Fiona

A SPARK OF HOPE

Sparks: Week #24

Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904), was a Scottish author and government reformer. His masterpiece, Self-Help (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and laissez-faire government. It has been called “the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism,” and it raised Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight. (Wikipedia)

Angel Fiona and I are joining Annie at McGufffy’s Reader for her Sparks blog hop. In establishing the hop, she wrote, “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.

Sparks badge

Thank you from Giulietta

Giulietta and I are grateful to everyone who joined the Sunday Selfies blog hop yesterday and left birthday wishes for her and our precious angel, Fiona. As Fiona is unable to say, “thank you,” personally, it seemed appropriate for her to deliver today’s Spark. Fiona was already ill when this photo was taken, as you most likely can see from how thin she is. In spite of that, she still was able to enjoy a sunpuddle and the warmth of the sun on her face.

March 19, 2018 by Janet Blue Angel Cat Sparks 24

REMEMEBERING ANGEL SAMMY

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

We have a special poem today remembering our friend and the originator of Thoroughly Poetic Thursday, now angel Sammy.

We had this colorful photo of hot air balloons as our inspiration.

Remembering Angel Sammy

Do you remember angel Sammy’s Balloon
Adventure when he visited his friends?
He came to see us in Roanoke
And flew over the famous Mill Mountain Star.
We hung a sign on the star welcoming
The King of Baconia to our city.
We even had bacon cookies waiting.
Sammy visited many pals on his trip.
As Sammy went to the Bridge that day,
It was both a special and sad journey.
Mau lost his best friend, but Fiona
Had Sammy as her traveling companion.
They received their wings together and
Now look down on the balloons and us all.
We miss our sister and our dear friend
And wish they could fly down for a visit.

Here’s a photo taken the day of Sammy’s visit and included on our post, “Come Fly With Me for Sammy.”

To take part in Thoroughly Poetic Thursday, check out the photo prompt at Two Spoiled Cats, write a poem and post it on Thursday. Then visit Teddy and Sammy’s blog and post your poem or a link to your post in the comments. You can visit Two Spoiled Cats and read angel Sammy’s always memorable poem by clicking on his badge.

Thankful Thursday

We also participate in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop each week. We all think it is very important to be grateful. You may think my thankfulness is a bit silly this week, but I can’t help myself. I found out when visiting Four-Legged Furballs yesterday that today is Winnie the Pooh Day, and I adore Pooh. So, I am grateful today that A.A. Milne created Pooh and all his friends, especially Tigger. In fact, I like Pooh and Tigger so much, I have them both tattooed on my back. As today is Pooh’s special day, I am sharing a photo of that tattoo.

I’ve had this tattoo for about 20 years, so Pooh isn’t as vibrant as he once was, and it’s not a great photo, but I still wanted to share.

If you’d like to share on your blog for what you are thankful and join Brian’s hop, click on his badge.

KITTIES BLUE HELP WITH FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #83

Today we kitties are completing the first two fill-ins, as Mom says she can’t even remember last week. Our completions are in navy blue and Mom’s are in teal.

1. The best part of last week was helping with Christmas decorating. We hope you don’t mind that we are sharing a decorating photo from a few years ago that includes Fiona along with Lisbeth and Giulietta.

2. The worst part of last week was Sawyer becoming an official member of the Kitties Blue crew. Dad took this photo last night. Sawyer has grown a lot in the past 10 days. He looks very serious but a tad less grumpy than in early photos.

We are allowing Mom to complete the final two fill-ins as she is the one who has projects and does the holiday gift shopping.

3. Integrating Sawyer into the family is a Winter project that I will be working on. I think Sawyer has met all the kitties at this point, but the only interaction he’s really had is with Cooper Murphy. I also will be spending the next month trying to keep Cooper Murphy from removing ornaments and climbing the Christmas Tree.

4. A holiday gift that I always buy for someone is Philosophy 3-in-1 shower gel in one of my favorite, yummy fragrances, such as Fresh Cream and Cinnamon Buns.

Friendly Fill-Ins is a weekly blog hop hosted by our friends Ellen (15 and Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader). You can find the sentences they have created for completion on their blogs each Thursday. To join the hop, click on the badge below. You will be taken to Annie’s blog.

Mom will be back in charge tomorrow with some art for Athena Cat Goddess Wise Kitty’s Caturday Art blog hop.

December 8, 2017 by Janet Blue Christmas Friendly Friday Fill-Ins Kitty Written Blog 16

ONE YEAR MISSING ANGEL FIONA

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

This week’s poem was not easy to write. It is now the third poem in a series about Angel Fiona. The first was “You,” written the day before she got her wings. The second poem was “Yesterday,” written six-months later. Today’s poem comes one-year (tomorrow) since she flew to the Bridge. Each of these milestones has fallen when the week’s prompt letter as been, “Y.” Because of that, this poem is entitled “One Year Missing You.” “Year” also is one of the suggest prompt words. The others are: 1) Yesterday, 2) Yummy and 3) Yellow.

