Slurpy #SundaySelfie

 Yes, I did just polish off a squeezie!

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

Feeling Festive #CaturdayArt

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art 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 find it easy to choose a gift for my mom. We're so much alike that if I love something, I know she's going to love it.

2. I find it difficult to choose a gift for my dad. He doesn't have any interests or hobbies and all he ever says is he doesn't need anything. To make things even harder his birthday is just a month after Christmas!

Mudpie's answers:

3. Now that I've gotten my Secret Paws partner, I can start shopping.  

4. I'm especially looking forward to Secret Paws this holiday season.

Black Friday #PetPhotoFails

Meows from Mudpie!

Thank you for joining us for this Black Friday edition of the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop! 

Who's going shopping today? As you're reading this, Mommy and I are most likely still snuggling in bed, but later today she does hope to visit a little gift shop in our area for some cute little Christmas mice she saw on their Facebook page.

  

Mommy snapped this picture yesterday (Thanksgiving) morning. I had been looking over at her oh so pretty, but as soon as she grabbed the camera something distracted me outside. 

Who knows what it was...maybe a turkey was running for his life out there!

That's my photo fail...let's see yours!

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Happy Thanksgiving 2021

Mudpie: I'm thankful for you, Mommy.

Mommy: I'm thankful for you too, precious!

Mudpie & Mommy: And we're BOTH thankful for all of YOU!

Happy Thanksgiving from our home to yours...

Unboxing November's CatLadyBox

The theme of November's CatLadyBox was Be Meow Guest...here's what was inside!

Featured Cat Lady Artist: Ruth Arietta

CATS > PEOPLE Shirt: More cats, less people...so true I wish I could wear this shirt every single day!

Cat Soap Dispenser: Bedroom, bathroom, or kitchen, this will look beautiful anywhere.

Cat Potholders: I'm not sure which is cuter...the little cat heads or the one that looks like the results from a heart monitor as our hearts beat for our cats. 

Catnip Green Bean & Candlestick: Mudpie has been having fun chomping away at the green bean, but I confiscated the adorable candlestick for our Christmas decorations :)  It's so Dickensian!

 

Not a subscriber yet? Visit CatLadyBox today!

Interested in purchasing individual items from past boxes? You can do that too!

Disclosure: I receive a discount on my CatLadyBox subscription as a thank you for my monthly review. Regardless of compensation received, we only share information we feel is relevant to our readers.

Helping Mommy Put Away Groceries #SundaySelfie

 I folded up this paper bag for her. 

Doing odd jobs around the house is how I earn my squeezie money :) 

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

Caturday Art

Meows from Mudpie!

We fell in love with this effect on Photo Lab even though it did weird things to my ears. Doesn't it look like a super cozy cabin to cuddle in?

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art 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 am thankful for my family (both 2-legged and 4-legged), my health and my job.

2. I look forward to eating stuffing and pecan pie on Thanksgiving. 

Mudpie's answers:

3. I didn’t realize how adorable I was until Mommy adopted me and started telling me a million times a day.

4. There’s no shame in having a harmless addiction. I have no trouble admitting I'm hopelessly addicted to squeezies, but otherwise I'm a very well-rounded cat. (Mommy just cracked a very rude joke that I'm well-rounded in more ways than one, partly because of my squeezie addiction!)

Caught in the Act #ThankfulThursday

Meows from Mudpie!

Mommy loves taking pictures of me with various stuffies. She doesn't even bother placing them on the bed anymore, she just tosses them into a pile for me to climb onto. Sometimes she comes into the bedroom and doesn't even notice I'm there until the stuffie pile starts to move!

The other day what she walked in on had her reaching for the camera faster than you can say "Mudpie" - my arm wrapped protectively (or possessively) around an Abominable Snowman stuffie.  

It was kind of a personal moment between us and we were slightly perturbed by the invasion of privacy.

I don't kiss and tell, I'll just say he looked cold and I'm a really good snuggler.

I'm joining the Thankful Thursday blog hop because I'm super thankful for stuffies to snuggle with!

2021 Holiday Gift Guide for Cats & Cat Ladies from Etsy

Meows from Mudpie!

Can you believe Christmas is just a little over 5 weeks away??? While browsing Etsy for the purrfect gift for Mommy, I found several things that any cat mom (and the cats that love them) would love to find under the tree on Christmas morning...or to treat yourself with and make sure you get exactly what you want!

Personalized Meowy Catmas Ornament

Custom Pet Portrait Ring

Cat & Mouse Soap Gift Box

Cat Wall Shelves

Kitty Lizard Articulated Cat Toy

Custom Illustrated Phone Case

Books & Cat Ornament

Cat Moon Family Plaque

Coffee Cat Soap

Custom Watercolor Bookmarks

Cat Mom Planter

Coasters

Mouse Wand Toy

When Visiting My House Please Remember Sign

Scatterballs Cat Toys

Looking for more ideas? Check out a few of our collections!

Cat Mom Gifts

Cats & Books

Cats & Coffee

We hope you enjoy our picks, and don't forget, if you find something here you like and make a purchase using our affiliate links, I get a little money for my piggy bank so I can buy something special for Mommy for Christmas!

