HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 50–04/26/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 50–04/26/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I trust this finds you relaxing at home with a bowl of chili with gobs of gooey cheddar cheese on top. All is well at my house.

🐱 The vile weatherman was surprisingly accurate about today’s forecast. I wrote a letter of complaint concerning his incompetence to the Illinois Board of Meteorologists, so they must have cracked down on him. It’s raining cats and kittens, and is dark and dreary. Lots of lightning and thunder boomers too—Oliver just took off to find somewhere to hide. He’s such a fraidy cat! 

🐱 So far I've had a very quiet and uneventful day. I patrolled a little early this morning and quickly came to the conclusion that all the vile beasts are deep in the woods taking shelter from the loathsome rain. Slacker boy Oliver has done nothing productive today except for hysterically running around the house and chasing a toy mouse. 

🐱 Friends, I need your help—this letter is already up to episode 50. I have a tough decision to make. Should I continue with episode 51 or switch to Volume 2, episode 1? Please think about this and comment. What you think is important to me. 

🐱 Ma thinks I’m feeling better even though I’m still lethargic. That makes absolutely no sense to me; however, the antibiotics and steroid should be kicking in. Ma has been trying to convince the vet to try something holistic to prevent my UTIs since I get one twice a year. One year I had three. The vet knows I’m a Nervous Nellie and stress can attribute to my infections. He’s not open to anything holistic and yet Ma doesn’t want to give me anything without a vet’s guidance. It’s quite a conundrum. I have no reason at all to be stressed since I’m safe and loved so much, but I am sometimes. Loud noises, occasionally scary humans come into my domain, vile beasts that sometimes lurk in the shadows, and then there’s slacker boy Oliver, to name a few of my stressors. 

🐱 I wish you all a lovely rest of your day. It’s Friday so it’s a good night for a mug of creamy hot chocolate with tons of marshmallows. Perhaps a movie? More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 49–04/25/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 49–04/25/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Since I’m indisposed, I have all this free time and thought it only fair to write a bit about my slacker  brother Oliver from another Mother and Father. 

🐱 Okay, I admit it—I know I’m guilty of getting on Oliver’s case a lot. Most of the time he deserves what I dish out because he annoys me so much and tries to be the head of my domain. He is definitely a control freak and tries to get on my last nerve. I was here first! I never asked for a brother and then one lovely fall day he just sauntered in like he owned the place. He’s the one who tried to start a mutiny! For cat’s sake he was just a four month old kitten! So I still have to occasionally whack him on the head to keep him in line and to remind him that I’m queen of this ship!

🐱 On the other paw, Oliver does need to be given a fair shake. All in all he is a good brother and pretty sweet and loving. It could be a lot worse—at least he doesn’t bite me. I guess I need to change my tortitude and start writing a bit about his good attributes, huh? I’ll try really hard to remember that when Oliver is trying to take over one of my favorite spots. 

🐱 My brother’s official name is Sir Oliver Henry, though he is by no means a “Sir”. I don’t know why he deserves such a title—he hasn’t got a royal bone in his furry body other than being a royal pain in my tail! He’s just a run of the mill cat and squatter who was born in a small village on the Illinois River. He is 11 years old and tries to act like he’s still a kitten. I have to admit he is a beautiful specimen, though I would never tell him that to his furry face. His lustrous black coat is so thick and as soft as velvet. He weighs in at 10 pounds and is solid flabby muscle. Ma combs me but she has to comb him a lot more! 

🐱 This is a little of Oliver’s history. Ma and Pa were at a festival in a small village by the river in October 2012. Ma saw slacker boy along a sidewalk licking a paper plate. By the way, old habits die hard and he is still a plate licker. To my dismay, she was really drawn to him. Ma slowly approached him and reached down to pick him up. For her it was love at first purr. She wanted to take him home, but Pa didn’t. Ma had been dealing with a lot of maternal desires and had voiced this concern, so Pa knew she wanted a second cat. Pa not wanting this kitty upset Ma as she realized Pa didn’t share her feelings. She never asks for much. 

🐱 Later on when Ma and Pa were at home she couldn’t stop thinking about this black kitty that had stolen her heart. Four long days went by and she still wanted to give this black kitty a home. So she made the decision, and one that would change my remaining lives, to drive the 100 mile round trip to find him and bring him home. But first she thought she’d better call Pa at work to tell him—errr warn him—of her plans. Pa really didn’t object at all. 

🐱 Ma arrived at this small village on the river and knocked on several doors asking about this black kitty. She was full of determination to find him. Ma was also afraid that with all the massive festival traffic that something bad could have happened to this black kitty. But finally a guy remembered seeing a black kitty at a neighbor’s behind his house. So Ma drove around and found the house and knocked on their door. A lady answered and Ma talked to her and sure enough the black kitty had been taking shelter in one of their buildings behind their house. The lady’s young daughter appeared and called for the black kitty and he came running out of the building. She picked him up and handed him to Ma. The young daughter told Ma that they occasionally fed him too. The young daughter and Ma talked for quite awhile and it was obvious the daughter was very happy the black kitty was going to have a furever home and be safe inside from all the vile beasts lurking about. 

🐱 All the way to his furever home the black kitty laid on Ma’s lap, and purred contentedly. And the rest of the story: I’ve had to learn to accept him as my slacker brother—learn to share my food, Ma and Pa, and my special spots. But he’s really not so bad. 

🐱Enjoy this lovely sunny day. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 48–04/24/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 48–04/24/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope you’re all enjoying this pretty day. If you recall yesterday was so gloomy but right after I finished writing yesterday’s letter, sunbeams burst forth out of nowhere!! They brightly gleamed through the dirty windows in all their sunny glory!

