Wednesday, 20 May 2026

The BBHQ Midweek News Round-Up **LUSCIOUS LILACS & CUTE DUCKS!!!** ~ Fudge's Lounging in The Catservatory, Parsley's Hissed Off, and Smooch's Lolling Out of The Grass Planter ~ **PLUS** Melvyn's Modelling

A colourful collage featuring seven cats lined up in front of stylised newspaper backdrops with the word “NEWS” repeated behind them. At the top left, a cat appears to shout beside a speech bubble that says “EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!”. Bright pink and blue flowers sit below the cats, with blue‑and‑white stripes and pink starbursts in the background. The central text reads “Midweek News Round Up with The B Team,” with “©BionicBasil®” at the bottom.
This week: luscious lilac fragrance, ducks in the garden, more floof on rugs, a hissy fit, puzzle chaos, and Smooch's blowing a raspberry! MOL

Furbulous Greetings Supurr Furiends

Welcome to the BBHQ midweek news round-up!

Happy Wednesday, epic furiends, and thanks so much for dropping by. Settle in, get comfy, and let’s dive into what’s been happening at BBHQ this week.

Oh, good gravy, the weather, what is going on? It's been much of the same as last week; sunny, rainy, gusty, chilly breeze, etc. However, there was a new element, are mew ready for this? HAIL, not once, not twice, but three times. Not for long on, and different days too, and then on Monday we had several cloudbursts, yep, downpour galore!

But, and here's a really big BUT, apparently this weekend, a bank holiday weekend no less, we're being told to brace for a heatwave, yep 26 Celcius on Friday, can mew believe it? No, we can't either, but we'll let mew know next week.

OH MY COD!!! We wish mew could smell the fragrance from the lilac tree. The scent is absolutely meautiful, drifting all over the garden like somepawdy let an aroma bomb explode - we did ask Smooch if that's what happened, he said he couldn't comment!!! MOL

A large, dense lilac shrub in full bloom, covered in masses of soft light‑purple flowers. The blossoms form a cloud‑like canopy above green foliage, set in a garden with patio tiles, surrounding plants, and a glimpse of a house chimney in the background.

And the little oak tree in front is one the P.A. grew from an acorn a couple of years ago; it's growing really well, and she plans to replant it in a new pot this summer.

Just look at this below, this mated pair of ducks comes every year to nest at Nanny's and Grampaws house.

The P.A. got them a small paddling pool, so their ducklings have a safe space to swim, and she even built them an off-ramp to get in and out while they're small.

A pair of ducks resting on bright green grass: a male mallard with a glossy green head and grey body, and a female mallard with mottled brown plumage. They sit facing each other near a tree trunk, with small plants and leaves scattered in the foreground.

They are adorable!

Here's this week's completed jigsaw.

Galison Glamour Cats ~ 1000 Piece Jigsaw


A completed jigsaw puzzle showing a colourful, whimsical illustration of multiple cats in a cosy indoor room. The cats appear in various poses and patterns, surrounded by framed pictures, striped curtains, potted plants, cushions, and patterned furniture. The assembled puzzle rests on a wooden table.

If mew've been following the P.A.'s Puzzle Pawty at BBHQ, here's number four. To see the others, click the link below:




This was harder than it looks. The P.A. thought the big blocks of colour would be easier to do... oh no, it wasn't. See that pale blue bit on the top right of the picture? It took ages, over three evenings, to just get that done!!! MOL 

It's available from Amazon UK - no, there are no links or affiliates here, just pointing the way, if mew're interested.

Anyhoo, let's look at this week's top headlines.
A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

First up in the news this week

Fudge's Lounging in The Catservatory


Fudge, a long‑haired orange tabby cat lies stretched out on a dark carpeted floor inside the catservatory, looking toward the camera. Behind the cat, a large glass door reveals a courtyard with greenery and a brick wall, with soft natural light filling the space.

It was raining, for a change, and Fudge decided to lounge in the catservatory as the pitter-patter of rain fell on the glass roof.

