Our Sweet Mouse Girl

This week has been most difficult to say the very least.  Last night when mom got home from work late, there was a package in our mailbox.  The package was from our sweet dear friend Auntie Sharon of gentlestitches.  We all hurriedly opened the package and looked into the box.  There we were – mom, dad, me, Houdini and Hemi all gazing into the box and we saw it.  It was our beloved Mouse Girl who had passed away earlier this year.  Auntie Sharon had made us a remembrance kitty with the Rainbow Bridge carpet.  It was like the floodgates opened and we all cried.  We cried for Mouse Girl.  We cried for Easy.  We cried for Sammy.  We cried for the amazing friends here in blogville, a lot that we haven’t met in real life but can’t remember life before them.

Thank you our sweet friend Auntie Sharon.  We are in awe of your abilities to capture our sweet babies.  Sending you bunches and bunches of hogs and snout kisses ❤

 

Come Fly With Me!

Welcome to Come Fly With Me!  Today is a very special day sponsored by Easy and Queen Madi ❤  

Today’s posting is about finding a special place in our city/state/area that we think our cousin Sammy would love to visit.  We thought of Sammy and knew that there was one spot we had to share.  Our beloved Tybee Island.  We will visit the beach – of course putting your toes in the water is optional.  You can sleep on the warm sand and listen to the waves of the ocean.  You can walk down the pier over the water – there’s always fisherman out with lots of yummy things they call bait. You can even explore under the pier for goodies.

And what else will you find?  Lots of LOVE.

We love you cousin Sammy!  We hope you enjoy your visit with us at the beach 🙂

❤

 

Anipal Appreciation Day

Welcome my friends to blogville’s first annual Anipal Appreciation Day.  Me and my Cousin Sammy have collaborated together to initiate this day every year on February 15th.  What better time to get together and share the love than the month of February.

Rules for Anipal Appreciation Day:

1. Post your Anipal Appreciation Day blog on FEBRUARY 15, 2016.
2. Title your blog Anipal Appreciation Day.
3. Put the badge below on your blog post for the day.
4. Give shout outs not only in the posting of your blog but throughout the day with the comments you may get.  There is no set number of shout out’s you are required to do – let your heart lead you.  We are *not* leaving anyone out.  If you don’t make the post on a blog, be sure to check messages and comments throughout the day that people and anipals might leave.
5. If you can, link back your shout outs in your blogs for them to find.
6. HAVE FUN!  This is the most important rule – have FUN and share the LOVE!

Cousin Sammy – I’ve known him for years now.  He is a great guy – a bestest friend and always willing to lend a helping paw.  He goes out of his way to make you feel loved and welcomed even though at times I know he doesn’t feel well.  And you know what?  He gets that from his humans.  And technically, he and I *may* be related somewhere down the road with his parents and my parents being second, third or fourth cousins or something.

Brother Easy – Dude!  He is funny, he is kind, he is a hoot and he has the hardest job keeping his staff in line with their own antics.  And you know what?  Any time you need something, he is always there for you with a helping paw.

Felix – Now we all know the regular guys from Fozzie’s world – Dinnermintz, Doc, Forrest, Marbles, Cleo, Jacque, Pickles and Oscar (Did I miss anyone?)  Do you know Felix?  I mean all of this clan hold a special place in our hearts here at the Hotel Thompson but Felix especially.  Why? Because Felix gave up some wool and Fozzie gave it to another person that is special in our hearts – Auntie Sharon.  Auntie Sharon then spun that beautiful wool and made Fozzie, herself and my mom a scarf to keep their necks warm in the cooler weather.  In fact, my mom calls her scarf Felix.  Cool huh?  You gotta love this bunch from down under ❤

Shoko and Kali – WOWZER!  These are the coolest cats I’ve met in Canada.  You know what is even more cool – if that’s possible?  My mom/dad have met their mom/dad in real life.  Yep nods head.  They have and they had a BLAST together. Talk about laughing until your tummy hurts.  They are all a cool bunch!

Reilly and Denny – They are an awesome duo that live in a wonderful place full of beaches, sand and the sun.  They are beyond creative in finding their adventures from trails, their backyard (minus the snakes please) to roaming the beaches looking for trinkets to keep.  I would love to hang out with these and have fun running and exploring.

Cupcake – I’ll let everyone in on a secret with something about Cupcake.  The little pooch here – Houdini – has a *thang* for Cupcake.  He loves her.  He pulls her blog up and watches her picture for hours dreaming about running, playing and watching the movie Lady and the Tramp together.  Shakes piggy head.  He has it bad.

