Monday Meowsings

MONDAY MEOWSINGS: SECRET PAWS PREZZIES

On the morning of Christmas Eve, Lily Olivia gave Mom 40 face kisses to make up for the cookie fiasco of the day before. So, in the spirit of forgiveness, our humans allowed us to open our Secret Paws prezzies that afternoon. As reported previously, our Secret Paws came from Mom Alana, Crepes, Mrs. Peabody, Louie, Niles, Sprinkle and Doodle from Cat in the Fridge. If you missed seeing the incredible sketch of Astrid that Alana made for Mom, you can see it here.

Here’s a couple photos of our loot with Fiona photobombing in the second one.

We received our favorite treat, Pounce, as well as Simply Nourish Freeze Dried, Turkey Treats. We haven’t tried these yet. We also received two fuzzy mice with feather tails, and a huge pack of Catnip Puffs as well as that cool owl with a feather tail. It hangs from a doorknob.

Calista Jo & Fiona (in their Christmas flowers) check out the owl toy.

Misty May, Calista Jo, Giulietta, Lily Olivia, Lisbeth and Mauricio inspect the Catnip Puffs and wrapping paper and nom Pounce.

Lily Olivia (wearing her crocheted flower from Kitty Cat Chronicles) and Lisbeth surrounded by Catnip Puffs.

We are extremely grateful to Mom Alana and all the gang at Cat in the Fridge for these most pawsome prezzies and treats. Secret Paws rocks!

Purrlease join us tomorrow for a special post: Sharkie & Blue’s Most Excellent Cycling Adventure. If you missed our post, We Have Holiday Visitors, Sharkie and Blue are our honorary brofur Bailey‘s plushie furiends. They are visiting from Rome for the holidays.

Purrs & Paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth & Calista Jo

OUR SECRET PAWS 2014

Finally our Secret Paws prezies are ready to go to the P.O. tomorrow. Mom says it is really hard to accomplish anything with Astrid always glued to her lap. The remainder of us think she should just put Astrid on the floor and get on with her duties, but that tortie girl has Mom wrapped around her paw. She has used the tried-and-true tactic of purring and kneading to make Mom feel guilty whenever she wants to remove her. Pffft!

She unloaded Astrid long enough today to sneak in the guest room and wrap the goodies. She wouldn’t allow any of us to help. We have reputations for leaving claw and fang marks in wrapping paper and getting our furs stuck to the tape. We are sure most of you would agree, those are just the things that give a gift a special purrsonal touch. Besides that, it’s not as if we need to worry that the recipient might be allergic to some cat spit or fur! Our reasoning did not sway her, and so like all of you, we only get to see the photos.

All the booty, including our homegrown catnip!

A little something for the human.

All wrapped up in Hello Kitty paper, of course!

At the completion of the project, the remnants of the packaging and the plastic bag that had stored the nip ended up in the kitchen. Several of us, including Lisbeth, discovered and took pleasure in exploring these treasures.

Lisbeth gives the “trash” a thorough inspection.

Lisbeth strikes a pose for the camera for her boyfriend Charles.

So that’s it for our 2014 Secret Paws report. We’ll be back tomorrow for a Doozy of a Snoozy Tuesday.

Thanks to all of you who purrticipated in our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop this week. We are still working on getting around to visit each of you. We hope you can find time during your busy holiday schedules to join us again next Sunday.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid (under protest), Lisbeth and Calista Jo

December 15, 2014 by Janet Blue Christmas Holiday Kitty Written Blog Lisbeth and Charles Monday Meowsings 36

#99 CAUGHT SNORING ON THE JOB

Giulietta, AKA Quality Control Inspector/Snoopervisor #99, was found sleeping on the job yesterday. While Mom was busy floofing the branches on our big Christmas tree, Giulietta, who was on duty at the time, disappeared. Mom looked all over the living room for her, but she was no where in sight. Then Mom heard it…snoring! Following the sound, this is what Mom found. (Be sure to turn up the volume on your computer.)