He said, and I quote, "It's rather soothing and relaxing!"

Then he said to the P.A., who appeared with the Dyson.

"No, mew can't vacuum the rug, my ginger floof is adding character!" MOL

A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

Next up in the news

Parsley's Hissed Off


Parsley a black cat sits on a woven wicker surface in bright sunlight, looking slightly annoyed. The warm light highlights the texture of the cat’s fur and the wicker beneath, suggesting he’s unimpressed that the sofa cushions have been removed for cleaning.

Parlsey was rather hissed off, as the P.A. removed the cushions from the gazebo as the covers needed a wash, this was his take on that! MOL

#mostunimpressed
A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

In Other News

 Smooch's Lolling Out of The Grass Planter


Smooch, a white cat with black markings is lounging inside a round planter filled with ornamental grass, basking in warm sunlight. The cat is relaxed with eyes closed and tongue slightly sticking out, looking as though he’s happily lolling out of the grass planter on a wooden surface beside a brick wall.

So mew may remember a few weeks ago, the P.A. cut the grass in the planter, it's growing slowly, and Smooch was really enjoying lolling in it again.

He even blew a raspberry at the P.A. when she said there were a few pieces that still needed trimming! MOL 

A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

Finally this week

Melvyn's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick


It was a landslide vote for #5 last week, the White Cherry Blossom, and Melvyn was beaming!

Melvyn, a white cat with black and brown tabby markings lounges on a dark kitchen countertop, wearing a pink floral white cherry blossom bandana. Sunlight streams through the window behind him, illuminating the sink, vintage kitchen scale, and various kitchen items, while Melvyn looks relaxed and content in his modelling pose.

Mew can see, he loved wearing this one for mew, just look at that face!!! MOL 

Check out Melvyn strutting his stuff on your preferred social media channel:



 
A colourful floral divider featuring two large pink blooms surrounded by small blue flowers and green leaves, arranged in a bright, symmetrical cluster.

Which one should he model next?


Here's the new May collection. And yes, we know there are only four Wednesdays in May, but we thought it would be fun to give mew five bandanas to choose from, and Melvyn loves this collection.

Five cat bandanas are arranged on a light wooden surface, each with a different colourful floral or patterned design. They are numbered 1 to 5, and the words “May Collection” appear across the centre in decorative white text. A copyright notice reading “copyright www.bionicbasil.com” sits at the bottom.

The May Collection:

1. Lilac with Pink Flowers  

2. Purple Flowers 

3. Blue Butterfly    

4. Dark Cherry Blossom 

5. White Cherry Blossom 

Leave a comment with your top pick for next week!
A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

That's us done for today. Amber will be back on Friday with another pawesome book just for mew, plus updates on the Library's mood, and if mew missed any other posts, here are the links:

The Sunday Selfie's

The Monthly Meow'o'Scope

What the Fluff ~ BBHQ Q&A

Couring with Cats 

Hoping mew have a furbulous day, and remember to always...

Midweek News Stay Fluffy ©BionicBasil® May 2023
...and utterly epic!

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 












A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post! 
        A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.

Copyright Notice

© [2026] BionicBasil®. All Rights Reserved. No part of this post, characters, or lore may be reproduced, scraped, or rewritten in any form (including AI) without express written permission 
A decorative floral divider featuring bright green grass topped with pink roses, small blue blossoms, and delicate white flowers arranged in a colourful, symmetrical spring design.
Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com 
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Monday, 18 May 2026

**LOVE TO COLOUR?** Colouring with Cats #122 ~ Getting Your OM’s on with Mandalas on Mondays ~ Crystal of the Week PLUS **Your Crystal Questions Answered** What Is Spirit Quartz Good For?

