Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! We hope your 2025 ended beautifully, and that your 2026 is off to a blessed start. We're enjoying a peaceful beginning to this new year, which is a great segue into Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Thimble is of course here to share her gratitude, and she's not only thankful for a new year of new beginnings, but also for our Christmas village.

Thimble is always like Godzilla to those poor village folk. She tosses their houses around and stomps all over them, and she loves doing so.

Don't mind the fake bones on our platter and all that good stuff. On Tuesday Tonks shared a photo of our Christmas tree in which a skeleton's head could be seen peeking through the branches, so there's not much I can say other than our house is just a weird place.

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Of course we didn't forget about the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. _________ is a New Year's tradition for me.

2. _________ is not the same as _________.

3. I would pick _________ as my theme song for 2026.

4. I'm a coward when it comes to _________ but brave when _________.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends! Happy New Year and Merry Eighth Day of Christmas!

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

I worked on a couple of my in-progress festive doodles as I waited for the clock to strike midnight last night. We're still in the midst of the Twelve Days of Christmas and so the festiveness isn't over yet. That said, for today I'm actually still going to share a flashback doodle. That's because it's the sequel to the old New Year's Eve flashback doodle I shared yesterday. So, here you go.

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Tip of the Day

We've been discussing care of ferals and strays during the winter months, and over the past few days our discussions have all been about food and water. We do have yet another tip on this specific topic. When it comes to offering food to ferals and strays, try to keep the location and timing of the feedings as consistent as possible. Keeping a predictable feeding schedule and food location can help an outdoor cat know when and where they can find food. Conserving energy is a very important thing for outdoor animals in the winter, and knowing when and where they can successfully venture out for a meal can indeed help ferals and strays save much needed energy, rather than wasting their energy only to find no food present at their feeding station. Therefore, if you feed ferals and strays, keep in mind that it is very beneficial to the animals if you keep their food on a consistent schedule and in the same location.

Merry Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy New Year's Eve (With Angel Astrid)!

Today, I have a sweet memory of my sweet angel pup Astrid with some of my outdoor Christmas decor.

Those festive pieces are helping decorate my front yard again this year. We've been having lots of wind storms, though, and despite lots of tent stakes and other attempts to keep them standing, I've had to pick them up off the ground so many times lately. The poor reindeer keeps getting decapitated by the wind, but luckily his head is easy to reattach. And now that I'm looking at these photos, I'm pretty sure I put his antlers on backwards when I reinstalled his head just last night. That doesn't matter right now, though, as the best part are the memories I have of my dear Astrid.

Now, Merry Seventh Day of Christmas and Happy New Year's Eve to all! We hope the final hours of 2025 treat you well and bring you much peace and joy. What's more, we hope 2026 treats you with kindness and bestows you with many blessings.

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

I have 4 days off of work starting tomorrow, and so I hope to use that time to finally finish up some of my festive doodles that are in limbo and finally share them in the final days of the Twelve Days of Christmas. For today, though, I have a doodle I scribbled up for a New Year's Eve many, many years ago. It's yet another one I'd love to recreate in my more current style, but for now this is the original piece that I've shared on many New Year's Eves.

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Tip of the Day

Today's tip on winter feral care is to remember to put water out for ferals and strays you care for. This sounds and often feels impossible, given that water indeed freezes in cold temperatures. However, it is often possible to make water accessible to ferals or strays even in the winter months. Yesterday's tip discussed ways to successfully feed moist food to ferals in the winter, and most of those methods will also work for water. You can start by simply checking the water as often as possible, and removing ice or refreshing the water to ensure that it remains a liquid and not a frozen solid. You can also warm the water bowl, or even put out warm water, to delay its freezing. Other options include putting microwavable heat pads beneath the water bowl, using an electric heated bowl, or using another heat source in the area where the water is kept. With all such options, though, always keep safety in mind, and only choose and use heated products that best prevent burns and fires.

There are a couple of other considerations to make when putting water outside for ferals and strays in the winter months. To begin, try to keep water bowls elevated off of the cold ground as much as possible, to help keep it from freezing rapidly. In addition to this, using a deep bowl inside of a wide bowl will also help it to freeze less rapidly. Another option is to have a source of running water, such as by offering water in some sort of fountain, as moving water does not as easily freeze. And yet another way to help keep water from freezing rapidly in the winter is to put the bowl in the sun.

It also important to note that, as much as is possible, try to avoid putting water near where ferals or strays might sleep. This is because spills can indeed happen, and damp bedding material can make warmth and comfort difficult. So, there are many considerations to make when successfully offering water to ferals and strays in the winter months, but it is indeed possible, and of course also beneficial to them and their health.

