Aby-a-Day – 31 December: Happy New Year’s! (Hipstamatic Monday)

For the past three years, Björn and I have hosted the New Year’s party for our friends. This year, due to a number of random circumstances (ours and our friends), we ended up being a party of seven – us and the cats.

Of course, we didn’t know it was going to be just us when we were preparing everything in the run-up to Jul and New Year’s, so I managed to find the largest turkey I could to cook for the party.

At 8.5kg (almost 19lbs!) it’s the largest turkey I have been able to find since I moved to Sweden.

Oh, how I have missed the monster, American super-sized turkeys! Okay, so we’ll have lots of leftovers.

I think we’re going to have lots of help finishing those leftovers, too.

Combined, Alfred, Lorelai and Zak weigh 10.6kg…so the turkey weighs more than any two of them put together.

The size difference didn’t stop them from investigating its edibility.

Zak was especially interested in the big bird.

Rory, without the boys flanking her, did seem a little more intimidated by it.

She is our smallest cat. The last time I weighed them all, she clocked in at 2.6kg.

I think she thought it wasn’t really dead!

She tentatively approached the bird. I’m sure she’ll be a lot less tentative once it comes out of the oven!

I love the randomness of Hipstamatic…

Even though we ended up not having any guests, everyone got dressed up. The boys all wore their leather bow ties.

Rory wore a festive red bow.

Freddy can’t ever keep his tie on straight.

Angel wore her sparkly sequin collar I got ages ago at a Seacoast show. Next year, I want to see if Arja can make the girls feminine festive collars, perhaps with flowers instead of bows.

Regardless, when the turkey came out of the oven it. Was. AWESOME.

Easily the best turkey I have ever cooked. And, ironically, I have been cooking them since 1999.

But yeah, in 20 years of cooking turkeys, this was one of my best.

Someone else thought so, too.

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Of course, his opinion is slightly biased…he's never had a whole cooked turkey before in his life.

Izaak tried so hard to eat off that big turkey…but it was too hot.

Since it was too hot to eat, Zak tried smacking it with his paw instead.

It was still too hot…but it wasn’t too hot when I put it on a tray for everyone to share.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their bits of turkey.

As you could probably tell by the general swarming going on.

Björn and I also did some Incredibooth selfies…enjoy!

Aby-a-Day – 30 December: The cat burglar (Serious Sunday)

As I have mentioned before, Alfred is an evil genius. He is also incredibly food-oriented.

And by “incredibly,” I mean he has figured out how to open the cabinet where the cat food is kept…

…to the point that we started finding this on an all-too-frequent basis.

He has different methods for eating the food out of the wet packets…

…and the dry ones.

The latch on the cabinet was a bit weak, but it had never been a problem before. Now, this is a problem, clearly…so we replaced it with a 4kg magnetic cabinet latch. You would think that would work.

And it did. For a while. Then we had to jam this rubber cat’s paw doorstop.

Which helped. Until it didn’t.

The problem is, he’s too stealthy for us to catch in the act. And he’s quiet. By the time we happen to go in the kitchen, he’s finished his share, and only the others are left eating.

Of course, we know it isn’t Angel or Jacoby opening the cabinet. If it was, it wouldn’t have been a problem two years ago, not just within the past two months! Nice frame-job attempt, Freddy.

Aby-a-Day – 29 December: Logan and Izaak (Singapura Saturday)

Logan and Izaak look very much alike in photos, and often I can’t tell who is who unless I look at the date the photo was taken.

These first two photos were taken 28 December 2017…so, this is Logan napping with Alfred and Jacoby.

These next two, however…

…these two were taken on 13 December 2018, so this is Zak and Freddy.

So…without looking at the Flickr details linked to the photos, can you tell how is who? Is this one Zak or Logan?

How about this one?

I know Freddy knows that Zak isn’t his “Brother from another Mother,” but he does seem to like having him as a cuddle buddy.

