Aby-a-Day – 30 Juli: Memories of Logan and Alfred together (Friday Flashback)

Facebook reminded me yesterday of Logan and Alfred, my brothers from another mother.

I had kind of forgotten what scamps they were! They used to get into everything when they were kittens.

Like Logan “helping” me in the laundry room.

And he put himself in that drawer-basket himself.

I’m not sure who the instigator of this little foray to the top of the bookshelf.

It was probably Freddy, although Logan was no slouch when it came to getting up and down from high places. Much better than Izaak ever was.

Then one day, I went into the bathroom and found…Freddy in one of our storage baskets.

Still not sure how he managed to get up there without knocking off any of my Catzillas!

He definitely looks very proud of himself.

Aby-a-Day – 19 Juli: Another trip to the veternarian (Medical Hipstamatic Monday)

Today, Angel had a follow-up visit to the vet to check on her eye

This is Angel at the bus stop. It’s a two-bus, half hour trip to the vet…sigh. If I was still in Boston, my vet would be on the first floor. But I digress.

Angel’s a pretty good traveler, except she tends to yell a lot.

When we got to the exam room. Angel was not sure she wanted to leave her carrier.

Angel had some spicy commentary about having to be at the vet at all.

Still, overall, Angel was pretty calm. Until Dr. Brigetta came in. Then stuff got real.

First, Angel got some eyedrops.

Angel had had ENOUGH long before Dr. Brigitta was finished examining her. Angel got several eyetests, including one that measured how many tears she produced in a measured time period. That one was actually pretty cool.

She still has vascularisation in her eye and will need another course of eyedrops. Awesome. Wow.

When the examination was finished, Angel got treatos.

Angel got all the treatos.

Then, we were homeward bound.

This is on the bus ride home.

Angel walked part of the way home, but she kept wanting to go into the bushes.

I am glad she was on a leash…Extracting cats from bushes is a pain.

At the end of the day, Angel was more than ready to go home. And yes, she also knows where she lives.

Aby-a-Day – 2 Juli: Remembering Jacoby on Canada Day

Yesterday was Canada Day, and the above memory from last year popped up on my Facebook feed. Even though the celebrations this year are rather subdued this year, I can’t help but recall Jacoby’s past Canada Day fashion statements.

There was that one time when he wore a wool sweater…and a mitten.

Of course, in 2014 he was very excited about the Winter Olympics in Sochi…and with good reason: Canada beat Sweden to win hockey gold!

Then there was the year he was feeling a little conflicted about being a Canadian in Boston, which is kind of famous for its epic Fourth of July celebrations.

Aby-a-Day – 18 Juni: Five years ago today…(Friday Flashback)

Five years ago today, Jacoby, Angel and I landed in Stockholm.

We took IcelandAir, which requires pets to travel in crates in a special pet cargo hold. It’s actually really great, because they allow two pets of the same species in one carrier. When we changed planes in Reykjavik, I actually saw them being loaded on the new plane.

We had a LOT of luggage. That was fun on the train to Skövde.

But once we had it all stashed, it was a very comfortable ride. Jake was enjoying the view immensely.

And then…

…we were home.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Maj: How it started (Friday Flashback)

Since last Sunday was Mother’s Day, I thought I’d post this. I was always Daddy’s girl. Also a tomboy. Also hated dresses and pink. And dolls. That was Tabby, my version of a doll. They tried to give me dolls. I took their clothes off and put them on Tabby. This was 1969. You can see the look in my eyes…He’s taking the photo and I’m begging him through the lens to get me out of this and take me fishing or something.

This is where my love of Siamese, and by extension, purebreeds began. My dad’s sister had two: Bippie and her son Caesar. This is me napping with Caesar on my uncle’s lap. Also 1969.

This was my cat, Baby Puss, on Easter.

This is when I met Baby Puss in 1967. She is named after the Flintstones’ cat. We also had a black male cat named Bagheera. I was always an avid television watcher.

My mom was ALL ABOUT the matching outfits. This was for my aunt’s 25th anniversary up in Edmonton in 1971.

And, in case you’re wondering…this was my reaction when my dad tried to get a puppy.

Aby-a-Day – 19 Mars: Fourteen Years Ago (Friday Flashback)

I got an email from Shutterfly today reminding me of photos I uploaded 14 years ago this week.They were all of Gun-Hee.

Most of them were of Gun-Hee “watching” an NCAA basketball game.

He had just turned six months old that week, too.

It was so cute to watch him. On that TV screen, the basketball was about the size of a Superball.

He clearly knew where the ball was. You can see he’s looking at it in this photo.

Gun-Hee really wanted to catch that ball!

Aby-a-Day – 8 Januari: Remembering Jacoby’s last CFA show (Friday Flashback)

Four years ago, Björn, Jacoby and I were at our first (and Jake’s only) CFA show in Region 9 (Europe). There in only one CFA show in Sweden annually, and it’s inconveniently located and so close to the beloved Örebro show, so we only entered it the one time.

