{"id":16270,"date":"2016-01-23T00:10:38","date_gmt":"2016-01-23T05:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=16270"},"modified":"2016-01-22T18:45:25","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T23:45:25","slug":"chats-meow-a-fun-social-site-for-cat-crochet-coffee-and-chocolate-lovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/chats-meow-a-fun-social-site-for-cat-crochet-coffee-and-chocolate-lovers\/","title":{"rendered":"Chat’s Meow – A Fun Social Site for Cat, Crochet, Coffee, and Chocolate Lovers"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jazmine<\/a>

The afghan was nearly completed here – just waiting to add the fringe. Jazmine can purr-sonally attest that the yarn is ideal for making biscuits!<\/p><\/div>\n

If you\u2019ll recall, I made the hair-brained decision to crochet an afghan a few days before Christmas as a gift for my youngest son. I got the idea because he lives up North in snow country and I knew it would be the perfect gift to keep him warm during the frigid winter months. Since he also has a cat, I knew she would love the gift too. It was supposed to be a \u201cquick and easy\u201d pattern (6 hours or less from start to finish), but the directions I found online were horribly written and it ended up being a day\u2019s long project with me worrying that I would not finish it in time.<\/p>\n

Well, the good news, I did finish it and it came out beautifully! My son and his cat love the afghan and it makes me very happy to know he has something that was personally created just for him. I love homemade gifts \u2013 ever since I can remember I\u2019ve either been crafting, sewing, cooking, or crocheting something to give.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately those days of homemade gifts are nearly gone for me. Between time constraints and a million other mundane reasons, it’s nearly impossible for me to recapture what life used to be like. I guess the afghan made me melancholy, because it caused me to reflect on how much I miss some of my old life. I miss having my family around me on a daily basis, I miss knowing my neighbors, and I miss taking the time for some of the little things that bring joy to my life.<\/p>\n

Not wanting to dwell on the negative, after all, I did make a promise to myself to make this year one of positivity and good intention, I decided to create a social family and neighborhood of my own that centered on some of the things that make me happy and are a relative constant part of my life \u2013 cats, crocheting, coffee, and chocolate.<\/p>\n

\"Deb<\/a>

Cats – check. Homemade afghan – check. Coffee – check. Chocolate – I’m sure it’s somewhere in the vicinity. Reading a book – bonus.<\/p><\/div>\n

The idea came to me because I noticed many of my online peers, friends, and colleagues also shared some, or all of those loves on social media sites. There are specific pages devoted to each individual love, but I wanted one that embraced all of it in one happy and nurturing place\u00a0and so I created a community page on Facebook for that purpose. It’s called “Chat’s Meow – Cats, Crochet, Coffee, and Chocolate<\/a>” and I think of it as an\u00a0online neighbor – a warm, fun, and safe place to share a cup of coffee, a glass of wine, some advice, a great recipe, an inspirational story or more with like-minded friends!<\/p>\n

\"Chat's<\/a><\/p>\n

So whatever people want \u2013 as long as it\u2019s positive and upbeat \u2013 I invite them to share away. Cute, warm, and fuzzy pictures and videos of cats. Favorite chocolate recipes or mouth-watering pictures of decedent deserts. Great crochet patterns or crochet questions or how-to tips. Conversation about cat books or cat trends. Cookbooks. Favorite coffee drinks. Giveaways and product reviews about cats, crocheting, crafting, coffee, or more.<\/p>\n

Nothing is off limits and there is no judgement. Drink tea? That\u2019s fine. Don\u2019t like coffee or chocolate \u2013 that\u2019s okay too. Or maybe you knit instead of crochet \u2013 all of that is fine. The page is not exclusive to cats, crocheting, coffee, and chocolate \u2013 those are just friendly guidelines. But honestly, I’d be hard-pressed to find someone in my circle that doesn’t like at least one of the four C’s!<\/p>\n

Chat\u2019s Meow is just a fun place to share conversation, ideas, and the good in life. The only request I have and I am firm on that, is that it’s not a site to promote stories about animal abuse or neglect. There are plenty of sites for that type of post. I just want somewhere we can go back to our roots \u2013 simpler times \u2013 back when borrowing a cup of sugar was common place.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve already joined the page, thank you so much! If you haven’t, here\u2019s the link to Chat\u2019s Meow<\/a>. If you\u2019re not on Facebook, maybe now is the time to join! You don\u2019t even have to post pictures or share stories to participate \u2013 if you are too shy or nervous about it, you can just read everyone else\u2019s comments!<\/p>\n

Have a great Caturday everyone and what do you think about Chat’s Meow? Are you a knitter\u00a0or a crocheter? Do you prefer coffee or tea?<\/p>\n

I welcome your thoughts and here\u2019s to continuing the year with love, peace, joy, and happiness.<\/p>\n

\"hearts\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you enjoyed this post and are a cat lover and crocheter, please consider reading these other posts in which I share the topic in more detail:<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s Almost Christmas so I Think I\u2019ll Crochet an Afghan<\/a><\/p>\n

Cats, Crocheting, and Reading… A Forever Calming Influence in My Life<\/a><\/p>\n

Cats, Crocheting, and Computers \u2013 The New Neighborhood of my Life<\/a><\/p>\n

Miss any of our posts this week? On Wednesday I\u00a0shared<\/em> what it’s like to be a cat in\u00a0our house when we get to open the windows<\/a> and on Thursday I\u00a0explained<\/em> why\u00a0I refused to let my cats ask me a question for “Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day.”<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ll recall, I made the hair-brained decision to crochet an afghan a few days before Christmas as a gift for my youngest son. I got the idea because he lives up North in snow country and I knew it would be the perfect gift to keep him warm during the frigid winter months. Since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1124,1098,14,3,492,1099],"tags":[1140,1265,1136,1139,1137,1138,123],"class_list":["post-16270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-events","category-cat-behavior","category-general-blogging-writing","category-inspiration-healing","category-product-reviews-contests-and-giveaways","category-the-zee-zoey-cats-and-family","tag-cat-lovers","tag-cats","tag-chats-meow","tag-chocolate","tag-coffee","tag-crochet","tag-facebook"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/CatsMeow-2016-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16270"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16289,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16270\/revisions\/16289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}