Kittens and more kittens and cats and more cats.
I have six cats in my house.
With two more scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Planning is hard.
Or I am incredibly stupid.
One of those seems more likely than the other.
Tomorrow– Friday, June 22.
A day which shall live in infamy.
Minya and Sir Earl Grey (chancellor of the Tea Party), are returning for 10 days while their family goes on vacation. (in case you forgot, Minya is Baby Godzilla.)
I can get through the cats.
It’s Paul I’m concerned about.
He KNOWS this is happening.
Because I told him months ago.
So he has DEFINITELY FORGOTTEN.
So reminding him is telling him all over again.
But this time Iām telling him while already we HAVE SIX CATS… which was DEFINITELY NOT THE PLAN… which is why I had such terrible anxiety that I was unable to think clearly and went to an auction and now I need to figure out how to surgically remove my own organs for sale on the black market.
Hopefully there is a good YouTube tutorial.
BECAUSE I AM A WINNER.
I repeated my urn-swan-song but with a revised and expensive ending.
Like Juan Diego Florez.
But with urns, instead of talent.
So I will now narrow down my dream faucet options, to the hardware selection at my local dollar store.
At least I have my priorities straight.
Anyway.
Cats.
I have Webster.
My adult foster.
And five kittens.
I originally took a crew of three kittens + a singleā¦ so that once everybody was cleared healthy, they could go together, and I would not have a singleton being adopted alone.
But the people who brought in crew-of-three, found Baby Sprout, two days laterā¦ so now I have odd numbers.
Exactly what I was trying to avoid.
If you know anyone who would like to adopt three kittens… these are good ones!
Baby Sprout!
Sprout. Sprouty sprout. Sprouty sprouty sprout pants.
Her fur looks like a mix of lentilsā orange, browns, blacks, and a big white tummy patchā¦ when she came to me, she was TINY TINY!! Her tail was just this itty bitty little squiggleā¦ she looked just like a baby sprout.
Batman!
If you have ever seen a baby bat ā that is EXACTLY what he looked like when he came to our house.
And he has grown into the nameā¦ he is the one who is most likely to fly out at you unexpectedlyā¦ somewhere around shin level.
He is tireless in his defense of Gotham.
Against all shinsā foreign and domestic.
Handsome Orange!
Heās orange!
Heās handsome!
Heās Handsome Orange!
Elvis, the Prequel.
Iām struggling mightily with this one.
The love is paralyzing.
Baby Yoda.
The singleton.
Looked like Yoda when she first came.
Still does.
She has no baby fatness… she looks like a very small cat wearing full-size features, which makes her look very serious and not at all kitten-y… BUT her serious face hides a baby sweetness AND she is growing into her face now that the rest of her is starting to catch up!
She LOVES to be held and starts purring like a LAWN MOWER the INSTANT you pick her up. And she LOVES to be with her friends…Ā she has bonded with her new pals LIKE CRAZY and they have accepted her totally.
Prequel is constantly.
at all times.
without ceasing.
SHOCKED
BY
LITERALLY
EVERYTHING
**
What I’m Reading:
Jenna Blum, Those Who Save Us.
Her storytelling is amazing.
She has a new book out (but I’m like 57th on the library wait list,) and I was reminded that I owned her first book and hadn’t re-read in years. It holds up… STRONG.
In the vein of The Nightingale and The Women in the Castle.
Both of which I loved!
I’m on a re-read kick… when I am stressed, I like to read things I ALREADY know I like.
I did Dry, Augusten Burroughs; THAT didn’t just HOLD UP. It’s SO SO GOOD… personal-memoir-of-crazy is my jam; the people with the unpredictable brains and too many words.
I hadn’t read him in FOREVER and I pretty much RAN to re-read Running With Scissors… and it may have been BETTER than I remembered. Which… has that ever happened? I’m not sure.
Now this post is over.
I took Batman, Handsome, and Yoda to be fixed early this morning… I’ve never split up a kitten crew’s fix date, but they were big, and Sprout is still far behind.
Kitten season is hard.
So many are waiting, hoping they get a foster home… so.
I’m trying to speed up some spots for them.
If you too are IN in.
