Monday, 31 May 2021

Love To Colour? Colouring with Cats #127 ~ Getting Your OM’s on with Mandalas on Mondays ~ Crystal of the Week PLUS **Your Crystal Questions Answered** What is Agate Good For?

Turquoise Mandalas on Mondays Banner 2020 ©BionicBasil® getting your Om's on and unleash Your Zen Harmonies

Happy Monday greetings gorgeous furiends

Today we're sharing the last in our crystal journey of the current season, and this week, we've got a lovely stone to finish up with as Dede asked us; what is agate good for? 

Crystal of The Week

&

What is Agate good for?

Agate is a lovely stone and is usually banded, which creates all kinds of lovely patterns. Although they also come in solid colours too.

They can be milky or translucent in appearance, and their natural colours are; grey, blue, pink, green, white or brown. Although many that are available to buy today are artificially dyed to enhance the aesthetics of the stone, like below.  And while they may look nice, over time they do fade; we have some hot pink banded spheres at BBHQ, and one of those has faded tremendously in the last 14 years. And agate isn't the only crystal that is enhanced, howlite is another stone that gets dyed, there are others too, and we would suggest that mew keep them out of direct sunlight as this fades them quicker.

We have lots of agate at BBHQ. It is one of the most readily available crystals and is usually one of the furst ones a new collector buys, especially the enhanced ones as they're really colourful and bright, plus most new collectors don't realise they are dyed. The P.A., way back in the day didn't know this either and it was only after a bit of research that she found out, and that wasn't for an agate, it was a lovely turquoise coloured chrysocolla, which aftur a few months the colour had really faded, and it wasn't even in any direct light source, anyhoo it had been colour enhanced, and that's how she found out about the agates too.

Mew can get agate tumble stones, slices which make fabulous coasters, small caves as in the bottom left pic above and these can come in all sizes so some could be used as bookends, also the spheres, pyramids, wands, obelisks, jewellery, beads, etc... in fact, agate is readily available in oodles of styles to suit your needs.

Fudge is here with one of our banded agate spheres; this is a lovely ocean blue - dyed/enhanced - but is still exactly the same colour as when the P.A. furst received from Brazil in 2007. We have some smaller brown spheres, pink we already mentioned, and I think there's a yellow one too; these are about the size of a golf ball, and the blue one with Fudge is the size of a tennis ball.

Mandalas on Monday ©BionicBasil® Colouring With Cats Mandala #127 Fudge Inspecting the Banded Agate Sphere

Let's jump right in and tell mew a little about the gem lore and reputed benefits surrounding these colourful crystals. Though, unlike a natural coloured crystal, the dyed colours of agate don't enhance or add additional properties of the stone, only the natural different coloured agates have supplementary benefits.

So agate is purportedly excellent for grounding and assisting with bringing balance and emotional stability. It is a calming stone that soothes and harmonizes. 

It is a stone that is said to enhance cognitive function and aid concentration and focus. It is reported to be a strength/endurance builder, though it takes time, so much like when mew start at the gym! MOL 

Agate can supposedly assist in overcoming negative feelings or bitterness. And it can also help to raise your consciousness in meditation, and assists in accessing the collective or conscious stream/flow, so it's a good stone to wurk with if mew looking for something to aid with spiritual connections.

So depending on the natural colour of your stone, use on the corresponding chakra point for maximum benefit.  Mew can also get oodles of agate jewellery; bracelets, beads, pendants earrings, whatever takes your fancy, so if mew feel really drawn to this crystal mew could buy a nice piece of jewellery to wear. The blue lace agate is absolutely gorgeous. Its natural colour and formation are bands of pale blue, and it makes the most beautiful jewellery.
Colouring with Cats #127 ©BionicBasil® Crystal of The Week - Blue Lace Agate

Blue lace agate is reputedly a wunderpurr healer, with a cool gentle energy that instils calmness, serenity and is really great for the throat chakra. This variety of agate is purportedly excellent for; nurturing, releasing repression, soothing frazzled nerves, allaying anger, self-expression, speaking one's truth, releasing outmoded patterns, outdated behaviours, encouraging new thoughts and ways of being, acceptance, fear releasing, bringing deep peace are just a few that we've read about, although there are buckets loads more, as with all crystals. However, we don't have the space here to share!

