Saturday, April 30, 2022

Caturday Art


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



And now our weekly answers (all answered by Mommy this week) for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs...

1. In May, I may do a little spring cleaning. Not likely though...

2. Ten years ago, I was a lot less stressed out than I am today.

3. I hope for a future in which healthy, adoptable animals aren't killed in shelters.

4. I would probably last zero days in solitary confinement. Not because I couldn't be around people - being alone doesn't bother me a bit - but I couldn't handle not being around animals.

Friday, April 29, 2022

These Are MINE #PetPhotoFails

Meows from Mudpie!

Thank you for joining us for this month's edition of the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop!

Where on earth did April go? Mommy never looks forward to the arrival of summer, and this year she's dreading June even more so because of changes at work that will go into effect then, so of course it seems  like the spring is just flying by.


My photo fail was taken last weekend when Mommy walked into the bedroom and found me smothering cuddling my favorite stuffies. The way my arm was wrapped possessively protectively around the snowman & Santa melted her heart and as quietly as she could she pulled out her phone. Of course as soon as she snapped the photo I popped my head up, but at least you can still see my arm around them.


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

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Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Unboxing April's CatLadyBox

 The theme of April's CatLadyBox was Good Vibes...here's what was inside!

Featured Cat Lady Artist: Lim Heng Swee

Good Vibes Shirt: A cool cat wearing shades. I'll surely be wearing this a lot over the summer.

Good Vibes Cat Hat: My favorite item in the box! Love the color of the hat, and the stitched kitties are multi-color too.

Color Changing Tumbler: The quote on this is so, so true. I'm excited to try it out and see how the color changing works.

Neon Cat Sticky Notes: I have lots of cat-themed sticky notes, but these are the first I've seen that are cat-shaped. Too cute!

Groovy Grin Catnip Toy & Flying Fishie Catnip Wand Toy: We were super late opening our box this month and Mudpie hasn't gotten her new toys yet. I think this is the first wand with a catnip toy at the end, so that should make it extra fun.

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.

Monday, April 25, 2022

National Telephone Day #MewsicMovesMe

It's a freebie week in the Mewsic Moves Me blog hop, so in honor of National Telephone Day we've chosen country songs about phones or phone calls...


Conway wrote this first song, and it turned out to be one of his and Loretta's biggest hits. It's a spoken word/sung duet, and when they recorded it Conway was in one room on the telephone while Loretta was in the recording booth. When they did the song live in concert one would be on stage, the other off stage, singing into telephones. It was even a #1 hit in South Africa!!!






We hope you enjoyed our choices this week!
Let us know if you have a favorite.

Saturday, April 23, 2022

Caturday Art


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



And now our weekly answers (all answered by Mommy this week) for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs...

1. A book or movie I recently read (or saw) that I recommend is ??? I can't even remember the last book I read or movie I watched!

2. I prefer to shop online. I love going into stores during the Halloween and Christmas seasons, and I do my own grocery shopping, but other than that...SHIP IT!

3. I have a lot of trust in my intuition. I've somewhat frightened myself lately over how right I've been about certain situations.

4. I have very little trust in most people.

Friday, April 22, 2022

National Jelly Bean (Toes) Day

Meows from Mudpie!

Did you know today is National Jelly Bean Day?

Mommy didn't think she cared for jelly beans but on Monday she picked up a couple bags because they were on Easter clearance for half price, and one bag is already gone.

If you're hankering for a jelly bean fix without the sugar rush that goes with it, I have a treat for you today - my very own personal tortie jelly bean toes! 

I've got something for everyone's tastes - classic jelly beans, licorice, I can even guarantee there are some spicy jelly beans in there too, and they're all scrumptious! 

Reach in and grab some - if you dare! 

Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is:

Post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (They may be silly or cute).

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Mother's Day Gift Ideas for Cat Moms from Etsy

Meows from Mudpie!

Can you believe Mother's Day is less than 3 weeks away??? It seems like Easter is so late this year that Mother's Day is going to be forgotten about. 