Giulietta had burrowed into a pile of bubble wrap and was totally obscured before Mom pulled it away from her head.

When Santa heard about this infraction he expressed great disappointment in Giulietta. He said that he would have let her off with just a warning for hiding and sleeping on the job. However, with the added charge of disturbing the peace with her snoring, Santa said that he was required to give her a ticket as well as assign her additional hours of inspecting and snoopervising.

The following was Giulietta’s reply to Santa:

Immediately followed by this:

We are relatively certain that Giulietta is now on Santa’s naughty list!

Book Winners

We are excited to announce the winners of the signed copy of the book, Tail’s from Cyprus as Told by Liza. Wally, Ernie and Zoey (The Island Cats) will be receiving this delightful book.

Tuxie Tuesday Teaser

Lisbeth asked us to remind efurryone to visit us tomorrow when she will reveal her BIG surprise.

Purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta (zzzzzzzzzzz!), Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

December 8, 2014 by Janet Blue Christmas Giveaway Holiday Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings 31

MEOWING WITH WAFFLES & FRIENDS

Like all the groupies who attended the Bark/MeowWorld Conference in Atlanta, our mom (aka The Traitor) was gaga about getting to spend time with celebricat Waffles (Glogirly)! Though she had met him at BlogPaws in May, she’d had no opportunity to interact. But this time, a Cocktail Party to celebrate Waffles’ debut on the can of Mike’s Harder Firebomb Apple Ale was scheduled for Friday evening.

Waffles Posing

When the appointed time arrived ~~our mom~~ The Traitor and Sampy’s (Kitty Cat Chronicles) mom, Emily, headed for the party. They were advised before entering to speak quietly so as not to upset the guest of honor. With the crush of people in Waffles’ hotel room, Mom expected to find that Waffles had retreated UTB. To her surprise, he was out and about greeting his admirers.

The Traitor got up close and personal and fed Waffles some kibble. And she took dozens of photos. We are only sharing a few as this is our blog after all. The Traitor says we don’t need to remind her. She claims that by ~~allowing~~ forcing us us to write this post, she is acknowledging our importance and ownership of this blog.

Waffles dives head first into The Traitor’s purse.

When The Traitor and Mom Emily met up, Mom gave her some homegrown nip for all the kitties and Astrid furs for Sampy. These had been in ziploc bags in her purse. Waffles quickly gravitated toward the lingering aroma.

Mom and Waffles discuss his “naughty” behavior over a can of Firebomb Apple Ale.

We guess, if it is your room and your party, kitties are allowed to do whatever they want. Mom claims to have had a talk with Waffles about his “naughty” behavior, but we think they were canoodling. She says that he seemed to listen, but she noticed forays into other purses as well.

After cocktails 16 of the partygoers braved the wind and rain for a dinner together at Maggiano’s arranged by Mom Emily. On their return to the hotel several of the ladies remained in the lobby in order to continue their visit with Emily.

Connie (Tails from the Foster Kittens), Emily, The Traitor, Sue (The Island Cats) & Susan (Life with Dogs and Cats)

The Traitor did not confine herself to hobnobbing with Waffles. She also betrayed us with two foster kittens, Stoli & Sangria, from Random Felines. So not only did she come home smelling of Waffles and Huck, she was covered with kitten essence as well. How rude and inconsiderate can one person be?

Stoli playing on the iPad.

The Traitor snuggling Sangria. Pffft!

She’s not sharing info about the conference as she says most of it was pretty boring. According to her the best part was spending time with human and furry friends.

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

November 10, 2014 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings 31

MONDAY MEOWSINGS: RANDOM STUFF

[follow_me]
RANDOM STUFF #1: Have you noticed the little Tweety Bird at the top of our post. We finally have a Twitter account. You can find us here: @KittiesBlue. No surprise there! We are total novices at this, so don’t expect too much right now. If you’d like to follow us, just click on Tweety.

Cat Dreams

RANDOM STUFF #2: This is the final day to enter our giveaway for a signed, art print from CatLadyPaints. Click here to go to the post where you can leave a comment. Let me know which of the three prints you would like if you win. You have until 8 p.m. tonight EDT to enter.

