WW: Look Who's By the Jukebox! Any Requests?

Book Review: Mr Bigelow Smells a Rat (A Curious Cat Mystery Book 1)

There's a new cat detective in town....

No one is safe when MR. BIGELOW SMELLS A RAT.
When Penelope inherits the estate of her Great-Aunt Agnes, she thinks her life is going to be a piece of cake. Little does she realize that Agnes's cat, Mr. Bigelow, comes as part of the deal.
When Penelope meets a handsome guy at the pet store, she's smitten, but Mr. Bigelow senses danger. He must figure out what's going on, and stop Penelope before she falls prey to the purrfect crime!

In fewer than 100 pages Mr. Bigelow has stolen my heart!!! In a story with alternating points of view between the cat and his new owner Penelope, Mr. Bigelow pawsitively leaps of the pages as he attempts to warn Penelope about her new beau and lead her to buried treasure that will change her life forever. Two scenes involving Mr. Bigelow and a scrawny homeless cat gave me an "AWWW" moment unlike any I've had in a long time in a book. For these moments alone we give this story four paws way up, and the mystery is lots of fun too, even though it's an unusual one not revolving around a murder.

I can only hope this is the first of many adventures for this exciting new duo because Mr. Bigelow is a superstar in the making!

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Let's Get Instrumental #MewsicMovesMe

The theme of this week's Mewsic Moves Me blog hop is "songs where a particular instrument has moved you". Three Conway songs immediately came to mind, I didn't even need to look any further, so let's get instrumental!

Instrument #1: Steel Guitar

In my humble opinion the steel guitar produces the most beautiful sound of any instrument. Conway's long-time steel player was the legendary John Hughey, who is credited with developing a unique style of playing that focused on the instrument's high tones, resulting in a distinctive "crying sound." His solo towards the end of this song just may be the best steel guitar solo ever...

Instrument #2: Electric Guitar

Originally performed by the Bee Gees, Conway's cover of Rest Your Love On Me became his 25th #1 song as a solo artist in 1981. It's an exceptionally beautiful song as it is, but the guitar solo at the end is just chilling...(this video has nearly 5 million views on YouTube!!!)

Instrument #3: Keyboard

Throughout my elementary and high school years my best friend's name was Julia. I was always SO jealous that her name was the title of a song by my favorite singer. I have a number of Conway's concerts on DVD, and I love watching his keyboard player play two keyboards on this one...this is classic, sophisticated 1980s "countrypolitan" music. LOVE this song...

Let us know if you have a favorite among our choices today, and do you have a favorite instrument yourself?

Sunday Selfies & Friendly Fill Ins

We're joining our friends at The Cat On My Head for the Sunday Selfies blog hop!

And now our weekly answers for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs!

Mommy's answers:

1. I used to be able to roller skate, but I no longer can. Well, I can't say for sure that I no longer can, but I would almost be afraid to try, especially at the speeds I used to go!

2. I'm notorious for burning kitchen utensils in the oven. I've done it 4 times in the past couple years, the last just a few weeks ago, and a plastic bowl too.

Mudpie's answers:

3. I just can't seem to convince Mommy that she should be a full time cat mom.

4. There's no use crying over spilled kibble. I'll clean it up for you!

National Record Store Day #CaturdayArt

Today we decided to bring back one of most popular Caturday Art pieces from the past in order to celebrate National Record Store Day.

I was never a fan of records growing up when my parents had them playing. It seems they were always griping about the records skipping and I had to wonder why they even bothered with the aggravation. When cassettes and then CDs came along I was quick to make the transition. Little did I know all these years later they would become such an important part of my Conway collection, although in all honesty I collect them primarily for the cover art. I digitize everything that isn't already on CD.

This box is filled with his US catalog (both rock & country). I'm missing only 3 or 4 to have a complete collection.

I'm in need of a second box because this stack is his foreign releases, radio shows that he was featured on and/or co-hosted, and autographed records. I have a rather lofty goal of collecting a second complete set of his albums all autographed. So far I have 17 - don't even ask how many more I need to find!

Lastly, this box is filled with his 45s and extended play (EP) records...SO many more to be found!

No, I do not own a single non-Conway record. Where would I put them?!?!?!

Just this week I found out about 2 record stores here in my area that I wasn't aware of. Maybe today would be a good day to stop in and hunt for some buried treasure!

Any other record collectors out there? 

Or maybe you have fond memories of when vinyl was king?

Unboxing April's CatLadyBox

The theme of April's CatLadyBox was "Spring Kittens"...here's what was inside!

Featured Cat Lady Artist: Illustrator Roseanna Hanson's black and white cat is named Humbug. As a Christmas Carol fanatic, that's going on my list of future cat names!

Kitten Pawty Shirt: Advocate for spay and neuter during the height of kitten season with this adorable shirt! Check out the "spring break" flyer style design...so fun and eye-catching!!!

Cat Toothbrush Holder Set: I didn't know my bathroom needed this until I got it, yet I haven't started to use it yet because I'm so afraid of knocking it into the sink (maybe with a little help from Mudpie paws) and breaking it!

Raining Cats Raincoat: How have I never had a cat raincoat before? This is definitely a welcome addition to my feline wardrobe. Love the color too, Pantone's Spring 2019 color, "Living Coral!"

Flying Butterfly Toy: This is probably Mudpie's favorite CLB toy ever. She started hitting the butterfly before I even put the batteries in and was instantly obsessed with it. When it's not turned on she hits the butterfly as a hint for me to stop what I'm doing and put it on for her (thankfully it only takes one battery!) I promise to get video of her playing with it soon.

Bunny Ball Catnip Toy: Purrfect little puffballs like this are Mudpie's favorite kind of catnip toy to bat around. I'm surprised she hasn't lost it by now.

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Thankful Thursday: Finally a Cat Cafe in Vermont?!?!?!

If my scream registered a slight tremor on the Richter scale Monday night around 6PM it's because one of the lead stories on our evening news was that Vermont might finally be getting its very first cat cafe this summer!!!

That's the good news. The bad news is it isn't going to be super close by to me but about an hour away in the central part of the state. Still easily within driving distance though. The lady hoping to open the Kitty Korner Cafe is also the owner of a flower shop with two lovely feline mascots, Paisley and Maisey. You can meet them here.

If you'd like to make a pledge and help make this project a reality there's currently a Kickstarter campaign underway. In just a few days they're nearly halfway towards meeting their goal! I guess that shows us Vermonters really want our own cat cafe, and for that I'm very thankful!