31 July, 2010

Some things you find out the hard way.

Back almost a year ago now, in September 2009, my dear friend C sent me an e-mail. I had been planning on saving up for a while and getting a pup from her as my Emergency Backup Dog and Tink’s understudy, and she offered me instead an 18 month old girl whose puppy name was Karisma. She was getting a bit “doggy” (Karisma, not C) and needed a home with fewer very assertive dogs, where she could blossom.

Sure, I said, I will bring Tink down to make sure she is not adamantly opposed, and if that works out OK, I’ll take her home and give her a try. So we went to meet her, and Tink grudgingly said OK. And one thing C mentioned, in passing, was that Karisma had just finished blowing coat. And Karisma came home and became Zille and we all love her now and can’t imagine life without her, and she has blossomed into a fantastic dog who takes care of Tink and me and plays with Beowulf and loves the cats.

But now I know why C waited until AFTER the late summer/early fall coat blow to send her off with me, oh yes. I sweep up enormous piles of hair, and the next day, no, OVERNIGHT, there are more. Tonight, I brushed Zille in between ball tosses, to try and reduce the amount of hair on the floor.
A bit of grey side porch and the concrete and river rocks just in front of it. Resting on the concrete and river rocks is a diffuse collection of hair; two curry-combs-worth, two rakes-worth, and assorted fluff that just fell off while the curry combing is going on. This was the product of thirty seconds of shedder grooming.

Let me tell you, gentle reader, if I had seen this BEFORE falling in love with Zillekins, I might have been all “Oh no thank you, I have decided to go with the Peruvian Inca Moonflower for my EBD.” Zille is lucky she’s so adorable.

30 July, 2010

More weird googled phrases.

Things people have searched for that have lead to my blog:
“dog wearing blue hat”
Lucky you, anonymous Googler! You’ve come to exactly the right blog for a picture of a dog wearing a blue hat.

“meaning of finding a turtle in the road”
It means you’re about to have to stop your car and move a turtle out of the road. Turtles sometimes get more active just ahead of and during the time when a low pressure front moves through an area, but generally when we’re getting good turtle weather they’re just wandering around. You’re more apt to find them late in the morning, when things have warmed up enough to get them going but the roads are not yet really hot.

In other news, I slept locked in the bedroom with kittens last night, and they actually let me sleep! Zeke (formerly Intrepid) was first to come up on the bed and snuggle and purr, followed by Astute, with mellow little Badger bringing up the rear. Bless their fuzzy hearts, they all found a nook to curl up in against my body and with their little motors turned up to 11 they sent me off to sleep. Sometimes I do actually like the little guys.

29 July, 2010

I thought of several titles for this…

…but all of them would have gotten me a bunch of google hits I did not want.

I was having horrifying muscle spasms in my back and shoulders last night, so I tried to take a nice relaxing bath. Tried.

First the Three Musketeers sat on the edge of the tub and stared at me. Then they batted at the water. Then Astute and Zeke (the artist formerly known as Intrepid, his new people have selected a new name for him) decided to try to snuggle.

It did not end well. How I avoided getting scratched I do not know, but I did get both boys out of the bath water before they drowned. They proceeded to deluge the bathroom. Badger, bless him, just sat on the edge of the tub and hung his front paws down to soak his adorable white toes. I guess he wants help keeping them clean.

I have now moved the kittens to my bedroom. The only problem is, it makes me afraid to go to sleep. I am writing this the night before; if you don’t hear from me again it’s because the kittens got me.

EDITED TO ADD: I ended up having to sleep on the futon. See, Tink and Roo both have to sleep with me, and we ended up with a situation where Tink wanted to play with the kittens. Zeke (formerly Intrepid) was being cute and playing with Tink, but this meant there was a lot of bouncing going on from beings of various weight classes. Meanwhile, Badger and Astute wanted to play with Roo, who wanted none of it. They cornered him under the bed and laughed at his hideous noises of disapproval. I gave up and moved into the living room with Tink and Roo and just hope my bedroom survived the night.

Meanwhile, this post from a totally different Roo over at This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things totally made my morning already. And it’s only 0430.

28 July, 2010

The kittens react to the Good News.

Last night I told the kittens that every one of them has a home lined up.

Astute was so overcome with excitement, he could barely contain himself:
Astute, a small grey and white tabby kitten, lolls in his bed while eyeing the photographer with a certain amount of kittenly skepticism. I assure you that he was, however, purring.

Intrepid, true to his thoughtful nature, had to have a ponder:
Intrepid, a long-haired tabby and white kitten with a cute white nose and gorgeous almond-shaped eyes, looks very thinky.

Badger was concerned: Would there be noms at his new home? I assured him that there would be.
Badger, a mostly tabby long-haired kitten with the world's most adorable white toes on his front feet, huddles over the food dish and looks concerned.

With the big news out of the way, I sat down in the floor with the boys. Astute wanted to know how I was taking the news that they’d all soon be departing:
Astute, sitting on the photographer's abdomen, leans up towards her face with an air of deep concern. It is, in fact, possible that he is concern trolling your humble narrator. Cats are natural concern trolls.

