SLEEPING TOM

I was so surprised the other night; Martin called me downstairs to witness Tommy hopping out of the catflap and a short while after popping back in again. Apparently he had been watching Kitty do it. Goodness me!

SHARING KITTY

Well I was so very pleased and touched that Kitty shared her tea with Mitzi last night. Kitty started to eat and Mitzi came along and joined in and Kitty was fine. So sweet and touching :)

SMILE

BEDROOM BABIES

SUCKLE

SWEET SIBLINGS

ME TOO!

BOTTLE BABIES

Today I saw Tommy trying to suckle Mitzi. He was purring, kneading the dough, as it were and sucking very hard on her chest, making her all wet. So I went out and bought a feeding bottle for baby animals and some special milk for cats. I thought he might be missing his mummy and thought he would like it. Well they both love it!

PROGRESS

Well we are making slow but very positive progress with Kitty and Binky. The other day I bought some very tasty cat treats (well I presume they were tasty) The babies were on the bed and I lured Kitty in with the promise of a sweet, which she loved. She had a few sweets and eventually stayed for over an hour, on the bed, less than a foot away from the babies! They all fell asleep and at one point Tommy awoke and pretended to stretch just so he could inch his way on his belly over to get a closer look at Kitty, whom he adores. They both adore her and can't get enough of her. Sometimes they follow her without her realising, then she turns round and takes a swipe at them!

Took them to the vets last week. Tommy is 1.1 kg and Mitzi is o.87 kg. Which is funny because Mitzi appears to eat more than Tommy. Surely it can't be all his long fur which weighs so much? Glad to say have now got the flea situation under control

The other night the babies were asleep in the kitchen and I was doing a jigsaw at the table. Binky came in and actually sat in the jigsaw box, which was great. She eyed the babies suspiciously from a distance, but all was well. Well until Tommy eventually stood up and stretched and suddenly leaped across the divide. All hell broke loose - I screamed in surprise and Binky took off, shooting jigsaw pieces assunder. Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

BABIES IN THE BASKET

A BREAKTHROUGH!

I am so thrilled. Binky stayed in the bedroom last night. She came out from under the telly stand and stayed with us on the bed for ages before disappearing under the telly again. In the early hours she jumped up into the "boudiour" - the padded window ledge behind the curtains. When I pulled back the curtains at 10.30 this morning I realised she was still there! Great success. We will try again tonight.

At the moment the two babies are fast asleep in the washing basket. So sweet.

WASHING BASKET

Lol I put a pillowcase in the washing basket in the kitchen and then realised that there was someone in it. I pulled the pillowcase away and found dear little Tommy asleep amongst the clothes! Now, for the past couple of days, both the babies have been sleeping in there, so cosy!

Tonight we tried a new strategy for Binky. She is still so very terrified of the two little ones. So Martin put them in their room, I got in the bath and he brought Binky up. We gave her some nice tasty fishy food which she devoured. Then she wanted to come out, but I ignored her. So she jumped up onto the windowsill and had a wash, just like she used to. When I got out she came into the bedroom but didn't really settle. She has squeezed herself behind a row of video tapes and is resting underneath the telly stand.

BAD HABITS

Dear oh dear Tommy Fudge has some bad habits, I can't believe that he knows that a glass contains drinking water! I have just caught him trying to tip over a plastic beaker. First of all he tried to do it with his mouth and then his paw. This was after putting his head in it. Now Binky (and Lilly did) always tries to drink out of a glass. But - shock horror - to have one so young who has worked out to push them over - well that is just plain awful!!

Lilly used to occasionally tip glasses over, but not often. I wondered why he had droplets of water on his back, he must have got them from another receptacle. But which one..

Mitzi is sitting on my lap as I type and has just done a very smelly blow off...

TEENY TINY PAWS

PROUD MUM

BEAUTIFUL BOY

"Close your eyes,
Have no fear,
The monsters gone,
He's on the run and your daddy's here,
Beautiful, Beautiful, beautiful, Beautiful Boy" John Lennon

BIG BED, LITTLE BABIES

Yesterday evening I came upstairs and went into the bedroom. And there they were, two little darlings asleep on Mummy's big bed. They looked so sweet.

SMELLY!
Yesterday I noticed a horrible smell in one of the bedrooms. Now, it was either:

a) A dead mouse
b) poo

I sniffed and sniffed and eventually found an overnight bag which was a bit smelly, it was on the floor and somebody had done a wee in it. Well, I knew it wasn't Martin, so it must have been one of the babies! I cleaned it out and emptied it (something I should have done when we came back from the Dutch monkey park).

