Hi Everyone
A belated Happy New Year to each and every single one of you.  I do hope that you had a fabulous Christmas and that this year has begun well for you and your families.
 
I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas issue of the Mewsletter with the sack full of wonderful Christmas stories and articles.
 
I’m not sure if there was a glitch with the Christmas issue because I didn’t receive my copy so I resent it. I apologise if you received two copies but as the page visit numbers were very low I am wondering if you did actually receive your Mewsletter.  If you didn’t get your copy, you can see it now in the Archive section with all the past year’s Mewsletters and Scratching Posts.
 
I’m trying an experiment this month so instead of sending out the usual Scratching Post, I’m giving you the link to it on the website so you can read it there. This will give me an idea of who actually reads them!
 
This first little video is a mash-up (collection) of lots of funny little videos of cats doing what they do best – getting into tight spaces and making it look like they meant to do that.
 
My thanks to Clara in the US for this:
 
 
Danny Boag’s Christmas story now has a great illustration by the wonderful Anthony Smith (of Learn to Speak Cat fame) so please check it out:
 
 
Sue Fallon’s Christmas story also lacked illustrations. Thanks to Jem Vanston combing the Internet for me and finding me lots of good pictures, Sue’s story now is complete.  See it here:
 
 
Carlo’s Christmas by Lynn Schiffhorst which was on the home page is now in Lynn’s section which can be found under Articles:
 
 
AMAZING CATS
Perhaps this next piece should be entitled ‘Amazing Woman’.  When in March 2005 Debbie Spencer, who lives in Spain, heard the plaintiff meows of what she thought was a kitten coming from a wheelie bin (trash bin) she didn’t hesitate.  She climbed into the bin and located a plastic bag with THREE 1-hour old kittens inside. Those kittens made it against all the odds and the cats, Freddie, Monty and Claudia are now happy and healthy soon to be 10 year old cats. 
 
 
BOOK QUIZ
Adriana Huilar from Wisconsin won the book quiz – and her prize has already been sent out to her. Well done.
 
Here are the answers:
 
 
This month’s book quiz can be found here:
 
 
BOOK REVIEW
Furry Paw, Middle Claw by Barry Jackson is one of those books that won’t let you escape very easily.  You can try and put it down, but you’re drawn back to it like a moth to a flame – it is such a good book.
 
 
CAPTION COMPETITION
Well, not many people rose to the challenge for the last caption competition but for the few intrepid souls who did take part, thank you, and well done to Andrew Lane from Southampton, UK who had the winning entry.  A signed copy of ‘Learn to Speak Cat’ by Anthony Smith is winging its way to you even as we speak.
 
 
This month’s caption competition can be found here on this link:
 
 
CAT CHAT
Earla Holland had a surprise gift from Santa this year just before Christmas in the shape of a beautiful grey (gray) and white kitten.
 
 
KITTY BITS
Jem Vanston (author of A Cat Called Dog) has written a light-hearted piece about the weather and cats, which first appeared in the winter issue of The Cat magazine, the Cats Protection quarterly magazine.  My thanks to Jem for his permission to publish it on the Daily Mews website.
 
 
MEWSERS’ MEWSINGS
 
CASEY’S CHATS
Casey needs your help with giving the perfect name to a pure white cat that’s taken up residence in the cat kennel in our garden; he’s calling him ‘Sooty’ at the moment:
 
 
Send your ideas to p.dewberry@ntlworld.com ‘Names for ‘Sooty’.
 
The ‘refill’ box which George commandeered for his own unique purpose:
 
 
15 CATS AND MEOWING
Ellen Pilch continues her story about her cats and tells how KaChoo bonded with her husband over The Red Sox:
 
 
TOFF CAT
Toff Cat proved to be a huge hit in the Christmas issue of the Mewsletter so I’m happy to say that Carol Lake has written a couple more vignettes about the goings-on at Gripewater Grange, overseen by Prince Clarence the moth-eaten cat:
 
 
 
We are looking for someone who can do line drawings in a cartoon-style to illustrate these vignettes of ‘Almost Downton Abbey.’  Anyone who would like to have a try, please contact me: p.dewberry@ntlworld.com as soon as possible. It would just be two, three at the most, each vignette and will make a huge difference to how they look.
 
ED KOSTRO
I’ve known Ed for about 12 - 13 years now – ever since I’ve had the website – and he’s a tireless advocate for animal welfare.  He has half a dozen dogs and cats – all rescues – some from Hurricane Katrina – but mostly waifs and strays that are abandoned in these awful financially-hardened times.
 
Here’s Ed’s latest story about two bonded cats that found their way to his yard and into his heart.
 
 
I mentioned in the previous Mewsletter that Ed was doing the ‘The Shelter Shiver’ on January 5th.  Well, he survived and he’s written a poem to celebrate – read it here:
 
 
And that just about wraps it up for now.  I do hope you’ll read all the new bits and pieces that are mentioned in the Mewsletter and you’ll have a ramble around the website and get to know where things are.  As always, I welcome your feedback, good, bad or indifferent.
 
Till the next time, take care and keep warm.
Love Pauline – Chief Editor
Casey – Assistant in Chief, Head of Finding Suitable Names for Discerning Felines

A Morning Kiss

A morning kiss, a discreet touch of his nose landing somewhere on the middle of my face.
Because his long white whiskers tickled, I began every day laughing.

Janet F Faure

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