The babies get to visit and wear hats

The neighborhood babies had a gathering at our place.
The almost two and a half year old and almost one year old humans came over to visit with the eight month old kitten.
The three of them hadn't gotten together since last October.
I was afraid I would miss seeing the almost one year old crawling; as it is she is standing without support and will be transitioning into a biped any day now. 
I was also afraid my kittens would prove to be typical "old peoples" kind of cats; that is, would run and hiss at attempted childish interactions.
My fears were unfounded; I got to see the littlest girl's "four on the floor" wiggle butt phase of life and Baby Tate took to being petted and toted about with a steady purr and good kitten manners.
Frenchie chased string and came by to snoopervise the activities.
(Hart and Bitsy hid as soon as they heard unfamiliary footsteps on the living room floor.  They just don't do party very well.)


Of course I couldn't resist dressing up the girls.
Their mother is German, their father is French, and the girls have had a certain stylish air about them from birth.

The oldest girl enjoyed using a flashlight to explore cat hiding places.
Don't you love the polka dots, ermine and rhinestone bobble combination?

I've said it before and I will say it again: it is never too soon to learn the joys of wearing a hat.
A little girl in a hat: Adorable beyond words.

And I wish I had a video of clip of the oldest girl, who already speaks four languages, departing with a sweet "Good bye Frenchie!" in French.

How cute is that?
VERY cute!

Trick or Treat: Bitsy Style

It is always so much fun to make seasonally decorated cookies for little ones to enjoy!

Little Bitsy Blue Eyes thought I had made this cookie just for her.

Well, it should not to be expected that a five month old could eat decorated cookies without getting a little frosting on her cheek.

On the other hand....
I really do think it is over the top for said five month old to make her eyes glow red like if she was possessed

(or just Siamese....same thing, right?)

as a "Trick" after such a delicious "Treat"!

Watchful

Yesterday morning....

This morning.

Five inches and flurries are still coming down.

I try to always stay home the first day of *real* snow.

I just need to enjoy the change!

Little Orange Kitten Tate did report for work however.

He has appointed himself the household lifeguard.

No one is going to drown or slip down the shower drain on his watch!

Ever taken a shower supervised by a four month old kitten? It is quite the thing to do around here.

(Watching that drain. You just never know when a drain monster might need killing real sudden like.)

Um Tate?

I'm out of the shower now.

You can stop watching the drain.

Everything went just fine this time!

(Now if only Hart and Frenchie would declare a truce life would be perfect in the Casa de Gato. Hart was on my lap as I worked on the computer, sipping a cup of tea, when Tate decided I needed his help on the computer too. Hart didn't take too kindly to that...and the result of the encounter was a spilled cup of tea all over the desk. Bernie reports working at home with kittens flying around is challenging. I just smile...remembering what it was like trying to get things done with two toddlers in the house long ago. At least these furry tikes don't need diaper changes like the kids did!)

It's like Christmas around here!

Time to introduce our new felines to blogdom.

This little guy: We meet him at the Utah Humane Society a few days before we put Tigs down. I fell in love with him; Bernie fell in love with the other orange guy peeking behind him.
We didn't adopt them then; we were still debating if we should try to adopt kittens or adopt adult cats; cats that need a second chance.
Three of our favorite cats were adult adoptions, but we suspected that Hart would have a very hard time sharing his world with adults.

Right after we said good bye to Tigs, we drove to the Humane Society to ease the pain by cuddling some of the cats. The little guy Bernie liked had already been adopted by a couple; my little heart throb had a "kitty cold" and was back in foster care.

A day or so later...we went to the Petsmart near our house to see if some cats that we had admired earlier were still available for adoption. They were...and after holding this young blue point Siamese female, who had been hand raised on a bottle, I knew I had found a wonderful cat.

(But I still wanted an orange cat...)

(Check out those whiskers!)

While I was falling in love with the blue point, Bernie was falling in love with this lynx point siamese "wide body". She was released by a family facing a medical crisis, and the foster family said "Frenchie" was their absolute favorite. Frenchie followed everyone in their family around, and allow children to play with her. Bernie held her while all around us swirled kids, cat carriers, kennels being slammed...and Frenchie didn't even bat an eye. She looked up into Bernie's eyes and just purred and relaxed.

That settled it. I had the little Siamese baby girl wrapped around my neck purring; we switched cats and decided these two would be purr-fect. (As I am typing this, the little girl is walking on my shoulders, checking out what I am typing as if she wants to make sure I am reporting the fact right.)

Frenchie originally was named Emma...the foster family decided she was Frenchie. She snores and has a hoarse meow, and white gloves. Age five, and an arm load of love!