You can read the first two poems in the series on the sidebar. This poem will be added to those on Friday.

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.

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday is the creation of now angel Sammy, who passed last year, the day after Fiona. Each Thursday he transmits his poem from the Bridge. He is a masterful poet, and you really need to visit Two Spoiled Cats each Thursday to read his thoughtful and inspired verse. You also will find links to other poems in the comments section. To visit, click on his badge.

Sammy also presented Fiona with this badge for looking out for and finding a home for Cooper Murphy and Sawyer with her family. He has, however, promised to keep her in check in the future. Thank you, Sammy!

Sammy has been exceptionally busy lately, as he also made this welcome badge for Sawyer.

Thankful Thursday

We have so much for which to be thankful this week. First off, Cooper Murphy is thankful that the mouse from yesterday’s post was dumb enough to return to the catio. This time he deaded it.

All of us are grateful we had the opportunity to take Sawyer off the streets and give him a home for the holidays and all the years to come.

Finally, we are thankful to have such a great friend as Angel Sammy as well as his little brother, Teddy.

Thankful Thursday is a blog hop hosted by Brian’s Home. To join in, click on his badge.

November 30, 2017 by Janet Blue Angel Cat Poetry Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 23

IT’S OFFICIAL!

Tabby Tuesday: Introducing Sawyer Blue

If you joined us for Sunday Selfies, you met this kitten, who had taken up residence in our living room. Chris discovered him when Mom and Dad were in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. He was hanging out on the deck of the vacant house next-door.

Mom posted “found” cat notices on all the appropriate web-sites but received no replies. So today, this 3.9 pound, grey tabby Manx officially became our kid brother, Sawyer.

He visited Dr. Neel this afternoon. He was checked for a microchip, and none was found. Sawyer was also tested for FIV and FeLV and is negative for both. He does have an upper respiratory infection, which we knew. He’ll be getting medicine in his eyes for a week and oral amoxicillin for ten days. When Sawyer is well, he’ll start getting his vaccinations. After the first of the year, he’ll have his boy bits removed.

As Mom predicted, Dr. Neel confirmed that Sawyer is about four months old.

Mom also is certain Fiona sent this little fur ball to us. It will be one year this Friday since she left us and flew away to the Bridge. Mom was sure of it when Sawyer pooped in the PTU on the way home from meeting Dr. Neel. That was always Fiona’s way of letting her and Dad know her displeasure about yet another trip to the vet’s office.

I hope you will join us in welcoming Sawyer to our family. He was unplanned, but most good things begin as surprises!

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

November 28, 2017 by Janet Blue Adoption Angel Cat Animal Rescue Kitty Written Blog Tabby Tuesday 35

A POEM: VISITING THE VETERINARIAN

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

Today we were challenged by Teddy and Angel Sammy (Two Spoiled Cats) to write a poem using the prompt letter “V.” Though they provided us with four possible subjects, 1) Vicious, 2) Vanity, 3) Vigorous and 4) View, we selected one of our own: veterinarians. We kitties complain a lot about having to visit the vet, but we know they have our well-being at heart. With that in mind, we are dedicating our poem to our veterinarian—Dr. Kathy Neel, Vinton Veterinarian Hospital, Vinton, Virginia.

Visiting the Veterinarian

Veterinarians are a necessary evil,
But we despise the upheaval.
When we see the PTU, we run;
Going to the vet isn’t really fun.
But we don’t want to grouse,
As our vet comes to the house.
Unless we need special care,
Which thankfully is very rare.
Fiona had to go almost every week
To see if treatment should be tweaked.
She didn’t enjoy those countless trips,
But a complaint never passed her lips.
The rest of us tend to meyowl a lot.
Good travelers we definitely are not.
But we always behave for Dr. Neel;
Though, being at the vet isn’t ideal.
If you have to go, try your nerves to quell,
As our vets are there to keep us healthy and well.

Fiona gets weighed by Tech Tameka on a visit to Dr. Neel.

Veterinarian Dr. Neel visits the house for the kitties yearly check-up.

Dr Neel, Tameka and Mom weighing Astrid at home.

If you would like to read Sammy’s poem, which he sends each week from the Rainbow Bridge, click on his badge. You also will find links to other poems in the comments.

Thankful Thursday

We also join Brian’s blog hop each week and tell you for what we are thankful. That’s a no-brainer for us this week. We are grateful that none of us have needed to visit Dr. Neel. We know some of our friends have not been that lucky. We send purrs, prayers and POTP to all of them.

