**RERUN** **A FLASHBACK TO 2014 WITH WING COMMANDER BASIL** The Smooch Report - Can I Taste Purrlease?

Welcome to

Monday greetings my epic furriends

This post originally aired way, way, way back on March the 3rd 2014. 

Like wow, that is so incredibly old! MOL 

Anyhoo, we were looking for another post the other day and stumbled across this one, which tells the story of Smooch and his sibling's arrival at the P.A.'s work and thought it might be nice to share again with readers who might not have seen it the first time around.

For all our new readers this is just for context; when the blog first started twelve years ago, I Basil, was the only kitty who really used to be here. My fur-sibs popped along every now and again, but mainly it was just me, myself and I. Not that I was being selfish or anything, it was just the way it was! MOL

So when reading today's flashback, mew will gather that we were in the throes of beginning to expand everyone's airtime, so it wasn't just Basil Time all the time.

Smooch's Origins

As mew will remember from last Friday's post, it was agreed that my fur-siblings get a little more blog time and Smooch in purrticualr was furry adamant that another Smooch Report was needed asap. So to appease my baby brofur before he goes all mental on me and licks me into oblivion, here is another installment of:

The Smooch Report

Many of mew already know Smooch, but fur those that don't here's a little re-cap.

Smoochie was part of a feral furrmily living at my P.A.'s workplace. There was a mummy cat and her 6 kittens. They just appeared one day in May 2011, and the P.A. started to feed them all.  

When they were all old enough, each one in turn, was caught and taken to the vet to be neutered and the mummy cat too, (the P.A. believes in being responsible). Anyway, I digress, so the 6 kittens were called: Tiger Lily, Midnight, Ringo, Baby, Starlight and Smoochie. Mummy cat was called Pixie.

1. Starlight  2. Baby  3. Tiger Lily  4. Pixie  5. Ringo  6. Midnight  7. Smooch

The P.A. spent many hours while she was at work taming this furry horde with the help of bucketloads of Dreamies and long feather wands. She managed to hand-feed all of them, and they liked her so much that they even ate the wormer pills straight from her fingers like they were treats!  (This does not happen at our house, effur!! We get stuff squirted on our necks because we won't eat the pills no matter how they are disguised!!)

Poppy is another feral who's been on site for 15 years

Sadly,  Starlight and Ringo went wandering across the busy main road, and I hate to say this, but they went to the Rainbow Realm - both in less than 2 weeks of each other. The P.A. was so furry furry upset. Then Smooch also tried to cross this road; he made it back, but he'd been hit by a vehicle, and his back right leg was badly broken. Anyhoo, the P.A. and Cat Dad managed to catch him, get a pet carrier and rush him to the vet. His leg was broken so badly that it had to be removed.  

After the operation, he was taken back to the workplace as there was an empty dog run/kennel, and he needed to be kept contained while he healed. Smooch was kept in the run for a few weeks, and the P.A. and Dad socialized him further; he wasn't alone as his other siblings were there all the time, only on the other side of the wire.   

After his leg was healed, the P.A. and Dad brought him home and integrated him into The B Team as they knew if he stayed at their workplace, he'd probably try and cross the road again, and next time, he wouldn't be so lucky.

So that's how Smooch came to live at BBHQ. The other furbabies are still at work and seem happy enough to roam around the gardens and the fields away from the road - thank goodness. The P.A. tells them all the time to: 'Stay off the road'

Anyways, Smooch is the most loving, furriendly, kind and sweet kitty mew could effur meet. He is also furry, furry affectionate, and this is where this week's title comes from because every time I come inside after being out to play, he has to taste me!

Can I Taste Purrlease? 

The other evening, I had just come in from another field excursion and flopped on the kitchen table. Smooch, who only goes out under strict supervision, virtually pounces on me the moment I get in the door, so I thought being on the table would give me a bit of a reprieve. How wrong I was!

The tasting assault began with my back foot

Then it moved up to my neck

On to my head

At this point, I got up - I think my face says it all!

I moved along the table, but Smooch is relentless in his quest for outdoor flavours

I think this expression speaks volumes

Help!