While browing Etsy for the purrfect gift for Mommy, I found several things that any cat mom would love to receive on her special day...

















Which is your favorite? I think everything here would be a hit with Mommy, but she would probably love the bookish kitty frosted mason jar the most. I'll need to figure out how many squeezies I would have to go without in order to pay for it.
 
I hope you enjoy my 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! I might even spend it on Mommy's gift!

Monday, April 18, 2022

Pet Owners Independence Day #MewsicMovesMe

In honor of Pet Owners Independence Day, the theme of this week's Mewsic Moves Me blop hop is to use songs with dogs, cats, birds, or pets in general in the title of the song or band name.








We hope you enjoyed our furry choices this week!
Let us know if you have a favorite.


Saturday, April 16, 2022

Easter Art & Selfie



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

Mudpie's answers:

1. I hope the Easter Bunny brings me lots of boxes of squeezies.

2. My favorite part of the Easter meal is the squeezies. What do you mean squeezies aren't an Easter tradition?!?!?!

Mommy's answers:

3. I’m most looking forward to (hopefully) getting some extra sleep this weekend. (See yesterday's blog post for the reasons why.)

4. For me, this time of year isn't very exciting.

Friday, April 15, 2022

It's Been a Really Rough Week

Meows from Mudpie!

I know I seem to be saying this more and more often lately, but it's been a really rough week at my house.

It all started on Sunday afternoon when my grandpa started feeling sick to his tummy after lunch. Within minutes it all made a return appearance. Throughout the rest of the day he was in and out of the bathroom. 

By Sunday night he was so weak he ended up falling in the bathroom. It took Mommy until nearly 2AM to get him up. 

Thankfully he kept everything down on Monday, and while Mommy was exhausted, we stayed up late Monday night because she got some new Conway videos in the mail from a wonderful friend. Then at 4:30AM on Tuesday I was rudely awakened by Mommy pushing me off her because she had to run to the bathroom.

Yep...now she was sick.

Tuesday was spent napping on the couch in between trips to the bathroom, but she managed to lick the bug in 24 hours (although her tummy is still far from 100%).

But guess what? By Tuesday night my grandma had it!!! She's handicapped by severe scoliosis, so getting sick like this only makes her weaker, and by Wednesday Mommy was having to practically drag her to and from the bathroom.

Everyone is slowly recuperating, but they're weak, tired, and Mommy is sore all over from so much heavy lifting.

I'm just one little tortie and I can't take care of all these people. SEND HELP!!!

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Fake Death by Victoria Tait - Blog Tour with Character Guest Post and Giveaway

 


One dead body. Multiple identities. Can an amateur sleuth see through the charade before she becomes a tragic victim?

Young military widow, Dotty Sayers, is delighted with her new job at an auction house in Britain’s picturesque Cotswolds. She reluctantly agrees to take part in a Remembrance parade, to commemorate her husband and his fallen comrades, but she’s shocked to learn that after the event an unknown soldier is found dead.

Dotty assists the police and appraises objects found at the victim’s house, but rather than identifying the deceased, she discovers numerous personas. When a suspect is arrested, and Dotty is asked to look after his British blue cat, she realises appearances can be deceiving. Can she track down the real culprit and prevent an innocent man from being imprisoned?

Can Dotty unmask the killer without putting her own life at risk?

Fake Death is the first book in the captivating Dotty Sayers Antique Mystery series. If you like intriguing mysteries, entertaining characters and the glorious British countryside, then you’ll adore Victoria Tait’s enthralling tale.

Buy Fake Death and unmask a killer today!


Earl Grey’s View on Moving House

I’m not sure what the big deal is. I’ve heard humans moan – well, not many as my previous companion, the Duke, who kept to himself, a bit like me – about moving house, but I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.

I enjoyed being at Windrush Hall when the Duke was alive. He lived on his own, apart from me and Norman Climpson, who checked that we were both OK, bought our food, and cleaned and lit the fire. The Duke didn’t need the main house. It was too big for one man and a cat, and we were far more comfortable in our quarters in the converted kitchen and the old cook’s bedroom above it.