Dante – You talk about big things coming in little sizes – this is that.  Dante is what maybe 6 pounds (kind of like Houdini) and has the biggest heart.  He is always inspiring us to be nicer – to do more – to smile and give love.  And in this day and time, we need all of the love we can share.  Right?

Little Binky – Smiling and shaking my head.  I love Little Binky and his granny.  I watch him in his backyard looking around and playing around his new house.

Sam – Did you know that Sam is part of a therapy team with his mom?  He brings smiles to patients in a hospital and hospice care.  I’m telling you my friends, Sam brings a smile to my face just reading his blog and his adventures.  He’s a friend that is always giving and giving.

Of course, the list can go on and on and on for days.  These are just ‘some’ of the people that have touched our lives here at the Hotel Thompson.  It is in no way – ALL.  In fact, throughout the day, I’m sure I will be adding more and more here and there and in the comments.  We love you ALL here in blogville.  And believe it or not, YOU have touched our lives here.  You bring smiles to our faces, you touch us when we are down, you make us laugh/snort.  We talk about you to our friends – which is hilarious to here.  Yes, YOU are a HUGE part of our lives.  Each and everyone – from being listed to those that maybe we don’t even talk to but every couple of days.  YOU inspire us.  YOU hold a special place in our heart.  We grieve with you.  We laugh with you.  We joke with you.  YOU ARE FAMILY MY FRIENDS.

 

Spotlight Thursday – Meet Sammy

Spotlight Thursday

Welcome my friends to SPOTLIGHT THURSDAY.  This is the time that I will introduce you to one of my fellow anipals so you can get to know them better.  Some of them, you may already know.  We hope that you enjoy this series!

Name:  Sammy Kimmell

Age:  Will be 16 on January 1, 2016

Location:  Warrenton, Virginia, USA

Web/Blog Page:  https://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com/  (Be sure to pop over and say hey – remember to tell Sammy that Bacon and Houdini sent you.)

What were your first thoughts when you met your new parents?  “Wow……I was way up high in a tiny cage all by myself with a little ball with a bell inside and here these two BIG humans came in and saw me – I stuck my paw out of the screen on my jail cell and shook hands with them. They were putty in my paws then. I thought to myself that I was sure they couldn’t resist me and would take me out of that noisy place and give me a proper home. I was right!”

What was the defining moment when you knew you were in your forever home?  “My parents kept me in the basement for the first two weeks because I was so tiny. I couldn’t handle stairs and our house has a LOT of them because it’s on three floors. But when they finally let me up from the basement I knew I was HOME SWEET HOME! They had a big basket of new toys waiting for me and showed me my new food spot and I knew I’d finally made it…………..NIRVANA!”

What has been your biggest “Oh no, now I’ve done it” moment so far in your home?  “Hmm…..well, maybe the time when I was pretty small that Mom was with me in the back yard and we were walking down the path to the stream……I was too fast for her and ran under the brambles and stickers really FAST and she couldn’t keep up with me and kept calling me and I just kept running…..it was a BIG adventure but Mom lost track of me and couldn’t find me. She waited at the top of the trail and called me and called me…….and about an hour later I returned. That’s about when the HARNESS and LEASH were introduced in my house!!!!!”

Who do you have wrapped around your paws more – mom or dad – and why?  “Both of my parents spoil me rotten but my Mom moreso. Dad will take me on the porch when I ask and will give me a treat when I sit by his chair and give him THE LOOK, but my Mom takes care of me, feeds me, takes me for walks, gives me my medicine, has the soft lap that I love so much for naps and brushing, and all I have to do is give her a little SQUEAK and she does everything I need her to do. Some say I’m spoiled – I say I’m WELL LOVED!!!”

What’s the biggest misconception that humans think about you? “One thing that bothered me a lot was at the shelter where I was adopted the shelter lady said (and I heard her say it!) that nobody adopted me because I had extra toes on my front paws and they thought I was deformed. That made me sad. Mom said I was a special polydactyl kitten and she loved my paws and I was not deformed – I was very special. Mom says she’s actually met some humans who have said this to her – that cats with extra toes are just deformed cats……..that’s just so wrong. We are all different and we all have special things about us – that goes for humans too! Don’t assume because someone is DIFFERENT from you that there’s something WRONG with them. I guess that’s just a big misconception that bothers me the most.”

Hope you enjoyed meeting my friend Sammy – check back next week for another Spotlight edition!

 

Shopping Around the World

Welcome my friends for another great edition of Shopping Around the World.

