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June 22, 2026

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO C.J.

An Awww Mondays Birthday Celebration

I knew Calista Jo’s birthday was on the horizon, but didn’t realize we had inadvertently passed it by a couple of days. She doesn’t know we are late. If she did, she would be complaining non-stop. Complaining, in a high-pitched whine, is what she does best.

Calista Jo joined the Kitties Blue crew shortly after I began this blog. She was our second Barn Cat Buddy (BCB) adoption. She was a member of a litter of four cats (three girls and one boy). Her name at the time was Josette (Josie for short), which didn’t really suit her. But more about that later.

C.J. and her sisters were at a BCB adoption event. I attended in order to drop off catnip toys, which at the time I was making for the group to sell. I was attracted to Josie, and told my friend Diane (the founder and President of BCB at that time), that if no one else wanted to adopt her, I might be interested. By the time I left the event, a couple and their teenage son had completed an adoption application for Josie. I have always believed if something is meant to happen it will, so I went home with no regrets.

A few days later, I got a call from Diane. The adoption application for Josie had not been approved. She would be coming to the house to deliver her. It was meant to be after all.

Here is the official announcement of her arrival with some cute kitten photos: “New Barn Cat Buddy Joins Blue Household.”

Renaming

We decided to keep Josette as our new kitten’s middle name. None of the names on my list of potential cat names, however, seemed to fit with it. While running names through my brain, Calista popped into it and stuck. As they say, the rest is history, and Calista Josette has now reached the age of 14.

Let’s Party

As we always do, we asked our resident baker, Cooper Murphy, to create a cake for C.J. Once again, I think he outdid himself.

 

Birthday cake with a dilute tortoise shell cat on top for Awww Mondays.

Of course, we have some beverages and noms to share as well.

 

collage of various beverages

collage of various foods and cat treats and nip

A Birthday Spark

 

A dilute tortoise shell cat celebrates her birthday with a Spark from Madeleine L'Engle and a current photo of herself and one as a kitten for Awww Mondays.

 

I did use this Spark six years ago, but it seemed appropriate again.

The author, Madeleine L’Engle (1918 – 2007), was an American writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and young adult fiction. She’s best known for A Wrinkle in Time and its sequels.

BERJAYASparks is the creation of Annie from McGuffy’s Reader. It began as a blog hop, created by our friend. Annie stated when she began Sparks, “I believe we are meant to be lights in this world. If we allow our light to shine, we can see where we are going. It is then that we can begin to truly see each other clearly. Together, we can light up the entire world.”

Calista Jo will be participating in the Awww Mondays blog hop hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus. If you would like to join her there, click on the Awww badge.

BERJAYA

The Adventures of Periwinkle & Stinky

BERJAYATomorrow, your two favorite tabby cats will be adventuring again. It is Stinky’s turn to plan their adventure, so you’ll be able to find them right here. Stinky has shared none of his plans with me, and so I cannot give you any hints as to what they might get up to. They always have fun, though, and will be looking for you to join them.

Our Angel Sawyer continues to live through these adventures as his alter-ego Stinky, and it would mean so much to Mom Sharon, Noelle and myself if you would continue to follow our two favorite, cartoon tabby cats.

Thanks for stopping in and celebrating with us today. We always appreciate your visits and support.

 

BERJAYA

 

BERJAYA