Calista Josette

BABY C.J. TAKES CENTER STAGE

I continue to try to get as many photos as possible added to the new computer. I find one of the best ways to do that is to go back through old e-mails. I sadly admit that I am an e-mail hoarder. But that supposed fault has paid off in me finding some photos I don’t even remember. Today’s art was created from one of those photos.

The original photo is one of two taken by Diane, C.J.’s first foster mom. We formally introduced you to Diane yesterday. If you missed that post, Lily Olivia is a Survivor, you can click on the link at the bottom of this page.

Here are the two original photos.

Wasn’t she the most adorable baby ever? No wonder I couldn’t resist that sweet face when I met her the first time. And she is still my baby. Though she is the youngest cat in the house, she is far from the smallest. Only Giulietta outweighs here and not by much. I never expected my itty-bitty baby would grow into such a substantial lady cat.

I didn’t do too much to the original photo for our art submission to Athena and Marie’s Caturday Art Blog Hop. I used Pixlr. to add two overlays: Coulorlovers and Flower Power Paper. The flower border was added using what has become one of my favorite spots to get great frames, PhotoFaceFun. The teal and lime borders and a smidgen of the HDRish effect were added using Picasa.

To see the other art submissions or add one of your own, click on Athena and Marie’s badge.

Tomorrow marks the 59th week for our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. Kitties Blue have not decided which one will be hosting. Nonetheless, they sure hope lots of you will join them. They’ll let you know tomorrow what unusual animals dropped by last week. And if you have the time, tell your friends to drop on by and post a selfie. The kitties and I think this is the most fun hop out there for anipals.

See you then, dearest friends and followers.

September 26, 2015 by Janet Blue Caturday Art Blog Hop 29

OLD-FASHIONED CALISTA JO

Calista Jo is the subject of our Caturday Art today. I had planned to feature Lisbeth in the zebra-striped Catty Stack, but I was not satisfied with anything I created. Sorry Lisbeth!

After a search, I found a blurry photo of C.J. I thought would be fun for some experimentation. Here’s the finished product. I think it has an old-fashioned look that you might find in a scrapbook from by-gone days.

I created this week’s art using AdornPic and finished it off with the scrolled flower overlay and black edging from piZap. I probably went overboard again, but I like the final look.

This is the original photo. Not only is it blurry, but I didn’t like the reflection off the fridge or the prominence of the brown cabinet in the background. And my eye was totally drawn to her shiny, bright name tag. All of those things are now camouflaged.

We are joining Athena and Marie’s Caturday Art Blog Hop. To view the other submissions and/or enter one of your own, click on their badge.

Wow, it’s almost time for Sunday Selfies again. We still are working on visiting the blogs of last week’s entrants. By the end of today we will have done so. Thanks so much for your patience. We truly appreciate each of those who enter the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop and look forward to seeing this week’s submissions. We may or may not be having a guest host tomorrow. You’ll need to drop by to find out. Hope to see you then.

June 13, 2015 by Janet Blue Caturday Art Blog Hop 30

“HERE…BIRDY, BIRDY, BIRDY!”

June 3, 2015 by Janet Blue Wordless Wednesday 33

ON THE WAY TO BLOGPAWS

I am known far and wide for my ability to procrastinate. In fact, those who know me well would probably say I am the Queen of Procrastination. But then I have had lots of practice. I was the kid in school who always had to stay up all night to finish a project I’d been assigned six weeks earlier. And then there was the instance 42 years ago when I was hemming my wedding dress on the airplane on my way from Missouri to California to get married.

This penchant for putting things off always drove me to jobs with deadlines. I just cannot seem to accomplish anything without that deadline staring me down.

Getting ready for BlogPaws was no exception. Here I am in the process of putting together 30 kitty goody bags on the way to Nashville. Good thing Tom came along and drove, or I’d be working on these after we arrived.

Plush Calista Jo acts as quality control inspector to make certain each bag has the same number of items.

The two Sophies.

While waiting to check in, I saw Kitty Cat Chronicles‘ Emily (Astrid’s boyfriend Sampy’s mom). She brought with her Sampy’s sweet fursib, Sophie, the CH kitty. And their roommate is Mom Sophie from Critters in the Cottage.

Both Sophies are sweet and beautiful, but I am thinking no one will mix them up. Only one of them purrs.

I’ve already seen several other friends and will not procrastinate when it comes to sharing more photos tomorrow from the first day of the conference.