We brought the two girls home and two days later Bernie had to be in South Carolina for a week.

It was up to me to integrate the cat family.

Frenchie and the little girl were locked up together in our wine/library room.

Frenchie let "Bitsy" know that SHE was in charge.

I held Bitsy and let her purr and sleep on me.

The day after Bernie left, I went back to the Humane Society to adopt my orange boy.

The adoption papers had a lot of questions which I answered easily, right up until I reached the one that asked:

Does every member of your household know that you are adopting this cat?

Er....not exactly.

It was late back on the east coast, but I called Bernie anyway.

"I'm at the Humane Society and I want to adopt the orange kitten. Is that OK with you?"

He was kind of stunned...then said "Oh what the heck!"

I came home with my baby orange boy.

I put him down on the floor of the wine/library room and he IMMEDIATELY took off like a shot, chasing a little cat toy like he had lived here forever.

His foster mom had said he was the sweetest kitten she had ever fostered. I think she was telling the truth.
Oh and the people at the Humane Society told me that he had marched up under the muzzle of a German Shepherd about to chow down. The "boy" wrapped his tail around the dog's mouth and dug into the food himself!

Well, Bitsy ran up to join him. It was like two kids hooking up on a playground! The kitty toys were flying!
Frenchie had a "oh my gawd" look and turned her back to the whole celebration.

I decided to call the boy "Tate"...and he wasted no time in getting hissed at by Frenchie, but held his ground and gave her tail a swat just to let her know she wasn't the boss of him!

So Bitsy Blue Eyes is ever so beautiful and sleeps with her paw wrapped around my forearm.
She will likely be renamed as she is growing very, very quickly.
Since she looks so much like my grandkitty Cessa, we are thinking of calling her CJ, for Cessa Junior.
(Plus a very nice librarian that I used to work for went by CJ...Carolyn Jacobson....Carolyn would also be a nice name for her.)

(I wish she would just tell me what she'd liked to be called. Her foster mom named her Madeira...I just don't think that suits her.)

Emma suits her...as does Frenchie.

Hart is having a hard time with Frenchie. She wants to be alpha cat. He currently has a broken meower; perhaps sore throat from hissing at the babies? (Now Tate is on my lap watching the words appear on the screen..)

CJ? Carolyn? Bitsy? Mostly I just call her and the rest of them "Sweetie" because I can't remember their names!

She loves watching NCIS! Smart girl!

Tate (or Zack, or maybe Owen or ???? Just not Mr. Socks, his foster name) loves to nap on me. It is just adorable!

He has taken up bird watching.

I believe that is an Oregon Towhee.

The three new ones sleep with us. Sadly Tigs and Hart used to own the lower left corner of the bed; Hart is not game to sleep with Frenchie.

So in the morning I let him out on the deck....

And we have a special cuddle time together. Hart is eight years old now, and we used to always call him Baby Hart.
Now he is called Old Hart.

Seasons of life...change is constant. I stare at Mt. Olympus, now orange, knowing it will soon be white, then green then orange again...

Each cat is staking claim to their own "spots" in the house.

(See how little he is? He is going to be growing fast though.)p;[

He is fearless. Neighbor cat Missy came to the sliding glass door and Hart came by to make sure she didn't get to come in.

Hart has his perch next to Bernie's desk where he can keep track of all goings on in the garden.

The Boy decided more drastic measures were in order.

Just because Missy probably outweighs him 3 to one is no reason not to stand your ground.

Swat through the glass...let that cat know what is what around here!
(Missy kept looking through all our windows, like "Hey, why didn't you just adopt me? I'm over here all the time anyway!)

Hart is doing OK with the "kids".

I have noticed over the years that Hart has finally gotten the knack of posing for attention when needed.

Our handsome gray tuxedo cat, who misses Tigs and wonders what has happened to his routine.

So that is our "little" cat family.

Eventually we will settle in to names, or just give up and keep calling them all Sweetie.

I think I am going a tad senile.

I'm starting to call EVERYONE Sweetie now days!

Snoopervisors, Seasonal Decorating and Such Fun

Our daughter Laura purchased her very first home last May. It is a two bedroom/two bath condo in San Diego that was built the same year she was born, back in 1978.

It needed a few things to make it just right...like plumbing and electrical repairs.
And kittens.

Laura managed to get the kittens...but the repairs were left for her daddy!

Bernie and I flew to San Diego last Thursday with suitcases full of power tools and such. The cases barely made it for weight limit, and of course everything in the suitcases were sharp or dangerous.

The cases made it on the plane after TSA inspection.

Apparently the cases needed Kitten Inspection as well.