It's not that I mind so much, but it's ALL THE TIME, and I am a ManCat, don't get me wrong, having someone to clean the parts your own tongue can't reach is a huge bonus, but being randomly taste tested after every outdoor excursion is something else. 

I love my baby brofur, but sometimes I wish he'd taste test one of the others instead, howeffur, as I'm the only one who likes to venture out every day, I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon!!! MOL

**2024 Update** 

Pixie, Smooch's mum is still there, she moved in the house with Nanny and Grampaw. 

And there's also Twinkle, and Rupert. Sadly Squeaky, a lovely panfur went to the Rainbow Realm late last month, which we are all really, really sad about, as he would follow the P.A. into the showroom. Poppy, also has gone to Rainbow Ream... 

Anyhoo, we'll be back on Wednesday with more Midweek News, and if mew missed any other posts, here are the links:

The Purrminator ~ Chapter One

The Purrminator ~ Chapter Two

Amber's Latest Book Review

Sunday Selfies with Me, Basil

In the meantime...

Wing Commander Basil

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Mancat Monday at BBHQ with Sunny Smooch and More Fun Facts! **NIGHTTIME RITUALS**

It's Mancat Monday, and mew know what that means.

Today Smooch is here sharing all his uber manlycatness while he's chillaxing in the garden listening to some cat-tastic tunes! 

Doesn't he cut a marvellous specimen of a ruggedly handsome mancat?

We can almost guarantee all the ladycats in the cat blogosphere will be swooning right now over this handsome tripawed pin-up!

Fun Facts About Smooch

 Today we're going to tell mew more fun things about our little tripawed pal, all about his nighttime rituals.

Firstly, Smooch has commandeered the entire catservatory as his bedroom, he doesn't mind Pandora sharing now and again as long as she sleeps in the condo on the scratch-post and she's the only one allowed.  Although in the daytime, Amber does like to lounge in his bed - but don't tell him! MOL

Secondly, Smooch knows when he's ready for bed, and he likes to go to bed anytime between 10:00 and 10:30 pm every night like clockwork. So much so that if the P.A. or dad don't make a move to take him and fluff his pillows, he gets a bit of a huff on.

Thirdly, he has to go to bed with a little snack, so he has a paw-full of Dreamies to munch on before he gets settled in his bed and goes for his main snooze.

Top Secret Intel

For cods sake, don't let on that we told mew this extra snippet; he also likes a bit of brush just before bedtime to keep his fur supurr soft and fluffy with a special brush, but if he ever asks if we told mew this, we will deny all knowledge! MOL

Do mew have a bedtime routine?

We'll see mew on Wednesday when we're back with The Midweek News Round-Up, until then...

Keep calm and chillax like Smooch

Commander Basil and The B Team  

 

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**SMOOCH REVISITED** Smooch Around The Wurld and Today We're Smooching All Offur Port Douglas, Queensland in The Magical Land of OZ with Tuna of Moon as My Pawesome Travelling Companion

Welcome To

Woo Hoo Pawsome Pals

Smooch here, and how are mew doing today?

So dudes and dudettes we're going to be Smooching All Offur The Planet as we Smooch Around the Wurld ~ how much fun, so much fun!

Oh and because The B Team doesn't use conventional means of travel, I'll be using the TTTB aka the Time Travelling Telephone Box to go on my little jolly's, so thank cod I won't have to use an airport as I don't think I'd get through security with all the extra covert hardware I travel with! MOL

Furst though I have to do my travel check list:

Oh and I've already had all my travel vaccinations, as mew neffur know and I always think it's better to have the lot rather than risk getting some foreign lurgy which in turn ruins your jolly's! 

So where are we going today?

Today beautiful furriends we're off to the magical land of Oz, last time I went to Tasmania and it was a little bit fresh so I thought some warmz were needed and I decided the tropics were just the place to go! MOL  And also this week I have the best travel companion effur, Tuna of Moon from the pawesome Tabbies of Trout Towne is joining me fur the adventure of a lifetime.

I got his travel docs sorted, courtesy of my epically epic forging skillz contacts in the foreign office.