🐱 No matter how hard Pa tries to keep the windows sparkly clean, the outside gets grungy from regular dirt and rain. The inside isn’t so much dirt but they get a lot of grimy little nose prints on them from yours truly and my slacker brother, Oliver—but seeing them puts a big smile on Ma’s face.

🐱 On another note, I’m still not feeling all that great. Ma can tell when I don’t since I get a bit restless when on her lap. So she called the vile vet early this morning and he worked me in at 10:15. Ma was right—I have a UTI, but it was caught in time and not a real bad one. So he gave me a vile combination injection of penicillin and dexamethasone. He also sent Ma home with the antibiotic Zeniquin, so she’ll be forcing that vile little pill down my throat every morning for 3 weeks. Oh the joy! 

🐱 When we finally got back home, I heard Pa telling Ma he needed to go to Farm & Fleet and buy some chemical-free lawn fertilizer and some sandpaper. Ma replied since it’s so pretty out she’d ride along and wait in the car. Before they left Ma gave me strict orders to take it easy and rest, and to not take any guff from Oliver! 

🐱 By the time they got across town to Farm & Fleet, Ma had changed her mind and decided to go in. To be honest, I think the only reasons she wanted to go inside was so she could race around the store on that cool scooter—and to yack complete strangers’ ears off. So instead of Pa’s plan of just buying the fertilizer and sandpaper, they also ended up buying like a dozen packets of flower seeds, potting soil, some upholstery cleaner, a flower pot, and Ma a pair of Skechers tennis shoes. 

🐱 I hope you all have a lovely evening. I'm going to continue napping until suppertime and then plan on calling it a night very early. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 47–04/23/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 47–04/23/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. All day long I’ve been searching for sunbeams and they have all departed to somewhere out in the universe, millions and trillions of light years away. Tortuous! We’re getting a lot of despicable rain and that makes the flowers happy—but I’m not! I need sunbeams for my well-being! Maybe tomorrow there will be some. All of these cloudy days are just ushering in vileness, exhaustion and boredom into our lives. 

🐱 Today has been quiet. Too quiet. This morning I performed my duty of patrolling but I didn’t seen any vile beasts inside or outside my domain. I didn’t find the dust bunnies that I saw a couple days ago so they must have scurried to another area. All I can surmise is that all the vile beasts must be hiding out with the sunbeams. I saw Stumpy the squirrel yesterday and that made Ma real happy. I have to admit he is cute in a chubby sort of way. 

🐱 Slacker boy Oliver has spent most of his day goofing off and snuggling deep under the bed covers. I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s part mole. I’ve been sleeping more too. Ma always gets concerned about our health when we’re not very active. Especially concerned since I puked up part of my breakfast the last two mornings—I think I’m working on one of those slimy repulsive hairballs. Maybe when it finally comes up Oliver will step in it. That would be funny. Ma loves me a lot and like always, has her watchful eye on me. 

🐱 Perhaps tomorrow I’ll have something exciting to report—like that hairball. I hope you all have a restful evening. Maybe enjoy a big slice of angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream? It’s Tuesday and Pa usually has his Bible group in the evening, but one of his friends can’t make it so it was cancelled, which means he and Ma will be watching something or other on TV. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 46–04/21/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 46–04/21/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope you’re all enjoying this pretty sunny day. Ma is chomping at the bit to get outside but it’s a bit nippy so she’s hoping she can sometime this week. Of course, I much prefer her being in the house with me but I try hard to understand her basic need of wanting to be out in the great wild outdoors. I’m purrfectly content being inside and safe from all those vile beasts! 

🐱 I overheard Pa telling Ma that it’s about time to set out the oriole feeders. I don’t understand why they get all excited over an orange and black bird. Sometimes I look at humans and wonder—how did they fit all that stupid in one head? 

🐱 My day started with a full-house inspection for vile beasts. I didn’t see too much out of order other than some dust bunnies conferring under the dining room table. I don’t normally do my patrolling all at once but I was feeling pretty darn good since I just finished my three day cocktail. Thankfully I’m back to eating like a piglet! I hope it lasts since I don’t want to see Ma getting out that wretched cat carrier to drag me to Dr. Shawn. 

🐱 Late yesterday afternoon Ma was whining to Pa about the need to cover up a few of the outside tender plants since there was a freeze advisory. He didn’t think it was going to get cold enough to worry about, but he obliged. Good thing he listened because he would have continued to hear Ma whine. And lo and behold—early this morning I saw a few birds ice skating on the bird bath! I kept watching to see if one of the birds would fall through and flounder around. I’m obviously pretty bored. 

🐱 Pa was doing something or other in the house and strained his back a couple days ago so he’s been taking it easy. Ma suggested he take Epsom salt baths and he’s in the tub now soaking and splashing around. Ma would love to soak in the tub but can’t get down and back up any more—Pa always offers to help her. That would be a sight. She keeps telling him she’s not going to be responsible for him getting any kind of bodily injury! It’d take a fork lift to get her out of the tub any way. Seeing all that drama would traumatize me and Oliver for the rest of our lives! 

🐱 I wish you all a lovely evening filled with movies galore and dozens of sugar cookies and chocolate milk shakes. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 45–04/20/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 45–04/20/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. All is well at my house. The incompetent weatherman guessed the forecast right again. Will wonders never cease! It’s been a partly cloudy and chilly day. My pesky brother Oliver and I had to catch a few sunbeams early this morning before they vanished into the stratosphere. 

🐱 I’ve been lounging around on the couch and stretching out my adorable toe beans. I deserve to bum around since I’ve had a hard day’s work of patrolling for vile beasts, throwing cat litter out my box, catnapping and whacking Oliver on the head. I haven’t had cause to whack him lately but thought I should just to remind him who’s the queen of this ship. 

