Caturday Art: Halloween with a Whole Lot of Happy

I am hopeless. I was trying so hard to last until October before creating our Halloween header. Honestly, I only just created our general autumn header, we haven't even left September yet, and it's still 90 degrees F here, so why would I need to draw our Halloween header yet? Because I'm hopelessly in love with Halloween, that's why.

So, for today's Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by the always lovely Athena, we are debuting our Halloween header. We'll wait until tomorrow to actually implement it as our header, but we'll give you a preview now.

I love me Halloween something fierce, so be warned, this will not be the last Halloween piece you'll see from us. Like I said, I'm hopeless.

That's not all we have for you today, though. No, siree. Next up, Annie from McGuffy's Reader, one of the hosts of the Friday Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, recently nominated us for The Happiness Tag.

Annie said such kind words about our blog, and we feel so honored and of course happy to receive this tag from her! Thank you, Annie!

Now, there are a couple of fun responsibilities that come along with accepting The Happiness Tag. I need to list 5 things that make me happy, list 5 favorite songs that make me happy, and list 5 bloggers who make me happy and that I therefore want to nominate for The Happiness Tag. Me being me, this is probably going to get wordy. You may want to grab some coffee. Probably a comfy chair, too. Hey, you might as well bring a pillow, because you'll probably need a nap at some point.

Now that you've been warned, we'll proceed.

5 things that make me happy:

1. My furbabies.
(This one, I'm sure, is obvious. I simply can't imagine life without my furbabies.)

2. My family.
(I do not have a significant other or human children, and so for me my family is my parents and sister, and of course all of the furbabies. What's more, I am lucky in that, growing up, I had very hands-on parents. As a kid that may not have always seemed like a good thing, but when I grew older, I realized it was. My family is very close-knit, which means we sometimes bicker like crazy, while at other times have way too much fun together.)

3. Art.
(I really just love to draw. I find it so fun and relaxing to sit down, doodle out a sketch, and then color it all in. I hope you all aren't getting too terribly sick of my drawings just yet.)

4. Reading and writing.
(I love to read, especially fiction. In large part thanks to my dad reading The Hobbit to me when I was a young child, I have always loved fantasy most of all. I also love to write, in case you haven't noticed yet from posts like this. If I can discipline myself enough to sit down and do it, I would love to write short stories and even books some day.)

5. Music.
(I find listening to music just as fun and relaxing as art and reading and writing. I listen to music when I drive or ride in the car, when I exercise, when I draw, and even when I read. I love how the right song can even paint a picture or write a story in your head. I also learned to play the piano as a child, and though I don't currently have a piano and am a bit out of practice, I would love to pick up the hobby of playing the piano again in the near future. There's something very freeing about plucking away on a piano.)


5 favorite songs that make me happy:
(Note: My taste in music may or may not be a bit random and inconsistent. That's about all I can say.)

1. "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi
(The very Annie who nominated us for The Happiness Tag had this on her own list of favorite songs that make her happy. I also love me some Snoopy, and I love this song, which always brings back such warm and happy memories of watching Snoopy holiday specials as a child. For the record, I still watch those holiday specials every year.)

2. "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen
(Thanks to my Dad, and also my sister, I often find myself stuck in cars and rooms with classic rock music blaring. Sometimes I love it, and sometimes I want to curl up in the fetal position and rock myself to sleep. But, when this Queen song comes on, I am always a perfectly happy camper. It is such a fun and upbeat tune, and I pretty much have to sing along with it.)

3. "Baba O'Riley" by The Who
(Okay, so I guess I am a closet classic rock lover. I get excited the second I hear this song start playing. The intro alone makes me so very happy.)

4. "Roundtable Rival" by Lindsey Stirling
(I mentioned in yesterday's post my love for both Westerns and violin music, and this song is both of those combined, which of course make me one happy listener. The artist, Lindsey Stirling, not only plays violin but also dances, and she does both at the same time, because apparently at least one human on this Earth can actually do that. I love both her music and her videos.)

5. "Little Lion Man" by Mumford & Sons
(This may seem more like a moody tune than a "happy" one, but I have loved this song since the second I first heard it. It is the song that introduced me to my love of indie folk music. I remember the first time I heard it, how much I immediately loved the sound of it, all the while thinking, "Is that a banjo I'm hearing? How awesome is that!")

And, last but not least, I am to list 5 bloggers that make me happy and to nominate as recipients of The Happiness Tag. The thing is, you all make me happy! But, in order to properly complete this.portion of my Happiness Tag challenge, I've selected 5 blogs that indeed make me very happy but that I also believe I've not yet seen receive or perform the challenge associated with The Happiness Tag.

If you are listed here, please do not feel any obligation to complete this challenge. Honestly, no hard feelings! I know and completely understand that not everyone has the time or desire to complete posts like this. I myself had a lot of fun with this. But, again, please do not feel pressured to complete this if I listed you below. (On the other hand, if you are reading this but are not listed below yet would like to complete this challenge for The Happiness Tag, please feel free to do so! I'm not sure whether I'm really allowed to tell you that, but it looks like I'm extending that offer anyway. What a rebel.)

Now, without further ado...

5 blogs that make me happy:

1. Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, and Meows
(We have a lot in common with adorable Mudpie and her mom Melissa, and we are always so happy to visit them every day.)
2. Marg's Animals
(Marg is such a sweet and compassionate person, caring for her beautiful family of kitties, and donkeys Joe and Smoke.)
3. Animal Shelter Volunteer Life
(What a wonderful and inspiring blog this is, written by such kind and compassionate shelter volunteers, Kevin and Tracey.)
4. Lucy's Lounge
 (The kitty stars of this blog, Annie and Pierrot, are just so cute and sweet, and they were some of the first ones ever to consistently start visiting and commenting on our blog after we started it.)
5. Zoolatry
(Home of the ever thoughtful Ann, who creates the beautiful Rainbow Bridge badges that we all know and love, and of course adorable Dougie, Zoey, and Maggy, we are always so happy to visit Zoolatry.)

You all make us happy! All those listed above, and all those not listed above (including Annie at McGuffy's Reader, who nominated us and so whom we could list), your blogs always make our day so much better and brighter. Thank you all! And thank you again, Annie, for your sweet nomination!

Well, if you've made it this far, kudos to you. Here, take a cupcake as a reward for your perseverance.

Well, whew, I think we've reached the end of this post. Congratulations!

Happy Caturday, everybuddy!

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Our Tip of the Day:

Did you know that bats are the most common carrier of rabies? Please always keep this in mind, especially if you live in an area of high bat population, and if your furbabies go outside at night often. And don't forget that bats can indeed get inside homes, too, such as into attics. If you find or expect bats inside your home, take all precautions to keep your furbabies away from them. Bats' teeth are small and sharp, often leaving little to no obvious puncture marks, so it can next to impossible to detect their bite on your cat or dog. That all being said, in the case of a bat inside your home or even one causing any concern in your area, it may be best to call animal control and have it caught by the pros so that any potential for rabies can immediately be determined and dealt with.