Our awesome friend Texas gave us this cool award! And please make sure to stop by his bloggie and offer some purrs, he's gotta go to the Bridge soon - but he wants to spend time with all of his friends before he goes. Thanks Texas!
Here are the rules: We have to give the award to 5 friends. Four of these friends must be dedicated followers of our blog. One should be a new blogger and live in a different part of the world. Each awardee must link back to whomever gave the award.
As usually it's very hard to pick, but here goes! Now Goldie & Shade have been devoted readers since we met them, but they are from Canada - so we're gonna count them as our friends from a different country.
Oh yeah, have you all made up your Challenge for the IDYA #4? We did! Make sure to stop by the Cat Realm and give them your challenge. And don't forget to head over to Q headquarters and vote for your favorite Qs (feel free to vote for us, hee hee)!
We hope all of you kitties have a pawesome weekend!
Well, it's Thursday again, and we haven't had a Practical Thursday in a while! So, without further ado, our latest installment of T.S. Elliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.
SKIMBLESHANKS: THE RAILWAY CAT
There's a whisper down the line at 11.39 When the night mail's ready to depart, Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble has he gone to hunt the thimble We must find him or the train can't start.' All the guards and all the porters and the stationmaster's daughters They are searching high and low, Saying 'Skimble where is Skimble for unless he's very nimble Then the night mail just can't go.' At 11.42 then the signal's nearly due And the passengers all frantic to a man - Then Skimble will appear and he'll saunter to the rear: He's been busy in the luggage van! He gave one flash of his glass-green eyes And the signal went 'All clear!' They'd be off at last for the northern part Of the northern hemisphere!
You might say that by and large it is Skimble who's in charge Of the Sleeping Car Express. From the driver and the guards to the bagmen playing cards He will supervise them all, more or less. Down the corridor he paces and examines all the faces Of the travelers in the First and in the Third; He established control by a regular patrol And he'd know at once if anything occurred. He will watch you without winking and he saw what you were thinking And it's certain that he didn't approve Of hilarity and riot, so that folk were very quiet When Skimble was about and on the move. You could play no pranks with Skimbleshanks! He's a cat that couldn't be ignored; So nothing went wrong on the Northern Mail When Skimbleshanks was aboard.
Oh it's was very pleasant when you have found their little den With their name written up on the door. And the berth was very neat with a newly folded sheet And not a speck of dust on the floor. There was every sort of light - you could make it dark or bright; There's a button that you could turn to make a breeze. There's a funny little basin you're supposed to wash your face in And a crank to shut the window should you sneeze. Then the guard looks in politely and would ask you very brightly 'Do you like your morning tea weak or strong?' But Skimble's just behind him and was ready to remind him, For Skimble won't let anything go wrong. And when you creep into your cozy berth And pull up the counterpane, You are bound to admit that it's very nice To know that you won't be bothered by mice - You can leave all that to the Railway Cat, The cat of the railway train!
In the middle of the night he is always fresh and bright; Every now and then he has a cup of tea With perhaps a drop of scotch while he's keeping on the watch, Only stopping here and there to catch a flea. You were fast asleep at Crewe and so you never knew That he was walking up and down the station; You were sleeping all the while he was busy at Carlisle, Where he greets the stationmaster with elation. But you saw him at Dumfries, where he summons the police If there's anything they ought to know about: When you get to Gallowgate there you did not have to wait - For Skimbleshanks will help you to get out! He gives you a wave of his long brown tail Which says: 'I'll see you again You'll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail The cat of the Railway Train.'
Last week the boys had a very good Mancat rule - but the only reason that it was a ManCat rule was because I missed out on getting into the basket of nip. They never told me that Mommy left the basket down!
So I'm taking over again!
So, today's Wo-ManCat Rule: If it's a hot day, find a nice wet spot of patio to stretch out, relax and keep yourself cool.
Were a bit late adding this (since Mommy had this on auto-post), but of course we'd like to join in Not the Mama Monday. Because Mo truly does rock! We think all the things he does for kitties in his area and on the CB is amazing - if there were more people like him the world would be a much better place!
