Artsy Fartsy Tuesday

Today we have more pictures to show you from our messy art endeavors. Thimble loves to insist that her momma here snap plenty of shots to show just how helpful she is. We've already shared a photo or two from this photo shoot, but here's some more of Thimble the Art Assistant!

Thimble never forgets to do the sniff test.

You never know what might sneak up on you in the messy art room,
so don't forget to look this way.

And look that way, too, of course.

This momma here has been getting lots of extra help lately. I'm participating in a number of fun holiday arts and crafts fairs these days, so there is plenty of mess-making going on, with which the furbabies just love to help.

One of the most recent doodles I've gotten lots of help with is this holiday mashup:

Poor Thanksgiving tends get lost in the holiday shuffle. So, we thought we'd give Turkey Day some love in the form of art.

That being said, do any of our friends remember which of my furbabyies has an origin story involved a turkey? Was it Astrid? Evan? Thimble? Perhaps Eddy?

Happy Tuesday!

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Our Tip of the Day:

We mentioned yesterday how it might be best to keep those pecans and that pecan pie out of your furbaby's reach. Today, we're giving a reminder to be cautious with all nuts, especially if you're not sure how they might affect your furbaby. Almonds, walnuts, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and other nuts can all potentially lead to gastrointestinal upset, some with the possibility causing more severe reactions than others. The possibility and severity of a reaction also might depend on your particular furbaby, and their particular gastrointestinal tract. Some nuts, such as walnuts, macadamia nuts, hickory nuts, and the previously mentioned pecans, can also contain a toxin that affects the nervous system, especially if they become moldy. For reasons such as these, to be on the safe side, it is perhaps best to simply keep any nuts or dishes containing nuts out of your furbaby's reach. As always, it's always better to be safe than sorry!

Mancat Monday

Evan is happy to be here with all of you friends of ours for Mancat Monday.

We'll be honest. That sunny shot isn't all that recent. We know this because we haven't seen much in the way of sun for about a week now.

How about you friends of ours? Have you been having sunshine these days? Or are you like us, basking in the glory of cloudy, overcast, and rainy autumn days?


Now, we have another little something going on today. We are finally participating in the Sparks blog hop, hosted by Annie of McGuffy's Reader.

Our positive, motivational thought for today's Sparks is one we've shared here before, probably more than once. It's just sort of a favorite around here, so we hope you don't mind. Here it is:

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." -Les Brown

We hope you all have a magnificent Monday!

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Our Tip of the Day:

Yesterday we talked about pumpkin, so now we'll give a bit of a tip on another common Thanksgiving pie. Pecan pie is popular this time of year, but do be cautious with this around your furbabies. Pecans are not particularly safe to feed your pup or kitty. One reason is simply that pecans can cause an upset gastrointestinal tract, and could also lead to bowel obstruction. Also, if pecans become moldy, they can contain a toxin that could have ill effects for our furbabies. When it comes to pecan pie, the added sugars and other ingredients are also less than ideal for our kitties and pups. So, when you're making those Thanksgiving pies, do be cautious so that you can keep your cat or dog safe and healthy.

Tock Shot of Terror

Hi, friends! It's Thimble here again.

Last Sunday I told you guys about one of my mom's recent victims. Remember that poor pumpkin she stabbed, gutted, and set on fire? Well, I found even more selfies that she forced that poor thing to snap. And do you know what? One of them includes a tock shot from me!

The mom here couldn't believe it. She says none of us would cooperate during Tocktober, yet here is my lovely tock! It would be even more lovely if the rest of me wasn't blocked by that big orange squash.

Oh, and I also found another pumpkin selfie that is proof that I tried to help mom's poor victim. I tried sending out an SOS to the neighbors. See?

None of the neighbors saw me, though, so my mom's pumpkin victim was left to fend for itself.

And, as if that all isn't bad enough, my mom keeps talking about baking things using pumpkin parts. Isn't that, like, illegal? Seriously, guys, you have to send help. My mom is all shades of messed up.

Purrs,
Thimble

P.S. This poor victimized pumpkin is our contribution to the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by the Kitties Blue of The Cat on My Head.