May 28, 2015 by Janet Blue Thankful Thursday 31

CALISTA JO’S EASTER SUNDAY SELFIES

I was hanging out with Mom most of yesterday, so she coerced me into taking selfies for our special Easter Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. Actually, I am not complaining as she added my photos to this super beautiful Easter card and made me feel extra special.

I really hope y’all like my selfies and will add your own to our Blog Hop. Also, please feel free to add the hop to your blog with the code you can pick up below. We only request that you display our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop badge and/or link back to The Cat on My Head.

If you have any difficulty adding your link, leave us a message in the Comments, and my mom will add it for you.

Purrs and paw-pats, Calista Jo

WISHING EVERYONE A

BLESSED EASTER OR PESACH!

April 5, 2015 by Janet Blue Holiday Sunday Selfies 50

C.J.’S SELFIE SHENANIGANS

So…Mom thought I should be the Sunday Selfie participant this week. This is what I thought.

When I wasn’t doing this, I was photobombing myself or running around in circles bobbing and weaving as I went. This silly and high-spirited behavior was much more fun than staring at the iPad screen. After dozens of attempts, I finally got a couple of passable shots of myself, but I never did look at the screen. I was concentrating very hard on pushing the right spot to take the photo.

All shenanigans and blurriness aside, I think I look pretty cute. With a little luck Mom won’t try to twist my paw into doing this anytime again in the near future. I have much better things to do with my time…like watching bird TV, wrestling with Mauricio or taking my easy!

This is our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. It is open to all anipals and their humans. My fursibs and I have so much fun each week seeing all your cute photos, so please join us again (or for the first time) and invite all your furiends as well. The more the merrier and furrier.

Please use the code below if you would like to display the entries on your blog. We only ask that you display our badge and/or link back to The Cat on My Head.

Have an easy Sunday.

Purrs and paw-pats, Calista Jo

March 15, 2015 by Janet Blue Sunday Selfies 49

HEY MOMMY, THAT’S ME!

March 4, 2015 by Janet Blue Wordless Wednesday 33

TOESY TORTIE TUESDAY DOOZY OF A SNOOZY

Tortiliciousness

The tuxies around here are not the only ones who can get their snoozes on. The torties and humans know how to nap just as well as tuxies. With the humans being retired, plenty of opportunities arise for an afternoon lie down. But no good nap goes unaccompanied as evidenced below.

It would appear that I am not as adorable in my sleep as Calista Jo. I suspect none of you are looking at me but if you are, STOP IT RIGHT NOW! Concentrate on Calista’s tortilicious furs and large, kissable toes.

World Spay Day

World Spay Day is an annual campaign of The HSUS, Humane Society International and the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association. On the last Tuesday of February, they call attention to spay/neuter as a way to save the lives of companion animals, community (feral and stray) cats, and street dogs who are likely to be put down in shelters or killed on the street. The 21st annual World Spay Day is today. Spread the message!

This is what’s been happening at our local no-kill shelter, Angels of Assisi.

Sunday Selfies Blog Hop Thank You

What a terrific hop we had this weekend. We had our best turn-out to date with 56 participants (including ourselves). And thanks to The Island Cats, a squirrel joined our hop for the first time. Thank you so much to everyone who joins us and supports this endeavor. It is far more successful than we ever anticipated. Hope to see you back this coming Sunday. And, if you have the opportunity, please tell all your friends how much fun it is!

February 24, 2015 by Janet Blue Doozy of a Snoozy Toesy Tuesday Tortie Tuesday 30

ANOTHER TUXIE TUESDAY DOOZY OF A SNOOZY

We tuxies present you with another Doozy of a Snoozy on Tuesday. We have been very busy working hard to keep our New Year’s Resolution #9. On this particular night we invited fursib, Fiona (the grey blob with the purple collar in the background), to join us in piling on Dad. As we dictate this to Mom, Misty May is in the exact position (on Dad’s chest) as she is in this photo. She is totally her daddy’s girl, and that is her snoozy spot of choice until it’s time for lights out. That’s when she moves to Mom’s head.

L to R: Misty May, Mauricio and Lisbeth with Fiona in the back.

Of course, Mom’s side of the bed also has cats. Usually, Lily Olivia is curled up under her arm on her left side and Calista Jo is in the same spot on the right. Positions will shift and change throughout the night, often with some under-cover action from Lisbeth and Lily Olivia. But no matter who lands where, the six of us are always snuggled in until breakfast time.

Astrid never joins us in bed as she chooses to stay downstairs by herself and Giulietta only shows up on occasion. So you see, we are not the bed hogs the humans claim we are. But we’re working on it. We won’t really be content until we force them to sleep in the guest room, and we have ~~their~~ our bed all to ourselves.