In some ways, Logan and Zak could not be more different. Logan was very agile and could often be found up high, on the tops of bookshelves and doors. He was like a little old man, soft-voiced but constantly muttering to himself. He wasn’t terribly food-oriented, and he wasn’t afraid of the big cats’ hisses and growls. And he was extremely fastidious, constantly grooming himself. Zak, on the other hand, can barely haul himself onto the kitchen counter (and often doesn’t make it). He meows at the top of his voice when he wants something or if I am in the bathroom with the door closed, and he is incredibly focused on food. He tries to sleep with the big cats, same as Logan did, but if they hiss or growl, he backs off and goes somewhere else. And while he keeps himself tidy, he isn’t constantly grooming himself the way Logan did. One of Logan’s “things” was to furiously lick his tailtip if you held it for him. Zak isn’t as concerned about his tail tip.

It just so funny how two cats can look so alike and have such different personalities.

Aby-a-Day – 28 December: Remembering my Christmas kitten (Friday Flashback)

Every year about this time, I have to remember my Christmas kitten, Gun-Hee.

We collected him on 15 December 2006, only 10 days before Christmas.

I’ll never forget the way he discovered climbing the Christmas tree.

He was so proud of himself!

And now, 12 years later, Gun-Hee is still in my Christmas tree every year…thanks to this Fancy Feast frame ornament.

Aby-a-Day – 27 December: Of Somalis and Schipperkes (Thursday Things)

I have a few more photos from the little mini show we went to at our local DjurMagazinet I wanted to share.

They’re on two completely different topics…but hey, just like most meals between Christmas and New Years, there’s no reason not to mix them up. Leftovers are always better that way.

First off, we have Izaak in his Christmas bow tie, playing with a fun toy.

Look at that concentration!

He really liked that toy!

But even more than the toy, I think he liked the little girl who was playing with him using the toy.

She was pretty charmed with him, too.

The next thing I wanted to share is this Somali, Tootsie, and her friend.

You almost never, ever, see dogs at cat shows…for, well, obvious reasons.

Tootsie was wonderful at walking on her leash…almost as good as her puppy pal.

Oh! I am SO sorry…Tootsie, you obviously taught that dog everything he knows about walking on a leash!

Aby-a-Day – 26 December: Wordless Wednesday (Izaak’s Christmas miracle)

Aby-a-Day – 25 December: The sole of Christmas (Cartoon Tuesday)

In Sweden, the main Christmas celebrating is done on 24 December. After the ritual of Donald Duck, the presents are opened and then dinner is eaten.

The traditional Julbord, which Björn’s mother orchestrated every year to perfection, consists of pickled herring, smoked salmon, hard-boiled eggs with kaviar,

the Julskinka (ham with mustard), boiled potatoes, Janssons Frestelse (a sort of potato casserole with anchovies), cabbage rolls (which I can totally get behind because they’re also a Russian thing), handmade köttbullar (meatballs – ours were moose, lamb and wild boar),

Prinskorv (sort of like hot dogs, but better), a ball of cheese and bread, and a cheesecake.

This was our first year assembling the feast ourselves, and the first we have done at home instead of going to Jönköping. Beer, wine and shots of aquavit are usually drunk before, during, and after the meal, but this year we also added my kickass eggnog with rum, tequila, whiskey and hazelnut liqueur. Because, hey, let’s start our own traditions! (I also introduced the hanging and filling of stockings, which we open on Christmas day, because that was MY tradition. I still have the stocking I was given on my very first Christmas, when I was six months old.

The one Swedish Jul tradition I am not completely onboard with is the Christmas Day dinner of lutfisk served with potatoes and peas. Not that lutfisk is bad…it’s just bland. It’s basically like eating hard-boiled egg whites. Which is great, I love hard-boiled eggs. Just not necessarily for Christmas dinner. And I don’t really like peas all that much, either. We would always eat it at Björn’s mom’s house…but this year, we are having goose and starting our own tradition (which also includes the oranges my mom always used to put in our stockings).

The first Christmas I spent in Sweden, I drew this silly little drawing of a “lute fisk” as a joke for Björn’s brother…and today I got the idea to update it a bit with Abys. And a Singapura. Just a sketch for now, but…Happy Christmas, everyone!

Aby-a-Day – 24 December: Julafton and Kalle Anka

It’s hard to describe how important watching Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) at 3pm on Christmas Eve is in Sweden.

Jacoby…seriously. It’s a big deal. Go sit down and watch.

That’s better.

Having experienced four Swedish Julaftons now, I can attest. Donald Duck and Christmas are a thing.

