Thelma

PASTICHE OF FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #79

Today we are joining the Friendly Fill-Ins blog hop, as we do each Friday. The hop is hosted by Ellen (15 And Meowing) and Annie (McGuffy’s Reader). They each select two sentences for us to complete on Fridays and post them on their blogs on Thursdays. My completions are in teal italics.

The hop is conducted on Annie’s blog. You can go there and link up by clicking on the badge.

 

1. The best part of where I live is the home I share with Kitties Blue and Dad Tom.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week #79

Friendly Fill-Ins: #79

 

2. The worst part of where I live is that it is a several-hour drive to the ocean, and then it is the Atlantic. I grew up less than an hour from the Pacific. In college I lived just a few blocks from it.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins #79

 

This is a photo that Dad Tom took on our recent trip to California. It is the Pacific Ocean at Big Sur with Highway 1 and the Bixby Bridge. If you are a follower of the Tuesday Teaser at Two Spoiled Cats, you will have seen this photo.

3. If I had the money and location, I would open a sanctuary for black cats in memory of our two panfurs, angels Thelma and Twinkle. Of course, no homeless cat would be turned away regardless of color or breed.

 

Friendly Fill-Ins: Week 79

 

4. My favourite article of cold weather clothing is a hoodie, preferably one with a cat on the front.

 

ODD STILL LIFE WITH CATS

Thoroughly Poetic Thursday

After yesterday’s post, we didn’t think our mom could get any crazier, but we were wrong. It is evident now that she has more than one screw loose, and that they are rattling around in her head. We have no idea what to make of this ODD poem or the graphic she made to accompany it. But before we let you judge for yourselves, a bit of explanation is required.

This week’s Thoroughly Poetic Thursday, hosted by Angel Sammy and Teddy (Two Spoiled Cats), has “O” as its prompt letter. The prompt words selected for this week are 1) Open, 2) Octopus, 3) Olive and 4) Odd. As you can see, they really having nothing in common with each other. Nonetheless, Ms. Crazypants decided she’d include them all in one poem. For better or worse, here it is.

 

Cat Foods

Madison was crazy for green olive juice.
We know that is definitely odd.
But Cooper goes nutty for watermelon,
So to his strange taste, we also give a nod.

Thelma wanted water from steamed broccoli,
Yet another kitty with a crazy food festish.
Daphne stripped the flesh from artichoke leaves—
An additional unusual food for a cat to relish.

None of us have ever eaten octopus.
How could we with “puss” in its name?
But open a can of tuna; add some mayo,
And any leftovers are fair game.

Lily Olivia begs for and eats almost anything.
She never misses a meal and isn’t picky.
But some of us aren’t open to just any noms.
In fact, Giulietta is darn persnickety.

Calista will leave her food to pilfer from others,
But for some odd reason, she doesn’t like treats.
Like humans, every cat has its own food obsessions,
So you can never predict what they’ll like to eat.

© Janet Buickerood Blue 09/20/2017

So Mom was going to try to attribute this poem to us, but we said, “no way.” We told her that she wrote it, so she had to claim it. But if you thought the poem was ODD, check out this graphic. It is totally bizarre.

 

Angel cats, Thelma and Madison, in a peculiar still life.

 

If you don’t recognize the two kitties, they are angels, Thelma and Madison. You can find out more about them on The Felines page.

To read Angel Sammy’s poem or find links to what we are certain will be much better poems than this one, click on the Thoroughly Poetic Thursday badge.

Thankful Thursday

We are participating in Brian’s Thankful Thursday blog hop as well. We feel a tad bit guilty being grateful for anything while so many others are suffering the ravages of hurricanes and an earthquake. All this devastation makes us very sad.

But we are grateful to have so many finds in the blogosphere, and want to thank three in particular: Pipo, Mr.Jack Freckles and Mom Ingrid from Meezer’s Mews & Freckles’ Woofs.

They sent Mauricio and Misty May this precious card for their birthday. Check out those cute mice!

