Thankful Thursday: Zoolatry Art

Mommy here! 

Earlier this summer we were one of the lucky winners of Zoolatry's Spot the Difference game. The prize was a piece of Ann (& June's) incredible artwork.

Even before we won I knew what I was looking for, but I took some time to fine tune my idea before presenting it to Ann. In no time at all I had the most purrfect, purrsonalized piece of artwork EVER! 

This was the concept - I wanted art that would incorporate Mudpie and Conway. Specifically, I envisioned Mudpie in a '50s diner/ice cream shop surrounded by Conway records/memorabilia, a jukebox, and of course, it had to be pink! 

My heart just about stopped when I received the finished product!!!

I mean, is this not the most purrfect graphic ever for us??? I'm completely obsessed with it. I've already had it printed out in 8x10 size at the drug store, but I think I'm going to go even bigger and get an 11x14 print too. 

During Christmas in July on QVC I purchased this little Christmas house, but now I refer to it as Mudpie's ice cream shop. Don't they look like they go together? I plan to display the house and the framed art side by side in a little vignette, showcasing the inside and outside of the shop.

If he were still with us, Conway would be turning 90 tomorrow. Tragically, we lost him at only 59. He lives on in the hearts of his fans. That's what legends do.

I'm super thankful for our incredible prize!!!

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day 2023

 

As I've often said, as a little girl in my playpen I had a cat in one corner and a stack of books in another. Patch was that cat. 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. Prior to Patch my mom had been over a decade without a cat in her life! Once I came into the picture, Patch wasn't about to give up his spot on mom's lap without a fight, so when she would hold me in her arms, she would have to put her feet up so he could nap on her legs.

We lost Patch to a brain tumor at age 15. Other than when his own parents died a few years before, the night we lost Patch was the first time I saw my father cry, I think because he knew our hearts were breaking. I know for a fact that Patch was my mom's "heart cat," and I've always felt that she never again let herself love a cat as deeply as she did him, knowing how much it would hurt at the end.

My main source of comfort since mom has been gone is knowing that she's been reunited with our beloved cats at the Rainbow Bridge. Many, many years ago she bought this shirt that she loved so much she kept it in a plastic bag and hung on her closet door. This is how I imagine that reunion was, and Patch was the first one back in her arms. 

ABOUT RAINBOW BRIDGE REMEMBRANCE DAY:

This special day was created by Deborah Barnes – author, award winning blogger, and cat advocate in tribute to her cat, Mr. Jazz, who she had to say goodbye to on August 28, 2013. She shared the journey of letting him go in her book, “Purr Prints of the Heart: A Cat’s Tale of Life, Death, and Beyond,” a warm and heartfelt book that is written in the wise and comforting voice of Mr. Jazz himself as he shares his life and death journey to offer guidance and understanding through a cat’s perspective as to why sometimes letting a pet go can be the greatest gift you give them.

A special event page for Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day has been created on Facebook so that people can share blog post links, pictures, poems, favorite memories, etc. Please click here for the link.

Extreme Close Up #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 (all answered by Mommy this week) for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by 15andmeowing and Four-Legged Furballs!

1. A word I have trouble pronouncing is Worcestershire .

2. A word I usually spell wrong is forty. I always start to write "fourty" on checks even though I realize immediately that it doesn't look right.

3. If I had pursued a veterinary career, my life would be very different.

4. Avoiding the news is the best way to keep your blood pressure down.

Some Assembly Required #PetPhotoFails

Meows from Mudpie!

Thank you for joining us for this month's edition of the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop! We are SO excited to see September on the horizon, although we're happy to say that while the rest of the country is sweltering, here in the northeast we've been enjoying a bit of a fall preview with high temps in the 60s and 70s! The nights have been downright chilly too! Cuddle time!!! 

Our blooper this time around was taken last month when Mommy was cat-sitting for our neighbor T-Two. T-Two was looking so cute, stretched out on her back washing her floofy tummy, but as soon as Mommy snapped a picture she stopped bathing and sat up. The picture cracks us up because she has so much fur it's hard to tell if those are front or back legs showing. She looks like a kitty that needs reassembly! 

That's our blooper...let's see yours!

