Today is national black cat appreciation day.

Wayne H Morris created black cat appreciation day on the 17 August 2011 in honor of his sister and her black cat Sinbad cat.

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Here is Jazzie, Sadie’s friend waiting to be appreciated on national black cat day.

Some black cat facts;

Most black cats are not a solid black and have some white colouring (Jazzie doesn’t)

Black is the most common colour gene for cats.

Black cats are less likely to be adopted. (Jazzie was lucky)

Some black cats can appear brownish when viewed in sunlight.

Most black cat have yellow eyes (Jazzie’s eyes have brown flecks too)

Black cats have long been associated with witches in story books.

Some black cats can have faint tabby markings showing in their fur while still looking black.

Some people consider black cats unlucky, I am not one of them, it is an honor to have a beautiful little cat like Jazzie.

Cat quote of the day.

 “A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.”

– Groucho Marx.

Today…?

Daily writing prompt
What do you enjoy most about writing?
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right now I most enjoy the fact that I can

that nobody judges me

that I can write what I want

that you don’t have to be “a writer” to write

that you can tell your stories your way

and if people don’t like what you write they don’t have to read it

simple.

If you ask me in five years I may say different, but I don’t think so.

Thank you for reading, if you did.

Cat

Cakes…

Daily writing prompt
If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?
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Cakes.

no, coffee? (so important)

flowers? (flower shops always smell divine)

books? (you can never have too many books)

No wait!

I’ve got it, a coffee/ book shop that sells cakes.

(you can browse the books, new and second hand, as you drink your coffee and eat cake) and on the way out buy a few beautiful flowers.

Even better.

A cat cafe with all of the above, yes that’s it,

Cats, coffee, cake, books and flowers, perfect!

now that I have a plan, I’d better start looking for the premises.

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Why I started writing Sadie’s cat blog…

The birth of Sadie’s cat blog was a quiet affair witnessed only by thirty or so eight year olds.

I have for many years been teaching computing lessons to primary aged children, one of the themes that we cover is online presence. Where they learn not only about e safety (obviously important) but also among other things about what a blog is and how to write one.

To help the children with ideas I made an example blog to show them, this was the start of Sadie’s cat blog. (as the children in this lesson were only eight years old we were not actually putting our blogs online, just on a word document and sharing only with the rest of the class)

At the time I hadn’t considered putting her properly online, I just mocked up her blog as a teaching prompt.

It was only many years later after coming across some of the cute and funny photos that I had taken of her and thinking what an amusing little cat she really was, that I finally decided to actually have a go at a real online cat blog to share her story with others.

Here is an image and a little excerpt from her original blog

My cat Sadie

She likes to follow me everywhere when I am at home,

her hobbies are eating, sleeping and sitting in strange places.

Why not subscribe to Sadie’s cat blog then you will never miss any of her stories or cute cat pictures of her and her friends.

Cat quote of the day.

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” —Sigmund Freud

Spread a little happiness…

Daily writing prompt
What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?
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I started this blog for many reasons but the main one was to share Sadie’s story.

She is a small, entertaining, black and white ball of amusing energy, who can spread a little happiness with stories and pictures of her silly antics.

Same universe, but as a cat…

Daily writing prompt
Describe your life in an alternate universe.
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I wake. lift my head blinking sleepily, ears pivoting slowly, listening, something has changed, the air is different.

I begin to sniff, oh the door is open, outside smells are coming in, wet grass, rain, other cats, birds, next door’s dog?

I sniff again gently, nothing else moving just my nose, interesting, I need to check this out.

Time to get up, I uncurl myself, stand up, stretch both front legs, slowly, paws out, claws out, chest down.

(I’m in no hurry, I’m a cat)

Stretch back, tail up, right on my toes, oooh a proper stretch.

Yawn.

OK, lets see what’s going on out there this morning then.

Wander daintily over to the door.

“Oh hello, people, ooh food maybe, meow hello.”

(rub round their legs, purr, meow some more)

Some time later.

I have had my food, now, what was I doing?