 

 

To join Brian’s Blog Hop click on his badge.

 

Until we meet again, purrs and paw-pats, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo and Cooper Murphy

FRIENDLY FILL-INS EVOKE MEMORIES

Week #17

FriendlyFillIns

 

Once again, I am participating in Annie’s (McGuffy’s Reader) and Ellen’s (15 And Meowing) Friendly Fill-ins. This is a blog hop, and you can add your link on Annie’s blog. My fill-ins are in teal italics.

1. My favorite way to exercise is cycling or swimming.

2. Something I learned last week was about a cool web-site for lovers of all things cat: iheartcats.comSo what makes this site different from others, you ask? For every item purchased a certain number of daily meals are provided to shelters across the U.S. through a partnership with Rescue Bank®. As stated on the  iheartcats website: “Rescue Bank® supports freight-paid deliveries to smaller, less visible non-profits that have limited access to resources. They operate on the national food bank model, accepting food donations from many manufacturers, distributors or retailers.”

But this is not just a shopping site. They also offer health and training advice, DIY projects and inspirational stories.

3. I am sentimental about the kitties I have loved and lost. I think about all of them often and remember their quirks and foibles. Thelma was the first cat on my head, and she would chew on my hair. The hair on the crown of my head ended up being about two inches long.

Thelma loved the water left over after I steamed broccoli.

Madison was a fanatic for the juice from green olives from the deli.

Chloe would always put a front paw on whatever plate or dish from which she was eating to keep it from escaping. And she was a member of the clean plate club!

 

Memories of Chloe

Chloe

 

Madison and MacKenzie joined our household at just about the same time, and they were the best of friends. I loved watching them together. You can read an entire post about them here.

 

memories of Mac and Madison

Mac (top), Madison (bottom)

 

These are just a few of the memories that always make me smile and miss these angels all the more.

4. Some people may find it surprising to know that I was a dog person until we adopted our first cat, Skooter, in the mid-eighties. I adopted a cock-a-poo puppy (Smack) when I was a sophomore in college, and Tom and I adopted what was supposed to be a cock-a-poo puppy (Poppy) shortly before we were married. They both lived into their late teens. (Sorry I have no photos on this computer to share with you. I will scan some and share in another post.)

We will see you right back here tomorrow for Caturday Art.

BLACK CAT FRIENDLY FRIDAY FILL-INS

Friendly Fill-Ins

FriendlyFillInsI am pawticipaing in today’s Friendly Friday Fill-Ins and using them (except #2) as a way to purrmote Layla Morgan Wilde’s (Cat Wisdom 101) Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to publish her new book Black Cats Tell: True Tales By 22 Amazing Cats. You can read more about this below.

My fill-ins are in teal italics.

1. The best brand of cat is a black cat.
2. I refuse to buy clothing unless there is a sale or a coupon.
3. I am inspired by black cats.
4. Whenever I see a black cat, I fall in love.

 

One of the most special cats I ever loved was a gentle and sweet black panfur, Thelma. She left us suddenly and too soon at age 12. She was my first “heart” cat. You can read more about her here.

 

Black Heart Cat Angel Thelma.

Angel Thelma

 

Friendly Fill-Ins is a blog hop hosted by Ellen from 15 And Meowing and Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. Click on their badge to be transported to Annie’s blog where you can enter the link to your post.

New Book from CatWisdom 101 Author

Black Cat Kickstarter CampaignFrom Layla’s blog: This is the first non-profit anthology of myth-busting, true stories by 22 amazing, BLACK CATS to raise shelter adoption rates. Humor and entertaining stories can chip away at preferences and prejudice. That’s the idea behind Black Cats Tell: True Tales By 22 Amazing Cats. By simply sharing positive stories told from the cats’ perspective, opinions about them can change.

From famous cats to the cat next door, these real cats tell it like it is. Their funny, surprising and entertaining tales aim to shift the perception of black cats and in turn increase their adoption rate.

