Friendly Fill-Ins and Eddy Cuddles

Hello and happy Friday, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.

1. My plans for August include _________ and _________.

2. I exercise my brain by _________.

3. I try not to let _________ go to waste.

4. I know it's going to be a good day when _________.


My answers are below in bold.

1. My plans for August include more art and more writing.
(Goodness knows I have plenty of items on my to-do list I could put here. I have chores and projects both inside my house and outside of my house that I really need to work on. But, I just really want to draw and work on my writing project. Those are simply passions in my life that I want to give more time and attention to, so maybe I'll manifest that by giving them as an answer here.)

2. I exercise my brain by reading and playing word games.
(A lot of things can exercise the human brain, as I'm sure you all already know, but my favorites are indeed reading and my daily word games. I try to make sure I read at least a couple or few pages of a book every day. I also every day try to play my favorite online word games, those being Wordle, Quordle, Squordle, Octordle, and Connections.)

3. I try not to let time go to waste.
(Like many people, I don't like letting most things go to waste, like food and such. But, I picked time as my answer because lately I've been trying to manage my time better. Mostly, I want to make sure that I'm not wasting too much time on things like scrolling through social media. I'm not terrible at this, but some days I do find myself procrastinating with the likes of Instagram. That seems like such a waste of time that could be used for such better things, like cuddling my furry babies, working on my art and writing projects, and so on and so forth.)

4. I know it's going to be a good day when my furry babies wake up happy and healthy.
(Astrid is still working through her most recent vestibular disease flareup. I look forward to it resolving more, so that she can feel and act more like herself. She's already doing better than she was a couple days ago, and the kitties are all doing their version of fantastic lately, so here's to happy and healthy days.)

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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Now, of course, we have your Eddy fix. For anyone who doesn't know, my girl Eddy is very skittish, and anything and everything can and will make her hide. She was more or less semi-feral when I adopted her as a 10-week-old kitten, and sometimes that feral side still comes out just a bit. That said, I love my girl Eddy so much. She does not like anyone but myself, and I have to say it's an honor to be the one and only human she will happily run to, meow at, boss around, cuddle, and all that adorable jazz.

All that rambling to say, how about a shot of Eddy cuddling this here human of hers?

Eddy likes to be the little spoon to my big spoon, and she indeed loves to use my hand and arm as a pillow. And I'm more than happy to oblige.

Oh, and behind Eddy there in that photo you'll see my orange boy Evan. Evan is the only kitty Eddy actually likes. She will tolerate Thimble and so they can be in the same vicinity with only minor amounts of mutual trolling, but otherwise Eddy loathes every cat except for her beloved Evan. They're two of the only cats in the house you'll find sleeping next to each other like that.

Eddy and all of us here wish you a wonderful weekend, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

I'd almost forgotten I scribbled up this doodle last year, but I stumbled upon it recently and so decided to re-share it today.

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Tip of the Day

We're still in the midst of our series of tips on the topic of litter boxes. Today's tip in this realm of things is one that we might not always think on too much, and that's the litter scoop. You'd think a scoop is a scoop, but sometimes one scoop simply might work better than another. Depending on the type of litter you use, your particular furbaby's litter box habits, and other such factors, be sure to select a litter scoop that removes as much of the piles of urine, feces, and affected litter as possible. If too much of these bits of debris are left behind when you scoop, that can lead to lingering smells and less sanitary conditions. This could in turn mean that the litter box will need to be cleaned more frequently than might be expected. For the above reasons, when selecting a litter scoop, consider factors such as the number and spacing of the grates on the scoop.

In addition, you also might want to consider the material out of which the scoop is made. If there's a chance your litter scoop might get bunged up, for example, perhaps go for a metal scoop. This is because plastic scoops are far more likely to end up with scratches on their surface, and such scratches could harbor microbes, especially when used in an environment such as that of a litter box. So, don't forget to give even that scoop a bit of extra consideration and attention. Every little detail could potentially affect our kitties and their health and happiness, and that even includes the litter scoop, which helps keep that litter box as clean and sanitary as possible.