All Kitties Blue

COOPER MURPHY’S FIRST PIRATE DAY

Meowin’ Like a Pirate

Kitties Blue, except Cooper Murphy, are old ~~hands~~ hooks at celebrating Meowin’ Like a Pirate Day. Cooper was excited when he heard he would get an official pirate’s name. And here it is: Nick “Captain Of Rats” Scar, “The Scurvy Dog of Nowhere Key!” He’s furry happy with that “Captain of Rats” moniker.

Of course, the remainder of us already have pirate names:

Lily Olivia: Sal “Tall Tide” Seamen, “The Bounty of Ape Bay!”

Astrid: Opal “Voodoo” Murphy, “The Fury of Rum Atoll!”

Mauricio: Dick “Shivers” Welch, “The Serpent of Locker Island!”

Misty May: Sadie “Toothy Grin” Jamieson, “The Captain of Seaweed Bay!”

Giulietta: Georgette “Parrot Charmer” Dunkin, “The Stranded Sailor of Seastar Reef!”

Lisbeth: Bella “Parrot Charmer” Trembles, “The Poison Claw of Rogue’s Bay!”

Calista Josette: Betty “Fair Wind” Dunkin, “The Demon of Mango Cove!”

We actually have a new galleon this year, The Blue Fancy. We’ve already been out on the open seas pillaging and plundering and have a chest full of doubloons. Unfortunately, Lisbeth lost a paw during our marauding and now has a hook. We’re all staying out of her way. We don’t think we can defend ourselves against that even if we sharpen our claws.

We are sailing across the ocean to Speedy’s place for his annual Pirate Party. It’s arrrgh-ubly the bestest party of the year. You don’t want to be walkin’ the plank or hangin’ from the yardarm for missing it. We better leave now if we are going to make it on time.

Ahoy, ye scurvy scalawags!

ARE YOU NAUGHTY?

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

If it’s Thursday, it must be time for some poetry. Mom wasn’t feeling like writing anything this week, so she left the task to us. The prompt letter is “N.” We decided to take the easy route, however, and use one of the prompt words as our subject. Those words are: 1) Naughty, 2) Nice, 3) Normal and 4) New. We started our poem by combining naughty and nice, but then we thought it would be more truthful just to write about “naughty.”

We Don’t Try to Be Naughty

Sometimes we are naughty.
Cats cannot always control themselves.
Often we’ll trip you on the stairs
And steal treats right off the shelves.

Shredding your newspaper isn’t malicious,
To us it’s our way to get your attention.
And kneading your flesh with claws extended
Isn’t intended to cause you tension.

Nice to naughty can come in a whisker’s flick
When a misplaced paw breaks a bauble,
But we never do it on purpose.
We don’t try to get ourselves in trouble.

Horking in your shoe really isn’t intentional,
As when we make you unhappy, we are sad.
Naughty somehow just comes naturally.
We never set out to make you mad.

When you think we are being naughty,
Just remember it’s not deliberate,
We’re just happy and frisky kitties…
Not uncaring and badly behaved misfits!

Cooper Murphy works on our poem about being naughty.

“Hey Mom, How do you spell naughty?”

We are participating in Angel Sammy and Teddy’s (Two Spoiled Cats) Thoroughly Poetic Thursday. To read Sammy’s poem and/or find links to poems by other bloggers, click on his badge.

Thankful Thursday

This week we are truly thankful that all our friends who were in the path of Hurricane Iris are safe.

We are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. To participate, click on Brian’s badge.

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

OUR MOM THE SLACKER

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

As we do every Thursday, we are joining Angel Sammy and Teddy from Two Spoiled Cats for their day of poetry. This week’s prompt letter is “M.” The four words suggested as topics are: 1) Marvelous, 2) Mom, 3) Mud and 4) Meow. It was a difficult choice, but we decided on mom. We must warn you, however, that our poem may not be what you’d expect.

Our Mom the Slacker

We wish the word nice described our mom,
But we can tell you that would be buncombe.
She could be if she’d give us more treats
Or something nommy off her plate to eat.

She doesn’t bring us visiting nearly enough.
She claims her time is filled with other stuff.
But we know that’s only a lame excuse,
So she can get away with this dastardly kitty abuse.