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Our Tip of the Day:

We've mentioned many times before the benefits of pumpkin, but this seems like another perfect post to reiterate it. Pumpkin can be a great source of fiber for our furbabies. Depending on the circumstances, pumpkin can help a kitty or pup suffering from either constipation or diarrhea. It also contains carotenoids, vitamin C, and other beneficial nutrients. Pumpkin also serves as a good source of moisture. This being said, it is of course best to feed pure pumpkin, such as 100% pumpkin puree. Feeding your kitty or pup pumpkin pie filling, for example, could lead to gastrointestinal upset or other issues, due to the spices, sugar, and other additives. If you would like to include your furbaby in some festive eating for Thanksgiving, pure pumpkin might be a good choice!

Let There Be Peace

Today is the Blog Blast for Peace. We failed to complete an artsy peace globe, as is typical to create for this day of peace. But, we did doodle up a little something in honor of the fact that we are always praying for peace in the world.

We pray for peace across the globe each and every day. We hope that all of you friends of ours know peace in your life, and that everyone in the world might know it. Peace to all!

We are also entering our doodle for peace into Athena's Caturday Art blog hop.

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Our Tip of the Day:

Another obvious tip for you all is to never feed your furbabies alcohol, as it is indeed poisonous to them. Don't just be cautious of alcoholic beverages themselves, though. There are a number of foods that can be dangerous because they contain alcohol as an ingredient, such beer bread, rum-soaked fruit cake, or meats cooked in wine. These types of foods can still retain some of the alcohol even after baking or cooking, and so it is important to avoid giving your furbaby a taste. In addition, if you're baking bread for Thanksgiving, or any time of the year, keep the unbaked dough out of reach of your kitty or pup. This is because dough that contains yeast not only could rise and thereby cause obstruction and bloat in your furbaby's stomach should they eat it, but the yeast can also ferment, leading to alcohol production and poisoning inside your furbaby's body. Safety in the kitchen is very important for your furbaby!

A Fun and Festive Friday

As always, we're going to kick off Friday with the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, hosted by our wonderful friends at 15andmeowing and McGuffy's Reader.

Our hosts have given us some fantastic and festive fill-ins.

1. My favorite part of November is _________.
2. Every November, I _________.
3. For me, peace _________.
4. So far, my upcoming holiday plans _________.

Here's what I came up with for these:

1. My favorite part of November is Thanksgiving.
(Cliché answer, huh? That being said, I won't lie, Thanksgiving is not my favorite holiday. But, I still enjoy it. It's a wonderful time to visit with and be grateful for family and friends, and for all the blessings in our lives. Not to mention there is some yummy food to be had. And, of course, Thanksgiving means we're that much closer to Christmas.)

2. Every November, I bake lots of pies.
(In the past couple of years, I have developed a newfound joy for baking pies. It is now a tradition of mine to bake pumpkin, pecan, and chocolate pudding pies for any Thanksgiving gathering I attend. I love making them and sharing them with family.)

3. For me, peace is a quiet night at home with the furbabies.
(I am most comfortable and at peace when I'm at home. I am a homebody, and I find great peace in the simplicity of sitting on the couch and cuddling my kitties and pup.)

4. So far, my upcoming holiday plans include our usual family traditions.
(I'm a grown adult now, but my family's holiday plans are still very similar to what they were when I was a child. My parents, my sister, and I all get together and celebrate the holidays just like we always have. It makes me feel like a kid again. I love it.)


Now, who's ready for Eddy?

In true Eddy style, this is a perfectly blurry and unprofessional shot. We wouldn't have it any other way!

Happy Friday, friends!

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Our Doodle of the Day:

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Our Tip of the Day:

Today we're continuing our tips on how to keep your furbaby safe around Thanksgiving and all holiday foods. We've so far mentioned the importance of keeping garlic, onion, and other alliums away from your kitties and pups, as well as grapes and raisins. Today we have yet another obvious one that we're sure you all know, and that is chocolate. Chocolate contains theobromine as well as caffeine, which both can be hazardous to our furbabies. It is therefore of course safest to keep your furbaby away from chocolate cookies, cakes, breads, puddings, and candies, and anything containing chocolate chips or other chocolate components. In this same line of thought, all sweets are best kept out of reach for the health and safety of your cat or dog. Excess sugar can be unhealthy and dangerous, as can foods containing artificial sweeteners such as xylitol. As always, when in doubt, do not feed it to your furbaby.

Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Hello and happy Thursday! We hope you friends of ours have recovered from all of your Halloween treats. We're still getting ours out of our system. But, that doesn't mean we couldn't muster up some semblance of a poem for Angel Sammy and Teddy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge.

