SPARK, Liebster Award

Monday is here and it will be a little bit busy for us today because in addition to SPARKS we were nominated for a Blog Award and that will be AFTER we do our SPARK for today.     Since we WERE nominated for a blog award, it reminded me that we should always ALWAYS be thankful for things we get or have.    SPARKS was started by Annie McGuffy of McGuffy’s Reader but after she was hacked she discontinued the SPARKS posts – many of us who enjoyed participating in SPARKS wanted to carry on in her name……….so we post inspiring graphics on Mondays.    Maybe it will be something you will totally “get” the minute you read OR you will think about it and BOOM – realize instantly that it DOES belong in your heart.     Hopefully though it might get you to think a bit about the week ahead or maybe relieve your mind about something that’s bothering you……….My SPARK today is about being THANKFUL – in the midst of what’s going on, we still have a lot to be thankful for!

A pertinent SPARK message considering what’s going on in the world these days.   It sure hit home with me anyway.     I’m also very thankful that Kristiina of the blog PHOTOFINLANDRANTASALOT.wordpress.com nominated me as one of six bloggers to receive the Liebster Award.    I love Kristiina’s blog which she shares along with her cat Kosmo in the beautiful home they have in Finland.   THANK YOU KRISTIINA!!!   What gorgeous photos she shares.    The Liebster Award is an internet blogger award whose name is German in origin.  It’s really just a way to share blog addresses and provide new friends and a way to meet other bloggers for ideas and making new contacts.    I got this award years ago when I was fairly new to blogging.    I’ve followed the rules (somewhat) and that’s OK – you can be flexible in how you pass it on.    Here’s the actual badge that those who participate get:

There are even several variations of the badge but this is the one I received and am passing on to those of you who I nominate and choose to participate!

Rules to the Liebster Blogger awards:   (although there were six questions from Kristiina – YAY!)

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you and give them a big hug give them a link to the blog.
2. Answer the 11 questions given to you or at least most of them
3. Share 11 or so facts about yourself
4. Nominate between 5-11 other bloggers
5. Ask your nominees 11 or so questions
6. Notify your nominees once you’ve uploaded your post

The SIX Questions for ME to Answer were:

1 Why do you blog?  It was my way of continuing to write after I’d stopped writing when I got ill in 2006 – blogging got me “going” again.  Now it’s just plain FUN and it’s actually not just MY  blog – it’s my cat’s blog as well so I’ve given him a voice.

2 Blue jeans or formal wear? Cake or a health bar? Why?  I am a total blue jeans girl……always have been.   I also am definitely a cake or cookie girl – I should eat “healthy” but I never have.   

3 If you could have one (more) animal live with you, what would it be and why? It would be another cat – to keep Teddy company – why?  Because I often think he’d be happier with a companion of his own species (he has humans!) and when it comes to the joy and fun cats bring, the more the merrier!

4 What do you feel are your greatest talents? Empathy…….an honest desire to help people if I can…….a big heart.

5 If you could be any age, what would it be and why? I’m a believer in enjoying whatever age you actually are……we can’t go back or forward to be in the moment and love who you are and what you are NOW.   So my favorite age is “almost 73” because I am.

6 If there was one thing you could go back and do differently, what would it be? Perhaps I’d go back and make more of an effort to start my adult life out on the right foot.   I sort of slipped and slid along for the first five or so years after I was out on my own…….but then that probably went into making me the woman I am today.

Now I know that a whole lot of bloggers have stopped accepting awards – in fact it had been a very long time (years) since I even saw a blogging award making the rounds.   But I’ll pass the award on to six bloggers and if you’d LIKE to participate please do.    I think most people already have the Liebster but like me – if you want another one (!) and answer the questions – then you can have a matched pair of awards!!!

First, here are my SIX QUESTIONS for you to answer if you are going to participate:

1.   Do you think there is life on other planets?   Why or Why Not?
2.   What is your VERY FAVORITE meal either to cook yourself OR to order in a restaurant?
3.   If you could afford ANY car in the world – what would it be?
4.  Are you superstitious?
5.   Do you prefer early mornings or late nights or both?
6.   What is your favorite type of music?