The annual broadcast, shown in Sweden since 1959 consists of Jiminy Cricket presenting about a dozen Disney cartoons from the 1930s to the 1960s, only a couple of which have anything to do with Christmas. There are “Silly Symphonies” shorts and clips from films like Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and The Jungle Book. The special is pretty much the same every year, except for the live introduction by a Swedish host and the addition of one new snippet from the latest Disney-produced movie (This year, it was a scene from Wreck-It Ralph Breaks the Internet and a scene from The Incredibles II).

The first year we lived here, we went to Jönköping and watched it at Björn’s mom’s house. We have done that every year…until this year. In a manner of speaking, Jake spent Christmas at Björn’s mom’s house before he even lived here.

This year, we had Julafton and watched Kalle Anka at home in Skövde.

But it was hard to not think of the Juls we had spent at Björn’s mom’s house. That defined Christmas in Sweden to me…and Christmas in general to Björn.

We did miss Björn’s mom’s Christmas tree, decorated with hand-cut paper hearts.

And also the weird straw pig that lived underneath the tree.

Björn’s mom also had this display of her collection of Dala horses. Jake tried to fit in.

“Ugh…these guys are a bunch of stiffs!”

Like his mini-me, Jake posed with the row of Tomten, too.

This Julafton was wonderful…but I miss the holiday in Jönköping.

Aby-a-Day – 23 December: “Momma, don’t make me wear that old thing again…I got them ugly sweater blues” (Silly Sunday)

If you’re a regular follower of this blog, you know that one of our holiday traditions is dressing up the cats. This year is no different. Especially since I have this little red dress with a plaid skirt that I knew would be just perfect for Lorelai.

And I was right. She rocked it.

…And then she went off to fight with Izaak, still wearing the dress…like the tomboy she is (She won, too).

Jacoby, of course, put on his Santa sweater and Mistletoe Hat like the pro that he is.

He gave me all his best poses.

I love him so much. Good old stable, reliable Jake.

What would I do without him?

Angel, too, is no stranger to the annual holiday dress-up routine.

She’s not quite the show-off Jake is, but she knows how to pose. Her ears aren’t really mad, though. That’s just the elastic on the hat.

She also knows that if she gives me a few good poses, I’ll take off the stuff and let her go.

Alfred didn’t get dressed up last year, so this was his first experience with our tradition.

It took him a second to really get the hang of it.

But he soon realised it really wasn’t all that bad. In fact, it was kind of fun!

“Freddy the Elf…what’s your favourite colour?”

Zak got to wear the infamous Christmas Tree Costume.

He…was less than thrilled.

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He decided he wanted to leave.

I tried to tell him that trees have roots and can’t move, but he wasn’t having any of it.

Logan also wore the tree costume last year.

Who do you think wore it better?

Aby-a-Day – 22 December: Julljusstaken (Swedish Saturday)

A huge holiday tradition in Sweden is putting up Julljusstaker in every window.

Jacoby, unsurprisingly, is a master at posing with the Jul candles.

He’s got the contemplative gaze and the slight smile down pat.

Somewhat more surprisingly, Angel is pretty good at it, too.

I mean, who knew, right?

“What? Don’t look so surprised…I AM an Abyssinian, you know!”

Alfred is also pretty good at it…

…when he can keep his focus and not get distracted.

I wasn’t sure how well Lorelai would pose with the candles (she flitters about almost as quickly as her caffeinated namesake), but she did really well.

She’s a natural!

For about a minute. Then she gets bored and goes off to do something else.

Izaak did pretty well, too, for his first time.

He’s got the “looking into the candles thoughtfully” thing down cold, for sure.

Until he, like Rory, gets bored. Kittens these days…no attention span whatsoever!

Even Pyret was pretty good at the candle-posing thing!

I never did get a photo of Logan with the Jul candles…but I did get one of him with this Jul Äppel!

Aby-a-Day – 21 December: A festive trip to the vet (Fashion Friday)

Wednesday, Izaak got his Suprelorin implant.

It was chilly, so I dressed him in Jacoby’s red fleece snowflake hoodie and his festive red flannel diapers

He knew he looked festive and he owned it.

He also posed with the Jul decorations in the cat waiting room…like the Jul Goat.

He was also very interested in my tea.

Zak had a good time exploring the waiting room.

At last, it was time for Zak to go in and get his implant.

