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.

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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.

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. If I were to start a museum, it would be a museum of cat collectibles.

2. If I see 90 plus degree temperatures on my television screen one more time I am going to lose my mind.

3. How I could get a mouse to live in my bedroom is the strangest thing I believed as a child. I once asked my Dad if he could cut a little hole (like you see in cartoons) in the wall of my room so that a mouse would move in. 

4. If my life had a mascot, it would be a coffee drinking cat.

Happy 250th Birthday, America!!!

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

1. I tend to forget to water my few houseplants. That's probably why they don't live very long! I'm a plant murderer.

2. I celebrate the 4th of July by watching fireworks. I can see them good enough from my living room window :) 

3. I was a fan of cats before they became popular. (I couldn't think of anything else here, but cats have definitely grown in popularity in recent years!)

4. I see new tires in my future. My left front tire has had a slow leak for years and I would need to add air a couple times a year. Now even with a portable tire inflator the low tire pressure light won't turn off. The tread isn't looking great either. I guess I can't complain too much, they are nearly 10 years old. 

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 summer bucket list includes continued decluttering and housecleaning. Now that Mudpie has taken up residency at the door to soak up some rays I don't have the excuse of her always on my lap so I have to get stuff done! 

2. Summers during the 1990s were some of the best summers that I ever had. I changed this prompt a bit but I couldn't choose just one. During that time period I got to travel to many country music concerts in my area. 

3. I'm getting ready for Halloween and Christmas by stalking the stores for this year's decor.

4. Any news story about animal abuse immediately makes me livid and horrified.

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. Let's bring back 9/12 America. It's our wonderful country's 250th birthday and American pride is at an all-time low because of politics. It's really sad. 

2. Juneteenth is the new weekend before Christmas. I'm being facetious of course, but I made the mistake of running errands yesterday and the number of people out shopping was absolutely ridiculous! 

3. I appreciate that my local area is able to help animals in need. Our shelters adopt out animals so quickly we're able to partner with shelters down south to save even more lives.

4. Taxes, inspections, and politics are my least favorite part about where I live. Sorry, I couldn't narrow it down to just one thing. Our property taxes are one of the highest in the nation, we're one of only 14 states with mandatory annual vehicle inspections (which are supposed to be for safety reasons but only serve to put more money in the pockets of mechanics), and our politics are as far from my personal beliefs as they could possibly be. 

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'd like to learn how to play the steel guitar. It's my favorite instrument on classic country songs.

2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was lasagna. I'll preface this by saying it only happened once. I've made lasagna many times successfully, but on one particular occasion I clearly wasn't paying attention to what I was doing and after a couple layers of cheese, sauce, and meat I realized I hadn't laid down any noodles! 

3. I want to design Halloween and Christmas toys and decor for cats and cat lovers. If only I was crafty.

4. Peppermint mochas are a special treat I get at Christmas.

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. My plans for June include stalking stores for Halloween decor and counting down the days until Christmas in July.

2. Letting Mo go is the bravest thing I have ever done. He's the first cat I've had to make that most heartbreaking decision for. Dad told me after he was surprised I was able to do it. 

3. I swear by sucking on an Altoid as a cure for an upset stomach.

Mudpie's answer: 

4. As if my ear wasn't bad enough, I've been coughing and sneezing the past couple days too! Stupid allergies! (There was a story on our local news the other night saying that because of a cooler spring pollen season got a late start this year, but now the pollen levels are even higher than usual.)

Minty 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!

1. Finding Mudpie online, even though my heart was still shattered from losing Truffles just a few weeks before is the luckiest thing that ever happened to me.

2. A container of Trader Joe's chocolate mascarpone with Mudpie pee in it (for a urinalysis) is the most unusual item in my refrigerator. 

3. My patience is lacking. I always say when God handed out patience I didn't have the patience to stand in line for it! 

4. I have more than enough Halloween and Christmas decorations. Yet I look forward to shopping for more every year. 

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 would be willing to pay more for anything Mudpie (or any cat) needs. I'm ridiculously frugal, but if a cat needs something, they get it. 

2. I refuse to spend money on air. Meaning, gas station air pumps. I recently bought a portable tire inflator so I'm never in search of a gas station with free air again! 

3. My house is a bit chaotic. I've been doing loads of decluttering lately but I have a bad habit of not finishing one project before I start a new one so nothing ever looks completely polished.

4. A fun fact about me is that I was obsessed with Nancy Drew as a little girl. I tore through the whole series thanks to my grade school library, and then bought all the original books with my own money at a flea market. Somewhere in the basement is that box of books, which keeps me going when I get tired of going through boxes!