Sassy Selfies for the Christmas Finale

We're more or less wrapping up our Christmas posts today. I say "more or less" because we do have a couple of posts for this week that still sort of relate to Christmas, just not heavily so. Even though this here human will probably leave the Christmas decor up until next weekend, the furbabies around here are already missing it. Perhaps that's why Tonks decided to snap a selfie with her favorite Christmas tree, so as to honor it before its downfall.

Tonks is looking a little grumpy there, isn't she? I guess she heard me say that the Christmas goodies will be put away soon enough. Don't worry, Tonks, that makes me a little grumpy, too.

Now, here's where the sassy selfies start coming into play. Do you want to see what I'm talking about?

As if her scowl from the first selfie wasn't bad enough, Tonks even stuck her tongue out at me for daring to say that the Christmas tree would soon be tucked back into storage.

I don't even know what that is. I guess that's just a good ol' dose of me getting told off my a tiny calico. Such is life.

We hope you all have had a very merry and bright Christmas season! You'll probably still be seeing a photo or two from us with Christmas trees and that sort of festive goodness in the background, since, as I mentioned a bit ago, I will probably keep all the decor up for another week. This is not only because I'm not yet quite ready to let the holiday go, but also because deconstructing the Christmas goods takes a good deal of time, and that's something I always save for a weekend. I wasn't about to take it all down as soon as this weekend, though, obviously, so next weekend it is.

We wish you all the spirit of Christmas all year round. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is attributed to Helen Steiner Rice, and it goes, "Peace on earth will be here to stay, when we live Christmas every day." Peace on earth and Christmas-every-day to you all, our friends!

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Our Sort of Final Festive Doodle of the Day:

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Our Tip of the Day:

Today's tip on caring for ferals and other outdoor cats yet again relates to shelters. If outdoor cats aren't using a shelter you've put out for them, first look it over and make sure nothing is off with it. Make sure it is not too confined or that its entrance isn't too small, as such things might make a cat feel trapped or cornered inside. If need be, such as if you do think an unused feral cat structure is being avoided due to confinement, add extra doorways or in another way make the shelter less likely to make cats feel trapped.

In some cases, outdoor cats just need a little extra help realizing that a shelter is safe and for them. If you have not already done so, put food and treats inside the shelter to tempt feral and other outdoor cats into the shelter. You can perhaps similarly tempt a feral into a shelter with bedding and a heat source, if you have found a workable, safe way to provide that in the shelter. If further tempting is needed in order to get cats into outdoor shelters, you can even try sprinkling some catnip, or silver vine or valerian root, inside in order to entice them.