And remember, thanks to the artist, Maria Strom (Katzy), you can purchase any of the items displayed in her Etsy shop at a 20 percent discount. Just enter the coupon code, CATHEAD20. This offer will remain in effect through September 20. It’s not too soon to think about holiday gift giving.

RANDOM STUFF #3: Yesterday was our second Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. We are so grateful to all of you who entered. And we are even more grateful to those of you who purrmoted the Hop on your blog. Your support and kindness has warmed our furry hearts. If you haven’t entered a selfie and would like to do so, this week’s Hop is still open. And purrlease consider joining us next Sunday.

RANDOM STUFF #4: Happy Labor Day to all our friends in the U.S. and Canada. It is our sincere wish that you are not laboring but spending time with family and friends. Usually considered the unofficial end of summer, the last weekend for public pools to be open, and time for school to start, we are sad to report that all of these things came in mid-August where we live. Mom is glad she was a kid in the olden days when summer vacation was actually three months long!

FINALLY: A must see adorable video of two unusual friends.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx-8m2Ey35o

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

September 1, 2014 by Janet Blue Giveaway Holiday Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings 35

SHELTER CAT MUSINGS AND A WINNER

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

I wanted to do something special for this very important month, but time slipped away from me as it often does. So, on this last day of the month, all I can do is share a poem. It is based on what I imagine a caged, shelter cat might be thinking. Maybe it will touch your heart enough to adopt a new friend.

Musings of a Shelter Cat

Oh, look at that one. Doesn’t

she look nice? Do you think she’ll

notice me? Maybe she’ll want

to hold me. I’m going to

purr really loud. Maybe she’ll

hear me and come this way. She’s

not taking the bait. Should I

meow? Maybe she likes

talkative cats. No…nothing!

Maybe I should roll around,

show her I like to play. Maybe

she likes active cats. No…

she’s leaving. She didn’t even

look my way. She probably

wants a kitten and thinks I’m

to old to adopt. Oh, look

at that one. He looks nice. I

think he’s a cat man. Prrrr…

prrrr…prrrr…prrr!

June 29, 2014

And the Winner is…

our furiends, Hannah and Lucy, in the UK. Pretty purrfect…a garden flag with two cats for a two-cat household. I’ll be contacting them via e-mail for their address.

I used Random.org to select the winner. Forty-two comments were left on the post, Fabulous Feline Flag Giveaway. Number 28 was the first number selected of the 42 by the random number generator. Hannah and Lucy made that 28th comment.

I wish I had flags for all 42 making comments. Alas, I don’t, but I will plan to offer them again in future giveaways. I hope some of you like them well enough that you will order one or more for yourself or as gifts from AJ’s Pup Pastries.

Petties Awards

Nominations for the Petties close today. We have been nominating all our favorite blogs and hope you have been doing the same. If you’d like to nominate us, that would be terrific. You’ll need our url: https://www.thecatonmyhead.com. Click on the badge to enter your favorites.

We’ll be back day after tomorrow with a new post for Wordless Wednesday featuring everyone’s favorite tortie, Astrid.

June 29, 2014 by Janet Blue Monday Meowsings 35

MONDAY MEOWSINGS: CJ’S BIRTHDAY WRAP-UP

Hi Efurrybuddy,

It is me, Calista Jo, reporting today to let y’all know that I had the best birthday ever. Now granted, this was only my second birthday, but it was pawsome. I really want to thank my brofur Mau and mommy for making it so special with the Hello Kitty Palooza theme. Lots of my furiends attended making it even more fun.

I got this most excellent card from our furiends at Kitty Cat Chronicles. That’s where Astrid’s boyfriend Sampson lives. All the kitties, Sampson, Caster, Sophie, Sassy and Delilah are wearing Hello Kitty pawty hats. Isn’t that cute.

