Friendly Fill-Ins

Welcome to Friday! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and if you'd like to join us, please do! My co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. I am contemplating _________.

2. My _________ are _________.

3. I can _________ in record time.

4. I miss the days when _________.

My answers are below in bold.

1. I am contemplating starting on Halloween drawings during this month of August.

(If you're a regular or longtime visitor of our blog, you might already know that I am a huge fan of Halloween. I just really like all things spooky and macabre. That said, every once in a while I get into a creative funk when it comes to drawing, sometimes simply because my full-time job gets chaotic and sometimes because my muse takes a detour and gets a bit lost. Right now I'm struggling just a bit with both of those reasons, but I want to get out of the funk. When I think about what I really want to draw and what would most likely draw me out of my funk, it's all things Halloween and spooky. I think I'll go ahead and lean into this, probably starting with some summery Halloween-inspired doodles so as not to totally confuse everyone. So, spooky doodles coming soon, and I'm honestly really excited about that. I've even already put some Halloween decor up in my house to inspire me, because why not.)

2. My kitties are the bosses around here.

(Obviously.)

3. I can clean up rogue cat urine in record time.

(I'll thank Evan for this skill. After he developed urinary incontinence over a year ago, I quickly learned what cleaners and methods to use to make cleanup quick and easy.)

4. I miss the days when everyone wasn't staring at their cell phones.

(I'm not the kind of person who is social or who has a need or desire to strike up conversations with others, so that's not even why I get annoyed when people are hyperfocused on their phones. I just think it's distracting and dangerous for a variety of reason. I've seen people just staring down at their phones while out on walks, and even when walking through dark parking lots. Why not enjoy nature, or be aware of your surroundings and ensure personal safety? And what about those people who stare at their phones when driving? That's very much so not okay. I've also been to stores and restaurants where workers first have to stop looking at their cell phones before they can assist customers. I mean, really?)

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.

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Are you ready for your Eddy fix? Yes? Good. Because here she is with her downright adorable snaggletooth.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Freaky Flashback Doodle of the Day

Perhaps one of the reasons I'm ready to start on Halloween doodles is because I recently rediscovered and started sharing some summery Halloween doodles that I scribbled up in 2019. Like this one here here with its jack-o'-lantern cookies.

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Tip of the Day

We're still in the midst of our series of tips all about decorating your home around your furbabies. Today's tip on that topic involves protecting your furniture from kitty claws. After all, cats do indeed have claws. That's simply part of who they are. That being said, that doesn't mean there aren't safe, humane ways of protecting your furniture from those claws.

To begin, of course place cat scratchers throughout your house in order to give your cat appropriate places to use their claws. Cats often like to scratch as a more or less territorial display, so make sure that at least some of their scratchers are somewhere visible and in the open. You can also place a scratcher near any furniture to which your furbaby's claws gravitate. This way, your kitty can have an appropriate scratching location where you can immediately redirect them should they begin to use the furniture instead.

We recently mentioned this next idea in another tip, but we'll say it again. To protect your furniture from cat claws while also giving your cat a proper place to scratch, you can wrap sisal rope around furniture legs, rails of staircases, and other similar locations. Again, this not only protects those home features from cat claws, but also simultaneously gives your cat another appropriate place to use their claws. Another potential form of protection against cat claws for your furniture is a heavy-duty couch or chair cover.

As we said above, cats indeed have claws. Those claws are simply part of who they are. While those claws can sometimes find their way to furniture, there are proper ways to combat this. Simply research types of scratchers for your kitty to use, create your own scratchers using sisal rope, or find another way to protect the furniture while also treating your kitty and their claws in a humane way. When your kitty scratches furniture, calmly redirect them to a proper cat scratcher, so that they can learn where they should and should not sharpen those claws of theirs. Of course, also don't forget to regularly trim your kitty's nails.