But this meant I had the run of the large house and there were plenty of mice to chase. Norman did his best to maintain the house and keep it dry, and I was responsible for keeping it vermin free. He did scold me when I dragged off the dust sheets or created a mess. I remember a particularly enjoyable chase with a tenacious fawn field mouse, which I admit I taunted terribly, when we pulled all the dust sheets off the furniture in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

I liked the old empty house best in the cold winter months when Norman hired huge space heaters to keep it dry and prevent the pipes from freezing. I had a favourite spot to curl up and soak in the heat, on an abandoned pillow under the velvet canopy of a huge fourposter bed.

Things changed after the Duke died. I first met Dotty when she and an older gentleman, with dark watchful eyes, visited Norman to discuss selling the contents of the hall. The Duke had no family, well none that I’d met, so they said everything was to be sold. That was a shock. Was I also to be put up for sale?

I’m a pedigree cat, don’t you know. A British blue. And with my wonderful grey fur, with its blue tint, I cost the Duke a lot of money. He used to joke I was worth more than Norman, a month of his time anyway.

I recognised immediately that Dotty was both kind and intelligent. She squatted down to my level so I could rub against her legs, and she complimented me. Clever girl. I knew she would be an ideal companion, but I heard Norman complain she didn’t want me. Didn’t want me! What was the matter with her?

Later, when we moved to the farm, I realised that, like me, she’d also lost her companion and was forced to leave her home. It didn’t take me long to settle into the farm cottage, and I have a great friend in Agatha, a black, wiry Berkshire piglet. There’s lots of room in the farmhouse kitchen to play tag and this amazing oven with its own pet name, Aga, which Agatha and I curl up against as it’s so warm. I’m tempted to jump onto it, but I’m worried I’ll burn my paws.

So moving wasn’t difficult, apart from when I was locked up in the police station with that rude Welsh police inspector, and Dotty, my companion and I are happy now.

About the Author:

I was born and raised in Yorkshire, UK, and never expected to travel the world. But I fell for an Army Officer, and I’ve followed him from Northern Ireland, up to the Scottish Highlands, across to Africa and the Kenyan Savannah, back to the British Cotswolds, and we are now living in Sarajevo, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in Southern Europe.

I never expected to be an author, but all this moving is not ideal for holding down a job. Instead, I’ve taken the experiences of the places I’ve lived to write vivid and evocative cozy mystery books with determined female sleuths.

I have two fast-growing teenage boys, and together we’ve learnt to ski on the Bosnian mountains. I also enjoy horse riding, mountain biking and I’ve started running as a way to improve my physical fitness, mental wellbeing and shed some excess pounds.

Author Links:

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/victoria-tait

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriataitauthor/

For access to exclusive content, giveaways and freebies, sign up for my newsletter at my website: VictoriaTait.com

Website: https://victoriatait.com/

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/VictoriaTaitAuthor/_saved/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20373879.Victoria_Tait

Monday, April 11, 2022

April Retro Country Rewind #MewsicMovesMe

It's been a few 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. In this new year we'll be delving into #1 hits from 1972, 1977, 1982, and so on. Let's take a look at April for this freebie week in the Mewsic Moves Me blog hop...


40 Years Ago - 1982, The Clown, Conway Twitty

The Clown is one of two songs (the other being The Rose) that made me sit up and take notice of Conway as a little girl in the mid '80s. I guess you could say he held my attention...


35 Years Ago - 1987, You've Got the Touch, Alabama


35 Years Ago - 1987, Kids of the Baby Boom, Bellamy Brothers


35 Years Ago - 1987, Rose in Paradise, Waylon Jennings


45 Years Ago - 1977, It Couldn't Have Been Any Better, Johnny Duncan


55 Years Ago - 1967, Walk Through This World With Me, George Jones


We hope you enjoyed our choices this week!
Let us know if you have a favorite.


Saturday, April 9, 2022

Beautiful Dreamer #CaturdayArt


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



And now our weekly answers (all answered by Mommy this week) for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs!

