Aby-a-Day – Make a mini Warrior Cat! (Miniature Monday)

The Warriors Cats website has just released a Warriors cats miniature maker, where you can make a Warrior cat in the style of their new new rubber Warriors miniatures.

So of course I had to make Warriors minis of our cats. Although, I did have to modify some in Photoshop; I couldn’t do Angel’s one eye or get Alfred’s colour exactly right using the mini-maker alone.

Dashiell and Lorelai required much less touching up.

My favourite, though, is Izaak. Somehow, the default pose and eyes just suit him!

Aby-a-Day – 8 December 2020: Create your own tabletop gaming minifigure (Kind of Cartoon Tuesday)

Well…I woke up this morning full of ambition to work on my Dashiell-xander Hamilton drawing, only to have a Facebook friend post the minifigure she made on Hero Forge.

So, you know I had to make one, too.

Annnnnd…I spent most of my afternoon creating what I would look like as my dream player character. Well, it’s kind of like drawing a cartoon…a 3D cartoon.

Basically, you can create pretty much any character you can imagine (with a few limitations).

Of course I made myself as a humanoid feline (or, if you prefer, a felinoid human) with a cute skirt, lots of jewellery, a pen and an iPhone.

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Yes, that is a PEN, and yes, I know what it kind of looks like. And she has an iPhone because they didn’t have a laptop as an option.

Maple leaves are scattered on the maple-wood flooring, of course.

The interface on the website is super awesome. You can look at your character from virtually any angle. Cool, right?

You can purchase your character 3D-printed in full colour for $44.99, but the colours aren’t quite as vibrant as they are in the creator.

Still…I think it’s pretty cool. I’m getting one!

Aby-a-Day – 1 Juni 2020: Happy Birthday to me! (Miniature Monday)

Today is my birthday! A fairly important one (I was born in 1965; you do the math)…and Björn gave me gifts that coordinate with my art in the past year. First…the one that was released today and hasn’t shipped yet: a Baby Yoda doll!

My next gift was a small plushie of Toothless, who I also drew as a versiom pf Izaak.

Besides Baby Yoda and Toothless, Björn also got me a black Lucky Cat.

Okay…so, angry black Lucky Cat may not connect to any cartoon I’ve done, but he’s still adorable. I love them all!

Aby-a-Day – 3 Februari 2020: Frustrating crystal puzzle (Miniature Monday)

At the mall today, I bought myself a 3D crystal cat and kitten puzzle.

I’m not a huge puzzle person, but this looked like fun.

I may have made a mistake…

I thought the sheet with the eye stickers was cute…and not a little creepy.

The instructions were…less than helpful. “Just follow the order of the puzzle pieces shape,the puzzle can be fixed easily.” Yeah, right.

They say a great journey starts with a single step…so okay, here we go. It’s all downhill from here.

Alfred tried to help…

…and so did Dashiell.

This puzzle was wicked hard! There are actually YouTube tutorials to help you build these things!

After a while, I took a break from working on the big cat, and built the kitten instead. It was a LOT easier.

Freddy approves!

Okay, back to work on this crazy big cat puzzle…

It took me over TWO HOURS to get this thing built! I actually had it finished at one point…but whilst trying to screw it together, it all fell apart! I had to start over almost from scratch. Many swears were sworn.

Izaak came to check out what was so important that it delayed his evening chicken neck.

“This? This is what made me have to wait for my neck!?”

Aby-a-Day – 8 Juli: Phrenology Cat (Miniature Monday)

One of our stops in London was to visit Forbidden Planet, the world’s largest comic, science fiction and fantasy book and toy store.

Both Björn and I found some good things, but literally the last thing I saw as we were leaving was this porcelain Phrenology Cat.

It wasn’t even that expensive…

…and, even better, it was a pound off!

Alfred was very interested it the little cat head.

Included in the box is a small, well-bound 32-page book about cat phrenology. Really a nice little package, and a lovely find.

There’s just one thing I didn’t notice until I unboxed it…all the writing on the back of the head is mirror-image.

I’m not really sure if it’s meant to be like this or not. Maybe Phrenology Cat is printed backwards on the other side on purpose, and it’s meant to be placed in front of a mirror? I don’t know…so I emailed the company just to be sure. Or, maybe that’s why it was discounted. I have no idea. But it’s still a cool little figure.