It’s so simple and yet there are no books like this, yet.

 

 

 

RAINBOW BRIDGE REMEMBRANCE DAY WITH OUR ANGELS

RainbowBridge-Web

 

Zee & Zoey’s Cat Chronicles have created a very special day, Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day, to honor and remember “those cherished pets we have lost but not forgotten.”

Whether your beloved pet had fur or fins, scales or feathers, they had a special place in your heart of hearts.

Today we are honoring and remembering the nine angel kitties in our family as well as our honorary kitty angel, Nylablue.

 

Angel Skooter

Skooter

Angel Steamer

Steamer

 

Angel Daphne

Daphne

Angel Thelma

Thelma

 

Angel Louise

Louise

Angel Chloe

Chloe

 

Angel Twinkle

Twinkle

Angel Madison

Madison

 

Angel MacKenzie

MacKenzie

Honorary Sisfur Angel Nylablue

Nylablue

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To learn more about them, you can visit our The Felines page.

We’d also like to remember and honor the two woofies who came before any of us, Smack and Poppy.

Please consider taking part in this first annual event. The hope is it will be the first of many to come. You are encouraged to post on your blog, your Facebook page, or any other social media of your choice in memory of your angel anipals.

This event is hosted by Purr Prints of the Heart. Although this was a day originally created in honor of  Zee and Zoey’s Mr. Jazz, it will now honor all those who have crossed their Rainbow Bridge.

Today, we are sending purrs and prayers to all the families and friends with angels who have crossed that Bridge.

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

NATIONAL BLACK CAT DAY

National Cat Day in the USA was yesterday, October 29, and today is National Black Cat Day in the UK. We think everyday is Cat Day whether it is celebrated nationally or internationally, but Mom decided to pawticipate in this Black Cat Day being as it is the day before Hall-o-ween. And one of the most recognizable images at Hall-o-ween is the black cat! Besides, she loves the mini-panfurs!

National Black Cat Day Banner 
 
Thelma black cat

Thelma

Our humans had two black cats before we came to live with them. Thelma (Mom’s very first heart cat!) and Twinkle were both off-spring of the neighborhood stray who our humans called, “Mom.” Twinkle was the only kitten who got away when the neighbors caught Mom and her kittens and took them to the SPCA. Mom and Dad were away on vacation when this happened and found out too late to get them out of jail before they were euthanized.

twinkle black cat

Twinkle

Our mom and dad tried to trap Mom on several occasions to have her spayed but were never successful. Two other of her offspring were part of our household. Daphne and Thelma’s sisfur, Louise. Even though our mom wanted to keep some of the other kittens, particularly Skippy, Teddy and Alex, good homes were found for them and all the kittens from Mom’s litters.

Though today is Black Cat Day in the UK, many shelters and rescues in the U.S. will not allow black cat adoptions this week or sometimes for the entire month of October due to Hall-o-ween and mean people who might hurt these special kitties. But if you are in search of a new kitty, purrlease consider an older black kitty who may have been languishing in a shelter for quite sometime. They are consiered the least adoptable cats, but they are just as sweet, loving and adorable as any other kitty. Look at these faces of Thelma and Twinkle. What’s not to love?

Whatever color or breed of cat lives with you, purrlease be extra careful to protect them during Hall-o-ween. If you do allow them to go outside, consider not doing so at all tomorrow. At the very least, make certain they are in the house well before dark and have a place to chill-out away from the noise of the doorbell and squeals of the trick-or-treaters. A couple of us are super curious and want to see what the commotion is about. But most of us scatter as soon as the doorbell sounds. If the weather is warm, our humans sit on the front porch to hand out candy so we won’t be subjected to the hubbub and confusion. We won’t have to worry about all the racket this year. With Mom at Bark/Meow World, we won’t be participating in Hall-o-ween; though, we are praying cat sitter, Chris, will bring us a catnip treat like she usually does.

Stop by tomorrow to see us in our Hall-o-ween costumes. But most importantly, stay safe!