🐱 It’s time to celebrate! I’m so proud of Ma. She set her feeble mind to it and got two of her three side table drawers cleaned out and organized! Now most all her supplements are in the top two drawers, except for the three supplements that have to be either crushed since they’re the size of horse pills, or refrigerated. She hasn’t dared open the bottom drawer yet. Heaven only knows what vileness resides in there. I’m sure there could be some mummified Asian beetles and stink bugs. 

🐱 Ma has been following Oliver around with that confounded camera. She finally threw her hands up in despair. He’s not nearly as photogenic as me so it takes Ma longer to get a good shot. Oliver finds she can be rather irksome and I think he looks away on purpose just to annoy her. He can be a very uncooperative brat!

🐱 In other mews, this is officially Faturday so Pa and Ma are going to treat themselves to a bowl of ice cream later. Ma prefers chocolate and Pa vanilla. It’s a bit odd but Pa likes to add crushed saltine crackers to his vanilla ice cream. I’ve never had ice cream before but the way Ma’s eyes light up when she tastes that first bite sure makes me curious. But I am a cat and curiosity is what cats are about. Enjoy your weekend! More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 44–04/19/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 44–04/19/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s been another quiet and uneventful day, other than a next-neighbor having to make a racket by mowing his 1” tall grass. 

🐱 My plan was to get something accomplished today but that obviously fell through. I kept telling myself “I’m going to be productive today…I’m going to be productive to…zzzzzz” And off to dreamland I’d go. My philosophy is there’s always tomorrow to procrastinate, right? 

🐱 Ma is still very tired and laid down for a nap at 2:30. I was right up there snuggling up close and giving her intensive Purr Therapy. It seemed as if Ma had just drifted off to sleep and that pesky boy Oliver jumped onto the bed and yowled directly into her left ear, jolting her back to reality. Thankfully she and I both got in a good hour’s nap before he barged in and ruined both of our dreams. Oh the unfairness of it all! 

🐱 Well here we are Friday evening and Ma STILL has not lifted a measly finger to clean out the drawers in her stand beside the couch. I'm telling you—it's not going to happen. She has all these supplements that are sitting out in plain view and she wants them placed neatly inside the drawers and easily accessible. But first said drawers need to be cleaned out! To be honest, I’m kind of afraid of what vile things she might encounter that’s lurking inside there! Scary thought. Any way, Ma is all talk until it's time to get the work done and then she has a wealth of excuses. Today it has been the fact that she was just too exhausted. Ma always has all these grand illusions! 

🐱 I hope you all have a lovely Friday evening. Order an extra large meat-lovers pizza and a couple liters of frothy root beer—maybe have a humongous bowl of rocky road ice cream for dessert. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 43–04/17/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 43–04/17/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope this finds you enjoying your morning and chowing down on waffles and crispy bacon. Yesterday I was pretty lethargic so I’m behind a bit with my writings. Plus I’ve been lavishing cuddles and kisses on Ma, both of which I truly enjoy. 

🐱 Ma was up and at ‘em and fixing that vile brown water to drink at 8:30 a.m. She told me it has caffeine in it which helps her focus. Maybe that’s what Oliver needs. He needs something. He must have ADHD like Ma. She also puts a big splash of something called coconut water in her drinking water. I best not catch her pouring that vile crap into our water bowl. Such putridity!

🐱 Both Ma and Pa were outside most of the weekend enjoying the lovely sunny weather. Ma’s sister Karla and brother-in-law David came over to visit Sunday afternoon and then on Monday they all went out to eat together. My slacker brother Oliver and I enjoyed bountiful warm sunbeams and cat napping all weekend long. 

🐱 When Ma is outside I really miss her, but it helps that I can watch her when she’s on the swing through the French doors. I feel pangs of jealousy when Ma is out there but I have no reason to be that way—I never see her holding any other kitties. So I keep a watchful eye on her, and patrol for vile beasts so she’ll stay out of harm’s way. It’s a wild world out there. 

🐱 Oliver was a brat again yesterday. For a solid 90 minutes he was squalling and yowling up a storm wanting fed. I know he thought he was starving, but I know he wasn’t. He did that very trick awhile back, thinking he’d get fed early. Ma and I were trying to rest in bed and he was being relentlessly brutal! And one of Ma’s toxic traits is telling Oliver he’s a good boy even when he’s been an absolute menace to society all day long! What an outrage!

🐱 Pa had our car parked in the driveway last Sunday afternoon. I was watching Stumpy, our resident squirrel with the stump of a tail, as he kept going under the car and then up inside it. This is probably how he became a stumpy. He finally scampered out. This concerns Ma because she really likes Stumpy a lot. 

🐱 I swear everyone in the neighborhood mowed their grass last Sunday except Pa. I think some neighborhood committee should come to order and vote, making it mandatory that every resident mow simultaneously. It sure would cut down—ha ha I made a pun—on noise pollution. Also every loud vehicle should leave their residence at the same time and return at the same time. I should be elected queen of the city council—I’d make all kinds of new ordinances. I’m just like Ma, and like my peace and quiet. 

🐱 I wish you all a nice day. It’s supposed to be a windy one here so gird your loins before you venture out. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 42–04/16/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 42—04/16/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s been a very long and quiet day. It’s been cloudy and we had a small rain storm with a few thunder boomers. 

🐱 Ma spent a lot of time in bed today and I laid up close to her for comfort. Her body is still recovering from that traumatic episode last Wednesday caused from one of her new medications. She’s still having something called abdominal cramping, pain, spasms, weakness and is completely exhausted—though thankfully it is getting better since she massively lowered her dose. I feel badly for her. She’s trying so hard to get through this detoxing crap. 

🐱 Well, about me now—I’m back on my three day round of my cocktail drugs. I haven’t been eating all that great and I’ve been vomiting some again. So hopefully both Ma and I will start feeling better soon! 