Aby-a-Day – 14 Januari: Lorelai vs the Thing (Movie Monday)

When Lorelai was a tiny kitten, she was fascinated with the television. These photos are from 22 May, when Rory had been with us for about two weeks.

She really got into trying to interact with the people on the screen! She’s since outgrown her interest in the TV, but it was awfully cute (and not a little bit annoying) while it lasted. Also, if you look closely at the second photo, you might notice some previous Miniature Monday post subjects.

Aby-a-Day – 7 Januari: My Christmas Present (Miniature Monday)

This year, we had a small Christmas, because I bought tickets to the Red Sox-Yankees games next summer in London, and Björn bought us a new television. But we did do some small gifts and stocking stuffers to each other, and Björn’s main gift to me was a 4D Vision Cat Anatomy Model

Well, of course I loved it! In fact, I sat down and assembled it on the spot.

Luckily, living in Sweden has given me a pretty good grasp on navigating pictorial assembly instructions.

But what was really cool was the information included on the instruction sheet. Like random cat factoids.

And cat anatomy illustrated (using pictures of the model’s pieces) along with a felid size comparison chart.

Then there’s a little guide to cat communication and body language, how cats land on their feet, and an illustration of how retractible claws work.

Finally, there’s an organ-by-organ breakdown of all the parts of a cat, again using the model pieces (except for the eye).

Here is my model, completed.

My favourite part is, the model cat is a female! And she has kittens inside! Aren’t they cute? #theylooklikeabys…

Izaak wanted to meet the model.

I don’t think it went well…

…In fact, he seemed a little freaked out. Was it the kittens, Zak?

Aby-a-Day – 30 July: Mars Liv 1980’s bronze cat statues (Miniature Monday)

One day Björn and I were at one of our favourite second-hand stores, and we came across three very interesting bronze cat statues from the 1980’s. The detail was rather marvelous on them, and they were quite solid. Of course, I couldn’t leave them behind. All three are signed by Magnus G:son Liedholm, who, we discovered, is well-known Swedish metal artist.

All of the cats have “MARS LIV” and a year on a separate bronze plate. The oldest is dated 1985 and is a rather plain standing cat.

The next one, dated 1986, is a stretching cat.

I love that the two front paws are not together.

My favourite is the third statue, dated 1988, with a cat rolling playfully onto its back. I love the one paw in the air!

No matter how hard we Googled, we could not find out what “Mars Liv” is or was. But we did discover that there is at least one other statue out there, a sitting cat with several kittens (?) inside. It also appears that they used the same cats for different years and also multiple cats for the same years; we found the standing cat also dated ’83 and ’84, the lying cat dated ’84, and the stretching cat dated ’85. I wish I could discover what they were made to commemorate, because they are just so wonderful.

But you knew I couldn’t get through a post without a little help…

Oh, hello, Lorelai.

What would I ever do without you, Rory?

Aby-a-Day – 21 May: Playmobil Purrfect Stay Cat Boarding (Miniature Monday)

I know Playmobil has kind of “Poor man’s Lego reputation, but they have got a lot more choices in the cat department. Playmobil Purrfect Stay Cat Boarding set.

Not gonna lie; overall, I prefer Legos. But Playmobil has some interesting pieces, and I have been known to mix Legos and Playmobil pieces in the quest for the perfect Strollercat action figure.

It kind of started when Björn bought me the Playmobil Woman with Cat Family set as a surprise. After that, I dragged out all my other cat pieces and scoured eBay for more.

Then we saw this ad for a contest in Kattliv where the prize was this set. Well, I needed that shiny device! So we found one in a toy store.

Alfred was eager to help me build it.

It’s actually a pretty cool set.

Hauspanther would be proud of all the catification going on up in here. And the detail is fun, too. There are stickers to put on little cans of cat food as labels and a sticker for the litter box that looks like (clean, unused) litter!

Only one problem: not enough kitties! So I added all the random Playmobil cats I had collected and added them in.

Like this small cat tree (with carpet stickers for the shelves).

And these two iterations of Strollercats. The little grey one is, of course, Lorelai.