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

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

November 9, 2017 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Poetry Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday Veterinarian 12

GIULIETTA REMEMBERS FIONA

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

Until

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

Eleven months ago, I lost my sisfur, Fiona. I still miss her as do Mom and Dad. She was beautiful and special, so I decided to remember her today with this little haiku. I don’t think I need more words to describe exactly how I feel.

The prompt letter this week for our poem was, “U.” That’s one tough letter with few good words from which to select. Because of that, I selected one of the prompt words. The words for this week are: 1) Ugly, 2) Under, 3) Uncle and 4) Until.

We are joining Teddy and Angel Sammy’s Thoroughly Poetic Thursday. To read Sammy’s poem, which he transmits from the Bridge each week, and find links to other poems, click on the badge below.

Thankful Thursday

As we also do each Thursday, I am joining Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop. I am thankful everyday that I had six years with my sisfur. We all have wonderful memories of her. To join the blog hop, click on Brian’s badge below.

Total Cat Mojo Giveaway

If you missed our Monday post, Mom reviewed the new Jackson Galaxy book, Total Cat Mojo. She says that this is the reference manual all cat guardians or anyone considering adopting a kitty needs at their fingertips. Galaxy addresses every cat behavioral problem he has ever encountered or been questioned about.

One lucky reader will have the opportunity to win their very own copy. Just leave a comment on the review post, Total Cat Mojo Review & Giveaway, for a chance to win. Winner will be selected using Random.org. Giveaway is open worldwide.

Purrs and paw-pats, Giulietta

November 2, 2017 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Poetry Sisters Thankful Thursday Thoroughly Poetic Thursday 26

ANGEL FIONA’S VSQUILLION SELFIE

Sunday Selfies: Week #161

Our selfie this week is a bit unusual. Actually, it is not a selfie. In fact, it is not even a photograph.

Gracie, Keeper of the Offishul CB VSquillions Shelter opened the shelter for adoptions in honor of Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day. It’s been “closed” for a very long time, and we’d been waiting to make an adoption since last December. Bet you know now where this is headed.

Meet vSquillion Angel Fiona. Mom added the frame for today’s post.

When Mom picked up angel vSquillion Fiona to bring her home, she cried. We all miss our sweet sisfur so much.

We now have an angel vSquillion for all Kitties Blue who are no longer with us, except Mom and Dad’s very first kitty, Skooter. (We’re not sure why he is missing.) If you’d like to meet our other angels, click on The Felines tab in our menu and then the vSquillions tab below it.

If you are new to blogging and unfamiliar with vSquillions, click on the link to the shelter, which is up above.

We are looking forward to seeing your selfies this week. As always we invite you to ask all your animal friends to join in the fun. Here are some tips for joining.

The link to add your selfie to the hop is below.
You also will find below the code to use if you’d like the hop to appear on your blog.
You do not need to post on Sundays to join.
The hop remains open for entries through Thursday midnight.
Please be so kind as to display our badge and/or link to The Cat on My Head.

Prayers

We contine to pray for all those already impacted by Hurricane Irma as well as those now in its path. We also send prayers, purrs and POTP to Allie and Raz’s (Friends Furever) dad, Bill. Please take a moment to join us.

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

September 10, 2017 by Janet Blue Adoption Angel Cat Kitty Written Blog Prayers Sunday Selfies vSquillion 31

RAINBOW BRIDGE REMEMBRANCE DAY 2017

Remembering Friends

Today, we celebrate Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day. Established in 2015 by Deb Barnes (The Chronicles of Zee and Zoey), this special day is for pet guardians to honor the memory of those beloved pets in their life they have lost but never forgotten. It’s held every year on August 28, in honor of the day Deb had to say goodbye to her Ragdoll cat, Mr. Jazz, the meow author of Purr Prints of the Heart – A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond.

In the past, we have remembered our family members who have received their wings and gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

This year, we are honoring our sweet Fiona who lost her battle with CKD on December 1. Instead of remembering all of the Kitties Blue angels, however, we are remembering our angel anipals with a special graphic.

So many of our anipals are as dear to our hearts as our own, and we miss them terribly. So, we decided to remember and honor them today. Kitties Blue and I know that many more friends have received their wings during this past year, but it was not possible to list all those here. If we have missed anyone who was especially dear to you, please accept our apologies.

These are the angels in our graphic, beginning in the upper left corner and continuing clockwise.

