March 2nd, 2018

Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children

Number 159

Cats

 

Hello Everyone

 

 

So l am writing my blog post this week as a blizzard swirls around my lighthouse.

 

lf you have been ‘snowverwhelmed’ this week and you are snowbound and bored, don’t forget there are plenty of boredom busters on my blog to give you ideas for something to do.

 

lt is very cold at the moment too, isn’t it?

 

To make things worse, this week, my nephews Bill and Bob have been suffering from a cold and Auntie Alice went to their house to look after them while their mum had to go out.

 

She was happy to walk round there because the snow made everything look so pretty.  

 

She thought she would tell them some interesting stories to keep them amused. So she took with her a book of hers called ‘Strange but True Cat Stories’.

 

lt is nice to have stories read to you when you are feeling ill, isn’t it?

 

Her book is very old, but interesting nonetheless…

 

 

l expect you would like to hear about some of the stories too.

 

 

Once somebody found a green kitten and couldn’t understand why it was such and unusual colour.

 

They found that it had wandered away from its mother who was living in an attic with her litter of kittens.

 

The mother had made a comfortable little ‘nest’ for them all to live in the attic. She was bringing them food regularly but their only source of drinking water was the water tank situated in that loft.

 

This tank was made from copper and the traces of metal in the water had accumulated in the kittens’ bodies and tinged their fur green.

 

 

There are many stories of cats that decide they don’t like the new house their humans move to, and make journeys over many miles to go back to their old neighbourhood, climbing walls and crossing busy roads on the way.

 

 

There are some cats that like riding on buses. They even know to go to a bus stop to wait for the bus to come along. They usually like to sit on the same seat and look out of the window. The bus companies are very kind and don’t charge the cats to travel. Actually cats don’t have pockets to keep money in anyway!

 

 

Cats have a sense of time, knowing which day of the week to meet their humans carrying the shopping home that contains treats for them.

 

 

They have a sense of number and know how many cat treats they are allowed each day – and if they have been short-changed!

 

 

Some cats turn to being thieves and specifically target washing lines and shoes left outside on door steps. They like to amass a collection of people’s clothes that they leave in a pile in their own house.

 

This behaviour comes from their hunting instincts. They are just pursuing clothes instead of mice.

 

 

Many years ago, there was a little kitten warming itself by the fire. A hot coal spat out of the fire onto the kitten. lts mother picked the kitten up and ran down the street with it in her mouth.

 

She knew to go to a nearby horse drinking trough which was full of water. There she dunked the kitten in the water to cool it down and bathe its injury.

 

 

Burmese cats have a kink in their tail, and legend has it that princesses used to keep their rings on their cat’s tail while they bathed.

 

 

Cats have long been known for their psychic abilities and very acute senses. They know when an earthquake or bad storm is coming and can alert their human companions to this fact. They know when their humans are going to return home unexpectedly and be waiting for them.

 

 

lt is said that very clever cats called ‘familiars’ have magical powers and can transport their spirits to another place; usually at night. Witches are thought to have cats that can do this.

 

 

You may also like to know the following facts about cats.

 

Cats can control people. According to a study conducted by the University of Sussex, cats adapt their purrs and meows to get their humans to take action, like for example, get their dinner for them. They get to realize which vocal tones have the desired effect on their human companions.

 

 

Cats purr when they are happy, but purr when they are in pain too. The vibration of the purring may help to soothe their pain.

 

 

Cats bump their nose on you to say hello, but they will only do this if they trust you because a nose is a venerable part of the body.

 

 

lf they narrow their eyes when they look at you, it shows that they like you.

 

 

Cats sweat through their paws when they are hot. ln hot weather they may need extra water to drink. They may also need sun tan lotion put on their ears – especially if they are a light colour. You can ask your vet about this.

 

 

The oldest cat, a tortoiseshell called Poppy died at the age of 24 on 11^th June 2014; she lived in Bournemouth.

 

 

Do you know any weird or wonderful cat stories?

 

 

Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

 

lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.

 

Thank you!

 

And see you again next Fun Friday!

 

Love and kisses

 

Salty Sam

www.christina-sinclair.com

 

 

 

Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week

 

Bob: Which cats like to go bowling?

 

Bill: l don’t know. Which cats like to go bowling!

 

Bob: Alley cats!

 

 

Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.

Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com

 

Picture Gallery

 

Let your cats play

 

But make sure that they behave themselves

 

Siamese cats have blue eyes – most cats have yellow or green

 

Black cats bring good luck when they cross your path

 

 

     THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK

 

Bill and Bob have been helping me with my blog and have made up another one of their quizzes for you this week. As you know they love cartoons, so they decided to make their quiz all about cats from some of their favourite programmes and books.

 

 

It is another crossword. Do you know these famous cats from television?

 

ACROSS

1. The cat that features at the beginning of the films with Inspector Clouseau

 

DOWN

1. Lives in New York and is the boss of a gang of alley cats
2. Postman Pat’s cat
3. The cat that attacked Neville’s ear
4. A noisy lion
5. Always chasing Jerry
6. Winnie the Pooh’s stripy friend

 

159. Newsdesk Crossword – Cats from Television

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I have told you before, one of the things that Auntie Alice does when she is not knitting or looking after a house full of visiting children, is volunteering her time at the Rocky Bay Wildlife Hospital.

 

 

Next to the hospital is an animal rescue centre, and it is from here Auntie Alice gets the dogs and cats that are lucky enough to come and live with her.

They have all been out in her garden playing in the snow this week.

Some of the animals aren’t babies, they are full grown and Auntie Alice is happy to take home these animals because sometimes puppies and kittens can be very destructive.

