Today is World Oceans Day!

World Oceans Day was officially declared by the United Nations in 2008, to be observed on June 8th of each year. This year's theme is "Oceans of Life".

Discover some surprising reasons we're all connected to the oceans by visiting this interactive Nature Conservancy link. Then leave your own message of hope and see what others have to say here: Messages of Hope.

Your message can be anything, but here are some suggestions from the Nature Conservancy to help get you started: How are you connected to the sea? What do you hope for the future of our oceans? Why do you think it is important to conserve our coasts and waters? What about the ocean inspired you to begin living a greener life?"

To find World Oceans Dayevents in your area, click visit this link: THE OCEAN PROJECT

Thanks for visiting!

Whisker Walk is Today and it's FREE!

SUNDAY, JUNE 6: If you are in the New England area today, be sure to visit Cat Lady Rose and the Angelcat Haven booth at the Whisker Walk event! Rose will be selling tickets for a chance to win a Susan Faye custom portrait of you and your pet, with proceeds benefiting Angelcat Haven!

Whisker Walk is a FREE, fun day for families and their dogs PLUS a dog walk-a-thon fundraiser to benefit animal shelters and rescue groups throughout New England. Held at the Lancaster Fairground (Home of the Bolton Fair) there are 50+ acres for pet owners and animal lovers to walk, visit vendors, see, do and buy PLUS they can lend a paw for the animals shelters and pet rescues they love and support! Even if you can't attend, please consider supporting Rose's Angelcat Haven with a donation or providing a foster home for a cat.

Cat Lady Spotlight: Be Inspired! [Part II]

Cat Lady Rose is the co-founder of Angelcat Haven in Massachusetts. Here is a look at the second of two very creative and inspiring projects that Rose and her husband undertook--hopefully they will inspire you to create some "Kitty Cities" of your own, whether for your own kitty or a whole shelter-full! She tells about the project in her own words: [all photos copyright Rose Gates/Angelcat Haven. Please ask permission if you would like to reproduce or use them in any form]


"Kitty City number two was created for Angelcat Haven Feline Rescue in Plainville, Massachusetts ...and has an undersea theme."

"Initially, it was one big room with 5 windows, but it was divided into two rooms so that there could be a quarantine area for the Leukemia-positive cats. We began by painting all the walls beige and the trim a darker beige."

"Then, two accent walls were painted aqua green. Because it's in a basement, there are 4 different levels to the floor."

"The two lower levels are cement which were painted a dark sand color. The two raised levels are wood, so they were fitted with linoleum that had a sand colored pebble pattern. The climbing shelves are all sea creatures: JAWS, Sea turtle, purple Octopus, Red Crab, Pink Jellyfish, Manatee, Dolphin and Clown fish."

"For both Kitty City constructions, my husband Ron cut pieces of plywood into 2 shapes from templates I drew on cardboard. All of the Kitty City shelf designs were based on a semi circle and a rectangle."

"He affixed them to the walls with angled metal shelf brackets from the hardware store in the location and height I specified. Then, I got to work painting the design on and around the shelf, so that the drawing was integrated with the shelf."


"If anyone would like to build one, and has any questions, I'd be happy to tell them how to do it."


"Angelcat Haven is a rescue group that Angela Frankudakis, some other friends and I formed about four years ago. As volunteers, we saw many cats being turned away from the already overcrowded city-run shelters, and decided there was a need for an additional rescue focusing on cats only. Angelcat Haven is a foster-based rescue, meaning the rescued cats live in foster homes with our volunteers until they are adopted.

Angela, the President of Angelcat Haven often takes in the overflow when we do not have foster homes available. We call her home "The Haven". The rescued cats at The Haven are allowed to free-roam indoors and are only caged if they are ill, recuperating from surgery, moms with kittens, or do not get along with other cats."

Thanks for visiting!

Professional Cats: Spotlight on Terrific Tabby Chester

Speaking of terrific tabbies, today we salute the working cats of the world, in particular, the handsome tuxedo tabby cat Chester.

In recent weeks we have explored cat professions such as library cat, beekeeper, fireplace tester, studio assistant and artist model. But here is a real-life cat profession you've probably never heard of:

Greyhound cat tester.