Cessa waited patiently for the work to commence.

(Secretly she wants to be a plumber when she grows up. She has heard that girl plumbers make lots and lots of money!)

She also is considering becoming a painter...

(She is very open to all facets of the construction industry. Maybe some day she will have her own show, something sort of between Animal Planet and Divine Design)

(She's not quite sure about what end of the brush should be used....)

Hensley on the other hand is much more of a poetic soul.

He preferred to play with snowflakes while the plumbing and electrical work was being done.

Yes...the grandkitties are growing and are oh so cute when they cuddle up together for their naps.

They especially like taking naps with their Grandpapa.

The kittens are now allowed out on the balcony, where they sit on thrones...um... I mean antique chairs.

It was hilarious to watch them snoopervise the neighborhood.

Laura is such a good "Sister" to her kittens.

SO nice to be tall when working on overhead lighting fixtures...

Let me tell you...having TWO new florescent lamps inside a new plastic cover really shows all the dirt in a kitchen! I had wiped and swiped the kitchen down...after the new lamps were installed I had to start all over.

Cessa has no interest in being a maid OR helping with house work.

She prefers to just pose nicely on soft fluffy down comforters.

Hensley feels the same way about housework...

Cessa is short for Princessa...and Princess types just do NOT do housework. Ever!

Laura and I ran errands...got Mexican food for Bernie and his Dad, who were working like...well, you know.

The Natal Plums outside the restaurant were flush with Southern California Christmas cheer. Their white flowers smell so sweetly in summer, and the fruit weeps white juice inside when ripe!

Magnolia pods were bursting with shiny red seeds all over town.

(Magnolias are so traditional in the Southern locations...even in Southern California.)

What drives me crazy about SoCal: The parking is always crazy!

Laura had decorated her place so nicely since she moved in. She had to work on Friday, and left out all her Christmas decoration for me to add.
I decorated...and decided that the orange curtains that looks so great the rest of the year needed to be replaced with green ones for the season.

"Yes, Mother" she sweetly replied to my suggestion, and we were off to I-you-know-where-kea to find a set of curtains in green.

Perfect!

Now Laura collects Mermaids (she has been a water baby her whole life, as well as a competitive swimmer and water polo player) and globes (globes because of all the years she traveled...her favorite past time) and she also has quite a collection of nurse related items (because she is a RN) and somehow or another she also collects Nutcrackers after scoring some killer deals on some highly collectible Crackers once.

A Nurse-Mermaid: Just the thing to bring two collections together.

She has an entire room for her mermaid collection and one small tree trimmed just with mermaids and mermen. Amazingly the kittens have behaved themselves and left the tree decorations alone!

And of course Laura needed a Merkitten.

I like this mermaid. I think we could be friends.

It is fun to decorate other people's houses. I decided to grab Laura's red high heels and incorporate them into the decorations.

A sprig or two of greenery tucked into the toes and don't they look PERFECT?

And why not put a second pair underneath the sideboard? Why not indeed! But without greenery, as the kittens would snitched the greens for playtime.

Laura had shopped for everyone already, and wrapped up the gifts for the SLC branch of the clan for us to take home. It is amazing what she thinks of to give as gifts. I wish I had her talent for finding perfect gifts for people.

I love her Christmas china! They are so very modern looking...and with the beaded runner and snow men they look just great on the glass top table that used to be ours in Houston.

This is the first year she has been able to entertain for Christmas with the Christmas dishes. She's a regular "hostess with mostess" year around.

Things that she already had...like the globes in the glass were turned into "Christmas" with a silver star ornament, and some flora.

Her Nurse related tree...or at least mostly nurse related.

Her "big" tree will hold a lot of the ornaments that she collected during her travels over the years. A bowl was filled with a few of the red ones...from New York, Alaska and Hawaii.

Hensley as decoration au natural...he is very good at posing, just like his Uncle Tiggie.

We left on Sunday morning while it was still dark. I lit the snowmen...just because.

It was hard to leave, as always. We got soooo much done: Replace a garbage disposal and faucet set, plumbing to a dishwasher, three light fixtures, a sliding screen door...and added a few dimmer switches.

Bernie spent most of the three days on his side working under the sink. Cessa was with him every moment, snoopervising and also knocking over a bucket of smelly water.

Well, what do you expect from a little kitten anyway?

While we waited for our plane I wondered if this lass had forgot her skirt or pants in the early morning rush?

A closer stare showed that she actually was wearing jeans.

I never did see her sit down...
What is with wearing skin tight tights to the airport lately anyway????

Laura will be posting some "before and after shots" on her blog soon!