April 10, 1980 - June 15, 1989
NAME ORIGIN
Blue Moon was already named when I got her.   I'm sure she was named after the song Blue Moon, and probably the older version, rather than the one by the Marcels.
NICKNAME(S)
Blue, Boo.
DATE OF BIRTH
April 10, 1980.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Petite and dainty, but with the classic Manx build.   Blue weighed about 6 pounds (2.7 kg).  She had quite an expressive face and could look very disapproving and disgusted when something happened that was not to her liking. 
She had a certain way of sitting, with one arm tucked in and one stretched out in front of her, that I ought to have a picture of but don't seem to.  Andromeda often sits this way, also.
MEOW
Blue was not very vocal - except at feeding time.   From the moment she realized I was preparing food until the time I set the dish on the floor, she meowed non-stop and at top volume.  She had very drawn-out meows, too, and could sustain a single meow for an incredibly long time.  This used to drive one of my roommates nuts.
PURR / BISCUITS
Purr:  Medium volume; fairly frequent.
Biscuits:  I can't recall her making biscuits, but she might have done so occasionally when very happy.
HISTORY
In 1986, I decided it was time for Pendaran to have a companion.  I had never had a purebred cat before, but had met some Manx cats at the animal hospital where I worked and was quite taken with them.  After some calling around, I located Blue Moon's breeder.
Blue had done fairly well as a show cat but had retired from the show ring at the age of 6 and was intended to be used for breeding.  She could not have kittens naturally, though - not an uncommon problem in Manx cats - and therefore had been spayed and was up for sale as a pet.
I met Blue's father while I was at the breeder's house.  He was a very handsome and very large brown tabby, and the breeder said her mother was a brown tabby, also.  A couple of Blue's beautiful tortoiseshell kittens (delivered by C-section) were there as well, and I learned one of them was already doing well in the show ring.
Blue went home with me to live a life of leisure in her retirement years.
PERSONALITY
It took Blue a while to get used to me and to her new lifestyle.  I don't think she'd really been treated like a pet before she came to live with me, as she didn't seem accustomed to sitting in laps and she was completely taken aback the first time I kissed her on the head.  She got used to that kind of stuff though, and became quite affectionate and a great lap cat. 
Blue was very reserved and dignified most of the time.  She seemed to realize she came from an upper-class, well-bred family and acted the part most of the time.  As dignified as she was, she would get a bit silly and bat toys around on occasion.
One of my roommates not only had an unspayed female cat, but let her outside.  The inevitable happened, and the cat produced several kittens in our living room.  When the kittens started mewing, Blue charged into the room, grabbed one, and ran downstairs with it before any of us could do a thing.  We found her under the bed, cleaning the baby and trying to get it to nurse.  She must have been a good mommy...
She was very good around other cats for the most part, but loathed Morgan from the moment she saw him and went out of her way to treat him like dirt.  Perhaps she didn't approve of his dubious ancestry.  Several times, I saw her walk across him when he was lying on the floor or the sofa, as though he were a piece of furniture or a rug.  Morgan could not have cared less.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Possible intestinal lymphoma; possible FeLV.  See Details.
HOBBIES / INTERESTS
Trotting next to me and slapping my ankles; sitting in my lap; stealing kittens; and curling up with Roo.
FRIENDS
Blue was close to Pendaran and was obviously distressed when he died, but her best friend was Roo:  the two of them were inseparable. 

SCARED OF THE VACUUM CLEANER?

After years of being a show cat, Blue wasn't scared of anything.  Riding in the car, strange people, loud noises, the vacuum - none of it fazed her in the least.