I am thankful for you.
xoxo, VEB
June 21, 2018 @ 4:36 pm
I love Yoda. But spouse is firm on no cats. If you keep showing me kittens, I may have to divorce the man I’ve been married to for 42 years!!!! LOL, just kidding – maybe!
June 21, 2018 @ 4:41 pm
I’ve been fostering for over a year now. My first litter of four had a tiny black cat that I didn’t expect to survive, and he also looked like a Batman, and that’s what we named him!! We adopted him, and a year later he is the biggest cat I have ever had, 15 lbs!! We are on our third foster family, and they are ready for adoption; their Mama Zen (she was so mellow) was adopted two weeks ago. It’s always hard to see them go, but we have to make ourselves available for the others in need. So far, we have saved 15 lives.
June 21, 2018 @ 4:48 pm
Not only are you a great writer with exquisite taste, but you have a very big heart. I love all animals, but especially cats. All but my first baby over the last 50 years were rescues or given to us. I have probably rescued my last baby recently, as time marches on and I don’t want to leave them. Thanks for all you do.
June 21, 2018 @ 5:08 pm
I want Sprout!!!!! I have taken in three rescue kittens and a huge, gentle giant dog …which have all sadly now passed away. I filled the void they left in my heart and home with three more rescue dogs but miss my kitties so badly!!!
I will happily take spunky little Sprout…I ADORE Calico’s…..but I cannot get to PA (from VA) until the weekend of July 13th?
If you are willing and able to cuddle her until then, I’ll bring my hubby and adopt her and spoil her with some much love and attention!?
Please let me know.
Your blog is absolutely my FAVORITE!!! You and I were meant to be best friends….I do Estate Sales/Auctions compulsively too!!
Best regards,
Lisa
June 22, 2018 @ 8:37 am
I would LOVE for you to take Sprout!!
BUT she needs to go with Prequel.
This has ZERO to do with you, or how much you will love her!! But shelter tries to get babies who are bonded adopted as pairs (because they have too many kittens, AND the siblings do truly love eachother and match eachother’s energy and endless play)
Maybe think it ovre?… (no pressure! totally understand either way!) For what it’s worth, two kittens are literally the most fun ever. Watching them together melts your brain with love.
xoxo, VEB
June 22, 2018 @ 9:44 pm
Two is as easy as one! Easier really, since they entertain each other š
June 21, 2018 @ 7:31 pm
We just adopted 2 tuxedo kittens a neighbor found on some property they own (their sister was adopted by another family) and we are in love! (We also have 2 dogs and another cat…all strays/rescues. I’ve been officially cut off by management.)
June 21, 2018 @ 8:06 pm
You need to read Augusten’s brother John Robinson’s book, Look Me In The Eye about his life with Asperger’s. There are 2 versions because it does such a good job describing Asperger’s that he was asked to make a cleaned-up version for use in teaching. So, make sure you get his original version with all the 4 letter words because that’s what makes it so real.
June 21, 2018 @ 8:57 pm
We just recently lost our 18 year old born-feral cat. My husband heard a little mewing next to his car, coming from a field, and found the tiny little guy under a broadleaf weed. We named him Smudge, because that’s exactly what he looked like: a little black smudge. I also TNRd 10 cats/kittens from the mamakitty, who had 3 litters before we could trap them. I still have 2 out of that group left (some took off, some were adopted, mama died). They live in a little heated house outside and follow me all over outside. I have a little sign in my kitchen that says “How we treat cats determines our place in Heaven”. You place is solidified!
June 21, 2018 @ 10:24 pm
Ms Barnes, I am now familiar with the urge to hoard ALL the kittens. I got five, 7 wk old foster sisters on my first go-round. I returned them four weeks later, all well loved and socialized, and prized for their unique personalities. I was seriously more bummed than I thought possible for several days. Then I got the call that one of the sisters had a reaction to spay surgery and could I watch her for another week? OF COURSE! Now, I have to give her back again. Because I have 2 cats already. Right? I wish I could obsess about something else for a bit.
June 22, 2018 @ 12:35 pm
I also used to have a kitten that would fly at my shins and thighs. She would hang onto my bare leg with her claws. š
P.S. why no pictures of your kitchen projects?? Donāt you love us anymore??š¢šš
June 22, 2018 @ 12:38 pm
Also why no pictures of the urns??