  If mew're looking for a great all-rounder crystal, then we think agate has got mew covered, and if mew drawn to the dyed ones, that's ok but purrlease keep them out of the sun so they keep their zingy colour longer.


Many thanks for emailing us Dede, and we hope that answered your question.

 If mew have any crystal questions; email us, DM us or ask us in the comments below, and we'll answer them when the new season begins later in the year.

To check out our last Crystal of the Week, click the link: Salt Crystal Lamps.

(disclaimer; we are not health or medical practitioners, all crystal info is purely for entertainment purposes only.) 


Anyhoo, we do hope mew've all have a totally pawesome weekend, and that mew're ready fur the week ahead, so let's jump right in and start as always with our little breathing exercise, which we're sure mew all have down paw by now...  but if mew've furgotten, stop what mew're doing fur a moment and take deep fulfilling breaths; counting to five on the inhale and five on the exhale:

Breathe in
Breathe out

Breathe in
Breathe out

Breathe in
Breathe out

Smooch is here again to offur mew assistance in getting your OM's on and Zen Harmonies happening, so just press play, close your eyes and follow his instructions.



Don't mew feel better already?  I know we do!


All the mandala's featured are created & designed by us, aka The B Team.


Here's this weeks mandala.
Mandalas on Monday ©BionicBasil® Colouring With Cats Mandala #127 Downloadable Image
Right-click the image to save and/or print the mandala.

And here's our finished version, in a supurr cool palette of pinks and icy blues.

Mandalas on Monday ©BionicBasil® Colouring With Cats Mandala #127 coloured by Cathrine Garnell

Coloured on the iPad and then transformed in Prisma, this time we chose the effect - Sakura.



Don't furget mew can download** our free Colouring with Cats here:- Books One, Two, Three and Four.

Colouring with Cats Book One ©BionicBasil®Colouring with Cats Book Two ©BionicBasil®Colouring with Cats Book Three ©BionicBasil®
Colouring with Cats Book Four ©BionicBasil®

Colouring With Cats Book IV


[**see our download policy here]
*    *    * 

Thanks for joining us for the last CWC of the season, and we do hope mew've enjoyed all the mandalas we've shared and learning about the different crystals we have at BBHQ. Colouring with Cats will be back in the Autumn/Fall again, ready to entertain mew throughout the winter months.

Though if mew do need any extra colouring pages over the summer, we did update all the mandalas in Book One recently - link above - so mew've got 16 new mandalas to occupy yourselves there. For those who will miss Smooch's breathing exercises, just bookmark this page or any of the Colouring with Cats pages and visit as often as mew like. 

Do join us tomorrow if mew get chance, for my 19th Birthday Celebrations and giveaway.

In the meantime...

Keep Calm and Colour OM!

Supurr chilled purrs


Wing Commander Basil & The B Team xox






Free Lockdown Activities

And don't furget while we're all on lockdown, we The B Team have got your six and can entertain mew fur weeks; there are oodles of colouring pages to download and not furgetting the colouring books too.  There's a page full of crafting projects to keep your mittens making stuff, and if books are your thing, check our Amber's Book Reviews fur your next pawesome read! 

There are some epically exciting adventure stories too, so read our thrilling tales episode by epic episode.




We've also added some new Brain Training posts, just to keep your little grey cells in tip-top condition. And we’ll be adding extra jigsaw puzzles to the puzzle page.

If mew want to see more of what's been happening at BBHQ, check out our Instagram feed where mew can see exclusive pics and videos that we don't put here on the blog.



Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another mandala! 

Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 

Sunday, 30 May 2021

Smooch's Cute Garden Selfie on The Sunday Selfies & Caturday Art Blog Hops

The B Team Sunday Selfies @BionicBasil ®

Epic greetings supurr furiends

Welcome to another selfie selection, and today our theme is:

Smooch's Cute Garden Selfie 

Smooch's Cute Garden Selfie ©BionicBasil®The Sunday Selfies

Smooch was enjoying a little garden safari the other day, even though it was still quite overcast.