🐱 With today’s storms I haven’t seen any vile beasts in my domain but to be honest, I’ve been resting a lot too. Oliver, on the other paw, is a bit confused as to why Ma and I have been in bed so much. He took today as an opportunity to slack off!

🐱 Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have encouraging news to report. I wish you all a pleasant evening and enjoy pigging out on a huge bowl of butter brickle ice cream. Be safe out there. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 41–04/14/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 41–04/14/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Hope this finds you all doing well and snacking on bon-bons. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and today is a carbon copy. Perfect weather for basking in warm sunbeams! The vile weatherman guessed the forecast right again. Astonishing! 

🐱 It’s been a few days since I’ve written so I thought just in case you were concerned about my welfare, I’d better touch base. Plus Ma has not been herself and I need her help with spelling certain words. Spelling was never my forte! Biology and recess were my things. 

🐱 Not much has been going on other than taking care of Ma. She spends a lot of time resting and popping new pills—and drinking all this vile new stuff! Yuck! She’s been in a bad way since Wednesday and I’ve had to give her tons of extra kitty massages and massively long sessions of intensive Purr Therapy. She appreciates what I do for her and I’m trying to help her feel better. 

🐱 Being near Ma is my most favorite thing in the whole wide world. I love how we snuggle. She always pets and massages me—it feels so good. She calls me her love bug. 

🐱 Oliver miraculously has been doing his part in giving Ma more attention too. Plus he’s done more than his usual nothingness around the house. He’s been up and at ‘em and doing a decent job of patrolling. He is sleeping more since he’s not used to doing anything. But I do have to give slacker boy credit—he has pulled up his boot straps and dug in deep to help out. 

🐱 I’m on Ma’s lap now and I feel her legs getting restless. I think she wants to go outside and sit in the swing. I detest this warm weather. I don’t spend nearly enough time with her. But she always makes sure to give me extra kisses all evening. 

🐱Tonight Ma has promised a movie and cuddles after supper. I'm really looking forward to it after such a long putrid week. I hope you all have a restful and peace-filled night. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 40–04/11/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 40–04/11/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Hope this finds you doing well and snacking on some spicy buffalo wings. Well, the vile weatherman guessed the forecast correctly. It is cloudy and it is raining. It’s strange though—at times there’s sunbeams and yet it’s raining cats and dogs!

🐱 It has been a very long day. Ma hardly had any sleep so she has been resting, I’ve been resting and so has slacker boy Oliver, though I just heard him gallop down the hall and through the kitchen. His actions are so sporadic. Pa is tired too but he’s managing better.

🐱 Ma was sick all night and into the early hours of morning with food poisoning. I hope I never get poisoned from eating my food. Scary thought since I’m such a wee kitty! For over six hours Ma had both Oliver and me thoroughly confused. The house was all lit up like Christmas and since Oliver has tunnel vision, he thought it was time to eat. Ma rotated her peculiar behavior by repeatedly going to her litter box, two different beds and then the couch. I just wanted to snuggle with Ma but she wasn’t receptive to my advances at all! She’d gently push me away and I just didn’t understand. She wanted nothing to do with my Purr Therapy! She never refuses me. Even though her face is the color of white chalk, she’s been trying to make up for her vile behavior towards me. This afternoon she’s been giving me extra love and I’m reciprocating by giving her kitty massages and intensive Purr Therapy. 

🐱 Tomorrow is Ma’s birthday. She’ll be 68 years old. I wonder how many that is in cat years? I bet it’s at least 1,000. 

🐱 Pa is running around doing a few errands like a headless chicken. He just sent Ma a photo of a beautiful rainbow. What a blessing from God! 

🐱 I hope you all have a cozy evening filled with snacks. If Ma behaves tonight like she’s supposed to, we’re going to watch Northern Exposure and cuddle with kisses thrown in. Last night our TV time was cut short by Ma’s violent attacks. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 39–04/10/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 39–04/10/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s a lovely sunny day here in my part of the world. The vile weatherman said it was going to be cloudy so he guessed the forecast wrong again. So I’m cat napping in a glorious sunbeam. I just hope there’s not going to be another one of those eclipse thingies. They’re scary. 

🐱 Oliver and I steered clear of the bedroom last night since Ma was trying to get some needed rest. I heard her telling Pa that she finally slept through the night and only got up one time. This is highly unusual for Ma. 

🐱 So far it’s a quiet day on the home front, though earlier Oliver was being his annoying self by crying for an hour for breakfast. What a spoiled brat! Ma and I were trying to enjoy some quiet time snuggling in bed. 

🐱 After breakfast I patrolled the south territory of my domain while enjoying Ma’s lap. She was drinking that vile brown water again. Humans have weird customs. She was advising me to be sure and keep an eye on the porch that’s attached to the French doors. She was warning me that vile beasts can hide out underneath and will sneak out without any warning. 

🐱 I am happy to announce we are officially halfway through this disgusting, vile week. Just two more days until we can kick it out in the street. I’ve been doing great and eating like a pig, but Ma is still frazzled over all her new supplements and instructions from her new doctor. She is already confused most of the time and with all this hubbub, it just makes it more so. Whatever the reason, she’s sure using her litter box more. I’m thinking she’s needing a lot more of my intensive Purr Therapy. 

🐱 I overheard Pa talking to Ma about something our next-door neighbor, Doug, told him. Doug was telling Pa that he was washing dishes while watching a robin bobbing in his yard. All of a sudden whoosh!! the robin flew off and a turkey appeared, and then four more! So now I’ll have to patrol my domain even harder than what I’ve been doing. I’ve been practicing my stern looks by making them look even more formidable. No vile turkeys are allowed in my domain! 

