Promises given and received ♥Dante and Miss Camille Suzanne♥

Miss Camille Suzanne, having been properly educated at the Genteel Finishing School for Young Felines was taken quite by surprise when she was told by her most straight-laced momma that she could usher in 2010 this New Year's Eve in the paws of her most ardent suitor, Lococoon Dante', the most manly of man-cats.

Long had they been flirting - leaving missives on each other's blogs of the most devoted in nature - a magical evening together lay at their paws. Caught by surprise - just as they were to fly away on Master Dante's stretch-boogie-mat, complete with champagne bar, Swiss white chocolates, Fancy Feast, Temptations and imported 'nip, Rosemary JOY! scurried out of the house - her spectacles nearly falling off her little nose (she had been reading the latest issue of Cat Fancy) - declaring that momma had suggested she accompany the besotted felines for the evening. Promising to remain discreet, Rosemary JOY! settled into the back of the stretch-boogie-mat and quickly nodded off to sleep - her eyeglasses falling to the tip of her feline snooter - the Cat Fancy article left unread.


After an evening in and under the stars - attendance at the New Year's Eve PAWty over at FriendsFurEver - gliding from planet to planet and gazing into each other's luminous eyes -Master Dante' queried of Miss Camille Suzanne if she would be so generous as to accept his heart bracelet of promise. Her arm fluttering like the wings of a fledgling dove, the beautiful Miss Camille Suzanne allowed her most honorable man-cat suitor to slip his lovely symbol of promise over her paw - a promise of things to come in the year 2010.

Barely moments before Master Dante's stretch-boogie-mat landed on the new-fallen snow in front of Miss Camille Suzanne's Edwardian home, a gentle and respectful kiss was given and received between the young couple. Just as Miss Camille Suzanne's sweet, pink and white paws touched the snow ending a most romantic evening, our newly promised duo began to giggle. The most proper and studious Rosemary JOY! awoke from her deep slumber at the back of the stretch-boogie-mat - yawning wide - only to ask if they had left home yet that evening.☺

Snooper-visor Rosemary JOY! Water quality inspector

♥Ask your momma to make you a heated snoozin' & nappin' bed♥

Two cushions are nestled inside a basket, one on top of the other; an electric pet-bed warmer (see Resources, below) sits between them. Any shallow basket will work. This one measures 14 inches wide, 19 inches long, and 6 inches deep. You can make the quilted fabric (see below) or buy it. Martha Stewart used a soft chambray bedsheet for the quilted pieces.

Cat Bed How-To
1. Place basket base on kraft paper, and trace around it. Cut out, then trim the pattern as needed to fit inside basket (a seam allowance isn't necessary).

2. Use the pattern to cut out 2 pieces of 2-inch-thick wool batting and 2 pieces of cotton fabric. For quilted pieces, follow online how-to or cut out 2 pieces of store-bought quilting.

3. Sandwich a piece of wool batting between a piece of quilted fabric and a piece of cotton fabric. The top and bottom layers should face right side out. Pin through all of the layers. Stitch along the circumference, 1/4 inch from edge. (Check periodically to be sure your needle is going through all
3 layers.) Remove pins.

4. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch-wide bias tape to go around the edge of the cushion, plus 1 inch. Pin to edge. Fold under last 1/2 inch, leaving 1/2 inch overlapping. Stitch. Remove pins.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to make second cushion. Sandwich bed warmer between cushions, and place in basket, as shown below.

Quilting How-To

1. Follow step 1 in the cat-bed how-to to make the pillow pattern, then cut out 4 pieces of chambray fabric for the outside layers and 2 pieces of 1-inch-thick wool batting for the filling.

2. Place 1 of the pieces of fabric, wrong side up, on a flat surface in a well-ventilated area. Spray it with temporary spray adhesive made for fabric. Immediately place the fabric, sticky side down, on the batting. Working from the center out, smooth fabric to remove any ripples or creases.

3. Repeat step 2 with another piece of fabric on the other side of the batting.

4. With a ruler and a disappearing-ink fabric pen, mark diagonal parallel lines 3 inches apart on fabric. To prevent fabric from puckering, sew along lines in the same direction. Draw lines perpendicular to the first and 3 inches apart, and again sew in one direction.

