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An article by Pat Johnson-Bennett for Yahoo Pets

You may or may not be aware of cat kisses, but they’re something cat lovers have talked about for years. Some believe in them and some don’t. I happen to be a believer in the ever-subtle — but extremely endearing — cat kiss.
If you’re envisioning your favorite feline puckering up and planting a whisker-tickling smooch on your cheek, you’re on the wrong track. A cat kiss is actually a very slow blink of the cat’s eyelids.
Cat kisses are given to other cats, and to some lucky humans. It’s usually reserved for a companion with whom the cat is familiar and friendly. You can even return a cat kiss with your own slow blink.

The next time you’re sitting on the couch and your kitty is relaxed on the chair across the room, pay close attention — because she may be offering a cat kiss. Her posture will be relaxed with her facial muscles also relaxed. Her eyelids will ever-so-gently close and reopen. You’ve just been kissed!
Don’t attempt cat kisses with unfamiliar cats or ones who are stressed and anxious. You don’t want to offer a direct stare to an unhappy or conflicted kitty. Reserve cat kisses for those relaxed and happy moments with the cats in your life.

Yes, I get ‘kissed’ by all four of my cats, especially Fletch, who just adores me for reasons unknown. Chaz, my black cat is also a big ‘kisser.’ I truely love my fur babies. They all know their names, usually come when they are called and also love me and my family. I can’t imagine life without all four of the silly gooses. This photo is of CHAZ, and he was just in the middle of blinking me a kiss when I snapped the photo. Sweet, eh?

Yep…I got tagged by Deb, so now I have to fess up and list the 7 things (do I have 7 things–how presumptuous!) on my ”To Do List.”

Hmmmm….let’s see…………

1. Replace the glass globe on the back yard outside light. The original fell off and crashed to the pavement. (I got this one accomplished this morning and I changed the light bulb to one of those super energy effecient flourescent kinds! See the post below about readying for summer….)

2. Try to find a place to board my two dogs while we go on vacation the first week of July. These places fill up fast, so I better get my tail movin’!

3. Register my son online so he can take the ACT test this summer. (See how boring my list is?!!)

4. Start designing some NEW stuff…geeze, Em, the time has come!

5. Find time to do those polka dot sewing projects below.

6. Get all the mounds of fabric and wool I’ve inherited from my late mother in law up on eBay and out of here!!! Lordy…I’ve been blessed (not!!!) with having to deal with all her stuff!!! (My dining room is stacked to the gills with boxes upon boxes of fabric. Unfortunately, not the kind I need to make primitive doll dresses out of! AACK!)

7. Get my house cleared out and clean….it’s making me crazy.

8. Find 3 new people to tag so they, too, can share with the world their domestic ”To Do Lists”.

Yesterday, I got my new Country Living magazine. Oh, how glorious it is! Look what fun projects are featured….

As simple as polka dots are, this article makes them seem like something newly invented. I’m excited to start one of these projects. Isn’t that pincushion fun? Just looking at these colorful pages makes me want to go out and buy some tangerine pearl cotton!

This is the kind of thing that makes my heart skip a beat…..anyone up for a sewing party?

The weather’s balmy & I have a cascade of climatis spilling over my porch railing. I’m really getting into it. I received my patio set bought off eBay, inserted my 9′ umbrella in the hole and picked up a set of seat cushions for the new chairs. The patio is clean and I’m ready. Today, as I was driving past Home Depot on the way home from dropping the boys off at school, I spotted the colorful rows of marigolds and zinnias on racks outside the store. Within seconds ‘the fever’ started. I had to get myself some! So, I pulled in, lured by floral forces unknown. In I walked, seemingly on autopilot, directly towards the greenhouse. I’m excited at the thought of taking something, anything with a stem home. Just by luck, I found this charming cement hugging frog planter. It
is heavy–I know because I nearly took out my right boob just picking it up! I couldn’t resist it and I was pleased it was made of durable cement instead of that resin junk my kids can break with one fal swoop of their baseball bats. To top off the froggies, I discovered the perfect pot of Marguerite daisys to plant between them. I’ve already potted them and they are sitting in front of my patio window where I can enjoy them from inside and out. Cosmo the Cat seems to like them, too. Can you see him?
Now to get an icepack on that right boob….

