Catnip

A FELINE SPARK

Sparks: Week #21

Being a blog dedicated to kitties, it seemed appropriate to finally do a Spark post featuring a quote about cats. The photo above features Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy, Misty May, Mauricio and Giulietta during one of Chris’s biweekly nip fests.

I was unfamiliar with the author of this quote, so I suspect most of you will be as well. The following information is from Wikipedia:

“Henry Charles Bukowski (born Heinrich Karl Bukowski; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles. His work addresses the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women, and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over 60 books. The FBI kept a file on him as a result of his column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man, in the LA underground newspaper Open City.”

I am joining Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) for her Sparks blog hop. In establishing the hop, she wrote this, “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!” This is what makes Sparks so special and why I look forward to participating each week.

If you’d like to join the hop, click on the Sparks badge.

February 26, 2018 by Janet Blue Sparks 17

MAU’S “BLUE” PERIOD

Caturday Art

Mauricio is here today for Caturday Art to ask for some purrs and POTP. That’s right…it’s his turn, which is why this Kitty Blue is blue. He now has the eye infection, which is working its way through the furmily. We’ve put some ointment in his eye, and he has a vet appointment at 8 a.m. Dad Tom and I are praying he’ll be the last to contract this. (Calista Jo has a few more days of medication and ointment.)

This photo was taken on Monday at the same time as Lisbeth’s “nip” photo from yesterday’s post.

To create the art, I used the Painnt app again. The effect I used is Composition – X. I set the color filter at “original” and increased the saturation. Next, I added the blue scrolled border with piZap and the square border with Picasa.

If you check out the original photo, you will see that Mau has nip on his head and is standing on a package of Temptations. Are you wondering what possibly could be the reason for this largesse? It was Chris, of course. She was here to clean. She always brings nip and treats for the gang. Mauricio is looking up at her and wondering why the treat package is still closed.

Several additional photos were taken, which I will share in future posts.

We are entering Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop. To see additional art and/or submit some of your own, click on her badge.

Sunday Selfies

Another week has slipped away making it time for you to get your selfie taken for tomorrow’s blog hop.

The whippersnapper will be here tomorrow as your host for week #180 of the hop. It’s his punishment for escaping outside through the front door last night. We tempted him to come with treats and his favorite wand toy, and Dad Tom scooped him up. When you see his selfie tomorrow, you’ll find he showed no remorse. What a little stinker!

Looking forward to seeing all your smiling faces tomorrow!

LISBETH & COOPER MURPHY HELP WTH FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week 89

Each Friday we join Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader) for their fun Friendly Fill-Ins. It gives us the opportunity to share things about ourselves and discover new things about our fellow bloggers. Today I asked a couple of the Kitties Blue to help me complete the unfinished sentences. Our completions are in teal italics.

Lisbeth: I have never been able to resist a pile of nip (and a nip nanner for good measure).

2. Cooper Murphy: I wish I could still fit in the pink cat cube like Sawyer does.

3. Mom Janet: Curled under a warm blanket surrounded by Kitties Blue is my ideal winter night.

4. Mom Janet: Cooper Murphy and Sawyer are two peas in a pod. (One’s just a smidge larger than the other and has a tail.)

If you’d like to take part in the Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop, you can find the sentences for completion on Ellen and Annie’s blog on Thursdays. The hop takes place at McGuffy’s Reader. To join in, click on the Fill-Ins badge.

January 19, 2018 by Janet Blue Friendly Friday Fill-Ins Nipheads 20

HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH CATS

Wordless Wednesday

September 6, 2017 by Janet Blue Nipheads Wordless Wednesday 23

SUMMER FUN FRIENDLY FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #56

It is time again to let you know a little more about ourselves. Kitties Blue did not complete any of the fill-ins this week. The kitties did not find them to be feline friendly. As per usual, my completions are in teal italics.

1. A law I would like to see passed is the Pet and Women Safety Act, or PAWS Act (H.R. 909) and (S. 322) reintroduced in February 2017 by U.S. House of Representative Katherine Clark (D-MA) and U.S. Senators Dean Heller (R-NV) and Gary Peters (D-MI). This bipartisan legislation protects victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence from emotional and psychological trauma caused by violence against their pets. (Click here, if you are in the United States, to submit the form to ask members of your local legislature to help protect domestic violence survivors and their pets.)

2. My favorite card game is canasta; though, I haven’t played since I left home to go to college. My grandparents taught me to play when I was still too young to hold the cards. My second would be cribbage, which I play with the kitties’ dad, Tom, usually when we are on vacation.

Mom can play cards. We prefer nippy games.

3. With Summer unofficially here, we will be doing more swimming and bike riding.

4. A favourite Summer memory is from when I was 16. I toured several countries in Europe and then attended classes at the American College in Paris as part of a program entitled, American Pre-College Program in Paris.

Friends, Ellen (15AndMeowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader), are the hosts and authors of the Fill-Ins each week. This is a blog hop, which you can enter by clicking on the badge below, which will take you to Annie’s blog.

June 2, 2017 by Janet Blue Friendly Friday Fill-Ins Nipheads Sisters 16

SECRET PAWS CAME TO TOWN

Once again we pawticipated in the Secret Paws gift exchange organized by Truffle and Brûlée and Mom Paula. We really appreciate all their hard work in setting this up each year.

Our gifts this year came all the way from the U.K. and the Katzenworld gang. The box was chock full of toys from their shop as well as a super cute “Oliver, Nubia & Snowball” mug for mom.

Most of the toys are filled with either catnip or valerian. We have not had valerian before so we will have a new experience playing with these toys. We let you know what we think in a future post.

