Gratuitous …… Giveaway!

Is that title tautologous? Answers please ….! Gratuitous here does not mean unnecessary, uncalled for or unwarranted, but FREE OF CHARGE! 

But first we have gratuitous gorgeousness (me!)

You can see I am keeping a strong hold on my back paw, as earlier I was scaredified by an inappropriate digit being laid on it in a furtive way! Now I have to be alert! In fact I think we all need to be lertful for stray fingers and pokey things! Editor’s note: All I did was touch his beauteous little paw and he went into a frenetic frenzy of freakiness! He now is keeping a firm grip on his paw and it’s within view at all times!

Gratuitous Gifts - We have been the happy recipients of quite a few tangible things of late i.e. things that have arrived by snail mail. We won the Silly Saturday Caption contest over at The Teacher’s Pets and got a whole bunch of lovely goodies :)

 Thank you April and the gang for including us in and thinking our caption was silly enough :)







We have also been one of the five lucky winners of the Sparkle Puss children’s book from Cat Wisdom 101 

As you can see, I am really into it! This is a beautifully produced book set in Penzance, Cornwall in the UK about a cat called Sparkle (!) who has adventures while trying to save her friend the  chocolate apothecary from losing his business. It has cats, mystery and chocolate. Who can resist? Thank you Layla :)

Gratuitous Giveaway - To celebrate the launch of the super new look blog, we are offering a prize draw, free, gratis and for nothing. The winner of the draw will get a copy of The Chronicles of Zee & Zoey - a Journey of the Extraordinarily Ordinary by Deborah Barnes.

If you haven’t read this yet, read my review here. It is a beautiful book and will enthral and delight if you like cats, good writing and beautiful pictures .. and who doesn’t! All you have to do is leave a comment below saying that you are entering and why you would like it. You will need to make sure that I have contact details for you if you know I don’t already have them. The draw is open to absolutely EVERYBODY wherever you happen to live in the world. The winner will be picked by random.org next Saturday 6th October at midday BST. Good luck :) Zee & Zoey’s website is here.

PS If you missed me doing my dapper benevolent thing over at Zee & Zoey’s the other day, here I am announcing the shelter who won my portion of the Cat Ruler of the World goodies.

Sorry for the length, but business is business! Next time I will be introducing a new CATachresis feature and it will be much shorter!

Is it a bird? ... Is it a plane?

TaDaaaaaaa!

No! It’s the Katie and Waffles Emergency Blog Makeover Express!

To see the start of the journey go to Glogirly’s site here

But here at CATachresis earlier today:

 out with the old….

The original of this header was conceived and produced by Sarah L-B and I’d like to thank her very much for doing that and for being a brilliant supporter of CATachresis from way back!

… and in with the new!

No pink in sight!!! well not much!

This blog makeover doesn’t so much reveal a new Austin, but reflects the true Austin. One who loves words and uses them to great, but not always accurate, effect! We hope you enjoy the fun and frolics :)

This design is, of course, one of Glogirly's Designs from suggestions made by Austin and also the one with two legs and disposable thumbs ;) We love it! What do you think?  Thanks Debbie and of course Katie and Waffles for coming to the rescue after our rather disastrous attempt at redecorating! Your journey has been fraught with danger over land, sea and London buses!!! Front and centre please, to receive your well deserved applause and adulation xxx

PS Please stop by in a few days when we are having a very special giveaway/offer/draw :)

Austin tries some Do-it-Yourself!

All I said was I needed some decorating doing. Things need brightening up; looking a bit drab etc! They say every picture tells a story, so:

Before (drab)

After (not so drab)

Tigger: Austin, this is what happens when we don’t work as a team.

Austin: What do you mean? This place is teaming with paint!

Tigger: Not that kind of team, dummy! WE NEED HELP!! Hello …. hello ……. is there anybody there … ?

To be continued …….;) 

The Common Good

Listen up Austin!

Yep!

We got an award.

Oh that’s nice!

Yes it’s the Wonderful Team Member Readership Award and we got it from Mollie and Alfie!

What’s a team?

It’s where two or more people work together for the common good.

The common good being me!

If you say so!

from Mollie and Alfie :)

Anyway, thank you very much Mollie and Alfie for this award, but we feel that maybe Austin needs to go on a course or something to learn about how to work in a team. Maybe even go on a team building weekend?

What’s team building?

