Morris hasn’t given up on us yet.

He turns up at the French doors every other day or so. He comes inside, where he gets an energetic but seemingly friendly nose boop from Nysse. Morris then either leaves again, or cautiously walks around the house – with Nysse trailing him to keep a close eye on things – until he gets himself into a corner that he cannot get out of without walking past Nysse, which he doesn’t dare do. I rescue him by lifting Nysse away, and he relievedly makes a beeline for the door. He mostly looks anxious about the whole experience, but he keeps coming back.

Nysse, meanwhile, exudes an air of curiosity and territorial protectiveness, but seems neither aggressive nor overly anxious. As long as Morris’ presence doesn’t bother him too much, I guess we can keep this up. I’m curious to see where their relationship goes.

The usually-annual post-Christmas party with the extended family, that we could actually have this year. I wasn’t in the mood for photography so there’s just the one, of Ingrid folding napkins.

Yesterday’s midday sun throwing shadows off the gravel on the street.

Look, it’s the sun!

Clear skies for the first time in a long while, at the right time of the day, combined with a long, straight stretch of empty space in the right geographical orientation.

Nysse has been showing some interest in the world outside the house and giving off signals that he might want to go there. We don’t feel comfortable letting him out on his own yet, so we thought try a leashed walk. We’ve made a few attempts, and he hasn’t been a huge fan.

The first step is getting him into the harness. This is effortless sometimes, and involves claws and teeth at other times. I’m less intimidated by the sharp bits than I used to be.

The first time we went out, he nearly panicked. He fled and hid under the stairs. When I tried to get him out, he got himself out of the harness and bolted right back to the door.

The second time we went out through the French doors because I thought this side might be more familiar and less scary, since he often sits there and looks out. We actually walked all the way down to the street, but Nysse really didn’t understand how the leash works and kept trying to run and take long leaps, so it was uncomfortable for both of us. We didn’t stay outside for more than a few minutes.

Today was the third time. Front door again, since he was poking his nose out when Ingrid and I went outside yesterday. This time we never even left the porch. He looked around for a few minutes but seemed to feel uncomfortable, and started nosing at the door very quickly.

Four roe deer had a dance party in the garden today, chasing and jumping after each other. They were difficult to photograph.

We had a white Christmas, barely, with grass poking through the thin snow. All of that is gone now and we are having a very slippery and wet New Year’s Eve. The snow is melting but ground is still mostly frozen so there is nowhere for the water to go. The sloping, hilly streets of the old parts of Spånga are mostly ice-free, but the parks are difficult.

I actually had a wish list for Christmas this year, with a single thing on it: I wished for Ingrid to paint a picture for me.

We have two large emptyish walls, and I’ve never found any picture that I’ve felt strongly enough about to want to put there. I was thinking of ordering a Chinese reproduction of some famous painting, and even had an actual shortlist. Then I realized that I have an artist right here in the house, who could make an original work for me, which would be so much more special. Ingrid kindly obliged. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

The wall had been empty for years. Now that there is one painting there, it’s kind of asking for more, isn’t it? Perhaps I can wish for another painting for my birthday.

We took Nystagmus to a vet clinic for a vaccination top-up, and for some weight and diet advice.

The vaccination he didn’t even notice. As for his weight, it turns out that he’s just a little bit overweight, not as much as he looks – his belly pouch is bigger than average, for a cat of his age, and makes him look fatter than he is. But he could still do with a little less fat around his ribs. So we’ll keep feeding him as we have been, and following up his weight.

The trip was also good crate training. Nysse doesn’t mind his crate at all, actually jumps in voluntarily, but he mewled quite pitifully when we started driving. His last trip must have been a bit traumatizing, with being uprooted from his home and taken to a new one. I guess he feared something similar might happen this time. Hopefully we can teach him that crates and car rides don’t have to be bad things.