Aby-a-Day – 17 Januari: Let’s go outside! (Swedish Cinema Sunday)

We went outside with the cats today. Lorelai was the most eager, as usual…

She has zero fat and thin, sleek fur, but she doesn’t seem to feel the cold at all.

The boys, on the other hand, kind of hovered by the door.

Finally, Alfred decided to explore. Seeing as he’s got the most insulation, he should do…

Our upstairs neighbours were outside sledding. Oksana is always happy to see Freddy.

He and Rory explored their sleds.

Eventually, everyone decided they had had enough snow and wanted to go back inside.

I also made a little video of our outing. Enjoy!

Aby-a-Day – 14 Januari: More snow, more fun (Thursday Things)

Since I posted last week, we’ve had a bit more snow here. I took the cats outside again on Tuesday; it was actually rather warm and the snow was perfect and not too wet or icy.

Lorelai, of course, went pelting off into the whiteness.

The boys, however, were less enthusiastic (and yes, I made Dashiell come out with us).

Eventually, Alfred stretched his legs.

Dash even took a little walk around the building.

Izaak…was displeased.

Rory, on the other hand, was playing with the snow.

She was having so much fun out there.

One cool thing happened, though. Watching Rory run, I saw some movement in the background. At first I thought it was Freddy, but it was a hare! I wish one of the cats had seen it, though. I’d love to see what their reaction would be!

Aby-a-Day – 13 Januari: Wordless Wednesday (Magpies and cats in the snow)

Aby-a-Day – 11 Januari: Serious cuddle puddle (Hipstamatic Monday)

The other evening there was a pretty serious cuddle puddle going on at the end of the sofa involving Dashiell, Izaak and Lorelai. The whole his was pretty adorable.

But the absolute cutest thing was Dash’s leg over Zak’s back.

I mean, isn’t it just the sweetest thing?

At least, it is until you realise that Dash was probably sleeping on the bed all by himself until Zak wormed his way in there.

Rory joined them afterwards.

However it happened, it still makes for some super cute photos.

All right, Rory…you can go back to sleep now.

Aby-a-Day – 7 Januari: Snow day! (Thursday Things)

So, as you saw yesterday, we finally got a little bit of snow.

Alfred, along with Lorelai and Izaak (who haven’t been outside in forever) were eager to get out, even if there was snow on the ground.

Rory, of course, burst out the door. She never seems to feel the cold at all.

Zak was happy to be outside, but he wasn’t happy about the cold. He mostly stuck close to the building.

You can see the difference in their happiness about being out.

Freddy immediately went around back to check out his bush. There wasn’t much to check out.

At one point, Rory couldn’t hold it in anymore, and she burst off in her signature flying joyful bound.

Look at her go! It doesn’t matter if it’s cold and snow-covered or the hottest day of summer…she loves to run outside.

Eventually, she came trotting back to the shelter of the building.

“Well? Was it fun?”

Freddy also took off in his goofy gallop, and Zak followed behind him.

We didn’t stay outside for very long, because it was breezy and felt colder than the -2°C that it actually was.

Markis was also outside enjoying the snow.

As were the neighbourhood children. Despite there being barely enough snow to cover the grass, they were all out there sliding down our hill.

Aby-a-Day – 6 Januari: Wordless Wednesday (It finally snowed…kind of)

Aby-a-Day – 3 Januari: Festive fireworks! (Swedish Sunday)

We don’t have organised New Year’s fireworks in Skövde, but that doesn’t stop people from going out and buying them and setting them off. On Thursday night, someone shot a bunch of fireworks off just down our hill. And these were serious fireworks, too! Almost as big as the ones back in Boston! The cats were impressed; I don’t think they’ve seen fireworks this close before. Lorelai was mesmerised by them.

Dashiell, not surprisingly, was a bit apprehensive.

Alfred was fascinated by them.

“Did I really just see that?”

“Wow! I guess I did see that!”

Aby-a-Day – 20 December 2020: Wordless Wednesday (Warriors plushies!)

Aby-a-Day – 27 December 2020: Welcome to the rat race (Cinema Sunday)

We got the cats a remote-controlled rat toy for Christmas. We thought it would be a lot of fun for them.

It…didn’t go quite as planned.

I’m not sure if it was the motor noises or the crazy, self-righting wheels, but they seemed a little intimidated by the thing.

So, Björn got the idea of putting a bit of ham on the back of the rat. Well, that got Alfred’s attention.

And then the ham fell off.

And…then Freddy ate the ham. So much for that idea.

So we stopped the rat to see what they would do when it wasn’t moving.

Dashiell grabbed it and started dragging it off.

He was growling as he pulled it along!

I don’t think any of us saw that coming.

Here’s the video of the whole encounter. I sped it up a little bit, so you may not be able to hear Dash growling.

Aby-a-Day – 26 December 2020: Self-amusing cat toy (Silly Saturday)

My friend (and Dashiell’s breeder) sent us some Christmas gifts. Among them was a simple wand toy with holographic tinsel.

I put it in a pencil cup. Lorelai really liked it.

Errr…maybe she liked it a little too much. But she’s proof that wand toys don’t need to have a human on the other end to be fun to play with.

