Merry Christmas 2024!

Greetings, Christmas Eve is here and I’d like to wish you all the best for tomorrow as per my usual tradition. Before I do, I have a personal update that I felt was only right to note on the blogs. Treacle, my ginger and white cat of 14 years, was put to sleep yesterday after a sudden and unexpected illness with no possibility of a recovery. I find it hard to believe she has passed on as she seemed as bright and affectionate as ever only a few days ago.

She first arrived at my doorstep way back in 2010 and I have a very prominent memory of sitting bored stiff at my desk in Lurgan College watching the clock tick down impatiently as I wanted to go home and play with the cute new kitten that had turned up the day before. She always liked to play and be made a fuss of even in her older years but she would be sure to let you know, in the blink of an eye, when she had had enough by scratching or biting after a verbal warning. In fact, one much more serious attack split my lip and I had to be stitched up by hospital staff. We made up very shortly after then with me being extra cautious of her for a day or two.

She was as sweet as she was fiery and would often purr loudly as she climbed in my bed when I was trying to change the sheets. She liked hiding underneath them and the bed would have to be made around her. When visiting my parent’s house, I would always go and greet Treacle first as she lounged about on sofas and was often taking a nap in sunny rays. Even hours after she passed, I kept expecting to see her looking in the house or hearing her tip tapping her way around. With Treacle’s passing, the Murray household is without a feline friend for the first time in decades as there has always been a cat in the house for as long as I have lived. She will be dearly missed by myself and the rest of the family.

While my Christmas will have a lingering feeling that something is amiss this year, I hope you have a great day tomorrow and get whatever is on your lists. I will wrap up the year with one more blog update on 31st December but until then have a very merry Christmas!

Quote of the Day

Merry Christmas? Bah. Humbug!

Ebenezer Scrooge

The Muppet Christmas Carol