Friendly Fill-Ins and Brave Eddy

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. I'd like to learn how to play _________.

2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was _________.

3. I want to design _________ for _________.

4. _________ is a special treat I get _________.


My answers are below in bold, and are unfortunately accompanied by my usual rambling.

1. I'd like to learn how to play the cello.
(I've always loved stringed instruments. I learned how to play the piano as a kid, for which I am very grateful, but the older I got the more I wished I knew how to play the cello. It's my favorite stringed instrument. I'll listen to pretty much any song with stringed instruments, from classical to remakes of modern songs, and bonus points if the cello has a heavy role in the song. Maybe someday I'll take cello lessons. Perhaps.)

2. Something I tried to make that was an epic fail was gluten-free bread.
(I had an intestinal illness a few years ago, and though it was treatable and itself is all cured now, it left me gluten intolerant as well as lactose intolerant. Over the years I've found alternative forms of bread and pasta and "milk" that I quite enjoy, so I don't feel like I'm going without. That said, I do miss making and eating homemade bread. I've tried making gluten-free bread using various recipes and gluten-free flour, but without that gluten, the homemade bread just isn't happening. One attempt to make gluten-free rolls resulted in flat, burnt discs. I'm able to buy gluten-free bread from the store that I really enjoy, but my attempts to make it myself have been absolute disasters.)

3. I want to design Halloween decor for animal lovers.
(I love Halloween, and I love animals. I also love drawing and crafting, and I especially love creating Halloween stuff starring animals. I'd love to someday use the images I draw to create usable decor for Halloween. Actually, I love scribbling up spooky doodles for every season, such as the increasingly popular Summerween, and so I'd love to craft up spooky decor all year round. Then again, I'd also love to create traditional decor for Christmas, and just general decor as well. But all of it would star kitties and other animals, of course.)

4. 7Brew is a special treat I get every Friday.
(I work at the same place as my dad and sister, and every Friday I go get us 7Brew drinks to get us through the last afternoon of the workweek. I also get one for my mom, and my dad takes it home with him when he leaves for the day. I used to get us Dunkin Donuts, but our local place has really gone downhill in quality and taste. When a 7Brew opened up, though, we all decided we wanted to try that, and now we love it. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I love their tea, and I still want to try their lemonades and a number of their other drinks.)

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? We know you are. I'm pretty sure I've shared a photo like this before, and it might look odd and low quality, but it's evidence of how proud I am of my girl Eddy. You see, though Eddy is still a very skittish cat who doesn't like any human besides me, she used to be even more scared of anything and everything. She used to go hide if she'd see even me, her favorite human, outside a window. These days, though, my scared little girl is brave enough to let me talk to her through windows. See? Look at this brave girl!

We hope you're all staying cool and safe during these warm, stormy summer days! We had a nasty storm yesterday and have been without power since 7:30 pm last night. Luckily the temperature is going down starting today, so we should be able to keep from totally melting.

Happy Friday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

As I mentioned in fill-in #3 above, I love drawing Halloween doodles. Well, I love drawing spooky doodles all year long. And, of course, all of these drawings star kitties or other animals. In fact, today I have yet another spooky doodle I drew a few years ago after seeing a piece of Halloween decor that was released that summer. June has become a popular month for stores to start rolling out Halloween decor, and a few years ago one of these early summer releases included a ghost in a cloche. I didn't buy the piece, but I did draw it. And of course I gave it a feline friend.

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Tip of the Day

Today's tip on bringing a new furbaby into the home is to have a safe area for them to spend their introductory days. Depending on your situation and living space, this can take on many forms. If you are bringing a social, calm cat into a home with no other animals, there is a chance that they might have free roam of the home right off the bat. However, in many cases, such as if they are nervous or if there are other animals in the home, it is far more wise and safe to give a new furbaby a particular safe area where they can go when first beginning their life at their new home. This safe area could be a bedroom, a bathroom, a spacious cage or similar setup in a safe and quiet room, or something else along these lines.

What's more, consider what this safe area should contain. It should of course have the new furbaby's food, water, litter box, toys, a bed or blanket, and other necessities and comforts. Especially when it comes to nervous or shy furbabies, it is also crucial to ensure that a new kitty or pup has an area where they can feel secure or even hidden. If their safe area does not include anywhere for them to feel secure and hidden, consider giving them some options, even simply by cutting holes in upside-down cardboard boxes.

All in all, you have to consider what a new furbaby is coming home to. Do you live with a large family? Are there other animals? Is the new cat or dog shy? Consider all of these factors, and then decide where and how to keep your new furbaby safe while they are first learning the ropes at their new home.