Kitties Blue

CAT SHARK ATTACK

Feline Friday

Sometimes Dad Tom does something totally out of character for him. In this case, I think his reasoning is more than slightly flawed.

 

cat shark attack: dilute tortoise shell cat in a shark costume in a three-photo collage.

 

Kitties Blue do not like costumes, hats, sweaters or any other form of attire. Dad Tom, however, thought it would be fun to have them dressed as sharks the next time Chris comes to clean. She always brings treats and/or nip, and the gang all swarm around her. Chewy has their costumes on sale: buy three get one free. We now have eight shark costumes. This is a very miffed Calista Jo modeling. I dared Tom to try to get one of these on Astrid, Sawyer and Raleigh. There will definitely be bloodshed in our future and quite possibly a shark costume giveaway.

Shark C.J. will be participating in the Feline Friday blog hop hosted by messymimi’s meanderings. If you’d like to do the same, click on the badge below.

Friendly Fill-Ins

The Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop is hosted each Friday by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). They publish the fill-in sentences on their blogs each Thursday. To join the hop, click on the badge at the left.

I actually could have completed all the fill-ins myself this week without any help from Kitties Blue. Sawyer, however, asked if he could complete #1, and I cannot deny that boy anything. So, here are our fill-ins. We both used teal italics for the completions.

1. Sawyer: Noelle, Temptations treats and Friskie’s treats are a few of my favorite things.

2. If I had a lot of money, I would open a sanctuary for black cats.

3. You don’t have to be young to care for and love cats.

4. Aches and pains comes with age.

Thanks for joining us today. I apologize that I have been mostly missing when it comes to visiting your blogs. I definitely will try to do better beginning this weekend.

🎂 HAPPY NINETEENTH BIRTHDAY ANGELS 🌈

Together Again

On July 17, three years ago, our sweet Mau left us. On Friday, the 15th, his sisfur, Misty May, joined him at 2:45 p.m. He missed his 16th birthday by two months. Misty May missed her 19th by two days.

Misty May started going down hill the day after her Tuesday vet visit. By Thursday evening, it was evident that she would not make it until today. I put her on my pillow at bedtime, which was her place, and she slept there until she moved in between Dad Tom and me, which had always been Mau’s spot. Friday morning she was unable to stand. I held her all day both before and after she passed. She was in my arms when she flew away.

So today, Dad Tom and I wish these two special angels a happy birthday. I hope you will enjoy these photos of them as kittens. They were almost eight when I started this blog, and you can find dozens of photos of them here as adults.

 

birthday angels: tuxedo kitten

 

birthday angels: collage of tuxedo kittens
birthday angels: collage of tuxedo kittens
birthday angels: collage of tuxedo kittens
birthday angels: collage of tuxedo kittens

 

They were both truly loved and will be missed and remembered always.

Sunday Selfies: Week #474

Please join our angels, Mau and Misty May, on this hop and share your selfie with the eight remaining Kitties Blue and all your other friends.

Thank you for stopping by today to say, “good-bye,” to our two beautiful angels. Also, thanks for following, commenting and supporting us. We truly appreciate your friendship.

I will be taking the day off tomorrow, but Periwinkle and Stinky will be here on Tuesday for Meow Like a Pirate Day.

 



I’D RATHER BE A PANDA OR A CAT

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

Time for some poetry. Angel Sammy and Teddy (Two Spoiled Cats) provided an adorable inspiration photo for this week. I am a huge panda fan, which you’ll be able to read about in my thankfuls later in the post.

 

panda cat: Baby panda in the snow riding on a hobby horse.

If I Weren’t Human

Playing in the snow is fun,
whether your a panda or a human.
If I weren’t a person, I’d like to
be a panda or a house cat.
I bet you already guessed that!
If I was a panda, I wouldn’t need
to worry about my weight.
And, if I was a feline, I’d never hesitate
to demand whatever I wanted
even if I wasn’t asked.

© Janet Buickerood Blue – 08/30/2023

Did you notice the baby panda’s blep?

I didn’t do justice to this adorable little panda in my poem. I may try again and will include whatever I come up with in a future post. Adding a cat to the photo, as I often do, might fuel my imagination!

If you’d like to join in the fun of writing poetry, click on Angel Sammy’s poetry badge. That will take you over to Two Spoiled Cats where you can find next week’s inspiration photo. You’ll also be able to read Angel Sammy’s poem for this week. He’s a terrific poet!

