Question

I have a post I want to do that has about 30 images that goes with it.

So..

all in one or should I split it up?
Should I save it for a weekend?

or has bandwith so improved at this point that I really don't need to consider it anymore and 30 images is nothing??

The weekend..

So as Fleurp told you, I went to the Whoopie Pie Festival this weekend.. It made for a very long day as it was almost three hours away.  It was fun if not a little chaotic.  It didn't help that it was raining on and off while we were there.  Apparently it is the fourth year they have done it, and I am a little surprised that it wasn't a little better thought out, but that's OK.. we enjoyed it.  I mean seriously, how can you not enjoy eating whoopie pies.. (and if you have never eaten a whoopie, may I suggest you use this recipe but this filling and get right on that.. )

The area where the whoopies were

The people eating whoopies

Mini whoopies

Despite the pict of the mini whoopies, most of the samples were regular whoopies cut into bits.. some bits were better than others on so many different levels.  One place gave out huge samples.. oddly enough they were also the best tasting samples.. They also had the oddest flavor of the day, jalapeno apple.. which tasted way better than it sounded.  I wanted more pictures, but a) it was raining for a good portion of the time we were there and I didn't feel like trying to juggle my umbrella and my camera and b) there were so many people that most of the time I didn't even see the samples even when I was able to grab one.. but I'm sure you get the idea.

Outside of the actual tasting event area there were craft booths and things for sale.  I have to say I was pretty surprised at the pricing of things.  Normally I see things 20-50% more than they were listed for here.. I guess that is the good side of going so far off the beaten path.  I would have bought things, but most of the stuff was jewelry, and I can't wear it any more due to kittens trying to eat it off me. (OK fine, I still wear some, but I've cut back severely on what I buy for the stated reason)

Whoopie purse 

Of course I had to stop the Forgotten Feline's stand and buy something. I wanted a cute Freida magnet, but I went for the catnip toy (that Eli promptly got drunk on) and the cute gift box of cat toys (seen there in the front of the photo)

Another long ride home, which included a stop at the store for some food for dinner.. a quick dinner and then we went off to the fireworks.  There is a local festival that is generally around my birthday and every couple of years their fireworks are shot off on my birthday.

This was the first time I tried taking photos of fireworks with my DSLR.  I have come to the conclusion I really want a tripod so I can do more of these the right way.

I love how this one looks like birds

We ended the day watching the fireflies at home.  I love that we have them here.. they usually show them selves till about the fourth of July..  They are small, so this video might not be that exciting to you..



I was quite busy on Friday as well.  I took Odilia and Trevor into work for "take your pet to work day" (OK fine, I took them in because I wanted to)

And then I had a massage appointment in Portland.  Just as I was pulling into the parking garage (ten minutes late mind you) the masseuse called saying she had to cancel (with a very good excuse mind you)  which kind of ticked me off.  I actually fired one masseuse in the past for canceling on me repeatedly and never offering me anything for the inconvenience.  You know full well if I had to cancel on her it would cost me..

I ended up heading to a different place,  a massage therapy store if you will.. you know, the type, they have multiple therapists and they can more often than not take walk ins.  A woman at work asked if I had ever been, and I hadn't, but at this point I figured I'd head over and see if they could fit me in.

On the way I passed the animal shelter up that way.. the one where I fostered for last year, and the one where I adopted my first kitty back in 1990.. I had my camera, so I went in and took a number of photos.. but that is a different post - but we need a good kitty shot in this post, so here you go.

I did get a massage, I had a nice experience.  It was fairly reasonable price wise, so I might be back.  My body really could use a bunch of them right in a row..  I'm just so not a fan of driving so much.. but we'll see.

Sunday was my sister's birthday.  DH and I ended up over at my folks house for a little food, some present swapping and catch up.  DH and I then went to go see "Man of Steel".. which I was disappointed in, but I couldn't help but marvel at how much Henry Cavill as a self assured Superman (about 3/4ths of the way through) looked like a young John Travolta.

Thank you everyone for your birthday wishes. They made me smile and they were very much appreciated!

Is this thing on?

Hello Internet, my name is Fleurp.. I just wanted to let you know the Momma has a birfday today.. Last year Muffin attempted to celebrate it with the foster kittens, but they refused to put on their party hats, so we had to be creative.

This year she's headed out of town to some sort of whoopie thing.. (darlin, that's the whoopie pie festival) so we have no idea when we are going to be able to pin her down and give her the purring she so totally deserves for taking such good care of us.. We luf her so much..

She did have a little shindig at work.. there were flowers

that we really wanted to nibble on but she won't let us.. and there was cake..

Yes, it was purple.. and had sprinkles.. and it was made by hand by her boss.. it was the epitome of the thought that counts - because quite often we have had the conversation about birthday cake and how I always wanted a box cake growing up but never got one because my mother believed that scratch cakes were better.   There was also..

Ice cream!  Hoodsie cups for adults..  The momma didn't bring us any.. :(

we have no idea what this is, or why they would be interested in it.  She said the dots were something called "balsamic glaze".. which she said is very yummy with those pink things.. Why she didn't have real live dead shrimps or some nice raw beef we will never understand.

She said there were gifties which were really sweet and fun, but there were two cards she thought you'd like..

The first one says: I was worried you weren't going to get a birthday card with a cat wearing a sweater on it. (inside: so here)
The second one says:  I got you a hamster for your birthday:  (inside: Not really.  But wouldn't it be so cool if I did?  We could name it Buttercup)

We really want to chew on the cards, but she won't let us do that either..
wait.. why do we want to pin her down and purr on her.. she won't let us have any fun!!
~Fleurp



HEY!! HEY!! I will wear a party hat!!  I luff the mommalady too.. hey..