Unlike Logan, Zak had no problem with the lidocain, and he didn’t react at all to the actual injection. Even the vet commented on how great Zak accepted his implant compared to the way Logan accepted it. Zak is completely fine, two days later, and he doesn’t seem to need the diapers anymore, either. I think he’s already happier now that he’s on Suprelorin.

Aby-a-Day – 20 December: Kittens’ first snow (Thursday Things)

As you saw in yesterday’s post, we got our first real snow in Skövde on Monday. Tuesday, I took Izaak and Lorelai out to see their first snow. Jacoby and Alfred, always ready for a little outdoor adventure, wanted to come along as well.

Rory absolutely LOVED it.

She and Jake were the first to run out into the snow.

Freddy, on the other hand…

…was a bit more tentative about the cold, wet, white stuff.

He did say hello to the neighbour girls out sledding, though.

Meanwhile, Rory ran out to see Bruno.

Zak was not impressed with the snow at all. I had to take him out in it, or he would have just sat on the pavement where the snow had either melted or been shovelled.

And as quickly as he could, he went right back there.

But Rory…she took off, running everywhere she could.

The cold didn’t seem to bother her one bit. Neither did the wetness.

She even ran all the way to the sandy place she and Zak played in last summer.

Even though it was buried under the snow, she seemed to know it was the same place.

You may have wondered, whilst looking at all the photos of Rory running everywhere, what the boys were doing. This. They were doing this. Sitting on the non-snowy pavement next to the building, watching her run about like a mad thing.

Aby-a-Day – 19 December: Wordless Wednesday (Running in a Winter Wonderland)

Aby-a-Day – 18 December: Luciatåg (Cartoon Tuesday)

Last Thursday was St Lucia’s Day here in Sweden (Luciatåg), and it is another religious day turned into a secular celebration. December 13, under the old Julian calendar, was the date of the Winter Solstice, an important event in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries because the sun is only up for a few hours, and the nights are extremely long. After the Winter Solstice the sun returns and days get longer. The name Lucia actually derives from the Latin word for “light” (lux), so Swedes took Lucia’s saint’s day and turned it into a non-religious celebration of the lengthening of days and the return of light from the darkness of winter. Luciatåg becomes a part of the larger Jul celebration which officially starts on the first Sunday of December (although decorations start going up after Halloween) and continues through Christmas to Twelfth Night. By “tjugondag Knut” (20 days after Christmas), the decorations are taken down and the Christmas tree thrown out (if it’s a real tree), traditionally with a party but that custom has begun to disappear.

Lucia is celebrated by girls dressed as St. Lucia (being chosen to portray Lucia is quite an honour) and Lucia’s handmaidens (“tärnor”) and boys dressed as star boys (“stjärngossar”), gnomes (“tomtar”) and gingerbread men (“pepparkaksgubbar”) who sing Natten går tunga fjät (“Night Walks with a Heavy Step”) and other songs celebrating light.

So, naturally I had to draw Lorelai as Lucia and Izaak as a star boy…

Aby-a-Day – 17 December: Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Hipstamatic Monday)

We finally have our tree up.

This is absolutely the latest I have ever set up my Christmas tree (except for the years I didn’t put one up at all, of course).

Björn says that Swedes usually put their trees up later than in the States…even later than this. But given the ordeal that is putting up all the decorations, I would rather put them up as early as possible – the day after Thanksgiving. Maximum result for maximum work, if you know what I mean.

But whatever. The tree is up. And it’s Lorelai’s and Izaak’s first tree ever. And it’s Alfred’s second.

You would think, based on all the memes about cats and Christmas trees, there would be no way on Earth that a tree would survive with four Abyssinians and a Singapura.

But the truth is, the cats are, generally, unimpressed by the Christmas tree.

(Gotta love the randomness of Hipstamatic…)

Björn was trying so hard to get Freddy and Rory interested in the tree, he was plying them with ornaments…glass ones, no less!

The ornaments were still more interesting than the tree itself.

One Björn stopped swinging the ornaments around enticingly and hung them on the tree, Rory and Freddy’s interest was gone.

Jacoby couldn’t even be enticed to pose with the tree. This ain’t his first Christmas tree rodeo.

Izaak, however, was at least a little impressed by the tree.

But even he respected the tree and merely posed for me next to it.