Of course, not all of us showed up for the opening ceremony. But those who didn’t (Giulietta, Astrid and Lisbeth) will get plenty of opportunity to try out and play with all the goodies.

Mauricio really enjoyed the gingerbread man with valerian. And he’s already taken one of the big grey mousies upstair for some night-time play. Only the best toys get dragged from one floor to another!

Of course, Mom did not open all the toys for us. Even with seven Kitties Blue, it would be too much all at once. We know she’ll be doling them out over the next few months.

Sorry our photos are sort of blurry. It’s hard to sit still when kitty stimulants are involved!

All of us are sending great big kitty kisses and a huge T-H-A-N-K Y-O-U to Oliver, Nubia and their humans for the terrific gifts.

To see other Secret Paws posts, click on “Secret Paws” in the first paragraph.

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

December 27, 2016 by Janet Blue Christmas Kitty Written Blog Secret Paws 23

NAUGHTY OR NICE?

So what’s the verdict? Do you think the kitty who perpetrated this act of nip liberation was being naughty or nice? We suspect the votes are going to come down evenly with humans on the naughty side and kitties on the nice.

We bet you are wondering if the humans know which one of us was responsible for the release of all this nippy goodness. If you follow us, you know we don’t rat on our housemates, but in this case the culprit was caught red green-pawed.

Mom was only surprised as this particular kitty has not been naughty in a very long time. Can you guess who made this mess?

Here she is now. (Mom apologizes for the blurry quality of the photos. She took them with her phone while Lisbeth was dancing around her prize.)

She wasn’t feeling the least bit ashamed or guilty. She was standing on her back legs almost shouting, “Look what I did!”

We bet you are wondering where Lisbeth got her paws on so much nip. Well, that was thanks to our dedicated nip & treat pusher/kitty caretaker/housekeeper, Chris. She always brings catnip and/or treats when she comes to clean. She doles them out liberally before she starts work. Before she leaves she always vacuums up what we have left on the rug and the house is nee again clean and tidy. She did just that yesterday.

That explained how the nip got into our house, but how did Lisbeth actually get it. Well, Mom forgot to put the bag away when Chris left, and Lisbeth found it on the foyer table. So, as far as we are concerned, Lisbeth is totally innocent. She was only taking advantage of our mom’s spectacular failure to pick up and store that bag of nip. Every person with the smallest pea-sized brain knows we cats are opportunists.

Now that the rug is covered in nip, Mom says she’s going to let us binge overnight and tomorrow before she vacuums. Yippee Nippee Do!

Purrs and paw-pats from the drunken crew of Kitties Blue

December 13, 2016 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Tuxie Tuesday 27

LISBETH IN LIVING COLOR

Caturday Art

Lisbeth claims she has not been getting enough face time on the blog, which is probably true. As I have written before, she is not the most sociable cat. But she is gorgeous and should have her fair share of blog time, especially as I know her boyfriend, Cat Scout Charles, enjoys seeing her.

To create Lisbeth’s arty photo, I used a custom filter in Dreamscope. Then I used the Boost feature in Picasa and added the borders using Picasa.

framed art rendering of tuxie cat walking away from catnip plant

Lisbeth is standing in front and to the right of the catmint plant. The photo taken was shortly after we bought the plant. Lisbeth had been browsing shortly before that. You can see that photo here. The plant was big then (just over three weeks ago), but now it is HUGE as you can see in this photo. It will soon be time to harvest.

Catnip planted just over three weeks ago.

This is our submission in this week’s Caturday Art Blog Hop hosted by the lovely Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty. To enter some art of your own in the hop and/or view the other submissions, click on the link.

Sunday Selfies

Tomorrow is the day we all look forward to…Sunday, when we can take it easy. But we always post a selfie on our blog hop and look forward to all our friends doing the same. We will have a guest host tomorrow. You may have seen this critter previously, but you’ll need to return tomorrow to see who it is. We certainly appreciate everyone who enters each week. Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.

August 27, 2016 by Janet Blue Caturday Art Blog Hop Nipheads 27

JUST BROWSING THE NEW CATNIP PLANT

Wordless Wednesday

August 3, 2016 by Janet Blue Nipheads Wordless Wednesday 24

FILL-INS, A POEM & CATNIP

This is week number eight for the Friendly Friday Fill-Ins hosted by Ellen (15 and Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader). This is a blog hop. You can enter your link on Annie’s blog.

My fill-ins are in teal italics.

1. I never thought I would miss writing and sending snail-mail letters, but I do.

2. Every 4th of July we watch the fireworks from our upper deck while the kitties stay inside.

3. If I knew blogging about the kitties would become my passion, I would have started long before 2012.

4. I have trouble with my attention span and completing one project prior to moving on to another.

Phooey, we missed writing a poem yesterday for Sammy’s Thoroughly Poetic Thursday. It’s week number three and the letter of the day was “C. As Calista Jo wrote our Thursday post and mentioned Catnip, I imagine this is what she would have written.

Catnip Crazies by Calista Jo

Catnip is fine.

Catnip is good.

It gives me a buzz

Under my hood.

I love to sniff it

And roll in it all day,

But eating it is what

Makes me want to play.

I get frisky and crazy

And bounce all around,

Until I fall over

And collapse in a mound.

C.J. may have written the poem, but Lily Olivia is sharing her post roll-in-the-nip photo.

Lily Olivia shows off her furs post catnip roll around.

July 1, 2016 by Janet Blue Friendly Friday Fill-Ins Nipheads Poetry 18

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.