Mitalee HoneyBee – Critters in the Cottage
Sammy – TwoSpoiledCats (formerly OneSpoiledCat)
Queen Penelope (Nellie) – Nellie on the Edge
Flynn – Memories of Eric and Flynn (formerly The Adventures of Eric and Flynn)
Dory – da db boyz (formerly Dory’s Backyard)
Easy – Easy Blog
Esme – Critters in the Cottage
Boomer – da tabbies o trout towne
Socks – ATCAD
Ellie – Friends Furever
Cousin Trooper – Friends Furever
Snowie & Humphrey – Bionic Basil
Punapippuri – Catio Tales (formerly PikkuPunapippuri)
Dusty – Dash Kitten Crew
Gertrude – Marg’s Animals
Snowball – 15 And Meowing
Bilbo – da db boyz (formerly Dory’s Backyard)
Minko – Meezer’s Mews and Freckle’s Woofs

This is a blog hop. If you have written a remembrance post today, visit Zee and Zoey (link in first paragraph) to add the link to your post.

We send our condolences to all who lost a beloved family member in the past year as well as purrs, prayers and POTP as your hearts continue to heal.

Love, purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Mom Janet

August 28, 2017 by Janet Blue Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day 29

SUNDAY SELFIES THIRD ANNIVERSARY

Sunday Selfies: Week #158

Welcome to the Third Anniversary of our Sunday Selfies blog hop. Kitties Blue and I honestly are flabbergasted that this hop is still going strong. We do have times when our entries wax and wane, but usually we stay around 50 entrants. For all of you who have been with us from the beginning (and there are several), we send a huge THANK YOU, as well as kitty kisses and hugs. If we didn’t have two giveaways already in progress, we’d have one, and we just might anyway. We’ll surprise you next Sunday and let you know!

While trying to determine which of the Kitties Blue should have the opportunity to be the face of our third anniversary post, I had a light bulb moment. I’m a bit surprised as my brain has been stuck somewhere between gears today. I decided to share some statistics about our first Sunday Selfies post and our previous two anniversary posts along with a photo from each.

Starting from the beginning: Post #1 on August 17, 2014. We had seven entrants and Lisbeth was your host with three selfie photos. This was one of them. She was in the midst of having a catnip snack.

We celebrated Astrid and Lisbeth’s birthday as part of our first anniversary post on August 16, 2015. We had 61 entrants. Can we beat that today? A photo of the girls as babies was shared as well as a selfie of each girl. As Lisbeth got the first entry on today’s post, Astrid gets this one.

For anniversary #2, we posted at week #104 which fell on August 7, 2016. We had 59 entrants and both Calista Jo and Fiona were your hosts.

If anyone is interested in revisiting those posts, just click on the appropriate photo. We will charge ahead toward anniversary four as long as most of you are still enjoying the hop and willing to come along for the ride. You can let us know in the comments.

Remembering a Precious Angel

If you joined us yesterday for Caturday Art, then you know that today we are remembering and honoring another dear friend from Critters in the Cottage. Just a little over two weeks ago, the Critters said good-bye to sweet Mitalee Honeybee. We honored her on the Sunday Selfies post, C.J.’s Sad Selfies in Remembrance of Mitalee.

Today we remember the Critters’ four-pound, tiny dancer, Esme. Esme received her wings on Wednesday at only 11 years old. My dear friend, Mum Sophie (aka LP) is not certain she wants to continue blogging; though, we hope she will after a break to grieve for her angels. She has promised to post today. That way you can stop by and leave your condolences there. The entire family is devastated by yet another loss so quickly after Mitalee, as you might imagine. All our prayers and purrs go out to the entire family.

Giveaways

We currently are running two giveaways. You still have time to enter either or both. They close tomorrow (Monday, August 21) at 5 p.m. ET. Winners will be selected using Random.org and announced on Tuesday. The first is for some swag from the BlogPaws Conference as well as The Cat on My Head exclusive items. To enter, leave a comment on the girls’ birthday post, Astrid & Lisbeth Are Birthday Girls.

Our second giveaway is for the must have art book, The Book of The Cat: Cats in Art, by Angus Hyland and Caroline Roberts. For an opportunity to win a copy of The Book of the Cat, please leave a comment on our review post by clicking here. This giveaway is open to all readers worldwide.

Today’s Blog Hop

By now most of you know how this works, but if not, here are some guidelines:

The link to add your selfie to the hop is below.
You also will find below the code to use if you’d like the hop to appear on your blog.
You do not need to post on Sundays to join.
The hop remains open for entries through Thursday midnight.
Please be so kind as to display our badge and/or link to The Cat on My Head.

That’s it for us today. We look forward to seeing all our loyal supporters hopping. And remember, invite your friends. Newbies are always welcome.

August 20, 2017 by Janet Blue Angel Cat Anniversary Giveaway Sunday Selfies 45

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

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.