Friendly Fill-Ins With a Rhyme on the Side

First of all, thank you for the birthday wishes you sent pup Astrid's way yesterday! Both she and I appreciate your kindness so very much!

Now, who's ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge? If you'd like to participate but missed the fill-in statements yesterday, I'll share them again here. Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. I am trying to _________.

2. I always _________ when _________.

3. _________ has my seal of approval.

4. I would not recommend _________.


My answers are below in bold. They're kind of all over the place this week, probably because my brain was all over the place. They also include some frighteningly long explanations, and for all of that I apologize profusely.

1. I am trying to get back to regular programming.
(Over the past year or so my work place has gotten a bit extra chaotic, and unfortunately that has bled into my personal life. I used to happily have set times on nearly a daily basis when I'd blog, draw, write, read, and all that jazz. Then things at my work place got off track, and in a domino effect the scheduling of my time off work got off track. I am changing things up at work to make it more manageable again, though, and so now I'm ready to get my personal time back to its regular programming. I want to get back to regularly sticking to a productive and enjoyable schedule of blogging, drawing, writing, reading, and you get the idea. I have some personal projects I'm striving to complete, some of which I've at least hinted at here on our blog, so getting back to a more productive schedule is something I desperately want and need.)

2. I always tell my furbabies goodbye and that I'll be back soon when I leave the house.
(I'm that clingy cat mom and dog mom who tells my furry children that I love them and that I'll be back soon every time I leave home. Every time. Most of the time, the majority of my furbabies are sleeping, eating, playing, or otherwise ignoring me when I'm leaving. That doesn't matter. I go through my whole goodbye spiel every single time no matter what.)

3. Purina Frosty Paws ice cream for dogs has my seal of approval.
(I apologize to all of our kitty friends out there, since this is such a blatant dog answer. Unless any of you kitties would like to give this treat a shot? But, this answer is actually in honor of pup Astrid's birthday yesterday, given that she had a Purina Frosty Paws ice cream cup to celebrate. You see, pup Astrid absolutely loves ice cream, and I was starting to feel bad letting her have human ice cream, even just on special occasions, given all the sugar and other whatnot it contains. Then I found Purina Frosty Paws ice cream cups for dogs. These are certainly still nothing that should be a significant part of a dog's diet, but they're at least a lower sugar, higher protein mock ice cream formulated specifically as a dog treat. It fools Astrid, she loves it, and therefore I love it and feel far less guilty about giving her so-called ice cream every once in a while. For the record, we're not sponsored by Purina, or ice cream, or anything of the sort.)

4. I would not recommend grocery shopping on an empty stomach.
(I just had to throw this one in here, because I seem to relearn this lesson every time I go to the store hungry. If I eat before I go to the store, I tend to stick to my grocery list. If I don't eat before I go grocery shopping, my cart ends up filled with a gazillion things that weren't on my list, and some of those things are down my gullet before I even leave the store parking lot.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

***

As we mentioned yesterday, we pushed our poem for Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge back by a day, given that yesterday was all about celebrating pup Astrid's birthday. So, now we have our poem to share today.

Our wonderful host always shares a photo prompt to guide us on our poetic endeavors. This week's prompt is this incredibly intriguing one here:

I really like this photo. I like it so much I shared it with my sister. She also quite liked it, and then she made a random comment about The Chronicles of Narnia series. One thing led to another and my sister and I were suddenly discussing old trucks in forests potentially leading to magical lands like the one found in The Chronicles of Narnia. My sister and I have some really weird and wacky conversations, obviously, and sometimes those lead to really weird, wacky, and insanely long poems like this one here:

Lost and Found

Becky moved to a new house.

Her new neighborhood was quieter than a mouse.

After all, her only neighbors were trees and more trees,

Which spoke only the soft whispering words of the breeze.

Becky moved to her new house with her dog,

A friendly mutt known as Hedgehog.