And here are my nominees…………..but remember – this is optional since I don’t know who does and doesn’t do awards (regardless of whether you received this one before!) – don’t feel bad if you don’t want to participate…………really!     I’m linking to all of my Nominees so you will be aware that I nominated you………………

The Cat Corner

Down Home In NC

Bad Cat Chris

Kolytyi

Meezer’s Mews & Terrieristical Woofs

Angels Whisper

The third part of my post today has to do with reminding all of you (because the Professors said I needed to) that tomorrow is Tuesday Teaser class and you will need to brush up on your geography tonight so you’ll be more able to deal with figuring out where the Teaser photo was taken tomorrow!    OK?   OK!    See you in class.

Hugs, Pam and Teddy too (Teddy says remember tomorrow is TEASER TUESDAY!!)

 

Friendly Friday Fill-Ins

Woo Hoo It’s Friday!

Every Friday we HOP with the co-hosted “Friendly Fill-Ins” courtesy of McGuffy’s Reader and 15andMeowing.    It’s fun and interesting and we love learning new stuff about everyone who fills in the sentences we are provided by our hosts!    If you’d like to join in too, click the badge above and use the Linky Tool and you’re IN!

So they say – but you can still hop around and read interesting STUFF about your friends right??

So this week’s sentences – two from McGuffy’s and two from 15andMeowing are below with my Mom’s fill-ins in BLUE!

1. If someone were visiting my area, I would recommend a visit to our very own little town of Warrenton – we have a haunted jail, some Civil War note-worthy battlefields (no matter what may be in the news lately!) and a whole lot of VERY friendly people!
2. My favorite room in my home is the kitchen – I do love to cook!.
3. Back-to-school time makes me think of how different things are NOW at school vs. when I was in school – it’s like night and day, right down to the dress codes!

4. My favourite year of school was Senior Year, because even though I was a good student, I always had a secret fear that for some weird reason I wouldn’t graduate – but of course I did!

Thanks Mom!   Good job………………….I see you avoided telling everyone WHAT YEAR you graduated – guess that would be T.M.I. (too much information) huh?   HAHAHA.

---

Ta Da!

Now I need to move on to thanking my friends Hemingway and Steinbeck for that Blogger Award they nominated me for – AND complying with all the rules – well almost all of them anyway.   Here’s the pretty award badge – Mom tells me she actually won this some years ago but it’s been SO long, we’re excited to have it again!

THANK YOU again guys for the nomination.   This is “my” very first award…………Mom has a pile of them already posted on a separate page of the blog but SHE and SAMMY earned those and this is the first one since I joined the team so I’m calling it MINE!

Here’s what we need to do:

• Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog   (DONE!)

• Write a post to show your award (DONE!)

• Give a brief story of how your blog started (see below)

• Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers (see below)

• Select 15 other bloggers you want to give this award to (we will offer this to any of you who don’t have it yet – I think most of the blogs we follow have it but if any of you would like it – please accept it with our HUGS!)

• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them and provide the link to the post you created.

Mom will let you know how she started the blog and give some advice.   I’m afraid I’m just too new at this to give advice – although I will say that you need to HAVE FUN when you blog – if it’s a chore or hard work or makes you unhappy – don’t do it!

Mom here – Many eons ago I was a frustrated writer and artist who had lost my “mojo” thanks to a battle with cancer.   I had to stop writing just after my first mystery novel was published – not only did I not feel very creative at the time, but I just couldn’t come up with ideas – my treatments muddled my thinking too much.   I had also painted – oil painting, pen/ink, some watercolor work.   In other words I’d been CREATIVE.    Anyway, after I finished my treatments I thought things would go back to the way they were but they didn’t…………..so I found my “NEW NORMAL” by starting a blog.   It got me writing again – not in the form of a novel, but I DID write some short stories and I DID start a blog which was written with the help of my fabulous cat Sammy.   He pretty much took the whole thing over – he had a big personality!    So that’s how the blog was started – because I needed to be creative and enjoyed meeting new people.   