... just look at that, Tuna has wurld-wide access with no restrictions - wooo hoooo!

So anyhoo I hopped in the TTTB and teleported to Trout Towne, and thank cod Tuna set some flares off on the beach otherwise I might have landed in the sea! MOL

The TTTB landed on the glistening, white sand with a soft thwump.  I threw the door open - quite literally - and Tuna was causally strolling towards me carrying a small case and a paperbag.

I waved most enthusiastically and gave him a huge hug and paw bump when he reached me. "Dude!" I said. "So great mew could join me on this little jolly today!"

"Smooch, thanks fur the invite!" Tuna beamed, then shook the paper bag. "And I brought a snack selection of No 5's, No 7's and a few No 3's fur the journey so we don't starve!"

[If mew're wundering what a No 5, No 7 and No 3 are, way back in 2016 in our Pirate adventure we had to blow up a kraken and rather than waste the tastiness, we ended up taking it back to BB-HQ and devising a lot of kraken recipes and the Tabbies are our biggest customers in the entire US fur Kraken delicacies, we ship them an order at least once a month]

"Dude that's so epic," I replied grinning and taking one of the deep fried kraken rings and dipping in the wowkapow sauce Tuna offured. "Oh jeez that sauce is just amazing dude!"

He nodded and said, "Dude that hot sauce is the best!" 

His eyes almost bugged out as we entered the TTTB. "Smooch I can't believe I'm actually in the wurld famous TTTB, IT'S HUGE in here..." he looked around the bridge in awe. "Like in my wildest dreams I couldn't of effur imagined the size, mew could get lost in here fur days!"

"Fudge got lost fur an entire week once!" I laughed. "But he's ok now!"  

Then I added. "Would mew like to do the honours and push that red button." I pointed to the control console and grinned wildly.

Tuna gasped in delight and paw-smacked the button and off we popped.

32.9433333333333r seconds later we landed.

We burst out of the door and were greeted by miles and miles of beach and ocean, in fact we'd just come from that exact same scenario but this time we were DOWN-UNDER ~ The most deadliest continent on the planet.

We got out the deck chairs as Tuna is quite partial to a bit of chillaxing; next we got the mini speedboat, the surf board, the brolly set up and I whipped us up a couple of coconutty grasstini's. Tuna tried a bit of snorkelling, but broke the surface of the water in a rather frenzied fashion and said, "Smooch dude, there's a fluffing giant jelly fish down there!" 

"Thank cod it wasn't a shark dude!" I replied and then remembered that up here there were salt water crocs, yep they live in the ocean too!

So all water activities were ceased immediately and we decided at that point to head inland and check out some of the sights.

As mew can see Tuna and I had a blast, we saw a few war memorials which we paid our respects at fur fallen hero's in WWII, as we know it most impawtant to honour those that gave their lives fur us today.  

We saw kangeroos, there was some real vishus burds, the cassowary; apparently a descendent of the dino rapters, and can gut mew with one swipe, although I diverted Tuna so we missed that and we went to see the crocs instead.

Tuna said as we started to pack the TTTB, "Mew know my sisfur Dai$y wants to go shopping somewhere fabulous and my new baby brofur Mack should come on a jolly with mew to give him some Wurld experience dude, he's young and I think it would be great fur mew to show him life outside of Trout Towne!"

"Dude it would be my purrleasure to take Miss Dai$y somewhere epic and also to take young Mack under my paw and take him on a really great adventure and I can't thank mew enough fur joining me on this one today, dude mew're epic!"

Tuna grinned and replied. "Smooch buddy, even though mew only have 3 legs, and we've been to the most dangerous continent in the wurld, I've neffur felt safer, thanks dude mew're the best!"

And sadly that brings us to the end of our OZ experience, we do hoped mew enjoyed seeing the sites and it's time I got Tuna safely back to Trout Towne before the FSG realises he's gone! MOL 

Thanks so much fur joining Tuna and I on our magical OZ adventure and I'll be back before mew know it sharing another far-flung destination so hope mew'll join me then!