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list...

Protecting My Prezzies

Meows from Mudpie!

Each year for my Gotcha Day I get a $3 coupon for a free treat at PetSmart. This year's expires today, so yesterday Mommy ran out and got my free package of squeezies.

Here's a secret - we still get a coupon for Truffles' Gotcha Day too, so I get TWO free packages of squeezies. I know she would want me to enjoy her treat, right? 

 As soon as Mommy came home with them I plopped down on top of the two packages. MINE, ALL MINE! 

Happy 10th Gotcha Day, Angel Truffles!

Ten years ago today I adopted Truffles. There's no happier day than the day a new fur baby arrives, and I still remember picking her up at Petco, bringing her home and her settling in like she was always meant to be there.

She was so young, we were going to have so much time together...but that wasn't meant to be.

Would I have brought her home that day if I'd known the heartbreak to follow? Without a doubt. In our short two years together she left me with memories that will last a lifetime.

And now I'm glad I didn't know

The way it all would end the way it all would go

Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain

But I'd have had to miss the dance

The Dance, Garth Brooks

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

Belated Black Cat Appreciation Day #CaturdayArt

Meows from Mudpie!

Our art this week features Mommy instead of me! We found an effect in Photo Lab that creates an AI version of a person dressed as a black cat, holding a black cat, so Mommy put in a picture of herself and this is what we ended up with. We think it turned out really cool! 

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 sight I would like to unsee is Mom leaving the house in an ambulance for the last time. I didn't know it was the last time, but I think a part of me did.

2. I plan to have my chimney removed before the summer is over. Hopefully on Monday or Tuesday, weather permitting. It's no longer being used and falling apart.

3. I sometimes forget that the excitement of shopping for Halloween in July and August isn't considered normal by most. I've encountered so many people this year making snarky comments about seeing Halloween merchandise in stores. It's really started to annoy me and one of these times I'm going to counter with, "If you don't like it you don't have to look at it! Let those of us who love it enjoy it!" 

4. If my life were a book, the current chapter I'm in would be titled My Mom Taught Me Everything Except How To Live Without Her. 

Murder A La Mode by Lena Gregory - Blog Tour with Character Guest Post and Giveaway

 

From author Lena Gregory comes a delicious new series that will warm your heart and leave you guessing until the very end…

When twenty-five-year-old Danika Delaney, black sheep of the Delaney clan, returns home to Long Island to take over Jimmie’s, her eccentric uncle’s old fashioned malt shop on eastern Long Island, she’s not exactly thrilled. But things start to look up when her uncle tells her she can do whatever she’d like with the shop, and it seems she might realize her dream of a small trendy café. That is, until she discovers the body of her ex-boyfriend’s estranged wife in a melted puddle of rocky road in the malt shop basement. With her two sidekicks, her sister and a good childhood friend, in tow, Dani searches for–or stumbles upon—one clue after another. But as she narrows down the suspect list, she realizes if she’s not careful she may end up in a puddle of her own…

A Day in My Life

By Gwen Rothberg

Until recently, my days were spent styling hair and engaging in gossip at the only salon in Watchogue, New York. I dressed the part, with long blonde hair waving around my shoulders and a fringe of bangs framing my big blue eyes, conforming to Watchogue’s expectations. But it’s all a lie. Beneath my demure exterior lies the truth—I haven’t changed much since high school when I’d varied my hair color and style just about every other week, ranging anywhere from long pink curls to a short blue pixie cut, and my wardrobe choices mostly consisted of miniskirts and spandex that hugged my Amazonian stature. To be honest, I was content but a little bored.

Then, my best friend from school, Danika Delaney, returned home. Of course, before I even ran into her, the rumors were flying. Danika had fled Long Island amid gossip about her catching her boyfriend, Luca, cheating on her at prom with Heather Teague, whom he later married. Upon her return, rumor has it, Heather caught Luca and Danika together in Jimmie’s Ice Cream Shop. My first thought was, “you go girl.” But then Heather turned up dead in Jimmie’s basement, and the gossip turned ugly. In my heart, I know Danika would never have killed anyone. So, now I spend my days trying to help her prove her innocence—and maybe giving her a not so gently nudge toward the steamy detective handling the case.