You do know we’re only joshing…right? If the humans move to the guest room, so do we!

Purrs and paw-pats, Misty May, Mauricio and Lisbeth

p.s. from the Mom: If you missed yesterday’s post, click here to leave a comment and earn a chance to win a Lilly Brush Be Forever Furless.

January 27, 2015 by Janet Blue Doozy of a Snoozy Giveaway Tuxie Tuesday 22

FROM BLURRY TO BEAUTY

Though I have done the Sunday Selfies thing before, I forgot I had to sit still when I was taking my selfies. I took a few with only an ear in the photo and this super blurry one. And then success! I think my final attempt turned out quite well. What do y’all think? Should I become a purrfessional model?

This is our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. All critters (and humans too if they’d like) are welcome to join us. Just snap a “quickie,” post and then spend your normal Easy Sunday. As always, if you’d like to grab the linky code and post the submissions on your blog, would you purrlease link back to The Cat on My Head and/or display our badge.

Finally, we would like to ask you to join us on Monday for a post dedicated to our lovely honorary sisfur, Nylablue. If you don’t know, Nylablue left us Saturday afternoon and is now in Summerland. She is still our sisfur and will remain in our hearts always, but now she is a special angel as well.

Purrs and paw-pats, Calista Jo

November 23, 2014 by Janet Blue Angel Cat Honorary Kitty Blue Kitty Written Blog Sunday Selfies 40

YOU
For Fiona

It seems like only yesterday…
You were just a kitten.
When I saw your pleading look,
I was completely smitten.

Now at only six years old,
You are getting ready to leave,
Soon you will have your wings.
I’ve already started to grieve.

You’ve fought hard for the past year,
And I’m not ready to say good-bye.
I can’t imagine you not in my life
I am so sad…today I had to cry.

I am grateful and blessed
For my six years with you.
You’ll live in my heart forever.
You’re one of the best ever Kitties Blue.

YESTERDAY

Many yesterdays have passed since
You gained your angel wings. Today
Is six months since you left us behind
To remember and mourn. Our hearts
Continue to hurt, and we miss
You as much as the day you left.
Giulietta whined from the catio
Yesterday as I worked in the yard.
I know you put her up to it. That
Was your way of getting me to,
Allow you to join me as I
Gardened. You were there with me
In spirit. With every meow
I thought of you and how much I miss
Your sweet face and disposition.
In these past few months, many friends
Have traveled your same path in your
paw-steps. I am certain you were
Waiting to greet them with purrs and hugs.
I pray you and your friends are laughing,
Frolicking and having fun together.
Picturing that makes me smile, but
Does not lessen my sadness at your
No longer being here to snuggle
And receive our love, care and kisses.
Fiona, please do not ever forget
You are still and always will be loved.

ONE YEAR MISSING YOU

One year has passed since you flew away,
And I still think of you everyday.
I see your sweet face in my mind’s eye
And wish we’d never had to say good-bye.
It’s nice you’ve sent us kitties needing a family,
But my dearest love, we are now at capacity.
You thought it would take more than one cat
To take your place in our habitat.
We love Cooper Murphy and baby Sawyer dearly
But thinking either could replace you makes me teary.
You were one-of-a-kind and will stay in my heart
Until the day I join you and we’re no longer apart.
When once again I can hold you in my arms
And revel in all your love and feline charms.
Together with you and all who have passed.
I will spend eternity contemplating how blessed
I was to share my life with my furry children,
Each and every one of you one-in-a billion.

UNTIL

I miss you each day.
Until we meet in heaven,
The pain will remain.

ONE OF A KIND

I don’t know how to say good-bye.
I thought you were invincible; though,
You used up many of your nine lives.
You ruled us all with an iron paw;
Never took “no” for an answer
And always got your way.
If not, you’d bark to signal your
Displeasure and sometimes raise a paw.
I always joked that you were bi-polar.
When I told people you were a calico
They immediately understood what I meant.
Today was unnaturally quiet in the house.
Can a home seem empty with eight cats?
I will miss waking up at night to find you
Sitting next to me and staring at me.
I will miss you yelling at us as you did
When you wanted breakfast and dinner.
I will miss watching you lounging and snoozing
On the porch settee on a warm afternoon.
But most of all I will miss your kisses!
When kitten Sawyer befriended you,
We suspect you were imparting your
Wisdom and secrets for controlling us.
Time will tell if he was a good listener.
But whatever he may have learned,
Neither Sawyer nor any other cat
Can or will replace you in our hearts.
Lily Olivia, you were one-of-a-kind.