Happy Halloween 2026 #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!

1. On Halloween, I will watch a scary movie. I'm leaning towards Black Christmas. It's been on my watch list for awhile and will also count as my first Christmas movie of the season! 

2. When it comes to Halloween candy, I will gladly trade my candy corn for more chocolate.

3. If I had to wear one Halloween costume for an entire year, I would dress as a cat.

4. I adore scary movies. NOT today's gory horror movies, but creepy classics from the 40s, 50s and 60s - Hitchcock, Vincent Price, Universal Monsters - love em! 

First #SundaySelfie on Mommy's New Phone

Meows from Mudpie!

There was a disaster at our house this week. Mommy's phone died. She ignored the critical warning about storage space one too many times and it completely froze up Wednesday morning. After several attempts at getting it back up and running she gave up and bought a new one. Then she was a couple hours chatting online trying to get it set up. By Wednesday evening her blood pressure was most likely 200/200.

The good news is most things transferred over to the new phone, including a voice mail message from my Grandpa she had kept. The bad news is many photos and all the notes she had in a Notebook app weren't backed up anywhere. She's especially sick over the notes because many have sentimental value of things she wanted to remember from the past few years losing Grandma and Grandpa. She's praying she can find a data recovery specialist to attempt a data dump. 

As if that wasn't bad enough I haven't been feeling great so Mommy said we should schedule my 6- month senior check-up a little early. Can anyone hide me for awhile?

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...

1. I have been ignoring things that need to be done for too long.

2. Today's pop culture bores me.

3. Too many tourists is my main criticism of the fall foliage season in my area.

4. If I threw a Halloween party, it would include exclusively black cat decorations.

Victorian Lady Mudpie #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!

Mudpie's answers:

1. Getting Mommy to give me anything I want (even if it's not good for me) is a useful skill that I have.

2. I recharge by napping on Mommy's lap. Sometimes I drift off so deeply that when I wake up I have to look around to remember where I am! Mommy always laughs when I look up at her like, "who are you?"

Mommy's answers:

3. My job as a data specialist taught me pretty much everything I know about computers.

4. I wouldn't mind visiting a house haunted by all of my dearly departed cats.

National Cake Decorating Day #CaturdayArt

Meows from Mudpie!

Today is National Cake Decorating Day, so Mommy asked ChatGPT to create a cake decorated with little ol' me. Do I look delish or what??? 

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!

1. How to use a wing/butterfly corkscrew is the strangest thing I ever researched online. I had to watch a YouTube video because I could not figure out how to do it. It's obvious I don't drink much! 

2. My wi-fi network is named NETGEAR89. That's what it came with LOL.

3. Loving cats is both a blessing and a curse. As impossibly perfect as they are, they tear our hearts out at the end. They're worth it though. 

4. I nap with Mudpie when life gets tough.

Tortie in October #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!

1. I plan to watch lots of Halloween movies and TV shows and attend a ghost walk at a local cemetery in October.

2. Finding a ghost kitty blow mold was the highlight of my week.

3. 'Tis the season for pumpkin spice lattes. Peppermint mochas are still my faves though.

4. Though a lot of people like football, I can't stand it.

Watching Birds & Chipmunks in the Driveway #SundaySelfie

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...

1. I am glad I live near HomeGoods and TJ Maxx, especially this time of year! (They're located side by side within walking distance of my house.)

2. I am glad I don't live near where the Nor'easter is hitting this weekend.

3. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 30.

4. Classic sitcoms made me truly laugh. Most of the ones on TV today are just plain stupid.

Meow Like a Pirate Day #CaturdayArt

Ahoy! It is Mudpie, pillager of cat treats! 

Since Meow Like a Pirate Day falls on Caturday this year I decided to cartoonize my very first pirate post from 2015 as I guarded my pink treasure chest full of squeezies! 

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

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

1. I have been seeing a lot of Canadian geese flying south. It seems early...wonder if they know something we don't know?

2. Paid Viewpoint is a good way to make some extra money. They send out surveys consistently that are quick and easy. I first signed up in the spring of 2024 and since that time have earned a little over $1000 with very little effort. If you're interested in checking it out this is my referral link.

3. I think the 1980s was the decade with the best country music.

4. Lately, I've been avoiding doing something with dad's truck. I was inclined to sell it for scrap metal because it's over 20 years old, not driven in years, and likely very rusty underneath, but I was contacted by someone interested in buying it so we're trying to find someone to come check it out and see if it's worth fixing up. 

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!

1. I tend to scrimp on clothes. The only new additions to my wardrobe for years now are CatLadyBox shirts. 

2. I tend to save on cat litter. Last year I decided to try Mudpie with pine pellet litter and she took right to it! At only $8 for a 40 pound bag at Tractor Supply that lasts several months, it's a huge money saver. 

3. I've nearly perfected making an omelet. I used to always make the smoke detector go off while making an omelet (which didn't please Mudpie very much), but lately I've been doing better. 

