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.
Happy Boxing Day and Kwanzaa! We hope you had and are continuing to have a wonderful and magical time of year. Around Colehaus, Mom’s enjoying another day or two of Christmas-y house stuff before switching over to a lesser/more minimalist New Year’s and beyond kind of decor. Think no Santa, nothing red, less gold, lighter greenery. She has this down to a science. And she gets antsy for the return of things in order. Here’s a few photos:
The day after Thanksgiving, Mom went for the win and pulled out her old, packed away holiday decor which proved to be almost identical to what the stores were hawking at exorbitant prices. It’s been years since Mom’s bought anything for any kind of seasonal home decor for she knows, eventually, everything old is new again. After cleaning and organizing closets and flip-top boxes over the past year, she had pared down items to those she always gravitated toward and boy, oh boy, was decorating easier and faster with the same smile-worthy results from previous years.
The decor on the buffet and this mantle will be significantly reduced but Dad’s favorite snowy owl will stay throughout the winter. Regrettably, the fake greenery on the buffet had to be removed and we can all thank Quint’s chewing on things for that.
Simple curling ribbon and reflective plastic diamonds on fishing line hang from the chandelier. Mom has hung these for years and they still make her smile every time she goes up and down the stairs. These will stay up a while longer.
Going outside, visiting neighbor cat KeeKee (once called Mr. MewMew) wonders what took so long. “Lady, I need me some chicken catnip treats! I can’t wait forever, you know.”
We always thought of Rosemary being a hot summer blooming herb. Apparently, this old potted Rosemary doesn’t listen to the local weather people, as should be the case. Our overwintering Anna’s hummingbirds sure enjoy all these blooms.
The brown/black eyed Susan is just about done for the year. We’ve yet to have a hard freeze. Once that happens, this and the salvias will sleep until spring.
Visiting neighbor cat Zerbe is looking good! And soft! We think he spends most of his time indoors with his family and wish he was an indoor cat always, though, then we couldn’t enjoy his visits.
Winter wouldn’t be winter without Mom gushing over moss, lichen and mushrooms. All are signs of a healthy garden, something she very much cares about. She’s a big moss fan, you might remember.
We used to think our last blooming plant was those crepe myrtles, or maybe the heather. Then, around November, the pineapple sage salvia reminds us we’re wrong-O! For a perennial that looks so terrible, boring and half-dead most of the year, this salvia wows us every late fall/early winter. And the hummingbirds are never far away.
Lastly, Mom’s cyclamen Dad bought her back in 2017, is growing beautifully. Honestly, we’re surprised this little greenhouse grown, seasonal throw away plant has made it with us after 8 years and looking like it could go another 8 easily. The only real babying it gets is a fresh bunch of hazelnuts shells around its base to keep slugs away, a sprinkle of granular fertilizer once in late spring and once mid summer and a flimsy fabric dome cover only if Mom suspects snow or a very hard freeze is due. You keep being you, little pretty plant!
Before taking Dad to work yesterday, we opened the Christmas cards we’d received over the past couple of weeks and Quint, Tessa and Viola thoroughly enjoyed laying on each and every one of them. Our cupboard has cat food and people food, and the litter container is full as is our hearts. Thank you all for your thoughts, kindness and generosity.
Due to work and other hectic obligations, we’ll be away from blogging until after new year’s day and will return Friday, January 2nd with our 2025 Year in Review. Have a very happy New Year’s eve and please, stay safe as the world rings in 2026. Thank you for visiting us!