Thankful Thursday

Kitties Blue and I like to share our thankfuls each week and participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. Here are our thankfuls for this week.

1. My first thankful has to do with the above photo. I have loved pandas for a very long time. My vanity license plate was once PANDAS. Dad Tom and I visited the original pandas, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. very often. I could spend the day watching the pandas.

One visit was during winter when snow was on the ground like in the photo. I think we were the only visitors on that day, and that’s where my thankful comes in. As we were watching the pandas in their outdoor enclosure, we were approached by a zoo employee. He just happened to be one of the panda keepers. He invited us inside the panda house and to an area not open to the public. We were able to stand right next to the pandas with just some chain link fencing between us. I could have touched Ling Ling and had to hold myself back. Pandas have very strong jaws. This is one of my best memories!

2. Dad Tom and I are thankful Misty May’s ulcer on her eye is shrinking. I, however, am weary! I’m in charge of the midnight and 4 a.m. administration of eye drops. Dad Tom does the 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. The noon, 4 and 8 p.m. are done my whichever one of us is available. Dad Tom will be leaving for a few days, and I will be responsible for administering all drops. I am already sleep deprived, but I expect I’ll be a babbling idiot by the time he returns. But Misty May is worth it!

3. Though, Sawyer had a seizure on Monday evening; we are thankful it had been at least a month, that we know of, since his last one.

4. I am thankful for 2,700 Peloton rides.

5. Periwinkle and Stinky are thankful for 200 adventures and for those who attended Periwinkle’s Birthday Party on Tuesday.

If you would like to participate in the Thankful Thursday blog hop, click on the badge below.

Thanks for stopping by to see us.

WEDDING DAY BLUES SANS FELINES

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

If it is Thursday, I am going to be writing poetry based on an inspiration photo provided by Angel Sammy and Teddy from Two Spoiled Cats. Here’s this week’s photo.

 

Wedding Day Blues Felines: Bride looking under the hood of a vintage car while groom sits on sidelines.

 

I really wanted to load up this car with some of Kitties Blue staring out the windows! Unfortunately coming up with a poem to match that scenario proved exceedingly difficult. So here’s my poem sans felines.

Wedding Day Blues

The ceremony was magical.
The reception beautiful and perfect.
Now we are left in this predicament−
stranded on the side of the road.
Renting this fancy, vintage auto
was my groom’s lame-brained idea.
He knows nothing about cars and sits
miserably moping and mumbling, no help
at all. My high school auto mechanics class
helped me identify the problem, but I have
no tools to make the repair. Cell phone
service is non-existent. Our only hope
is another car passing along this
deserted stretch of road. I’m not holding
my breath. So much for the honeymoon.

© Janet Buickerood Blue – 08/30/2023

If you’d like to join in the fun of writing poetry, click on Angel Sammy’s poetry badge. That will take you over to Two Spoiled Cats where you can find next week’s inspiration photo. You’ll also be able to check out Angel Sammy’s poem for this week. He always writes a great one!

Thankful Thursday

Kitties Blue and I like to share our thankfuls each week and participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. Here’s our thankfuls for this week.

To me it appears that after eight days of treatment, the cyst in Misty May’s eye has shrunk some. Dad Tom and I are very thankful for this. I will be calling the vet tomorrow to see if we can get another week’s worth of serum to treat it in the hopes it will shrink even more.

We are always thankful that we live in an area that is rarely effected by devastating storms and other natural disasters. We are praying for everyone in Lahaina, where fires are burning again, and all those who were and continue to be in the path of hurricane Idalia.

Kitties Blue and I are always thankful to everyone who follows, visits and comments on our posts. We are grateful for your friendship and support.

If you’d like to participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop, post on your blog the things for which you are thankful, then click on the badge below to go to Brian’s Home and link up.


 

THREE CATIO CATS

Feline Friday

 

Three cats are on the catio with a cat tree in the foreground: two ginger tabbies and one torbie actually in the tree.

 

Dad Tom got this terrific photo of Audrey, Cooper Murphy and Raleigh enjoying the catio on Wednesday. I think they were just hanging out, but they might have been plotting a coup.

They’ll be joining the Feline Friday blog hop hosted by messy mimi’s meanderings. If you’d like to do the same, click on the badge below.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins

The Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop is hosted each Friday by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). The sentences to be filled in can be found on their blogs each Thursday. To join the hop, click on the badge at the left.

The Fill-Ins are always easier to complete when I get help from one or more of the Kitties Blue. My most faithful assistant is Sawyer, and he is back today with a fill-in for #4. We both used teal italics for our completions.