Nothing is more important than doing our bidding.
If she thinks otherwise, she is only kidding
Herself but definitely never these Kitties Blue.
We know when our mom is not telling true.

Anything that isn’t all about us,
Is just a lot of bother and fuss.
A mom should give 100 percent for her cats.
That’s just how it is; it’s a matter of fact.

What we want are lots and lots of scritches
And oodles of lap time without her bitches.
Of snuggles and cuddles we deserve lots more
And extra toys so we don’t become bored.

We think it might be time to go on strike,
Unless she begins doing exactly what we like—
Filling our bowls to the top with fresh fishes
And letting us lick all the human dishes.

We also want to stay on the catio 24/7,
As that would be our idea of total heaven.
But we suspect nothing will change,
And for a new mom we’ll need to arrange.

We hope everyone knows that we are just joking. Both our mom and dad are terrific, and we are all spoiled. But what cat couldn’t use more love and treats and toys!

To read Angel Sammy’s poem and find links to other poems, click on the badge below.

Thankful Thursday

Today, Kitties Blue are giving thanks for our terrific humans who care for and love us.

We are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop with this post. To join, click on the badge below.

Prayers Please

We are not thankful, however, for is this new hurricane heading directly for Florida. Mom and Dad have personal friends in Florida, and we have lots of blogging friends there. We are especially worried for Mom Sharon and Allie and Raz (Friends Furever). Dad Bill remains in the hospital where he is safe; though, he still needs your healing prayers.

Please pray for everyone in Florida that they remain unharmed. It is our fervent wish that Irma weakens before reaching Florida and veers away out into the Atlantic far enough not to impact anyone living on the east coast.

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

September 7, 2017 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Poetry Prayers Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 16

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH CATS

Wordless Wednesday

September 6, 2017 by Janet Blue Nipheads Wordless Wednesday 23

INTERNATIONAL CAT DAY 2017

International Cat Day with Cooper Murphy

This is my first International Cat Day, and I am taking a short time away from Cat Scouts Summer Camp to talk with you about it. For starters, I think I am going to like having 24 hours dedicated to me, me and ME! Oh yeah, and my sisfurs and brofur Mau as well. Our humans try not to play favorites. But I am the new kid, and as I said, it is my first International Cat Day. That should get me a little something extra!

Anyhoo…International (World) Cat Day was established in 2002 by IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare). It certainly took them long enough to recognize the 500 million or so cats living around the world. The IFAW says cats are the most popular pet on the planet. I could have told them that. (The mission of the IFAW is to rescue and protect animals worldwide, including safeguarding populations and preserving habitat.)

Not all kitties are as fortunate as Kitties Blue to have loving humans to care for, feed, house and protect them. So today, my siblings and I would like to remind you that lots of kitties are waiting in shelters, in every corner of the world, for their happily ever after. If you need an excuse to adopt a cat, consider these facts: Cats can help relieve anxiety, stress and depression as well as prevent heart attacks; petting a cat has been shown to lower blood pressure. Of course, if you can’t adopt or foster, consider volunteering at a shelter and bringing some love and attention to those who aren’t as fortunate as Kitties Blue.

Of course, all cats want to be pampered, admired and revered. In fact, we expect it everyday. After all, we deserve it. But do a little something more today. We’ll always accept some extra kisses and cuddles, treats, catnip or a new toy.

Wishing all kitties a happy International Cat Day!

Purrs and paw-pats, Cooper Murphy

August 8, 2017 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Tabby Tuesday World Cat Day 22

THE HEART OF THE HOME

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

This is our poem for Angel Sammy and Teddy’s Thoroughly Poetic Thursday. Each week Sammy sends a poem from the Bridge and invites his bloggy friends to join him by writing a poem. This week’s prompt letter is “H.” Sammy also is providing prompt words. Those words for today’s poem are: 1) Happy, 2) Hobby, 3) Heart, 4) Home. Being overachievers, we selected three of those words.

To read Angel Sammy’s poem and find links to those of others, click on the badge below.

Thankful Thursday

Every Thursday, we also join Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop and let everyone know for what Kitties Blue are thankful. We are grateful for parents with open arms and good hearts who have given us a happy home. As Brian always says, “Adopt cats, we deserve it.” To be part of this hop, click on his badge.

Thanks for being friends and joining us today. Your friendship makes us happy!