A vibrant mandala banner in pink, yellow, and white featuring a large ornate central mandala with radiating lines and dotted accents. The background shifts from soft yellow to bright pink in a smooth gradient. Decorative vertical borders with circular motifs frame the sides. Stylised text reads ‘Getting Your OM’s On!’, ‘And Unleash Your Zen Harmonies’, and ‘Mandalas on Monday’. Two Om symbols sit in the lower corners, and the ©BionicBasil® mark appears at the bottom.

Mindful Monday Magic with Melvyn: Colouring Mandalas, Finding Your OM, and Unleashing Zen Harmonies at BionicBasil.com


Supurr greetings, gorgeous furiends

Welcome to another furbulous Monday at BBHQ, and many thanks for joining us as we continue our crystal journey today. This time, we've got a lovely gemstone to share, as we were asked: What is Spirit Quartz good for? 

Crystal of The Week

&

What is Spirit Quartz good for?

Spirit Quartz is a lovely looking stone, usually a candle, aka a long crystal covered in tiny clusters, which make it look like a cactus, and at many shows in the U.K. we've been to, a lot of sellers do call it Cactus Quartz.

It comes in a variety of colours: amethyst, citrine, white/clear quartz or smoky quartz. Though we've never seen a smoky quartz one yet. And it can be a mixture of all the aforementioned, though today's crystal is a combination of amethyst and citrine.
A collage of close‑up photographs of Spirit Quartz crystals in shades of pale purple, lavender, and warm golden brown. The top row shows three smaller images highlighting different angles and colour variations, while the bottom row features two larger clusters with sparkling druzy points and intricate formations. The text ‘Spirit Quartz’ appears in elegant script above, with ‘WWW.BIONICBASIL.COM’ written below.

Our Spirit Quartz at BBHQ is a stunning pale lilac colour on the amethyst side and a deep orangey-yellow on the citrine side. It's a nice size and has lots of larger spikes covered in tiny clusters, we can't remember when the P.A. purrchased it, but it's been sitting on the sideboard in the kitchen for at least a decade or more. We do have a couple of smaller pieces that are like the tip of one of the spikes on this particular piece, although they are in the crystal room at the moment.

A side‑by‑side comparison of the same crystal cluster, with the left photo labelled ‘Amethyst Side’ showing purple points with pale and golden areas, and the right photo labelled ‘Citrine Side’ displaying warm orange‑brown crystal points. Both images highlight the sparkling, textured formations of the cluster, set on a dark countertop with www.bionicbasil.com displayed below.

Let's hop right in and tell mew a little about the gem lore surrounding this interesting crystal. It has all the qualities of regular quartz; see the link above. Though as its name suggests, it is purported to be an exceptionally spiritual stone that has an immense vibration, really high, and aids in meditational journeys such as out of body experiences - OBE - and assists in enhancing clairvoyant and metaphysical gifts, so if these are areas mew are looking to raise, this stone could supposedly be of great benefit.

Melvyn was purrticluarly curious about it, and after an initial inspection, he actually taste-tested it, and his findings were, "Dudes, I know why they call it Cactus Quartz, that's a really prickly crystal!" MOL

A side‑by‑side collage showing a brown, black‑and‑white tabby cat called Melvyn inspecting a reddish‑brown Spirit Quartz cluster. In the left image, Melvyn leans in to sniff the sparkling crystal points, which rise from a pale rough base. In the right image, Melvyn stands on a countertop, looking at the crystal while licking his lips, with www.bionicbasil.com displayed below.

It is also said this stone can encourage a deeper dreaming state, so if mew're looking to engage in dream exploration, keep a piece under your pillow and see what spiritual realms or new dimensions mew can journey to.

We've also read that it can aid in self-forgiveness, and as it's a stone of duality, it can bring balance and harmony, or yin and yang.

Spirit Quartz is also supposedly very effective for increasing heightened psychic awareness as it can apparently raise the vibration of the crown chakra; this is located above the head, and it is also suggested that it can assist with a mind/emotional detox; so if your head is full to bursting aka racing thoughts and won't quiet down, this might be a crystal to sit with and gently explore the reasons why.