That's right. Chester of Tucson, Arizona (pictured above), was a professional cat tester for the Arizona Greyhound Rescue during his later years in life. Chester's Cat Lady Jean, a volunteer at the Greyhound Rescue explains:

"He's famous with Arizona Greyhound Rescue because for almost four years he did 'cat testing', which is exposing a newly-rescued muzzled greyhound to a free-roaming cat [under very controlled circumstances]. Some greyhounds have a high prey drive and do not tolerate cats or small dogs, so it's good to get an initial feel. Chester was one of AGR's favorite volunteers. He really did his job well." Thanks to Chester's bravery and his tolerance for greyhounds (having co-habitated with 4 different ones), many rescued greyhounds were able to move on to loving forever homes.

Cat Lady Jean is an equal-opportunity animal lover and currently shares her home with four cats and four dogs, one of which is a rescued greyhound (her fourth "greyt"). She has been a volunteer at the Arizona Greyhound Rescue for eight years.

To find out more about Chester's interesting job, read the last interview he gave before he retired to the great cactus patch in the sky this past autumn: Chester's Interview

Thanks for visiting!

Tabbies are Terrific!

Does your heart belong to a terrific tabby or two? Here are some quick factoids:

"Tabby" does not refer to a breed of cats, but to the particular pattern of markings on any given cat with stripes or spots. In fact, quite a few recognized breeds include the tabby markings, including Maine Coon, Norwegian Forest Cat, Siberian, Scottish Fold, Rex, Ragdoll, Manx and Persian.

There are quite a few variations of the "tabby" pattern with exotic names like "agouti (ticked)", rosetted", "mackerel", "marbled", "spotted", "patched" and "classic".

Tabbies also come in many color variations: brown, blue, red (also known as orange or ginger), cream or silver. For more information, here is a great information page with photos and pictures of the many variations of the beloved tabby cat: STRIPED, SPOTTED, AND TICKED CATS


Introducing my newest design, "tabby cat mom" now available online at my Cafepress shop! It features Tina Tabby and her kitten Tiny Tim. You'll find it on tees, totes, note cards, magnets, mugs, journals, keepsake boxes, pins, pillows, and more!
























While you are there, check out my other brand new designs, also now available on Cafepress:

Happy Dunking!! Tomorrow is National Doughnut Day

It's time for tea...and Cat Lady Phoebe and the triplets are craving doughnuts, probably because tomorrow is National Doughnut Day! Here is a reprint of last year's article about this auspicious occasion:

Tomorrow is Salvation Army Doughnut Day.
Observed on the first Friday and Saturday of June, Doughnut Day was established in 1938 to honor the work of Salvation Army volunteers who prepared doughnuts for thousands of soldiers in World War I.

Here is the original recipe for enough doughnuts to feed an army, reprinted from the Salvation Army website:

Salvation Army Doughboy Doughnut

7-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup lard
8 eggs
3 large cans evaporated milk
3 large cans water
18 cups flour
18 teaspoons baking powder
7-1/2 teaspoons salt
8 teaspoons nutmeg

Cream sugar and lard together, beat eggs, add evaporated milk and water. Add liquid to creamed mixture. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg in large sieve and sift into other mixture. Add enough flour to make e stiff dough. Roll and cut. Five pounds of lard are required to fry the doughnuts. Yield: approximately 250 doughnuts

Happy dunking!


The purrfect mug for dunking doughnuts!

This ceramic mug features my whimsical artwork and a large, easy-grip handle. Treat yourself or give as a gift to someone special.

• Measures 3.75" tall, 3" diameter
• Dishwasher and microwave safe

You will find dozens of Cat Lady mugs available at my Cafepress shop: Susan Faye Mugs

Catnip Chronicles

There is still one day left to make your voice heard in The 365 Cat Ladies Very Scientific Poll. So far it appears that 63 percent of those responding find that catnip results in "wildly wacky tomfoolery" in kitty dearest, while only 4 percent have a cat that has no reaction to catnip whatsoever... You'll find the poll at the top of the right-hand column of this blog.

In a related story, Cat Lady Rose and her Royals were the big winners in our Catnip Toy Giveaway on Monday. Rose describes herself as the "single mother of 3 felines, Emily, Brutus and Marigold. We are Royal, and are defined by The Arts, Fine Wine, Gourmet Food, Exotic Travels and Good Company, like You, Our Loyal Subjects." Recently Brutus has been under the weather and would appreciate any well-wishing and positive healing energy that could be sent his way...

Here are Rose's kind comments about the new catnip toys: "These are the 'purrfect' size to be drooled over, as my eldest Emily is known to do! While I love the orange kitty, my favorite saying is 'kooky kitty' - simply because I can imagine myself using that phrase (tyvm, by the way!) They are all adorable!"

Thanks for participating Rose, and be sure to let me know which design you would like!