The canine acquired the name because of his fur,

Which was more or less unruly and a tad bit absurd.

Becky and Hedgehog both greatly enjoyed time outdoors,

And they set out on walks to breathe fresh air and explore.

Living next to a forest was wonderful indeed,

Until you realized all the trees made it impossible to see.

On one spring afternoon, Becky and Hedgehog headed into the forest,

A place that would be enjoyed by any tree enthusiast or florist.

The forest was green from head to toe,

And the sun and shadows put on a lovely light show.

Becky prided herself on her wits,

And she did not intend on letter her or Hedgehog be missed.

She had slipped a compass in the pocket of her vest,

With the knowledge that to get home they simply needed to travel west.

The walk began with sunshine and beauty,

But then it was spring, completely and truly.

A storm brewed up out of seemingly nowhere,

And rain began pouring out of seemingly thin air.

Neither Becky nor Hedgehog were fond of storms,

So they intended to quickly get home and out of this downpour.

Becky pulled out her compass and flipped it open,

But it was at the same time that Hedgehog shook off because he was soaking.

His sudden movement made Becky flinch and gasp,

And as a result the compass flung and flew right out of her grasp.

Becky groaned, "Oh no, where did it go?"

She didn't see it anywhere near her or Hedgehog's toes.

"It couldn't have gone that far," Becky said.

The forest floor was filled with grass, plants, and leaves both live and dead.

The compass could be hidden in plain sight,

Perhaps in a newly formed puddle or beneath a leaf green and bright.

As Becky searched, something suddenly shot out from behind a tree.

It was not the compass, of course not, no indeed.

Rather, it was a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed cat,

With a sharp meow and fur of the deepest and sleekest black.

Just like that, the cat turned and ran.

Simply watching it go was not something Hedgehog could stand.
He charged forward and broke off his leash,
Chasing the cat through puddles and soggy leaves.

After a short chase, Hedgehog came to a stop in a clearing.
Rain still poured and thunder tested their hearing.
When Becky caught up, the cat was no longer in sight.
Perhaps Hedgehod had given it too much of a fright.

But something else up ahead could be seen,
That being a quaint old truck swallowed up by the forest's green.
Rain came down heavier and heavier some more.
As a result, into the rundown truck Hedgehog did soar.
Becky could tell the old thing would not and could not run,
But at least it could offer shelter until the return of the sun.

"Make room for me," Becky said to Hedgehog.
She crawled into the truck and squeezed in beside her dog.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light quite frightening.
 Was that a terrifyingly nearby strike of lightning?

The answer to that question seemed a tad bit complex,
Especially since they now seemed to be in a place completely different.
Well, it wasn't that different after all,
But it wasn't out of the same sort of truck that they now did crawl.

Becky and Hedgehog now stood on a dry forest floor.
From the sky, rain no longer did torrentially pour.
They also no longer looked at a truck buried and broken.
It's like it had been completely fixed up in just one quick moment.
The truck was now a lovely sort of ivory,
And it was sparkling clean and really quite shiny.

The sky was a clear one of night,
Shining and twinkling with starlight.
A lamppost also glowed and lit the nearby night,
And in its glow something else then did come into sight.

Suddenly there was a return of the cat,
With its sharp meow and its fur of deep, sleek black.
Then more than a simple meow came out of its head.
"You two look like you need help," the cat quite aptly said.

Becky's eyes widened in something like shock.
The same thing happened for a now whimpering Hedgehog.
Becky stammered, "Who are you? What are you? What's going on?"
She looked around to see their original surroundings were still gone.

"How can I make this simple?" the cat said.
It looked up and pondered as it scratched its head.
"You see," it began, "you left Lost and now you're in Found.
Does that make sense? How does that sound?"

Becky said nothing but a spluttering noise.
The cat said, "I guess you're still confused. Oh boy."
It sighed and tried again.
It spoke slowly as it said,
"You must have lost something.
Perhaps your socks? Your favorite pen? A ring?
A lost something or other is usually what brings folks to Found."
Then the cat pointed and said, "There! What's that on the ground?"