Puppies chew everything and kittens scratch everything and you must be prepared to have your home damaged if you take home a new puppy or kitten.

One such cat that Auntie Alice took home with her was a ginger tom cat that the children named Ginger Biscuit. She is very partial to a ginger biscuit with her afternoon cup of tea; and Ginger Biscuit is very partial to sitting on Auntie Alice’s lap when she is having it!

After a while his name was shortened to Biscuit.

 

 

Auntie Alice has made a little Biscuit for you to have too, if you would like one.

 

I must say it really is a good likeness!

 

 

NEWSDESK MINIMAKE

A FELT CAT

 

1. Cut two sides out of flesh-coloured felt flipping the pattern over the second time you cut a side out.
2. Cut a strip of flesh-coloured felt 30cm/12 inches long by 2cm/¾ inch wide and another one 10cm/4 inches long by 2cm/¾ inch wide.
3. Embroider any features you would like to have such as face, whiskers and marking each side using 2 strands embroidery thread.
4. Over-sew the longer strip of felt to one side of the cat from the outside corner of the front leg to the outside corner of the back leg wrong sides together.
5. Sew the shorter strip to the soles, inner legs and base of the tummy.
6. Tuck the ends under and sew across.
7. Sew the other side onto the strip in the same way – it is really important to match the sides up well otherwise the cat will become twisted – this is not easy so take a lot of care.
8. Stuff just before you seal up the last side – but don’t overstuff otherwise the cat will not have a flat base on which to stand up.
9. You can use a bottle top for a cat bowl.

 

 

 

*It is really important to sew the second side on to match the first – it may help to put a pin at the tip of the ears and sides of the neck as you line up the second side so that it doesn’t slip as you start sewing – if things go wrong, you can undo your sewing and start again.

*This project is not for a sewing newbie – if you think that it will be too difficult for you, you could make a cat brooch instead. Just sew the two sides together with a tiny amount of stuffing between and then sew a brooch pin on the back. Don’t forget to embroider on all the features before you construct the brooch.

*If you would prefer to have a black or white cat then of course this is possible by just choosing different coloured felt to make you cat out of. Biscuit is very friendly; he may well love to have some friends. 

 

 

lf you have got wild animals and birds in your garden, please try to give them some food and water as this bad weather continues if you can.

They will be very grateful. 

 

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Quiz Quick

 

What do these phrases mean?

 

1. The cat’s whiskers
2. To let the cat out of the bag
3. To be like a cat on hot bricks
4. To put the cat amongst the pigeons
5. To be raining cats and dogs
6. When the cat’s away the mice will play
7. There is not enough room to swing a cat

 

 

 

 

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lt’s the Weekend!

 

 

HOW TO MAKE A CATNlP MOUSE

 

This is pattern for a big, soft mouse for your cat to cuddle.

 

 

If you wrap it up to give as a present for Christmas, don’t put it under the tree before Christmas Day; your cat won’t wait to open this present because he/she will smell it and open it before time!

Auntie Alice is always making toy mice because Biscuit is always losing them in the garden. Luckily, however, Auntie Alice does grow catnip in her flower beds so she always has a ready supply to use. 

1. Cut out two sides (flip the pattern over to cut the second piece) and one base out of felt – you can choose to make a mouse of one colour or cut panels of different colours.
2. Blanket stitch along the back of the mouse (starting at the nose) until 1cm/½ inch from the end of the seam – remove the needle from the thread and thread the needle on to a new length of thread.
3. Blanket stitch along the base working from the nose to the tail on each side and both times remove the needle from the thread 1cm/½ inch before the end of the seam.
4. Make a small sachet and fill it with dried catnip.
5. Insert the sachet into the mouse amongst some toy stuffing.
6. Cut a length of dk yarn 60cm/24 inches and make 20 chains using a medium sized crochet needle then neaten one end.
7. Continue to sew up the back of the mouse inserting the other end of the tail as you do so – secure well.
8. Embroider on a nose, whiskers, eyes and ears – don’t worry if this doesn’t look ever so neat your cat will still love his/her present anyway.

 

 

Make sure your stitches are neat and close together and use strong thread – this mouse will need to withstand a lot of rough handling (or pawing! )

 

 

Don’t sew on sequins or beads or anything that your cat could easily swallow.

 

 

 

 

Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.

It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.

Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.

©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015

 

 

On seeing this green cat in Bulgaria people thought it has been vandalised

but it turned out that it has been sleeping in some paint and coloured itself!

 

 

Answers to the News Desk Quiz

 

B

T

A

I

N

R

G

J

D

A

G

T

H

E

P

I

N

K

P

A

N

T

H

E

R

O

S

T

R

O

R

P

S

A

M

C

A

A

T

 

 

 

 

Quick Quiz Answers

 

1. The cat’s whiskers
2. To let the cat out of the bag
3. To be like a cat on hot bricks
4. To put the cat amongst the pigeons
5. To be raining cats and dogs
6. When the cat’s away the mice will play
7. There is not enough room to swing a cat

 

1. To be better than anyone else
2. To tell a secret – usually by accident
3. To be extremely nervous and worried
4. To say something that causes trouble and usually upsets people
5. To be raining heavily
6. People won’t work when their boss isn’t around to watch them – or children will play around when the teacher leaves the classroom!
7. A lot of people say that this refers to a cat of nine tails which is a kind of whip – others say that it does indeed refer to a real cat.

 

 

This is a cat of nine tails which was a kind of whip

 

The men who were being whipped were tied up

This is built for the purpose – it is called a whipping frame

 

 

Give me a high five!

 

For an Embroidery Stitches Chart

Check out Blog Post 3

 

And if you love cats, you must see my cat picture collection at:-

 

https://uk.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/cats/