🐱 I hope that wherever you are, you are able to get out and enjoy this nice spring weather. More about me later…love, Holly

HYACINTHS

The world is in complete chaos, and yet the flowers continue to bloom. Such a paradox. 

After my mom passed away in 2012, a neighbor gave me a pot of lovely purple hyacinths and as soon as the rich soil was warmed by the sun, my husband planted them. 

And oh my view of the lovely purple hyacinths as I sit by the French doors and savor my morning coffee. The countless number of my feathered friends are active this time of day and I cherish watching them vying for their spots on the suet feeders. 

My tortoiseshell cat Holly is poised to jump on my lap, all the while chattering away at my feathered friends. Sometimes she’s quiet and will look back at me with what I call her mooshy look, with her green eyes glazed over, and I feel her warmth and love. 

As I look through the window panes this chilly morning, I can almost smell the hyacinths’ scent filling the room with their sweet perfume. It’s such a lovely start to my day. 

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 38–04/09/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 38–04/09/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope your day-after-the-eclipse is going well and you’re not experiencing any harmful side effects. It’s a beautiful sunny day. The vile weatherman predicted it was supposed to be cloudy all day with no chance of sunbeams. He was wrong again! There’s sunbeams galore! I could easily do a better job forecasting. 

🐱 On another note, I successfully performed my wake-up call duty this morning by waking Ma up at 6:30 so she could get ready for her doctor’s appointment. I stealthily perched on her pillow and meowed directly into her ear so she’d be sure and hear me. She just made a funny face and rolled over. I had to use drastic measures so I kept yowling and finally she stumbled out of bed and made it to her litter box. 

🐱 I’m happy to report that this time before they left the house Pa gave me my full ration of breakfast. I ate good and then I scampered off and hid under the bed. A girl can’t take any chances—the thought of the vet and that loathsome cat crate looms over my head like a dark cloud. But first things first—I had to hack up a hairball! Such nasty slimy things!

🐱 When Ma and Pa finally got home from her appointment, Ma was her usual frazzled self. Ever since she found this new doctor she gets home and frantically starts researching stuff and making all kinds of scribbles on her note pad. Sometimes she’ll sit there and mutter to herself. I had to sit close beside her so she wouldn’t lose her train of thought. Humans are so weird. 

🐱 Slacker boy has been slacking again—or should I clarify by saying STILL slacking. I repeatedly have the full load of patrolling on my narrow shoulders. He always has an excuse. Either his paw hurts or he’s too exhausted. Today he has to take a bath! 

🐱 I hope you all have a terrific day. Pa has Bible study tonight so I plan on cuddling with Ma and watching a movie. I’ll let Oliver cuddle too if he behaves himself. He’s such a squatter! Don’t eat too much of that yummy banana bread! More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 37–04/08/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 37–04/08/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I wasn’t planning on writing today but since there’s such a hullabaloo over this eclipse thingy, I had to write something. 

🐱 It’s been a quiet day. I sprinted around the house a few times and performed my duty of patrolling in the northern part of my domain. All the vile beasts instinctively must have known to hide out deep in the dark woods this afternoon. All I saw was some chickadees and starlings pigging out at the suet feeder, but I noticed they kept their eyes closed during the big event. 

🐱 Pa was in the basement puttering around this morning and when he came upstairs he showed Ma what he had been up to. He made an eclipse watching contraption out of a cereal box. Ma had already been thinking about her dad a lot today. Ma shared her story about how he would also make this contraption out of a box to safely watch an eclipse. She remembers being outside with him using it during an eclipse. Her dad could do anything. He would have loved to have witnessed today’s eclipse. Maybe he watched it in heaven. I’m sure he’s up there monitoring all the different cloud formations and weather patterns. I'm not sure Ma believes me though. She's so skeptical of everything.

🐱 The eclipse thingy has now come and gone. It was rather weird. The sun was still shining but yet it looked different outside. The inside of our house became quite dark. It lasted for about 15 minutes and then everything got back to looking normal. God sure is cool. 

🐱 Ma had all the blinds closed in the rest of the house because of that eclipse thingy. She didn’t want me and Oliver looking at the sun and causing damage to our lovely eyes. I never ever stare at the sun because it hurts! Ma can be so absurd! So any way, I’ll have to patrol the rest of my domain later this evening. Maybe I can patrol while Pa is watching that orange bouncing ball again. I heard Ma say it’s some championship ordeal. College guys chasing this orange ball back and forth—such asinine behavior! 

🐱 I hope you all have a lovely evening. Pa is outside grilling yummy hamburgers on the grill. I had my boring cat food. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 36–04/06/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 36–04/06/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope this lovely spring day finds you hanging out laundry in the glorious sunshine. 

🐱 It has been a quiet Caturday—other than having to deal with vile lawnmowers. Pa is in the garage removing the snow blower off the Cub Cadet. I hope he’s not being premature since it’s been known to snow in these parts in April, but the grass does need mowed. All kinds of vile critters can take up residence in the grass. I certainly don’t want Ma and Pa dragging those suckers into my domain!

🐱 The house a few doors down from us sold—the one that had the huge estate sale a couple weeks ago. The new humans had a humongous tree cut down from the front yard. The noise has been so revolting the last several days and it would wake Ma up since they’d start working at an uncivilized hour. The chain saws and the shrill beep beep beeps! Thankfully they finished that nuisance this morning. 

🐱 Oliver and I have been dutifully patrolling the house—yes, you read that right. Oliver. He’s been brown nosing me all day and trying to get on my good side. All he accomplishes is getting on my last nerve. One never knows what slacker boy is up to. I guarantee you it’s not anything good. 