It was fun, though, and Jake really enjoyed himself. He always preferred CFA’s format to FIFe’s. And, entered in the show, were three Abyssinians descended from Instincts cats.

It was fun to see old friends again. Pam DeLaBar, a CFA judge, is also another American expat living in Finland.

There was also a lot of snow. When Jake started getting bored, we went out and played in it.

This show was also the only show where Jake finalled in every ring. There were only nineteen cats entered in Premiership, and, interestingly, they were almost all older than five years. It was a fun time…even though the rosettes were printed on cardboard.

We went outside again on Sunday to play in the snow. This time, I didn’t bother to put Jake on his leash. He went on a bit of a walkabout before I was able to catch him!

I’ll share more photos from that show weekend tomorrow and Sunday.

Aby-a-Day – 1 Januari: Happy New Year’s memories (Friday Flashback)

This morning, Facebook greeted me with this memory of Gun-Hee and Patrick on New Year’s day 2007. Pretty remarkable, actually, considering I wasn’t even on Facebook back then!

Gun-Hee LOVED Patrick, right from the very beginning.

Trick, on the other hand…well, they were 12 years apart in age, and he’d recently lost his best friend Harri, so it took him a little while to warm up.

But Gun-Hee persevered. Or, to be more honest, he wore Trick down.

And when an Abyssinian puts his mind to something…resistance is futile.

A year later, they were the best of friends. Patrick, who for some reason preferred boycats to females, was particularly sad when Gun-Hee died less than two years after Harri. Perhaps the three of them are together with Jacoby in StarClan.

Aby-a-Day – 25 December 2020: God Jul, Allihopa! (Friday Flashback)

This morning, Facebook reminded me of Christmas three years ago. We didn’t know it at the time, but it was our last Jul with Logan, and it was also our last Christmas at Björn’s mother’s house.

We took the train to Jönköping Julafton morning. It was fairly chilly, so he wore Jacoby’s old snowflake hoody.

Jake had a snazzy new sweater of his own.

Jake had been to Björn’s mom’s house once before, but this was Logan’s first time.

As I’ve said before, Björn&’s mom always made the perfect traditional Swedish Julbord, and it was marvellous. We had the cold courses (hard-boiled eggs with caviar, pickled herring, and smoked salmon)…

…mustard-crusted ham, Jul cheese and red beet salad…

…prinskorv and meatballs (before cooking, here)…

…and sausage, cabbage rolls and Janssons frestelse, which is basically scalloped potatoes that are julienned instead, with anchovies added. It’s delicious, I promise.

Anyway, I had found this special Jul apple at the grocery store, and brought it to Björn’s mom because I thought she’d like it.

Christmas morning, Logan was sitting on a kitchen table chair, and he looked so cute I had to pose him with the apple. The rest is (Facebook) history.

Aby-a-Day – 11 December 2020: Remembering Jacoby’s helpfulness (Friday Flashback)

As Facebook does, it reminded me this morning that four years ago today, I was trying to put the duvet covers and fitted sheet away.

However, my attempts were thwarted by a very cozy Jacoby.

Somehow, I was not bothered by this interference then, and I am still pretty okay with it.

Aby-a-Day – 27 November 2020: Jake’s fabulous turkey outfit (Fashion Friday Flashback)

I know I’ve posted Jacoby and his fabulous turkey outfit many times before, but the memory came up again on Facebook this week, and I couldn’t resist sharing it again.

Preparing for the fashion show at the Westchester Cat Club show, Jake didn’t just wear that thing. He owned it. So much so that the creator gifted it to Jake after the show.

He posed so perfectly on that green sofa.

Jake was so confident, he didn’t mind sharing the sofa with another contestant.

My favourite thing about that turkey outfit is that even Jake himself knew how good he looked wearing it.

He looked at himself for the longest time, admiring himself. I know they say cats don’t recognise themselves in mirrors, but I think Jake definitely did.

Aby-a-Day – 6 November 2020: Do you want to build a snowman? (Friday Flashback)

Along with everything else going on today, Facebook helpfully reminded me that, four years ago today, we had snow. That made me chuckle; today the high was 13°C (56°F), and snow is nowhere on the horizon.

Four years ago, though, there was enough snow to build a snowman.

So of course Jacoby and I had to go out and look at it.

The kids were clearly trying to make Olaf, the snowman from Frozen. How adorable is that?

Jake seemed to like him. Look at his smile.

I miss how good he was at posing…I could just set him anywhere, and he knew what to do.

I miss that face. I know Dashiell looks like Jake…but I can tell the difference.

Aby-a-Day – 30 Oktober 2020: Jacoby’s diva scarf (Friday Fashion Flashback)

This week, Facebook reminded me of the time Jacoby modelled a scarf my ex brought back from a business trip to India.