Until next time

Keep Calm 

and 

Don't Furget The Bug Spray

Smooch

 

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The BBHQ Midweek News Round-Up ~ Smooch Got A Tick, Parsley's On Pawtrol and Melvyn's Wearing This Weeks Top Pick Bandana **PLUS* This Weeks Top Videos

 Furbulous Greetings Supurr Furiends

Welcome to the BBHQ midweek news round-up!

It's been rather rainy the last few days at BBHQ, and overnight there must have been a bit of a deluge as the Mewton-Clawson Main Street was flooded. A few years ago the council spent months and months digging up the main street to counteract this issue by adding new bigger pipes and the like. And it must have cost a small fortune, yet here we are, and some parts of the main street need waders to cross. So that was a waste of time and resources, but so it goes, at least they tried.

Anyhoo, last week we mentioned that the swallows were still here and that we still hadn't cropped the catnip. We think the swallows have now departed, as we haven't seen them since Sunday, but we'll wait a few more days, just in case they are still bipping about.

And we'd like to show mew the BBHQ 8G interwebs connection! MOL

Seriously though, aren't spiderwebs so meautiful, and even more so when sparkling with raindrops. (Sorry, the picture isn't great, it was quite windy so the focus is out).

And just before we dive into this week's top news, take a look at this dahlia, the colour is just exquisite; a shade of violet-mauve. In fact, I don't think we've ever seen this shade of dahlia before, it was a new one for BBHQ this year.

Isn't it furbulous?

Hopefully, weather permitting, we'll be doing a spot of deadheading this week, as the rain has ruined almost all the flowers now.

Anyhoo, let's look at this week's top headlines.

First up in the news this week

 Smooch Got A Tick

The P.A. noticed that Smooch was walking strangely on his back leg on Friday night, though she couldn't see anything that could be visibly causing it, and then Cat Dad noticed it on Sunday.

Some filthy, little bloodsucking tick was in his fur on the back leg. It had been really gorging itself and had grown that much that it was now visible among the fur. YUCK!   

Luckily, we have a tick-removing tool, so the P.A. got Smooch upside down, while Cat Dad twisted that bloodsucking fiend off him. Though poor Smooch did cry out as it was removed. And then that bloodsucker was despatched by fire into the netherworld. 

Anyhoo, they cleaned and disinfected the area and are now bathing it daily to make sure there's no infection at the wound site.

And yes, we are aware of Lymes disease and other complications, so will be extra vigilant in the coming days.

Next up in the news

 Parsley's On Pawtrol

So as Smooch is out of action as far as the regular BBHQ pawtrols go, Parlsey is taking over his shifts, and here he is taking his job supurr seriously! 

He's a panfur on a one-cat mission, don't mess with The Sauce! MOL

Finally this week

Melvyn's Modelling The Top Bandana Pick

This week, the Bear Necessities Bandana won the voting, and Melvyn really got into the vibe of hiding in the undergrowth, well, behind an indoor plant! MOL

He was a bit slow to start this week, as the weather has gone cold, and he was snoozing in his glamping tent, but once he got warmed up, he clawed it!

Check out Melvyn's videos on:

TikTok

Instagram

YouTube

Which one is your favourite this week? 

Which one should he model next?

Here's the brand new bandana collection for September.

The September collection, in a clockwise direction, starting from the top left:

1. Got A Foxy Feeling

2. Teal Stars

3. Cats, Bats and Ravens

4. Bear Necessities

We'll be sharing the brand new October Collection next week, and Melvyn will model the last of this month's pawesome collection.

 

EXTRA, EXTRA!

Check out this week's top videos:

A Flashback of The B Team To 2018 ~ TikTok

Celestial Basil's Angelversary Video ~ Instagram

Fudge Loves His Unicorn ~ YouTube

We'll be back tomorrow with Part II of our Pirate Tails Revisited and again on Friday, so do join us then, as mew know how much we love your company.

And if mew missed any other posts for the last week, here are the links:

The B Team's Whitby Abbey Selfie

Cats have Problems Too!

Friday Fluffers

Wing Commander Basil & The B Team 

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Graphics created with paid licence www.canva.com