Hmmm! Not that exactly, Austin! Team building is where a bunch of people who work together but who don’t like each other go off for a weekend and climb to the top of a mountain and jump off into a chasm in the hopes that someone who wants their job will catch them! It’s called learning to trust! It’s also called retrenchment. A lot of professional working type people do it.  Apparently it’s really good for bonding and group dynamics and all kinds of stuff like that. Then, after they’ve finished, the survivors all go back to the hotel and drink beer and make a lot of noise until they fall into the collective unconscious. 

And you want me to go on one of those? I can already do unconscious and I drink beer with Spitty and I can push Tigger from a great height into a chasm - or some other deep fisher! I think you mean fissure, Austin! Whatever!

Now, the rules on this award appear to be a bit vague, but if you feel your are part of team Austin then please feel free to take this award and do with it as you will :)

Happy Sunday!!

And the winner of Cat Ruler of the World is …..

….. Katie from Glogirly

Yes the sultry, sassy tux Katie has won Zee & Zoey’s Cat Ruler of the World Contest in aid of their nominated charity Blind Cat Sanctuary in North Carolina which has won $7500 worth of goods and donations. We send our congratulations and heartfelt good wishes :) Yes we do, Austin …. !!

Ok! *smiles* !

….. Don’t forget, Austin, that Katie, as ruler of the world, will need a Secatary of State for Catnip and someone to head up the Budgie Committee …. and you have much experience on defence matters:

Here is Austin on de fence!

Then there is the FBI (Feline Bureau of Investigation) though one feels that department is already a bit oversubscribed! So what about the Secatary for Energy? You would be ideal cat-idate for that position as you certainly know how to conserve it:

Finally, there is the position of Secatary of the Inferior. This is the job where you get to snoopervise all the lesser species like humans and dogs! You are indeed well qualified to serve in Katie’s administration! 

So Katie, Austin is ready, willing and able to be part of the new world order:

Yes you are!

But seriously, we are more than delighted that such a worthy cat-idate has won and of course the Blind Cat Rescue benefits big time. But that’s not all, as all the other shelters represented will be in receipt of some great goodies too :)

Now over to you Austin. Yes, I want to thank everyone who very kindly supported me and took the trouble to vote for me and my nominated shelter, Freshfields Animal Rescue. Apparently even some who twitter voted for me and that is amazing since I would probably eat them given half a chance! 

Once again I would like to thank my new best friend Nellie The Cat (who’s not really) from Hell for making it such a fun campaign - though selling the pink Nelliemobile to Katie for a couple of salmon patties and a one dollar note was a bit sneaky .. . and cheap! ;) xx

So, if you haven’t already done so, please go over to Deb at Zee & Zoey campaign headquarters who has worked so hard for this event and where all the official stuff is happening. Dress is optional!!! TTFN xx

Shout Out!

?

Tigger wants to do a shout out!

Oooops!

NOOOOO! Silly! Not that shout out!

Sorry, just a little bit longer, friends!

This is the shout out. One of my first blogging friends was Jan Mader who is an author, logophile and animal lover extraordinaire. She has been away from blogging for quite a while, but is now back and is keen to inspire and encourage others to be creative with words. You can find her on her blog Ignite to Write. She was a great encouragement to me in the beginning when no one was reading my drivel, so I hope some of you will pop along and say hi and maybe join in with her short but thought provoking exercises.  You can reach her here. 

Thank you … Normal service …..!

 Just can’t resist a final look at this wonderful pic :)

Graphics by Nellie - The Cat (who’s not really) from Hell

Only a few hours left to cast your vote in Zee & Zoey’s Cat Ruler of the World Campaign for a Cause Contest. If you haven’t voted, please consider voting for Austin who is campaigning with his trusty sidekick, Nellie, for Freshfields Animal Rescue in the UK. It is the only rescue/shelter that is not in the USA and it is the only shelter that helps all animals that come to its sites. Click here to vote.

Austin, Nellie and I want to say a HUGE thank you to Deb Barnes of Zee & Zoey for the excellent idea and for hosting the campaign so well.

We also want to say thank you to our fellow cat-idates, Cheysuli, Sparkle, Brian, Katie and Odin for their energetic, enthusiastic and entertaining campaigns. All of them and the shelters they represent are worthy winners.

Most of all Austin wants to thank Nellie, who has been tireless in her campaigning and “managed” the  whole caboodle with style and panache …. and not to mention the wonderful pink Nelliemobile!

The results and winner will be announced on Tuesday September 18th 2012

As for myself (the one with thumbs and no brain) and Austin (the one with brain and no thumbs), we are off to put our paws up with some pals……

Normal service will be resumed as soon as we wake up!