And oh, how he wore it.

Jake was such an awesome model.

He just…got it.

Jake was just so…special. I don’t know how or why, but together, we could do anything. Some days I really miss him.

Aby-a-Day – 16 Oktober 2020: Logan and the refrigerator (Friday Flashback)

A memory of Logan came up in my Facebook feed today.

Logan was a lot more agile than Izaak is. This is Logan on a tiny ledge on the top of the door to the cabinet above our refrigerator.

Not to say he was 100% confident up there, but the fact that he got up there at all is huge.

I cannot imagine Izaak even thinking of trying to go up there, let alone actually doing it.

He even started to groom himself up there!

As similar as Singapuras seem to each other…they are definitely individuals!

Aby-a-Day – 25 September 2020: Licking leads to biting (Friday Flashback)

Facebook has been reminding me a lot about Alfred and Logan lately. This one came up today.

Look at little Logan, sleeping peacefully on the IKEA cat bed.

Suddenly, a wild Freddy appears!

Freddy uses licking.

It’s super effective!

Although, to his credit, Logan did get a pretty good chomp in on Freddy’s ear.

I also made a little video of the encounter; click on the image to watch it on Flickr.

Aby-a-Day – 11 September 2020: Facebook memories of Logan and Jacoby (Friday Flashback)

This week Facebook has been inundating me with memories of Logan. The above screenshot is from 10 September 2017, Logan’s six month birthday. Except it isn’t; Logan’s birthday was 9 March. I am not sure why I posted that on the 10th (which is Björn’s birthday).

This, though…this was 8 September 2017. Logan wanted to sleep where Jacoby was…and in typical Singapura fashion, he got what he wanted.

Then, three years ago today, Jake wanted to sleep where Logan was, so this happened. I miss them.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Augusti 2020: It’s only been a year? (Friday Flashback)

This memory came up on Facebook today; on this day last year, Alfred opened the front door. Now, we have to keep it locked at all times, even if we’re just going to get the mail.

I know we call Freddy our “Extra Cat”, but he is a very special boy. Karin called him a “philosopher.”

He’s also wicked smart.

Sometimes he’s a little too smart. Yesterday, I woke up to a crash and found Freddy had opened the kitchen cabinet, dragged out two bags of cat treats, and spilled a box of fusilli all over the floor. Thanks a lot, Freddy.

Wonder what his next grand plan is?

Aby-a-Day – 24 Juli 2020: The start of an amazing experience (Friday Flashback)

This memory came up in my Facebook feed today. Seven years ago today, I was contacted by Leslie and Sheila of the Westchester Feline Club because they wanted Jacoby to be the 2013 Westchester Feline Club Cat of the Year.

I have to admit, I really had no clue what a huge honour it was to be named Cat of the Year, but fortunately I’m a fast learner. Of course, seeing his face on the Jumbotron was a pretty big hint.

I was constantly talking to people, or doing something with Jake. Besides the Cat of the Year, Jake was also entered in the show (we only missed two rings, which is a bit of a miracle) and he participated as a model in the Fashion Show which was held both Saturday and Sunday. Jake is actually the first Cat of the Year to do all three things in the same show!

The show was good; Jake made a few finals. And the fashion show was fantastic. They originally wanted Jake to wear a Santa outfit…but when we saw how he rocked this turkey confection, everyone agreed that it was the costume for him! The person who made it even gave it to him afterwards, because he owned it so hard.

The list of previous Cats of the Year is impressive, indeed.

Jake was given an incredible rosette – the Scarlett Ribbon – with a photo of Scarlett, who was the very first Cat of the Year and the reason the award was created.

He was also given this certificate…

…and this poster. I was NOT prepared for all of it!

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience…but I didn’t realise that in July!

Aby-a-Day – 10 Juli 2020: A hot day in July (Friday Flashback)

Today this memory came up in my memories on Facebook. I wasn’t even on Facebook in 2005, but okay. But it reminded me of that apartment I had in Somerville. It wasn’t the best, but I loved it.

It was SO hot in that apartment in summer, though. The middle room was the coolest, because I had a window air conditioner…but it was still hot.

Tessie turned two a month and a half after we got Kylie. Kylie loved her and copied everything she did.

And here they are now, last week. They are still BFFs and have been for fifteen years. Tessie will be 17 next month. I do miss them, but they are so happy where they are.

Aby-a-Day – 3 Juli 2020: I miss cat shows (Friday Flashback)

These are photos from when Lorelai got a NOM at the very first show she was entered in.

We had Izaak at this point, but he hadn’t gotten his SVERAK registration yet, so he couldn’t be entered. This was the only show she went to alone.

The photos of Rory trying to nom her NOM ribbon are among my favourite photos of her.

We haven’t been able to go to a cat show since last November (thank you, global pandemic), and I really miss it. I think the cats do, too.