Badger just hoped I wasn’t going to be wearing plaid pajama pants when meeting other people, and also wondered why Astute was in his spot:
Badger lays across the photographer's shins, which are clad in plaid pajama pants that are predominantly pale blue but include white and black stripes. He obviously disapproves of the pants. Astute's butt is visible at the bottom of the frame, and this also apparently concerns Badger no end.

Intrepid wanted to reassure me that even though he plans on adoring his new family, I will always be his first human and he will remember me for at least 24 hours or until the first time they throw a jingle ball for him, whichever comes first:
Intrepid and your humble narrator exchange a tender nose kiss.

27 July, 2010

My god, you people are fantastic.

The internet has worked its magic for kittens and great justice! Thanks to the kind-hearted souls boosting the signal and passing the link to the Great Kitten Pimping Post of 2010, all three boys have homes to go to once they get neutered! Fantastic, indoor, no-declaw homes of just the sort I was hoping I could find for them! The kindness of strangers and their willingness to lend a hand to find homes for kittens they have never met never ceases to amaze me. I just wanted to give these little guys a chance at a better life than living out of doors would give them, and never would have been able to do it without people like Cherie Priest and Ginmar helping to publicize the boys, and then of course all the people who saw those links and passed them to friends. Seriously, two out of the three homes came to me saying “A friend of mine sent me the link to your kittens…” or words to that effect. So huge, huge thank yous to all you anonymous link-passers. I may never know who you are (although you will know who you are when your friends suddenly have the world’s most adorable kittens) but I owe you one. If you would like personalized gushing e-mails of thanks, drop me a line or a comment and say hi!

And of course, GINORMOUS thank yous to the people who are opening their homes and hearts to these little hairy buggers. I miss being able to pee without someone climbing my leg, and let’s be honest, very high on the list of “Things Andrea Doesn’t Need” is “Seven cats.” You kind souls are not only taking in wee adorable kittens in need, but you are giving me my bathroom back and I love you for it.

I am deeply conflicted about the next part, so it is below the cut where you can ignore it. Seriously.
(more…)

26 July, 2010

Weekend round-up, torturing the kittens, great joy!

1) Went down to visit C at Blackthorn Kennel on Sunday, leaving all of my hooligans at home. Sometimes, even in the best relationships, you need a break from each other. I got grievously and relentlessly snuggled, and had a good time in the pool. Also, C mentioned that she would like to get some pics of the 6 week old N litter stacked, which takes two people. Not being a dog show person, I did my best to help. Apparently that isn’t how one does it, so I tried again, with more success.

2) Work has no internet access today, so I’m working from home. Also, I have moved the kittens and their paraphenalia out of the bathroom and into Beowulf’s ginormous crate to traumatizefurther socialize them. I’ll move them back into the bathroom later, meanwhile they’re playing with Q-tips and being DogTV. Zille has already been reprimanded for frustration barking because she can’t lick them, which hurt her tender feelings. Now Tink is trying to lick them through the bars of the crate.

Astute and Badger still need homes! Badger is actively snuggling of his own free will now, and is also the one least traumatized by the dogs, actually. As long as he has a Q-tip to play with, anyway.

3) OMG! Daniel’s visa interview has been scheduled for August 12th! Things are moving, I will probably wind up married mid-Octoberish! ZOMG.

24 July, 2010

Kittens! Kittens! Kittens!

Here’s the deal: in 2 weeks, these guys will be old enough to get neutered. They need homes after that! They need homes really badly, because I do not want seven cats. So here’s adorable pictures and little bio blurbs, and if you want a kitten then BOY have I got a deal for you, because these guys will come with rabies/distemper vax and already fixed! They are FIV/FeLV negative and have been freshly dewormed, and are free of fleas and ticks. They are practically plug and play kittens, just bring them home, acclimate them, and enjoy.

If you cannot take a kitten yourself, can you pass this link around? I will drive up to 200 miles from Fredericksburg, Virginia to deliver a kitten, or to meet up with you and hand off your kitten. All kittens have right of return to the Manor of Mixed Blessings, even if it is 10 years from now. No-risk, plug and play kittens! The contact form is right here. If you’re interested in a kitten, or know someone who is interested in a kitten, it’s a great way to get in touch with me so that we can match kittens with people who need them!

ASTUTE — TAKEN, YAY! New Name: Emmett
Astute, a small grey and white kitten with a mostly white face, tabby stripes on his grey bits, and ears with the slightest charming touch of back curve, looks up at the camera with enormous kitten eyes. His mouth is slightly open, as he was talking when the pic was taken.
Just look at this little dude. He is the cutest thing since SLICED BREAD, which is pretty damned cute. He looks just like his Mama Emmaline, except she has black tabby stripes whereas his are grey. He purrs as soon as I walk in the room, and then if I touch him, he falls over and purrs harder. If you don’t pet him fast enough upon entry, he climbs your leg into your lap, then falls over and purrs some more. He loves to give kisses. And as if his native charm is not enough, he is taking lessons in being adorable from his Uncle Roo:
Astute, on the left, looks earnestly into the face of Uncle Roo, an orange and white Cornish Rex. Roo appears to be imparting deep secrets as the kitten listens attentively.