Merry Sixth Day of Christmas (With Tonks, Another Tonks, and a Skeleton)!

This Tonks Tuesday brings us to the Sixth Day of Christmas. Indeed, as we've mentioned a couple of times, the Twelve Days of Christmas only begin on Christmas itself, and of course we celebrate them all the way until the end. And then some.

That said, today Tonks wanted to show off another shot of her with her favorite Christmas tree. Tonks is a bit blurry in this one, and the lighting is far from ideal, but there's one little detail in here that I just love. On the right side you'll see a figurine. I didn't realize this little character was visible when I snapped this photo, but it's quite fitting. It's a Funko Pop of a Harry Potter character, that character being Tonks, after whom my little calico is named.

If you look on the left side of that photo, through the Christmas tree you can also see the face of one of the skeletons that sits around in my house year round. I again didn't even notice this detail until after I'd taken the photo, but if suddenly noticing a skeletal face peeking through the Christmas tree doesn't sum up my house, I don't know what does.

Merry Sixth Day of Christmas, friends!

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

Since I still need to scan and upload new festive doodles, as well as finish some that are sitting in limbo in my notebook, how about another doodle in the old series of houses from famous Christmas movies? This one is from Home Alone, of course with a kitty added into the mix.

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Tip of the Day

Yesterday we discussed feeding feral and stray cats outdoors in the cold winter months. As we mentioned, dry food is a good option in the winter as it will not freeze like moist food. However, moist food still has its benefits, and so today we're here to give some tips on how to feed moist food outdoors in the cold months with at least some success. To begin, you can resort to putting moist food out only when you know the cat or cats you feed are present, so that they will be able to eat it immediately, giving it little to no time to freeze. Sometimes, though, you might not know when a feral or stray cat will show up for a meal. In such cases, there are ways to potentially offer moist food to ferals and strays, without the moist food freezing rapidly.

To begin, you can simply check on the status of moist food as often as possible, and warm or replace food that has become frozen. What's more, a source of heat will obviously help keep moist food from freezing at a fast rate, although you of course have to ensure that this source of heat is safe. This could mean doing something as simple as warming the bowl in which you put the moist food, or warming the moist food itself, to a safe temperature. There are also both electric and non-electric heat sources that can work for keeping bowls and their contents warm. For example, there are microwavable or otherwise warmable heating pads that can be placed bowls to help prevent the rapid freezing of moist food that is fed to outdoor cats in the winter. There are also electric heated bowls that could keep moist food warm enough to prevent freezing. Other options of course include using a more extensive heat source within an entire feeding station or shelter, details which we will further discuss in upcoming tips. One important detail, though, as we mentioned just a few moments ago, is ensure that any heat source you use is safe and that it will not cause burns or fires. Always do your research before using any item that entails electricity and heating, and choose and use accordingly and wisely.

The last note to make here is that you should still of course make sure that moist food is not spoiling, such as if it manages to get too warm or sits out for too long. If a heated bowl or heat pad causes moist food to remain warm for long periods of time, do be sure to remove any uneaten food prior to spoilage. It might be cold outside during the winter months, but depending on the methods you use and the duration of time that outdoor cats' moist food is sitting out, it is always best to be aware of the potential for gastrointestinal or other issues that could result from the consumption of spoiled food.

Mancat Monday: The Christmas Tree Chewer

I've already missed some Twelve Days of Christmas posts this weekend, and then I forgot to hit publish on today's post until this late hour. But, that's okay. Life is busy this time of year, and that's part of the festive fun. We're finally here, and you better believe Evan is ready for some merry continuation on this Mancat Monday.

One of Evan's favorite things to do this time of the year is chew on the Christmas trees. I'm lucky in that he doesn't actually ingest any of the tree, and he doesn't chew on any of the lights or anything beyond the ends of the branches. He treats the tree like floss, and he's done this for all 12 of his years.

I've gotten a number of photos of this boy gnawing away on the poor Christmas tree, as you can see in this post here.

Do you see how big of bites Evan is taking? It's honestly quite impressive.

Merry Fifth Day of Christmas!

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

Due to the continued holiday craziness, I unfortunately did not get any new festive doodles scanned and uploaded. I still plan to do so soon, but for today we have yet another flashback. This is from the series I scribbled up a few years ago that was inspired by the houses in famous Christmas movies. Today, we have the house from A Christmas Story, of course with an obligatory kitty.