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

About the Author: 

Lena grew up in a small town on the south shore of eastern Long Island, but she recently traded in cold, damp, gray winters for the warmth and sunshine of Central Florida, where she now lives with her husband, three kids, son-in-law, and four dogs. Her hobbies include spending time with family, reading, and walking. Her love for writing developed when her youngest son was born and didn’t sleep through the night. She works full time as a writer and a freelance editor and is a member of Sisters in Crime.

Author Links:

Newsletter: http://lenagregory.us12.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9765d0711ed4fab4fa31b16ac&id=49d42335d1.
Website: http://www.lenagregory.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lena.gregory.986
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Lena.Gregory.Author/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LenaGregory03
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14956514.Lena_Gregory?from_search=true

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Unboxing July's CatLadyBox

  The theme of July's CatLadyBox was Everything is Ameowzing...here's what was inside!

Featured Cat Lady Artist: IwaMaltiwa

Cat Ladies are Crazy Cool Tee

Everything is Ameowzing Tote Bag

Treat Cats With Kindness License Plate Frame

Cat Can Cooler

Happy Earth & Sunny Sunflower Catnip Toys

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.

Get Your Butt Back In the House, Mommy!!! #SundaySelfie

 

Am I making myself clear???

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!

1. Sometimes I like bacon and sometimes I don't. I like it when I'm eating it, I dislike it when it repeats on me for the rest of the day! 

2. If I had a nickel for every time I kissed a cat, I would be rich. Mudpie alone would make me a trillionaire, never mind all the cats that came before her! 

3. Halloween is already hitting store shelves, but I'm not complaining. I've been a shopping fiend, especially at TJ Maxx and HomeGoods! And everything I've bought so far I've left out because it makes me happy. Christmas will always be my favorite time of the year, but Halloween is my favorite time to shop because there's so much amazing cat stuff. 

4. I haven't yet decided if I'm going to continue watching NASCAR after Kevin Harvick retires at the end of the season. I just can't find another driver that excites me the way he has for the last 23 years.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Mom...and Mudpie's Gotcha Day Continued

Mommy here. 

Today would've been Mom's 88th birthday. I adopted Mudpie just 2 days before her 80th. The very best birthday gift ever, she would tell you. As I've said many times, Mom and Mudpie absolutely adored each other. 

Photo taken at my First Communion, 1985

Next week will mark 6 months since she's been gone. All things considered, I'm doing better than I would've thought possible given the fact that I lost my very best friend, but there still isn't a single moment of a single day that she's not on my mind.  I talk to her every night before bed, telling her about my day, and I dream of her often. I know that's her way of telling me she's still with me, watching over Mudpie and I. 

I wrote this yesterday on my Facebook page in honor of Mudpie's Gotcha Day, and wanted to share it here too...

Happy first heavenly birthday, Mom. I hope you're surrounded by cats, watching Gone with the Wind as you always did on your special day, eating pie, and that Conway has sung Happy Birthday Darlin' to you personally. (I'm SO jealous of you on the latter!!!)

I love you, and I miss you so, so much. Mudpie does too.

Happy 8th Gotcha Day, Mudpie!!!

Meows from Mudpie!

Eight years ago today my life changed forever when Mommy decided I was the kitty to fill the empty hole in her heart that Truffles left behind. We've told this story for the past 7 years on my special day, but it's a real life "fairy tail" and I didn't think you'd mind reading it again. I know that I never get tired of telling it!

It all began 10 days earlier with a series of photos posted on the shelter website. Mommy says she saw my picture and had the same feeling in her heart that she had the first time she saw Truffles. Still, she didn't want to make a hasty decision so she saved my picture to her PC and tablet and kept looking at it over and over. When she finally decided to call the shelter and ask about me it didn't take long for her to decide that I was the one.

She filled out the adoption application, gathered the needed references, and was immediately approved, but then we hit a bit of a snag. The shelter doesn't typically finalize adoptions before the prospective family meets the pet, meaning I couldn't be placed "on hold" (for lack of a better term) and when Mommy spoke to the shelter on Friday afternoon she learned that another lady had just stopped in and was very interested in me! Thankfully the nice shelter volunteer heard the panic in Mommy's voice when she reiterated that she just couldn't come get me until Sunday (they had already agreed to open the shelter just for us!) and said she'd do everything she could to steer the lady's attention to another cat. (People are just drawn to me...what can I say???)

