Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn for December 14, 2022

Trees are cat magnets. (Unfortunately.)

That was probably as far up as the kids could reach to hang ornaments.

Is Puck going to have new challengers to his title of Best Climber?

http://www.breakingcatnews.com/comic/the-results-of-the-climbing-contest-are-in/

Oo, time for a light bath too.

Wait till Dawn?? What’s wrong with 2 AM /

An expedition for the ages. Maybe one of them will be another worthy student of Puck, who does not compete.

Are Iggy and Ora Zella using slippers for bivouacs?

The terror begins tomorrow…

Aww … even the owl lamp is dressed for the holidays!

Reminds me of when our cats were kittens – we had FIVE kittens in a Christmas tree…

…temporarily.

The poor tree wasn’t built to handle that kind of treatment.

I’m so happy for Goldie – given how she had been abandoned – that she now gets some prime double People-lap time!

I am inexplicably drawn to the idea that the tree is doomed.

We have established that the ornaments are unbreakable, how about the tree?

At least two of the red birds are hung up. I wonder where the others are.

From The Sound of Music: Climb Every Mountain

Climb every tree bough

Reach for the star

Grab every ornament

No matter where you are

.…….

Climb every tree bough

No need to roam,

Keep on your exploring

All through your new home!

…….

Your home, you will find

Has so much love to give

And surprises galore

Right here where you live!

…….

Climb every tree bough!

Knock down each ball!

You know they’ll still love you!

They won’t let you fall!

Ora Zella’s Log: We began our ascent as the sun rose. At 2 feet, we observed the wild, plastic birds…they made no sounds. 3 feet up, and the tangle of glowing orbs are getting thicker. At 4 feet, an earth quake starts, and we can feel the branches sway! Despite the danger, my companion and I, are still game! We can see the summit now, it glows brighter than the sun!

I see Iggy, Ora, Puck, and that destructive force known as Lupin all climbing the tree. That poor tree.

Base Camp is adorable and so colorful.

Those Las Vegas firs sure are irresistible!

Here come Ora claws, here come Iggy claws, causing the tree some pain

Climbing up high at dawn while pulling down popcorn chains

Bells are ringing, baubles flinging, all are filled with fright

So move your owl lamp and say your prayers, ’cause kitten paws climb tonight

Here come Ora claws, here come Iggy claws, makin’ those needles rain

They’ve got a plan that’s filled with joy but trouble once again

See those tree balls bounce and dangle, oh what a beautiful sight

Go jump in bed and cover your head, ’cause disaster comes tonight

Peace on earth will come to all if the tree is hitched up tight

So let’s give thanks to the Cat above, for kitten-in-tree delight

- Gene Autry / Oakley Haldeman – Here Comes Santa Claus

It’s always good to have a solid base camp before a climb, but are you sure you wouldn’t rather join the People in a light bath? That seems like the better option to me.

Speaking of an ascent, Holmes is untroubled by the limitations of gravity. The higher, the better, is his motto. Kittens are exhausting, as Ba Ba says.

We found out more background on Holmes from CARE-STL. Apparently, he was a part of a feral community that was being cared for in the city of St. Louis (that is why his ear is clipped). However, Holmes and his brother Mycroft were very outgoing cats and routinely sought human contact with the people who monitored the feral group. Those people thought that Holmes and Mycroft were young enough and sweet enough to get adopted. Holmes is over six months but under a year old.

Both kittens were brought to CARE, where Mycroft was adopted right away, and, well, you know that we saw Holmes on Saturday and brought him home.

There was trouble last night when I was cooking with Hamilton, and Holmes jumped up on the counter to “try” to help. Hamilton was not pleased. Hamilton is unsure about this interloper. However, the other cats seem to like him enough. Belle is probably getting along with Holmes the best. Belle is, by far, the sweetest cat.

I need to learn how to get a link to pictures on Instagram so everyone can see them, but another photo of Holmes is on my account.

The watercolor-painted lights are so beautiful, so evocative!

