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 had a bit of a technical accident this week, the P.A. was working on the Catmas Header banner for the blog, and she'd just finished when she had the bright idea to resize it to use on our other social media.
Anyhoo, she accidentally resized the original picture, instead of resizing it as a new template as she would normally do. Needless to say, she completely fluffed it up along with all the other banners, and when she tried to reverse the action back to the blog header size, it had completely messed up all the graphics, shrinking them and creating extra hours of work to try and fix it.
Plus, to add insult to the fluff up, for some reason she hadn't downloaded the Catmas banner after she had originally completed it. Mew can imagine the P.A.'s absolute horror after all those hours of work and then having to do it all again.
And the moral of the story is, always resize as a new template! MOL
And that fluff-up led to another total disaster, as this years Crafting with Cats Catmas Special has now run out of time. We were hoping to post something tomorrow, but the time gods are sadly against us this season.
But the good news is this, mew can see all our previous Catmas Crafting Specials here:
It was full of fab stuff, plus Amber got a new book to review, and mew know how much that will purrlease her!
Next up in the news
Pandora's Bed Gets Moved
The sitting room had a pre-Catmas deep clean last week, and Pandora's favourite bed was moved from in front of the patio doors next to the radiator while the weather has been supurr frosty.
The jury is still out on whether she's fully accepted the swap, but she seems to like it when the radiator is on! MOL
What do mew think if your pawrents move your bed?
And finally this week
Melvyn's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick
The Festive Unicorns bandana won by a majority on the last post, so here's Melvyn in all his modelling glory! MOL
Melvyn's usual modelling gig was disrupted again by Fudge, who seems to know Melvyn's modelling schedule now. Where he used to be snoozing when we were videoing, he now wants to be part of it, so in the new year, we'll get his contract sorted, and he can get a bit more catwalk time in.
Check out this week's final catwalk videos:
Wearing the Festive Unicorns bandana on YouTube featuring a really energetic runandon Instagram where Melvyn's got his sedate stride happening.
The options from the top left in a clockwise direction:
1. Catmas Cats
2. Festive Unicorns
3. Candy Canes
4. Jingle Yowl the Way
5. New Years Pawty
Let us know in the comments which one should be the top pick for next week's post, or should he model both?
That's us done for today. Amber will beback on Fridaywith another fab book just for mew and if mew missed Monday's and Tuesday's posts, catch up on all the Crafting with Cats fun by using the links at the top of the page.
In the meantime
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!
Graphics created with paid licencewww.canva.com
Music used under www.soundstripe.com license. Artist: Mikey Geiger - Track: A Happy Lil Jingle For Thee
Great news, the internet connection is now working normally, and we discovered the problem. Apparently, some lovely people decided to steal the copper wire from the local exchange.
Seriously mew couldn't write it!
This is not the first this has happened locally. A village about 3 miles away had the same thing happen twice in recent months, and so we think it will probably happen again now it's fixed.
What the fluff is wrong with people? We know copper prices are good right now but stealing the copper from telephone exchanges and plunging entire rural communities into a blackout scenario is just beyond selfish; we have no words.
In fact, we were watching a YouTube video short only a couple of weeks ago, and the same thing is happening in Australia. The thief blew up a small substation while trying to nick off with the copper - what a total flumpit.
First up in the news
What Did We Think To The Catnap Cave Cat Bed?
A couple of weeks ago, the pawesome peeps from:www.catnapcave.com contacted us to see if we'd like to review** one of their handmade felted cat caves, and we were truly delighted as we've often seen these gorgeous cat beds and wondered what it would be like to have a bit of a catnap in one!
Anyhoo, we took delivery on Friday and fell in love with it immediately.
Smooch has since taken full possession of it, and it is now in the catservatory, although we have spied both Melvyn and Fudge sneaking in for a daytime snooze.
The Catnap Cat Cave is very well made, and fully hand-washable. Mew just reshape while damp.
Being made from 100% New Zealand organic merino wool it is really snuggly and warm which in this freezing weather we are experiencing is really great, and for the summer it is breathable so helps to regulate temperature; there's nothing quite like natural fibres.
Our experience with the Catnap Cave is unequivocally pawsitive, it's a supurr snuggly cat bed, and we think every cat should have one! MOL
If mew'd like to get your mittens on one of these pawesome cat caves, there's 29% off (as per the date of this post), and they come in three colours; the lovely soft grey which we have, a solid black and white+grey.
If you're looking for a gift for Catmas or another occasion, this would be TOP PAW, or as we like to say at BBHQ, EPICALLY EPIC!
We know mew won't be disappointed.
Very many thanks to the lovely peeps at www.catnapcave.com for allowing us to experience one of their catnap caves; we really do love it.