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

August 3, 2017 by Janet Blue Adoption Poetry Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 18

FUN WITH FILL-INS WITH KITTIES BLUE

,Friendly Fill-Ins: Week 64

Some of Kitties Blue and I are joining Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) and Ellen (15AndMeowing) for their weekly Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop. I have completed statements #1 and #3. Kitties Blue completed #2 and Astrid did #4. All of us used teal italics for our completions. To join in the blog hop, click on the badge below to be whisked away to Annie’s blog, where you can enter the link to your post. And while you are there, check out 10-week-old, foster kitties, Bonnie and Clyde, on her Thursday post. You’ll definitely SQUEEEE!

To help make the fill-ins a bit more interesting this week, I solicited the help of Cooper Murphy, Mauricio and Misty May.

As a child, my favorite playground activity was playing on the monkey bars. Even though we had to wear dresses to school in the fifties, we girls still hung upside down from the monkey bars with panties showing. Of course, in those days we wore what are now commonly known as granny panties (full-coverage).

“I probably could have used some shorts or at least some underpants before I took on this activity!”

2. KITTIES BLUE: For breakfast, I we have Friskies stinky goodness paté. We have the same thing for dinner. We eat a variety of flavors, but it must be paté.

3. An instrument I would like to play is the piano. We have an antique piano, and I used to play. I do not have enough strength or flexibility to play anymore, but we still have the piano (not the one pictured below).

“Allie you’re the sweetest thing that I’ve ever seen, it’s true how my head starts a spinning when I look at you…” *

4. ASTRID: I always try to stay away from Misty May, because she is mean to me.

“Put your dukes up Astrid. I’m coming for you.”

So those are our fill-ins for this week. We will be here tomorrow for Caturday Art and to announce the winner of our Comment-a-thon donation. You won’t want to miss that announcement.

* Lyrics from the song, “Allie,” by Ray LaMontagne.

OOPs, Mom forgot to publish this at midnight. Good help is so hard to find – Kitties Blue

July 28, 2017 by Janet Blue Allie and Mauricio Friendly Friday Fill-Ins 17

ALWAYS FAMILY FIRST

Throughly Poetic Thursday with Angel Sammy and Teddy

We are once again joining these great friends for their fun Thursday event. The prompt letter for the week is “F.” We also had a choice of four words from which we could use as the topic for our poem: 1) Feast; 2) Frog; 3) Frosty; 4) Family. We know that most of you probably expect us to write about our sweet angel, Fiona. But mom didn’t think she could improve on the two poems on our sidebar. So, we selected family. Here is our poem.

Family Love

With our humans, we are a family.
It has nothing to do with ancestry.
Mom says family is about caring and love
And has nothing to do with species and blood.
She’ll do anything for us, no matter the cost,
Even let us pretend that we are her boss.
But let’s stop kidding: We really do control her.
If we want something, we just have to purr.
Or look at her with sad or expectant eyes,
And we will receive our desired prize.
It could be treats or kisses and scritches,
Maybe some nip, a toy…whatever our wish is.
Every cat should have such a devoted family
Where shelter, food and love are priorities.
We wish this for all the felines on this earth…
A special family to let them know their worth

Here are a couple for family photos.

Both of these photos were taken last November when Fiona was still with us. The top photo includes Lily Olivia, Fiona, Mauricio, Lisbeth and Calista Jo in the foreground. The second photo has Lily Olivia, Fiona, Mauricio, Lisbeth and Misty May in the background. Even though we are having a super hot summer, a minimum of four of us are on the bed every night. Do you sleep with your humans?

To read Angel Sammy’s poem or find links to other poetry, click on the badge above.

Thankful Thursday

Today is also the blog hop on Brian’s Home blog when we tell you for what we are thankful. We bet you can guess what that is. That’s right, it is our family. We kitties may not always get along, but we are always well cared for and loved, even when we are little stinkers.

What are you thankful for this week?

To join the blog hop, click on Brian’s badge.

Upcoming Excitement

We have lots of exciting things coming up that you won’t want to miss. Tomorrow is our fifth blogoversary. Party Time and time to giveaway some more goodies from the BlogPaws Conference! And Sunday is Allie and Mau’s first wedding anniversary. We will dedicate our Sunday Selfies blog hop to them and have a comment-a-thon. (More details about that on Sunday). Obviously, you are not going to want to miss either of these special posts.