As for advice, I agree with what Teddy said – blog because you WANT to – not because you “need” to………..I realize that some people blog because they are authors and want to spread the word about their books or have shops and they want to sell their goods or they have a significant message to get out to the world – but if you want to keep things FUN – blog because you WANT to.    The other piece of advice would be the old saying “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all” – there is TOO MUCH HATE in the world so don’t help spread it.   John Lennon said it best – “All We Need Is Love”…………

Thanks again Mom!!!   Thanks again to Hemingway and Steinbeck – if you don’t know these two guys, you should.   Please visit them and enjoy as much as I do the FUN of watching Steinbeck drive Hemingway crazy just like any little “kid” would do.   Besides – Steinbeck is a GINGER and you know how much fun we GINGERS are!

See you all tomorrow for BACON CATURDAY!

Don’t mind me – I’m just hanging around watching Mom with laser eyes!!!

Love, Teddy

An Award AND Pre-Tease Monday!

Hello All!    Are you ready for tomorrow’s Teaser?   Hummmmm????   Good – remember it will pop up at a surprise time so be purrrrpared!    I’m still wrangling with Mom about which photo to use so can’t tell you if it will be a Guest Teaser or not so just be ready for WHATEVA.

Now, on to the AWARD part.   My good new friend Doctor Phoebe and her beautiful cat Samantha nominated me for the One Lovely Blog Award.   I received this one several times long ago but it HAS been a couple of years, so I am happily “re-accepting” (?) the nomination for this award from them.   If you don’t know Puppydoc (Dr. Phoebe’s nickname) and her kitty, you should visit.  It’s a wonderful blog.

Here’s the award badge………………….

The rules of acceptance are:

1-Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog in the post.
2-Copy the rules and add the blog award badge as an image
3-Share 7 facts about yourself to your fellow bloggers.
4-Then nominate up to 15 people.

Thank you dear Doctor Phoebe………you’re a most special lady doing a most special job and I bet you are happy to get home to your pretty kitty girl Samantha after a busy day at work.   I appreciate you nominating me for this award!   I’ve linked to you above.    I’ve also posted the award rules and the badge so that takes care of #1 and #2 on the rules!

For #3, here are seven facts about ME ME ME!

1. I think everyone knows this by now but just in case you don’t, I’m a polydactyl ginger kitty – I have “thumbs” on my front paws so one extra toe on each!
2. I am an “only cat” in my house and that’s why I named my blog “ONE SPOILED CAT” – because I most definitely AM just that!
3. I am a Cat Scout – an organization of all cats which is based on “Boy/Girl Scouts” and where we earn merit badges, go on Quests together, have Patrols and Troops and EVERYTHING!    If you’re a cat, you should join up!  I’m a Troop Leader (The Wildcats Troop) and I’d LOVE to have you join us!
4. My Mom has written a mystery novel, two childrens books, edited a book of poetry for a publisher, and was one of five women who wrote a book about “womens journeys” in short story form.  Sadly the short story book is out of print now.   You are saying “that’s not about YOU Sammy – it’s about your Mom” but you see I helped her and was the inspiration for both of the kids books!
5. I am an inside kitty BUT from kittenhood when I first came to live here after I was adopted, I wear a harness if I’m going outside in the dark.  Otherwise I can go outside as long as my Mom or my Dad is with me.   Honestly though, at my age of 16 I prefer being INSIDE and napping!!!!
6. I love to graze on the grass when I’m outside.
7. I like Mango juice.   Yes – I said MANGO JUICE.   Mom left her glass by her chair a couple of weeks ago and when she came back I was slurping it up like crazy.   Mom won’t let me have it now because it has sugar in it but it SURE WAS DELICIOUS!!!

So there you have it.   Seven things about me.  Now for my nominations……………I think most of you have received this award like I have in the past.   It’s really fun that we’re beginning to see some of these again though don’t you think?   If you don’t want to accept the nomination, I will understand, but if you would like to, here are my nominees!

Pig Love

These Days of Mine

Canadian Cats

15 And Meowing

The Florida Furkids

Goodness Gracie

Those are the ones I’ll “shout out” to but if there are any other friends of mine here who would LIKE to comply with the rules and have this pretty (or should I say LOVELY!) award, please feel free!

