Happy Straw Hat Day - May 15

Tabitha models her lovely white straw hat with pink ribbon.

 Today is National Straw Hat Day - the day when you put your felt hats away and take out you cool and comfy straw hats for the summer season.

None of us are real big on wearing clothes, props or hats so Mom did her best to dress us in straw hats.  Tabitha and Lily were willing to cooperate but Two Spot just hid under his hat!

Lovely Lily tries out her "Come hither look".

 Ever wonder how certain hat sayings came into being - well here are the origins of some:

Hold On To Your Hat(s)
A warning that some excitement or danger is imminent. When riding horseback or in an open-air early automobile, the exclamation 'hold on to your hat' when the horse broke into a gallop or the car took-off was certainly literal.

Two Spot hides under his!

Mad As A Hatter
Demented, go mad. Hat-makers use to inhale fumes from the mercury that was part of the process of making felt hats. Not recognizing the violent twitching and derangement as symptoms of a brain disorder, people made fun of affected hat-makers, often treating them as drunkards. In the U.S., the condition was called the 'Danbury Shakes,' as Danbury, Connecticut was a hat-making center. Mercury is no longer used in the felting process and hat-making is safe. 

At the Drop of a Hat
Fast. Dropping a hat, can be a way in which a race can start, instead of a starting gun for example. Also, a hat is an apparel item that can easily become dislodged from its wearer. Anyone who wears hats regularly has experienced the quickness by which a hat can fly off your head.  

Bee In Your Bonnet
An indication of agitation or an idea that you cannot let go of and just have to express. (A real bee in one's bonnet certainly precipitates expression.) (from the Hat Trivia page)

So grab a straw hat and have a great day today! 

P.S. Mom apologizes for not getting by to visit - she has been sick since Straw Hat Day.  Hopefully tomorrow she will feel up to blogging.

Angel Yoko's Gotcha Day and Mother's Day

Sweet Yoko last summer.

 Today would have been Angel Yoko's 21st Gotcha Day.  She left us for the Bridge just 5 months ago.  We miss her so much and still look for her at the foot of the bed where she always slept.  Yoko was special and is forever connected to Mother's Day because she gift from Pop to Mom back in 1993. 

Yoko when we first got her.

She was very ill when we got her - none of her food would stay down - she either vomited or had diarrhea.  Mom made up a substitute for her cat mom the vet they went and Mom was right - Yoko had a parasite.  Once she was treated she was fine and gained weight.

She became a big girl - bigger than her sis Chica.  Yoko was a mellow, sweetie who loved to greet the peeps who came to visit.  She would crawl on their lap and just settle in, soaking up the scritches. Yoko loved bags, finding odd places to nap and eating cream cheese. 

We know she is happy, healthy and with her sister Chica, Mom's Mom and Pop's Mom celebrating a wonderful Mother's Day at the Bridge.  We will always love you Yoko!  Happy Mother's Day to all Moms everywhere, human and other!

Yoko loved to lay like this as a youngster

Welcome to our Picnic

We got an award a few weeks back(mom is terrible at doing this stuff) from Forty Paws.  The Sunshine Picnic Award comes with an invitation to a picnic where each brings something to eat. We live in the mountains of western North Carolina so we will choose traditional and new Southern Appalachian foods to bring to our picnic. 

Let's see...how about pulled pork with blueberry chipotle BBQ sauce,  liver mush (similar to scrapple but made of pork liver, pork fat and cornmeal),  grilled mountain trout, branch lettuce (local watercress found in early spring at higher elevations at the edge of mountain streams or branches) "kilt" with hot bacon grease and vinegar, buttermilk cornbread cooked in an iron skillet,  sweetened fried apples as a side dish, corn pudding, watermelon rind pickles and sweet potato casserole. 

corn pudding

For dessert chocolate gravy poured over homemade biscuits,  cardamon coconut milk ice cream from the Hop, truffles from the French Broad Chocolate Lounge, sweet tea and Highland

chocolate gravy over biscuits

Callie is watching the peeps set up the picnic and all the goodies.  Hope this is enough to entice y'all to join us for this super fun picnic!  Mom will add a few non traditional things for the vegans and vegetarians like her.  Now will pick some blogs to host their own picnic - lets spice this up a bit and get some overseas cats to join in.

Flynn from Eric and Flynn's Adventures in UK
Georgia from Mickey's Musings in Canada
The Gang from Furries of Whisppy in Malaysia
Charlie from Charlie Rascal in Sweden

Hope y'all enjoy the foods and have a relaxing picnic!  We missed Cinco de Mayo cuz Mom was too lazy to dress us up!  But do come back for our Gotcha Day celebration for our beloved Angel Yoko on Mother's Day - this Sunday.

Happy First of May!

Mom chose Tabitha as our May Queen this year - Tabitha  was surprised and wanted to freshen up a bit before the celebrations begin   Excuse her for a moment while she grooms!

Mom loves this old fashioned holiday.  In her childhood, they would have bonfires the night before and decorate the Maypole with crepe paper and flowers.  At her parochial school they had a special day with a procession of children dressed in their best clothes with one girl chosen to crown the statue of Mary with a garland of flowers.  Mom was actually chosen to do that one year.

She also made May baskets - These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someones doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away.

Wishing you all a lovely First Day of May!  Here are some trivia bits about this cool day plus pics of the flowers in our yard!

Our strawberries

 The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe.

Hawthorn blooms

 A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May. Various Neopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1.

Lily of the Valley

On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. 

Azalea with a bumblebee moth

 The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures. While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer. (info from Wikipedia)

Dogwood

How to Wear Bunny Ears!

Tabitha prefers to wear her bunny ears off to one side for a jaunty look.

 

 While Ivy takes this off to the side idea to the extreme!

Uh oh..they don't seem to stay on  very well do they?

Now this is better - the more traditional way to wear your bunny ears!  However you wear them, have a wonderful Easter with your  loved ones! We will be visiting all our blog friends all weekend long so see you sometime in the next two days!