I got to reading another blog by a woman named Jane LaFazio www.janeville.blogspot.com who is a ‘sometime’ art teacher. As I read her online journal, I found she does not teach classes at a school on a regular basis, rather she teaches occasionally at local quilt shops andlocal community centers. A light bulb went off in my head. As all of you who know me and read my blog are aware, my not becoming an art teacher is basically the only regret in my life that’s worth lamenting over. So what if I did as Jane does and teach art classes at places like my local park district? I could teach basic doll making, and then move on to collage, and other mediums as I became more attuned to standing in front of a classroom of people and gained confidence. I am so excited! This might be my way to finally do what I’ve always dreamed of! It may not pay well, but it’s a start. Who knows what it may lead to, but I’m willing to wait, work at it and find out where it takes me.

I read on the front page of the Chicago Tribune last week that West Nile Virus will be very bad this year. Already, 28% of the crow population is down from the fatal bird disease. This saddens me very much. Crows are one of my favorite birds. I know many get the heebie jeebies from them because they are stereotyped as evil, eye plucking scavengers or the harbingers of death and doom. In reality, they are extremely intelligent birds–some say even smarter than the owl, who is usually thought of as being so smart, they sport a mortar board as part of their daily
dress. Crows don’t represent death…it’s all mythological. They are just really beautiful, sleek, shiny black birds with a brain.

In my business, Hootin Annies, crows are one of the things I love to create. I have several patterns for crows and I haven’t tired of them at all.

Here are some facts about crows you may not have known:

• They mate for life.
• They can be taught to say words.
• They warn each other of impending danger with their complex ‘cawing’ language
• They have a sense of humor.

The American crow is very susceptible to the West Nile virus, a disease just recently introduced in North America. American crows usually die within one week of acquiring the disease with only very few surviving exposure. Crows are so affected by the disease that their deaths are now serving as an indicator of the West Nile Virus’ activity in an area.

I will miss seeing my feathered friends roosting in my willow tree and standing proud, cawing loudly atop my neighbor’s roof peak. I don’t know why, I love them just ‘be-caws’.

Farewell, my crow friends. Fly free.

Photo credit Adam Romanowicz

This poor gal was lying face down on the asphalt just in front of the cart corral in my local Target parking lot. I wonder who she belonged to and how she ended up outside of the car she was ‘bobble dancing’ in. I thought about it for a brief moment and imagined a mother probably handed the Hawaiian Girl to her little kid to hold on to while being pushed around in Target as a form of entertainment, I suppose. She didn’t suffer a scratch from her fall, but her grass skirt was opened, exposing her ‘bobble butt’ for all to see. I picked her up and quickly tucked her safely inside my purse and brought her home. I glued her skirt and now it’s permanently in place. She now lives next to my computer, standing still, wanting to dance so badly, I’m sure. However, in my opinion her bobble dancing days are over, unless there’s an earthquake that is.

Saturday morning Cindy and I went with Laura to her camper at the Yogi Bear Campground in Amboy, Il. It was really nice! Laura drove, and it was very relaxing to just sit and let someone else do the driving. I had been looking forward to escaping with my girlfriends all week. I was longing for a chance to just sit and talk, spill our guts, vent and sort it all out.

Laura is trying to get over a difficult breakup with her boyfriend of 7 years and the love of her life. Cindy, who was widowed almost 4 years ago, is finally setting her sites on dating. We’re trying to figure out where the heck does someone find a good guy these days? Me, I’m just trying to sort out life, and vent a little. We all need eachother.

We had some riotous fun, too…at the near expense of my life! Laura took us on a wild golf cart ride, over steep hills and treacherous paths. She told me to sit in the back, ‘to distribute the weight’ more evenly. Haa! I think she knew what was in store for me. I held on for dear life to the two roof supports, all the while laughing so hard, I was holding back the pee. My ass was boucing so hard, I was butt boogyin’ in the air, dangerously close to flying off. If it wasn’t for my clouded stroke of genius that gave me the split second idea to hook my foot under the seat bar, I surely would have suffered a fractured ass! I’m such a dope, I brought one of Laura’s books with, and instead of holding on as best I could with both hands, I was forced to have a partial grip on the book with the bar, and that almost did me in. I was so nervous the book would fly out of my hand and I’d lose it forever. Laura would have killed me because she is so very anal about her books! The ride was so wild and bouncy, the lock that hung around the support bar whipped around and smashed into her left head light, causing it to pop out and break. We had to drive back and look for the glass headlight that catapulted out on impact. I was the hero, I found it.

I survived the ride, and we all had a fantastic laugh…too good, I think, because I had to rush to the bathroom the second I got back to the camper.

The best part was sitting around the fire just talking, laughing and sharing. We enjoyed some Mikes Hard Lemonades to loosen us up. I can’t tell you what we said, though, because what’s said at the camper stays at the camper. We took the Yogi pledge, you know.