Astute prefers that dogs keep to themselves, but if the dog isn’t looking at him, he’d like to investigate it. He adores other cats and it hurts his tender feelings when they hiss at him for trying to play. But he really, really loves people beyond words. You would not believe this kitten was feral up until two weeks ago, seriously.

INTREPID — DEFINITELY TAKEN OMG YAY. New Name: Zeke
Intrepid, a tabby and white kitten with long hair and a white nose, stares into the camera in a very serious fashion from very close range. He has a remarkable amount of whiskers which are luxuriously long, and also ear tufts.
Intrepid are srs kitten. He actively seeks out my company, rubs up on my legs without climbing them, purrs as soon as you touch him, and is the bravest and most exploratory of the lot, which makes trying to take a bath sort of interesting. He is very intrigued by the dogs, and kinda likes Zille as long as she keeps her tongue to herself. He adores the little plastic jingly balls beyond words, and can often be found trying to kill one. He loves them best when someone will play with them with him, so he’d LOVE a home where the thumb monkeys will sit and roll his ball to him when it gets away, or maybe involve a dangly toy. He is now totally comfortable with being brushed with a soft brush, and in fact it makes him purr harder. Looks-wise, he has an almost Bengal coat pattern on his long hair that is incredibly difficult to photograph. He is going to grow up to be a very, very handsome cat! This picture does not do him justice:
Intrepid, half-crouched, shows off his exotic stripey-spotty pattern, which is black on a sort of bronzey background.

BADGER — HAS A HOME! YAY!
A dark tabby, black stripes on a deep brown background, with long hair and ridiculously adorable white toes in front, lounges on a bathroom rug that is definitely suffering the effects of kittens.
Badger is the most recent capture, but after a week he has totally given up on the hissing thing and is even starting to be purry! By the time these guys are ready to go, I expect him to be reasonably friendly to humans, but what he really wants is another cat he can hang out with. Another good lookin kitten, I am just starting to introduce him to the soft brush, and he says it’s pretty OK, but what he really enjoys from people is long, slow strokes from his head to his butt, preferably with both hands so there is no gap in the petting. He will sit in your lap if you ask him to, but definitely prefers to approach you at his own speed, and sometimes still finds house life alarming. He is intrigued by dogs, but prefers them not to get too close, if allowed to approach on his own time I expect he would get pretty relaxed around them, as long as the dogs in question were relaxed about kittens.

EDIT, Sunday 25 July: Badger officially snuggled with me today of his own volition. And not just any snuggling, he laid on his back in the crook of my arm and asked me to tickle his fat stripey tummy. I think he is Officially Tamed. Take him home today!

Well that didn’t go so well.

Astute’s potential family backed out, saying they had “decided not to pursue a kitten at this time.” Fair enough, but now I’m back to trying to place three kittens. Sigh. My mission this weekend is to get most excellent and adorable pictures of them, and possibly organize a fundraising sale from the many crafty things I have lying around the house (I have a million hobbies) because I still can’t get the low cost spay/neuter clinic to call me back. It would be $40 each to get the Three Musketeers neutered there, whereas it will be $155 each at my for-profit vet.

Which is still cheap, as pediatric surgeries go, but three of them at once? Ow.

Meanwhile, just when we thought the immigration process was coming to an end, it turns out we are actually just back to more waiting, and it may be as much as four more months. Ow.

Things that are going well: Emmaline is starting to explore the house, which would be easier on everyone if the dogs were not fascinated by the brand new kitty, but is going nicely just the same. Badger is now 0% hissy, 25% purry, whereas Intrepid is at 100% purry and solicits human attention, and Astute is at about 200% purry — he starts up as soon as I walk in the room. So that’s all right. Now I just need to find them homes to go to after they’re neutered and vax’d.

22 July, 2010

Sunny days chasing the clouds away…

Finally, we had a day with no thunderstorms yesterday! Yay!

Badger is purring for me consistently, and approaching me although not as much of an attention hog as his brothers. The vet says they can get rabies/distemper vax in 2 weeks, and neutered at the same time. Huzzah!

Emmaline discovered the bed today and spent most of her day lounging on it. Tonight, she is in Roo’s room. She continues to adjust well to indoor life, and had a nice meeting with Roo today.

No new immigration news, dammit. Tomorrow morning I’m calling the London Embassy to find out what’s going on. Still no sign of Dreadnought. Astute’s home may have fallen through, I haven’t heard from them in days. Sigh. I remain hopeful for the Three Musketeers, though!

The good stuff keeps on coming.

Badger purred for me yesterday! Oh, hooray! I will get the little booger yet.

Emmaline is doing well inside, laid-back and not too stressed until Braxton tried to sniff her butt. She even touched noses with the dogs! I shuffled her out of my bedroom and into Brax & Aida’s room for the night so Roo could sleep with me and also my cats could wander around and smell her scent, and she could smell theirs and enjoy the cat tree (where she slept).

Still haven’t seen Dreadnought and I am beginning to give up hope. I might still get him though, I have nothing to do but sit around lying in wait for kittens this weekend!

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