He was interested in the tree…but at the end of the day…

…He was more interested in posing next to the electric window candles.

Aby-a-Day: 16 December: A Christmas party cat show (Cat Show Singapura Sunday)

The little show we took Izaak to at our DjurMagazinet at the beginning of December was more than just a cat exhibition.

It was also a Christmas party. There were gingerbread cookies and Julmust and other traditional holiday treats. There was also a duo who sang Christmas songs and played the flute and guitar.

Whilst we were listening to the singers, we explored the store a bit.

I showed Zak the fish tanks first.

Zak really liked the big fish.

I think he liked them more than the little ones.

Next I showed him the gerbils.

At first, he didn’t notice them…

…but when he finally did…Oh, boy! I thought he would like real mousies since he is so fond of his Ikea mousies. We didn’t stay too long because I didn’t want to freak the rodents out too much. Also he was making the rabbits (in cages on the floor beneath the gerbils and hamsters) nervous, even though most of them were bigger than Zak!

Then we went to look at toys. I was amused by this squeaky carrot.

I ended up buying Zak a little Christmas bow tie, to join in the Christmas spirit.

Zak also schmoozed with the man who played the guitar.

I think Zak thought he might be Santa, because he was telling him what he wants for Christmas.

It was a really fun day out for all of us.

Aby-a-Day – 15 December: Jólakötturinn (Swedish Cat Show Saturday)

There’s an interesting holiday custom in Iceland: the Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn). According to legend, the Yule Cat eats people who don’t get new clothes for Christmas.

It’s actually kind of hilarious. When I went to Sweden for Christmas in 2015, I had a stopover in Reykjavik and I saw him for myself. It’s like happy little santas and elves, pretty white angels, sparkly snowflakes and snowmen…and then, WHAM! ANGRY BLACK CAT!

The Yule cat is associated with the Yule Lads, thirteen troll-imp brothers who show up starting 12 December and don’t leave until 6 January. They harass livestock, steal random objects, and generally do bad things. It’s so different from any other holiday tradition I know of. I absolutely love it.

Drinking is also a significant part of Scandinavian Jul celebrations…so naturally, Yule Cat bottle covers are a thing.

Of course, I had to buy some Yule Cats whilst I was there!

Since seeing the Yule Cat for myself in Iceland, those ornaments have become a part of my holiday tradition. He plays a prominent part of our decorations. And to that end, I made my own Yule Cat. When I discovered the Japanese Scratch cats, plushies with scowly faces and extended claws who generally look pissed at the world who were designed by artist Tamiho Maita, I knew the black one would make a marvelous Yule Cat. So I took one of Jacoby’s Santa hats and scarves, and voilà! One Yule Cat plushie!

On a whim, I brought him along to the cat show last weekend. He attracted a bit of attention, and one of the club’s members even posted his photo on the club’s Facebook event page!

I tried to get Lorelai and Izaak to pose with him in their show cage…it didn’t go as well as I hoped.

Look at Zak’s face! He looks like he’s trying to out-anger Angry Black Cat!

Aby-a-Day – 14 December: “Our little boy is all grows up tonight…you’re growns up and you’re growns up and you’re growns up!” (Fashion Friday)

Just a month ago, I wrote about how, at the same age as Logan, Izaak hadn’t shown any signs of being a tomcat.

Well, that changed when I caught Zak peeing on our bed! Luckily, I was right there, and I put him in the litterbox we have in the bedroom.

So, as soon as that happened…I had no choice. He had to start wearing diapers, the same way Logan did.

Zak really hates the diapers, but he won’t have to deal with them for long. I have already made an appointment for Zak to get his Supralorin chip next Wednesday.

Wednesday can’t come quickly enough for poor Zak!

Aby-a-Day – 13 December: Strangers on a Train (Travel Thursday)

Travelling in the pet car on a Swedish train is always interesting.

You never know with whom you’ll be sharing the car.

I love how Izaak and Lorelai are not at all fazed by other animals, especially dogs.

At most, they’re just curious.

On the train to the show on Friday, we shared the car with a woman and her lovely Japanese Spitz.

He looked like a fox! It was so much fun watching the cats look at him, completely unafraid and only curious.

Aby-a-Day – 12 December: Wordless Wednesday (When the Aby you spy is up higher than high, that’s a Rory…)