Your 2011 Calendar has arrived!

“You know dad, you lost track of time again. Decorations around the house, then last night sending out individual Christmas emails and now you are twenty-three hours late posting the final printer version of my calendar bookmarks. You had promised that you would do it Christmas Eve, so what do you have to say for yourself? Typical, no response, just a dumb founded look on his face! Did you at least get me something for Christmas?”

“So now you think a nice dinner, followed by a scalp message and a tummy rub is going to make up for your blunder . . .            well . . .     I guess so, but you better work fast, there are less than three hours remaining before Christmas Day starts here on the Pacific Coast.”

Wishing all creatures, great or small, including humans,

good tidings this holiday season. May your home be filled

with the warmth of laughter, the company of family and

good friends, sharing food and love.

We requested from the humans that each winning feline have a few words written about them to accompany their individual picture and without further delay Alexandra writes not only in English but also for her German speaking audience.

Noah

One day Noah just came out of the woods. For days he sneaked around in our garden and stole our old cat lady Jazz’s food from her bowl. It was impossible to get even a few steps close or to even touch him and due to his behavior, we believed he did not have a home. We asked around in the neighborhood but nobody know him, so we started to feed him. Through the feeding we managed to gain his confidence. Step after step we were allowed to approach closer, until the day (after 2 month, I will never forget it) when I managed to touch him. At this time it was just as if a dam had broken, he couldn't get enough of being stroking. Finally we managed to cage him and bring him to the animal doctor to see whether he was wearing a chip to see if he belonged to someone or not. We contacted animal welfare in case his owner might be looking for him, but nobody called and at the end we decided to adopt and give him a home. Since he has rewarded us with an incredible amount of love. He's a clown who likes to play hide-and-seek or catch, he comes along when we're clapping in our hands but he also likes just to take a nap on the knees of his humans. Noah has helped us over the difficult time when we had to let go our old cat lady Jazz when she crossed over the rainbow bridge. With his humor and his nonsense he made us laugh wiping away our tears. He's really a special guy. 

Noah kam einiges Tages aus dem Wald, schlich tagelang in unserem Garten herum, klaute der alten Katzendame Jazz ihr Futter, berühren oder gar ein paar Schritte auf ihn zugehen konnte man nicht. Sein Verhalten liess uns vermuten, dass er kein Zuhause hatte. Wir haben in der Nachbarschaft herum gefragt und schliesslich begonnen ihn zu füttern. Durch die Fütterung gewannen wir wohl sein Vertrauen. Schritt um Schritt durften wir näher an ihn heran, bis wir ihn endlich berühren durften und dann schien wie ein Damm gebrochen, er konnte vom Streicheln nicht genug bekommen und kroch fast in einem hinein. Wir konnten ihn schliesslich einfangen und brachten ihm zum Tierarzt um sicher zu sein, dass er nicht doch einen Chip trug und jemandem gehörte. Auch eine Ausschreibung beim Tierschutz liess seine Besitzer nicht auftauchen, so haben wir ihn schlussendlich adoptiert und er dankt es uns mit unglaublich viel Liebe. Er ist ein kleiner Clown, mit dem man Verstecken und Fangen spielen kann, der auf Klatschen angerannt kommt, Männchen macht, einfach zufrieden bei seinen Menschen sich für ein Schläfchen einkugeln kann und schlicht und ergreifend zum Knuddeln ist. Noah hat uns aber auch sehr geholfen, als wir unsere alte Katze Jazz erlösen mussten. Mit seinem Kabriolen und seinem Humor hat er uns das Lachen zurück gebracht. Er ist ein ganz besonderer Typ.

Tiny Johnson, also referred to as Johnny

His human mum Trish writes:

Sweet Johnny; a gentle, giant, twenty-pound tabby with the world's most petite "meow".

You are the peacemaker in the house, the big bed warmer, and you eat absolutely anything, at least once.

Nothing makes you happier than your squeaky mouse, unless it's a tummy rub.

Just a tiny bit cross-eyed, you prefer you mighty paws on the floor, no heights for you . . . 

unless it's to be picked up for a nice cuddle.

Mr Puddy

When you look at the picture of Mr Puddy you can understand when his mum  writes only a few words:

Mr Puddy is an Aussie Cat who chose a forever home by himself.

For downloadable PRINTER version, click here and enjoy

So lets have a round of an applause for not only the winners but also for all those who had entered.

Very soon we will announce part two of the calendar photo contest for the months of April, May and June. So get those trigger fingers active by taking pictures, as we know you love doing this, just remember large file size and if possible vertical format and make sure everyone is having a good time.

We would also like to welcome and acknowledge several new followers to our blog 

Sondra, a blogger with multiple excellent blogs, is a friend of dad's and when you have a look at her sites, there is something familiar about the blogs background, they're dad's textures.

Eva Macie, also an artist friend of dads; her blog A Creative Life is where she shares her art and artistic process.

Luna and Luzie, a blog featuring three cats and you should know it is bi-lingual. Now is that not great! By the way, Luna and Luzie, dad is aware he has yet to press the ‘follower’ button on your blog and said he promises to do so.

Then there is The Old Geezer, yap, that’s what he calls himself. We love his quote on his masthead, it reads “Old age ain’t for sissies! — Do not resent growing old . . .  Many are denied the privilege.”

Over at Margarida e os Animals from Portugal, her latest post  is of a deer grooming a cat and then the cat returning the favor. A must see to believe.

Caren Gittleman and Piras sadly do not have a link back to their blogs so that we can learn more about them or even join their site. So if you are reading this, please send us an email with your link and we will be most happy that you did so.

May I have not forgotten to mention anyone else.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful holiday season and that all the felines found extra treats and extra helping of good food in their bowls, besides lots of loving. See you in January 2011. 

Now I can take a much needed long nap.