As for the question on everyone’s mind…I still can’t tell if Rory is pregnant. Her nipples seem to say yes, but he isn’t showing anything yet. I am going to weigh her this weekend, so maybe that will give us a clue.

Aby-a-Day – 24 December 2020: Från oss alla till er alla, en riktigt god Jul! (Thursday Things)

Well…it’s been a memorable year, that’s for sure.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a year that so globally interesting.

But enough of that…time to watch Kalle Anka and eat and drink too much. Happy Christmas and God Jul.

Aby-a-Day – 21 December 2020: Is she or isn’t she redux (Medical Mystery Monday)

Well, yesterday was three weeks after I saw Lorelai and Ritchie actually mating.

My friends and the books both say that, around the three-week mark, she should be “pinking up”…and, once again, I really cannot tell.

Although, when we were taking these photos, her nipples did seem to be easier to find…so maybe?

Aby-a-Day – 19 December 2020: Getting better all the time (Singapura Saturday)

Even when she was a kitten, Lorelai has been a very skilled shoulder cat. She can jump from the ground to your shoulder in one easy leap and stick the landing, without sticking your shoulder.

Izaak…not so much. But he really wants to be a shoulder cat. And he’s been practicing.

“Aw yeah, I got this.”

Aby-a-Day – 17 December 2020: Merry Fishmas (Thursday Things)

Pickled Herring is one of the traditional foods on the traditional foods on the Swedish Julbord (Christmas table)…so of course there’s a version of Julsill for cats!

It’s made by Mjau, the “low-rent” version of Bozita, which I’ve mentioned before (Both Bozita and Mjau are made by Doggy AB in Vårgårda). The main difference between the two brands seems to be the range of flavours and the ingredients labels. Mjau lists “meat and animal by-products” and “fish and fish by-products,” with 4% actual herring. Bozita lists the specific animals used, and doesn’t include “by-products.”

But do the cats mind if they get a little Julsill along with their raw? Apparently not…well, except maybe for Izaak.

Aby-a-Day – 16 December 2020: Wordless Wednesday (Jul katter)

Aby-a-Day – 14 December 2020: Christmas candles (Hipstamatic Monday)

We’re putting up our Jul/Christmas decorations gradually this year, starting with the easiest things first. So first the wreath goes on our front door, and then we put the Julljusstaken in the windows.

And, as always, it leads to some incredibly festive photos ops.

Pair the candles with Hipstamatic’s holiday-themed films and lenses, and you can have a lot of fun. This film is called “Vixen-chan.”

And this film is “Donner.”

This last one isn’t one of the holiday films…but it feels Christmassy, don’t you think?

Aby-a-Day – 12 December 2020: Izaak meets Bruce the Spruce (Silly Saturday)

Seven years ago this Christmas, I found Bruce the Spruce, the plush Christmas tree who dances and sings Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. We didn’t put up all our decorations last year, but we bought a new tree this year, and we brought up about half our decorations from the basement.

Bruce was one of the decorations. I don’t think Lorelai had seen him before.

I don’t think Izaak had seen him before, either.

Given his plushie obsession, Zak was fairly fascinated.

Or frightened. Could be either.

Nah…I’m going with fascinated.

Don’t stick your tongue out at Bruce, Izaak!

Aby-a-Day – 6 December 2020: International Top Cat Challenge (Cat Show Sunday)

I finally got around to entering the CFA International Top Cat Challenge finale. After the results of the last show, I was a bit hesitant, but ah, what the hell?

So I entered Izaak,

and Lorelai in the Championship class,

and Dashiell in the Premiership class, using the regular photos.

The entry fees were $10 each, with the fourth entry being free. So, I entered Angel in the Household Pet class.

But the main reason I entered this show was for the “Haute Cat-ture” fun class. Cats…posing in costumes? Um, yes please! I entered Jacoby in four different outfits: His Red Sox uniform…

…His Don Draper suit…

…His super posey snow photoshoot wearing his knit cap and his boots…

…and of course, Jake’s fabulous Thanksgiving outfit! Wish me luck!

Aby-a-Day – 3 December 2020: Things we saw along the way (Travel Thursday)

Because of the pandemic and me being in a high-risk group, I haven’t travelled much at all this year. This trip to Stockholm was the first one I’ve taken anywhere since we took Lorelai to meet Io back in July. It was nice to see new and different things again!

There had been some snowfall, and at a rest stop, I saw these lovely frosted leaves.

On the road at dusk (around 15:00), there was this incredible moonrise.

Considering I took these photos through the windows of a moving car, I think they turned out rather well.

On Saturday, we went into Stockholm city to do some shopping. We passed by the Royal Palace, already decorated for Jul. I love the concrete lions guarding the entrance.

As luck would have it, whilst I was taking that first photo, the Royal Guard happened to pass by!

I took this one on the way back when we stopped at an ICA to get a snack. It was closed, but if we hadn’t stopped I wouldn’t have gotten to see the historic Åsgården.

Still, out of all the things we saw last weekend…this was definitely the best!

Aby-a-Day – 2 December 2020: Wordless Wednesday (Freddy’s got game. Spoiler alert: No, he doesn’t)