June is National Adopt a Shelter Cat month. I'm a big fan of this as both my cats were rescued. One from a work colleague, and Taj, shown here, who came from Battersea Dogs and Cats home when he was 6 months old. 

I was immediately drawn to this sleek, gorgeous little boy, then named Foggy. He was renamed Taj after the very cool blues singer, Taj Mahal, because, well, he was a very cool cat. He was half Burmese, and would chat away endlessly. He'd sleep with his paw curled around my thumb (so sweet!).

When Bella arrived on the scene, about 2 years later, Taj found her a bit much, all that bouncing and full body wagging and shouting. Always a very calm character, Taj never ever swiped at her. Instead he'd just raise one paw as if to say, "Look, enough!". Bella was so desperate to be buddies with him, and must have watched his body language closely, because one morning, she jumped on the bed as usual, and Taj raised his paw. Well Bella had obviously decided this was some kind of greeting, and so she mirrored him and raised her paw as well - the pair of them sat there as if waving at each other across the street - I couldn't believe it!

Taj would spend many hours in my studio, where his favourite place to sit was, as shown, on the workbench next to my wheel, on top of all the letter stamps. Being a cat, he liked to knock the stamps onto the floor, which wasn't the most helpful thing in the world but that's cats for you!

The first ever cat bowl that I made was for Taj, in green and ivory with his name and even some Swarovski crystals on it just for poshness :-)

Adopting a cat can be so rewarding and a good rescue centre will make sure they match you with a suitable cat for where you live. Why not think about it? 

https://www.battersea.org.uk/cats/cat-rehoming-gallery

https://www.cats.org.uk/adopt-a-cat

Sunday 21st March is Mothering Sunday in the UK, and if you're a family where your dogs ARE your kids, then you'll probably be looking for a gift for the best dog mum in your life. We've had a look and picked our top 5 ideas for you:

Up first, this stylish Dog Mum T-shirt from Hugoandme.co.uk - £18.00

Have a dog bed hog? We love these pillowcases! £30 from Not On The High Street.

Personalised keyrings from The Little Picture Company from £5.95

Gorgeous cards from Heather Alstead Design at £3.45

Of course at Chow Bella we will also have our highly popular Best Dog Mum mugs priced at £12.99 including UK delivery - these will be on sale from the end of February.

And if you're looking for other gorgeous gifts that aren't necessarily dog related but are definitely perfect for Mother's Day, check out modernguy.co.uk who has compiled a list of his top 34 small businesses to support this Mother's Day, with some absolutely fantastic ideas!