Another Sleepy #SundaySelfie

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

Caturday Art

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art blog hop!

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

Mudpie's answers: 

1. I have a diamond-shaped "necklace" on my chest.

2. I wonder what would happen if I quit squeezies cold turkey. Just the thought of it makes my fur stand on end!

Mommy's answers:

3. I wish I could speak fluent cat. I usually know what each of Mudpie's little meows mean (she's a very vocal tortie), but I would love to be able to communicate with all cats.

4. If I want most things done, I'm going to have to do them myself.

Mudpie Interviews...Diogi from Amy Pershing's Cape Cod Foodie Mystery Series

 

Christmas is coming to Cape Cod, but when Sam Barnes finds a very dead Santa in a very hip restaurant, it’s up to her to sift out suspects who have been naughty vs. nice….

Professional foodie Samantha Barnes has a simple Christmas list: a quiet holiday at home with her dog and a certain handsome harbor master; no embarrassing viral videos; and no finding dead bodies. Unfortunately she’s got family visiting, she’s spending a lot of time in front of the camera, and she’s just stumbled over the lifeless body of the town’s Santa Claus.

Plus, Sam’s plans for Christmas Eve are getting complicated. There’s the great eggnog debate among her very opinionated guests. There’s the “all edible” Christmas tree to decorate. And there’s her Feast of the Five Fishes prepare. Nonetheless, Sam finds herself once again in the role of sleuth. She needs to find out who slayed this Santa—but can she pull off a perfect feast and nab a killer?

Mudpie was very excited to have the opportunity to interview Diogi, the canine star of this series. We hope you enjoy meeting him!

Welcome, Diogi! Thank you so much for chatting with me today. Could you start by telling us a little about the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries?

Of course! You see, what happened was my human (also known as Samantha Barnes, the Cape Cod Foodie) had a bit of trouble in New York City, where she had been an up and coming young chef. Turns out her chef husband was the kind of guy who makes me want to bite someone. Him preferably. Anyway, they had a kind of sword fight with their chef’s knives and somebody put it up on something called YouTube, and suddenly Sam’s not a chef anymore.

So when she inherits her Aunt Ida’s house in Fair Harbor on Cape Cod, she comes home with her tail between her legs (I know exactly how that feels). In her new life she finds herself juggling a new job as the local paper’s “Cape Cod Foodie,” a complicated love life (although what’s complicated about a harbormaster who takes us out for rides in his boat I do not understand), a posse of just-slightly-odd friends (including our neighbor, the librarian Helene Greenberg, who I wuv), Aunt Ida’s falling-down house, and me, a super-wonderful (in my humble opinion) puppy!

And, oh yeah, what Helene calls “a propensity for falling over dead bodies.”

Tell us about An Eggnog to Die For, the new Cape Cod Foodie mystery you star in. What’s that been like?

To tell you the truth, it’s a little confusing. People keep doing things that make no sense. Like Sam stumbling over a very dead Santa in a very hip restaurant and everybody getting all upset. I mean, if I leave one of my disgusting tennis balls on the floor and Sam trips over it, do we call the cops? We do not. We just throw the ball out the door and are done with it.

Also, completely out of the blue, Sam and her parents decide to bring a tree into the house. Did you ever hear of anything so silly? Everybody knows that trees do not belong in houses. I barked at it really hard, though, so I think we’re safe. Keeping my humans safe is a big part of my job.

And, to top it all off, the humans keep cooking what smells like incredibly delicious food (cookies and eggnog and a bunch of other yummy stuff) and then putting it where I can’t, ahem, sample it. What’s with that? I thought this Christmas thing was a time for sharing…

How did you come to live with Sam? And how did you get your … unusual … name?

Oh, it was complete “meet cute”! And my name is self-explanatory (read on!) This is how Sam explains it in our first adventure, A Side of Murder.

“I have a surprise for you,” Helene said. She put two fingers to her mouth and let out an ear-splitting whistle. A blur of fur came flying up the steep path that led down to the salt pond. I had a confused impression of a wet nose and large pink tongue in my face and enormous muddy paws on my chest.

I’d had dogs as a kid. I knew how this was supposed to work. “Down!” I shouted. Nothing. The creature continued to lick me to death.

“Down, Diogi,” Helene said calmly, holding up a dog treat that had miraculously appeared in her hand. In a nanosecond, the beast turned his attention to Helene and stood gazing fixedly at the dog treat. In this brief moment of calm, which I suspected was only the eye of the storm, I could see he was your typical Cape Cod mutt, part yellow lab, part whatever. Great water dogs, good with kids, gentle. This one was remarkable in no way except for his size. He was ginormous.

“You’ll have to forgive his manners,” Helene said. “He’s still just a puppy.”

“You mean he’s going to get bigger?” I yelped.

“Oh yes,” Helene said. “He’s still just a baby. But he’s a fast learner.”

She handed me a dog treat. “Tell him to sit. Diogi will do anything for a treat.” She pronounced the name dee-OH-gee.

“Thank you,” I said, taking the treat gingerly just in case the dog got over-excited and jumped me again. “That’s an … unusual … name.”