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Tip of the Day

We're sharing a repeat series of tips on how you can assist strays and ferals during the cold winter months. Today's tip regards feeding strays and ferals, and it is to make sure you understand the pros and cons of feeding dry versus moist food during the winter months. Dry food often takes more energy than moist food to digest, and animals need to conserve as much energy as possible to stay warm in the winter. That being said, moist food that is not immediately eaten can freeze during the winter months due to its high moisture content. For this reason, it is typically best to ensure that dry food is offered to strays and ferals in the winter months, as it will not freeze and therefore will be readily available even after sitting out for some time. All in all, though, it is possible and often beneficial to feed both dry and moist food to outdoor strays and ferals. Tomorrow we will further discuss how to successfully feed moist food to strays and ferals in the winter.

Merry Second Day of Christmas!

Hello, friends! We hope you all had a merry and blessed Christmas! We're now ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. The best part of 2025 was _________.

2. My focus word for 2026 is _________.

3. I always _________ in the days after Christmas.

4. I've had enough _________ to last a lifetime.


My answers are below in bold.

1. The best part of 2025 was time spent with my furry and human family.
(After losing my parents' kitty Talon in April and my sweet pup Astrid in September, I'm so grateful for all the time I got to spend with them as well as with my other human and family members. I miss our angels so much, but getting what time I did with them and my other family this year was a blessing.)

2. My focus word for 2026 is becoming.
(I recently heard someone mention this as a word of inspiration and encouragement. At first I thought it sounded odd, and it honestly still does. But, I like odd things, and it's growing on me. There's a lot I envision myself and my dreams becoming. What's more, I know that if I employ discipline and hard work, my dreams and I can indeed become those things. So, becoming is my word for 2026.)

3. I always continue the festive celebrations in the days after Christmas.
(Christmas Day is only the First Day of Christmas. You know those famous Twelve Days of Christmas? They have indeed only just begun. So, I'll happily continue watching those Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music and simply doing all things Christmas.)

4. I've had enough sugar to last a lifetime.
(Just in the past couple of festive days alone, I've indeed had more sweets than I had any right to eat. I've feasted on plenty of other food as well, but I especially overloaded on the sugary goodness.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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And now it's time for the Pet Photo Fails Blog Hop, hosted by none other than Melissa and Mudpie of Melissa's Mochas, Mysteries, & Meows.

We'll still be sharing lots of festiveness around here. After all, as we mentioned above, Christmas Day is only the First Day of Christmas. That means today is the Second Day of Christmas. We still have 11 out of 12 days of Christmas to go, and we're so very happy about that. All that to say, our blooper queen Eddy of course has some festive outtakes to share today, and they co-star her favorite victim red ribbon on her beloved Christmas tree.

That there red ribbon is a tough one and has so far done well to survive Eddy's festive assaults. The previous ribbon had to retire this year, and it did so in tattered pieces. This new one, though, hasn't even budged and is still firmly in one piece. I'm honestly impressed.

Eddy and all of us here wish you a Merry Second Day of Christmas!

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Festive Doodle of the Day

After falling devastatingly behind in creating new Christmas doodles throughout this month, I'm trying to finish and share some of them for the Twelve Days of Christmas. And I do indeed have a new one to share today. This doodle doesn't even look all that in-your-face Christmassy, but it was inspired by my favorite Christmas movie of all time.

That there is based off of the movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. At the beginning of the movie, the main character takes his family to go cut down their own Christmas tree. He finds the perfect one, which is far too large for any normal house. He also failed to bring an ax or saw with him, and apparently summons some sort of superhuman strength to rip the whole thing out of the ground. None of it makes a lick of sense, and I love this movie so much. Oh, and as I always do when creating art based on my favorite movies, I threw some kitties into the mix, as you can see.

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Tip of the Day

Did your kitty or pup get new toys for Christmas? We're thinking many of them probably did. Now that all such new Christmas gifts have been opened and are being enjoyed, consider going through your furbaby's toy stash, pulling out the ones they don't use, and donating them to a shelter or rescue. Many shelters will accept such toys as long as they are clean, as well as easily cleaned, and in good condition. Of course, it is nonetheless always best to do your research regarding an individual shelter or rescue's requirements for donations. Donating toys that your kitty or pup has accumulated but does not use not only keeps your furbaby's toy stash at manageable levels, but also of course benefits shelter kitties and pups who are awaiting their forever homes. This might also go for unopened cans of food your furbaby will not eat, and even clean blankets they do not use. Christmas is indeed the season of giving, and even though the 25th of December has passed, that spirit of giving does not need to come to an end.

Merry Christmas!

We wish all of our friends out there a merry Christmas, happy holidays, and all of the warm wishes and winter blessings you could ever ask for. Thank you all for making this community the amazing and inviting place it is.

From all of us to all of you, peace, joy, and good tidings!

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We'll be here tomorrow for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, so let's share the fill-in statements. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. The best part of 2025 was _________.