This month we have a suggestion from my cousin Sammy on highlighting soups for January.  Now is the time to start making some wonderful hot soups for dinners that make us feel all cozy and warm.  Is there a special soup that you fix?  A soup that your finally raves about and requests?  It does not have to be five items or less this month.  Share your recipe and picture of your soup!

Mom’s soup of choice is her Spicy Cabbage Soup.  Doesn’t that sound good just reading it?  You can make it as spicy or not as you like.  And what’s better than that?  It’s simple!

2 cans of mixed vegetables, $2.38

1 can of roasted tomatoes, $1.12

1 package of sirloin, about a pound.  On this date it was cheaper to buy it as a small piece of sirloin instead of it already being cubed.  It was $6.50 for the pound – which was plenty because dad likes a lot of meat in his soups/stews.

1 head of cabbage, $0.99 for the head.

2 boxes of beef broth, $4.98

Seasoning in the form of pepper, flour, salt and pepper flakes.

Directions:  Plug in your crock pot and put on low in the early morning before leaving for work.  Pour in the two boxes of beef broth.  We get the low sodium kind.  Chop up the entire head of cabbage and put in the crock pot. Stir the cabbage in to make sure the broth is covering it.  In the meantime, cut up your sirloin into small cubes.  You can buy the sirloin that is already cut up – whatever you prefer.  This date it was cheaper to buy it whole.  Salt, pepper and toss the beef in a light powdering of flour.  Put a little bit of olive oil in a pan over the oven and lightly color the beef to brown it.  This step of coating the sirloin in flour and coloring it helps to ‘thicken’ your soup a bit and is optional.  When this is done, put the beef in the crock pot.  Remember to scrape the bottom of your pan with all of the bits and pieces of yummy.

Then add in your canned vegetables, roasted tomatoes, black pepper to taste and pepper flakes to taste.  Remember, pepper flakes are spicy.  Less is best if you are not sure what kind of spice you want.  You can always add more in when you serve the individual bowls.  Mom likes to serve it with cornbread or a crusty type bread for dipping.  Goes great on cold rainy days or cold winter nights.

 

Happy Birthday Sammy!!

Today is a special birthday shout out to my close friend and more than likely cousin – SAMMY!   That’s right.  I said cousin.  You’re probably asking how can a pig and a purr thing be related.  I’m glad you asked.  Let me explain 🙂  Sammy’s mom and my mom perhaps could be related as distant cousins.  Isn’t that neat and wouldn’t it really be cool if they could track that and they met here on blogville?  Separation is only five peeps or anipals – knowing that I bet we are ALL related.

Sammy is like the happening purr things and he’s always keeping us on our toes… or hooves… with his Tuesday teasers.  I always guess Earth and I suppose I’m right in that aspect.  I really have NO sense of geography other than that – I leave that to my rock son Bashful.  He’s our world traveler 🙂

Make sure you go visit Sammy’s blog and tell him Happy Birthday. This is his day – Happy birthday Sammy!!

And Sammy – mommy made you this special cake after I went to bed. She said it was especially for you and no I was not harmed in the making of said cake 🙂  Enjoy!

 

Bashful Came Home… and He’s Off Again!

 Squeals to the piggy heavens!  My sweet Bashful came home Saturday from spending Thanksgiving with my cousin Sammy in Virginia.  Let me tell you something my friends, we stayed up so late Saturday night listening to stories and meeting his new “friend”.  OMP – can you do a rock whistle?

 She came out of the box all giggles and laughs.  In fact, she bounced out so fast thank goodness daddy caught her when she was blowing kisses at him.  She is a looker!  Also when Bashful came out of the box, his little face was full of red lipstick.  I wonder what they were doing in the box together for the ride back home to the Hotel Thompson?  Snorts with piggy laughter.

    But my friends, we had to ask the beauty what her name was.  She has been very shy in saying it.  We finally got it though – Virginia Blue Eyes.  Isn’t that beautiful just like she is?  She told us stories of her home in Virginia and that she has always wanted to travel to other parts of the world – especially here in the south where she fits right in.  Dad says that she is kind of like Marilyn Monroe – old school movie star.  Personally, I’m thinking she has all of the other rocks and mom/dad wrapped around her.

Also in the box was Mrs. Smith and Mr. Fields piggy ornaments.  Aren’t they cute as buttons?!  We have them in a special spot in our living room now and we LOVE them.  Thanks Cousin Sammy for the great gifts and for hosting our little guy Bashful.

And you know what my friends?  Bashful got mailed out Sunday to his next destination.  It was just a short layover here overnight and then off to the wild blue yonder.  Where will he land for Christmas?  Who will host him next?  Will it be warm or cold?  We shall see soon!