“It’s a joke,” Helene said, blue eyes dancing. “Dee, oh, gee. D, O, G. Get it? Dog! D, O, G!” She laughed delightedly as if hearing the joke for the first time. “It’s spelled D, I, O, G, I.”

I had to smile. “Is there a cat called C, A, T?” I asked.

Helene rewarded my wit with another peal of laughter. “Seeaytee,” she crowed. “That’s rich!”

I held the treat up and said “Sit, Diogi” in my firmest voice.

Diogi ignored the command, instead leaning against my leg with all his considerable weight. I gave him the treat anyway.

“I think your dog needs some more training,” I said to Helene.

“Well, we’re working on that,” Helene acknowledged. “But he’s not my dog.”

“Whose dog is he?” I asked.

“Why, he’s yours, Sam,” Helene said, as if the answer was obvious. “Diogi comes with the house.”

Can you give us any clues as to what's next for you and Sam?

I gotta tell you, I’m a little worried about that one. It’s called Murder is No Picnic and it comes out next summer. I know it’s got a lot about Cape Cod and something called the Fourth of July and food and cooking and family and friends and, oh yeah, a murder. But other than that, Sam is, for once, keeping her mouth firmly shut. But that’s okay, whatever happens, I’ll be there for her.

About the Author:

Amy Pershing, who spent every summer of her childhood on Cape Cod, was an editor, a restaurant reviewer and a journalist before leading employee communications at a global bank. A few years ago she waved goodbye to Wall Street to write full time. An Eggnog to Die For is the second of the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries featuring Samantha Barnes, a disgraced but resilient ex-chef who retreats home to Cape Cod where she finds herself juggling a new job as the local paper’s “Cape Cod Foodie,” a complicated love life, a posse of just-slightly-odd friends, a falling-down house, a ginormous puppy and a propensity for falling over dead bodies. Kirkus Reviews gave An Eggnog to Die For a starred review, saying, “A delightful sleuth, a complex mystery, and lovingly described cuisine: a winner for both foodies and mystery mavens.” A Side of Murder, the first of the Cape Cod Foodie mysteries, which Elizabeth Gilbert called “the freshest, funniest mystery I have ever read,” was the first book in the series. The third, Murder Is No Picnic, will be published in May 2022.

Website: AmyPershingAuthor.com

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Fun Feline Finds: iHeartCats Warm Hearts Full Bellies Ornament Collection

Meows from Mudpie!

More than likely this coming weekend or early next week our Christmas tree will be going up! Our entire tree (and the majority of our decor) is cat-themed, and every year Mommy looks forward to adding an ornament or two to our collection. 

This year we're absolutely in love with the iHeartCats Warm Hearts Full Bellies Ornament Collection. Each kitty has their own little bio on the site, complete with age, likes and dislikes, and whether they've been naughty or nice.

So far Mommy has only pre-ordered one (Chanel, with the animal print hat and scarf), but I have a feeling she may be ordering one or two more. If you see a kitty ornament you'd like to "adopt" you might want to act fast because Mommy already had to go on a wait list last month for a second shipment of pre-orders. She was worried she was going to lose out because she didn't act fast but thankfully on Halloween (during our water disaster) she got an email that they were once again available.

Every purchase at iHeartCats provides shelter cats with healthy meals, keeping their bellies full this holiday season, so it's a total win/win!

This is not a sponsored post and we are not being compensated in any way. We're writing about this rescue cat ornament collection because we love it.

November Retro Country Rewind #MewsicMovesMe

It's been a couple years since we premiered our mewsic feature "Retro Country Rewind," a look back at favorite songs that hit #1 during that month from 30, 35, 40 plus years ago. This year we're delving into #1 hits from 1971, 1976, 1981, and so on. Let's take a look at November for this freebie week in the Mewsic Moves Me blog hop...

50 Years Ago - 1971, Lead Me On, Conway & Loretta

45 Years Ago - 1976, Somebody Somewhere, Loretta Lynn

40 Years Ago - 1981, My Favorite Memory, Merle Haggard

35 Years Ago - 1986, That Rock Won't Roll, Restless Heart

35 Years Ago - 1986, You're Still New To Me, Marie Osmond & Paul Davis

We hope you enjoyed our choices this month! 

Let us know if you have a favorite...

Squeee Quietly, Please #SundaySelfie

 

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

Caturday Art

Visit more artsy kitties at Athena's Caturday Art blog hop!

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

Mudpie's answers:

1. Something I lost and was never able to find was my catnip turtle. It was one of my very first stuffies and I bopped it all over the house. I lost it once and Mommy ended up finding it at the foot of the basement stairs. I lost it a second time and it remains missing, many years later.

2. When I take a nap, I want to have something warm and soft piled up underneath me. The other night a small pile of socks and handkerchiefs fell on the floor, and before Mommy knew it I was curled up on top of them.

Mommy's answers:

3. Cold weather doesn't bother me. As I like to say, you can always put more clothes on, but no matter how much you take off you're still going to sweat.

4. I don't handle stupidity behind the wheel very well. I do plenty of muttering at other drivers.