Literally.

Every year, my dear Aunt in Michigan makes hand knit mice which are stuffed with her homegrown catnip.

Needless to say, she is our cats’ favorite Aunt.

Ever.

These mice last the full year – well chewed and licked and loved.

For some reason, these mice are also a prime target for mail theft.

One year, a neighbor brought us the empty envelope which she found in her yard.  Another year, they just didn’t arrive.

Today, our postal carrier found the envelope under our front mat.

The envelope was in tatters – full of holes (very swiss cheesy looking) and covered in little sharp teeth marks – but the mice were still there.

We have two prime suspects.  Little Guy, the brown tabby owned by the guy on the corner, and a cat I call “Creamsicle Guy”, an orange tabby that lives two doors down.  Both are indoor/outdoor kitties.

I guess the only way we’ll know for sure is to see who has envelope bits stuck between their teeth.

But despite some kitty’s best efforts, the mice are here, much to the delight of Leo and future delight of Ollie (who is somewhere sleeping off his breakfast).

Leo has already lost his.  Leo thinks we should hand over Ollie’s mouse.  I told him I am not getting down on the floor to find it for him.  He is much closer to the floor than I, and he lost it.

I thought as you get older you are supposed to get shorter.

So how come, the older I get, the further away the floor gets?

Happy New Year!