Purrs & paw-pats, Kitties Blue

FIONA GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT

Fiona

Fiona

After Christmas has passed I have more free time to relax. I spend lots of it sitting in the living room enjoying the tree while the male human, Tom, is watching Bowl game after Bowl game. When I was a teenager, four Bowl games (Rose, Orange, Cotton and Sugar) were contested. That was it…the end! This year when they continued to go on and on, I asked Tom how many bowls there are now. He said that he thought about 20.

Not wanting to be called out if this figure happened to be wrong, I decided to check Google to find the correct answer. So here it is: 35! I honestly can’t believe it. That’s a total of 70 teams, many of them unranked. The only reason I can think of for so many of these games is to line the sponsors’ pockets. Although, I am certain, participating in one of these games is quite a badge of honor for the players and their parents. I hope I have not offended anyone with my mini-rant. And anyway, I obviously am not writing a post about football. Once again I have digressed as I have a tendency to do.

Thelma

Thelma

So back on topic: I watch the tree. Its lights and shining ornaments can be mesmerizing. When in the living room I am usually catless. Giulietta, however, and her sis, Fiona, sit on the other side of the door. Giulietta scratches on the door while Fiona whines. Unlike the other siblings, Mauricio and Misty May, they are nearly always together. I do sometimes separate them as I am known for granting Fiona special privileges. She is such a good kitty and minds me quite well most of the time (not really known as a cat trait) so I will sneak her into the living room with me. Last night she hung out under the tree, but normally she is curled up next to or on top of me and we nap.

Yesterday morning she joined me in bed, as I got up a little later than Tom. After he fed the kitties, Fiona came back upstairs. She always sneaks up on me stealthily and we have some alone time. She only occasionally sleeps on the bed so this is always a treat for both of us. She gets lots of one-on-one petting and rubbing without any of the other kids butting in, and I get the warm fuzzies since she specifically sought me out.

In the spring and summer I occasionally let her off the screened porch and into the yard with me. You can read more about this in my post, “Cats in the Garden.”

Louise

Louise

Fiona resembles our previous cat, Louise. But, for some reason, I often call her by Louise‘s sister’s name, Thelma. I can think of two possible reasons. Both names end in “a,” or because Thelma and Fiona share similar personalities and mannerisms. Fiona is only slightly more vocal than Thelma, who only talked at night after we went to bed. We would hear her downstairs in the foyer having conversations with toys or shadows or dust bunnies.We never really knew or discovered to whom she was speaking or what she was talking about!

And Thelma also was a stealth cat, having learned to approach without her bell making any sound. I miss both Thelma and Louise bunches and am glad Fiona often makes me think of them.

Last night was the Cotton Bowl. I spent the duration of the game in the living room alone, admiring the tree and doing a computer-generated puzzle of Mauricio. Fiona chose to nap on the dining room table with Giulietta.

But, as I finally finish this post (more server problems), Fiona is sitting on my lap purring and not even trying to touch the computer. Good kitty!

KITTIES BLUE HIDING

Inventive & Sneaky

grey cat inside a dishwasher

Fiona almost disappears against the stainless steel interior of the dishwasher.

Every cat needs a good hiding place or two or three, especially when one of the humans is trying to take it to the vet or another kitty is hot on its tail. Over the years our kids have been inventive and sneaky; though, sometimes they have not completely hidden but merely gotten themselves into a space unreachable by human hands. Both Thelma and Louise liked to flatten themselves against the wall under the very center of the king-sized waterbed.

This was the perfect tactic since even with the bedroom door closed and a kitty caregiver on each side of the bed, they could jump to the window sill and escape across the top of the bed. It didn’t matter if they were unable to escape the room. They knew that when caught we’d never keep our grip on a squirming, flailing, claw-extended cat. When the door was opened the gyrations would begin. Soon we would be racing after a feline flying down and up and up and down the stairs and throughout the house.