Does this mean I get cake??

No Name Kitties / The story on Scotty

Yup, I am severely lacking in my naming duties.. I am still calling the solid black female kitty "Adele" because she annoys me in her repetitive and seemingly never ending screeching meow.  (come on, who here really likes the end of "Rumor has It"?)

But the frosted boy and girl are simply 'boy' and 'girl'  I soooo need to do something for them, I'm starting to feel bad. I also don't really know their personalities because they spent the first half of their time here at Casa de Gato afraid of me and sick.. they have only just recently started to blossom into house kitties.

Adele purrs like a banshee when I put a hand on her, so does the boy.. The girl is a bit more reluctant but will allow me to coax her into a purr or a belly rub.

Adele

Boy

Girl - she so wishes the pawpurrazzi would go away

Sis, if you come out and let her take your picture she'll stop.. 

I'm out, what, that's not good enough, I have to LOOK at you?? 

Fine, NOW will you go away??

I stopped by the shelter last night and found out what happened to Scotty.  A different shelter worker, not the one I had been talking to about him, saw him sitting in his cage and felt sorry that he was all alone.  Instead of asking what the story was with him, she just took him home.  *sigh* and she did not bring him back today *double sigh*  I tried to make her go home and get him for me, but I think she thought I was joking (OK fine, maybe I was a little.. but I would have been very happy if she had gone and gotten him for me).  It looks like he is going to be spending time at 'sleep away camp' and I won't be able to get him back until Sunday :(  I'm so not happy about this.. but it is a selfish thing. I'm sure he is doing just fine where he is. I just miss him and I bet Trevor does as well.

Speaking of which.. your Gratuitous Trevor Pict..

what.. did you think I would leave Odilia out??

Free product from Chewy.com in exchange for an honest review.

Mom, when do we get to be on the blog again??

Well buddy, I've got just the thing for you.. You see the other day I was contacted by Chewy.com and they asked us if we would like to review some treats on my blog.  Being horribly picky about what I'm feeding you these days I wasn't sure I was going to be able to participate, but I checked to see what they had to offer (in exchange for an honest review)

I was offered one of the following

• Orijen Freeze Dried Dog Treats
• Fromm Grain Free Dog Biscuits
• Natural Balance Perfect Bites Cat Treats

Well at least there was one thing that was cat related - being sent to a cat blog.. (the email says he enjoys reading my blog.  Um.. then why offer the dog treats?? and why offer me Fromm??) 

Natural Balance was out due to the ingredients.  Fromm was out too.  So I looked into Orijen.  I was less than thrilled at their cat food, even though everything is sourced local which I love the sound of. They only make a dry cat food and it has 25 different plant based ingredients in it.. but I wasn't offered the cat food, I was offered the freeze dried treats.. 

Their treats are not single ingredient treats, like the freeze dried chicken breast that Halo makes (well frig!  Halo isn't single ingredient either.. they use a 'marinade' which also includes carrageenan *grrr*)  They have multiple ingredients, but they are all very simple ingredient list.  The duck was simply duck liver and boneless duck.  I figured this was safe for my crew as there were no plants in it or other questionable ingredients. For fun I also sent an email into Orijen asking if they feel their treats are acceptable for other pets and not just dogs.  They replied saying they were - which made me wonder why they were labeled as they were.. but then again, I'm not all that shocked by it, dogs get all the attention in most companies.

So I replied to Andrew, and said I'd like to try the duck treats.  Well those things showed up so fast I actually didn't realize they were here because I had ordered something else for Father's Day and was expecting that, so I just put it off to the side for a few days with out even looking at it.

When I finally got to the box, The Crew was THRILLED! They always love treat time.. 

Fleurp really loves the paper they pack with

The front of the package, no idea why there is a green sticker on it.. 

back of the package, again, no idea why there was a sticker on there that was then removed

Made in Canada..  it isn't made in China like Catswell.. 

the treats - they are two different colors

Those are my fingernails.. they made the package semi see through.. 

WAAAAANTTTT!!!

Fleurp took hers and ran off with it.

There were no more pictures, because they ate them down so fast and were back asking for more before I could pick up the camera.. It was fun to be able to give them treats that I didn't have to worry about.

(btw, Muffin is all over me as I am typing up this post.. I have a feeling she hears me thinking "treat" and is so hoping I will give her some.. Muff, if you aren't careful you are going to suffocate me!!) 

So Andrew, and Chewy.com, The Crew thanks you from the bottom of their furry behinds for thinking of us and sending such yummy yummy treats.  I want to thank Orijen for making them and implore them to consider making a canned cat food (preferably with fewer plant based ingredients since cats lack the digestive enzymes to properly digest plants)


Mom, can I have some more of those.. ~Jack
Me too! ~Eli
Me Too! ~Muffin
ME TOO! ~Fleurp
Me too! ~ Skippy
me too!! ~Kit


What? ~Twee



PS.  Andrew at Chewy contacted me today and said my post sounded like I was offended by his offerings.  On first blush I would say I was put off by his selections not so much for the selections themselves, but by the first blush appearance that while he said he reads my blog he would offer things that are so contraindicated to it.  After getting a string of emails from people who are simply wanting things from me and saying they are fans - but are obviously not by what they offer - I guess I did very poorly express my self above.  My first thought was why weren't they offering me something that was more in line with my blog, but after doing some research and reading and looking into what he was offering, I found a brand new product that I adore.  So by their doing something a little unexpected and my not immediately just brushing it all off as offensive, I found a wonderful new product for my cats.

My intention is never to judge a book by its cover.  It was my intention to convey that.. if I failed, I am sorry.