🐱 Nothing too exciting is going on outside. I saw Stumpy our resident squirrel scampering around. He loves to frolic in our maple trees. Chuckles our woodpecker has finally cooled his jets. Perhaps his mate finally showed up after going AWOL. All the vile beasts are out in the woods doing what they do best in the springtime. It was so boring I could barely keep my eyes open, so I dozed off in a warm sunbeam. 

🐱The last couple days Oliver has attempted to pick a fight with me but I’d used my cunning skills to thwart his plan. He’d go at me and I’d raise my paw and he’d try to nip it, but every time I was lightning fast and he’d end up nipping at the air. What a funny sight! You’d think he’d learn he can’t outsmart me. I’m the queen of this ship. 

🐱 Now Pa is out making a racket with that vile lawnmower and mowing the grass! Contemptible!

🐱 I hope you all have a nice evening. Pa is going to watch that orange bouncing ball again. Ma will probably sorta kinda watch and play one of her online games. All I care about is getting some cuddles and kisses! Don’t eat too much salted caramel ice cream! More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 35–04/04/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 35–04/04/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. I hope you’ve all enjoyed your evening feast of hamburgers with all the fixins’, French fries and cole slaw. Perhaps you have some room left for a generous slice of cherry cheesecake?

🐱 Today has been one of the most vile days ever with one annoyance after another. To start off with, Ma had an early appointment with her doctor so I didn’t get my full ration of breakfast. Of all the atrocities! Talk about beginning the day on the wrong paw! I thought I was going to starve. I need my sustenance so I can dutifully patrol my domain or I’ll feel faint. Oliver literally inhales his food. I have elegance and finesse and I need time to take in the essence of every delicate morsel. Oliver is such a slob! 

🐱 To add insult to injury, whenever Ma and Pa simultaneously get dressed up, it’s a red flag and I skedaddle and hide under the bed until I feel it’s safe to come out. Depending on the circumstances, Oliver will hide out with me and keep me company. On a personal note, I associate Ma and Pa’s vile behavior with being seized against my will and planted inside this loathsome crate to be violated by the veterinarian. Abominable!

🐱 Ma and Pa finally got home and I was so excited. I really missed Ma’s lap and cuddles. But it was soon time again to hide under the bed because a vile friend of Ma’s stopped by to visit for a bit. I stayed under there the whole time she was here. What happened next really astonished me—and I have to give Oliver credit. He bravely sauntered into the living room and allowed Ma’s vile friend to pet him!

🐱 I hope you all have a lovely evening. It's gotten quite chilly here, so tonight will be a cozy fluffy throw night. Pa has a roaring warm fire going and there will be lots of snuggling with loads of kisses. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 34–04/02/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 34–04/02/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Rain, rain go away! But I suppose what these silly humans say is true—April showers bring May flowers.

🐱 I am very happy to report that I am back to pigging out. This certainly puts a smile on Ma’s face. Those miracle drugs in my cocktail always do the trick.

🐱 I'm sad to report that Ma is still struggling with her hands. I had to have a heart-to-heart with her yesterday about how she needs to get shot up with cortisone. Ma’s orthopedist asked her to try OT first before he injected her. Well she bravely did try OT for almost three months and it didn’t remedy the tendons and weak muscles. So I told her to “go see your orthopedist again or quit telling me how bad your fingers and thumbs hurt”. Then she argues that cortisone makes her more ill. I just throw up my paws!! I suppose it's a good thing I can type or my dear friends would not hear from me for ages. Ma’s hands have been worsening for 15 months and heaven only knows how long she will drag this out. I love Ma and I’ve tried all I can felinely do to help her but I’m out of cat tricks. Another thought to ponder: I don’t know how many lives Ma has, but I’d have thought she’d used them all up by now.

🐱  Even though I poured on my intensive Purr Therapy and snuggles overnight, Ma didn’t drift off to needed sleep because she was up and down using her litter box. Finally at 8:00 a.m. I heard her purring away. She stumbled into the kitchen at 10:05 a.m. and was in a complete stupor. She declared to Pa that she was jerked out of a sound sleep to hear what she thought was a tornado warning siren. Thankfully it was only the monthly civil defense siren. Poor Ma.

🐱 I am surrendering most of my daytime patrolling to Oliver’s lackadaisical paws so I can spend more quality time comforting Ma. I hope he doesn’t fall asleep on the job again since the house has to be maintained and free of vile beasts at all times. He hasn’t even managed to master how to give stern looks yet—what a slacker! I also couldn’t get any sleep last night so I was up patrolling. It was a quiet night since it poured vile rain all night long. 

🐱 Pa will be at Bible Study tonight so it’ll be just the three of us. It’s chilly here today and Ma has donned her fuzzy socks which means kissing, snuggling and a movie. Enjoy your evening. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTERS, EPISODE 33–03/31/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 33–03/31/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s a beautiful sunny Resurrection Sunday! Ma is drinking her dirty brown water again. I don’t know how on earth she stomachs that wretched stuff. It smells vile!

🐱 Me and my brother from another Father and Mother are soaking up lovely sunbeams. We’re trying to absorb as many rays as felinely possible since the vile rain is supposed to start in later and on through Tuesday! You know the old saying: if it rains on Easter, it will rain the next seven Sundays. 

🐱 I have been doing some southern exposure patrolling but not much is happening. Chuckles, our resident red-bellied woodpecker, is at it again! I soon grew bored and took a needed catnap. Basking in the warm sunbeams is so relaxing. Oliver quickly dozed off—he’s such a slacker! 

🐱 Pa gave Ma some beautiful flowers—they certainly look good enough to eat! Pa puts all of Ma’s flowers on the fireplace mantle so me and Oliver won’t get to them. Case in point: Oliver is known to be a mighty hunter, and a long time ago a bug was flying around and landed up on the mantle. Oliver tried his hardest to jump up there to get it. Well—he missed, and a piece of Ma’s pulchritudinous (my new word) pottery came crashing to the floor. I think that scared two of his nine lives out of him! He hasn’t tried jumping up there since. 

