Friendly Fill-Ins and Eddy in the Window

Hello, 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. When it comes to making decisions, I _________.

2. _________ was the highlight of my week.

3. I wish there were a _________ in my local area.

4. Thanks to _________, I _________.


My answers are below in bold, along with my usual rambling.

1. When it comes to making decisions, I usually make up my mind pretty quickly.
(I don't tend to be very wishy-washy with most decisions. Sure, there are things here and there I have to ponder for a bit, but even then, I usually pretty quickly determine what I want or need and make the final decision. I've always been like this, which is funny, because my sister is the complete indecisive opposite.)

2. Astrid walking without my assistance was the highlight of my week.

(As I've mentioned at least once this week, pup Astrid is having another flare of her vestibular. Old dog vestibular disease is relatively common, and it causes all sorts of balance issues for geriatric dogs. They often recover from episodes after a couple or few weeks, but it seems to be so much worse for Astrid in the summer. She suddenly had a flare of it a little over 2 weeks ago, and after improving a bit from that episode, it flared up again early this week. Yesterday, though, Astrid was finally more able to walk without being constantly assisted. It's a small improvement, but it's an improvement nonetheless. It's been a very long week with poor Astrid being so wobbly and restless, and so seeing even a bit of improvement was truly the highlight of my week. Though still wobbly, this morning Astrid is far less restless and is acting a tad bit more like herself. Thank goodness.)

3. I wish there were a Dick Blick in my local area.

(It's a weird name, though I think it's called Blick Art Materials these days. It's a store that sells all sorts of art supplies, and it's one of the only art stores I've ever known to keep a full stock of my favorite markers, those being Window & Newton Promarkers and Brushmarkers. Dick Blick is prevalent in my home state of Illinois, but only in cities hours away from me. I'd love to be able to peruse the aisles of a Dick Blick in my hometown.)

4. Thanks to Astrid's current condition, I ended up with her bowl of food all over my clothes yesterday.

(Honestly, I'm so glad that Astrid's dizziness hasn't made her lose her appetite. As long as we feed her the food she wants, she'll happily eat. It's just a really graceless and messy activity. She doesn't like to eat lying down, but she's not very steady on her feet. Yesterday, she started to tip over while eating, and though I managed to keep her upright, the attempt resulted in her food bowl overturning on me. That's okay, though, because washing machines exist for a reason. And don't worry, I peeled the food off of my clothes, put it back in Astrid's bowl, and she ate it right up.)

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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Today, your Eddy fix might look a bit odd. After all, it stars Eddy, but from the viewpoint of me looking at her from the outside of a window. See?

The reason I snapped this photo is because this moment made me so proud of Eddy. This girl is easily the most skittish cat I've ever shared my life with. For years, if Eddy saw any person outside of the window, myself included, she'd run and hide under my bed. That's why, when I recently started seeing Eddy watch me in the yard from my bedroom window, I was shocked. I was even more shocked when she let me walk up to the window, say hi to her, and take her photo. This has now become a ritual of ours, and I love it. My scared little girl is showing tiny steps toward more confidence, and I'm so proud of her.

Happy Friday, friends!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

We recently re-shared some old doodles starring Edgar Allan Poe and his tortie Catterina. Another one of my favorite horror authors is H.P. Lovecraft, and I also happened to scribble up a doodle for him a few years back. So, why not share that again today.

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Tip of the Day

Yesterday's tip involved helping give your kitty or pup a window view by putting a cat tree, couch, or chair beside the window. Today's tip takes this concept in another direction, and involves looking into ways to make your home even more accessible to and traversable by your feline furbabies. For example, there are cat shelves on the market that can be placed along your home's walls, and which can be placed in ways that allow your kitty to not only rest on the shelves, but to also to travel the perimeter of a room by way of those wall shelves. There are plenty of other similar features available on the market as well, including walkways, bridges, ladders, and all sorts of items that can allow your furbaby to travel throughout the house in this fun, unique way. If interested, you could intersperse such wall shelves or walkways throughout the house. Or, if you have the space and ability, you could dedicate one room in the house to this, so that said room is some semblance of a playroom or jungle gym for your kitty. In the wild, cats often travel or sleep on elevated surfaces, such as trees or mountains. That's why many cats enjoy setups such as wall shelves or walkways, as this can mimic the environment of their wild ancestors.