Welcome to BBHQ home of Basil and The B Team! We share Feline Enrichment tips, hacks and ideas, Cat Wellness, Adventure Stories for all ages, Book Reviews, Blog Hops, Crafting with Cats, Colouring with Cats, Pet Peeves, Product Reviews, Fashion with Felines, Brain Training with Cats and so much more. So drop by often to catch up on all the fun and remember; the world is way better with cats! Purrs from your hosts, Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
We can't believe that November has just popped up; where is the time going? It'll be Catmas in two shakes of a lamb's tail! MOL
And speaking of Catmas we've got to start designing this years festive card, do mew have any idea's for us?
First up in the news
Crystal Healing with Smooch
Smooch really enjoys being around the crystals. He also enjoys a bit of crystal healing too, although finding the right crystals to put on him can take a bit of time, though we did manage to get the purrfect selection the other evening and here are the ones we used: carnelian, apatite, orange calcite, and selenite tumble stones. We'll be sharing more info on these crystals in our upcoming Colouring with Cats posts.
Smooch also managed to find a tiny sun puddle the other day!
It was just a slither, but he loved it.
Next up in the news
Parsley's Snoopervising in The Garden
Parsley was the chief snoopervisor in the BBHQ garden on Tuesday.
We were planting some tulip bulbs, now do be careful as the actual bulbs are toxic to cats. We planted ours in some plant pots which The B Team aren't bothered with.
Also, don't let your kitties near daffodil bulbs either, just to err on the side of caution.
The B Team don't dig any bulbs up at BBHQ; in the 23 years we've lived here no one has ever had a bad experience with a tulip, daffodil or their corresponding bulbs. So we're pretty confident that we can have these flowers in our garden without issue but always do your own research.
For those of mew who live in the UK, most of these bulbs were from B and M, on the 3 for £5 offer. They have some good bulbs at a reasonable price.
Finally this week
Melvyn's Latest Shopping Haul
Melvyn loves getting all dressed up, and mew know how much he loves his bandana shopping!
This is his latest haul. Aren't they really cute?
Which one should he model furst?
The options from the top left in a clockwise direction:
1. Mystical Unicorns
2. Glow Bugs
3. Gingerbread Skelebobs
4. Evil Eye Protection
Let us know in the comments, and he will model it on next week's post.
Also, if mew need your weekly Melvyn video fix, here's his latest TikTok where he is brutally assaulting the Giant Pumpkins catnip kicker toy. What a heathen! MOL
Unboxing The Halloween Feline & Fiction Box
Mew know we had a subscription with Feline and Fiction for ages, and then it lapsed and we forgot about it. Anyhoo last month we saw the Halloween box on Instagram and decided to sign up for 3 more months.
Here's their Halloween Black Cat Box unboxed with the invaluable help of Fudge and Melvyn.
It was filled with a really great selection of goodies; we especially liked the purple bats and the P.A. loved the little bag and oil burner!
We've had a bumper-packed Halloween week; here are the links in case mew missed anything!
Hello and welcome to the crystal room at BBHQ, grab a cushion and get comfy while we answer this week's question.
We got a lovely email from Alli, asking how we cleanse our crystals, so let's dive right in.
How We Cleanse Crystals
There are several ways we cleanse crystals, howeffur we're always mindful of each stone's correct way, as not all methods are suitable for all stones. Hence, it's always advisable to do a little research before any cleansing occurs.
And mew might also be wundering, why do we need to cleanse our crystals at all? Well, that's easy to answer, appurrently some crystals which are used/carried frequently absorb your energy, plus the energy around mew. And at some point that stone which mew carry around all the time and brings mew joy may suddenly stop bringing mew joy and feel heavy, leaving mew feeling suddenly repelled by it, this is because it needs cleansing to return it to its joyful state. It's a simple fix.
There are a few crystals that never need cleansing, see our Crystal of the Week below to learn about one of them.
The main ways we cleanse our crystals are:
Running water, the full moon, sunlight, bury in soil, bury in salt or smudging and in serious cases of heavy-duty cleansing, some or all of the aforementioned.
1. Running Water; hold crystal under running water for as long as necessary. Though, we never use this method for friable crystals such as selenite as they will dissolve.
2. The Full Moon; anytime in the days prior to a full moon, place crystals so they can be recharged by the moon's rays/energy.
3. Sunlight; leave your crystals on a sunny windowsill for a few days, but do be mindful that darker stones may fade under UV light. Amethysts are prone to fading in sunlight.
4. Burying in soil; bury in soil and leave for a few days, while this is a good cleanser we prefer to use a terracotta plant pot for this method as mew'd be surprised how many peeps have furgotton where they buried their crystals in the earth, plus if mew have pets in the garden it's not a good idea just in case of poop or widdle in the soil.
5. Bury in salt; the same as above, pour salt into a large pot, not metal and bury crystals, leave for a few days.
6. Smudging/smudge sticks; smudging is an ancient purractice of using sage or similar herbs wound in a tight bundle held together by twine/string, and burning them while letting the smoke cleanse the crystal. We also buy white sage incense which wurks in a similar fashion. We grow our own sage at BBHQ and make our own smudge sticks, later this year we'll share how we make ours.
We can't think of any more and to be honest, we think that's plenty to go at! MOL
Many thanks for emailing us Alli, and we hope that answered your question.
If mew have any crystal questions; email us, and ask us in the comments below.
Crystal of the Week
See the big, tall yellow ones to the right of Pandora? They are Citrines, and in gemlore are reputed to: cleanse auras, help to detoxify the body, assist with tissue regeneration and also are renowned to heighten creativity. They never need cleansing either, and they are purported to absorb, transmute and dissipate negative energy.