🐱 I am doing so-so and the last few days not eating great. Plus Oliver has been attacking me and that’s a red flag to Ma that I’m not up to snuff. Animals like us sense the weaker one and attack, even when it comes to domesticated critters like us. So—Ma started me on another three-day regime of my drug cocktail. Poor Ma. She sure doesn’t need anything else added to her overflowing plate. My goal is giving her extra cuddles and kisses today, especially since every holiday is extremely rough on her. 

🐱 Pa is starting to watch one of those “chasing the orange bouncing ball things” on TV and Ma wants to sorta kinda watch the antics. Whenever the score is tied Ma hollers “New game!” Pa is rooting for Purdue but Ma tends to be partial towards Tennessee since that is where her heart lies. 

🐱 I hope you all have a delightful day. Please remember the Reason for Easter. Don’t eat too much ham or you won’t have room for any of that delectable lemon lush dessert! More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 32–03/30/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 32–03/30/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. What a surprise to see lovely sunbeams streaming through our windows this morning! I hope you all get a chance to get out and enjoy it. Ma and Pa are planning on going for a drive since it’s so pretty. I’ll sure miss Ma’s lap. 

🐱 All is quiet on the home front—except for the birds. Chuckles, our resident red-bellied woodpecker, started his kwirring about 10:00 a.m. I haven’t heard any drumming so maybe he has a mate but he can’t find her since she flew the coop. In other bird mews, there’s a myriad of all kinds of them at Ma and Pa’s suet feeder. It’s sure difficult to take a decent catnap around here with all that singing and chirping racket going on. 

🐱 I’m weary today. Oliver took over my usual post of watching over Ma all night to make sure she’s not harmed in any way. It was time he did something useful around here. I was up most of the night patrolling for vile beasts. I had to give several raccoons stern looks when they got up too close to the house. 

🐱 Since breakfast I have been busy patrolling the south side of my domain. What have I seen? Birds, birds and more birds. When I sauntered into the living room earlier I caught slacker Oliver sleeping on the job. The jury is still out on that boy tsk tsk tsk. While Ma was in the bathroom earlier I did my usual duty of patrolling the wicker waste basket. I always put my front legs inside it and dig around to make sure nothing vile is hiding in there. I didn’t find any bugs or vermin, just a lot of vile snotty Kleenexes. Ugh humans can be pretty disgusting. I had to immediately wash my paws and whiskers. 

🐱 Well a sunbeam is calling my name so it’s time to attempt to catnap. I hope you all have a wonderful evening and pig out on a chunk of yummy Texas sheet cake and a huge scoop of real gooey vanilla ice cream. Until next time. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 31–03/29/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 31–03/29/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s time to celebrate! Bring out the cake! Bring out the ice cream! Let the fireworks begin! It’s Pa’s birthday and it’s always special, but this year more so since it fell on Good Friday. Happy Birthday, Pa! Oliver and I love you! 

🐱 Our resident red-bellied woodpecker, Chuckles, is still “kwirrr kwirring”, only now it isn’t just in the mornings—it’s during the early evening too! I think he got lost in some kind of time warp. It’s been going on a couple weeks now. Find a mate already! Holy cats! 

🐱I have three feline friends with the middle name of Mae with an “e”—Daisy Mae, Minnie Mae and Mabel Mae. Perhaps I should change my name from Holly Noel to Holly Mae? But I am named after Christmastime since Ma brought me home on December 22nd, so as tempting as this is, I think I’ll just keep my name the way Ma intended. I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings. 

🐱 In other mews, I’ve been eating so-so and occasionally I’ll pig out. Ma would rather I pig out every meal but if I did that, I’d no longer have my svelte figure and I’d be overweight. It’s quite a catch-22. 

🐱 One thing both Oliver and I agree on, is interactive playtime. We run, we jump, we stalk and we attack our prey. I’m pretty proud of my jumping ability. Oliver told me quite a story about the first four months of his life living out in the wild. I listened in complete awe! He literally hunted for vile beasts whereas I have only dreamed of it. I can’t imagine the thrill! I have to admit I’m a bit jealous! 

🐱 It’s a chilly and cloudy morning. As I’m busy patrolling the north side of my domain for vile beasts, I’m waffling on the register. Toasty warm! So far all I’ve spied is birds and a few squirrels. 

🐱 Have a lovely day. It’s Friday night so enjoy a huge feast of salad, breadsticks with marinara sauce and an extra-large supreme pizza. And don’t forget the frothy root beer. If I bug Pa enough perhaps he’ll get a blazing warm fire going tonight. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 30–03/28/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 30–03/28/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Another lovely sunny day to bask in sunbeams. I need to soak up as much of that glorious warmth as felinely possible since the sun isn’t supposed to peek out again until next Wednesday. Perhaps the vile weatherman is wrong about that. 

🐱 Our resident red-bellied woodpecker, Chuckles, has been in one of our maple trees out front every single morning. Now I don’t consider Chuckles to be a vile beast since Ma and Pa enjoy seeing him come to our suet feeder, so no stern looks are in order. I don’t know why he has been constantly calling—he should have already found a mate. Ma loves the birds but even Chuckles is getting on her last nerve this morning. He even gets on my nerves! The endless “kwirrrr kwirrr”. 

🐱 Oliver was being very annoying earlier this morning.  All I was wanting was to waffle on the register and he relentlessly badgered me. I did my best by giving him stern looks but that wasn’t enough. I had to whack him a few times and hiss. Ma heard the scuffle and had to step in, and he innocently looked up at Ma, batted those big green eyes and took off like a bullet. What a squatter!