That’s the Monday report from us gang – please remember to show up tomorrow and be first commenter, first right guesser, a right guesser, or a dunce (oops – I mean a Greenie winner) – and I’ll look for you there!!!!!

Tons of Hugs,

Sammy the Tease

A Lovely Surprise!

Hello Everybody!    Well, yesterday in my inbox was a surprise – – – it’s been a long time since we were nominated for a blogging award – it seems those things come in “bunches” don’t you think?  This one was particularly nice because it came to us from someone we haven’t been following very long but we already LOVE LOVE LOVE – It’s called PhoebeMD (Musings of PuppyDoc) and it’s a most remarkable blog we think.    Phoebe is a physician and she has a beautiful cat named Samantha.   There are some great photos of the two of them on her blog.   However, if you spent some time cruising around Phoebe’s blog you will find out SO MUCH about who Phoebe is, and how deeply committed she is to her patients – no matter what they’re dealing with.   She REALLY cares and expresses all of that beautifully with amazing poetry and wonderful accompanying artwork.   My Mom just loves her poetry – it “speaks” to her and she thinks it might partially be because Mom worked in hospitals around physicians and patients for so many years.

ANYWAY, Doctor Phoebe nominated us for this cool award:

She says she loves my blog too.   Considering she has a bazillion followers and is a super duper busy physician in practice, I’m pretty excited about her liking my little blog that much AND that she chose me to nominate for the award.   All we have to do to accept it is:

1.  Select up to 25 other blogs to nominate for the award
2.  Post the award badge on our blog
3.  Tell a brief story about HOW our blog got started
4.  Thank the blogger who nominated you and link to their blog
5.  Contact each of your nominees and let them know you’ve nominated them

So, now comes the tough part……………I follow a bazillion and a half blogs so how do you go about choosing just a few?    I decided to just pick FOUR………….and because I only follow blogs I love (!!) I really had to come up with some way to narrow it down to FOUR.    SO, here are the FOUR I chose (but I love ALL of you!):

These Days of Mine

Cat Wisdom 101

Easy Weimaraner

Savannahs Paw Tracks

If any of my nominees don’t choose to accept the nomination, please don’t feel bad about that – I understand – but if you do accept, please pass it on as you wish!

So, now I’ll tell you how our blog got started.    It kind of goes back a long time to when my Mom had her last cancer surgery – she had a year of treatment after that and when she finished the treatments, she said she just plain felt DIFFERENTLY about everything!  EVERYTHING!   She had been a writer – was going to write a mystery series in fact and had published the first book – she had been an artist – mainly oil paintings but a lot of pen/ink drawings – and she knew ZIP about blogging.    During the year of treatment she changed – she lost interest in writing and painting – and what had been her art studio became her office.   She began looking around online and discovered blogs – enjoyed reading them and decided to “dip her toe” back in the water of writing and try it.   I was a HUGE part of hers and Dad’s life and since I was a rather large personality she thought why not let ME be the STAR of the show and actually be the author of the blog!   So in 2011 we launched ONE SPOILED CAT and the rest is history.   We have almost six hundred followers and we love everyone and enjoy telling stories of the life we lead in our home in Virginia.   I might be an old guy now of sixteen but I still have fun and I still make my Mom giggle and laugh and as long as I’m around, we’ll be blogging!    We hope you have as much fun READING our blog as we do writing it every day.

Now, what are you waiting for – go visit Doctor Phoebe (or “Puppy” as her friends call her!) and see what a special lady she is…………….then you’ll understand why we were so thrilled she nominated us for this blog award.   Just like I hope my nominees are happy when they are nominated and when they can pass it on to others they enjoy reading.

REMEMBER – I love all of you – I could have just said “take the award if you want to” but this time I thought I’d put everyone in a big hat and decide on just four.

THANKS FOR BEING OUR FRIENDS………………and thanks Puppy Doc for being the caring physician you are for your patients………!

LOVE, Sammy

Thanks Doc Phoebe!

 

Teaser Tell All and More

Well it seems that the photo we posted yesterday fooled VERY FEW people!   Lots of people recognized where this photo was snapped………………..were you one of them???   Here’s an “instant replay” !

