Secret Paws Blooper Reel #PetPhotoFails

Meows from Mudpie!

Can you believe it's time for the final Pet Photo Fails blog hop of the year?

This month's edition is a photo dump of bloopers from Christmas morning when we opened our Secret Paws package. They feature a hodge podge of my usual embarrassingly short attention span to "Mommy, why did you shoot that?" to dark and blurry photos of me having fun with my new toys.

Those are my bloopers...let's see yours!

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Secret Paws 2021 Revealed

 

Meows from Mudpie!

I'm super excited to tell you about my Secret Paws package from our sweet friends Reesie, Noelle and Raz, aka The Florida Furkids!

The very first packages I opened contained SQUEEZIES and my favorite Party Mix treats. 

They sure know the way to this girl's heart!

(I was utterly appalled that Mommy took the time to snap pictures instead of opening them!)

Then I opened this fun mesh toy with a ball at the end. 

I've been having a blast grabbing it with my claws and tossing it up into the air.

I got a pair of super cute pink mice and have been spending lots of time chewing on their tails, which Mommy says I would probably do with a real mouse too. Can you see how I'm eyeing them?

Here's a bit of Vermont trivia: Fat Cat Inc. is now a part of the PetMate family, but the company was originally from our local area!

I love tiny toys to swat around so I was excited to get a few soft purple balls and a purple mousie. 

Our Secret Paws really know us because purple and pink are our favorite colors! 

The only question was, which one should I play with first?

Ready...set...SWAT!!!

On top of everything I got, Mommy got a darling Christmas kitty kitchen towel and an ornament to put my picture in and hang on the tree. 

Mommy and I both want to thank the Florida Furkids so very much for their thoughtful, generous, and purr-fectly wonderful gifts. We couldn't have asked for a better Secret Paws!

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Now would also be a good time to reveal that we sent our Secret Paws gifts to Ernie & mom Sue over at The Island Cats. 

Many thanks as well to Truffle and Brulee's mom Paula from Sweet Purrfections for organizing this wonderful event that makes many blogging kitties very, very happy.

Now I have a very important question...how many days until Secret Paws 2022???

Meowy Christmas from Melissa & Mudpie!

We'd like to wish each and every one of our dear friends the happiest of holidays. You make our days so much brighter with your kind comments and support. Thank you for being a part of our online family...we cherish your friendship more than we could ever express.

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

1. Quality time with the ones you love is my Christmas wish for you.

2. I still need to go grocery shopping by Christmas.

3. ‘Twas the night before Christmas and things are very different around my house than they usually are.

4. If I were Santa, I would want someone to leave me a plate full of Lindt truffles on Christmas Eve.

Quality Time with Mommy #SundaySelfie

Meows from Mudpie!

If you're friends with Mommy on Facebook you might've seen that my grandpa is in the hospital again. She called the ambulance for him on Friday because he was displaying stroke symptoms. He didn't have a stroke but does have a nasty infection and is on heavy duty antibiotics.  

Saturday morning after she called the hospital to check in on him she decided to stay in bed with me for awhile so we could have some quality time together. It was exactly what both of us needed.

Please continue to send lots of purrs and prayers that he's back to himself quickly and home for Christmas.

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

Merry Pinkmas #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. Receiving so many beautiful Christmas cards made me smile recently.

2. I am looking forward to seeing The Muppet Christmas Carol over the holidays. I always plan to watch it earlier in the season, but never have the time until the last minute.

3. During the holiday season, my home is decorated with cat-related Christmas decor.

4. Christmas music is my favorite way to get in a festive mood.

Festive Feline Friday Flashback: Wrap Me Up!

Meows from Mudpie! 

Mommy and I had forgotten about this picture she took a couple years ago. At the time she thought I was trying to "help" wrap prezzies, but after we posted the picture many of you said that I looked like I was waiting to be wrapped myself, and with the purrfect placement of my cute little butt smack dab in the center of the paper you were absolutely right! 

The question is...who's the lucky recipient of this extra special package??? I don't think Mommy would send me to just anyone!

On another note, would you believe Mommy hasn't done ANY wrapping yet other than our Secret Paws gifts? Looks like I might have to do everything myself this year...

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).

Kitty Christmas Decor 2021

Meows from Mudpie!

Today we wanted to show you some of this year's kitty Christmas vignettes, starting with our annual Angel Truffles table. We didn't change it too much from last year, sticking with a "winter wonderland" theme with various trees and cat glasses filled with Christmas balls.

We've had this Christmas MEOW sign forever and leave it up year round, but this year strung our CatLadyBox Christmas lights around it...

Mommy may have reached the epitome of catladyhood...a Santa hat with cat ears as the topper for our cat-themed Christmas tree...

There's a kitty Christmas party happening on top of the cable box...

Small tortie-themed purple tree with baking mice underneath...

CatLadyBox vase filled with cranberry & pinecone picks...

Kitty ornaments from Target watching over a sleeping sisal cat we've had for years...

And last but not least, Mommy put my Secret Paws package in the mail yesterday! I hope our recipients enjoy their goodies!!!

Does your holiday decor consist of cat items?

December 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 December for this freebie week in the Mewsic Moves Me blog hop...