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

July 20, 2017 by Janet Blue Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 23

EMPTY BOWL = GRUMPY KITTIES

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

We are joining Angel Sammy and Teddy’s poetry day, as we do each week. When the third round of the alphabet began, Sammy started providing not just letter prompts but word prompts as well. This week’s letter is “E” and the words are: 1) earth; 2) evil; 3) escape and 4) empty. Though we have gone rogue the past few weeks and not used any of the provided words, we are back on track this week. Empty is our word of choice for today’s poem.

Empty Bowl = Grumpy Kitties

It makes us grumpy when our food bowl is empty.
It always should be filled with foodables a plenty.
Noms must be available at all times to munch,
Whether at breakfast time, dinner or lunch.
We kitties must maintain control
And punish humans for an empty bowl.
When we felines feel the urge for a snack,
If the bowl is empty, it’s okay to attack.
Meow your loudest and bare your claws,
Expose the empty bowl as your humans’ flaws.
Don’t be ignored or left to waste away,
Make certain your bowl is full throughout the day.
It’s important we don’t become weak from hunger,
But if that happens, feel free to plunder
The pantry for treats or even human noms,
And then munch away without any qualms.
For an empty bowl is a serious fault,
As all kitties know with nary a doubt.

Most of us want the food bowl to be full even if we are not hungry. It is comforting just knowing the food is there. Cooper Murphy, however, takes a full food bowl as a personal challenge. He also is the first to let us know when the bowl is empty and needs to be refilled. However, with his penchant for munching, the bowl is not always filled upon demand. Inquiring Kitties Blue minds want to know: Do you get your food bowl filled when you ask?

To read angel Sammy’s poem and/or find links to other poems, click on his badge below. And why not try some poetry yourself. Next week’s prompt words also can be found at TwoSpoiledCats.

Thankful Thursday

Well, we think it is pretty obvious that we kitties are thankful for a full food bowl. Additionally, we must express our gratitude this week for air conditioning. Even the lover of the catio, Cooper Murphy, has decided that time in the house isn’t so bad when outside feels like the inside of a sauna.

We really hope you are not sweltering where you live. A nice treat in the heat is ice cubes in your water dish or fountain. If you are a hairless kitty or one with a pink nose and/or white fur, and are allowed outdoors or enjoy indoor sunpuddles, make sure you do not overdo. You are susceptible to skin cancer, which can be very serious. For additional information about this, check out our 2015 post, “Don’t Fry Day Commen-a-thon.”

We are joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. To join in, click on his badge.

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

July 13, 2017 by Janet Blue Health Kitty Written Blog Poetry Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 21

SUMMER IN THE CITY WITH KITTIES BLUE

Tuesday Doozy of a Snoozy: Summer Version

During these long, hot days of summer, we often cannot find anything better to do than snooze. We still love our Space Station and play with it everyday (see tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday post for more on this). Other than that, running, jumping and playing do not interest us.

Since we haven’t shared a Tuesday Doozy of a Snoozy with you in a while, we decided to reveal some preferred summer napping spots and positions. As cats, however, we do tend to change our minds often with regard to what those favorites are. As our tagline says, “Cats are predictably unpredictable.” And that’s just how we like it.

Most of us don’t appear to have expired like Lily Olivia in photo #1 or be in a coma like Cooper Murphy in photo #3, nor are we all even snoozing. But, you all know, when those camera-clicking crazies come around, it’s not always easy to ignore them. You may also notice that Lisbeth and Giulietta are missing. Giulietta pretty much refuses to come out of her cat tree cubby unless it is breakfast, dinner or bed time. Lisbeth has been splitting her time between the catio and the very top platform of the dining room cat tree. Somehow she has been able to escape the paparazzi. MOUSES! We’d sure like to know her secret.

Anyhoo, we hope you enjoyed our summer snoozies. Do you have a favorite place to lounge and snooze on hot days in the summer or do you just plop down anywhere?

Since we snagged our post title from one of Mom’s favorite songs by the The Lovin’ Spoonful from the summer of 1966, we thought we’d share it with you. This version is from a live performance in 1986. (The video from YouTube is labeled incorrectly as Loving Spoonful.)