I apologize for not completing Fill-Ins #1 and #2. I absolutely could not think of a fill-in for either.

1. A word I have trouble pronouncing is ?. (A few decades ago, I had a problem with the word potpourri. I am certain words exist that I cannot pronounce, but that would be because I do not know the word.)
2. A word I usually spell wrong is ?. (For years I could not spell occasion, but I finally figured it out.)
3. If I had not followed Tom from California to Missouri, my life would be very different.
4. Sawyer: Continuing to look at Mom or Dad with an expectant expression and smacking my lips is the best way to get treats.

So that’s it for today. Kitties Blue and I appreciate you for joining us. We will return tomorrow with some Caturday Art.

 

THE ART SHOW WITH KITTIES BLUE & THANKFULS

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

 

And art show at Montmartre with the addition of four cats (Kitties Blue) and cat art.

 

Here we go again—another Thursday means another poem based on an inspiration photo provided by Angel Sammy and Teddy from Two Spoiled Cats. As I tend to do when possible, I have added four of the Kitties Blue crew to the photo. They are fairly small, so you may have to hunt for them. If you enlarge the photo a bit, you may also see some of the current and past Kitties Blue in the art.

Now here’s my poem along with an apology. I do not consider this poem finished. I think it needs another stanza, but I just cannot come up with one at this time. Back in the 80s, I participated in a two-week-long poetry workshop at Redford University. The instructor was a well-known southern poet, Jeff Daniel Marion*. Something he said in that workshop has stuck with me all these years. He said that most poems are never completed but just abandoned. That’s how I feel about this one.

As you read the poem, imagine Calista Jo, Sawyer, Astrid and Lisbeth having a conversation.

The Art Show With Kitties Blue

What a wonderful place for a stroll,
as long as we watch our toes!
When humans are distracted looking at art,
they may trip on us, and that would smart.

I like all the colors and patterns in the art,
but mostly I like that some cats are included as part
of the exhibition and sale—and not just any felines.
Some Kitties Blue are included in the designs.

I see some of our angels as well.
Mau and Madison and Daphne prevail.
But I also observe Cooper Murphy and Calista Jo
displayed in this sale and colorful show.

What an honor is this inclusion of Kitties Blue.
I wish we had money so we could purchase a few
to take home as gifts for Mom and Dad.
They might feel sad at seeing their angels but also glad.

© Janet Buickerood Blue – 08/23/2023

 

If you’d like to join in the fun of writing poetry, click on Angel Sammy’s poetry badge. That will take you over to Two Spoiled Cats where you can find next week’s inspiration photo. You’ll also be able to check out Angel Sammy’s poem for this week. He is one of our favorite poets!

∗ Numerous web-sites about Marion and his poetry exist. To find out more about him or read his works, search him by name on Google.

Thankful Thursday

Kitties Blue and I like to share our thankfuls each week and participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. Here’s what we are thankful for this week.

Misty May is thankful for the prayers and POTP, as we treat her for the corneal ulcer on her left eye.
All of us are thankful that Dad Tom found a new hummingbird feeder that ants cannot infiltrate.
Dad Tom and I are thankful we did not contract COVID at the funeral we attended, as some others did.
Periwinkle & Stinky are thankful that so many of you joined their sunflower adventure at Beaver Dam Farm. If you missed it, here’s the link: “THE ADVENTURES OF PERIWINKLE & STINKY: PART CXCVIII.”
Kitties Blue and I are thankful for all of you who visit, read our posts and comment. And we thank you for joining us today.

If you’d like to participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop, post on your blog the things for which you are thankful, then click on the badge below to go to Brian’s Home and link up.

 

CAT WITHIN A CAT HEART ART

Caturday Art

Lisbeth is back again today with another photo in the bedroom near the cat toy bin.

 

Cat within a cat heart: an arty version of a photo of a tuxie cat looking over her shoulder and framed with the outline of an orange cat with a heart at its center.

 

I like how Lisbeth is looking over her shoulder at me while I snap her photo.

Of course, I used Painnt to create this. This is the Hallucinate effect with a slight decrease in brightness and increase in contrast. And, as always, my frame is from favpng.

I did create a puzzle for all the fans, including myself.

preview110pieceCat Within a Cat Art

Lisbeth will be participating in the Caturday Art blog hop hosted by Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty. If you’d like to check out the art from other bloggers or link up some of your own, click on Athena’s badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

The Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop is hosted each Friday by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). You can find the Fill-Ins on their blogs each Thursday. To join the hop, click on the badge at the left.