We're also joining in the lovely Athena's Art Hopso do stop by and show off your pawesome arty-farty skills.

https://www.athenacatgoddess.com/

Smooch's Cute Garden Selfie ©BionicBasil® Caturday Art

The frosty effect was created with Befunky - Vintage Colors 1 + Graphic Novel DLX + colour changes to hue and saturation.

We also turned this fab arty-farty picture into a puzzle, so do stop by the puzzle page and take the Puzzle Challenge; see if mew can beat our time of 11 mins 02 secs. 



Anyhoo it's time for us to go on kitty patrol around the garden as it's been supurr weather the last couple of days, and we need to snoopervise the P.A. outside.  As appurrently, we're setting some flowers today which she's been growing on, in and around the potting shed for the last 3 months, and we also found some self-set catnip plants - which is epically exciting - in the gravel in the courtyard on Friday, which are babies from the plant that Smooch likes to snooze in. 

So they need carefully extracting from the gravel without damaging the root and planting into individual pots. This is epic as we counted 12 decent sized plants, and we couldn't have asked for a better surprise, (well other than a new tank, a hummer and a few more military-esque items, of course! MOL) as the catnip seeds we planted on the 9th, and 11th of April have barely sprouted as it's just been too cold. The non-stop begonia's, which were planted on the 4th of April inside the potting shed, are still dormant, and we're just waiting to see if the warmer weather entices them to grow. How's your garden, patio, balcony, windowsill plants doing, are mew having the same late start as us?

On that note, we do hope mew have a totally terrific day and see mew in the morning for the last Colouring with Cats of the current season, so we do hope mew can join us then.

Wishing mew lots of snoozy snuggles

Supurr Sunday Purrs

Basil & The B Team




Don't furget to join in the pawesome Sunday Selfies Blog Hop with

 Angel Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Angel Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth, Calista Jo, Cooper Murphy and Sawyer ~ visit them at their pawesome blog:





Free Lockdown Activities

And don't furget while we're all on lockdown, we The B Team have got your six and can entertain mew for weeks; there are oodles of colouring pages to download and not furgetting the colouring books too.  There's a page full of crafting projects to keep your mittens making stuff, and if books are your thing, check our Amber's Book Reviews for your next pawesome read! 

There are some epically exciting adventure stories too, so read our thrilling tales episode by epic episode.




We've got some new Brain Training posts, just to keep your little grey cells in tip-top condition. And we’ll be adding extra jigsaw puzzles to the puzzle page.

If mew want to see more of what's been happening at BBHQ, check out our Instagram feed where mew can see exclusive videos that we don't put here on the blog.


Don't furget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post. 

Graphics created with paid licence @www.canva.com &  www.befunky.com

Friday, 28 May 2021

Love To Read? Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library #170 featuring **#Help: My Cat's a Vlogging Superstar!** by Rae Earl PLUS Friendly Fill-Ins & Pet Photo Fails

Book Reviews with Amber at The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®

Hello gorgeous library guests 

and 

Welcome to the Mewton-Clawson Library at BBHQ 

Furstly, sorry I'm a little late posting today; blogger was being most uncooperative yesterday and wouldn't let me upload any photos.

Thank mew for joining me in the stacks today and my last book review of the current season. 

Now don't panic. I will be back in September as usual, and I'll be spending my summer jolly's relaxing, reclining and finding more wunderpurr books to share with mew when I return. Plus, the library needs a bit of spring clean, so I'll be overseeing young Melvyn as he does all the wurk! MOL

Book Reviews with Amber #170 ©BionicBasil® In The Library with Amber

Anyhoo, before we get to the review, can mew believe the nerve of some cats?

Smooch was banned from the library last year aftur the stink-bomb incident and had his library card revoked indefinitely, so mew can imagine my utter horror when I ambled between the stacks and found him purrusing the ancient Egypt shelf.

"What are mew doing?" I asked sniffily.

