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'll be doing the draw for the winner of Parsley's Birthday Giveaway after 6pm this evening, mew've got until 5pm to leave a comment if mew haven't already, and we'll announce the winner on Sunday's post.
First up in the news this week
A Telephone Box Update
Finally, we have another update on The Time Travelling Telephone Box. Mew may remember last time, we mended the door and it had received a second undercoat.
This is after one coat of the red gloss, doesn't it look fabulous?
We are just waiting for another purrfect painting day to do the final coat, as it can't be too windy or it'll get covered in silver birch seeds!
We've also got to find the right shade of gold enamel paint to do the four crowns around the top.
But the good news is, we're almost there! MOL
Next up in the news
Smooch and Pandora Bipping Around The Garden
Smooch and Pandora spend the most time of all The B Team Cats in the garden.
Mew may remember a few weeks ago when Melvyn's latest order of bandanas arrived at BBHQ, and we asked mew to vote on the order he should wear them.
This week, he's modelling the #4 selection called Good Vibes, mew can check out his previous bandana photos here.
Check out his latest modelling video on Instagram, and watch him really work the camera.
Also if mew're in the market for a new bandana, visit Eric's Empawrium at Etsy, mew can click the link in the left sidebar, and use our Ambassador discount code to get 15% off any purrchase: Bionic15
>^.^<
**Check Out Your Cats September Horoscope**
A rather fun story appeared from www.dailypaws.com in our news feed the other day, which was the September horoscope for air sign cats, anyhoo, we couldn't resist going to check it out and found the links for all the star signs too.
So if mew love your astrology, *click here to read what September holds in store for mew.
*This is not an affiliate link*
That's us done for today, we will beback on Fridaywith a special Angelvesary post, and if mew missed Monday's Cats Hazards post click here to catch up, and Friday Fluffers will be here on Caturday.
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!
Apologies for being a day late with the news this week, we ran out of time on Tuesday and then on Wednesday we got sidetracked with making a new banner for today's post and then that led to a new updated blog header, and so here we are on Thursday! MOL
It has been rather warm this week at BBHQ, we don't have a hosepipe ban yet which is good, but sadly there's no rain forecast for another nine days, and the temperatures are expected to hit 31C at the weekend, so the outlook for the next few days is:
Scorchio, scorchio and more scorchio.
This has been the hottest, driest summer at BBHQ for a number of years, climate change maybe, or just the earth's natural cycle? But then we've had summers that are a complete washout for weeks on end, and no one says that's climate change. We think the powers that be use these terminologies and f.e.a.r. culture to lever the masses into doing their bidding, which is really sad.
Also what is really sad, is the energy companies who are absolutely crippling the world, and what no one has addressed yet is the fact that businesses can't raise prices to cover the increasing energy costs as customers will dry up, and if businesses do try to pass the cost on to the customer, customers won't go back because they won't be able to afford it. And if there are no customers, there is no business, and then the entire consumer market collapses.
Either way, everyone is screwed, and no government is doing anything about regulating these goliaths, they're just making them more powerful.
So what we want to know is, how the world economy will continue to function if the energy companies are allowed to decimate every sector of modern life due to unprecedented price hikes that will eventually be too much to pay.
Wouldn't it be better to leave it as it is when people can pay, rather than raising prices to a point where the masses can't pay and then what?
What an absolute fluffing mess!
Mew know we sometimes wonder about these people in power, and what they actually do, as most seem completely inept about real life, business and the way the cogs in the world machine turn. We pray that they get enlightenment before it's too late, and the world is broken beyond repair.
Welcome back to the Dark Ages!
First up in the news this week
A Telephone Box Update
Woo hoo! We have news on the Time Travelling Telephone Box. It has finally had a second undercoat, and the lower door repair has worked out a treat.
We're hoping to get the furst gloss coat on next week, it may need three gloss coats, but we'll see how it looks after two. We just have to say that we're really happy it's starting to look epic again, as it was looking rather sad and unloved.
Next up in the news
Top Cat Names according to The Scotsman newspaper.
We were flicking through our news feed a few weeks ago and came across this article, citing the most popular cat names in the U.K. at the moment.
What struck us was the first name on the list which was Luna, and funnily enough, that's what the P.A. originally called Smooch before she found out he was a boy! MOL
Check out the list to see if your name is there, none of ours are, so our Monica's are very unpopular!
And it would seem that the Funky Cats bandana won the vote, so here is BBHQ's top model wearing the top pick, and doesn't he look epic?
Next week he'll be modelling another one, so stay tuned for that.
Check out TikTok and watch Melvyn strut his stuff on the catwalk!