We're so happy that it's the weekend! It's been a long and busy week and we're ready to put our feet up and relax.
But first we have a rescue mission! Captain Jack is getting the Black Furrball ready to sail to Florida to rescue the beautiful Lady Boo and all of our Florida Furriends.
So we're all getting loaded onto George's new sailboat (Daddy found it for her during the sailboat races last month - we're a bit jealous). We're going to back up the Black Furrball to pick up all the kitties and woofies that need rescuing! And of course we need to pick up George's new First Mate Beaux :-)
Who's with us?!
- Pearl, Bert and Jake
P.S. Have you kitties met Harry yet? He's a cool little friend of Milo's (and you know how Mommy feels about ginger boys!). Look at the beautiful get well card that his Mommy made for me:
Today I'm thankful for all of you! I'm thankful for all your well wishes and good advice! But I thought I should give you the whole story.
The last couple of days I've had a little sneeze - I tried to tell Mommy that I was just allergic to the dog, but she didn't buy it! So off we went to the V-E-T. Dr. R is very nice and told me how pretty I am (which is true) so I tried to be nice back, I was hoping if I was nice to him that he would let me go home - still no luck. Then they poked me in my spot 13 (which was ever so rude) and stole my blood. Then the very nice Dr. came back and said I was sick.
He sent me home with that horrid medicine and I have to take it for a week! And so far I've been good, but then I heard Mommy tell Daddy something about a parasite medicine that I'll have to start taking in a few days too - so I'll have to work out some type of escape plan (purrhaps I could hide at Dante's).
But enough of that! We also wanted to say thank you to our friends - because they gave another award!
Both the super-duper Tesla and the sweet Miss Abby gave us this award:
We think the both of you are pretty cool too!
I'm fairly certain that lots of kitties have this, so we want to give this to some new kitties that we've met recently: all the kitties over at the Catmosphere, Harry the kitten, Abby's new sister Stygia, Victor's new sister Nina, Milo the kitten and Bert's floofy twin Mr. Milky at Artsy Catsy.
Hi all! We're sorry to have been out of touch this week, but we've been laying low since we heard the news about Sprout. Mommy has been sick and we've all been leaky eyed. Then we had more bad news about Felix and Maxime. Well, it's clear that it's been a bad week.
So we've been lighting candles every night with Tesla - hoping that all our friends can see them up in heaven. And we'll be donning violet tomorrow, Mommy has ribbons for all of us and even George is going to wear a special bandanna.
We hope that all our friends are well, and we'll do our best to get back to blogg-ness as usual soon. Purrs and {{{{{HUGS}}}}} to one and all.
Mommy has been very tired lately, and sort of crabilated (she says it's because she's so busy and hasn't had a chance to enjoy her summer). So Bert and I sat outside and really thought about what we could get Mommy to make her feel better. And then - lucky us - the answer ran right by us! A big juicy mouse!
Well, I won't lie kitties, it took a bit of time for us to catch that mouse, but eventually we did - all the while Mommy was sitting on the porch saying "don't kill that poor mouse". Now I'd like to say that we brought it right over to Mommy, but I did play with it for a bit (I thought I should make sure it was good and dead) - and again Mommy kept chatting at us "stop playing with that poor dead thing". Then Mommy went back inside and said "don't you bring that gross thing in here" - I'm sure she really meant was "I'd be delighted if you would leave it for me to almost step on in the morning" - so we did!
When we heard her scream in the morning - we knew she'd found our present. Somehow I don't think all our efforts were appreciated!
The good news is that the super hunter himself - our friend Skeeter gave us an award. I'm not sure if it's because of my hunting skills or not, but we sure are honored!
We'd like to pass it on to young Fagin (we're not sure if he's had his own award yet), another mighty hunter Goldie and his pacifist sister Shade, another couple of serious predators Eric & Flynn and all the Tough A** Torties.