Then my brofur Bailey from Bailey Boat Cat has offerred to have his dad take Kitties Blue for a ride in one of the Hello Kitty airplanes. He’s a pilot. I cannot wait until we can arrange this. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime gift, and it was for me, Calista Jo!

The cat's whiskers: Taiwan's second-largest carrier, Eva Airlines, and Japan's comic company, Sanrio, which owns the Hello Kitty brand, collaborated on the second generation Hello Kitty-themed aircraft, sen here at Taoyuan International Airport in Taiwan

Lots of my furiends asked to if they could get a Hello Kitty memento photo from my pawty. I want to share all their cute photos with you. (If you wanted a photo and forgot to ask or Mom missed your request, please let us know.) Efurryone has their name on their romper. You can click on any photo to make it bigger.

: Kitty Cat Chronicles

: Kitty Cat Chronicles

: Kitty Cat Chronicles

: Twinkletoe Tails

: Twinkletoe Tails

: Twinkletoe Tails

: Nylablue & Sherri-Ellen’s Purrfect Pad

: Dezi’s World

: Critters in the Cottage

: A Doll’s Life

: Tomcat Commentary by Tim

: Me…CJ

Me with Da Bird

Fiona with Da Bird

But the very bestest part of my birthday was the gift. I got something we all have been needing for a really long time…the others since before I was even born: Da Bird. The night of my birthday, seven of us (all except Misty May) played with it in the foyer with Mom for 30 minutes. In all that time, only one small growl was heard from Lily Olivia. I don’t know if she was on her good behavior for my birthday or if this is something we can all do together and get along.

If you missed my party, but still want to visit, click on the link in the first paragraph.

Thanks again efurrybuddy. If I could come to your houses and hug each of you, I would.

Purrs and paw-pats, Calista Josette

June 23, 2014 by Janet Blue Barn Cat Buddies Birthday Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings 25

MONDAY MEOWSINGS: MORE OF THIS AND THAT

Our New Badge/Button

Nellie, our furiend from The Cat from Hell, made us this cool new button using part of our logo and the colors from our blog. I haven’t had the opportunity to upload it to any accounts yet but start looking for it when Kitties Blue leave comments on your blogs.

A Nice Surprise

On May 3, one of the blogs we follow, A Pet’s Life Blog, had a post entitled, Top 5 Cat Blogs and Bloggers (that you should follow!). I wanted to make certain to read it as I didn’t want to miss any potentially great blogs I didn’t know about. Imagine my surprise when I saw the following:

4. The Cat on My Head

Janet writes this blog which features her 8 cats! She is not ashamed to be a crazy cat lady. Her photographs are beautiful and her writing makes you feel right at home.

Thank you to our friends at A Pet’s Life Blog for thinking us worthy of this list!

Flag Counter

Since I started blogging, I’ve noticed the Flag Counter on many blogs I follow and always thought I’d like to include that on this blog. Well, I finally added that feature to our sidebar. Adding it nearly two years after launching The Cat on My Head is never going to give me a clear picture of what is happening with regard to readership, but I am still excited to check it each day to see where our readers are in the world.

Two for the Road

We have managed to hit the road on the tandem four times since the vascular surgeon gave me the okay last Monday to begin biking again. Many of you thought Tom was joking when he said that we would start with 20 miles. He wasn’t! But, we only made it 19 miles that first day. We bumped up the distance with each ride and almost managed 100 miles, falling short by less than one-half mile. We’ll do better this week.

The Petties Awards

The kitties and I have been busy nominating our furiends for the 2014 Petties Awards. If you like our blog, could you do the same for us? There are a few categories for which we would qualify, but we’d suggest Best Cat Blog or Funniest Blog or Blogger.

To nominate, simply click on the badge to the left. Nominations close on June 30, and you can nominate everyday. You will need our url: www.thecatonmyhead.com. Thanks.

Please join us tomorrow for our post: Date Night at the Drive-In with Cat Scouts.

June 15, 2014 by Janet Blue Monday Meowsings 25

MONDAY MEOWINGS: PREZZIES

We got prezzies in the mail on Friday and Saturday! Well, if we are going to be truthful, Mom got prezzies.