We think Spirit Quartz is a meautiful stone that emits a lovely vibration; not only is it visually stunning, but it also has bucket loads going for it. And it can also be used on the third eye chakra, aka the middle of the forehead, and on the solar plexus, located between the ribs and the belly button.

There are other colours which mew can get, some are enhanced to make them more visually pleasing, although that doesn't detract from the purrported properties, and the different colours have different additional qualities. These are lilac, aqua aura, citrine, smoky & flame aura.

So on that note, we'll let mew decide if this is a crystal mew'd like in your collection. We know we wouldn't be without one or two, well purrhaps three at BBHQ!  MOL


Many thanks for this week's question.

 If mew have any crystal questions, email us, DM us or ask us in the comments below.

To check out last times, Crystal of the Week, click the link: Garnet.

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


We hope that mew're ready for 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 forgotten, stop what mew're doing for 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 offer 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 mandalas featured are designed and coloured by us, aka The B Team.


Here's today's mandala.
A detailed symmetrical mandala titled ‘Mandala 122,’ featuring intricate floral and petal‑like geometric patterns radiating from the centre. The design is finely lined and balanced, intended for colouring, with www.bionicbasil.com displayed below.

Right-click the image to save and/or print the mandala.

And here's our finished version... this week, we used a combination of greens, purples and pinks with a splash of royal blue. We really love the finished effect.

A coloured version of Mandala 122 featuring a symmetrical floral design with layered petals and leaves radiating from the centre. The eight outer lotus‑style flowers are shaded in pinks and purples with green leaves, while the inner patterns use soft pink, cream, and purple tones. The artwork is framed with a white border and a black outer frame, with www.bionicbasil.com displayed below.

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


A horizontal page divider featuring bright vertical light‑spectrum lines in vivid colours against a dark background, creating a sleek, modern visual break between sections.

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

A bright pink book cover titled “Colouring With Cats – Getting Your Om On and Unleashing Your Zen Harmonies” features a central mandala with the text “Mandalas on Monday.” The design includes decorative borders, Om symbols, and the note “Book One – featuring 10 beautiful mandalas for you to colour.” The book is by Cathrine Garnell and reflects a relaxing, mindfulness‑themed colouring series from BionicBasil®A light‑blue book cover titled “Colouring With Cats – Getting Your OM On and Unleashing Your Zen Harmonies” features a colourful circular mandala at the centre with the text “Mandalas on Monday.” Pink and white decorative borders frame the design. The cover reads “Book Two – Featuring 30 easy mandalas for you to colour” and credits the author, Cathrine Garnell. The overall style is bright, calming, and mindfulness‑focused.A bright green book cover titled “Colouring With Cats – Getting Your OM On and Unleashing Your Zen Harmonies” features a pink‑and‑purple mandala at the centre with the text “Mandalas on Monday.” Decorative borders frame the design. The cover reads “Book Three – featuring 20 gorgeous mandalas for you to colour” and credits the author, Cathrine Garnell. The overall style is vibrant, calming, and mindfulness‑focused.A purple book cover titled “Colouring With Cats – Getting Your OM’s On and Unleashing Your Zen Harmonics” features a radiant circular mandala at the centre with the text “Mandalas on Monday.” Decorative borders and Om symbols frame the design. The cover reads “Book Four – Featuring 16 of our favourite mandalas for you to colour” and credits the author, Cathrine Garnell. The overall look is vibrant, calming, and mindfulness‑focused.
Colouring With Cats Book IV

[**see our download policy here]


So on that note, we'll say bye for now and look forward to your company on Wednesday when we're back with our Midweek News Round-Up. And if mew missed any posts since Friday, here are the links:


Sunday Selfies with Melvyn

Until then

Keep Calm and Colour OM!

Supurr zen purrs

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team










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

Copyright Notice
© [2026] BionicBasil®. All Rights Reserved. No part of this post, characters, or lore may be reproduced, scraped, or rewritten in any form (including AI) without express written permission
Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com   
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