This week, for the letter U, we found ourselves going with something just a tad bit different.

Unsinkable Sam the Underwater Adventurer

Do you know what lies in the deep blue sea?

In the depths of the ocean?

From reef to reef?

Do not worry if this knowledge you do lack,

For Unsinkable Sam has your back.

Unsinkable Sam the Underwater Adventurer,

He considers the underwater world a great treasure.

He can teach you all about the beauty of coral and sponge,

And will teach you to dive if you’re up for that plunge.

Do you care to swim with the fish?

Unsinkable Sam will gladly help you with that wish.

He’ll introduce you to clownfish,

Not to mention angelfish, lionfish, and even the flashlightfish.

No matter what of the sea that you’d like to see,

Unsinkable Sam will gladly show you whatever you please.

After all, Unsinkable Sam is the Underwater Adventurer.

He can teach you every secret the underwater world has to offer.

Have any of you friends of ours heard of Unsinkable Sam? His story is quite interesting. If you'd like to learn a bit about him, he even has a page on Wikipedia, which you can visit by clicking on his name there!

Okay, can anyone guess what's up next? Thimble, of course! Thursday simply wouldn't be complete without a dose of Thimble.

Thimble is just a tad bit perturbed with me because of this photo. She asked me to help her snap a shot of her lovely profile. Not only did I miss the right angle, but I chopped off her ear. Yikes! Sorry, Thimble, I'll do better next time.

Despite her annoyance with me, Thimble is still happy to participate in Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop. She may not be thankful for my failed photography, but she and all of us here are grateful for so much. We are thankful that we all had a fun yet safe Halloween. We are grateful that autumn is finally making its true appearance here in our corner of the world. And we are of course, as always, so very grateful for our family and friends like all of you.

Happy Thursday to all!

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Our Tip of the Day:

As Thanksgiving here in the United States approaches, we're giving tips on commonly festive foods.  Yesterday we gave a reminder that you we're sure most of you already knew, and that was to be cautious of foods such as garlic and onion due to their potential toxicity to furbabies. Today we have another similar tip that is likely already well known, and that is to steer clear of grapes and raisins. Both of these are dangerous to our kitties and pups and can lead to serious issues, including acute kidney failure. Due to their dehydrated nature, raisins are more concentrated in their toxicity and therefore can be especially dangerous and potent to dogs and cats. Be careful not only of these foods by themselves, but also of foods that might contain them, such as fruit salads, cookies, and breads. Thanksgiving is a time for great food, but some of this food is not so great for our furbabies.

Not So Wordless Wednesday

Remember Astrid's yummy mummy cookie that she got for Halloween yesterday?

Who wants to guess how Astrid ate her mummy? Perhaps head first? Maybe feet first?

There you have it. Astrid wanted her yummy mummy to look like her. Do you see Astrid's bandaged and booted back right foot? Now her yummy mummy is just like her.

Speaking of which, Astrid has overall been doing great since her toe amputation to remove her sarcoma. She finally had her sutures removed yesterday, though her foot still has to remain in a bandage for a few more days so as to allow the incision to do its final healing. She is also still on antibiotics, as when she was taken off of them for a short time, the incision immediately became inflamed. We'll let you all know in a few days if Astrid is finally bandage-free. And, of course, thank you again for all of the thoughts, purrs, barks, and prayers during Astrid's treatment and recovery!

Happy Wednesday!

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Our Doodle of the Day:

We're sort of not quite ready to say goodbye to Halloween yet. So, here's to the continuing story of the cat-o'-lantern.

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Our Tip of the Day:

Given that November is the month of Thanksgiving here in the United States, the next couple of weeks will be dedicated to tips and facts on common Thanksgiving foods. We'll start today with alliums. These include foods such as garlic and onion, which, as many of you know, are toxic to cats and dogs. Consumption of alliums can lead not only to gastrointestinal distress, but can also prove detrimental to red blood cells. Signs of allium toxicosis in our furbabies can include any number of symptoms, such as vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and elevated heart and respiration rate, among others. This being said, not only is it important to keep garlic, onion, and other alliums out of your kitty or pup's reach, but it's also equally important to be cognizant of what other foods might contain these as additional or hidden ingredients. When in doubt, do not feed it to your furbaby!