We'll be back next week with some more Q&A, so leave us a question in the comments.
That's us done for today, we will beback on Fridaywith some more fab fluffers just for mew, and if mew missed Monday's post click here to catch up on a re-run of one of our Cat Hazards posts talking about the dangers about candles and air fresheners.
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!
We always called her Beautiful Binky, rest in peace special girl and know that mew will never be furgotten.
Next up in the news
The Time Travelling Telephone Box Stalls
Mew may remember on last week's news that we were prepping our K6 Telephone Kiosk, and then on Sunday's post we mentioned that it had indeed got its fresh undercoat on, and this is what it looks like currently.
The P.A. didn't tape the windows off, as dad said she'd still be there at Catmas! MOL So only the glass telephone signs in the top were taped off.
Not wanting to get any paint accidentally smeared on the glass, she found a special brush in the shed; it's a round one that tapers to a point and enables easier painting of windows, moreso than a regular square or flat brush.
Anyhoo, we were waiting on the new tin of red gloss, as the new red colour only comes in a tiny 750ml tin, which goes absolutely nowhere. So the new tin of gloss was late, and then the weather turned epically scorchio on Friday and over the weekend making it impossible to paint outside, not only due to heatstroke but also because the paint won't go on properly.
Plus the weather apparently isn't going to cool down until the middle of next week, so all outdoor painting activities will be suspended until then due to BBHQ Health and Safety protocols.
But mew may also be wondering why our kiosk is white inside. Normally they are painted red, but ours has a mood light in it which changes colour all night, the P.A. calls it a disco for one, and with a red interior mew couldn't see the colours so brightly, and that's why our kiosk is white. She did want to hang a mirrored disco ball in there too, but she thought it might be a bit too much! MOL
Finally this week
Stay Cool with Smooch - Top Tip to Beat The Heat
As it's been scorchio at BBHQ, outside time has been heavily restricted and during the day we keep all the blinds closed and widows closed on the hottest side of the barn.
We do have fans running to keep the air circulating, especially upstairs. Luckily downstairs remains relatively cool no matter how hot it gets outside, although we do close the catservatory off from the main house as that gets like a sauna.
Plus we have a couple of humidifiers running to keep the air more comfortable.
Smooch loves Fudge's Frozen Tuna Hack
**ALWAYS USE LOW SODIUM TUNA**
If mew have any questions or suggestions for us, about anything, ask or suggest away and we'll answer on next week's post.
Plus we'll also answer any questions left in the comments over the last few days in this section too.
Eastside Cats said last week: I've always thought the phone boxes were made of metal!
Yes, they are made of metal, but the K6 has a teak door with a cast iron insert for the windows. Ours still has the original door, even though is a little raggy at the bottom, but it'll be all ok with a bit of filler! MOL
Here are some other fun K6 Kiosk facts:
They are 8ft 3" or 2.4m tall.
They are 3ft or 0.92cm wide.
They weigh three-quarters of a ton or 762 KG, so mew wouldn't want one on your big toe! MOL
This website has some really interesting history and technical data about the K6 and it explains about the different crowns that were used. The BBHQ kiosk has the 1936-style Tudor crown.
15andMeowingsuggested last week that the telephone box should be painted blue like the Tardis.
Here's the story; the P.A. wanted a proper Police Box aka Tardis for years to put in the garden at BBHQ, but sadly they were almost impossible to get. The original Tardis police boxes were only built between 1928 and 1937 and many remained in situ around the U.K. some until as late as the 1990s.
The P.A. remembers seeing a couple of them in Nottingham's Market Square when she was growing up and then one day they just vanished.
There's also a map of existing police boxes, a few originals and a few replicas dotted around the U.K. which can be visited today.
Anyhoo, she couldn't get a real Tardis, so she got a telephone box instead, and yes she has thought of painting it blue on occasion, but then she'd had to paint all the red doors and the vintage wine pump blue to match, and she really likes the red! MOL
But the strange thing is, our kiosk has been blue at some point during its life, it's also been green, and also white. How do we know this? During the sanding and removal of the old flaky paint, mew could see clear evidence of the different colours it has been, well it is over 80 years old, so we're not surprised that it's been different colours.
One thing we'd love to know is where it stood originally in the U.K.? But sadly, there's no way of ever finding that out.
That's us done for today, we will be back tomorrow with a special Top Tips post and againon Fridaywith a sponsored post sharing some epic custom goodies, and if mew missed Monday's post click hereto catch up on the very last Brain Training post of the current season, and get all the latest puzzles and a fun word search.
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!