5. Repeat steps 1 to 4 with remaining fabric and batting.

Very brave kitty hobbles home on TWO broken legs

Courtesy of Tracie Steger

Note from Mimi: PURRsonally, I DO NOT agree with allowing any animal to be loose in a yard. They are animals and as highly trained as they can be - they are NOT reliable 100% of the time. Horrible things can happen to them when they stray as evidenced here. This cat's story had a happy ending - not all of them do.

PeoplePets.com It's nothing less than a miracle: Missing 11 days, a 1-year-old, gray-and-white cat named Giggle Blizzard found his way back home on Thanksgiving night — on two broken hind legs. He had dragged himself onto the porch after being hit by a car more than a mile away.

"I lost it. I was so happy," the cat's owner, Tracie Steger, 42, tells PEOPLEPets.com. "I jumped up and grabbed him and hugged him." Then she rushed him to an emergency veterinary hospital.

Steger had been looking for Blizzard since he disappeared from her Spring Hill, Fla., home on Nov. 15.

"All of my cats and dogs are clicker trained and I take them on walks around the block in the evenings," says Steger. She lets them play off-leash in her front yard because once her cats hear the clicker, she says, they all come running inside for their treats. But on that particular night, all her cats came except Blizzard. "I knew right away something was wrong," says Steger, a former stockbroker and financial adviser who is studying to be a veterinary technician.

Though it was after midnight, Steger — who has eight cats and two dogs, all rescues — grabbed Margarita, her Golden retriever, and walked through the neighborhood calling Blizzard's name. At 3:30 a.m., she returned home to make "Lost Cat" flyers and put a posting on Craigslist.com, then went back out in search of her cat until sunrise.

As the days went by, Steger received a flurry of Blizzard sightings. A little girl in the neighborhood said she saw the cat get hit by a car; another caller left a message that she saw a gray cat hobbling around. Each time, Steger rushed to the location where the cat that might be Blizzard was last seen. "But he was never there," says Steger. "It's like I was always one step behind."

On Thanksgiving night, Steger was at home with her family and friends when she heard meowing outside. The last thing she expected to see at the door was Blizzard, but there he was! "He was meowing and he pulled himself into the house," recalls Steger. "He put his two front legs forward and his back legs kind of zig-zagged and skittled forward to catch up."

The cat had lost weight and Steger could see his backbone. "He looked around like, 'I'm home, where's my dinner? Where's my turkey?'" laughs Steger, admitting that she put the whole turkey carcass on the floor so Blizzard could pick at it.

Steger then took Blizzard to an emergency veterinary hospital where they gave him pain medication, fluids and antiobiotics. The next morning, they went to the Animal Care Center of Weeki Wachee, where she volunteers. "When I saw his X-rays, that's when I cried," recalls Steger. "I could tell his legs were fractured, but I didn’t know how bad they were." Orthopedic veterinary surgeon Dr. Michael Kern managed to save both legs.

Wanting to share her story, Steger posted an update on Craiglist, urging other pet owners not to give up if they have lost a pet. "If they know they are loved, and your family isn't going to give up easy on the search, then it may be just enough to bring them home to you," she wrote.

"It is unbelievable the number of emails I have gotten," says Steger. "One lady said she found her kitty after three-and-a-half weeks and that she never gave up because of my story. If Giggle Blizzard and I have no other purpose, it's to share our story. It's amazing that someone acted on my experience and had a happy outcome."

In about a month, Blizzard will have his casts removed. In the meantime, he seems to be enjoying the attention of news cameras. "He's a ham," says Steger. "He'll sit there and pose for pictures."

Cat 1, Dog 0. If this doesn't make you laugh - nothing will☺

Meowy Christ-mouse 'n Happy Howl-o-days to eFURyone!

From all of us to all of you - ♥ felt wishes for a Christmas filled with l♥ve surrounded by everyone important in your life. Over this past year each and every one of you, whether you left a comment or not, brought a little sunshine to our days and sweet dreams to our nights.

Miss Camille Suzanne's Meowy Christmas to her Dante'

Cats v dogs v snow...

Nom-nom kitty to top ALL nom-nom kitties! ENJOY!

This little guy is SO cute. Sounds just like me when I eat☺ ~Mimi

You MUST smile. You MUST ♥ this kitten!