Before the New Kitchen

calico cat in a basket

Lily secrets herself from the other felines in a basket.

Prior to our kitchen redo, another of Louise’s favorite hiding places, which she usually saved for what Dad Tom calls, “The Round-Up,” (when the vet comes to the house for annual check-ups and shots) was on top of an enclosed kitchen radiator camouflaged by a curtain. And Daphne used that as a point of entry to a corner cabinet where she wedged herself behind a lazy susan. It took a contortionist (me) to drag her from this niche.

Long-haired tuxedo cat in a green pot.

Daphne tucks herself into a pot in the previous breakfast room.

Also before the make-over, all of our felines, as kittens, would crawl through a tiny space between a base cabinet and the stove if we didn’t keep it covered with cardboard and duct tape. Once there, they could scamper around under the peninsula and behind the cabinets. Every once in a while we needed to pull out the stove to retrieve the toys, pencils, corks, coins, bag ties and other bright, shiny objects that had been batted into or taken through the hole.

And again while we were in the old-kitchen era, every kitten found the built-in wine rack at the end of the peninsula. Its compartments perfectly fit their little bodies. This hiding place gave them the opportunity to attack the ankles of unsuspecting passersby!

 

Long-haired, grey, tabby kitten hiding in a wine rack.

Alex, another kitten from one of Mom’s* litters, tucks himself into the wine rack. (The wine rack is now enclosed inside an upper cabinet.)

 

Tuxedo kitten hiding in a bookcase and being watched by a tortoise shell kitten sitting on kitchen counter.

In the new kitchen, Astrid discovers Lisbeth’s hiding place during a rousing game of Hide ‘n Seek.

Hiding Place Elimination

The kitchen remodel eliminated the previous four hiding places. A variety of others remain. We still have plenty of radiators for a flexible cat to secret itself under or behind. And, of course, shelves, drawers, closets, laundry hampers and suitcases work well, often hiding and trapping a feline whose only intention was to take a quick look around.

Update to this post: Lisbeth has found a place to hide that we have never discovered! She scared us terribly when we thought she had escaped the house during a delivery. We spent hours searching outside and inside. I had convinced myself she had jumped in the delivery truck and only escaped it after it arrived at its next destination. Dad Tom and I went to bed, and I cried myself to sleep. When I got up at 3 a.m. to use the bathroom, Lisbeth showed up in the hall. I have never discovered where she was hiding during those 12-plus hours!

Hiding Assistance

But the sneakiest cats of all are the ones who help hide other cats. If you look closely, you can see Giulietta’s face peeking out from behind Fiona.

Long-haired grey kitten hiding behind short-haired grey kitten in a cat tree cubby hole.

 

Once, much to our dismay, Louise hid herself in our neighbor’s basement for two weeks. But that is a long story for a another post.

 

Misty May hiding in Christmas wrappings.

Mauricio discovers Misty May hiding in a bag of used Christmas wrappings.

 

These photos of cats in baskets, cabinets, pots and a variety of other creative places are a small representation of those we have snapped of cats in hiding. In the future I definitely plan to share others as some are hysterical.

 

Black and white (tuxedo cat) hiding inside desk.

Mauricio wiggled his way onto a shelf of tablets to spy on Tom while he worked at his desk.

 

And, if you would like to see photos of cats in hiding already posted, please visit, “Cat in a Box” and “Cats in High Places.”

Speaking of “Cat in a Box”: With the holidays coming, carefully check all shipping boxes prior to sealing and mailing. This morning, Astrid, Giulietta and Mauricio were all in danger of being sent out-of-state to Meredith. (Her Comments you often can read here.) As the box was already heavy with books, I might not have noticed the extra weight!

Where do your cats like to hide? You can tell me about their favorite hiding places by leaving a Comment below. Maybe it will help us the next time one of our pusses pulls a disappearing act.

* Mom was a stray cat and the mother of our cats, Daphne, Thelma, Louise and Twinkle as well as many others for which we found homes.