seems to be a favorite Kitties Blue pastime recently!

To create the art, I used the Wintering Vegetation effect from Painnt. I changed the hue of the original effect and increased the saturation. The frame is once again from favpng.

And, of course, I created a puzzle for those, like myself, who enjoy them.

preview99pieceDilute Tortie Cat Art

Kizmet is joining Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop. You can do the same by clicking on Athena’s badge.

Sunday Selfies Reminder

It’s that time again to hop along with us by sharing your selfie tomorrow. I think Kizmet will be your host, but I cannot promise or guarantee anything. So, as usual, you will need to stop by to find out. Even if you do not share a selfie, we’ll be looking for you!

As always, we appreciate everyone who does participate.

Have a happy Caturday!

 

WARMING THEIR TABBY TUMMIES

Feline Friday

 

 

Sawyer and Audrey were warming their tabby tummies atop the living room radiator yesterday morning.

Today they are joining the Feline Friday blog hop. The hop has moved from our friend, Sandee’s, Comedy Plus blog to messymimi’s meanderings. To participate click on the Feline Friday badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

Time again to let you know a bit more about Kitties Blue and myself by completing the weekly fill-ins. Friendly Fill-Ins is a blog hop hosted by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). On Thursday they each select two sentences to be filled in by hop participants, and you can find those on both blogs. Enter the hop by clicking on the graphic.

I had to enlist the help of Kitties Blue to complete this week’s fill-ins. We all used teal italics for our fill-ins. Additional information is in parentheses.

1. Everything (especially my body) makes me feel old.

2. Listening to 60’s music makes me feel young.

3. Kitties Blue: Recently, our heated floors in the kitchen and bathrooms came in very handy. (The furnace wasn’t working.)

4. I think that dwelling in the past is the most useless way to spend my time.

Thank you for visiting us today. We’ll be back tomorrow with some Caturday Art.