"Oh hey Amber, I wanted to find out about cats being worshipped as gods, as I heard a rumour on the BBHQ Radio station, Epically Epic Tunes this morning that cats were revered in ancient times, and I had an idea about resurrecting this pawesome philosophy, with me as the cult leader!" Smooch smirked. 

OH MY COD!

BASIL, WHERE ARE MEW?????


Today, as it's the last Friyay of the month, we're also joining in the furrbulous...


So do drop by the marvellous Mudpie's blog at www.mochasmysteriesmeows.com to join in.

Pet Photo Fails - Melvyn and Fudge ©BionicBasil®

And today's photo fail is courtesy of Melvyn and Fudge; Melvyn wasn't sharing his snuggle mat with anypurrdy, and he made his feelings quite clear, as mew can see much to Fudge's chagrin! MOL

Part of The Mewton-Clawson Library ©BionicBasil®
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
Today the P.A. is also joining in Friday Fill-ins Blog Hop with the pawesome 15 & Meowing and Four-Legged Furballs.
1. I wish _________ were as _________ as _________.

2. My plans this weekend include _________ and _________.

3. It's hard to believe that _________.

4. I need _________ in order to _________.

The P.A.'s answers are...

1. I wish I were as full of energy as I used to be. Sadly, my apathy and tiredness seems to be winning.

2. My plans this weekend include measuring up for a new deck and doing a lot of weeding, plus hopefully planting some of the flowers I've been growing, as they're desperate to get into the soil.

3. It's hard to believe that we've been living in the covid-world for over a year now.

4. I need to be in the right frame of mind in order to write. And this doesn't happen very often; it's fits and starts.

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

Let's see what I've got to show mew this time!

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

This week's top book pick is...

Book Reviews with Amber #170 ©BionicBasil® Help My Cat's a Vlogging Superstar AMber's Purrsonal Copy
Mewton-Clawson Library Copy

#Help: My Cat's a Vlogging Superstar!


by

Rae Earl

       Here's a little snippet of the book blurb:      

A hilarious story about two best friends, a cat and a vlog gone wrong from the author of TV's My Mad Fat Diary, perfect for fans of Holly Smale, Cathy Cassidy and Zoella. Everyone relies on Millie Porter for good advice – her friends, family, even her cat. So she decides to start a vlog with her best friend Lauren, where they will help people with the things that really matter: parents, cats, make-up and boys.

Amber's Book Review Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®

Now at furst, I thought this was going to be one of those funny little anecdote books, with pictures and quips and bucket loads of hashtags, though it turns out, it's not! 

What it is; is a funny tale written in the furst purrson about Millie, who is the go-to girl for anyone that needs advice; she has a vlog with her BF and is adamant that it will be a success, and what starts off as make-up tutorials ends up with her female cat who happens to be called Dave actually taking centre stage and stealing the limelight.

It's MOL in places, and obviously the above is as much of a spoiler as I can give, as mew know my rules.

Did I enjoy it being a crotchety old cat, and would I recommend it to mew? Yes I did, and yes I would. If mew're looking for a fun and amewsing read for the summer jollys, this is a great one to add to your list, and it would be a great gift for any age especially the cat-loving community. 

  • Publisher: Walker Books 
  • Paperback: 256 pages
Amber's Book Review Library Mice Divider ©BionicBasil®
My Ratings Scale

Amber's Book Review Paw Ratings Scale Pink ©BionicBasil®

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

Ratings of:

#Help: My Cat's a Vlogging Superstar!


Overall Enjoyment

Amber's Book Reviews 5 Paw Rating ©BionicBasil®

Amber's Book Review Divider ©BionicBasil®

I really hope mew enjoy the book as much as I did if mew read it.

Sadly, it's time fur me to say BFN or bye-fur-now as mew know the drill, so many books, so little time and I'll see mew in the Autumn or Fall when I'm back with oodles of ameowzing new reads and don't furget that all my previous reviews can be found on my Book Review page if mew are looking for some summer inspiration.

Until next time...

Keep calm and read more books

Amber 


Amber's Book Reviews Pink Review ©BionicBasil®





Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®

& @BionicBasil® on Instacat

Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another review! 

Amber's Book Review Pink Dot Divider ©BionicBasil®
 graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com