Oops need a wash (sit down lick paws, wash face, wash ears)

What was I doing?

Well whatever it was it can wait, there’s a patch of sunlight over there on the carpet, warm, lovely, time for a snooze.

Oh I am so tired, Goodnight.

Sadie.

In no particular order…

Daily writing prompt
List 30 things that make you happy.
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Special people, chocolate, outdoor open spaces.

dawn, dusk, wildlife, horses.

cats, reading, writing, swimming, riding.

kindness.

Nature, drawing, working with children, rabbits.

moors and beaches. cliffs.

peace.

the sea, Cote d’azure, snow, dogs, long walks.

sharing.

elderly parents, gardening, rain storms.

chosen solitude, coffee, family, scented flowers.

children and grandchildren.

Scottish butter tablet.

oops too many, but so many more still to go…

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This is Jazzie Sadie’s friend.

Jazzie.

Cats are not meant to fly-The story of Sadie and the lavender.

Summer, a time long ago of sun and scents. Windows and doors open to embrace the floral air. Not a care in the world, whiling away the summer days, children and cats older now, more sensible, one would hope.

No, cat not more sensible, still learning, still curious, still irresponsible, still fostering a dangerous, reckless attitude left over from her kitten hood.

I was out. Went to see a friend. Left the children (teenage) and cat (also teenage) to look after each other, you would think that would be fine. It wasn’t. Sadie decided to explore (normal cat behaviour I hear you say) this was not normal for anyone. This was extreme sports even by cat standards.

Out of the bedroom fanlight window she hops (unnoticed by anyone, because after all who watches small upstairs windows on the off chance that their cat might pop out?) somehow she neatly jumps down and teeters along a narrow window sill outside the bedroom.

Not ground level, next floor up. (Still no one aware, daughter is in the room below doing her own teenage thing) When suddenly as she is looking out of the window, her cat flies past. Fast downwards. Accelerating swiftly towards the hard stone patio below.

Cats are not meant to fly, especially downwards.

Daughter rings me as she rushes to check on her flying feline. I tell her to check her cat out and ring me back, preparing myself to turn the car round and return home to deal with a potentially injured cat and a very distressed daughter.

Five agonisingly slow minutes later daughter rings me back, I am prepared for the worst when she tells me.

She’s fine mum, no blood, nothing seems damaged, but she smells lovely, she landed in the lavender bush.

What a relief. Thank goodness for fragrant plants and multiple cat lives.

At the time we had large flowering lavender plants all along the house wall, somehow with the luck of a nine lived cat Sadie had managed to drop neatly into the lavender bush cushioning her fall, and causing no injuries.

Never before had I been so relieved that I was a keen gardener, filling my garden with smelly shrubs.

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Here she is by another window in a different house.

A random act of kindness…

Daily writing prompt
Write about a random act of kindness you’ve done for someone.
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A random act of kindness, in my opinion is not planned. It just happens. Often simply just as you are passing another being in our helter-skelter skelter highway of life.

Like helping to reach for a product from the top shelf of the supermarket for someone from an older generation who is no longer tall or steady enough to do it themselves, as you pass them.

Or moving a huge bumblebee from the path to the grass so no one treads on it.

In writing this I realise that I personally have a list of quite strict rules for random acts of kindness to pass before they actually can qualify as acts of kindness.

I believe also that some, maybe the best, random acts of kindness can sometimes be done without anyone knowing, just you, aware that some how, somewhere you have made something just a tiny bit better for another living thing out there on our huge blue planet.

I also feel that random acts of kindness should not be boasted about, because they then somehow loose their kindness, they are no longer selfless, you are gaining gratification from others, it becomes about you, no longer about the act of kindness itself. The glow of goodness that you feel as you walk away from being able to help another should be enough for you.

I also believe that if you have performed one of the apparently invisible acts of kindness then telling that person is not necessary, it almost takes away some of the kindness in the telling.

These are my qualifications that an act of kindness has to pass before I allow myself to consider that I have performed an act of kindness, silly maybe.

What do you think? Do you agree? Have I missed anything out? Are your rules the same?