This one is my absolute favourite, though. Somewhere along the line I picked up a veterinary set which included this patient, complete with Cone of Shame.

But the best part is, she even has stitches! I’m not sure which set this goes with; I must have gotten it as a random cat piece on eBay. I can find the cat with stitches as a part of this set, but she hasn’t got the cone or the bed.

Here’s the house again with the extra cats added in. Much better.

Oh, wait! Here, let’s add two more cats…

Suddenly, the poor cat boarding house was attacked by Roryzilla!

She’s already using her grabby Aby hands to pick things up, as you can see.

Oh well. At least Freddy didn’t sit on it…

Aby-a-Day – 26 March: Re Ment Pose Skeleton Cat (Miniature Monday)

Personally, I think cat skeletons are kind of cool. You may remember
my roughly life-sized skeleton cat, Os-car I found at CVS one Halloween. So when Björn showed me a picture of Re-Ment’s Pose Skeleton Cat, I had to get one.

It’s one of those typical cool Japanese toys with tons of special touches. The cat comes with a litter box (I think…it might be a bed), a typical Japanese wand cat toy, and a belled collar. I added a Schleich cat tower and some food and water bowls I had from another set, and it seems that the scale on all of them is roughly the same.

The amount of detail on this little thing is incredible. The collar has stitching marks and a leather look, and the bell has a seam and the hole at the bottom to let the sound out.

Of course, when he heard the camera, Jacoby had to come see what I was taking photos of…and why I wasn’t taking photos of him.

Jake was very curious about the little cat skeleton and tried to pick it up.

He only succeeded in knocking over the cat tree. Then he wandered off.

Thanks a lot, Jake!

It’s really a tiny figure (as you can see compared to Jake’s paw), but it has eight points of articulation (tail, both hips, mid-spine, both shoulders, neck and jaw)! I really adore this little thing.

Aby-a-Day – 9 May: Nueve de Mayo (Hipstamatic Minature Monday)

When Björn was here, we had all-you-can-eat Taco Tuesday at Tavitas in South Station.

While we were there, the “Corona Girls” were going around handing out free bottles of beer, all dressed up in an adorable Corona serape.

Well…of course you know what we had to do with that, right?

The little serape was just about the right size for Mini-Jacoby!

So, okay, maybe Cinco de Mayo was a few days ago, but apparently Mini-Jake is still celebrating.

Aby-a-Day – 11 April: Fie! (Miniature Monday)

I’ve lived in Boston for 16 years this coming May, but I only just yesterday finally went to the Boston Tea Party Museum. It’s really a lot of fun! I didn’t do the tour this time; my friends Ailsa and Stephanie were in town, and we just did the gift shop and the tea room.

You can see the building I live in from the museum, which is located in the middle of the Congress Street Bridge. I could see the Tea Party Museum from my building, too, if it were larger!

The gift shop is pretty elaborate, and they actually sell really good quality items along with the usual tourist stuff.

They sell the types of tea that were tossed off the boat 16 December 1773.

Mini-Jacoby was interested in checking out the replica ship.

“Man the boats! The Wrecking Ball is aboard!”

They also had these little colonial mice which he found quite interesting.

After the gift shop, we visited the Tea Room, where you can get scones and other baked goods, sandwiches and soups, hot apple cider (with or without rum)…and, of course, tea.

On the tables, there are period board games like Shut the Box and Nine Man Morris.

At our table, we had a Nine Man Morris board with the flag of New England embazoned on it. Mini-Jake wanted to play…but he couldn’t quite move the pieces. I didn’t do the actual tour this visit…I am saving it for next week, when we plan to do not only the tour, but also the Tavern Night dinner.

Aby-a-Day – 28 March: Zootopia (Miniature Monday)

I saw Zootopia a little while ago, and I LOVE it. I really can’t wait to see it again in the theatre. Yeah, it’s that good.

I mean, how often do you see a movie that addresses racial issues, stereotypes, discrimination with witty but insightful commentary and has cute talking animals? Not to mention a few awesome inside jokes.

The main protagonists, Judy Hopps the rabbit and Nick Wilde the fox are among some of the best fictional characters I’ve ever come across.

I think Mini Jacoby has a little man-crush going on with Nick, actually.