Much smaller Citrines (not the ones in the picture obviously) are an ideal stone for Chakra healing and correspond to the solar plexus chakra point located between the belly button and rib cage.
In ancient and mystical texts translated for the modern era; it suggests that placing crystals on these certain points of the body helps bring balance and harmony into union. In other wurds making mew feel better, whether this is true is entirely in the eyes of the beholder as it were, though many people affirm that this kind of alternative practice is highly beneficial and they feel better for the experience. And there's another school of thought which labels it complete quackery! MOL
We believe at BBHQ if it makes mew smile and feel better, it's a win. Though it's everypawdys purrsonal choice to follow their own road, or as the P.A. says; alwaysbe a shepherd, never a sheep.
So smile, be happy and do what mew love.
Last week we shared a post about amethyst and crystals for stress, so click here to find out more.
Anyhoo, we do hope mew've all have a totally pawesome weekend, and 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.
Right-click image to save and/or print the mandala.
And here's our finished version... this weeks colour vibe is a soft pastel palette, which we think wurks quite well.
Coloured on the iPad and then transformed in Prisma, this time we chose the effect - Broadway.
Don't furget mew can download** our free Colouring with Cats here:- Books One, Two, Three and Four.
So on that note, we'll say bye fur now and hope to see mew on Wednesday when we're back with the Pet Parade Blog Hop and if mew haven't joined in yet, click here to add your blog link!
Until then Keep Calm and Colour OM! Bestest 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 BrainTraining 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 since the lockdown began, check out ourInstagram feedwhere
mew can see our daily diary and exclusive videos that we don't put here on the
blog.
Thanks for dropping by today, we love our Mondays with mew guys and last week we had two healing crystal questions, the furst from our epic pal's Memories of Eric and Flynn, and it is:
Could a natural amethyst crystal cause fluid retention within the body?
This really intrigued the P.A. as she's never read or come across anything in her books, suggesting that amethyst causes fluid build-up within the body.
So she did a little research and apparently on a couple of sites it does say that amethyst can cause fluid retention, stomach bloating, abdomen pain, acne, dizziness, nausea and breast pain, just to name a few 'side-effects'. Also, there was mention of severe allergic reactions, including skin rashes, migraines and possible dermatological issues.
Ok, now mew've got us scared considering the amount of amethyst we have at BBHQ, and if it's that bad we should all in serious trouble!
However there was no real substance or anything to substantiate those claims on the websites offering this information, and so the P.A. dug a little further, and it would appear, though purrlease don't quote us; that there is actually a pharmaceutical drug called Amethyst (check Web MD) which is a hormonal medication, and some of its side-effects are exactly the same as described on those crystal websites and we mean exactly the same.
So to us, it would appear that some peeps with very little knowledge have searched: side-effects of amethyst and the Web MD page has come up, and they have misread and mistakenly used a real medications interactions and got it seriously confused with the properties of amethyst crystals.
And we go back to the old saying; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. It really is, especially when posting information online.
Let's head back to the original question; could a natural amethyst crystal cause fluid retention? The P.A.'s purrsonal opinion is, no it does not, though don't quote her on that. Amethyst is one of the best stones to have, a fantastic all-rounder which if mew're new to crystals is probably one of the very furst stones mew will ever get your mittens on and start your collection with.
Amethyst has many pawsitive attributes, too many to mention today, but if there was only one stone we were allowed to have it would be amethyst.
Fudge highly recommends amethyst crystals too, as demonstrated below; he's purrfectly balanced in his purractice today.
Now, let's move on to our second question this week from our epic pals, TheTabbies of Trout Towne;
What crystals could help with stress?
Oh guys, stress is horrendous and right now we know it's off the charts with most peeps around the wurld. Managing stress is tough too, so here's our top 5 list of crystals that could help reduce stress:
These crystals could help transmute the negative effects of stress. When the P.A. is suffering from acute stress she tries as much as pawsible to use a multi-pronged approach to stress-management, here's her purrsonal stress buster regime; gentle daily exercise such as walking or yoga, breathing exercises - see Smooch below, eating more leafy greens, upping vitamins for a short time only and using diluted lavender or orange essential oils, these scents are very soothing.
The P.A. also finds that making/sewing stuff helps combat the negative effects of stress and supports restoring balance. And most impawtantly, when she's acutely stressed taking extra rest when needed seems to help, sometimes doing nothing and taking a break is the way to go; literally stopping to smell the roses from time to time is an excellent tonic, especially in this digital age.
Guys, we hope we've been able to help today, and if mew have any more crystal related queries, such as: how to cleanse crystals, I'm a libra what's my birthstone or I really like Herkimer diamonds, are they good for crystal healing...etc, let us know in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer them next week.
(disclaimer; we are not health or medical practitioners, these are our own views 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.
Right-click image to save and/or print the mandala.
And here's our finished version... this week we used shades of purple with a splash of green and blue. Plus a tiny bit of pale orange.
Coloured on the iPad and then transformed in Prisma, this time we chose the effect - pomegranate.
Don't furget mew can download** our free Colouring with Cats here:- Books One, Two, Three and Four.
So on that note, we'll say bye fur now and hope to see mew on Wednesday when we're back with the Pet Parade Blog Hop and if mew haven't joined in yet, click here to add your blog link! Until then Keep Calm and Colour OM! Oodles of 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 BrainTraining 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 since the lockdown began, check out ourInstagram feedwhere
mew can see our daily diary and exclusive videos that we don't put here on the
blog.
Don't furget to subscribe to our blog and never miss another post.
