For the last Caturday of 2025 reader Georgiana Y. shares a story of kindness, and of hope for the future:
I call her The Princess. Last summer I started leaving a bowl of kibble outside for the neighbourhood strays but contrary to the other cats that come around this little lady doesn’t settle for kibble, she will sit in front of the sliding glass patio doors looking in until I give her a bowl of wet food. When I open the door she looks in but she makes no move to come in and she definitely doesn’t want to be touched, I have been soundly swatted (no claws) for daring to try but she keeps coming back so maybe someday …
Such a pretty kitty. Fingers crossed she mellows out slightly and realizes that inside and people aren’t so bad.
Another relaxing day here at chez moi. Going out to breakfast with some friends. I might brave the shops as I need a few things but might just putter around the house. Finished one painting and I have another in the works that I’d love to finish this weekend. Tomorrow is grocery shopping and mentally preparing for Monday. I actually have to go back to work, ick. But it’s only for one day, then three days off for New Years, and back again on Friday. Enjoythe weekend everyone!
I kinda want your schedule, AJ! Though I’ll get another 4-day weekend next weekend, as I took the day off for Jan. 2.
Lucky you. I got Christmas Day and New Year’s Day off but that’s it.
Enjoy your time off!
Seems like a lot of people are sleeping in this morning or are out shopping.
Well The Princess was here bright and early for her breakfast and came running when I opened the door to refill the kibble and she waited patiently until I went back to get her a bowl of wet food, she even came back for second breakfast a little later.
Christmas was quiet no family gathering this year, we stayed home and watched Violent Night which is an action Christmas movie on Netflix where Santa is the ultimate bad a#$.
New Year’s Eve will be different, we’re going to meet a Buch of people at a friend’s house like we do every year.
Well that’s about it for me, have a good last Caturday of the year everyone!
Aww, Georgiana, you are a true cat lover giving her her space and accepting her limits. I hope in due time she’ll come around. She’ll be a love-bug for sure if she ever realizes how wonderful it is to be petted and cuddled.
You’re so good to her. I hope she turns in her feral card someday and you have another indoor kitty to cuddle.
The Princess is a beautiful kitty. She is lucky to have you, Georgiana!
Have to take Bibi in to the vet a couple of hours. She has a very upset tum, with a little blood in her stools, and I’m concerned she may have ingested snow melt. Of course it could be anything; it’s not as though she can tell me. Or maybe she has told me and I just don’t understand.
I gave her a spoonful of canned pumpkin a little while ago, and so far she’s kept it in, and kept it down. A good sign?
Hope it’s nothing serious, let us know what the vet says.
Oh, no! I hope she’s okay!
Oh I hope Bibi is okay. Please keep us posted. ❤️
Keep us posted! We’re crossing all our paws and fingers for Miss Bibi.
Thank you all! I’m so grateful for this community!
We got back from the vet a little while ago. Vet is not sure what is causing the upset tum. Bloodwork came back normal, and sonogram didn’t seem to show a possible cause (vet is not sonogram expert, but the expert wasn’t in). Bibi was a bit dehydrated, so she was given some fluids and anti-nausea injection We came home with some prescription food and two kinds of meds.
I was encouraged to bring Bibi back to vet tomorrow if she throws up again. So far she’s keeping down her first spoonfuls of the special food, she’s stopped complaining, and is currently sleeping. Oops, no, she just got up again! 🙂
I’m keeping various digits crossed for luck.
I hope Bibi gets better soon! The bloodwork being good is quite a good sign, right?
It beats the reverse, that’s for sure!
Okay, sound like tentatively good news! Fingers crossed for a good outcome.
Thanks, Tara!
We’ve still got everything crossed for Bibi. Good news about the bloodwork.
I’m keeping all the digits crossed and hoping it was just one of those weird things they never quite figure out some kind of digestion bug or some such thing and that Bibi will be fine.
Didn’t know that snow was dangerous it I guess it’s what’s in the snow.
Hoping it’s nothing!
Oh, it’s not the snow that’s dangerous, it’s the snow melt/ice melt; that is, the chemical salt mixtures they use to keep snow from sticking on the sidewalk and to keep moisture from freezing. Thanks for your good wishes!
Honestly I don’t know why cities keep using these chemical salt mixtures. They’re not just bad for pets; they’re bad for the waterways and lakes in communities as all that melted salt changes the natural salinity of the soil and water everywhere.
Fine gravel and soil do a much better job of sticking to snow and creating grip on the roads and sidewalks so that people, cars, etc. don’t slip on ice.
I appreciate the thought! Alas, fine gravel and soil in a city as big as NYC would create its own disaster, to say nothing of how hard the gravel would be on pet paws. I’m not advocating for the continued use of salts! But we need a better solution than stones and dirt. I wish I knew what it was.
Bibi had a much better night. I still had a bit of clean-up on Aisle 5 this morning, but it was smaller and more compact, which is a good sign. Vet called this morning and was happy to hear the progress so far. Thank you all again for your sympathy and good wishes. It means a lot!
Aww, she’s so pretty! Hopefully she will let her guard down with enough wet food.
We got snow last night, though not as much as they were saying. The prediction was up to six inches but there’s not even an inch. I don’t know if I need to actually clean off my car. Not planning to go anywhere and I don’t think it’s enough that they really need to have everyone move to clear the lot (though I did hear the plow truck going around and I saw a guy on the little mini plow go by a few minutes ago, so I don’t know if I’ll trigger a sternly worded email reminding us of the rules of snow removal if I don’t). Still hearing a lot of scraping and beeping. But judging by the footprints on the ground it looks a little slushy and I saw water dripping from the roof. It’s still only 28F (feels like 14) but today’s high is supposed to be 34 and tomorrow’s is 40.