First was the No-No bracelet Angel’s and Isabella’s Mom Sharla made for her. You may have seen it on their blog, Beaded Tail. Isn’t it beautiful? It’s in Mom’s favorite colors of aqua and purple. Lily picked it up in her mouth and tried to walk off with it last night. First words out of Mom’s mouth were, “No No.” MOL.

Yesterday we received the two items Mom won in the auction for Katnip Lounge‘s The Baby.

One was the book, The Zen of Max, by our furiend Lou Belcher, who has painted portraits of some of us. This package and book smelled of Knuckles and Bugsy (formerly of HH and the Boys and now part of Lou’s personal blog, Lou Belcher Fine Art). We kept trying to open the book and turn the pages to see if they had sent any furs along with the book. They didn’t. Phooey!

All these prezzies have had the most seductive smells. Best of all was the one from Ms. Stella O’Houligan, on a more personal note. It contained one of the premium catnip quilts Stella’s Mom Stacy made to commemorate the 2014 BlogPaws Conference. It even has all our names on it. Mom still insists, however, that it is not for us. She says it is going in the guest room so we don’t fur it all up. Sheesh…has the woman never heard of lint rollers or washing machines? It’s imbedded with catnip. It’s for the cats! She claims to want it as a good souvenir of her trip, as opposed to the bad souvenir…that stoopid scorpion sting. We suppose that makes sense. Double phooey!

As Calista Jo demonstrates: The aromas are irresistible and pure heaven! (If you don’t want to hear the television in the background, turn off or down the sound on your computer.)

Mom sees the vascular surgeon this afternoon. She promises to let you know tomorrow how her recovery from the scorpion sting is progressing.

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

June 8, 2014 by Janet Blue Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings 33

MONDAY MEOWSINGS: THE EVIL SCORPION

As most of you know, Mom’s trip to the BlogPaws conference ended on a painful note when she was stung by a scorpion. And though we have been taking extra good care of her since her return home, she developed an abscess on her ankle that became infected. She ended up going to Urgent Care, and then her PCP sent her to a vascular surgeon. She had her third appointment with him today, and he decided she has improved enough to avoid hospitalization. That’s a huge relief for all of us.

Home Health will continue to come each day to repack and redress her wound. She will return to the surgeon next Monday. So she continues to sit on her butt with her leg up; though, the addition of a compression bandage today will allow her to be up and around a little more. We aren’t complaining about all this lounging around as it means her lap is always available for one of us.

We all think she should share some photos of her ankle with you. She has declined, however, stating that our blog is rated PG and the photos are much too graphic. She did tell us that her ankle looks much better today as all the dead skin has been removed.

Since she won’t share one of her gory photos, we requested one of a scorpion. Supposedly there are from 15 to 23 different species of scorpions in Nevada. Mom has no idea which of these stung her. The photo at right is that of a Bark Scorpion.

She is very grateful for all the purrs, prayers and well wishes our furiends and friends have sent her. She especially would like to thank Savannah’s and Sage’s (Savannah’s Paw Tracks) mom, Linda, for soliciting purrs and prayers for her from the Cats With Blogs Facebook group. We all know the incredible healing power of both those things.

Though this incident cast a bit of a pall on Mom’s BlogPaws attendance, she still feels as if it was one of the best experiences of her life, and she has already registered for next year.

Mom asked us to end this post with something upbeat and “catty,” as this is a cat blog. So, it is with pleasure that we report on how Astrid continues to shed her “scaredy cat” persona, which Mom attributes to the love of a good cat…Sampson from Kitty Cat Chronicles. Astrid spent about two hours on the catio this morning and is now chasing Calista Jo and Fiona, instead of the other way around. Thanks Sampson and way to go Astrid.

Until next time…purrs and paw-pats from Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

p.s. Please forgive us for not visiting and commenting as often as usual. We are doing our best under the circumstances.

June 2, 2014 by Janet Blue Asrid & Sampson Kitty Written Blog Monday Meowsings Prayers 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

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.