 

Happy Birthday to My Buddy!!

Do you know my cousin Sammy’s at onespoiledcat?  His mom, Pam, at  is having a birthday today!!

Jump for joy, do a little booty shake, yeah yeah, shake it to the east – shake it to the west – shake it!

It’s your birthday – it’s your birthday.

Pam – You have touched my little piggy’s heart from the start.  When I’m having a down day, you put a smile upon my face.  You’re always there for me with open arms.  Happy Birthday my dear friend from the bottom of my little piggy heart!

I love you Pam! Pig out and have a pigawesome day!

 

Happy International Bacon Day 2015

A day all to myself – International Bacon Day 2015!

A celebration of bacon – the pig – moi.  Okay so maybe *I* won’t celebrate today like some humans or other anipals but I will celebrate my day.  I mean how many people have a holiday for them – BACON DAY?  Snorts – bring on some fun my friends!

Today, I will be HAMbassador of this day.  This is me getting my “hams” massaged by mommy.  Noticed the smile on my face.  I’m as happy as a pig in mud.  No, wait a minute.  What does that saying mean?  “As happy as a pig in mud”.  Isn’t that dirty and messy AND outside?  Why would I be happy dirty and messy and outside?  That doesn’t make sense.  Let me rephrase that.  I’m as happy as a spoiled rotten miniature pot bellied pig that stays inside and has his own room and his own television and his own bed.  There – that’s more exact, you think?  Snorts.

On this day, I proclaim it’s me day.  I shall do nothing.  I shall be cuddled.  I shall be loved.  I shall be waited on hand and feet (literally).  I shall be fed grapes off of a stem.  I shall have control of the remote control.  I shall do no wrong.

uum… wait a minute.  I get all of that every day, not just today on my special day.  Let me rethink real quick.  Okay I got it.  Let’s celebrate this special day with all of our special friends here!  All hail Bacon Day!

 

Open Apology to Mom

Okay all of us anipals here at the Hotel Thompson are writing this to mom as an open apology for our misbehavior this morning.  We apologize and will try very hard not to let it happen again.  Really.  We will.  So let us explain our behavior my friends.

First up.  Mom is not a morning person.  Not at all.  We are talking zombie before coffee – no coffee no talkie.  Well this morning, rolls piggy eyes and looks innocent, someone set the alarm to zero five hundred dark in the woods time to get up… something about trying to be the first to check in with cousin Sammy’s Tuesday Teaser. (And no I wasn’t first – darn it and shuffles hooves).  Well after I checked in, I went back to sleep in the big bed – see me here in the picture.  Mom was not amused.  She got up, went to the bathroom, mumbled about who in their right mind would change the alarm clock and then went back to bed for a few minutes.  Unfortunately that’s when she fell asleep and that’s bad.  Bad because today is a worky day and she has to go that worky place.  And the alarm clock already went off.  This is not good.

A couple of hours later, mom wakes up because Hemi is rolling around on her side.  That’s when she notices that it is awfully lit inside of the room.  She sits up and oh.my.gosh.it’s.a.run.for.your.money because it’s almost 8:00AM.  What the cream cheese?  What happened?  I know – I know – “someone set the alarm to zero five hundred dark in the woods time to get up”.  

She jumps out of bed, tells daddy she’s running late and starts the marathon.  But of course we are all standing there looking at her like, “Hey, remember us?”  You know that pitiful look of we have never eaten before and are starving – snorts.  And did you know there is a reason why we anipals get up in shifts in the morning for feeding.  You see, I need to eat first.  It’s just the way it is.  Once you satisfy my rumbling belly with my piggy chow and Cheerio’s, I’ll go back to sleep.  Then there is Houdini that gets fed.  If you don’t feed him by himself and watch, the purr things try to eat his food.  And then lastly, it’s the purr things.  We all like the purr things food – snorts. Try feeding us all at one time – snorts with piggy laughter.  Let’s just say that it didn’t go too well and mom still had not had any coffee.

And then there was the incident with the front room carpet mat near the entrance.  Someone was caught gnawing on it like it was a puppy treat – not mentioning any names little guy.  There’s now a hole in it and mommy might have blown a gasket because of that…. or maybe it was because I butted my head through the baby gate into the kitchen and ate some of the purr things food?… or maybe it was the purr thing Hemi chasing Houdini around the house knocking over the water dish?  I’m not really sure what exactly it was that threw mommy over the edge this morning but I think she sure was glad to go to the worky place this morning.  Sorry mom.