4. I need to find a better way to give Mudpie her ear cleaner. I've tried the burrito method but she's too big and strong (which I'm not going to complain about) and manages to find a way out. I've resorted to sitting on the kitchen floor with her, one leg wrapped around her back to hold her still. We must be quite a sight! 

It's Back #SundaySelfie

Meows from Mudpie!

Earlier this summer I mentioned that the white whisker over my left eye mysteriously disappeared. So much has been going on since then with my ears that we forgot to mention it came back in the exact same place! 

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...

1. Never have I ever been on an airplane.

2. My September to-do list includes decorating for Halloween and attending a neighborhood block party.

3. I wouldn't mind hosting a pet adoption party.

4. I'm always curious about other people's pets.

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!

1. Everybody loves Dolly Parton.

2. If someone new entered my home, they would immediately know I'm obsessed with cats.

3. I think Mudpie should instead be named Alexa. Not really, but this was a funny story that happened this week - My favorite news program comes on while I'm usually preparing dinner. I got sick of having to blare the TV in the living room loud enough to hear so I put an Echo device in the kitchen. Of course whenever I'm in the kitchen Mudpie gets excited because she knows a treat is coming. Thursday night I said, "Alexa, play (station name)", "Alexa, volume up", "Alexa, volume up"...and every time Mudpie meowed back! So I thought maybe she wants to change her name to Alexa!

4. Arugula was so bad I couldn't finish it. I thought it would be similar to lettuce...two leaves told me it wasn't for me! 

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!

1. Cats spark my creativity.

2. People zap my energy.

3. My dream home would have an extra room for foster cats.

4. Falling up the stairs is the silliest way I've injured myself. Pretty much every injury I've suffered, especially as a child, was because I would never walk normally, I was always running. One afternoon I went running into the living room and ended up in the ER getting stitches in my lip after landing on an end table. The scariest was the day I was running UP the basement stairs and fell hard on my chest. I couldn't breathe. Thankfully mom was at the top of the stairs in the kitchen and ran me outside for some air. Dad was doing something in the garage and came flying down the driveway at her screams. I think it's safe to say I scared them! 

A Happy & Sad Anniversary #CaturdayArt

Mommy here! 

It's impossible to believe, but today is our 15th blogoversary! It started out as a way to chronicle my reading life along with a little about my love of cats, but the kitties took over (as they're known to do!) Through Tara, Truffles and Mudpie, our online friends have laughed and cried with us, and created a community of cat lovers that we cherish more every day.

***************************************************  

Today is also the 35th anniversary of the day my childhood cat Patch passed away, my first experience grieving the loss of a beloved pet. He was my parents' "first child," as he came into their lives a year and a half before I was born. He was abandoned as a three month old kitten on my father's family dairy farm and my grandmother, knowing how much my Mom loved cats, asked if she'd like to take him home. At first she declined because she didn't want to go through the inevitable grief again, but Dad talked her into it. Prior to Patch my Mom had been over a decade without a cat in her life! He was my constant companion growing up, lying in one corner of my bed while a stack of books sat in the other. We lost him to a brain tumor at age 15.

I've experienced a lot of loss since that first heartbreak, just as anyone does who can't imagine life without cats, but no matter how many times you say goodbye it doesn't get any easier. In ways I think it gets harder.

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!

1. The older I get, the more of a homebody I get.

2. I frequent HomeGoods and TJ Maxx (my favorite stores for Halloween and Christmas decor).

3. Back in my day, we got some of the first Apple desktops at school. I hated them and thought they were such a waste of time! Now we live on them...

4. I count down the days until it's over during these last few weeks of summer.

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!

1. Mudpie's adoption fee was money well spent.

2. Our last furnace was a big waste of money. It only lasted 7 years.

3. If I became famous, it would most likely be because of my cat writing. I don't see that ever happening though! 

4. ??? was the worst hairstyle I've ever had. I am so boring, I've never really styled my hair. I keep it cut just below my shoulders and let it hang loose during the winter, and in a ponytail in the summer. 

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!

1. My plans for August include another Mudpie ear check and a cat-sitting job.

2. I am a type D personality.

3. If cat collectibles were a currency, I would be rich.

4. I can do a good impersonation of no one. I've never been able to do impersonations.

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!

1. Devil's Food is my favorite kind of cake.

2. The best part of my week was weather cool enough to go on several neighborhood walks.

3. I shut down in a room full of strangers.

4. If I opened a restaurant, it would be called Mudpie's Mochas and would serve coffee and pie in a cat cafe setting.

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!

1. A quickly draining cell phone battery is a first world problem I have. My phone is an Android from 2019 and I've already replaced the battery once to extend the life of the phone. Now the replacement battery is gasping for breath. 

2. I'll never understand why so many people enjoy pools, beaches and swimming. Maybe I'm a prude but I find the thoughts of being half clothed around total strangers to be rather gross. Not to mention who knows what's been going on in the water...

3. My sense of humor would be best described as sarcastic.

4. I think schools should teach common sense. It's obviously seriously lacking.