Oh, man, did this bring back memories. When I was six (just turned) my parents let me and my little brother and equal aged cousins decorate a tree all by ourselves. They hadn’t realized we couldn’t reach the top of the tree, or the middle either. I couldn’t understand why they were laughing so hard when they came down to the family room to see our work. I’ve seen pictures of the tree, and I get it now…

It looks like the kids had help with the lights.

’WE start our climb at dawn" I love these cats!!!

When my brother and I were little, my mom got us a tiny kid-sized (artificial) tree to decorate with various unbreakable ornaments year after year. She still has that tree, although it’s much the worse for wear, and I believe it’s currently set up on the middle of her dining room table.

Its nice to have kitties, a tree and someone to cuddle with. Better than nada, sigh

This is why I don’t have a Christmas Tree :D

So, which cat is first to the top? Iggy? Ora Zella? Lupin? One of the others?

My kitten pictures are uploading (kind of slowly) but I will send the links in a bit, but be warned, about 3/5 of the pictures have her looking away!

I like how just one part of the tree is decorated. It will make kitty mayhem so much easier.

Our granddaughters are anxiously awaiting Christmas Eve. That is when the tree is decorated by the adults. Once decorated the granddaughters see the tree for the first time and rush to find the hidden pickle ornament. The finder gets a treat.

“Camp 1 is below the Christmas light line, so we can get another night’s sleep before heading for the summit.”

OT: Arrived safely…

Wait, werent those ornaments over there yesterday? Wait I thought those were over there. How many times did they decorate the tree? I must be losing my mind, why would you decorate a tree that much?

The second panel is a beautiful work of art.

I’m glad none of my kitties are climbers. Oopsie was actually showing some interest in the tree. He’s tasted the tree, but hasn’t eaten the tree. And he was sniffing this ornament that I made using layers of glue on the old press cookie cutters.

Ummmm -

DRAWN to the tree, huh?

Really, Georgia! Is that some kind of insider joke that only a cartoonist would get??? :-)

Why, Iggy? Because it’s there!

Which, as reasons go, is right up there with “it seemed like a good idea at the time” and “he was already holding my beer”.

Meanwhile, Back on the Nile

Iggy Shipwright: So, no one knows who was behind the un-crime wave.

Agnes-Ata: Or they’re not telling.

Iggy: Well, just supposing it were to happen again, what would be something that needed fixing?

Agnes-Ata: Well, for starters Thomios has a favorite soup pot that was damaged a few years ago. It may still be fixable.

Alice-Ata: I know The Artisans always need material for their projects. Maybe some unique new fabric or yarn.

Iggy: I remember when I was a sailor we had an adventure looking for unique fleece. That was quite a tale.

Ta-Natash: What did you do with the fleece?

Iggy: I learned how to use a spinning wheel. And I learned a lot of stories from my fellow spinners.

Violet-Ifa: In other words…

Iggy: Yep, I can spin quite a yarn!

Double groan!

For those who miss scaeva’s “Today Is” posts from a couple of years ago there is a new comic on GoComics that does a comic each day based on one of the obscure National days for that day. The comic is here https://www.gocomics.com/day-by-dave

Shared cat.

OT: The last one probably should have had said OT also. I went back to look for one of scaeva’s post to make sure I wasn’t misremember who did them. On the day I looked there was a post from Santana. I don’t remember seeing anything from them in a long time and when I checked it looks like the last post was from a little over a year ago. Does anyone know what happened to them?

I thought the climb was scheduled for 3 AM sharp?

This is so cute, the scenery looks so cozy. I spent several moments staring at the tree to see if there were any hidden cats. Sadly, I couldn’t find any. Though the ones who are in the comic overall look very snuggly.Though that might be fun, if Georgia is ever bored or something, to just draw a huge, decorated Christmas tree and hide a bunch of cats in there to see how many the readers can find. (Just an idea, no pressure) Love the comic, as always <3

Seeing this on FB means I don’t visit the site as often as I used to!!! I hope everyone is Ok & looking forward to a good time this month, keep warm everybody X❤️

Ora Z’s crossed front paws in the last panel!

The undead is being lead astray by the werewolf again. Puck might need to intercede.

Thank dog for shatterproof ornaments.

This one took me a second, lol—then I spotted the cluster of ornaments all on the lower branches =P