🐱 Late morning I patrolled the living room and the south side of my domain. Oliver was sleeping on the job again so I had to do double-duty. That boy is so exasperating! I only spied one fat rabbit and Stumpy the resident squirrel; they’re always welcome. It’s been slow lately. Maybe my assumptions were right and the vile beasts are finally getting the hint they’re not supposed to cross into my domain. I patrolled the inside area of the coffee table last night since I hadn’t been in there for a long time and all I found was dust bunnies. 

🐱 I hope you all enjoy your day. Maybe you can take a break later and have a chocolate dipped ice cream cone. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 29–03/27/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 29–03/27/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. It’s been a chilly day but it was finally sunny, so I had oodles of sunbeams to nap in. Pure bliss!

🐱 I curled up on Ma’s lap this morning and showered her with lots of cuddles and kisses. She’s been nervous and dreading tomorrow’s bloodwork—more dry needling and an office visit. 

🐱 On account of this vile bloodwork, Ma has been drinking so much water her eyes are floating. Then all that water makes her have to get off her ample duff more often to use her litter box! This vile behavior certainly has impacted my cushy life since I have to repeatedly jump off her lap. I admit I became a bit perturbed and had to give Ma one of my stern looks. I finally threw my paws up in the air and cuddled with my annoying brother, Oliver. Ma just needs to learn how to gird her loins. 

🐱 All that jumping up and down did me in. I’m thoroughly exhausted! Oliver and I sacked out all afternoon in our kitty beds in front of the big south window. He even restrained himself and behaved for once. 

🐱 I think I shall call it a day. It was one of those boring days and not a lot happened in the house. Enjoy your evening and chow down on a DQ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard. I'm going to relax and allow Ma to scratch my ears to help her de-stress. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 28–03/26/2024

 HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 28–03/26/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Holy cats it’s another windy and dreary day, but the good news is that it’s not raining. Enough of those vile raindrops! I sure miss those lovely warm sunbeams. Maybe tomorrow?

🐱 So far the day has been quiet—too quiet. I don’t like it when Ma is down and she’s been down for a long time. I don’t know what to do for her but I can give her cuddles and lots of kisses. Earlier she was laying on the sofa and I snuggled up very close to her under the fluffy fleece throw. I gave her a lot of intensive Purr Therapy and it lulled Ma to sleep. She needs lots of rest.

🐱 That silly brother of mine has been his usual maniacal self. Leaping from one piece of furniture to another, yowling and chasing me around the house. I’ve never heard a cat use so much vocabulary! Hearing the both of us clamor around the house makes Ma smile and I like to see her smile. 

🐱 Oliver is finally taking a break to rest now. He is such a burrowing cat—if Ma or Pa can’t find him he’ll be burrowed under the covers on a bed or under a fleece throw. Sometimes all you’ll see is the swishing of that black tail. So if any of you humans ever stop by for a visit, never sit down on a lumpy throw or you just might squish Oliver. I mean even though he has his cantankerous moments, I have to admit I love him. 

🐱 Instead of being with Ma, I ended up patrolling for vile beasts all throughout the night. All the wind seems to be keeping the beasts at bay. Generally I’m right up beside Ma under the covers but I knew she needed to get as much uninterrupted rest as possible. When I’m sleeping with her I always keep my head poked out so I can be on the look-out for any vile beastial activity. I try to be a first-rate cuddle bug for Ma, even though I do tend to hog the bed at times. Whenever Ma moves an inch to the right or left, I move right along with her until she’s on the other side of the bed! She’ll wake up and not know where’s she’s at sometimes. Ma is a funny human. 

🐱 I hope you all have a wonderful root beer-filled evening. I'm going to catnap until supper and then get ready for a cozy fuzzy sock nite. I overheard Pa telling Ma it would be a good night for a blazing fire. More about me later…love, Holly

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER, EPISODE 27–03/25/2024

HOLLY’S CAT LETTER

EPISODE 27—03/25/2024

🐱 Hi to all my admirers. Sadly there’s no lovely sunbeams to bask in today. It’s a rainy, dark, dreary day but the good news is the temperature is in the upper 50’s. The vile weatherman predicts sunbeams only on Wednesday and Thursday for this whole week! 

🐱 Speaking of clouds, Ma is on Cloud 9 today. Her friend Jill sent her a very kind and encouraging letter-type meme on Instagram. That really brightened up Ma’s spirits. Ma also recently received three thoughtful snail-mail cards from friends Jonelle, Karen and Deanna. Humans need to pound it into their pea-brains that they need to spread more love and encouragement around! Oliver shows his love for me and I show my love for him. Yes, he and I have squabbles, disagreements and the fur flies, but at the end of the day we snuggle up close. Well enough of that mushy stuff. 

🐱 I have been helping Ma with her notes for her doctor later this afternoon. She’s going to start with something called dry needling. Just the mention of needles makes me cringe! I’m glad it’s her and not me! 

🐱 Oliver was in rare form earlier. Pa and Ma were eating lunch and Oliver was wound up tighter than a spring. He was in stampede mode and literally “cat”apulted off the cat tree with his hind legs and raced all around the dining room table, squalling the entire time. I did my share of running around too but mainly to get out of his way! If only he’d use that much energy to do his patrolling duties around the house. Tsk tsk tsk!!

🐱 Now—I should give credit to where credit is due. Ma was in the bathroom last night and Oliver was patrolling for vile beasts all around the bottom edges of the vanity and around the toilet. He was keeping his little black wriggly nose to the grindstone! Of course Ma didn’t have her phone with her to snap a shot of him actually working for his food. 

🐱 I hope you all have an enjoyable evening. It’s gonna be a fluffy fleece throw night so I’m going to enjoy kisses and cuddles with Ma. More about me later…love, Holly