2. My focus word for 2026 is _________.

3. I always _________ in the days after Christmas.

4. I've had enough _________ to last a lifetime.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends! Merry Christmas to one and all!

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Tip of the Day

Christmas is often a time of remembrance, a time when memories find their way into our minds. This can sometimes make this time of year a bittersweet one, as we remember our loved ones, both human and furry, who are no longer with us. Today's tip is to of course remember lost loved ones with fondness during the beautiful holiday season, but also to find ways to include lost loved ones in the festivities, if this is something that would benefit you. There are a number of ways to keep lost furbabies' or other family members' memories alive and well during the holiday season, such as by hanging an ornament dedicated to them. One example of this includes picture frame ornaments, in which you can of course place a photo of a lost loved one. Another example are ornaments sculpted or painted in the likeness of a lost loved one, and this of course includes ornaments made to resemble kitties or pups who have gained their angel wings.

In addition to memorial ornaments, you can also set up memorial stations in your house for lost loved ones. This memorial area can be a place where you set up photos of a lost kitty, pup, or human family member who is no longer with you. What's more, to maintain their memory and inclusion during the holidays, you can add festive decorations to the memorial area you have set up for them. You can festively light up the memorial station with lights or candles, as long as this is done in a safe manner. There are plenty of other options for using festive yet respectful decor to include a lost loved one in the holiday spirit.

Just one more of many options for keeping a lost loved one's memory alive and well during this holiday season is to make a donation or other gift in their memory. When it comes to an angel kitty or pup, you can donate goods to a shelter or rescue in their memory. You can also sponsor, or even foster or adopt, an animal in their honor. Though remembering lost loved ones during the holiday season can be a bittersweet thing, there are many ways in which to maintain a lost loved one's memory and include them in the festivities.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Hello and Merry Christmas Eve to all! Tomorrow is Christmas, as you all certainly know, and the kitties are getting ready for a visit from Santa Paws.

Before the kitties show you how they're preparing for the man in red to visit, I want to share one of my favorite festive photos of my precious pup Astrid, who gained her angel wings this September. It's our first Christmas without her, but I will never, ever forget the 11 wonderful Christmases we were blessed to celebrate with her.

You can see Evan (well, minus his head) in that there photo with Astrid, as they were buddies. Evan still hangs out by the Christmas tree at our back door, which is indeed where he's waiting for Santa Paws today.

As she waits for Santa Paws, Thimble decided to snap some festive glamour shots. What else is a gorgeous model to do on Christmas Eve?

As for Eddy, she's inspecting her abused beloved tree in my bedroom.

Eddy's paying especially close attention to the state of that big red ribbon she loves so much.

It needs to look just right for Santa Paws, after all.

Yesterday, Tonks inspected the outside of her favorite tree to make sure it looked just right for Santa Paws. Today, she's making sure the inside of her tree is all ready for Christmas.

And of course we didn't forget our house panther housemates, Toby and Winky. They own my sister, who currently lives with us, and they also love Christmas. First up is Toby, the handsomely fuzzy boy with majestic whiskers. I'm not sure if he thinks he can see Santa Paws through the ceiling, but he's looking up and waiting for something festive.

And then, mimicking her big brother, here's little miss Winky (and a calico photobomber).

Merry Christmas Eve!

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

Today's flashback doodle is the image from last year's Christmas card. I wanted to go with A Christmas Carol sort of situation back then. My sweet angel pup Astrid played the role of Scrooge, with my extra special Evan playing Tiny Tim. Of course, the other kitties showed up to the festive party as well.

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Tip of the Day

We recently mentioned some ways to make Christmas special for both your own furbabies and those in shelters. Today, we want to remind you to remember those furbabies who are outdoors and in your neighborhood. Do you have stray or feral cats in your area? If so, for Christmas, or any day possible, try to give them any extra help you can. During this holiday season, or all year round, try to give strays and ferals extra food, treats, or even a toy. If possible, also try to offer them shelter in some way, even if it's something makeshift. This is something that can greatly benefit them during a cold and snowy winter. We'll soon be sharing some repeat yet also significant tips on offering assistance to outdoor strays and ferals, but for now we'll offer this simple reminder to remember outdoor furbabies during this holiday season.

Since we're talking about outdoor animals, perhaps also don't forget the squirrels and birds. For Christmas, you could throw some extra food out for wildlife, to allow them an extra festive day as well. Some places even make or sell especially festive suet cakes and other goodies for outdoor critters this time of year.

So, this Christmas season, don't forget to think outside of your own home and family. Of course Christmas is a time for family, but it's also a time to remember how lucky we are, and how others may not be so lucky. So, spread the love this Christmas season!