As we were celebrating Astrid and Lisbeth’s 12th birthdays yesterday, I didn’t post our fill-ins, so I have them today.

The Fill-Ins are always easier to complete when I get help from one or more of the Kitties Blue. This week I had a little help from Misty May. We both used teal italics for our completions. Explanatory information is in parentheses.

1. A sight I would like to unsee is the devastation caused by the fires on Maui. (My friend who lives in Maui had moved out of Lahaina and no longer has her gift shop there. She was visiting family in L.A. when the fire broke out. The fire did not reach her home. My nephew, who is part owner of a business in Lahaina, had returned home to California from Maui just a few days before the fire. He and his partner lost their business. I am thankful he was not there at the time. He works as a Captain with Cal Fire, and I fear he might have been tempted to try to do something to save the business.)

2. I plan to do a lot more gardening and yard work before the summer is over.

3. I sometimes forget that living with nine cats isn’t considered normal by most.

4. Misty May: If my life were a book, the current chapter I’m in would be titled, “Let’s Get This Over With.” (Misty May turns 19 on September 17. That is one birthday I won’t forget! She isn’t in any pain, still sleeps on my pillow or face, enjoys cuddling and sunbathing on the catio! We feed her every time she asks, which is several times each day. She seems quite content and is probably not thinking what I put for the fill-in. Dad Tom, however, said it was inappropriate for me to say that about myself.)

Sunday Selfies Reminder

Another week has flown by, and it’s now only 128 days until Christmas! Anyhoo, that means it is time to think about getting your selfie snapped for tomorrow’s blog hop. As usual, I have no idea which of the Kitties Blue will be here to greet you. I’ll most likely try to snag someone while they are sprawled out snoozing on the catio. We had the most beautiful day yesterday, with the high in the mid-80s and relatively low humidity. Today is supposed to be the same prior to our weather returning to hot and humid for next week. Whomever is here, as well as all the other Kitties Blue and your many blogging friends will be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping in to see us today. We all wish you a wonderful Caturday!

 

 

FELINES COMPLETE FILL-INS

Feline Friday

Audrey and Raleigh are here today in a photo from their first Gotcha Day celebration. They were indulging in a bit of smacky paws prior to me snapping their photo.

I don’t know if you realize or have noticed that all the Kitties Blue wear collars with an ID tag. You can see, however, that Raleigh is naked. As he avoids being touched, it is very difficult to get his collar on him. Whenever we do get him dressed, that usually lasts less than 24 hours. He either yanks it off himself or gets in a tussle with one of the other Kitties Blue, who end up pulling it off. He is the only cat we have ever had who dos not wear a collar 24/7.

Raleigh actually let both Dad Tom and I briefly pet him on his Gotcha Day. Maybe we are making progress.

 

Feline Fill-Ins: Torbie cat lying on her side next to a sitting, collarless, pale ginger tabby cat.

Raleigh and Audrey will be joining the Feline Friday blog hop hosted by messymimi’s meanderings. To join them on the hop, click on the Feline Friday badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

I am pleased when I can get help completing the fill-ins selected by our blog hop hosts, Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). This week I am fortunate to have only needed to do the first one. My frequent assistant, Sawyer, completed numbers two and four, and he convinced Stinky to do number three. I am grateful for the help. We all used teal italics for our completions.

1. I would describe my home as my sanctuary and favorite place to spend my time.

2 Sawyer: I would never give my treats to any of the other Kitties Blue, but I would share with Noelle.

3. Stinky: I share my secrets with no one but Periwinkle.

4. Sawyer: Did I ever tell you that I like treats and love my girlfriend Noelle?

If you want to take part in the Friendly Fill-ins, click on on the badge and you will be whisked away to the Four-Legged Furballs blog where you can enter your link.

Thanks for popping in today. We’ll be back tomorrow with some Caturday Art.

 

 

KITTIES BLUE CELEBRATE

Today is a special celebration day at the home of Kitties Blue with two major events.

Second Anniversary of Sawyer’s Second Gotcha Day

Kitties Blue Celebrate: Portrait of grey tabby cat with green eyes.Two years ago today I brought Sawyer home after his three-and-a-half week walkabout. His original Gotcha Day was November 25, 2017. After being missing for an extended period of time in 2021, I felt that his return home was a second Gotcha Day.