Aby-a-Day – 1 February: Findus och Pettson (Miniature Monday)

While I was in Sweden, I got a set of Pettson and Findus figures.

Pettson and Findus are the main characters in a series of children’s books written and illustrated by Sven Nordqvist. They are very popular – this photo is from a display in a book store in Göteborg. Pettson is an old farmer who live alone with his cat, Findus, some chickens and some little house creatures. Findus gets his name from a brand of frozen foods; when Pettson got Findus as a kitten, he was in a box labelled “Findus Green Peas.”

I’ve had this small plush Findus since I visted Björn in 2000. He went back to Sweden with me for Christmas.

Naturally, I adore Findus…

…I mean, what’s not to like? He’s a cat, he can talk, and he’s a sassy troublemaker. Someday, I want to get Jacoby a pair of green striped pants like Findus wears.

I think Jake would make a great Findus.

But what does Jake think of Pettson and Findus?

He likes them!

Aby-a-Day – 11 January: Venison for New Year’s (Miniature Monday)

On New Year’s Eve, Björn and I hosted a dinner party with our friends Karin, Roger and Martin.

Mini-Jacoby, as you saw last week, was also there.

He wasn’t exactly invited…he came for the venison and stayed for the booze.

We had a glorious side of venison for dinner.

Our friend Martin hunts, and he brought the meat as his contribution to the collaborative meal.

Not only that…

…he cooked it for us, too! And it was wonderful.

Mini-Jake was fascinated by all the food, as you can see.

It was a real, grown-up dinner party, too. Everyone dressed up and everything. It was one of the best New Years Eve parties I’ve ever been to.

And, finally, after so many years of calling each other on New Year’s Eve – usually at the wrong time, because we’d messed up the time difference – Björn and I were finally in the same room at midnight! And we finally got our New Year’s kiss.

Aby-a-Day – December 21: Taking the train through Stockholm (Miniature Monday

After our stay in Stockholm, Björn, Kalle and I took the train home to Skövde.

I know Jacoby would have loved the trip. He does love train rides.

So, since I couldn’t bring the real Jake with me (this time), I did the next best thing.

I brought Mini-Jake!

It wasn’t quite the same…

Actually, I hear that the real Jake is showing signs of missing me…in between causing all kinds of mayhem like picking fights with the girls and licking toast left in the toaster long enough for him to find it.

It’ll be interesting to see what he does when he gets here. I’ve already warned Björn about his floor rugs (aka “Aby tunnels” and “Aby sleds”) and plastic bags (aka “Jake – don’t eat that! Plastic bags are not food!)…and then there’s 16-year-old Pyret. I expect fun times ahead.

Stockholm was a lot of fun…but now we’re home in Skövde.

Aby-a-Day – December 14: Getting Ready (Miniature Monday)

Mini-Jake loves to help me get ready in the morning!

He comes into the bathroom with me and helps me put on my make up.

The nicest thing about his help is…he doesn’t actually get in my way and knock things over the way the real Jacoby does!

Aby-a-Day – December 7: My little workmate (Miniature Monday)

It’s kind of nice to have a little friend in the office.

Mini-Jake helps me type…

And pick out music to listen to while I work.

I have a lot of toys on my desk…

Aby-a-Day – November 30: Dive right in (Minature Monday)

My Thanksgiving pheasant turned out so well…and was so small…that I decided to cook an actual turkey on Thanksgiving Saturday.

I mean, pheasants are tasty and all, but as it happens…I really missed the leftovers (Note to self re: living in Sweden).

While I was able to keep the real Jacoby away from the turkey, I wasn’t so fortunate when it came to MiniJake.

He was all over my turkey! I’m pretty sure he drooled on it, too (ewwwww)!

He was ready to eat any part of the turkey…

…even the wings!

But of course, his most favoured part was…

…the great white expanse of the breast meat!

Nom nom nom…

Aby-a-Day – November 2: Ready to hit the road (Miniature Monday)

It’s always fun to go to a cat show…but finally, on Sunday, it’s time to go home.

Jacoby and mini-Jake waited in the carrier while I packed up all the cage accoutrements.

I really wonder what Jake thinks of his Brazilian mini-me?

Yeah, come on guys. Let’s go home.