**FYI: Even though we were given this item/s free of charge for a
review, our review is completely honest and reflects our own experience with
the product/s
Next up in the news
The Monthly Meeting
Fudge, Melvyn, Pandora and Parsley were in attendance, as Amber was sleeping and Smooch was snacking.
The minutes included the following points:
What time second and third breakfast should be served.
Who's going to be responsible for this year's Catmas Decorations.
Who's in charge of ordering treats, as stocks are running low.
What is the best time for nighttime zoomies, a ballot is in place to vote on the optimal time.
and lastly,
Who ate all the fresh tuna? An investigation is pending.
And finally this week
Chaos on The Catwalk
Melvyn's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick
It was a draw between the Catmas Cats and Candy Cane's bandanas, so he decided that both would feature today.
Melvyn's usual modelling gig was thoroughly disrupted this week; just take a look at the chaos on the catwalk as he tries to strut his stuff. He even had a little meltdown - poor Melvyn!
The Catwalk Chaos video:click here to watch direct on Youtube and see Smooch get rolled!
Plus he's fired Fudge, as the ginger ninja on his first run up the catwalk got distracted by snacks - oh dear.
The options from the top left in a clockwise direction:
1. Catmas Cats
2. Festive Unicorns
3. Candy Canes
4. Jingle Yowl the Way
5. New Years Pawty
Let us know in the comments which one should be the top pick, and Melvyn will model it on next week's post.
That's us done for today. Amber will beback on Fridaywith another fab book just for mew and if mew missed Monday's post click here to catch up on Crafting with Cats, where we are making some very cute festive catnip toys.
And here's a sneak peek for next week's news; we're unboxing the Catmas Feline and Fiction Subscription box. Check out the Halloween box here.
In the meantime
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!
Graphics created with paid licencewww.canva.com
Music used under www.soundstripe.com license. Artist: Mikey Geiger - Track: A Happy Lil Jingle For Thee
The internet issue is still not solved, and if mew missed any previous updates, click here to catch up. BT have sent out emails to say the fault is repaired however after several speed tests we are stills stuck at 12.5 download and 1.63 upload which is absolutely dire, when we should have around 70+ mbps.
Therefore we will endeavour to keep calm and carry on as best we can until it's fixed properly.
First up in the news
Parsley's Hissed Off As The Catmint Was Pruned
In between the rain, and let me tell mew the rain has been endless the last few weeks, the P.A. has been trying to do a bit of a clean up in the garden before the frosts come.
One of the jobs is pruning the catmint which is planted in a few of the mill wheel centres, as it tends to get really straggly, anyhoo Parsley appeared after this one had just been scalped and needless to say his was pretty hissed off as he was after a little bit of the green stuff! MOL
Next up in the news
Smooch Goes Glamping in Melvyn's Tent
The tent is Melvyn's favourite snooze spot and the P.A. often finds him fast asleep in it usually first thing in the mornings. And nothing will wake him as he's just so comfy, in fact he's so soundly asleep that he can miss breakfast, either that or he's just not a morning purrson!
This supurr snuggle spot is the reason he's so miffed in the next story.
Smooch snuck in after Melvyn had got out and soaked up all the warms left behind; what a smart dude!
And finally this week
Melvyn's Miffed!
Melvyn's Fudge's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick
Melvyn was late for this week's modelling session, so Fudge stepped in at the last minute, and we'd just done the catwalk run when Melvyn appeared. He'd only just gotten out of bed. #OOPS!
Anyhoo, Melvyn was pretty miffed, as the modelling gig is all his. So we came to an amicable agreement and he said he'd model a festive snowman bandana from last year just to get the Catmas vibes happening.
Check out their latest catwalk videos on Instagram :
We think they both did a furrbulous job; it's nice to see how they both have a different catwalk style.
And here's a bit of extra gossip, Melvyn was seen adding an alarm clock to his Catmas letter to Santa Paws! MOL
Which one should he model next?
This is Melvyn's latest shopping haul from our epic pal Eric at Eric's Empawrium. If mew like any of them do stop by his Etsy store, and we have a discount code. See the left-hand sidebar for details.
The options from the top left in a clockwise direction:
1. Catmas Cats
2. Festive Unicorns
3. Candy Canes
4. Jingle Yowl the Way
5. New Years Pawty
Let us know in the comments which one should be the top pick, and Melvyn will model it on next week's post
We are running all our previous Catmas Craft posts throughout December so keep a lookout for those in the coming weeks. We are also just planning this year's Catmas craft post and can't decide between a Festive Gingerbread House or a Catmas Igloo Nightclub; what do mew think we should make? Let us know in the comments.
In the meantime
Epic purrs
Wing Commander Basil & The B Team
Don't furget to subscribe and never miss another post!