That was one of the happiest days of life; though, Sawyer was frightened and didn’t come willing. We arrived home with me bleeding from many bite and scratch wounds. Here are links to the post I wrote and the post Sawyer wrote after his return.

MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!

SAWYER’S SIDE OF THE STORY

11th Blogoversary

It was a strange coincidence that Sawyer’s homecoming and our blogoversary fell on the same day. It was the second coincidence of that day, as Sawyer was retrieved from the house where Dad Tom and I adopted Skooter, our first cat. I mentioned in the recent post about Angel Mau that I believe in angels. That is the only explanation I have for these three disparate events happening concurrently.

If you’d like to check out our very first post from 2012, here’s the link to that.

WHY THE CAT ON MY HEAD?

When the blog began, we already had nine angel cats and seven current cats. The only ones of those seven still with us are Misty May, Astrid and Lisbeth. The other six are all newbies!

Time to Celebrate

I asked Cooper Murphy to bake us a big, bright festive cake, and he came through for us again.

 

Kitties Blue Celebrate: Colorful two-tiered cake with candy and a donut as decoration.

 

We cannot have a party without some great noms and drinks.

 

Collage with food items: grilled salmon, shrimp, fully-loaded burger, bacon pie.

Collage of food with angry bird pizza, steak, lobster, various types of chicken and sushi.

Food collage with berry iced tea, kiwi-catnip ice cream, grilled shrimp and champagne.

 

Please help yourselves and stay as long as you like.

Thank You from Kitties Blue

If anyone had told me 11 years ago that I would still be writing this blog in 2023, I would have laughed. I started it because of my love for writing and cats, and because I have a terribly short attention span. I was certain blogging would hold my attention long enough to write what amounts to a page a day. And now here we are 3,257 pages later.

Two things have kept me plugging away all these years. The first is that we continued to add additional cats to the family, which provided me with more stories to tell. The second is all of you who have followed, supported, commented and befriended us. I have said it before, but I believe it bears repeating: The pet blogging community is filled with the most caring and compassionate individuals one can hope to meet. Kitties Blue and I will be forever grateful to each of you.

Purrs and paw-pats, angel Lily Olivia, angel Mauricio, Misty May, angel Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Sawyer, Kizmet, Audrey & Raleigh

Warm hugs, Janet

 

SEVENTH ANNIVERSARY FOR ASTRID & SAMPY

Feline Friday

Seven years ago today at the BlogPaws Conference, two absolutely adorable kitties were married in absentia.

 

Cartoon-type portrait of a tortoise shell cat and a tuxedo cat dressed as a bride and groom.

 

Our Astrid and Sampson (aka Sampy) of Kitty Cat Chronicles and now, Kitty Cat Go, became husband and wife. If you were unaware of this or have never read the post, here’s the link, “Introducing the Newlyweds.”

These two have had many fun times through the years as well as anniversary celebrations. You can check any of those out by entering Astrid Sampy in the search feature near the bottom of the sidebar. Also, you can find out more about Sampy by clicking on The Felines tab on our menu bar.

The adorable drawing above was created by the talented Lorianne of Friendly Fill-Ins fame and the blog, Four-Legged Furballs.

Astrid made Sampy a card.

 

Anniversary card with a photo of a tortoise shell cat and a tuxedo cat surrounded by a rainbow colored heart.

 

The two sweethearts will be jumping over to celebrate at messymimi’s meanderings. To join them on the blog hop, click on the Feline Friday badge.

Friendly Fill-Ins

I was happy to have help again this week to complete the fill-ins selected by our blog hop hosts, Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Lorianne (Four-Legged Furballs). I sort of thought Astrid might help me, but she passed. All nine of the Kitties Blue, however, put their heads together to fill in #1. We all used teal italics for our completions. Any additional information is in parentheses.

1. All Kitties Blue: Never underestimate the power of a well-timed stink eye.

2. Days of constant rain and no sun makes me depressed and useless.

3. I need to continue to follow the Noom program so that I can lose ten more pounds. (I am down 16 pounds since March 31.)

4. I didn’t realize how expensive it would be to adopt Raleigh and Audrey until I had taken them for their first vet visit. (When we adopted Kizmet, she had already had her vaccines and spay surgery, and we only had to pay an adoption fee.)

So that’s it for today. Thanks for joining us. I apologize for not posting yesterday. See #2 above for the explanation.

We will be back tomorrow for some Caturday Art and a puzzle. We’ll hope to see you again then.