30 Years Ago - 1991, For My Broken Heart, Reba

35 Years Ago - 1986, Hell & High Water, T. Graham Brown

35 Years Ago - 1986, Too Much Is Not Enough, Bellamy Brothers & Forester Sisters

40 Years Ago - 1981, Bet Your Heart On Me, Johnny Lee

40 Years Ago - 1981, Love In the First Degree, Alabama

We hope you enjoyed our choices this month! 

Let us know if you have a favorite...

Medicinal Mudpie #SundaySelfie

Meows from Mudpie!

Mommy has been really stressed out lately over various issues with her parents. She says peaceful moments like this with me in her lap are what keep her sane. 

That's my job...

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

Mudpie the Red-Nosed Tortie #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. My biggest pet peeve at Christmastime is hoards of people everywhere. I'm not claustrophobic when it comes to spaces, but when I'm surrounded by people I get very panicky. 

2. A random piece of Christmas trivia that I know is Santa's reindeer are all female. Male reindeer have shed their antlers by Christmas, but females keep them until after they give birth to calves in the spring.

Mudpie's answers:

3. Boxes and boxes and boxes of squeezies are on my list to Santa.

4. My Christmas to-do list still includes mailing my Secret Paws package. Everything is bought. I'm just waiting for Mommy to wrap and mail it out early next week. Let's get cracking, Mommy!!!

Unboxing December's CatLadyBox

 The theme of December's CatLadyBox was Meowy Holidays...here's what was inside!

Featured Cat Lady Artist Kristina Crocus: I'm crazy about the reindeer kitty in a snow globe!

Cat Stitch Tote: I haul so much stuff around that I never carry a real purse, always a tote, so this will be put to good use.

Cats Are My Favorite! Tee: The design on this shirt is so adorable, and the sentiment so true.

Cat Felt Coasters: Love the designs, the colors, the holder...everything about these coasters!

Fat Cat Cookie Cutter: A Mudpie cookie cutter! (Don't tell her I said that...)

Santa Paws Hat Catnip Toy: Mudpie is horrified, but I confiscated this toy for my own use. This fall a local woman made a plush Conway doll for me, and I've been looking for a Santa hat for him. This fit purrfectly!!! 

Catmas Tree Catnip Toy: We have a sleigh full of Grumpy Cat stuffies on top of Mudpie's KatKabin, and this little tree sits right in front of it. Needless to say, it gets bopped off quite frequently too.

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.

How To Book A Murder by Cynthia Kuhn - Blog Tour with Character Guest Post and Giveaway

To help save her family’s floundering Colorado bookstore, Starlit Bookshop, newly minted Ph.D. Emma Starrs agrees to plan a mystery-themed dinner party for her wealthy, well-connected high school classmate Tabitha Baxter. It’s a delightful evening of cocktails and conjecture until Tabitha’s husband, Tip—hosting the affair in the guise of Edgar Allan Poe’s detective C. Auguste Dupin—winds up murdered.

In a heartbeat, Emma and her aunt Nora, a famous mystery writer, become suspects. Emma is sure the party’s over for Starlit events, until celebrated author Calliope Nightfall, whose gothic sensibilities are intrigued by the circumstances, implores the bookseller to create a Poe-themed launch event for her latest tome. Throwing a bash to die for while searching for additional clues is already enough to drive Emma stark raven mad, but another shocking crime soon reveals that Silvercrest has not yet reached the final chapter of the puzzling case.

Someone in this charming artistic community has murder on the mind, and if Emma cannot outwit the killer, she and her beloved aunt will land behind bars, to walk free nevermore.

Character Guest Post:

Hello! My name is Emma Starrs. I moved home to Colorado a few months back when my aunt called me to let me know that our family business, Starlit Bookshop, was in danger of going under.

Silvercrest is a small college town at the foot of the mountains next to a river. It’s beautiful all year round. If you have to move somewhere, this is about a serene a place as you could ask for.

Since I’ve been home, I agreed to try and bring in more business by planning more literary events. Such work is right up my alley since I’ve spent much of my life studying literature and creative writing—most recently in a PhD program where I focused on the mystery genre.

Suffice it to say that I was excited that the first event I was hired to plan was a murder mystery dinner party.

Even if the person who hired me is my nemesis.

How I ever ended up with a nemesis is beyond me. Tabitha Baxter just has always had it out for me.

But I figured I could handle working with her…for a single night…especially given the extravagant amount she was offering to pay.

Happily, my aunt Nora, a colleague of Tabitha’s husband, was invited to the event. She’s a larger-than-life kind of personality, and it made me feel better to know she was there too.

Unfortunately, the murder mystery dinner party ended with an actual murder.

And now I’m suddenly trying to clear not only my aunt’s name but perhaps also my own…

About the author:

Cynthia Kuhn is an English professor and author of the Starlit Bookshop Mysteries and the Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries. Her work has also appeared in Mystery Most Edible, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Copper Nickel, Prick of the Spindle, Mama PhD, and other publications. Honors include an Agatha Award, a William F. Deeck-Malice Domestic Grant, and Lefty Award nominations. Originally from upstate New York, she lives in Colorado with her family. For more information, please visit cynthiakuhn.net.

Author Links:

Website: cynthiakuhn.net

Twitter: @cynthiakuhn

Facebook: www.facebook.com/cynthiakuhnwriter

Bookbub: www.bookbub.com/authors/cynthia-kuhn

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/39587.Cynthia_Kuhn

Blog: chicksonthecase.com

Newsletter: https://bit.ly/2MPiEMh 

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