We’ve had a couple of unusual visitors to the Colehaus garden lately, maybe vying to bring some added interest to all the black and white kitty visitors we’ve been inundated with most of last year.
On the way out through the open garage door, Mom spied what looked like a mouse “gift” from a visiting neighborhood cat. Nope. It’s a newt! True, it was a little mangled probably from some cat picking on it and we know newts/salamanders are very good at regenerating their own wounds if left alone to do so. To think it and Mom were in the same place at the same time makes one think it was meant to be.
Mom knew never to touch a newt or salamander because their skin often contains toxins so she scooped it into a shallow bucket with a scoop and released it in a safe spot near our backyard fountain. It wasted no time scrambling deep into some groundcover there. Be safe and heal yourself, little newt!
Elsewhere in the yard, a few weeks earlier, Mom spotted something waving at her from the top of a bush.
This Praying Mantis, probably a female, is welcome in our garden because of the huge number of pests they eat, though they do tend eat the good bugs as well. Think of it as a hearty meal of houseflies with a side of honey bee. The weather was starting to become chilly so we didn’t expect to see it again after this day. In the last week of December, there she was again, near our front door where spiders and other bugs tend to hang out in their bid to find a way indoors. Did you know Praying Mantis’ can recognize human faces a little like crows are able to? True!
She watched Mom and then made her way toward the chair Mom was sitting in. While Mom isn’t afraid of most bugs, she really didn’t want this big Praying Mantis crawling on her so she steered it off into the nearby sweet alyssum that always has bugs living in it and is probably where those spiders bunk overnight.
Praying Mantis’ only live about a year, usually dying off around the time of first frost. We’ve yet to have a first big frost – close but not yet. We haven’t seen it again and wish her well. Maybe she laid an egg somewhere and maybe we’ll see another one later this year!
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A Colehaus Cats flashback:
2025 – No post 2024 – No post 2023 – No post 2022 – Helpful Quint 2021 – No post 2020 – No post 2019 – No post 2018 – No post 2017 – No post 2016 – No post 2015 – Wordless Wednesday 2014 – No post 2013 – All Mine 2012 – No post
2025. That seemed like a very long year. Did it to you? It was just here two days ago. Time goes on and so, happy 2026! From all of us here at Colehaus Cats, we thank you for visiting us, for reading our words, enjoying our photos and leaving comments. We always hope what we’re doing works for you and that your time here puts a smile on your face. Please join us today for our 2025 Year in Review!
January 2025 began with cold, stormy weather which led to snuggly and non-snuggly cats, swapping sleep spots and boxes, questioning motives, a second broken washer, and noticing age. Mom gave the AI text generator a shot to describe Dad’s Whirlwind Day of Unexpected Cleaning (not pretty) and the month ended with the hope for February snow.
Photos around Colehaus began the month of February. We had a little snow and even through freezing temperatures, lively ants still invaded meaning anteater Pia partook in ant snacks day and night. Later in the month, Quint skedaddled, a new washer was ordered, Tessa offered up kisses for Kiss a Tuxie day and Viola enjoyed the fruits of someone’s poor choice of oversleeping.
Before spring officially arrived, March started off with lots of buds and flowers and naturally, Mom jumped at the chance to “Disneyland-ify” the garden. It’s a gardener thing. We had a Quint hunt, a tussle and a tussle investigation, a hail storm or two and a flashback to our 2nd batch of Colehaus Cats. We shared our favorite blueberry muffin recipe, a tattle-tail was recognized and before we knew it, the month was over.
Things on Cats (and Dad) returned briefly in April along with Mom’s continued dislike of April Fool’s Day. Because someone with claws liked our wooden kitchen table and chairs a bit too much, we gave those away. Surprise. Cats were unhappy. We shared flashback photos of our very first batch of Colehaus Cats, we and Quint waited for warmth and because jobs and projects threatened to overwhelm us, we took a break from the final week until May.
May began, once again, with battling house ants and stopping Pia from eating them. It was touch and go with her for a week. The warm weather prompted Mom to dive head first into long thought out projects both inside and out. We introduced you to our arbor project, to a briefly ungrumpy Tessa and the latest raccoon mama Bea. May turned out to be the summer of Black and White visiting outdoor cats
What better month is there to check wisdom freckles than June? Answer: None. That was followed by ant checks, IKEA rat checks and hot weather at last but thankfully, only for a while. Projects ended, new ones began and thanks to un-affordability, budgets were readjusted, again. June ended with so many flowers, even with tightening our belts, it was hard not to think we lived in paradise.
July started much like every July – with loud fireworks and hanging out together in the under-the-bed blanket fort. The month also brought cat tussles, mama raccoons with babies visiting, house maintenance and the devastating loss of Pia, bringing to a close nearly 50 years of being owned by one or more ginger girls. Months later, Mom continues to have a bit of rough time over this, as might be expected.
The current fruit inspector was busy in August inspecting all those blueberries gathered from the sun-filled garden which had all kinds of visitors this year. Quint enjoyed a mellow Monday, much like he enjoys every day, we admired and appreciated flowers for Pia from Chewy.com and Viola shared breakfast with Dad.
Tessa and Quint figured September was as good a month as any to pick up a late sleeping habit. Who would we be to argue? The warm weather continued and brought lots of outside garden visitors to Colehaus. Inside, mayhem ruled a good portion of the month because sometimes, things don’t always go your way. We celebrated the arrival of Autumn with favorite Autumn photos and finally, a long, drawn out project gets moving again.
Bananas and toys kicked off October. The furniture rearrangement project continued and brought with it a surprise – Tessa and Viola napping close together! The garden shared lots of sunflowers, pesky squirrel raids, and an odd visitor. Quint told a bedtime story and Viola closed out the month with a new trebuchet Halloween photo. Yes, we know her trebuchet is really more of a catapult. Note: Don’t argue with the cat.
Viola and Tessa continued napping close in November, but perhaps that was due to Viola’s dental issues. After surgery, Viola thoroughly enjoyed her new Tooth Fairy toys and shared those with exactly ZERO other cats! The deepening love affair with Dad’s new downstairs bed grew and Quint played a favorite game or two.
We introduced our 2025 Christmas eCards in December with Viola and Quint who graciously participated in the photo shoot. We might be lying about the gracious part. As most Decembers are, ours was an expensive one but those cabinets have a new home elsewhere for it and a big, long project is complete. Some uncooperative cats felt chewing on things would certainly make up for any perceived inconvenience and for once, Tessa offered to share.
There it is, 2025 revisited. It was an interesting year mixed with smatterings of fun here and there at Colehaus. Mostly, we worked, we cried and we survived. We’re looking forward to what this new year may bring and wish that everyone, everywhere, have a year filled with happiness and peace, and most of all, with kindness and love.
Thank you for visiting. Thank you for your Christmas cards, your generosity, for your good thoughts and wishes. And as always and forever, thank you for reading us.