So on a sunny Sunday morning Mommy and my Grandpa made the hour drive to make our union legal and bring me to my forever home.

She had never been to this particular shelter before and thought it was so beautiful. She especially loved the cat quotes on the walls.

She enjoyed spending a little time with Thomas, the shelter mascot, but her heart was pounding with anticipation to meet *me*!!!

There was a cute little tortie in the front holding room, and at first Mommy thought it was me! Then she was told that I was sequestered in the shelter director's office because I don't play well with others. Tattle tails!!!

As soon as Mommy saw me it was all over...I held her heart in my paws!

In no time at all the paperwork was complete and I was on my way home. Mommy rode in the back seat with me and I barely made a peep. We just gazed at each other as we fell completely in love.

I made myself at home the moment I walked in the door, immediately gravitating to the toys set out waiting for me...

...and the pawsome cat beds too! (Geez, wasn't I a skinny, scrawny little thing???) I was totally tuckered out at this point!

The whole day was just a dream come true, one Mommy and I will never forget. Life is pretty darn amazing for this little tortie today. I have a wonderful family who worships the ground I walk on, and loads of friends in the blogosphere who welcomed me with open arms.

Of all the kitties in the world, Mommy picked me. And I thank Cod for her every single day.

Note from Mommy: I thank Cod for you every single day too, precious girl!

Do you remember the day you moved to your forever home?

What. Is. That. Behind. Me. EEK!!! #SundaySelfie

Meows from Mudpie!

Yesterday morning when Mommy helped me snap my selfie, the first thing she noticed was the dark blob behind me that she circled. 

What could it be? 

It was the remains of a house centipede, referred to around our house as "bazillion leggers". Apparently when she closed the door Friday night she crushed him against the door frame, and that's where he remained, smooshed.

***Shudder***

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 hope I never have to look for another forever home. As long as Mommy keeps herself healthy I think I'm safe! 

2. I must remember to visit Mommy overnight for a cuddle. It's still to warm to sleep with her all night but I usually visit her when I walk by the bedroom to use the litter box, but the last couple nights I've forgotten! She misses me when I do that and I get a lecture in the morning. 

Mommy's answers:

3. I learned about giving a cat insulin shots and testing blood sugar when Tara was diagnosed with diabetes in 2011.

4. Dad's cataract surgery has been occupying a lot of my time these days. He had the left eye done on Monday, and the right eye will be this coming Monday. It requires so many appointments! He had to have a physical done first, then the morning after each surgery he has to go back to the eye doctor to have the bandages taken off. Plus eye drops 4 times a day, tapering each week for a whole month! 

2023 Cat Writers' Association Certificate of Excellence

The last few years have been very unproductive writing years for me, so when the time came to choose my entries for the 2023 Cat Writers' Association Communications Contest (for Contest Year 2022) the pickings were pretty slim.

I entered 5 Wellness Tests Every Senior Cat Needs in the Written Article: Health category, and I'm so excited to announce we won a Certificate of Excellence for the article!

I can hardly believe that in 7 years I've now won 17 Certificates and 2 Muse Medallions. Never in my wildest dreams did I think such a thing was possible when I joined the CWA back in 2013. Cats are my greatest passion and being recognized for my writing about them is truly a dream come true.

Mudpie Demands a Better Cable Package

Meows from Mudpie!

This is T-Two, the neighbor kitty Mommy is taking care of for a couple weeks.

 

I feel bad for her because I can't imagine Mommy leaving me alone for 2 whole weeks. (Actually, Mommy says she doesn't know which of us would lose our mind faster! She could never be away from me for that long either.)

I am a bit jealous of T-Two for one reason though - her garden window. It is amazeballs. All kinds of birds and squirrels within paw reach, and check out the video Mommy captured yesterday after she spotted a hole in the ground just inches from the window!

What's a girl gotta do to get Cat TV like that??? I demand a higher tier cable package, Mommy!