Cats versus Christmas tree - Day 8

Both der Dekan and I are very busy, so I'm just giving you a short update of what has been happening to our Christmas tree.
It's safe to say we both are still having a lot of fun with it.
Mom had neglected her duties of hanging ornaments back yesterday, so she had to dig in corners today. It's her own fault, we told her she should check the tree at least every three to four hours.
We are very good at the hiding game, she should know that by now. Not only did she find pineapple slices strewn about and gnomes sitting here and there, she also found the body of Moose the Fiddler which had not been in that corner the day before! She's welcome, we like to give her the feeling of success every, now and then.
Now she just needs to remember in which of her many safe spots she put his head last year.

She also found something weird looking next to the tree's box. On closer examination, she realized that they were a gnome's arms. She hadn't been aware that the arms were glued on like that - in a very minimalistic way, to put it nicely.
"Armless" still held on in the tree, though, and soon he and his arms were reunited again. Surgery was short and quite simple and as Mom is a genius with glue *wiping tears of laughter from my eyes* Mr. Armless has good chances to keep his arms for longer now as she made sure to use more glue in more spots.
I hope she will be able to do the same for Moose, so he'll be able to play the fiddle for us again soon.

I wonder if she will also find his neighbor eventually.
On the branch next to Mr. Armless, there's only a small red thread left.
Who knows, maybe that gnome decided not to fight with huge cats reminding of Iceland's Yule Cat or Jólakötturinn and jumped off the tree?
Oops, that reminded den Dekan how he had planned to become Jólakötturinn after growing up and he sure has done some growing since Mom wrote about the Yule Cat two years ago!


We also had our own fallen angel. It was done rather cleverly by hiding him in the light arch with the neutral back to the front, but Mom didn't miss it. I think she probably knows us a little too well by now.

We are ready for the next round, I wonder if Mom is, too!

P.S. By the way, I know it's the 7th today, but the tree went up on November 30th, so it's Day 8 of our fun and shenanigans.

Tree Swiper HQ

Have you been wondering how the Christmas thing is going in this house? I thought it was time for a little update.

Mom's first surprise was the night the Christmas tree fell. It was 3.15 a.m. and Mom had been sound asleep with the brat in her arm - I think he does that so she will forgive his countless crimes more easily as she adores having a cat in her arms, but we both hate being picked up - when she heard small knocking sounds which she quickly recognized as gnomes hitting the floor. Later she said she smiled to herself knowing I also had fun with her Christmas gifts to us ... until there was a wooshing sound next.
She turned on the light and saw me, rather unimpressed, next to the fallen tree. Seems her little box scheme is not that effective after all or maybe I just got the perfect angle.
Der Dekan went all wide eyed, no doubt jealous that (the first?) hit of the year was mine and not his. Mom grabbed her camera and took a shot into the dark which accounts for the amazingly bad quality of this picture, but I guess it's a good enough proof of my genius.

Of course that doesn't mean der Dekan feels defeated, he's still very much having his own fun with the tree.
Today Mom noticed that its back looked pretty much undecorated and she didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce very quickly why.
The tree's spot is where our cat donut is usually. A while ago, Mom got it in a special sale, hope everlasting that we would actually use it. Which happens rarely. Very rarely. I don't like the tunnel part at all because I know perfectly well who would be waiting for me outside. Not worth the fun. I also don't like sleeping in there. Why should I if I have my very own pillow in bed plus I am allowed to sleep on all soft surfaces I choose? Der Dekan has sat in it a few times, but not for long, and sometimes he checks the tunnel to make sure there's no other cat in there and that's it.

Now, however, the donut is right behind the tree. Another stroke of genius from Mom who simply thought it would not be used any more back there than it had been before. She was so wrong.

Sitting or lying in there, he can easily and comfortably reach the different branches and just pull off what he wants.
That doesn't mean he's not still enjoying his jumps into the tree, but sometimes you just want to put in minimal energy to wreak maximum havoc, and so he made this his Tree Swiper HQ. Mom refuses to put a sign with its name on it after she crawled around on the floor looking for ornaments. It was particularly funny when she was flat on her belly looking under the wardrobe. Without any success, I should mention. We know better than to hide things in obvious places.

She did manage to "save" two of them, though, rudely interrupting this cozy playdate! 🙄

O Christmas tree, o Christmas tree ...

... your ornaments are historyyyyy!
I'm sure you have seen the memes on the Internet and I'm sure you have sung along.

Mom followed the traditional (as in a tradition beginning only last year, but you have to start somewhere) ritual, first putting up the wooden box - actually step zero was to empty the box because that lady can't just leave something empty, it seems - and putting the tree inside. Der Dekan tried to help a little by sitting on the empty tree box several times, visibly surprised that it went flat every time.

When it was time to put on the ornaments, however, der Dekan was not allowed in the room. No worries, he's used to that. He's not allowed in the kitchen during cooking, he's not always allowed when Mom is hanging up laundry, he's not even allowed to protect her in the bathroom - all because he's a tripping hazard and everything takes five times as long if he's around.
I have no doubt that he waited right outside the door because when she finally opened it, he walked right in and did what little mobsters have to do - jump into a tree and pull off ornaments.

The gnome family she got for him was a big success, in fact we could just hear more of them falling. Now he made the whole tree shake, but the box did its job and prevented the tree falling as well.
We don't have action pictures of him (yet), he likes to attack the tree from the side where he's not seen so easily.

Doesn't he look like a kid on Christmas?

I only paid a short visit so far because I don't get what's quite so exciting about those ornaments. Now if they were felt, that would be a completely different game, but I guess Mom is smart enough not to take that risk, not because she doesn't want me to have fun, but because I tend to swallow parts of it that get stuck on my tongue.
Maybe I'll have another look later.

Cats and Christmas as in ME and Christmas

I like Christmas. Seriously, I do. Mom gets us some special treats, her friend always sends us something and since last year we even have a Christmas tree again. I had never seen a Christmas tree before. When Esme and I came into the family it was summer. Until winter it had been decided that around us - which was just the polite way to say "around me" - a tree would be too dangerous.
Mom even admits openly that she thinks pictures of fallen Christmas trees are funny as long as it is not her own.
Well, last year she bought a small artificial tree to give us - as in "me" - a chance to behave. Of course I was good. I only stole two of her handmade weirdly colored pineapple slices - she calls them her stars, but where are the points? - and they were easy to put back. I haven't decided yet what I'll do with the tree this year.

Yes, it's up already, with those nice bouncy wire crochet balls - I have stolen them before, too - and the pineapple slices, and of course Jack on the top.
Today was all about Christmas, even more than the last weeks. If you have wondered why I haven't blogged in more than a month, well, I simply didn't get a chance! Mom is having an advent calendar on her blog, and she has been preparing it forever and still isn't done. She's doing research and page hopping and she listens to Christmas carols and songs and she even took up the challenge of baking without the planet breaking apart!!
Well, and today she turned on Smooth Christmas Radio and finished a blog post, then she got inspired to set up the Christmas tree, she (finally) made the final draft of the Christmas gift list - why aren't we on there? - and ordered things. We all took turns on her lap, so it was a rather pleasant day which was topped by the fact that she gave us treats to eat instead of the regular food.

It had been my turn on her lap when Santa Baby was next on the radio. She got up, held me tight and then she started singing AND dancing with me. Who took my Mom and who is this weird lady?
Okay, it wasn't that bad. She held me really tight and kissed my ear and I was purring all the song through. It's probably one of those brainwash songs.
I was seriously worn out when we were done, though. Christmas is hard work!

P.S. Can you see it? Pineapples, right??