Well, the list of practical cats is drawing to an end, but this week we have a "big" cat. All I have to say is that if Mommy or Daddy calls me fat again I'm going to read them this!
BUSTOPHER JONES: THE CAT ABOUT TOWN Bustopher Jones is not skin and bones - In fact, he's remarkably fat. He doesn't haunt pubs - he has eight or nine clubs, For he's the St. James's Street Cat! He's the Cat we all greet as he walks down the street In his coat of fastidious black; No commonplace mousers have such well-cut trousers Or such an impeccable back. In the whole of St. James's the smartest of names is The name of this Brummell of Cats; And we're all of us proud to be nodded or bowed to By Bustopher Jones in white spats!
His visits are occasional to the Senior Educational And it is against the rules For any one Cat to belong both to that And the Joint Superior Schools. For a similar reasonm when games is in season He is found, not at Fox's, but Blimp's; But he;s frequently seen at the gay Stage and Screen Which is famous for winkles and shrimps. In the season of venison he give his ben'son To the Pothunter's succulent bones; And just before noon's not a moment too soon To drop in for a drink at the Drones. When he's seen in a hurry there's probably curry At the Siamese - or at the Glutton; If he looks full of gloom then he's lunched at the Tomb On the cabbage, rice pudding and mutton.
So, much in this way, passes Bustopher's day - At one club or another he's found. It can cause no surprise that under our eyes He has grown unmistakably round. He's a twenty-five pounder, or I am a bounder, And he's putting on weight every day: But he's so well preserved because he's observed All his life a routine, so he'll say. And (to put it in rhyme) 'I shall last out my time' Is the word of this stoutest of Cats. It must and it shall be Spring in Pall Mall While Bustopher Jones wears white spats!
Wow Wee - an award for us?! Our super cool friend Tesla gave us this neat-o Arte y Pico award. We love Tesla, she always has such great adventures and she is an inspiration!
About the award:
This award was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a special honor. Once you have received this award, you are to pass it on to 5 others.
Rules:
You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contribute to the blogger community, regardless of language.
Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
Each award-winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
Award-winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
To show these rules.
It's always so hard to figure out who to give these too, but we're thinking maybe our sick friends could use a little cheering with an award! So we want to pass this on to Mr. Hendrix, Felix, Skeeter, Moki and Earl Grey and his Aunt Jen!
As a member of the Tough A** Torties, I feel that is important to keep up my pouncing skills. I practice a lot at home, on rattle-y mice and fev-ver toys. But I really get my practice in when I'm outside, sitting in the grass...
Oh Jeepers - we almost forgot NOMS Day!
This is our woofie friend Sophie, she's a nice friend of Georgie's. We like her because she doesn't really bug us too much when she comes over to visit - well except for when she gets downstairs where our litter boxes are (though that doesn't bother us as much as it does her Mom!).
Who are you calling "mini" Mommy? We're both full grown - whoa WHO ARE THEY? AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING ON OUR BLOGGIE!?!?!?!!
Mommy, you got some 'splainin to do!
Well guys, a not so nice man was going to take these little guys to the pound, and I was worried (since two of them were injured) that the pound wouldn't help them find forever homes. So I told the man to bring them to me at work and I would take them to the nice shelter where they could heal and then find their forever homes.
This is "Socks" - he had a bit of a cold, but was very nice. He might have been a girl, but was too squirmy to really tell :-)
I called this one TT, for Tabby Tom and in honor of or friend TT. He was a bit shy, but on the drive he started to check things out.
And this one I called Flower, because he had a big white stripe down his back. He sat up close to the bars and watched everything, until the big kitty at the shelter scared him!
Well, ok then, guess we can't be too mad at you. I guess really we should just purr that those little ones find their forever homes as soon as possible.
We found a cool new toy! It's called Wordle and it makes this:
Click to Biggify - so you can really see it.
We're sorry that we haven't been around much this week - Mommy keeps staying at the work place too late to help us blog. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up over the weekend.
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