Hope everyone had a good Christmas. I went to my parents’ for breakfast, as usual, which my dad ate with a mask on because he has a cold (covid test was negative). He didn’t come to dinner, so there were only five of us. We ate early and I was home by 6:30ish. I was nodding off in my chair so I went to bed at 9:00. I got new air pods (which I tested out on the car ride to my uncle’s and promptly dropped in his driveway trying to put them back in the case. I think the first thing I will buy with my Target gift card will be a case cover for them). I’ll be very much happier at work since I have been without airpods for a few weeks since I lost my old ones (but they were dying anyway so I had already put them on my Christmas list). I’ve been using my phone headset to listen to youtube videos but that’s annoying and I have to take them off whenever I get up from my desk. Also got a two-pack of of smart plugs which I will have to figure out this weekend. I had a light on a timer in my bedroom but the timer stopped shutting off when it should so I ended up taking it out several months ago. Smart plugs are controlled by a phone app so they should be much easier to set. Might put the second one in my living room. The “big” gift was a little mailbox ornament with red birds on it (we were told to find the ornament on the tree that we hadn’t seen before), which my mom made from plastic canvas and yarn, and inside was a cylindrical object wrapped in Godiva tissue paper…it was a roll of 25 $20 bills.
Need to do some chores and whatnot. I was off yesterday (took my last floating holiday for the year) but didn’t do much.
Dogs were good…so was the walrus (goo-goo g’joob).
Wow, what a generous gift from your parents ❤️❤️❤️. And such a lovely way to give it to you.
Thanks for the weather update too! I looked at the forecast before I came to SoCal, and it didn’t say ANYTHING about snow. Otherwise I would have made sure to order salt (pet safe of course) for the sidewalk. But neighbors have confirmed that Philly also got a light dusting, thank goodness.
Not a great picture, but…
Oh gosh, that is really lovely!
Okay, I cleared my car. It looked powdery but there was at least a 1/4 inch of ice underneath. Was able to move just around the corner where there are several unassigned spots and they were already cleared.
Adding to my Target gift-card shopping list – new gloves for snow. My left glove got wet and the purple dye in the leather on the outside bled through the lining and turned my fingers bright pink. I’m not seeing a ton on their website that’s actually available in the store but I might stop on my way home Monday and see if they have anything. I’d rather be able to try them on first but at least I can return online orders to the store if I have to.
Oh, and it started snowing again while I was clearing. But I don’t think it will amount to anything much; it’s light and supposed to stop in the next hour or so.
Your dad’s cold notwithstanding, it sounds like you had a good Christmas. The mailbox ornament is very sweet.
G-g-g-good m-m-morning alllllll!
First below freezing morning of the year. Took everything I had to get out of bed.
Miss Princess, you are lovely. Hope you learn soon about the benefits of being indoors.
Had my parents and sister and hubby’s brother over for Christmas Day. None of us were wanted at family gatherings, so we held our own. Much laughter and silliness and love. I don’t think I’ll ever eat that much trifle again.
No plans for the weekend or next week. I’ll be doing a lot of resting, and hubby will be doing even more. I will, however, attempt to make up for the deficiencies in my tableware. We don’t usually have many people over, so nothing we have matches. Charming, but a little disturbing when I want to present a lovely setting.
Hubby gave me a small fortune in Amazon gift cards, and I’m planning to get a whole new library!
Have a fantastic weekend, everyone, and stay warm and dry.
I think you made the right choice, gathering with only the people you love. Life is too short to spend it with unpleasant relatives.
What?
https://x.com/i/status/2002880879224565917
(gah, the video won’t embed)
That’s adorable!
It really is!
Princess, you are beautiful and you lucked out finding Georgiana! Let her pet you, just once–you’ll love it.
I shared the holiday with my 4 beasties, of course. It felt like I was on the phone all day with relatives, so I got a lot of fiber prep done. My dear nephew and I yakked for about an hour and a half! Yesterday was errands and chores, so I have today and tomorrow for playtime.
I also got in a beautiful walk around the reservoir last evening, right around dusk. I counted 43 bunnies, heard lots of owls, and enjoyed the holiday lights on the very expensive side of the “lake.” It’s fun to see how the other half lives, and to remember that giant houses require lots of maintenance. I got back to my cozy little condo just as it got really dark. A perfect Boxing Day.
Now I’m about to try sewing stretch jeans. New fabric, new pattern–we’ll see how it all goes.
Sounds like a blissful day! Looking forward to hearing about the stretchy jeans.
I thoroughly enjoyed my two-night stay in Stratford to see an adaptation of “The Forsyte Saga”, an ingeniously filleted version of the books played on a bare stage with the minimum of props. Joseph Millson was superb as Soames but in my opinion no-one will ever equal Eric Porter’s performance in the role.
I had a rather ridiculous mishap at the ancient pub where I stayed – on the first morning I stretched a bit too vigorously and broke a fingernail on the low ceiling! The second night was something of a trial due to the live music event in the bar directly below my room, which made the floorboards vibrate and went on until midnight…
I was half expecting the train journey home on Christmas Eve to be absolute chaos with overbooked trains, drunk passengers etc, but everything went without a hitch and there were even some empty seats. I have to admit that I’ve reached an age where I breathe a sigh of relief when I get home!
Anyway, I hope all Cutetropolitans and their anipals had a good holiday and wish you all a Happy New Year.
Shepherding chaos.
That was lethally cute. Those little fuzzy potatoes can YELL.