This is market square in Prague, Czech Republic………..the very FIRST stop on the tour my parents did when they took a cruise on the Danube River.   Prague isn’t anywhere NEAR where the river cruise actually started though – they had to bus to the ship then go on the cruise.   It was a wonderful tour and they had a GREAT time.  They were in a hotel in Prague for two days and the tour group went to this beautiful spot and did a lot of shopping for glassware and other souvenirs.  This is also the square where the amazing astronomical clock is located which Mom and Dad found fascinating.  There was also an antique car show there on the day they were there but Mom didn’t take any photos…..shame on her!

Here are a couple of other google images – one of the astronomical clock and another of the whole square where they did some shopping………………..

The shopping district and where the clock is located

Beautiful astronomical clock

Who guessed this FIRST yesterday?   Well it was CLOSE (within a minute) but Leo of WalkToRio2016 was FIRST by a hair………………..followed closely by his nemesis (!!) Easy!   Leo, this is for you!

 

For the FIRST to guess right!

Easy and a whole BUNCH of the rest of you guessed right – and all of you get this!

 

Right but not FIRST!

Clueless?  Yeah…………I know that feeling…………you still get a prize!

 

For the clueless or wrong guesses!

That was fun…………………….next week I’m going to have a GUEST TEASER……………..so stay tuned for NEXT Tuesday!

 

Now I want to tell you about a beautiful award I got last week.   I received it from Miss Bev at MoggiePurrs and it’s called the “Butterfly Light Award” – don’t you love the name of it?  Wait until you see the award:

It was originally created as a “thank you” from one blogger to another for some assistance received but the idea is that it’s passed on to bloggers who are “spreading light” with their blogs or are a “positive influence” with their blogging.  That’s why I thought it was so special……..it was very flattering that Miss Bev thought I was in that category!

The rules are that you must link back to the person who nominated you and here is that link MoggiePurrs.   DONE

You must link back to the originator of the award, Belinda who has two blogs, one of which is Idiot Writing .   DONE

Then you need to write a short paragraph about “How I’m Spreading Light” or “How I’m A Positive Influence” and display the beautiful badge.   (see below)

Then you must pass the award on to at least ONE and not more than a bazillion (haha) other bloggers.   (see below)

♥♥♥♥

My paragraph:

“I like to think I’m spreading light by trying to have a fun, happy, entertaining blog posted every single day about the life of one very spoiled cat who’s aging – sometimes gracefully and sometimes not so much – and make it a blog my readers look forward to.  It makes me happy thinking that my blog might cause someone who’s having a bad day to SMILE…..or someone who had a bad night to start their day by reading my blog first thing and changing their mood to POSITIVE.    Even better would be if they are so upbeat that the light spreads to someone THEY know…..and on and on and on.”

Who to pass this award to?  Honestly there are so many blogs that I adore……….so many who make me smile or think or hope or feel better………where do I begin?   I follow SO many…….each special in their own way.    One blogger who makes me smile every single time without fail is my friend Easy the silvermistygrey weimaraner.   You can’t read his blog without smiling and feeling better and certainly smiling………he lightens the blogosphere in many ways and he was the first to pop into my head when I thought of who to pass it on to.   So definitely this goes to Easy!!

But as I say so many of my blog friends are positive influences and consistently spread light that I’d like YOU to take the award if you feel you can honor the requirements.

Thank you Bev Harvey for nominating one very spoiled old cat with this lovely shimmering award!!

♥♥♥♥

Now – for the results of my Sam-O-Ween Poll where I asked for your answers to three burning questions regarding my Halloween fun on my blog this October.   Here’s what YOU want and this is what WE shall do!

1. I will have a HAUNTED HOUSE for the party!
2. We will have a contest for the FUNNIEST COSTUME (with a prize for the top two!)
3. The party will be on Halloween – October 31st!!

I hope you’re happy with the outcome of the polls – I am!    I had a blast fixing up that old mansion last year for a haunted house and I’ll find a suitable SCARY spot for this year’s party –  Be thinking about what kind of costume you want to wear!

Happy Teaser Tell All

AND Happy Wednesday……………….

I love you guys!!!!!

Hugs, Sammy