But today the smell was much, much worse. Still couldn't track it down. Until - I looked in the cupboard which was open and found a small coil of poo. So smelly! It looked like one of those joke shop poos. So we cleaned it up. A couple of hours later there was still a smell and I realised there was another poo nearby so now everything smells sweet. For the moment...

Felt so sad last night, Binky was so afraid and we brought her upstairs when the kittens were tucked up in bed but she wasn't having any of it. Sigh. But I talked to her today as we sunbathed together on the warm patio.

I am commissioning a lovely lady in Australia to paint two portraits of my dear Lilly, who recently passed away. Holley is emailing me the different stages of the first portrait; I can see Lilly appearing and growing. It is as though she is coming back to life. I cried this morning when I saw the latest progress.

This evening I decided to spend some special time with Binky. I gave her some special expensive cat food (which Kitty duly came and scoffed) and then she jumped in the jigsaw box whilst I did the jigsaw. She even purred, which was great. Then I heard the tinkle of a little bell, and Tommy appeared, closely followed by his loyal sister. Binky was not happy, her eyes as wide as saucers and she promptly disappeared off into the garden. Sigh. The kittens then greedily devoured the rest of the posh cat food and some more besides.

CHEEKY MONKEYS

Mitzi got a bit tangled up in her collar, it ended up fitting more like a sash so I removed it. Tommy still has his, it sits quite well amongst his thick fur. I figure that if I can hear his bell then Mitzi won't be far behind. They did their disappearing act again last night. So I crawled on the floor and could just make out Tommy's little face peering back at me from under the shelves. I guessed that Mitzi was probably curled up behind him.

When I went out today I left their door open as I thought they wouldn't wander too far today, they usually seem to end up back in the comfort of their playroom.

When I got home they were in their doorway and pleased to see me. I brought them into the bedroom but they didn't want to stay, they soon scampered off. But later they loved playing around my feet when I was at my computer.

A couple of funny things happened today. At teatime we were in the kitchen and Binky was sitting in the jigsaw box (as I have trained her to do) on the table. I heard a hggggggggggggg - (Mitzi just typed this) I heard a crunching sound and looked down to discover two little cheeky monkeys chomping away at Kitty and Binky's food! Binky looked shocked and startled. When we had our tea in the lounge the babies came in briefly, much to Binky's wide-eyed astonishment. She wasn't too happy but at least she didn't hiss or growl.

After tea Martin called me and it was so funny because Tommy Tippee had fallen asleep in my bowl that I carved, which is on the landing. It is my Nature Bowl and is covered in carved butterflies, flowers and leaves. He looked so sweet and cosy!

I had completely forgotten how scared kittens can get. Any sudden noise and they go all wide eyed and jump, even if it's just a floorboard creaking.

Well Tommy has been in the bowl for quite a while and Mitzy seems a little lost. I cuddled her on my lap but she mewed and mewed, I think she wanted her bro. Eventually he woke up and she went to him and now they have disappeared off together. Aw...

BIG MEETS LITTLE

Phew. Was worried last night. The kittens were having a ball, being able to go where they wanted. They stayed upstairs mainly. I managed to bring Binky into the bedroom, amongst great caterwailing from her, she was so scared. I calmed her down and she sat on the radio times on the bed. Then I had a bath and could hear scratching and rummaging in the bedroom, I presumed it was the babies. I was so pleased so see that Binky was still in the bedroom, perched on top of the stereo, as usual. When I got out she was eye-ing the babies from a great height. Her awareness was heightened. But she wasn't angry. Later on she went off.

I went to get the babies only to find that I couldn't actually find them. I went round the whole house twice, calling, to no avail. I was worried. So I found two old collars and trimmed them down to size. I went back in the workshop and looked under the shelves and saw a little tiny tommy face looking back at me. They were both there, having slept, I think. Honestly, I had been calling at the top of my voice, I thought they would have woken up and started mewing! They came out and I put on their collars. Aw they look so huge on them but now at least I will hear their bells and know where they are.

This morning I brought Mitzi into my office and she slept on my lap. Then Kitty trotted in, meowing. Which attracted the attention of Tommy, who came tripping along the landing. Suddenly Kitty espied him and hissed. He almost jumped out of his skin and became all bristly. There was a stand off for quite a while until Tommy had had enough and fell asleep! He looked so funny all puffed up, as he is already quite a puffball. Kitty emitted a low growl and eventually they sat facing each other until she had had enough and waddled off again.