Friendly Fill-Ins and Photo Fails

Hello and happy Friday, friends! I'm so sorry we're so late to post again. I'm still getting used to all the meds that Evan needs to take and when he needs to take them since he got home from his hospitalization on Wednesday for his urinary blockage. He's overall doing good and is urinating on his own, but we're working on keeping him medicated as well as trying to get him onto a diet more suited for urinary tract health.

All that said, are you ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge? 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. _________ is my focus word for 2023.

2. 2022 was _________.

3. _________ is the most important lesson I learned over the past year. 

4. I hope 2023 is the year that _________.

My answers are below in bold.

1. Breathe is my focus word for 2023.

(I struggled to come up with what could be my focus word for 2023, and I don't know whether what I settled on is cheesy or not. The reason behind my choice is that sometimes I let life, work, and all that jazz get to me in ways that cause me to crumble under pressure. I have some lofty goals that I have been trying to achieve for quite some time now, but when things get tough, I tend to get overwhelmed and then fail to be able to focus on any one thing, which means that not even a single thing I want to achieve gets accomplished. So, in 2023, I'm trying to remind myself to just breathe, stay calm, and focus on one thing at a time if need be.)

2. 2022 was a rollercoaster.

(This answer heavily relates to #3 and #4 below, if you need more reference material. The first half of the year or more was mostly smooth sailing, at least from what I can recall. Then September hit and my furbabies starting breaking, and suddenly it was like going up and down those parts of a rollercoaster that make you feel like you're going to vomit up your own stomach.)

3. The fact that I can't control everything is the most important lesson I learned over the past year.
(I don't know that I'm the worst control freak you'll ever meet, but I'm certainly not the best you'll ever meet. My furabies and their health are probably the main reason I was reminded this year that I have to accept the fact that I simply can't and won't always be in complete control of things. I just have to do my best to deal with life and its curveballs as they come my way. A bit more on that in #4 below.)

4. I hope 2023 is the year that my kitties and pup have no medical emergencies.
(This certainly is no guarantee, but a girl can hope. Honestly, over half of 2022 wasn't all that bad with regard to my furbabies' health. Then September happened, when pup Astrid tore her CCL. She had her surgery in early October and was on crate rest for many, many weeks. She's now nearly 12 weeks post-surgery and doing great. Then the day after Christmas happened, when Evan ended up with a urinary blockage. I am changing Evan's diet and giving him meds in hopes of preventing another blockage, and I'm begging 2023 to keep my kitties and pup healthy and happy.)

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.

Our resident blooper queen Eddy of course has some outtakes to share. Eddy has somehow not yet shared any photos of her climbing her beloved Christmas tree, but she's remedying that now with these perfectly blurry bloopers.

Blurry, tree-climbing Eddy and all of us here wish you a Merry Sixth Day of Christmas!

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Festive Flashback Doodle of the Day

Yesterday's doodle was an image that heavily inspired this year's Christmas card, but that doodle was actually first inspired by this one. If you look at them all side by side, they're all really quite similar.

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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 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.