1. I waste a lot of time online.

2. At this very moment, I'm craving pizza.

3. Don't give up on something until you give it a chance. This is something I'm trying to tell myself right now with regards to changes at work.

4. Living with a tortie makes life interesting. Anyone who has been owned by one knows!

Friday, April 8, 2022

Feline Flashback Friday: A Visit from the Grumpy Easter Bunny

Meows from Mudpie!

It just occurred to us that Grumpy Cat would've turned 10 years old earlier this week if she hadn't been called to the Rainbow Bridge far too soon. 

With Easter right around the corner we decided to take a look back to 5 years ago when Mommy found an Easter themed Grumpy Cat stuffie at CVS for her collection. I wasn't very gracious, was I? 



Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is:

Post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (They may be silly or cute).

Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Paws of Death by Amy Hueston - Blog Tour with Character Guest Post and Giveaway

 

Two murders on the same strip of Worth Avenue in Palm Beach means dog bakery owner Samantha Armstrong and her fellow shopkeepers have reached their quota of bad stuff. Right? They should be so lucky…

Samantha is thrilled that life in her new hometown has finally settled into a fun, peaceful rhythm. Canine Confections’s business is on the upswing, and her days are filled with jogs on the beach with her pooch Sweet Pea, cozy time with Aunt Mary on her aunt’s estate, and yummy treats at her upscale dog bakery. But things are not peaceful for long when Donna from the local gossip magazine, Pulse on Palm Beach, winds up dead at Samantha’s first foray into catering a millionaire dog’s birthday party.

Once again, Samantha finds herself smack dab in the middle of the investigation. But this time, it’s another reporter from Pulse that’s making her center-stage. With the aid of her precious Sweet Pea, Samantha pads around the splashy Worth Avenue sniffing out clues. Unfortunately, the more she searches, the more suspects she finds. And it doesn’t help that Angelina from Mystic Dreams has hired a psychic who warns that trouble in Palm Beach isn’t about to end anytime soon.

Includes an original recipe from the world-famous Three Dog Bakery!


Character Guest Post:

Hi there. I’m Bethany from the Canine Confections series and I just want to say that I’m getting a bad rap from my author Amy Hueston. Every time she’s asked who her favorite character is to write, she mentions me, because, she says, I’m “snippy.”

I’m not any more snippy than the next woman in Palm Beach. If you’re going to wear shocking pink sandals when they were SO last year, is that MY fault? And if you keep sticking your nose into crime scene investigations and then whine about it, am I just supposed to shut my mouth? I’m just saying…

I admit sometimes it’s hard to turn off my filter but honestly, if YOU had a choice and knew no one would meet you in person to give you guff about your smart mouth, wouldn’t you say anything you wanted, anytime you wanted?

Let me know what you think. Cuz I’m about fed up with Miss I Don’t Come From Palm Beach.

Bethany


Amy Hueston’s Canine Confections mystery series has an abundance of dogs and pastries, two of her favorite things. When she isn’t writing her latest mystery or suspense, she can often be found either singing professionally or petting the nearest dog.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amy.hueston.73

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyhueston/?hl=en

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuestonAmy

Website: https://amyhueston.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20626879.Amy_Hueston

Canine Confections Mystery Series Puzzle Book 

Saturday, April 2, 2022

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!

Mommy's answers:

1. Time flies when I'm sleeping.

2. Waiting for packages to arrive takes forever.

Mudpie's answers:

3. Intensely disliking the other cats I was housed with at the shelter is my earliest memory. I was so naughty I ended up sequestered in the shelter director's office! 

4. Is it weird that I have absolutely no desire to go outside? Every morning the first thing Mommy does is bring some food out to the birds. I always go to the door to wait for her, and when she comes back in she holds the door open for me a crack so I can have some whiffies since the screen door isn't on yet. When she gets sick of waiting for me she goes into the kitchen (just a few steps away) to start her breakfast, never taking her eyes off me, and after just a few seconds I follow her in. I don't feel safe alone with the door open!!! Mommy says most kitties couldn't be trusted to do that.