Becky looked down toward her feet.
Something lost sat in the grass there indeed.
"My compass," she said as she reached down and picked it up.
Hedgehog looked from Becky to the cat and let out a shrill yip and a yup.
Becky looked at the compass and let out a quick laugh.
After all this, she had completely forgotten about that.

"See?" the cat said. "That was a perfectly simple explanation.
Your compass disappeared in your land of Lost, and so the land of Found became your destination.
That makes complete and total sense, trust me.
Now, is there anything else that you need?
I'm actually really quite late for an important meeting."

Becky was still more or less shocked and speechless,
But she managed to tell the cat that her only lost item was the compass.
"Wonderful," the cat said with a little clap of its paws.
"I assume you're now ready to go home and be gone."

The cat added, "By the way, I'm known to most as Lady Luck.
If you ever find yourself here again, look me up.
Now, both of you, get back in that truck."
Becky and Hedgehog did as the cat did instruct.
They climbed into the lovely ivory truck,
And within moments there was a flash of light and rain falling from above.

Becky and Hedgehog were now back were they began.
Beside the rundown truck and in the pouring rain they now did stand.
Becky looked down to see her compass in her hand.
She wasn't sure there was anything she did currently understand.

Finally, she said, "Well, Hedgehog, let's run on home."
She consulted her compass so that in an aimless manner they did not roam.
They ran through rain and puddles of mud,
Reaching their home just before the onset of a flood.

As they dried off and warmed up inside the house,
The rain and thunder outside sounded nowhere near as quiet as a mouse,
Becky said, "Hedgehog, I think perhaps we should go back there tomorrow, yes?
Perhaps I'll accidentally lose my compass again by that truck in the forest."

***

It's time for you Friday Eddy fix. So, how about yet another series of photos of Eddy chowing down and enjoying the view from the window? Yeah?

Most of those could be considered bloopers, in true Eddy style. Don't worry, though, because Eddy still has plenty of bloopers to share for next week's blooper blog hop. We're never wanting for bloopers around here.

Happy Friday, friends!

***

Tip of the Day

Yesterday, as part of our National Cat Health Care Month series of tips, we mentioned the importance of providing your kitty with fresh, easily accessible water at all times. Similar to this, today we're here to remind you of the importance of ensuring that your kitty is fed fresh food on a regular basis. To begin, as you all certainly know, moist food can spoil if left out for too long. It won't go rancid right away, but if left out for long periods of time, there is a concern for spoilage and consequential gastrointestinal issues if eaten. For this reason, refrigerate any unused portions of moist food (which can be reheated for a short amount of time in the microwave), and do not leave moist food out in your kitty's bowls for too long. While far less likely, it is not impossible for dry food to spoil, not to mention the possibility of it becoming stale, or even ants helping themselves to food that is sitting out. So, try to ensure that uneaten old food is not left at the bottom of a bowl for too long. Also try to make sure that your kitty's dry food is stored in some form of an air-tight container, or at least that the bag is securely sealed.

Continuing on with the importance of fresh food, many cats are indeed picky eaters, which means it is quite possible that some kitties may not eat food that has been sitting out for a certain amount of time. In addition to this, as some cats age, their senses, including smell, start to diminish. Similarly, cats with certain ailments might need food with a fresh, strong odor in order to feel tempted to eat. This is another reason to offer food that is fresh and therefore enticing, so that the kitty will indeed have a desire to eat it.

All of this being said, also keep in mind your individual cat's weight, diet, and overall health. It is of course important to ensure that your kitty has sufficient access to food. Food allowance or scheduling will be different for an underweight cat versus an overweight cat, so all such considerations have to be made. If you have any concerns regarding your cat's food situation, of course discuss this with a veterinarian!